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He laughed, warmed by her declaration of love despite the audience. “Yes, ma’am. Acknowledged.” Climbing to the hatch, he took a deep breath and re-ordered his attention to the task at hand. He hated to admit it but the alien’s mental tricks were starting to get to him despite knowing what she was trying to do. The wardroom was a jungle hellhole, complete with carnivorous plants, snakes coiled everywhere and barbed vines writhing across the deck. None of this is real.
Abrall burst through the door as Theo reached for the control to exit. “We gotta go now,” the tech shouted. “The engine is on a timer—I couldn’t stop the reaction if I wanted to. These old school drives don’t have the modern safeguards and it is going to be one helluva blast. We need distance.”
Theo stepped aside so the engine tech could descend the ladder and then he followed, sliding down the rails to the deck inside the smugglers compartment, slamming the hatch behind him. He heard the seal lock and then he was knocked off his feet by the sudden loss of connection with the Mebsuta C as the small container dropped away from the hull.
He grabbed one of the fittings welded to the bulkhead and fought his way to his feet. “Any direction is fine, just get us away from the blast radius,” he shouted to Jayna over the noises of the antiquated drive.
“We’re burning through the fuel reserves,” she said over her shoulder.
“Can’t be helped. There was nowhere to go anyway. One problem at a time.” He managed to make his way to the control panel and locked his hand on the chair while he peered at the rudimentary vidscreens, one fore and one aft view. The Mebsuta C hung in space, looking like a deceptively alluring small freighter. He remembered his first view of her a few days ago, when he’d been so excited about taking charge of the prize.
“Some prize,” he muttered.
The engine cut off.
“Brace yourselves for the shockwave,” he said. “How much time do we have left, Abrall?”
“Should have blown already,” the tech said just as a small sun blossomed on the rear vid, burning out the sensors and giving them only a black screen. The smugglers compartment rocked and gyrated as the shockwave caught it, tossing the tiny vessel like a leaf going over a giant waterfall. Theo lost his grip on the chair and was flung into the bulkhead. He felt a sharp pain in his left arm and blacked out as the ship continued to toss him around like a child’s toy. The others were belted in but he hadn’t had time.
Chapter Eight
When he came to, the ship was hanging in space, only emergency lights. There was hardly any air movement and the small living area was already getting cold. His head was in Jayna’s lap, with Angelee secure with in the circle of the security officer’s arm. The girl was cuddling a stuffed animal and Theo wondered where she’d gotten it but his thought processes eventually sorted themselves out and he tried to sit up. Pain in his arm made him freeze in place and he realized his arm was in a rough sling made from strips taken from someone’s shirt.
Paxter came over to help him sit up against the bulkhead. “You doing okay now, sir? You took a nasty fall when the blast hit.”
“I’m good, thanks. We got away, right?” he appealed to Jayna, wanting to be positive they’d escaped the ancient alien menace.
“Absolutely.” Her voice was firm. Jayna leaned over to kiss him softly. “The plan worked. And we rescued our friend here too.” She hugged Angelee close. “We owe her a lot for all her warnings.”
Angelee stared wide eyed at Theo, her face blank. “Thank you for saving me,” she said in the same tone she might have used to ask him to pass the gravy at the dinner table.
“She’s in a state of shock,” Jayna said subaurally. “Not surprising.”
He wanted to hug Angelee but was afraid to do anything which might upset the child, who didn’t know him in any real sense. “It was my honor, Miss Angelee. I’m sorry about your parents and their crew. Your Dad seemed like he was a terrific guy. Which reminds me.” One handed and awkward, he opened the pocket on his utilities and fished out the frame and note her mother had left with her in the stasis pod. “Your Mom put these in the pod with you. I know she loved you very much.”
Angell held the stuffed animal even closer and didn’t move to take the items so he laid them in her lap.
“I need status,” he said to Paxter, knowing he couldn’t make it to the control chair himself. His legs might not be broken but he was sure he had other internal injuries and wasn’t sure he could stand. “How much life support do we have left? Is there an emergency beacon?”
The pilot shook his head. “No beacon. We got about five hours of air and heat left. Abrall did what he could to fine tune the power system in here?—”
“This odd little ship was only meant for a short haul at best.” The engine tech swiped at his cheek, trying to remove a smear of coolant or grease. “The systems are old. We’re lucky we got away at all.”
“How long was I out?”
“Long enough to scare me,” Jayna said. “Also long enough for us to set your arm and fix you up a sling. Maybe an hour?”
A loud snore interrupted her and Theo glanced over at Turner, who was sleeping curled up on the deck. “I see her meds kicked in.”
“Probably for the best,” Jayna said softly. “If the Nebula Zephyr isn’t coming or doesn’t find us in time, she’ll never know.”
“But your friends are coming, right?” Angelee asked with the first hint of emotion she’d shown.
“You can bet on it.” Theo made sure his voice contained no note of doubt. He thought the odds were pretty good but it was far from a sure thing. He met Jayna’s level gaze above the girl’s head and raised his eyebrows. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said on the subaural link. “This is a real roll of the dice. I agree but there’s no need to upset her.”
“Beats what Nishagwaq had in mind,” was her reply.
The time passed. Jayna told Angelee what life aboard a huge luxury cruise liner was like, making it sound like a home out of a fairy tale but Theo had no quarrel with the idea. He wondered if they could adopt the girl, despite all the issues inherent in her being hundreds of years old and the problems she’d no doubt have adapting to her new life after being under Nishagwaq’s control for all those centuries. He’d be happy to take on the fight, if Jayna was on board with it. They could get married right away on the Zephyr and surely no one else could have a better claim to raise Angelee than they did. No one else could possibly understand what she’d gone through or knew anything about her parents. He was glad the girl had at least a couple of mementos of her past.
