Star Raiders (14 page)

“Those weren’t Fiske’s men.” Her voice was grim. “Fiske’s people would never use laser pistols; their components start to rust after a few days. He uses water cannons. Blasts people off their feet and drowns them.”

“Harmless, eh?”

She shrugged. “Like I said, it wasn’t Fiske.”

“Dempster?”

“He lured us into a trap. But where in the jerking stars is he?” She slapped her palm on the console. “We couldn’t have missed his ship. It’s too big to hide.”

“He doesn’t have to be here to rig a trap. He could have paid off Fiske. Or he could have a smal er ship than his usual battle cruiser—he’s an expert at falsifying locator IDs, remember. Are we being pursued?”

She shook her head. “Nothing on the scope.
Independence
would cal us if there was anything out there waiting.”

The engine made a grinding noise, and the ship lurched, throwing Greyson onto his injured arm. Acrid smoke seeped out of the control console, fil ing the air with toxic fumes.

“Damn, navigation is out! Vent the cabin,” Shyanne commanded.

Coughing, Greyson sealed off the leak and vented the cabin. “Ten minutes and we’re out of air,” he warned, seeing the gauges.

“Strap in. If we lose power before we break out of the gravitational pul , we’l crash long before we suffocate.”

While she struggled to maintain control of
Liberty
, Greyson fastened their safety harnesses.

“Able, come in,” she cal ed, trying desperately to contact
Independence
.

“…hear you…break…up. What’s your…babe?” the man’s voice crackled over the com.

“Navigation is gone! The engine is stal ing! We won’t be able to break out of the gravitational field! Five minutes to thruster failure. Mark our signal for pickup.” His voice was suddenly clear: “We’re coming in for you, babe.”

“No! You can’t do a suborbital pickup. Not this close, in this soup…” They hadn’t broken out of the planet’s thick cloud cover yet. “Abort! That’s an order,” she shouted.

“Can’t hear you, babe. You’re breaking up.” Able’s voice came through even louder and clearer.

“Able, damn your shiny bald head! If you crash my ship, I’l …I’l hold you down while Terle tattoos gray hair on it!”

“Hold her steady, babe. Two minutes to rendezvous,” Able promised.

Greyson helped hold
Liberty
on course as her engines bucked and wheezed.

Outside, heavy gray clouds swirled around them; then a dark shape loomed up out of nowhere:
Independence
. The docking bay doors slid open. Light spil ed out into the gloom.

“Reverse thrusters are out!” Shy yel ed over the grinding roar of the damaged engines. “We’re coming in fast and hard!”

Without direction, Greyson cut the thrusters as Shyanne steered them toward the welcoming portal. Silence descended, but
Liberty
didn’t slow.

“Force field web is up,” Able answered.

“If it doesn’t hold, we’l be coming out the other side!”

“It’l hold,” Able assured them. “Twenty seconds to impact.”

“It’s going to be a bumpy landing.”

Greyson reached for her hand. “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.” She gave him a wobbly grin in reply.

If he was going to die, he had to tel her how he felt. That he loved her.

“Shyanne, if we don’t make it, I want you to know—”

“Don’t!” She pul ed free.

Liberty
plowed into the electronic webbing. The impact threw them forward into their harnesses, then back against their seats. For a moment Greyson’s vision blurred. His teeth tore through his tongue. The pain kept him from blacking out, and the metal ic taste of blood fil ed his mouth.

Before the ship could bounce back out and plummet to the planet’s surface, Able erected another field behind them. In seconds,
Liberty
had shuddered to a stop. With a groan, Greyson turned to check on Shyanne. Eyes closed, her head lol ed against the seat.

No!
“Shyanne!”

He ripped off his harness and felt her neck. Beneath his fingers, her pulse beat strong and fast. She raised her head and blinked up at him.

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good one, right?” Relief flooded his veins. He released her harness and lifted her in his arms.

“I can walk,” she protested.

“You aren’t doing any walking until Eldin checks you out.”

“Your arm—”

“Is fine. Don’t argue. Don’t you dare argue.”

Though being in Greyson’s arms felt right, Shy knew it was wrong. Despite the fact that they’d made love, she couldn’t trust him. The stakes were too high. If it were just her future, she’d take the risk, but she couldn’t gamble with Rian’s life. But…

was it a gamble?

She knew Greyson would never harm a child. And if he knew about Rian, he’d do everything he could to protect the boy. But what would that mean? As the son of a known criminal, Rian had no rights under Earth law. On the other hand, he was also Greyson’s son. Where did that put him? Would he be safer in Greyson’s world and care than in hers? Not knowing ripped at her heart. Could she give him up if he were better off and Greyson wanted him? How could she not?

If they succeeded in capturing Dempster, she wouldn’t have to. She’d have a pardon. She could take Rian and start a new life. Greyson would never have to know about his son. But if they failed, she knew she’d have to give Rian into Greyson’s care and vanish.

She couldn’t keep him in the dark forever about herself, though. Especial y if she brought him with her, eventual y the boy would learn who and what she real y was. She couldn’t bear to see the same pain in his eyes that she’d felt when she discovered the truth about her father. To spare Rian that, she’d do whatever it took.

Liberty
’s hatch opened. Light, along with fresh air, spil ed into the ship. That set her to coughing. Damon and Eldin rushed inside.

She could hear Able shouting over the com. “Babe! Answer me. Are you al right?” She tried to answer, but coughed instead.

Eldin leaned over her. “Get her to the med bay.” She wanted to tel him she was fine, but couldn’t catch her breath. When she blacked out, she must have inhaled fumes. When he tried to put a portable oxygen mask over her face, she pushed it away.

She could feel
Independence
’s engines straining to break free of the planet’s gravitational pul . She slipped out of Greyson’s arms to stand upright. His unwil ingness to let her go echoed her reluctance to leave. “There’s no time,” she told them. “It’s going to take our help to get
Independence
out of Ramin Five’s gravitational pul .”

The ship rol ed thirty degrees to port. Greyson caught her before she hit the wal . “Bear,” she yel ed into her com. “More power to the port thruster! Able, give her more juice!”

“If we do that, she’l go red,” Able shouted back. “We’l lose an engine.”

“We don’t have a choice. Better one engine than a whole ship.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.”

Shy struggled to pul air into her raw lungs as she ran toward the bridge.

Greyson fol owed. Eldin headed for the med bay to prepare for handling their injuries. Damon went to help Bear in the engine room.

Four long minutes later, she reached the bridge. Warning alarms wailed. Lights flashed and flickered. Sparks jumped. Streamers of colored smoke curled in the air. Shy took the helm.

Able silenced the alarms, and the only sound was the shril whine of the engines and the snap and crackle of smal electrical fires burning around the room.

Terle and Greyson smothered them while she and Able fought to keep
Independence
in the air. The ship was designed for space flight, not atmospheric travel, especial y not across a water-laden atmosphere like Ramin Five. She closed down the ports that scooped the tiny specks of matter floating in the vacuum of space to supplement the fuel, but she could already feel the drag in the engine as oxygen and water clogged the works.

Shy read the gauges. Inch by inch, the ship was sinking. Another two hundred feet and they’d never be able to break free of the planet.

She rotated the ship until it pointed straight toward the stars, rerouted power from the stabilizers and artificial gravity to the thrusters. The move pushed Able and her into their seats and tossed Greyson and Terle against the back wal . She struggled to breathe against the pressure. At ful power, the ship held its position but didn’t pul out. Its own weight stil tethered it to the planet.

Giving a low thump, an engine failed and Shy felt it. As gravity counteracted their thrust, the pressure on her chest eased, al owing her to breathe, but fear made her gasp.
Independence
was going down. If the remaining engine didn’t burn out, she might be able to manage a control ed crash, but once they were down they’d never get up again. Surviving the crash might be possible. Surviving the planet? No. Crashing on Ramin Five was definitely not an option.

She rerouted the last bit of power from life support. It worked. They stopped fal ing. But for how long? And how long could they last without life support? The remaining engine groaned.

Greyson pul ed himself up next to her. Blood trickled from a cut over his eye.

“Terle’s unconscious,” he reported.

“Eject the bridge.” Damon’s voice sounded calm over the roar of the engine and the shril shriek of metal against metal.

“Get up here and I wil ,” she told him.

“There’s no time. Do it now.”

“We have five minutes until the second engine fails. Move your asses!”

“No can do, Captain. Lifts are out.”

“Get to the docking bay. Launch one of the smal er ships. I’l hold her long enough for you to get away.”

“Eldin’s trapped in the med bay,” Damon said. “And if Bear leaves the engines, you won’t have five seconds. Eject. Now. It’s your only chance.” Her hand hovered over the keypad. Physical y, it would be easy to do. The mechanism functioned at the touch of one button. Emotional y, it would be the hardest thing she’d ever done. Pressing that button would save her, Able, Terle and Greyson but kil the others. Unless they could terminate it, ejecting the bridge set off a self-destruct command that would obliterate them. Then they’d have to survive the crash.

“Think of Rian. He needs you.” Eldin’s voice was soft and sad over the com.

Because of her, Kedar—her father—rotted in a Consortium prison. This close to dying, she let herself acknowledge his place in her heart. Could she live with the guilt of kil ing her companions, her friends, her family?

Do it.
Bear’s response appeared on her screen.

Tears of rage stung her eyes. She shouldn’t have to choose. “Able?” He shook his head. “It’s your cal .”

She reached out to punch in the command. Greyson’s fingers closed over hers, stopping her. Her head whipped around to meet his gaze.

“There’s another option,” he rasped. “Go to FTL.”

“That’s suicide!” Able said. “First we’l fal like a rock for twenty seconds. Then, when we engage the FTL, the oxygen around us wil ignite and blow us apart before we escape.”

“No, it won’t,” Greyson insisted. “The air’s too thin and water-laden.”

“Better to take our chances on the surface. After we land, we can use the smal er ships to get off planet,” Able countered.

“If they survive. If we survive.” His gaze locked with Shy’s. “Trust me, it’s our best option.”

In that moment, Shy decided to trust him. “Sorry, Able, he’s right. Hang on!” She cut the thrusters.
Independence
went into free fal . Greyson grabbed hold of the edge of the console as he flew upward. Shy felt Terle’s body thump against the back of her seat, then bounce away. For twenty long seconds,
Independence
tumbled toward the planet.

“Now!” Greyson shouted.

She hit the FTL control. In the vacuum of space, the shift from engine thrusters to FTL was a mere blip of spatial disturbance, but in a planet’s gravity and atmosphere the effect was like being turned inside out. Space and time slowed and twisted. Shy’s stomach turned. Her vision distorted. Colors flowed into piercing sounds that penetrated her brain. Sound crawled like spiders across her flesh. Her scream tasted of blood. Seconds stretched into agonizing hours.

Then it was over.
Independence
righted herself, flowing smoothly into the FTL

slipstream.

Reality returned to normal, but Shy doubted she ever would. With each heavy beat of her heart, her head and body throbbed. She forced her eyes open and checked the controls. Except for being down one engine,
Independence
ran within normal parameters.

“Greyson?” Her fingers hovered over his head where it rested on her thigh.

He raised his head and grinned. “Told you it would work.”

“Able?”

“I’m good, babe.”

“Terle?”

“Here,” came an answer with a low groan from behind her.

Shy twisted to look at him. Blood trickled down his unnatural y pale cheek, and he held his arm against his chest. “Get to med bay,” she told him. “Eldin. Bear.

Damon. Report.” There’d been no time to warn them of the shift to FTL. She worried her lower lip as she waited to hear from each of her crew.

“Bear and I are a bit banged about but fine. What in the blazing stars did you do?” Damon asked.

“Later,” she told him with a relieved laugh. “Eldin?”

“Stil breathing,” Eldin answered. “Brina’s hurt.” Crap. She’d forgotten about the girl. “How bad?”

“She’s unconscious. I’ve stabilized her, but I won’t know until I run some tests.

Can you keep this crate level for a bit?”

“Yes. Terle’s coming to get checked out. Just so you know.” Terle started to argue, but at her sharp look swal owed, nodded and left the bridge.

Shy didn’t bother to ask about Silky. That cat had more than nine lives and wouldn’t answer the com anyway. “Greyson and I are okay,” she told everyone.

Standing up, Greyson grimaced and muttered, “Speak for yourself.” Relief at his disgruntled look left her feeling weak and weepy. She tried to focus on
Independence
’s systems, fearing if she gave in and began to laugh, laughter would quickly turn to hysteria.