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“I’m no good with engines or computers,” I said. “But I can lead, and I can fight. Let’s take a team into the facility on the moon and disable the telepathy field like originally planned.”
Wrin didn’t immediately answer. What was he thinking? Was he going to say no?
Nope. Not going to accept that. A thread of anger thrummed through me, getting ready for a fight. We’d come too far to turn back, and humans still needed to make a place in this new world. Doing this would get me the political kudos I needed to find my crew a home.
He switched us over to a private comms channel, and his hands clamped onto my shoulders. “I have never been prouder to have you for my fated mate.”
Oh!I wished I could see his face! These metal-coated bubble helmets were great for keeping our brains from being scrambled, but they were also completely opaque. At least the little screen mounted inside in front of my eyes let me see whatever my suit’s front camera saw. We’d even done a couple of practice sparring sessions in the training room yesterday to get used to fighting in the helmets, followed by a little target practice with blasters.
“Then you like my idea?”
“I love it.” His deep voice resonated with a truth that curled my toes. “And if there’s one good thing about losing contact with the other ships, it’s that we don’t need to argue with any of the senators for permission.”
I grinned. “I love the way you think.”
Wrin’s fingers flexed, then he let go to set our comms back to the open channel. “The mission is a go. Sul, you’re with us. Raxnor, get your group ready and meet us at the belly airlock. Mol-Lee, I know the viewscreens are dead, but do you have an idea of when we’ll fly over the base on the moon?”
“Our forward velocity is exactly the same as it was when the engine died,” she said, running a calculation on her forearm computer. “You’ve got eighteen minutes.”
“Great!” I headed for the door. “Let’s move, people!”
“You know that we won’t be able to come back for you unless we get the engine on,” she called after us.
“If you don’t get the engine on, it won’t matter,” I said. “But it’s not going to come to that.” I refused to let it come to that.
Wrin opened a panel in the wall and yanked a lever inside. The door to the bridge unsealed with a pop, and Sul shoved it open using brute force. They repeated the process beside the elevator, opening a vertical shaft lined with ladder rungs. The big merc went first, then me, then Wrin.
We passed the already opened hatch on crew deck and continued down to the engineering deck. Cara waited for us, handing us each two blasters, one big, one normal.
I holstered mine, saying, “This one’s bigger than the one I practiced with.”
“They’re Sjisji ones designed to stun Grug.”
Wrin added, “It still might take a couple of shots, so don’t assume one will do, but they’re a lot more effective than a normal blaster.”
“Yeah, those gray frekkers are built tough,” Sul said.
My fingers drifted past the blaster to the knife sheath built into my suit, brushing over the comforting shape of the dagger Wrin had given me.
Then we hurried down the hall to where Gravin and Raxnor waited in the airlock. They fitted us with an extra thruster pack for our backs. I’d used something similar during training on Earth, but hadn’t tried the Zaarn one.
“We’ll go tandem, ‘Wrin said. “I’ll stay with you the whole way down.”
We all crammed into the airlock together. Without pumps to suck up the air and save it in tanks, we only wanted to open the airlock to space once.
I used my small size to squeeze my way forward to the outer hatch, and Wrin pushed through to stand right behind me. As others filed in, he pressed forward, his large form almost wrapping over mine. A few days ago, it would have felt oppressive, but now, his strong presence made me feel comforted and safe.
He wrapped an arm around my waist and grabbed onto a handhold with the other.
The outer hatch slid open with an explosive gust of air that died almost as soon as it started. But without Wrin’s grip, it would have tossed me outside in an uncontrolled tumble.
The rocky gray surface of the moon rolled past underneath, pocked with craters. A thrill went through me as Wrin let go, and I bent my knees and launched myself out into space.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Wrin
Vivv-Ee-Aan jumped out of the airlock in front of me, and it felt as if my heart leaped with her.
