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“No shit.” Aidan banked to the right, evading fire fromArmada, then to the left, dodging another attack fromThe Condemned. After a moment, it became difficult to tell which way he was taking them. The image on the viewscreen twisted and turned with his manic maneuvering. Caryn covered her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other, looking as though she might be sick at any moment.
Onnika was feeling ill herself.
They were fast approaching the cluster.The Condemnedmight follow them in, but wouldn’t travel far fromArmada.
“Hurry, hurry,” she chanted.
“Going as fast as I can,” Aidan snarled.
In the next moment, Dragoonblasted past a scattering of asteroids. Another explosion from behind rocked the ship hard. Suddenly Aidan seemed to lose control and nearly slammed into a large asteroid. At the last second, he pulled back on the controls, missing it by mere feet.
“They took out our right thruster,” Lear informed them.
Aidan commanded, “Priya, get ’em off my ass!”
“I’m trying,” her voice snapped through the intercom. “Fucker’s shields are impenetrable.”
More shots zinged pastDragoon, exploding an asteroid next to them. Rocks pelted the hull. To everyone else it appearedThe Condemnedmissed by accident, but Onnika gleaned their intent.
“They’re aiming for the asteroids in our path,” Onnika cried, “turning the debris into cannons.”
Just then, another asteroid ahead exploded. Large chunks torpedoed toward them. Aidan pushed the ship in a dive and twisted it away from the deadly debris, winding around the field of obstacles. Onnika’s stomach churned at the kaleidoscopic show, and she gnashed her eyes closed.
More blasts sounded as Priya exchanged fire withThe Condemned.
Then, finally, all went quiet.
“I managed to take out one of their engines,” Priya announced over the intercom. “Looks like they’re turning back.”
After another quiet moment, Lear announced, “The sensors indicate they have returned toArmada.”
A collective sigh of relief volleyed around the room.
“That was too close,” Aidan grumbled. “What the fuck happened with our shields? The generator was brand new. It shouldn’t have failed so easily.”
“Faulty equipment?” Aidan theorized.
“If that’s true,” Aidan muttered, “I’ll kill that merchant who sold it to me.” Speaking into the intercom, he ordered, “Vin, run diagnostics on all our recent purchases. I don’t want any more surprises.”
“Yes, sir.”
Then Aidan glanced at Onnika with a puzzled expression. “What makes you so sure those ships are more than just a convenient, temporary alliance?”
She glanced away. “Just a hunch, I suppose.”
“Pretty confident hunch.”
She hedged. “Maybe I’m wrong.”
“No, I think you might be right. Alliance or not, ifThe Condemnedwas interested in winning, they wouldn’t have turned down such a tempting shortcut. Alliances are a means to an end. They’re usually extremely short-lived in this game.” He narrowed his eyes. “What I want to know is what gave them away?”
She shrugged, taking a moment to think up an acceptable story that wouldn’t giveheraway. “I spoke with them before the race,” she lied. “Generally, I’m very good at gaining people’s trust—”
“Present company excluded,” he muttered.
Onnika grinned. Without knowing it, Aidan had just provided the perfect path to diversion. “To be fair, you are extremely stubborn, but you’ll come around.”
“Will I, now? And what makes you think that?”
