Page 113 of Star-Crossed Captive
“That was fun,” Spiro said, stepping away from the bulkhead.
“You’re all insane,” Callista murmured. She sat against the bulkhead like her legs had given out, her breathing labored, head bent between her knees.
Spiro shrugged. “Probably.”
“Shouldn’t we have gone in the other direction?” Newton asked, his voice sounding raw as he pointed to the overhead. “Like upward.”
“Come with me,” Cache said and led the team under a low corridor—even the shaky-legged Callista—ducking under a low beam.
The engine core pulsed its hum close by. In its outer cylinder, they wouldn’t see it in the next part of their journey.
“We’re in the scrubbers,” Callista breathed, wiping the soot from her cheeks.
The small robotic creatures collected condensation, clicking against the metal framework, and were oblivious to the station’s change in command.
“And sixty decks above is the command center,” Mace said, coming to stand beside her.
“Sixty?” Newton asked, voice weak.
Mace pointed to the ladder disappearing into the dark space. “Let’s get climbing.”
Panic clawed at Nia’s throat. ThePhalanxrocked again as she gripped the ladder on the side of the Condor. Every second step upward was pure agony as knives stabbed her ankle. No one stopped her, everyone too busy with the battle happening outside. When she got to the top, she pushed herself over the edge with her good foot but landed on her bad with a hiss with pain.
The inside of the Condor was so much bigger without Mace behind her. Too big. She could barely reach the controls if she sat in the seat properly. Mace hadn’t told her how to adjust the seat, but she searched.
Something clacked behind her as the seat moved forward. She took a quick look and saw a med kit. A whoop of joy left her lips. She could fix her messed up ankle. Her movements jerky, she grabbed it.
Propping her foot against the control panel, she used the scanner and regenerator to heal her ankle. It only took a few minutes, and the swelling disappeared, the pain easing. But during that time, thePhalanxrocked around her in a continuous rhythm, like it was being bombarded nonstop. It didn’t bode well for her getting off the ship.
Nia tried to calm her jumpy heart as she went through all the pre-flight checks she could remember. The canopy closed on a whine. Once closed, her view of the bay blocked by the inactive viewer, she stared at the control panel in alarm.
How was she supposed to get clearance to leave without being shot down?
This is a stupid idea.She should have tried to head to the bridge. The ship rocked again. Maybe there wasn’t a bridge left to go to.
She touched the viewer control. Her eyes blinked at all the information streaming in front of her, disorienting. In the bottom corner of the feeds, an image of thePhalanx’sexterior made her gasp. Guardians fired continuously, like they were trying the punch a hole through the shields, and thePhalanxwasn’t moving out of the way.Orionbeckoned in the distance. She was so close!
Her heart in her throat, Nia touched the comm. “Um, hello? I need clearance to leave thePhalanx. Can someone help me?”
The comm crackled, then a masculine voice echoed over the line. “Identify yourself. Why are you using the emergency bridge channel?”
“The bridge! That’s what I needed. I’m Nia in the CORE Condor, shit, I don’t remember what the call numbers are, um, requesting to depart from the starboard aft hangar. I’m Commander Mace’s former captive. Oh, blast. I wasn’t supposed to say that. Okay. Here’s the truth. I saw a traitor. One who was in the engine core the day the CORE attacked. He’s headed toOrion. I need to identify and stop him. And I know Admiral Krispin is in charge of this vessel and Mace said he didn’t trust another man more with his life…and so I’m trusting him with my life. Stars above, this sounds so stupid. Mace said he was going toOrion. The traitor was going toOrion. So I need to get toOrion, okay?”
Silence echoed on the other end of the comm, and Nia banged her forehead against the control panel. She’d never sounded less intelligent. What the hell was she doing?
When she lifted her head, two Tellusian warriors were making their way toward the Condor.Oh, shit.This was it. She was going to be arrested and put in bonds.
But they stopped a few meters away.
The voice on the comm made her jump. “Condor Echo Two Six Two, you are cleared to depart. Safe journey. Out.”
Nia let out a breath. How had that even worked? Fingers shaking with adrenaline, she engaged the thrusters and hovered above the deck. The ship hummed and groaned. Why hadn’t it made those sounds when Mace flew it? And she was pointed in the wrong direction. Keeping an eye on her thrusters, she turned the ship between the two shuttles. She’d almost accomplished the task without incident, when the tip of the fighter’s wing grazed the one shuttle. She over-corrected and banged into the other one. The sound reverberated through her skull and made her fingers tingle on the controls.
Finally, she pointed in the right direction, and with a deep, fortifying breath, she punched the accelerator. Her head slammed into the seat as she jerked forward, through the shields and out the hangar.
Laser fire erupted in front her. Marauders, Strix, and mines careened all around. Nia screamed, banking one way then the next. A Guardian drifted at an odd angle, incapacitated. Escape pods shot out from its sides.
A mine headed right toward her. She over-corrected, and the Condor spun, making her stomach leap into her throat. It took her too long to get it orientated.
