Devyn snorted. "Why? I get it from her."
Sway shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, the ship's engines sputtered to a stop.
"What the ..." Sway said, flipping the backup power switches. "The engine's resource generator is out along with the main supply."
Suddenly, all power went out except life support and the dim emergency lights. Devyn's body grew hot as his temper exploded. "What has she done now?"
Sway looked around like a penitent receiving a sign from his Maker. "I don't think she did this," he said, drawing each word out.
"Bet me."
Devyn moved to the door, but there wasn't enough power left in the line to raise it. He opened the control panel under the switch and used the manual release.
"Wait," Sway said, following behind him. "I'm not going to let you make a fool of yourself. She couldn't have done this chained up."
"No, but she could have timed the engines to stall last night."
"Forget the sarcasm," Sway said, helping push the door open. "I think you should bottle your paranoia and offer it to government officials. Uh," he breathed as the door slid open.
He straightened up and pierced Devyn with a glare. "Here, ladies and gentlemen, never mind those rational fears that come with your job, take Kell's special dose of psychosis and you'll never again feel safe, even in the privacy of your own mind."
Devyn shook his head and headed down the hallway. "Maybe I'm due a little paranoia."
Sway grabbed him and turned him around. "Just remember, a little goes a long way. And you're about due a mental breakdown at this rate. Maybe I should section off a room and pad it."
"Keep it up and you'll find yourself bound next to Alix."
"Fine with me. She has to be more optimistic than you. Or at least I know she can't be any worse."
Devyn growled under his breath and started back down the corridor.
After forcing open the door to Alix's room, they found her huddled in the rear corner of her closet, her face so pale she looked like a specter.
"Are you okay?" Devyn asked, touching her forehead to see if she was feverish.
The eyes that looked up at him were filled with anguish, terror, and accusation, and they cut him deeper than a lason knife. He'd never seen such horror on anyone's face and he couldn't imagine what had her so distraught.
"Do you intend to take even my light?"
His gut twisted at her whispered words and the pain they betrayed. He felt lower than the bottom kriston fish. "I didn't do this. We have a power failure."
She sighed and looked so deflated he wanted to beat himself. Tears glistened in her eyes, but none fell. "And I guess I did this, too."
Devyn caught the I-told-you-so look from Sway. "Did you?" he asked.
"Sure," she whispered weakly. "I detached my hand while you were gone, belly-crawled to the lower deck and rewired the computer, then crawled back up here and locked myself up so you'd never suspect me."
Rolling his eyes, Devyn unclasped the cuff on the bar. "Do you two give each other lessons when I'm not around?"
Sway laughed.
Devyn inserted the key into the gyve on her wrist. A loud explosion sounded outside. The ship rocked sideways, throwing the three of them into the closet.
"Ion cannon," Sway said, verbalizing Devyn's thoughts. "We're under attack."
Alix and her gyves forgotten, Devyn ran for the helm. Without power there wasn't much they could do, but he had to know who was out there.
Deep inside, he figured it must be Irn. Once more, Alix had dragged him into the middle of her fight.
The three of them took their stations.
"Alix," Devyn called, trying to pull up stats, "can you give me any power?"
"Not from here," she said, her face even paler. "I'll go below and see what I can do." She ran from the room.
Sweat dripped into Devyn's eyes. "Sway?"
"I can't do merkid unless Alix gives us some power. We don't even have defense shields."
"Can we open the hailing channel?"
Sway punched in keys, but nothing happened. He shook his head. "The only channel we have is the one to your Maker. I suggest you use the prayers your dad taught you and ask for a miracle."
Devyn lifted a brow, surprised by the words. "When did you turn atheist?"
Sway looked up at him, his face white. "I started praying to my God after the first shot. I just thought you might want to consult yours. Between the two of us, we ought to be covered."
They sat in the stillness of the control room, waiting for something to happen, the power to switch back on, another blast to strike them. Anything.
But nothing else happened. The ship stood eerily quiet, not even the walls creaking. Only the sound of Devyn's racing heart filled his ears.
The lights came on so quickly, Devyn jumped.
"Good old Alix," Sway said, a smile curving his lips.
The hailing channel crackled. "Greetings, Kell. It would seem we meet again."
Hatred tightening his stomach, Devyn stared at his intercom, wishing he were this close to Irn.
Another blast struck their ship and set it rocking.
"Come now, Kell, where's your fight, your resourcefulness? I expected more from a Laing spawn. Don't you want to make your mother proud?"
Devyn clenched his teeth. Stay calm, he warned himself. Irn was just trying to make his anger override his intelligence. An old ploy, but a very effective one if he allowed himself to succumb to it.
Another blast. The ship spun about.
Devyn slammed into the console, bruising his thigh and hip.
"Aren't you going to fight me for the jarlia?"
Sway gripped his chair. "Another incoming!"
Devyn tensed, but this one sped past their ship.
He stared out the window, unable to see Irn or his ship, but he could feel the evil presence, smell the man's pungent odor every bit as well as if Irn stood before him.
He ran through his options, but without power, nothing worked. They were floating primmons waiting for the shark's bite.
He flipped on the ship's link. "Alix, do we have any power yet?"
"Just the lights. The last shot knocked out preliminary shields."
Clenching his fist, Devyn struck the console, his hand throbbing, but he didn't care. So help him, he'd get Irn for this and tear him into so many pieces no one would ever be able to tell he had ever been human. Not that he really qualified as human even whole.
"Give it up," he said to Alix. "Get back up here before you're hurt."
“But—“
"Do it!"
Sway looked at him. "You're not going to surrender?"
Despair engulfed him. If only he could think of something. Anything. "Do we have a choice? We have no way of escape or of fighting."
Devyn flipped on the channel, but before he could offer peace, Irn's voice blared, "Prepare for boarding."
The Prixie pulled up in front of their visuals like a leech attaching itself to its victim's leg.
Sway shook his head. "I'm not looking forward to this dance."
Devyn snorted. "You think he'd believe our dance card is full?"
Alix stumbled into the control room, her breathing hard. "Quick, fire the rail guns."
Devyn made a split-second command decision. "Do it!" he ordered Sway.
Sway hit the release. A stream of gas shot out of their ship and into a nearby piece of debris. The impact sent the junk straight into Irn's ship and knocked it sideways.
"Yes!" Sway shouted, rising to his feet, his fists lifted in triumph.
Without thinking, Devyn grabbed Alix up into his arms and swung her around, laughing with relief. "What was that?"
She smiled down at him and he'd never seen anyone more beautiful, more creative. "I diverted the rail guns to project outside."
Her laughter lifted a weight from his chest and for a moment he forgot all their anger and remembered how she used to make
him feel.
"Dev—"
Another blast struck them. Fire exploded throughout the room and all hell burst loose.
Devyn tried to shield Alix, but the impact tore her from his arms and slammed him beneath the console. Equipment erupted into flames. Wires and rods hissed and popped all around them. Irn must have hit them with a particle beam.
Devyn tried to move, but pain engulfed him, stealing his breath. He rolled over onto his side. The fire's stifling heat and the fire extinguishers' stench weighed against him until he feared he'd lose consciousness.
Forcing himself up, he looked about for Sway and Alix.
Through the flames, he saw Alix struggling to rise near the door. "Are you all right?"
She coughed and nodded. "I think so."
Relieved, Devyn scanned the debris until his gaze fell to Sway. He blinked.
No. It was the smoke; it had to be. Horror filled him, and he wanted to drop to the floor.
"Oh, God, no!" Devyn shouted, fighting his way to his best friend, his brother.
He knelt beside Sway, who lay under Alix's chair. A long piece of twisted metal protruded from his chest. Blood covered him and leaked from his nose, eyes, and mouth. This couldn't be happening. Dear God, please. No!
"Sway?" Devyn asked, praying for a miracle as he pulled Sway into his arms. He couldn't die. Not Sway, not over a mistake he'd made. Please, don't do this to me! his mind screamed.
Sway opened his eyes, and Devyn knew his friend had accepted the inevitable.
"It really h-hurts," Sway gasped.
Alix crouched beside them. "Oh, Sway," she said, her voice cracking as she brushed his braids away from his face. "Don't talk."
Sway looked at her, his face contorting from his agony. He reached out to Alix. "No more stew, huh?"
Devyn's heart wrenched. He'd eat that wretched stew for every meal if Sway survived. Pulling off his shirt, he wrapped it around the steel. "Hang on, buddy. I'll—"
"No," Sway said, grabbing his hand with the weakest grip Devyn had ever felt. "Get to safety. I'm dead, you know that."
Agony filled Devyn's soul, bringing tears to his eyes. Before he could move or deny Sway's words, Sway hooked the open end of Alix's gyves to Devyn's wrist.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, his voice mixed with confusion, rage, and grief.
A sad smile curved Sway's lips. "I owe you for Claria." He coughed, sputtering blood over Devyn's chest.
"Sway!" he shouted, wiping at the blood, frantic over what that blood signified. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do!
Devyn unbuttoned Sway's shirt. Maybe he could pull the rod out and staunch the blood before it was too late. "Fight this for me," he begged, unable to accept reality.
Sway looked up at him. "Tell Claria . . ." The light faded from his eyes and his hand fell away.
Light-headed, Devyn just stared, helpless, furious, hurt. This couldn't be happening. Tears fell down his cheeks, but he didn't care. He reached for Sway's neck, trying desperately to feel a pulse, any sign of life.
Devyn touched Sway's cold cheek, his soul on fire from guilt and agony. He couldn't even revive him; the metal was embedded right where he needed to push.
"You can't do this!" Devyn snarled, wiping at the blood on Sway's face. "Oh God, please. Please!"
Alix reached out to comfort him. She pulled him into her arms, amazed he didn't resist. He sobbed against her shoulder like a babe, and her heart pounded in sympathetic pain, her chest tightening to the point that she could barely breathe.
The ship lurched.
Loud hissing seeped into the control room along with the bitter smell of melting steel. "They're coming aboard," Alix said, pulling back. "We've got to get out of here."
Devyn stood up so fast he almost wrenched her arm out of the socket.
"Careful," she snapped, pushing herself up.
Devyn looked around the room, then jerked furiously at the gyve on his wrist. "Damn it, where's the key to this thing?"
"I don't know; you had it in my room." He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "We'll worry about it later. C'mon."
Leading her into a narrow corridor off the helm, he pushed her down into an escape pod. She heard the loud snap as the control room door gave way to Irn's torches. Devyn closed the pod's door and jettisoned them.
They drifted away from the Mariah. Devyn fired the engines and they ran, dodging the shots Irn directed toward them.
Alix stared at the Mariah as it faded out of sight and her thoughts turned to the friend they'd left behind. Poor, sweet, kind Sway. He didn't deserve what had happened. Why couldn't it have been her? Devyn's grief reached out to her as he programmed coordinates. She touched his rigid shoulders, knowing he wouldn't find any solace in her touch. No doubt he hated her even more for this. If not for her, Irn wouldn't be after them and Sway wouldn't have died.
She choked on her tears, refusing to let them fall. For now she'd be strong for Devyn and help him. There was no telling where they were headed or what new threat they would face. She just prayed that somewhere nearby, there was a life-sustaining planet.
Chapter Twelve
In a bright flash of light that blinded Alix's sight, the Mariah disintegrated and Irn's two ships headed toward them. Flipping the controls, Devyn flew them into a wormhole and out of Irn's reach.
She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath of relief that at least for the moment they were safe. Yet Devyn sat before her more silent than the dark space outside, his grief hanging like a weight upon her shoulders.
"Is there a place we can land?" she asked, her voice seeming like a shout in the quiet stillness.
Devyn pressed keys, scanning the sector. "Sure," he said, his voice weary. "Placidity is within range."
"Placidity?" She smiled at the name. "It sounds nice."
"Great place," he grumbled. "We'll be lucky if the inhabitants don't shoot us on sight."
"Excuse me?"
He sighed and leaned his head into his hands. He looked so sad, so hurt, she ached. "They're religious refugees from Gelfara. They founded the planet's first colony almost two hundred years ago, and since then they've cut most contact with outside worlds for spiritual reasons."
She forced herself not to touch him and offer him solace. At the moment, he wouldn't welcome her touch. Concentrate on his words. "If they're so isolated, how do you know so much about them?"
"Zarina's brother, Tiernan, was assigned there a couple of years ago as a diplomat."
He tugged at her arm as he lifted his head and continued to type in coordinates.
His movement caused her breasts to graze up against his naked back and desire scorched her. Don't think about those muscles. But how could she not? Every time he moved, they rippled. And he was so close, so very close.
Her breathing erratic, she swallowed. She had to distract herself. "Why was he stationed there?"
"How the hell should I know? I'm not privy to Kirovion secret politics."
The anger in his voice cut sharper than a lason knife, but at least it curbed her desire. Alix sighed, her throat tight. "I'm sorry about Sway."
He faced her with a sneer that tore at her. "Don't offer me your pity or sympathy. Sway meant nothing to you."
Pain and shock consumed her. "You're wrong."
He snorted.
"Devyn," she begged, "I. . ." Her voice trailed off. What could she say?
He and Sway had grown up together. For the little time she had been with Devyn, she'd witnessed their close friendship. She couldn't imagine losing anyone that dear to her. "It must be like losing part of yourself," she said, then cringed as she realized she'd said the words aloud.
His body went rigid. "I was supposed to protect him," he whispered. "My God, I took an oath before his wife, his mother." His voice cracked. "How can I look Crill in the face and tell her that I let her eldest son die?"
Alix reached out and touched the hair at his nape, running her fingers through the silken strands.
She wanted to ease the agony that drew his body tighter than a spring. "Devyn, it's not your fault."
He bowed his head and she sensed the tears that gathered in his eyes. "Yes, it is. If only I'd carried weapons on board. One Gellon torpedo and I could have blasted that bastard straight to hell." He slammed his hand down on the console. "If only we hadn't fired that damn rail gun."
The League 3: Paradise City Page 16
