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Andy went silent and I looked back at Julia. She still looked worried. I reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll come up with a plan. It will still be a few hours before we reach Esmuna.”
“Esmuna is a death sentence for IPF agents. An outside police presence of any kind is treated with hostility. They’ll kill me outright.”
“They have their own government and police force. It’s not completely lawless.”
She sneered. “It’s all a farce. The government actively keeps laws in place to favor criminal activities. That’s the place you go to get away with illegal things. There are no extradition agreements with any planet. They were openly hostile to the IPF when it was first established. If they find out I’m a cop, I’m as good as dead.”
“Then we’ll just have to keep them from finding out.”
“Let’s say we accomplish that; how am I supposed to find transportation off-planet? For all the legal routes I would need to use my identity. Either that will tip people off that I’m IPF or it will alert the people tracking me. I know theyhaveto be monitoring my movements, bank accounts, calls, everything they can. And I have no money to purchase illegal means of transport, and I don’t have contacts on Esmuna. What am I supposed to do?”
Tears gathered in her eyes. She had tried desperately to hold it together for her sister and for her partner, but she was obviously struggling now that she wasn’t talking to them anymore. She was scared.
It was my turn to be strong. “Listen, we will figure it out. They don’t know who I am yet, so I can pull money to use for passage off-planet. As for contacts, we’ll find someone. There are always people willing to do anything if you have money, no questions asked.”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t ask you to help me. I’ve already ruined your opportunity to collect your data and we had to leave your sensors behind, and I know they’re expensive, not to mention your ship is practically destroyed. When we reach Esmuna, we should go our separate ways. They’ll forget about you.”
I lifted my eyebrows at her. “You forget; the ship isn’t mine. It belongs to my company, as do the sensors. They’ll replace them. And we still managed to collect a lot of data. I can always return when we are finished to collect the sensors and map out the new topography. Job saved. You, on the other hand, are alone, injured, and in serious danger. I’m not about to leave you. No matter what.”
Slowly, she blinked at me. “Those are all the reasons why youshouldleave me.”
I smiled and gave her hand another gentle squeeze. “No. I’m going to help you. The universe didn’t cross our paths so I could simply deliver you to Esmuna and leave your fate undecided. It brought us together so we could help each other. You don’t have to do this alone. We will figure it out.”
“You might die.” Her words were quiet.
“There’s always that possibility. I’ve long since accepted my mortality. There are some things that are more important than simply living and dying. What’s the point in living if we stand by and let other people suffer?”
We watched each other for a long time. Her eyes stared at me like she was trying to probe my very soul. This was an important moment, I realized. It was the moment when we would decide if we really trusted each other. Up until that moment, we hadn’t had a choice. Fate had thrown us together and we had adapted. But now there was an opportunity to part, to continue our journeys separately.
I didn’t want to separate. I felt drawn to Julia, as though we were connected by something intangible. I had felt it from the moment I had seen her being dragged from that ship. I wassupposedto be there with her.
But I wasn’t sure if she felt the same way. I waited for her to decide for herself. She looked from my eyes down to where my hand still lay on top of hers. After a long, suspended moment, she flipped her hand around, laced our fingers together, and squeezed. “You’re right. Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek quickly but gently. “We’ll figure this out together. Even on a planet full of criminals, there must be someone who can help us out. Every person on the planet can’t be lawless, not even every criminal.”
Julia blinked rapidly as though a new thought had dawned on her. “You’re right. Even among criminals there are a few who are honorable.” Then she grinned. “I think I have an idea.”
“Ethan.”
I turned to look at the back of Andy’s head. “What is it?”
“I’ve been running calculations. We do not have enough power remaining to reach Esmuna.”
“What?” I stood up and leaned over the back of his chair to look at the power levels. “How do we not have enough?”
“Is it because I made that call?” Julia’s voice trembled slightly.
“No. We would not have had enough power either way. It appears that part of the hyperdrive system was damaged when we left the planet. Even if we diverted the power from all systems, there would not be enough life support to make it all the way to Esmuna.”
Fear tried to force its way back into my system and I took a deep, steadying breath to force the debilitating feeling to the back of my mind. “What can we do? What are our options?”
“There is no other viable destination within range. There is no way to repair the damage to the hyperdrive while it is in use, and we do not have the proper tools to make repairs even if we were to drop out of hyperspace.”
Julia pressed her fingers against her forehead. “What about a distress signal?”
“It would be a great risk. We could drop out of hyperspace and relay a distress beacon. We could even attempt to contact authorities on Esmuna to ask for assistance. But there is a great risk that our pursuers would reach us before help could be acquired.”
I tugged at the little hairs on my chin. “That’s not a great plan. Are there no other options?”
