Page 10 of On a Rogue Planet
An explosion flared right in front of them. She gasped.
The lead Infiltrator went down.
She turned her head toward Xander. He stared straight ahead, his chest rising and falling at an even, steady pace.
Her freighter’s lasers opened fire again. Looking back at the viewscreen, she saw two Infiltrators go wild, spiraling downward and out of control.
The remaining two ships veered away.
“Environmental controls are reestablished in the cargo area,” he said in a monotone.
Mal slowly turned back to the man beside her.
“Unfortunately, the gravity system is damaged.”
“That’s okay.” She swallowed.
“So is the primary engine. I can only get thirty-five-percent power from it.”
With a shake, she focused back on her touchscreen, confirming Xander’s assessment. “Not great. But I can still get us home on that and a functioning secondary.”
“To Khan.”
She stilled. “You know where I live.”
“Yes.”
Her lips firmed. “What else do you have in those records of yours?”
“I know your cousins are the Phoenix brothers. And I need their help.”
“Why?”
“The mercenaries have stolen something. Something of great value to Centax. I need—” Suddenly, his body spasmed. His palms flattened against the console, his body arching forward. “We’ve lost the rear stabilizers.”
Her eyes widened and the ship lurched in a sickening spiral. “Shit…shit.” Without the stabilizers, they weren’t going anywhere.
She tapped the screen, trying to repair the system. Nothing.
The ship veered starboard, slamming her against her straps and her shoulder into Xander’s hard body.
“I can’t fix it from here.” She worked feverishly, shutting down systems they didn’t need and shunting power into the stabilizers.
It didn’t work.
“We’re headed toward Charox,” Xander said.
Centax’s only moon. A hunk of unforgiving rock.
Malin yanked her harness off, jumped up, and ran toward the engineering console. She crouched, yanked off the outer cover and pulled out the cables beneath. If she could splicethe navigation conduit with the stabilizer controls, maybe, just maybe, they could avoid smashing into teeny tiny pieces on Charox’s surface.
But nothing she did succeeded in getting the stabilizers back online.
“Dammit.” She slammed a fist against the console. “I have to go down to the engine.” It was a long shot. “Maybe if I can?—”
“Malin, strap in.”
His voice now sounded strained. He was leaning over the command console, palms still flat against it, but his big body was tense, sweat dripping down his face.
