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Tane’s comment had Taly’s gaze swinging back to the main screen. Ranvir sprinted across the tarmac, favoring his right leg, blaster fire surrounding him.
“They’re firing on him!” she exclaimed.
“No, we are, to clear a path. Now strap in!” Ganesha ordered again.
As she took the captain’s chair and secured her harness, Pike’s voice yelled over her ear comm. “He’s on board. Close the hatch and get us out of here.”
The next moment, the ship lifted off, and she fell back in her seat at the sharp angle used for their ascent.
“Celerity, you have not been cleared for takeoff. Return to Quadrant D, Section T-51 immediately.”
The announcement blared over the intercom.
“Sure. We’ll get right on that,” Vujcec muttered before ending the transmission.
“Hang on,” Ganesha ordered moments before the ship rocked hard to the left.
“What’s going on up there?” Ranvir snapped.
“If you want to know, get your lazy asses up here and find out,” Ganesha replied tersely, making several more sharp maneuvers before breaking out of Yelmurn’s atmosphere.
“What the hell’s going on?!” Ranvir demanded as he and Pike stormed onto the bridge.
“Apparently, the bounty hunters chasing you had friends. Friends with ships.” Ganesha glanced at Tane. “How many are still chasing us?”
“Just one, but we’re already out of weapons range,” Tane told him.
“They fired on us?” Ranvir hadn’t heard any hits.
“No,” Tane told him. “I scanned those in pursuit, and none had atmospheric weapons. Our rear shields are back to full power even if they did.”
“You were able to install the crystals?” Ranvir was impressed. He knew it took a skilled hand to do that under the best conditions.
“With Vujcec’s help, yes,” Pike told him. “We decided the shields were the priority.”
“Good call,” Ranvir praised. “We need shields more than weapons and fuel rods. They are all within acceptable levels. Have we lost the last ship?”
“Yes,” Tane told him. “Gods, this baby’s fast.”
“Especially in the hands of a skilled pilot,” Ranvir added.
It may have seemed a casual observance to a non-cyborg, but it was the greatest of compliments, and they knew it.
“You’re hurt.” Taly jumped from the captain’s chair and dropped to her knees beside Ranvir. Tearing the hole in his pants wider, she gasped. “We need to get you to medical.”
“My nanobots are already repairing the damage from both injuries,” he assured her as he reached down and helped her back to her feet.
“Both?!” Her fingers dug into his arm.
“He was hit twice,” Pike told her, ignoring Ranvir’s glare.
“Then you’re definitely going to medical,” she told him.
A small cry had them turning to the passengers they’d forgotten about.
“What are they doing here?” Ranvir demanded.
“I wasn’t going to leave them on Yelmurn,” Taly told him stubbornly. “Not after they warned us about Ju and Feo.”
