“Do it.Not sure how long it will be ’til someone sounds an alarm.We need to get in and out with your sister as quickly as we can.”
I nodded, hating that we were going in mostly blind.
Upping our speed, I kept a close eye on the gauges.I didn’t expect problems with the shuttle, but I was prepared for them.
Cooler night air rushed in as we covered more ground.
“Can’t we close this door?”Mercer asked.
I ignored him until Burn asked the same thing.
“That mechanic said the doors were wonky.I can take a look later, but the priority was to get her running.”
“Think the shuttle was there for parts or repairs?”Burn asked.
“Parts, probably.”The wind carried Mercer’s words up to me.
I was instantly offended on behalf of the shuttle.“It’s okay, baby.Ignore the mean man.He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Do you honestly think that works?”That was Orion.
I couldn’t prove that it didn’t.“Would you rather be flying in an angry shuttle?”
“Seriously, you’re talking to this piece of shit shuttle?”Mercer again.
Asshole.
I’d never admit it, but I was starting to enjoy the sniping with Mercer.He was like the brother I never wanted.
“We could call it the shittle,” Burn said with a laugh.
“It’s okay, baby,” I whispered again.I had to believe that the shuttle would take us to the compound and the team would find my sister.When we found her, we needed to have a way back to our ship.“I believe in you.”
52
Lacy
“I think we’re getting close,”Dax said.He pointed at the growing pinprick of light ahead of us.
The last ten minutes had been spent mostly in silence, only broken when somebody had pointed out a light or checked behind us for tails.It had been both stressful and amusing to glance back and see Mercer leaning out the door to look behind us, while Orion had a death grip on his belt with one hand and gripped the shuttle’s door frame with the other.
“Should I approach head-on?”I looked over at Dax.
He gave his answer serious thought.“Pull to either side when we get closer.Whichever one looks less bright.”
I opened and closed my hands around the controls, releasing the tension.“Then what?”
When the silence ticked on, I asked, “Do I just fly by?Are we landing?Going up to the front door?”
Ever since we’d approached the hangar, unsure of what we’d find, we’d been improvising.Which was fine, sometimes plans fell apart.But the closer we got to Layla, the more winging it was stressing me out.I wanted a solid plan, one that would guarantee success.
“If it’s dark enough, we’ll land and proceed into the compound.If it’s too bright, continue past and we’ll find a better place to set down.”
“Daylight’s a few hours away.”Midnight had come and gone while we were in the hangar.Sunrise on Kottke was in six hours and I didn’t know if it would be the gradual kind of sunrise or the hello, wake up kind.Six hours to find Layla, get back to the ship, deal with any surprises, and get off-planet.
Easy, right?
Dax’s hand landed on my thigh.“We’ll get her out, Lacy.Trust me.”
