by T. M. Catron
“We can’t take another hit like that, Captain,” Solaris said.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Pretty drained already.”
She heard Solaris get up anyway, heard the soft snap of his staff as he extended it.
“Wait, Solaris, I have an idea. See that ravine? It’s too small for Xar’s ship.”
“I see it,” he said, sounding relieved.
Rance headed straight for it. By now, the smoke from the field hovered over everything. She dove back into it, relying on her mapping systems to get them where they needed to be. Another bot lay up ahead with smoke pouring out of its side. It appeared out of the smoke like a hulking monster, and Rance barely avoided it in time.
“I don’t see the Arlackens,” she said. Panic was setting in. She did not want to lose sight of their enemies unless it meant they were going to another star system.
“Me, either. The smoke is interfering with our sensors. Fortunately, it’s probably interfering with theirs, too.”
“Where is Unity?” Rance asked. “They should be engaging Xar’s ship by now.”
“Maybe they would like Xar to shoot us down.”
“I’d like to know how the Arlackens found us.”
“Seems everybody has spies these days.”
The ground dropped away below them and then reappeared. Rance had missed the ravine. She turned back and dove into it, flying under the smoke in the opposite direction from where she had seen the other starship. It was a deep gorge with a small but powerful current of water snaking through the bottom. At least, that’s what Deliverance told her. Rance couldn’t see the bottom at all. The smoke had made the night darker, and Rance was relying exclusively on the Star Streaker’s systems to keep her from bouncing off the rock walls. “Any sign of them?”
“Not yet.”
“Such confidence.”
“Do you think an alien warlord who travels halfway across this sector to avenge an imagined slight is going to give up so easily?”
The shadow of a stone arch moved over the top of the Streaker. Rance gritted her teeth, hoping it didn’t narrow further. The shields registered a few more hits, and Rance tightened her grip on the stick.
The smoke dissipated, and the gorge finally widened. Stars shone in the narrow strip of sky above them. Even though Rance could see, she became even more nervous. The rock walls were terrifyingly close. And it wouldn’t take long for Xar to figure out what they had done. “Deliverance, where does this gorge end?”
“You are heading upstream, Captain,” Solaris answered, reading Deliverance’s response so Rance could concentrate on flying. “In less than a kilometer, the Star Streaker will be too big for the walls.”
“Plan?”
“Get ready.”
“Are you going to use one of your wormhole things?”
“Can’t do that in atmosphere. I could tear the planet apart.”
Rance gaped at Solaris and almost turned to look at him. Instead, she had to concentrate on not crashing.
“Rance,” he said. “I’m kidding. You must think I’m powerful, huh?”
“Sounds like you’re feeling better. Get us out of here.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Before Solaris had a moment to gather himself, the first small fighters appeared. They zipped behind the Star Streaker, taking up positions and firing immediately.
“Solaris! Don’t do anything yet. I need your eyes on this!”
“Three enemy fighters. Triton’s beard, they’re fast. I want to know what kind of tech Xar—”
“Just keep your eyes on them!”
Rance swept around a curve in the gorge and then up. The Star Streaker left the canyon, and Rance punched it. They just needed a few seconds, then they could enter space and make the jump to hyperspace.
A few, precious seconds.
The fighters followed with ease. Now that they were in the open, everyone had more room to maneuver. Realizing she had been holding her breath, Rance let it out. Her sweaty palms wouldn’t grip the stick, and she had never before been so appreciative that James was the regular pilot and not her. She wasn’t quite brave enough to attempt an in-atmosphere jump as he would.
They headed back toward the city. Rance wanted to use the other launch activity for hiding. If anything, Unity would be there if Xar was bold enough to fire on her so close to a large population. She flew upward in erratic circles, dipping and diving to shake the fighters off her tail.
“Have you ever considered arming the Star Streaker, Captain?”
“Many times. Especially on days like today.”
“There he is!” Solaris said. “Get us into space, Captain!”
Xar’s ship appeared on the horizon, waiting in the glow of the city lights. Rance pulled up, and the Streaker responded. She streaked toward the stars. Xar’s starship followed. So did the fighters behind.
“Deliverance! I need hyperspace coordinates to the nearest star system.”
“We’ve got them, Captain,” Solaris said.
The fighters fired, this time catching the Streaker’s butt and sending shockwaves throughout the ship.
“Too late!” she yelled.
The shields were gone. More alarms sounded, and Rance braced herself for another volley of fire. The final one that would explode the Star Streaker into millions of pieces.
She saw Xar’s ship ahead. A missile streaked out from it, targeting her port side. The fighters fired from behind.
Caught at the moment between life and death, Rance heard everything. Henry whistled from somewhere behind her. She heard Solaris breathing. Heard her own heartbeat as if it were in her ears. Heard the alarms. She jerked the controls, desperate to save them all. To keep them all alive.
To find her mother.
The ship jerked forcefully, throwing Rance forward. She saw the stars above, waited for a blaze of fire. For a crushing blow as the ship disintegrated. For the moment of death.
It didn’t come.
The ship turned hazy blue like it was in hyperspace, except the cockpit seemed to be in hyperspace, not the ship.
Rance forced herself to turn. Solaris stood in the center of the cockpit, his staff on the floor, his face contorted in concentration. A second later, he stopped whatever he was doing, and sank into his chair with a strangled cry.
Wanting to go to him but suddenly aware that the ship needed a pilot, Rance turned her attention back to the screen. They were in space now. She turned to port, narrowly avoiding colliding with another ship in her flight path. It was sleek, black, dangerous.
On her screen, other ships finally engaged the fighters that had been following Rance, but the skirmish was moving away. “Harper!” she yelled. “We need you up here! Solaris is hurt!”
“I’m okay,” he croaked. “What happened?”
“We’re in space. Unity finally went after Xar. It doesn’t look like he’ll bother us for a bit.”
Rance brought the Star Streaker around.
“What are you doing, Captain?”
“Looking for that shuttle that grabbed my mother. The transport was too small for a hyperdrive. It must have docked with a larger ship.”
“Like that one,” Solaris said, pointing to a dot on his screen.
A black Renegade was moving away from the planet. It was the one the Streaker had almost collided with. It looked similar to the other Renegades that size, but it was sleeker and armed more than any other ship Rance had seen.
“How do you know that’s the one?” Rance asked as she headed for it.
“It’s Orion’s ship,” Solaris said grimly. “I would know it anywhere.”
“Orion? Then let’s get him!”
“Umm…” Solaris said.
Rance rounded on Solaris. His face was pale, dripping with sweat.
“We have to get my mother, Solaris. What does Orion want with her?”
Solaris wiped the sweat with his sleeve. “I have a theory. But I strongly recommend you c
hange course. Orion is the one who knocked me down. That’s why I lost my grip on the spacetime around us. I think he now knows I am on this ship.”
“Captain,” Tally said over the comm.
Rance had forgotten their conversation was still being broadcast throughout the ship. With all the commotion and her focus on staying alive, she’d blocked out everything except what was in the cockpit.
“Yes, Tally? Hang in there.”
Tally’s voice sounded weak. “Assuming you could even catch Orion’s ship, have you thought about what you would do? Do you plan on a boarding party?”
Talley’s question held a rebuke.
“What else do you suggest?” Rance tried to keep the anger out of her voice. Orion had kidnapped her mother.
“Caution,” Tally whispered.
“Captain,” Solaris said. “Tally is right. There’s no way we can get on that ship. We need to find out where it’s going.”
The Renegade maneuvered away from the planet. Then, in a flash of blue, it disappeared. With a pang of sorrow, Rance’s heart seemed to break into a thousand pieces. Jane was on that ship. And she was gone. “Do you know, Solaris?”
“No,” he said, “but your mother did.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rance and Solaris had retreated into the hold. They needed to get away from the planet, but they had to tend to their injured. And they needed a direction.
The silence between them was long and awkward. Rance was partially in shock at the events. She replayed them over and over in her mind. The Galaxy Wizards, the android, the thugs, the reaper, the Arlackens.
Rance’s oldest friend Tally was gravely injured. He had been standing behind one of the crates when it exploded. After moving the crates and debris out of the way, they found the med bay undamaged. Tally lay inside the medical pod, tended to by Harper, who was also checking James. Beyond being temporarily dazed, the pilot’s injuries could have been worse. He would soon be fit enough to fly.
Rance had already got her leg bandaged. It still burned and pain shot through it when she walked, but no serious injury had been done to either her or Solaris.
The pain helped clear her head. With everything stabilized, Rance’s shock was boiling into anger.
Anger at the Wizards for taking her mother—her mother, Jane of House Davos. Anger at being delayed by those thugs. At Xar. Frustration at Solaris for not disguising them all sooner. And disgust with herself for being distracted by Solaris’ charm.
Rance began pacing the hold, limping back and forth in front of the med bay door. Solaris glanced at her while he watched Harper work on James. Abel had already begun to clean up the mess. Broken pottery, bits of metal, and packing material littered the deck.
“What are they going to do to my mother?” Rance asked Solaris.
“Probably nothing if she cooperates. They want that other sword. Legend says there are two. If Jane found one, I’m sure she has her guesses about the other.”
“We don’t even know where she found the first one. Why didn’t you mention this sooner, before she was taken?”
“How could I say anything without giving away my identity to your mother? We didn’t even know what she had until we entered that basement.”
Rance resumed her pacing. Solaris was correct. They had made the decision not to tell her mother who he was. If they had, today might have turned out differently.
“Where are they?” James called out to them.
“Mother mentioned finding the sword on one of the Five Sisters,” Rance said. Had that only been three days ago? “And she had wanted us to take her there, remember?”
“How much you want to bet that’s where they’re going?” Solaris asked.
“What else is on the Five Sisters besides ice caves and saunas?” Rance asked.
“Don’t know,” James said. “I’ve never been there.”
“Neither have I,” Solaris said.
James pulled a mock face. Then, he winced. “You mean there’s a planet you’ve never been to? What have you been doing, Wizard, hiding under a rock?”
“James,” Rance warned. “Shove it. I’m in no mood for your goofing off.”
James blinked. Even when Rance didn’t participate in his joking, she always put up with it. But Rance’s anger was growing. She couldn’t put it aside.
“Captain,” James said seriously. “We’re going to help you.”
Rance stopped her pacing and headed toward the stair. She used her sleeve to dab the moisture at the corner of her eyes. “I know. I’m going to plot a course for the Five Sisters. Harper, when you’re done with James, gather as much data as you can. I want to know what we’re up against when we get there. James, when you’re ready, come to the cockpit. I’ll fly, but I could use you up there.”
“Yes, Captain,” Harper said.
“Yes, Captain,” everyone echoed.
Everyone except Tally, who was sleeping in the emergency pod. The pod was capable of simple surgery, and it had been able to close the wound in Tally’s abdomen and administer antibiotics and pain relievers. Rance wondered how well they worked on Graekens. But he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and for that she was grateful.
In the next few minutes, James felt well enough to plot a course and make the jump to hyperspace himself. Rance and Deliverance double-checked his coordinates before giving the okay. Flying came automatically to James, like breathing. Despite his recent injury, he entered hyperspace so smoothly that Rance barely felt the bump.
Back in the cargo hold, Jane’s mountains of crates loomed over everything. Rance stood at the top of the stairs, looking over it. Abel was there cleaning. Solaris and James joined them a minute later. Solaris’ nose was red and swollen, but he had refused a bandage. At least he had cleaned away the blood. James, who had not refused the bandage Harper had applied to his forehead, descended the stairs to help Abel. Weary and drained, Rance sat on the top step. She was going to help clean up, but for a moment, she needed to gather herself.
Solaris sat beside her. He cleared his throat a couple of times but didn’t say anything.
Rance ignored him. Instead, she thought about all the things that had gone wrong since the last time they were in hyperspace.
Solaris cleared his throat again.
Rance sighed. “Say what you want to say.”
Solaris held out his hand. In his palm was a small, squid-shaped device—a Zeus Ghost. Surprised, Rance looked into his eyes.
“This doesn’t mean we’re getting married or anything,” he said with a smile, “but it’s newly hacked. Harper and Deliverance made sure that no one—not your father, not even Zeus Corp—can find you with it.”
Rance’s mouth dropped open. “You bought it for me? When did you find the time?”
Solaris took a deep breath. “I went out for it when we landed on Iliea 4.”
“And you’ve been carrying it all this time?”
“Never found a good time to give it to you, with your mother and the museum and the thugs and Wizards.”
“Don’t forget Xar.”
Solaris shook his head. “Not likely to. That was some pretty great flying you did, Captain. You talk about James’ talents, but you’re not so bad yourself.”
He held out the Ghost.
Rance took it and turned it over a few times. “I don’t think I can accept such a nice gift.”
“You don’t have to.” Solaris winked. “I bought it with your money.”
Rance rolled her eyes.
“Seriously, though,” he said. “It’s already set to pair with your NNR and ZOD. No one else can use it now—you have to take it.”
Solaris took the device back from her. “May I?” he asked, gesturing to her ear.
Rance shifted so he could insert the Ghost into her right ear. As soon as it detected its surroundings, the device came alive. Rance gasped as it wriggled down into her ear canal. The little tentacles pinched her inner ear as it burrowed down, but when it stopped moving, all th
e pain was gone.
Text scrolled across Rance’s ZOD as it recognized the device. When it finished, Rance put her hand to her ear. Next time she needed it to, the Ghost would play audible messages so she wouldn’t have to read them. “Most men just give a girl jewelry,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah, well,” Solaris said, turning red. “I’m not most men.”
“Ha,” she said softly. “No kidding.”
Rance hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck to say thank you. She avoided touching his back and shoulder where he’d been burned. Solaris returned the hug.
“This is the first time you’ve hugged me,” he said against her ear. “We’ve kissed, but not hugged.”
Rance laughed and wiped away the tear rolling down her cheek. Then she let go. “Thank you for my gift,” she whispered.
Uncomfortable with Solaris’ intense gaze, Rance turned to face the hold again. She leaned her shoulder against his, though, feeling like his presence was a balm for her raw soul. Accepting gifts from Solaris didn’t feel appropriate with her mother kidnapped and the world turned upside down. But Rance appreciated his gesture, and she wouldn’t ruin it by refusing the gift.
“Something else is bothering me about all of this,” Solaris whispered.
“More than being chased across the galaxy by Arlackens and dumped in a tank with a man-eating fish?”
“Orion.” Solaris paused to rub a hand across his day-old whiskers. “Why did he steal it and not go through official channels?”
“Would he have been able to obtain a warrant?”
“Yes. The Wizards have been granted too much power with some things. They get by with it because they are useful. A warrant would have been easy.”
“He didn’t want anyone to know he had the sword once he got it.”
“Correct,” Solaris said, frowning. “And no one would have known, except you happened to be with your mother when he caught her.”
“And you happened to be with me,” Rance said. “If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t have guessed the thief was one of only two people who could change his retinal signature. I had assumed Orion stole it so he could become more powerful?”
