“Hell, no. I’m questioning your brother’s plan. If you don’t think you can do it, we’ll come up with an alternative.”
She put enough stress on herself and obviously her brother heaped it on as well. I’d shown her she could share that burden—even if it was by spanking her—and I didn’t want to lose the progress I’d made, the trust I’d begun to earn by pushing her too hard now.
“I flew in the military, the Earth military. Planes and space ships are not remotely the same though. I wasn’t an astronaut, but I’ve got thirteen men to get off this ship. I went through some basic simulations during coalition training. I’ll figure it out, or die trying.”
“You will not die. We will find an alternative,” I repeated. Just as she said, there were thirteen other men in this ragtag team. We could come up with another way or we could keep the Hive away until transport was possible.
She shook her head and looked me in the eye. “No, Dax. I can do this. I can get us off this ship. Trust me.”
Before I could argue further, she started issuing orders. “Three of you take forward, three take our six. Ion pistols set to kill. Let’s focus and get the hell out of here.”
The men snapped into action, eager to get the hell off this ship, total confidence in Sarah.
We followed Meers and the advance guys to the flight deck. We encountered one Hive group, but we were able to quickly shoot them down.
There were two identical ships on the deck and Seth led us to the nearest one.
“Dax, Seth, keep the Hive off us while I figure out how to fly this tin can,” Sarah said.
Seth grinned at her Earth term—I had no idea what a tin can was—and began to bark orders. I wasn’t going to do Seth’s bidding, but followed Sarah instead. She was my responsibility. I’d protect her, or, as she said, die trying. Of course, Seth probably knew that I wasn’t going to do anything but flank my mate and didn’t give me any commands.
We were halfway up the boarding ramp when the first sonar detonation threw us all to the ground. Ears ringing, I rose instantly, roaring a challenge. Three Hive stood on the opposite side of the launch pad, another set of sonar charges at their feet. The weapons created a small, contained blast radius that would disable the ship, or weaken the hull until it was no longer safe to fly.
I charged them, firing my ion pistol to take out the first before I reached them. The second collapsed as I neared, and I glanced behind me to find Seth on his knees, covering me. The third Hive calmly loaded a sonar blast as I neared, as if nothing existed but his mission, his need to fire his weapon at our ship.
I wondered what went through his mind when I cranked his head to the side, when his neck snapped. I would have continued, ripping his head from his shoulders, but Sarah was yelling at everyone to get onboard and Seth and I were the only two remaining outside the ship.
“Come on, warlord. Let’s roll!” Seth yelled at me, shooting across the launch bay at another trio of Hive that entered on the far side of the area. I didn’t have time to charge them and make it back to the ship, so I joined Seth and we hurried on board, closing the launch doors behind us.
The men slumped in the hallway, their energy drained by the escape and short fight. I located Meers. “Where is Sarah?”
“Pilot seat.” He lifted his hand and pointed in the direction my mate had gone. Seth and I both took off at a run.
I found Sarah looking over the controls in the cockpit. She was buckled into the pilot’s seat, a look of fierce concentration on her face.
“Well?” I asked. It looked like any other control board to me, but then, I was a ground fighter.
“The controls are unusual, more video game than cockpit, but I’ll manage.”
I didn’t understand half of what she said, but it sounded promising. Shifting in the pilot’s seat, she fiddled with the U-shaped steering column and odd foot pedals.
“There’s no key to start the ignition sequence.” She pressed a bunch of buttons until the displays came to light.
“Can you fly this?” I asked.
She continued to fiddle with the displays, flipping a few switches, then took a deep breath when the very powerful feel of the engines coming alive vibrated beneath us.
“Buckle up!” she yelled so those down the corridor would hear.
I glanced toward the back, but saw no one. Surely the men would know to get strapped in by now as the vibrations of the ship’s systems were powerful and rumbled through the floor.
I did as she said, strapping the harness over my shoulders as Sarah mumbled to herself, a strange, repetitive chant I didn’t recognize. “What are you doing?” I asked.