Page 94 of Blightfall

I slashed my sword through the air. The varvax were thrown off balance by the flying shelf, and I managed to cut two in half at the torso, then maneuvered my free arm in front of myself, bracing as I hit the ceiling.

Two more varvax opened fire, but Dayan distracted them by flinging an entire toolkit at them, wrenches and sockets flying past them in a torrent of metal. Gilaf took the opportunity to haul Alanik out of the storage room and toward the hangar. I had to give him enough of an opening to get her to safety. I kicked off the ceiling, reversing direction—

And misjudged my angle. A varvax shouted, and a concussion blast reverberated through the room, catching me straight on. My vision blurred, my brain vibrating in my skull. In my disorientation, I hit the wall without bracing myself and bounced off, headed back toward the varvax.

I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything but flail helplessly while my head pounded and my mind spun.

“Coming!” Naga said, still clinging to my neck, but without the inhibitor codes, she was powerless to help.

Then I felt something wrap around my torso, and I was dragged suddenly and sharply down. My vision began to clear, and I found myself hauled behind Dayan like a kite on a string as they pulled themself through the doorway and down the corridor, following the others toward the hangar.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I managed to spin in the air, orienting myself upright. I needed a clear head for what was coming.

Thirty-One

Sadie

Nedd and I kicked off the hallway wall, propelling ourselves toward the hangar. Suki zipped ahead of us on her disk, alternating worried glances ahead at Alanik and Gilaf and back at Nedd and me. Nedd and I collided as we hurtled through the room with the dead varvax, clinging to each other to avoid being flung in opposite directions. Normally I would be thrilled with this much bodily contact, but right now, all I cared about was that we survived.

We hit the far wall just above the hole that used to be the hangar door, and I rotated, kicking off the ceiling and dragging Nedd with me as I soared through the gap. We flailed wildly in the air until we hit the hangar floor. Gilaf had managed to reach the Dulo, still carrying Alanik. Scud. With Alanik injured, we were down one pilot. “Should we put Alanik in my cargo space like Dayan?” I asked.

Nedd shook his head. “Put her in the Dulo. I’ll fly her ship.”

“The enemy ships are still going to be waiting for us out there,” I said. “You’ll be flying immediately into combat.”

“Alanik is injured,” Nedd said. “She needs a proper seat. I can handle it.” He dragged himself down the wall to the button that controlled the hangar doors. As soon as we opened them, the drone ships outside could get to us again.

“Let me do it,” I said. “You get to Alanik’s ship.”

Gilaf was already strapping Alanik into the copilot’s seat of the Dulo, and Suki joined him, tucking herself into the kitsen-sized seat in the Dulo’s dash. Arturo and Dayan came flying through the hole in the wall, clinging to each other, propelled by Dayan’s whip. Dayan lassoed the nose of Arturo’s ship and dragged them both over to it.

“I’m taking Alanik’s ship,” Nedd called to him. “Sadie’s got the door controls.”

From the way Arturo glanced at Alanik, I could tell he’d rather be the one flying with her, but he didn’t protest. “Copy,” Arturo said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Nedd popped Alanik’s canopy and hauled himself inside, dragging Alanik’s pack with several of the slugs in it with him. Once Dayan was strapped in and all my other flightmates were in their ships, I hit the hangar door controls and kicked off the wall, propelling myself at my own ship.

The others lifted their ships into the air while I scrambled to my seat and strapped in. Through my canopy, I saw the varvax’s taynix cannon sliding up through the hole in the wall, aimed in our direction. I didn’t give them a chance to catch me in its blast. Lifting off, I spun my ship around and shot out of the hangar after the others, leaving the drag of the oxygen bubble behind.

The enemy was waiting for us and opened fire immediately. I found Nedd and stayed on his wing in case he ran into trouble, though his flight path was steady. Together we hit overburn, rocketing away from the station in the direction of the planet.

“Ghost,” Arturo said. “How’s Angel?”

“Unconscious,” Gilaf said. “But she’s breathing.”

Arturo swore. “We need her to tell Bob to put in a request for the hyperjump.”

“Bob!” Naga said over the radio. “Hyperjump!”

“I think they’ve got the message,” Nedd said.

“Make for the edge of the inhibitor,” Arturo said. “The sooner we’re clear of the dead zone, the sooner Bob can put in the request. We’ll hyperjump down into the forest and hide, like we did before. For now, stick to evasive maneuvers. Your objective is to stay alive and stay together.”

“Copy, Amphi!” I said, dancing my ship in an erratic pattern to keep the enemy from getting a bead on me.

“Nedder,” Arturo said. “How are you doing?”

“Still here,” Nedd said, though his ship was starting to tremble with the drag as we reentered Blightfall’s atmosphere.