Page 71 of Star-Born Anomaly
The superintendent tossed them a look over her shoulder. “Chancellor Fearing is my uncle. I’ll be sure to tell him about this encounter.”
Sawyer stopped walking, and so did everyone else. “Make sure you do.” He stepped to the terminal beside the superintendent, dragging Wynn along, and pressed his hand against the dead surface.
It lit up at the touch, then data scrolled across the top. The superintendent’s face lost all its color. Wynn tried to read the information by adjusting the angle of her body, but Sawyer jerked her back.
The superintendent’s eyes narrowed the longer she stared at the terminal, then she snapped to attention. “Like I said, this way.”
Two corridors and one uncomfortable lift ride later, the five of them entered a cavernous docking bay filled with ships. Open blast doors revealed a chunk of space, the dark side of Earth a slender slice.
Wynn couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. Iax was down there somewhere. Was he even alive? Did he heal as before? Her stomach clenched while the questions choked her.
The superintendent’s clipped pace stopped beside a small shuttle.
Sawyer looked at the ship, then at the superintendent, then back at the ship. He laughed, his fingers flexing on Wynn’s arm tighter than they had been before. Her skin stung under the pressure, focusing her.
His laughter cut off abruptly, and he straightened. “No. Unacceptable.” He yanked Wynn forward, past the little shuttle and the shocked expression of the superintendent, toward a yacht docked two ships down.
It was three times the size of the cruiser they’d abandoned, and bright white instead of black. Wynn had to tip her head back to see it all as they neared.
“We’ll be taking this one,” he declared, stopping in front of it.
A gasp, then the slap of shoes as the superintendent caught up. “That’s impossible. That ship belongs to Administrator Jannex.”
“Even better.” Sawyer jerked her toward where the ramp extended from its belly, guarded by a two-man security detail. “Is the administrator aboard?”
The superintendent scoffed. “No, not currently—”
“Send him my regards.”
The guards drew their weapons at their approach. Wynn sucked in a breath, feet skidding.
Pop. She hadn’t even realized Sawyer had let go of her until the shot pulsed out of his gun. The wave of the stun caught both guards in one fell swoop before either of them could get off a shot. They crumpled to the ground.
Wynn’s heart pounded as she took in their slumped forms, her feet frozen to the deck. They weren’t defenders, but they might as well have been since Administrator Jannex, one of the ruling class, employed them.
Swallowing, she glanced back at the superintendent. She’d frozen too, her hands out at her sides, the two defenders behind her holding their weapons, one aimed at her, the other at Sawyer. Wynn braced herself, ready to get stunned again, but no one moved.
Except for Sawyer, who had returned to her, grabbed her arm, and led her toward the ramp.
Wynn cast another glance at the trio. Why was everyone letting him do this? What had the superintendent read on that terminal?
During her dazed shock, he’d dropped the security field protecting the ramp. They passed by the motionless bodies of the guards and stumbled up the ramp, their hollow footsteps echoing loudly in the unnerving silence of the bay. Reluctance dragged at her feet, but Sawyer yanked her up the rest of the way.
They entered a darkened space, a cargo hold filled with crates and containers. Sawyer dropped her arm to access the control panel near the door. The ramp whined as it lifted, and her heart pounded harder and harder. Automatic lights brightened as the cargo hold dimmed.
The ramp closed with a hissingclank,and she turned her head to find Sawyer standing right beside her, though she hadn’t heard him come closer.
He touched his PALM.“Sleepy time.”
“No—” The word stuck in Wynn’s throat as her knees gave out.
Chapter twenty-seven
The ache in her wrists woke her. It stung, then burned, then morphed into searing pain. A low hum vibrated from all around her, the sound of a ship traveling quickly.
Wynn’s shoulders ached too, but the pain in her wrists overrode everything. She gasped for breath, trying to get away from it. Her feet flailed while she tried to regain her balance, but she kicked into nothing, then swung back and forth.
It took her a moment to realize what that meant.I’m hanging.
