Nirro had stopped and turned at the sound of his soldier in trouble, and they both watched him shudder and then fall.
There was no question he was dead.
Velda crouched down and the silver ball emerged from his cheek, rolled across the floor to her, and she picked it up, felt it melt into her skin.
“You can tie me up, you can put me in a cell, but you cannot stop the silver balls from finding you.” She rose to her feet, her laz steady on Nirro. “I’m generous enough to let you leave and take your friend with you, while the tunnel is still safe to move across.”
As she spoke, the tunnel began to groan.
“Choose fast. Death, or getting your warship back.” She stepped back a little, giving Nirro space to grab his guy and go.
She saw the frustration on his face. The fury.
“I know, it’s hard. Believe me, I understand. Take the win I’m giving you and move it.” She held out her hand and a silver ball shimmered into being in the center of it.
With a growl of anger, Nirro ran for the tunnel, grabbing the back of his soldier’s jacket and hauling him with him.
He disappeared inside and it felt like moments later that, with a final screech of metal, the tunnel was pulled out of the bay.
Velda widened her stance to keep her balance and watched the airlock membrane carefully.
The ship wasn’t moving fast—it seemed to be drifting—but at least they had uncoupled, and no one could easily get across.
She backed away, watching until she reached the doors and, satisfied, backed into the passageway.
The Raptor was finally theirs.
41
“It won’t take longfor the Caruso to recover a little and start chasing us,” Ethan said when she flopped down beside him on the bridge. “We’re going to have to pick a direction and run, and when we have enough distance, we can start trying to work out how to navigate back.”
She managed a nod.
“What is it?” He was suddenly focused on her, and she shook her head and waved him back to the controls.
“Nirro and another Caruson soldier came through, with Linao, but she was just collateral. I pissed Nirro off and killed his soldier before I forced them back over.” She flexed her hand. “I don’t think they like me that much, anymore.”
Ethan paused, eyes a little wider, then gave a nod.
“There must be maps,” Velda said. “If we’re near Fjern, then the Cores have come this way before.”
“I wonder where that ore runner is,” Ethan said. “I meant to ask Brink once or twice, but . . .”
“There was all that shooting and fighting,” Velda said. “It was hard to get a word in edgewise.”
Ethan’s lips quirked up. “Exactly. Maybe they went back to Aponi, and if that’s so, they’ve pinched to the black long ago.”
That depended on whether Sylvester had thought he had a good chance of persuading Nirro to help mine the ore on Fjern, or whether he’d decided to send the ore runner back to the mine on Aponi. Either way, they’d need more ore to appease the Caruso, whether it be the rebels or the establishment.
“There’s a pre-programmed destination here,” Ethan said, pulling it up. “I’m assuming it’s to Fjern, if what Nirro said is right. I can’t call up anything else, and I think it’s because of the damage to the panels in your laz fight.”
“What choice to we have, then?” There were plenty of reasons why it was a bad idea to go to Fjern, but being able to retrace their route was a positive. And there was no question she was very curious about the new planet.
The silver balls were, too.
“None. We can stop or go off course if we find an alternative, but let’s use it to get away. Even if Sylvester manages to renegotiate with Nirro, or has a Caruson government warship close by as part of a possible double-cross, he doesn’t know we’re stuck on a single route.”
That was true, Velda realized. Neither Sylvester, nor Nirro, nor, for that matter, Linao, could possibly know that they were locked in to one destination.
