AllFreeNovel
Share Us
14
NIKATHY
"I'm going to show you what to do, and then I need you to repeat the process with all the others," Rhiannon said calmly.
I didn't know how she was doing it. In the sky above us, the sound of ships humming filled the air, and I felt a pending sense of doom. Our time was running out, but she seemed totally unfazed.
"Here," she said, holding out a hand for the small explosive. She lowered it to the ground carefully. "Bring me that little screwdriver."
I grabbed it from the pile of items I'd brought and went to her. Carefully, she slid the flat end of the screwdriver along the shell's body until she found purchase in a tiny crevice. I caught myself holding my breath as she pried at it. But despite my reservations, a small panel came loose and revealed the inner workings of the incendiary device.
"What now?" I breathed, afraid that if I spoke too loud, the thing might detonate in our laps.
"Look closely. See these wires?" She used the tip of the screwdriver to point. "We are going to make some adjustments to the launch controls in here. All you have to do is move this wire over here, and then adjust this little screw. The screw is like a manual control on the internal trigger. Too tight, and this thing becomes like a hot potato."
"A what?"
She looked up at me and quirked her lips to one side. “Never mind. Just... don't tighten it. Here, we need to loosen it a little so it has more time between launch and detonation. That way we can get it to our target. Two full turns should do. Got it?"
She handed the screwdriver back over to me and watched as I slowly turned the screw and re-attached the wire in its new location. I looked up, eager to see how I'd done, but rather than giving me an encouraging smile, I was disappointed to see that her lips were pursed and she was watching the sky overhead.
"Okay, now what?"
She pointed to the other devices. "Do the same for all of those. Work quickly. I'm going to assemble the launchpad, and figure out how to get power to it."
I stood and went to work, but she called me back.
"What is it?"
She looked up at me shyly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. "Do you mind bringing those things over here? I don't want to crawl back and forth."
"Of course."
She had grown so strong since I'd first found her aboard that Patrol ship, but now I could see her frailty on full display. I looked around us wildly at the scattered weapons and the waiting ships, and I wanted to scoop her up once more and deliver her to safety. Standing out here was a suicide mission, and just as I was about to tell her that, there was a horrific sound as the air above us was rent apart and a massive piece of flaming debris sailed past.
That was impossible. It was too soon. We should've had more time.
"We have to go," I said, ready to sweep her up into my arms and carry her away right this instant.
"No. Not until I get this put together. Then we can go down to the security room. We'll be safe there."
She was so sure of herself, and the way her eyes blazed told me she meant to see this through. And that meant I had to, too.
I released her and turned, desperate to get the rest of the shells rewired while she set to work. Despite the inconvenience of having to sit painfully on the ground, she didn't seem the least bit deterred from her mission. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her strapping the rocket launchers together and assembling some kind of base to hold them upright. But I was too focused on getting my job done to stare at her.
“I’m sorry about Cosma,” I mumbled. I don’t know why it occurred to me just then, but I felt I had to say something.
“Sorry for what? She seems… nice.”
I snorted. “Nice? Have you not noticed the way she scowls whenever you’re within ten feet of me?”
Rhiannon shrugged. “That’s between the two of you. If I ever got the chance, I’d assure her that there’s nothing going on between us.”
I swallowed hard. That wasn’t what I had been aiming for, and her words made me wish I hadn’t brought Cosma up at all.
“Oh, it’s not like that,” I interrupted hastily. “She was my father’s mistress, not mine!”
This time it was Rhiannon that snickered. “I see. How are those rockets coming along?”
