Page 47 of Starfighter’s Salvation

“Yes.” I brought the engines to full power.

Her silence lasted one second. “Get us out of here,” she said. “When we get back to base, I'm going to find out who did this to these poor people and kill them myself.”

There was murder in her soft voice, controlled and patient. Behind that, absolute confidence that I was going to get us out of this mess alive.

12

Gina, Bunker Nine Annex, The Ferros Trench

* * *

The Salvation climbed hard enough to pin me into my harness, the strap biting a line across my collarbone. Around me, our rescued patients filled every rack. Cassia was stable. Brennix had finally stopped trying to stand on his broken ankle. The apprentices were strapped into jump seats beside Tavar, watching every number on his monitor. The smell of medical foam, dirt, and burned flesh crowded the air around us all.

“His pressure is holding,” I told them.

“Is that good?” the younger one asked.

“It’s not bad. I’ll take it.”

An alarm sounded. Then Corvan’s voice came through the ship's comms, low and level. “Three Scythe fighters. Hold on.”

I should have been freaking the fuck out. Instead, my pulse obeyed the calm in his voice even when I knew my reaction was most likely shock and not at all rational. Plus, I had to stay calm, or my patients would panic and bleed, or worse. Calm, cool and collected. That was sooooo me.

“Please tell me we have guns.” One of the apprentices said.

“We have one defensive cannon.”

“Can I shoot it?” he asked.

“No.”

“Why not? I've got good aim. I swear."

The ship rolled. Every rack tilted with it. Restraints locked, and I grabbed the overhead rail and looked at the patients. “You'd never make it there alive. And Corvan can fire it from the pilot's seat. It's automated. Everybody breathe and hang on.”

“Does he always fly like this?” Cassia asked through clenched teeth.

“Usually.” It wasn't all that funny, but a nervous laugh escaped me nonetheless.

“That answer was not comforting.” She grinned at me.

“Well, you all were apparently being guarded by multiple plasma cannons and at least three Scythe fighters, so I blame you for this."

"Funny. Where are you from?"

"Denver, Colorado. You?"

"Canada. Town so small I promise you've never heard of it."

Canada? That wasn't all the far from Colorado. Especially when compared to being in another star system. We were practically neighbors. "You ever see a bear in real life?" I loved bears. I made sure I voted in the Fat Bear competition the national park in Alaska hosted every year.

"Yes. Brown, grizzlies and a polar bear with two cubs. You?"

"No. Except at the zoo. Always wanted to. Seems like bears would be cool."

The taller apprentice grabbed onto an anchor strap as the ship flipped onto its side without warning. "What's a bear?"

Cassie tried to explain the unique animal to an alien teenager as Brennix scowled, the others held on for dear life, and I watched Tavar's vitals spike and fall. Shit. His body was not responding well to being tossed around like a rag doll.