A Star Pilot's Hero (All the Stars in the Sky Book 2)

by Eva Delaney

  A slow grin crossed my face. Mr. Pancake actually did it. He brought down the shields.

  The air roared like an oncoming storm, quickly growing louder and louder. The pew pew pew of ship plasma guns followed.

  A BloodClaw class ship swooped over the palace, a squad of patrol ships on its tail.

  I sighed in relief. Orion, Hamal, and Rux were here.

  The ship circled the spire, plasma guns firing steady streams of superheated gas. The tip of the hub’s golden spire wept as its sides melted under the heat. It groaned, wavered, and then tipped over, crashing down into the palace roof below.

  The ship came to a perfect stop over the gaping hole at the top of the tower. That beautiful flying was my Orion.

  The patrol ships circled the fighter, drowning it in plasma. Every shot skidded off the shields, but soon those fell. The ship’s sides scorched, melted, and peeled off under the onslaught.

  The fighter ship thundered as the engine was breached, and it exploded over the palace, debris raining down.

  My heart clenched. I could only hope that Orion, Hamal, and Rux had escaped the ship and entered the hub before it blew.

  If they hadn’t…

  “Etreans,” Polaris said, breaking me from my thoughts. His voice trembled just a little as it blared from the square’s screens. The live feed was somehow still going despite the turn it had taken against the queen and prince.

  “Crime syndicates, noble families, common people; the palace’s shields are down. This is your chance to free Etrea from Queen Asherah and the Supremacy. This is your chance to forge a new future, to no longer live in poverty while hiding in tunnels. Come and take what is yours!”

  I smiled. I had never been so proud of anyone before.

  “Etrean Resistance,” Ursa shouted. “You know me as the Seer, the Woods Witch, the Spy. I’ve been providing you intel for years. Now, I call on you to stop hiding, to stand up, and retake our home!”

  Queen Asshat collapsed to her knees under the weight of her failure.

  Castor sipped his wine and turned to me. “Captain Bellatrix, I would have thought you’d be flying that ship.”

  My skin prickled. He was altogether too calm given that the battle had turned against him.

  “You’re going to order all guards and ships to stand down or else we shoot the queen.”

  “Go ahead,” Castor said. “What do I care?”

  Asherah’s mouth dropped open.

  “Then we’ll shoot you instead,” I said.

  Castor tsked. “I can’t carry out your order if I’m unconscious or dead. Torture works much better. Now, answer me this, Captain, are you jealous?”

  I didn’t know what he was talking about, and I didn’t care. “I would rather be eaten by zombies than be a pompous ass like you.”

  Castor looked amused, and it made me want to punch him. “Indeed. However, you do want what I have.” His gaze slid to Antares and flicked to Mr. Pancake, who plopped down on his human’s boot.

  The dour man kept his blaster and gaze fixed on the queen. “You don’t have me. You just think you own everyone and everything around you. Too bad you’re marrying him,” he added to Asherah.

  “Well, she won’t be after this,” Castor said. “If she doesn’t rule Etrea, what use is she?”

  “You asshole,” Queen Asherah snapped at him. “If I end up back in dank tunnels, I will hunt you and kill you.”

  “You won’t be the first to attempt it,” Castor said and sipped his wine. I smacked it from his hand and the glass shattered on the queen’s train.

  “Shit,” she said.

  “Order the ships and the guards in the hub to stand down,” I said through clenched teeth.

  Castor simply lowered his hand as though nothing had happened. “Well, that is quite enough of your endearing presence and lowly schemes, Captain Bellatrix. You’ll discover that I’m a quick learner. I no longer underestimate you.”

  My stomach clenched. Fuck. I raised my gun at him as a dozen dragon drones flew from the palace door.

  “Take them alive,” Castor commanded. “I want to have some fun with them.”

  Chapter 43

  When the first shot boomed out, I crumpled to the ground as though hit. I just went limp, dropped my weapon and fell, shutting my eyes.

  I couldn’t shut out the sounds of my people thumping to the ground around me.

  I didn’t know if Polaris, Antares, Mr. Pancake, Ursa, Major, and Ms. Sweet Potato were okay. They could have hit their heads on the way down and cracked their skulls.

  But if I opened my eyes to check on them, Castor would realize I was faking and would shoot me. Staying awake was my only chance of rescuing everyone.

  I couldn’t move, couldn’t see, couldn’t do anything but hold myself limp, blind and helpless. It was as though the darkness behind my eyelids closed in around me like a coffin.

  The ground thrummed with the vibrations of dozens of feet. More soldiers, I guessed.

  Mr. Pancake snarled, and someone cried out in pain. “Get him off!”

  “Why didn’t those damn robots shoot the animals too?” Queen Asherah said.

  “Because I ordered them to take these rebels alive,” Castor said calmly. “Stun shots are designed to knock out humans. They would kill something so small as that dog and cat. Find a box or crate for them, then take them to the dungeons with the rest of the scum.”

  I wanted to sigh in relief that Castor wasn’t harming the animals, but the slightest movement could give me away. I forced my breath to be steady and slow.

  I had to bide my time, wait until there were fewer robots and guards around so I could take them down on my own.

  “Drones, remain here to protect the palace from the plebeian scum who might attack it,” Castor said. “Guards, prepare my ship.”

  My heart thundered in my ears, all the louder because I couldn’t clench my fists or curse or try to stop Castor.

  “Is this the end of our engagement?” Asherah said, her voice defeated.

  “Well, we’ll see if you’re still useful to the Rigel family after all this.”

  “Not all of us walk through life steeped in power no matter how many times we fuck up,” Asherah said. “Some of us have to claw our way to the top. I will do it again, and when I do, you will regret throwing me away.”

  Fuck, I understood her. I had fought my way up from the streets of Erow. And like her, I risked losing my position because of Castor.

  “This was hardly a small mistake,” Castor said.

  “It’s your mistake as much as mine. What will you lose for it?”

  Castor was silent.

  “I fought for and won everything I have,” Asherah said. “What have you earned?”

  I couldn’t believe it, but I was starting to like Asherah; or at least, not hate her entirely. Anyone who stood up to Castor won points with me.

  “Because I was born to my position does not mean I failed to earn it,” Castor said, coldly. “If you had ever lived in a real royal court, you would know that. Now, remove yourself from my sight. Guards, get these rebels in the dungeon. I’ll be flying out to stop any criminals with the mad idea that they can conquer one of my worlds.”

  His bootsteps were quick and soft as he marched away, leaving his guards to deal with us. They spoke little, and I could only guess at what they were doing until someone gripped me under the arms.

  My skin crawled at the foreign touch. Another soldier lifted my ankles, and I hung limp between, letting my head loll.

  My back hit a padded surface and the hands left me there. I guessed I was on a hovering gurney. I couldn’t feel it move, but the smell of the air shifted over the next few minutes. The stale stink of the square gave way to a fresher smell full of trees, which changed to a damp musty scent. Mr. Pancake whined somewhere nearby, and every sad little sound shot an ache through my chest.

  “Put the couple in the cell over there,” someone said. A door hissed open and shut with cold finality.


  “And the prince’s pet?”

  “Lock him up alone with the animals. Let him deal with their crying.” Another door hissed open and shut.

  “Need any more help?” the voice said.

  “No, you go on and fly out with our prince. I’ll deal with the last two.”

  Boots thumped on the floor, growing quieter. Someone near my feet sighed.

  I cracked open an eye, just a bit.

  A soldier at my feet dragged my gurney into a cell lit only by the yellow light spilling in through the open door.

  His gaze landed on my open eye.

  I smashed my heels into his hands. He cried out as I leaped off the gurney and slammed into him. He was fucking sturdy though and didn’t fall.

  His elbow dug into my chest, knocking the breath out of me. He grabbed my arms and threw me to the floor. My back groaned as I slammed into the concrete.

  He jumped on top of me, pinning me to the floor, wrapping a hand around my throat.

  But I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to wrestle. I was here for his gun. I fumbled it from his belt as he glared down at me with fiery rage and sweat beading on his forehead. He hissed something under his breath, and his grip tightened around my neck.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  But I could shoot.

  I pressed the barrel of his gun against his ribs. He tensed, his eyes going wide as he realized what was happening.

  Too late.

  I angled the barrel upwards toward his heart and fired.

  He went limp as I had, only this time, it wasn’t faked. His dead weight collapsed on top of me. I grunted and cursed as I heaved him off.

  His armor hadn’t stopped the laser shot, but it did catch a lot of the blood. Only a few spots stained my dress. His eyes stared lifeless up at the ceiling. I felt his neck just to be sure he was dead.

  When I remembered the feel of his clammy hands trying to choke the life from me, I was glad I had shot him. When I looked at those dead eyes, I wasn’t.

  I climbed to my feet and hurried to the cell door, peering around it. The dungeon corridor was gray with scoffed walls that wept old water like the tears of prisoners.

  It stood empty but for a hovering gurney with Polaris on top. His hand hung limp and lifeless over its edge.

  My feet ran to him of their own accord. I clutched his hand in both of mine and squeezed hard. His skin was still warm, but bodies retained heat for hours after death. I had found enough corpses in the streets of Erow after the Supremacy invasion to have learned that.

  My fingers trailed up his wrist and pushed against the thin skin. A gentle thump pulsed against my fingertip, and a small sound escaped my lips as I sighed.

  I opened the nearest two cells to find Ursa, Major, Antares, and the pets. They were alive and uninjured, except for the large bumps forming on the humans’ heads from their falls.

  Okay, I needed adrenaline to wake them up. I ran down the corridor past cell after cell after cell. I paused at each to peer in through their little windows. All were empty, and I shuddered when I remembered why.

  The queen killed all her prisoners. She didn’t keep any alive to fill the dungeon.

  I ran until I found a first aid kit at an emergency station. It was small and had only one shot of adrenaline.

  Shit.

  Ursa knew her way around Etrea. She knew the rebels who might storm the palace and could get them to join us to extract Orion, Hamal, and Rux from the hub.

  Major had the same advantages, and size to boot. He might be good in a fight and could easily drag the others out of here on gurneys.

  Antares was one of the biggest bad-asses I knew. He had leaped right over a line of guards without being shot. He knew how to sneak around; he knew how to piss off Castor.

  And Polaris…he wasn’t experienced in battle. He didn’t know how to fight or shoot. He wouldn’t want to hurt or kill anyone. He could hack doors, but the biggest risk here wasn’t doors, it was soldiers and ships.

  He had done his job and done it well. The palace’s shields were down. Now we needed fighters and pilots in order to escape and take down the Supremacy forces.

  But I knew already who I would give the single dose of adrenaline to. I knew it deep in my bones and the core of my heart.

  I tilted Polaris’s head to the side. My hand itched to trace the curve of his jaw.

  Fuck, it was never the right time.

  I prepped the needle and jammed it into his neck. Polaris sat bolt upright. I yanked the needle from him before he noticed it was there.

  “Cal,” he gasped, grabbing my shoulders.

  “Hurry up, we need to steal uniforms, get the others on a ship, rescue Orion, Hamal, and Rux, and get the fuck off Etrea.”

  “What is happening?” he said, dazed from the stun shot.

  “Po?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you in Canis Major? Because it’s time to get Sirius.”

  Polaris froze for a minute, blinking at me. A slow grin spread across his face, bringing his dimples with it. He laughed.

  “Can you stand?” I said.

  “I think so.”

  “We need to get the others on these gurneys and find a ship. We’re late to pick up Orion and co.”

  He nodded, his eyes hazy. “First, one other thing.”

  Polaris grabbed my hair at the back of my head, not enough to hurt, just enough so I couldn’t ignore him or move away. My nipples grew hard under my dress.

  His full, warm lips covered mine.

  The kiss was rough. There was none of the shyness I was used to. He didn’t blush and he didn’t hesitate. Here, alone, our roles were reversed.

  Po took control of my mouth, guiding my lips like I guided ships through asteroids. I shivered under his touch. A fire burned through my veins like plasma.

  He pulled back, both of us breathing heavily. I stared at him. He stared back, eyes full of excitement and wonder and desire.

  “Now, we can go save the others,” he said.

  Chapter 44

  The palace trembled and even down here on the lower levels, the roar of ship engines echoed.

  Get away, get away, my every nerve screamed. But I did not run as I pushed a gurney along the wide, columned corridors of the palace. Running would bring suspicion.

  I adjusted the white sheet that hid Antares and the two little crates that held the pets on the gurney. I glanced back. Decked in a gold and green Rigel uniform, Polaris pushed another hovering gurney. That one’s sheet hid Ursa, who we had laid on top of Major.

  Far away, the air whooshed, and a moment later the palace shuddered. Missiles. People threw their arms over their heads and ran. I kept walking but picked up my pace.

  I knew those sounds anywhere. I knew the feeling of a building trembling under falling bombs and plasma shots.

  We were in a war, an invasion.

  I would rather be in a ship during a battle, not trapped down here in a massive target. It wasn’t safer up there—pilots died in flaming crashes all the time. But in my ship with powerful cannons at my control and an engine that could make me move two hundred kilometers a second, it felt safer.

  The good thing about the invasion was that no one paid Polaris and me any attention. They were too busy rushing to defend the palace or to flee it. Nobody stopped or questioned us.

  We pushed the hovering gurneys into a docking bay that stood empty except for a single ship.

  “Fuck yeah,” I said as my gaze landed on the Blade Star. It was the same model of ship we had stolen from Castor. It was wide like the curving wings of a hawk in flight, the edges jagged with guns and shield generators.

  It was the last Blade Star here and probably belonged to the man I had killed.

  It would hold up to enemy fire—or friendly fire since we would be in a Supremacy ship—while we extracted Orion, Hamal, and Rux from the hub.

  Assuming they were still alive.

  I left Antares and the others in Polaris’s care and drew my gun t
o search the ship, finding it empty. While Polaris broke the ship’s engine lock, I strapped the others safely into chairs.

  I jumped into the pilot’s seat, strapping in with one hand while I powered up the ship with the other. My every nerve was taut, my heart racing and my blood cold.

  What if Orion, Hamal, and Rux lay dead in the hub or worse, tortured, mind melted, or transported off world?

  What if I had to see them dead, broken, or dying and know I had failed them?

  “Cal?” Polaris said.

  I was no good to anyone sitting here and worrying. I grabbed the ship’s controls and lifted off the docking bay floor.

  Thirty seconds later, I circled the palace from above.

  Both the air inside the dome and space above churned with ships and plasma fire. The small patrol ships swarmed under the dome—only now some of them were streaked with blue paint, the color of The Uprising. Cargo ships and fighters swooped and fired and fell and crashed and exploded. Some of the walkways between moons shattered; someone had downed their vaporizers.

  Polaris and Ursa had called for their people to overthrow the Supremacy. The local rebels had answered.

  Laced through all the chaos, the black-and-red ships of Castor’s fleet dived like hawks hunting pigeons. Fast, sleek, and deadly, they out-flew and out-shot everyone around them.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. That one small fleet of Castor’s could wipe out the rebels.

  It was Sule all over again.

  “There they are!” Polaris shouted, bringing me back to the present.

  He pointed, and I followed his finger down to the roof of the palace. In places, it had collapsed to gaping holes. In other spots it burned red from plasma fire, the gold starting to go soft and gooey from the heat.

  Among the mess, three small figures clustered at the base of the communications hub. Their backs were lumpy and hunchbacked with equipment. One stood taller and darker than the others, holding up a shorter person. He could barely stand as blood ran down his torso and legs.

  “Fuck,” I said.

  My hands flew across the controls as I pulled the ship above them and lowered it down toward the roof.

  The ship shuddered and all its alarms blared. A squad of patrollers swooped over us with a roar.