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Solgre stabbed his fingers through his light-colored locks. “Good, now get the—”
The lights flickered and a rough shock rolled through the ship, sending it teetering to the side.
“Brace yourself!” Kien yelled over the noise of groaning metal.
Metal should not groan, Phate realized. Alarm bells blared over the loudspeaker and the bright lights above turned red, indicating the power reserves had been triggered.
“Systems report!” Solgre snapped, his voice almost drowned by the booming sounds around them.
Phate ran a quick scan. It didn’t look good. Adrenalin kicked in but he wasn’t on high alert yet. They’d been in worst situations before, namely going up against space pirates and asteroid belts. This, this they could handle. He initiated the jump sequence to get them out of range.
The system didn’t respond.
Hmm.
“We’re holding steady!” Kien yelled over the noise. “Hold tight and ride this wave out.”
“We’re only receiving thirty percent of the flare,” Solgre noted. “Shields status?”
“Shields down to fifty percent!” Phate’s chest tightened. Indicators revealed a small amount of radiation already leaking through. If the shields didn’t hold, radiation would breach the hull and none of them would be visiting Pesna-9. They’d be dead.
He initiated another jump sequence and like before, nothing happened.
“Status?” Solgre asked.
“Radiation in the ship at ten percent,” Phate said, heart sinking. Maybe thiswasworse than going up against space pirates after all.
“We won’t be able to withstand another flare at this rate,” Kien said.
Solgre’s hands moved frantically over the controls. “I can’t get control of the ship’s guidance system to jump us out of range.”
“I’ve been trying to jump to the dark side of the planet since this began,” Phate told him.
“There’s only one option,” Kien said.
Phate glanced at his friend, coming to the same realization. “We have to drop to the planet’s surface. The flares can’t reach us there. Their ozone layer is preventing it.”
Solgre didn’t hesitate. “Do it.”
“Strap up!” Phate yelled as he cut the guidance system. The adjustment would send the ship plummeting to the planet’s surface.
“Let’s hope these humans are welcoming to newcomers,” Solgre said.
Phate strapped the harness across his chest as the “Systems offline,” announcement blared over the speakers.
Phate prayed Solgre was right.
