Page 30 of In a Dangerous Orbit
She looked out the window, at the crowded spaceport, and beyond it the shadows of the Jabaal Mountains and the shiny jewel of Lake Gameelah nestled at their base. She thought of her girls there, waiting for her to return.
Hunt.Could he really have betrayed her?
She managed to pull in a tiny bit of air. She moved, the chains digging into her wrists. The pain cleared her head a little.
Memories of Hunt rushed in. His bright, vibrant energy field. The composed way he faced her attackers and the nano-droid. The intense, possessive look in his eyes as he loved her.
Hunt, her tough, noble warrior who still honored the memories of the family he’d lost and the soldiers under his command who he felt he’d failed.
A man who would die before betraying anybody.
No. He wouldn’t have sold her out.
She had to get off this damn ship and get to Hunt.
The door slid open and a familiar man entered. Wearing a familiar uniform. Deputy Westin.
“Hunt will track you down and kill you,” she said.
The man neared, a pressure-injector in his hands. His eyes were filled with misery. “I know. I guessed where he’d stashed you…”
“Why did you do this? Do Timothy Li’s dirty work and betray Hunt?”
“I’m sorry. I have a daughter…she’s sick. Abolian Plague.”
Relda’s stomach clutched. It was an incurable disease that slowly destroyed organs.
“I couldn’t afford the cloned organs she needs—” His voice hitched. He raised the injector. “I’m so sorry.” A ragged whisper.
She lifted her chin and stared out the window. She was a survivor. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t accept this lying down.
Suddenly, an alarm blared through the ship. The deputy raced to the comms panel and slapped a hand against it. “What’s happening?”
“The fucking marshal’s issued a no take-off order.” Timothy Li’s voice thundered through the comm. “We need to go. Now! Inject her and get your ass up to the cockpit to help.”
Relda scanned the spaceport, then gasped. She saw a crowd moving through the starships, headed by a small group in dark uniforms. One dark-haired man in front stood taller than the crowd.
Her heart spasmed. He was coming.
Westin stepped in front of her.
“Please, don’t do this,” she said. “We’ll help your girl, but don’t do this.”
He sighed. “It’s too late.”
There was a faint roar, and she heard the ship’s engines flare to life.Oh, no.
She tried to tap her abilities again.There. Just a small flare. The poison had worked out of her system just enough. “I’m sorry, too.” She pulled as much energy to her as she could and tossed it at the man.
He flew backward, light flaring around him. He hit the wall, his head making a sickening crack against the metal. He slumped to the floor.
She looked up at her chains. She stared hard and watched as the silver links turned faint yellow then flared to molten orange. The chains broke.
She fell forward onto her hands and knees, and barely stopped her face hitting the smooth floor. She felt the throb of the engines through the metal beneath her. Not long to takeoff.
Standing, she scanned the room. She needed some clothes, she needed the Trojan Moon, and then she was getting off this ship. She found the smooth panel of a storage cabinet. Inside were some silver jumpsuits.
She might want Hunt’s strong arms wrapped around her, but—she bit her lip—she knew she couldn’t keep him. She’d made a mistake here, letting people close. She’d put them all in danger and she didn’t want them hurt because of her.
