“You’renot,” I snapped.
“No, of course not.I am glad I am on any side of you.Anywhere you are is where I want to be.That’s all.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything as I slammed the door behind me.Damn Space Fleet.Did they honestly think this was going to turn us around and make us give up?Had they never met me before?
Stumbling along, I felt my way to the main hall outside the ship’s bridge.Inside the walls were compartments full of spare supplies like flashlights, sealed packages of government peanut butter, toilet paper, batteries, and huge boxes of sporks.You know, the important stuff.
I stuffed a backpack I found with as many flashlights and other items as it could carry to the bridge, powering only one of them on, and when I barged through the door, my crew groaned and blinked into the bright light.
“We were telling ghost stories, Captain,” Darc said, squinting through her fingers.
They were all seated exactly as I’d left them, perfectly fine.
“Still no word from the cruise ship, but Major came back.”Philip pointed to his head.“See?”
My cat lay asleep on the high console while using Philip’s head as a paw rest.If only we could all be that oblivious to what was happening.
“Good.Here.”I shoved flashlights into all their hands, whether they wanted one or not.“I’m on my way to the cruise ship.The power surge hit them too.”
“A power surge from where, Captain?”Darc asked.“We didn’t get any warning, and I didn’t see anything on our scanners.”
“Earth Space Fleet doesn’t care for our presence so close to Klio-3, it seems.”
“So they know that we know that they know,” Philip reasoned.
“Um, something like that.I’ll be back before you miss me.”
“Do you want me to come with you, Captain?”Mosely asked.
He must have seen the sweaty trepidation all over my face.
“I’ll be fine.Stay here.Keep an ear and an eye on the prisoner,” I told them.“And dream of Earth Space Fleet’s downfall.”
Their collective, enthusiastic “Done!”gave me the little bit of courage I needed to put one foot in front of the other.
As soon as I stepped out into the hallway again though, shadows slinked just out of reach from the beam of light.Movement wavered as my eyes played all sorts of shitty tricks on my brain.
Have I mentioned how freaking scared I am of the dark?
But I kept going.One foot in front of the other.
Earth Space Fleet’s email spun around the hamster wheel that was my brain.
Is she going to be a problem?
Damn straight I was.
Chapter seventeen
Maxx
“So,yeah,”Petesaid,kicking his heel at the cruise ship’s plush hallway carpeting, “I’ve officially been fired.This is my first and last season on this show.”
“What?“ Miekil shook his head incredulously.“That’s crazy.Just for trying to kill us?”
“I’m really sorry, Pete,” I told him.
The guy had his heart in the right place, but I couldn’t exactly say I was surprised.Still, after all he’d been through, all he’d done for me personally, he deserved better.Hopefully he would find it.
