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Daisy’s heart raced so fast she felt sicker than normal. She kept scanning for signs of another ship. There must be something out there that wanted them dead. “Dammit! There’s nothing I can see. Who is it?”

“They must be cloaked.” Rexx righted the ship, bringing the stabilizers back online again. “I’m diverting energy to the propulsion system. I’ll get us out of range. We’ll find somewhere to wait them out. This shuttle isn’t equipped for combat.”

“What do they want with us?” Daisy stared through the window at the vast expanse of space. “We’re a small transport ship. There’s nothing valuable on here. No one would be dumb enough to transport valuables in something like this.”

“They could just be idiots taking pot shots for fun,” Rexx said. “Dapak isn’t far from here. That’s our landing target.”

The ship lurched and shuddered as another blast hit, while several more shots flew past.

“Keep looking for them,” Rexx said. “They’ll give themselves away eventually.”

“I’ll see if I can find the signature location of where those blasts are coming from.” Daisy ran a long range scan, focusing on any anomaly that bleeped at her.

“It’ll take us ten minutes to get to Dapak,” Rexx said.

“Incoming!” Daisy was a second too late, and Rexx couldn’t maneuver them out of the way as the blast skimmed the cockpit, spinning the ship out of control once more.

The ship lurched and shuddered, the engines dropping out of sync repeatedly, making their ride juddery and stomach churning.

“Take over the controls. I’ll go grab the weapons, just in case someone tries to board us.” Rexx raced away from the cockpit.

“Check the cats. Make sure they’re okay.” Daisy took over, her heart hammering like a propulsion engine skipping past the red line.

“On it!” Rexx yelled.

“Dammit! Quit shooting at us, assholes,” she muttered as a blast sliced into the hull.

There was another shuddering strike from their elusive attacker. Daisy fought with the controls, losing the stabilizers for several seconds, leaving the ship free falling through space.

Rexx yelled, and then there was silence.

She craned her head over her shoulder. “Rexx! You okay?”

He staggered through the door a few seconds later, blood dripping down one arm. He held several guns. “Take one of these.”

She grabbed the guns out of his arms and set them down. “Screw the weapons. You’re hurt. Let me take a look.”

“No time. Let’s get to Dapak.” He winced as he eased into the seat and took back the controls.

Daisy hesitated before joining him. Despite what he said, she could see the blood. But worst of all, she could smell it. He’d been badly injured.

“How’s it looking back there?” she asked.

“The cats are good. Safe in their pen. I sealed off most of the ship. The hull’s been compromised. We’ll fold like a tin can if we take another serious hit.” He growled out the words through gritted teeth. “Shove all power to the engines. We need a final boost if we’re going to make it to Dapak.”

Daisy shut down all systems, apart from their oxygen, diverting the excess power to the engines. It gave them the boost they needed, and the ship shot away, toward the large gray and blue planet in front of them.

They burst through the atmosphere of Dapak and hurtled through a cloud bank. Ahead of them were distant mountains and huge forests.

“I need to find a clearing. We have to hide the ship in case we get followed.” Rexx slumped forward in his seat, his arm going around his chest.

“Let me. I can get us down.”

He grunted but kept hold of the controls.

Daisy wiped sweat from her brow. “Rexx, don’t be stubborn. I’m your partner. Let me help you.”

“But you’re sick. You shouldn’t have to do this.”