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I continued to give her a stern look.
“I have many talents, Zatan, including complete combat training and I am qualified to handle almost any fighter ship built.”
Remaining irritated wasn’t in our best interest. I scanned her eyes. She was telling me the truth. The little human was getting more interesting. “Just remember what I said to you.” I pressed my fingers on the console. “You have navigational control.”
“Woo-hoo!” Her glee at being allowed even a small sense of command was as disconcerting as the situation.
However, I needed to concentrate on ensuring we weren’t turned into ash prior to her comprehension of the powerful tool she had at her fingertips. “Watch out, little human. The ship is small but mighty. Be careful what buttons you press.”
“Don’t worry, Zatan. My father instilled in me a sense of loyalty to soldiers. At this moment, that includes you since you’re insistent you’re the only one who can save my life.”
I noticed she was studying every inch of the display, her lips moving as if remembering something she’d seen. Then she gave a nod of confidence before allowing her finger to fly across the screen. “Setting course for coordinates seventy-eight, fifteen sixty-two, forty-nine. You’re telling me this baby can take anything?”
“She is designed to withstand all aspects of planetary gravitational pull. She can withstand five gar in scorching heat and can be submersed to the pressure point of seven miles underneath water. She is solid.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. So you know, there will be a hard pull in five. Four. Three. Two…” As the ship roared straight up, banking at a screeching velocity of eighty-five degrees followed by a roll and hard jerk encompassing another two hundred seventy degrees, she laughed as if having an amazing time.
I clenched my jaw, doing everything I could to control the steering. It was obvious the girl had more talent than I’d discovered in a short period of time, which would prove to be interesting. Perhaps her assistance would be worthwhile. It remained to be seen.
As she continued controlling the ship, I studied the systems. The Tantian ships were making headway, the positions getting closer. “It would appear your Earth Station fighter pilots are in orbit.”
“As expected. If you fire a primary weapon, they will return fire.”
She made the statement sound as if she had gone through military style training. Everything about the human female was surprising. I kept the shields on high, following her lead and maneuvering the ship through the third atmosphere.
“I should warn you that the combat pilots aren’t allowed to enter the fourth ring. The special coordinates you were provided when entering our space kept you alive.”
I turned my head, issuing a growl. “You’re just telling me this?”
“Oops. You said the ship could withstand anything.”
“The Tantians are firing.” I banked right, barely avoiding the photon shot, which was the least destructive of their weapons. It barely missed the hull, but the ship rocked hard from the close proximity.
“I’m turning toward the black holes now. You’ll have three seconds to lower your shields and fire a single blast. Anything else and it will push us into the event horizon. And I assure you that we will never return. After you issue the pulses, you’ll need to accelerate your thrusters in order to get us out of the ring altogether.”
Her confidence in the knowledge forced me to nod. I wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone. Including a beautiful female.
“Commander Soltar. Our systems have detected a series of classic black holes. The ship will not withstand the gravitational pull.” Lieutenant Barto’s voice sounded from the command center, the message in our language. That didn’t prevent my guest from tossing her head in my direction, trying to figure out what was going on.
“I know what I’m doing, Lieutenant. Plan for a hard docking.” I also answered in our language, turning my full attention to the Tantians. “They’re prepared to fire. It is my hope you are right about this, little human. Today is not a good day to flame out.”
“I don’t take it lightly when Thor is by my side.” She banked once again. “Drop the shields!”
It was impossible not to growl but I followed her direction, dropping the shields and issuing a range of pulsing blasts.
That’s when I heard the Earth Station’s warning system go into effect. They were none too happy I’d fired, likely concerned I’d miss the target. Not possible. I knew exactly what I was doing. Unfortunately, one of the Tantian ships managed to get off a single photon blast and it was locked on.
“Well, little human. Now you’ll see what one of my ships is made of. Brace for impact and for new coordinates.”
As the photon blast spun in a circle of gold, I noticed Thor jumped on her lap, the little female wrapping one arm around his neck while keeping the other hand on the controls. As soon as I powered on the thrusters, white-hot heat shot over the entire system, every control board cut briefly. As pinging echoes of the harsh blast roared through the entire cabin, the thrusters took over, jettisoning us out of the atmosphere completely.
But not before we were able to see the Tantian ships disappear.
“Woo-hoo!” my lovely mate whistled.
Sadly, there would be more. If my assumptions were correct, the Tantians wanted nothing to do with me.
They were definitely interested in my mate. Why would they risk complete extinction? Because they were scavengers, hired guns and little more. They’d sell their firstborn for trinkets and jewels. And power.
