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“Can you send me the coordinates?” I said.
“Sure. But you know, they’re not going to delay jumping into hyperspace just because you ask nicely.”
“I know,” I said.
“The ship’s waiting in line. Estimated time until departure: fifty-eight minutes.”
Fifty-eight minutes.
It would take me at least twenty minutes to break through the atmosphere. Thirty at the outside. Then there was the journey time to the ship.
That left me with maybe eight minutes to play with.
Maybe less.
I was getting closer to the spaceport. It reared large in my windshield.
A drone flashed with a message: GROUND BOUND TRAVEL ONLY
I overtook the other shuttlecraft forced to travel at ground level. No vehicles were allowed to travel over the spaceport.
Unless you were driving an illegally chipped shuttlecraft…
Now was when I had to bite the bullet. If I was going to take off, I had to do it now. Spaceport security would chase—and catch—me eventually.
Then I would be in serious trouble.
Now was the point of no return.
Was I going to do this?
I had no choice.
I increased speed and yanked back the steering wheel.
The shuttlecraft reared upward, suddenly facing the sky. The force shoved me back into my chair. I didn’t head directly up, not just yet. First, I needed to get a little more altitude.
I struck the button again and hit the turbo booster. It forced me even deeper into the leather of my chair. The giant ship I spotted earlier was still in the process of breaking through the atmosphere. I drew alongside it.
I could imagine the security vehicles scrambling, rushing to come and arrest me. Ordinarily, I would have been cheering them on from the safe confines of my armchair back home. This time, I was on the crazy team of love.
Go me!
The shuttlecraft shuddered. The fastenings rattled and something flew off. I sure hoped it wasn’t an important part.
Please hold together.
Please hold together.
I glanced at the clock. It was just as I thought. It would take me twenty-four minutes to escape the atmosphere.
I was almost there…
“What’s going on?” Brislax said. “My Creator in heaven! That’s you, isn’t it? You’re the nutjob on TV at the spaceport? You’re on the news! And they’ll know I was talking to you while you were doing it! I’ll be an accessory!”
“Don’t worry!” I said through gritted teeth. “This has nothing to do with you.”
The shuttlecraft groaned loudly. Any second, it was going to be ripped apart.
