“I’ll do that.”Probably not.Doubt I’ll ever find her anyway.
I release him and motion him out back with Joey. Our boots clomp over the metal walkway as we meet up with Mace and Joey. The ramp lowers before us, sending warm desert air swirling through the back of the ship.
“She’s in there,” Lenarro tells me. “You have to dig her up. Torture makes us build up armor. Adapt to survive. If anyone can reach her, it’s you.”
“I won’t forget this,” Joey remarks.
“Neither will I,” Lenarro mutters, sliding me a glance.
“I will find you and kill you!” Joey shouts, spittle flying from his mouth.
“Oh, shut up.” Mace picks up a foot and shoves him out the back.
Lenarro runs to the edge and dives after him.
“I do not understand his dedication to the enemy,” Mace says what’s on my mind. “I have relayed the warning that we were being tracked to the Brothers.”
“Thanks.”
He points out back. “Your ride. Use the targeting system on the suit. It will guide you.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Jump.” Mace walks me back a few steps, taps my visor, and illuminates a program. “You really haven’t done combat?”
“Not really. I’m just a cybertech, not a badass! Pulling a trigger from the shadows versus flying over a desert is very different!”
“You’ll be fine!” Mace grins. “Thruster will catch you if you miss, but the window’s closing, girlie!”
A yellow rocket-of-a-Titan flies up beside the fighter.
“Need a boost?” Mace lifts a boot.
“No! Fuck!” I eye the ramp, the gap to the trailing ship, and the ship’s hull. The targeting program shows me where to place my feet.
I run down the ramp.
“Faster,” the program says.
I sprint with everything I’ve got the last few steps and launch out of the CSP transport. Sand passes hundreds of feet below me in a heart-pounding rush.
Air whips around my suit. The ship adjusts its position slightly, and I land on the hull.
“Magnetic boots engaged.”
My feet stick firmly to the hull. I straighten and look back at Mace to find Magma standing beside him with a shiny metal object.
“Nice job, Esthi. I’m Thruster. My mate, Kelta, is inside. She can hear your coms, too.” The Titan waves. “Now, I must return to battle.”
Thruster roars up to the ramp, catches a shield, and darts off again.
“Son of a bitch. I bet he could’ve picked me up and set me down here!”
“Yeah, totally,” a woman laughs over my coms. “But that’s no fun. And everything uncomfortable expands what we believe we are capable of. That was just a test of your suit. Seems it’s working. And I think you’re probably going to need it.”
A hatch pops open on the roof. “Come on in!”
I hike to the hatch and clumsily climb inside. The hatch seals on its own, so I walk myself to the seat beside hers. Just as I get belted in, a blast goes off in front of us that shuts down every light in the ship. Gravity grabs us, and we plummet toward the dunes littered with flaming debris from ships of all kinds.
