Jenna’s grip on her armrests tightened. Those shields had to hold.
“Open a channel toThe Star Tempest,” she shouted above the whine of the engines. “Tell them to cover us once we leave Idral’s atmosphere.”
“One thing at a time, Lady Jenna,” Vic answered as the ship rocked violently. “Let’s get out of range of their guns first.”
They rocketed upward so fast that a wave of dizziness swept over Jenna. Her ears started to ring.
She kept her gaze fixed forward, upon the captain and copilot ofThe Wayfarer. Both Vic and Obsidian looked as if they knew what they were doing. Cyborg and droid worked together, while Vic hauled back on the controls, guiding the ship through a barrage of fire.
A high-pitched wail cut through the roar of the engines then.
“Rear shields are failing,” Vic muttered.
“We must almost be out of range?” Malik called out.
“Nearly.”
Outside the cockpit windows, the view of the pink sky changed, turning pale blue and then dark purple.
And then Jenna spied the rust-colored curve of Idral beneath them, and the star-dusted black curtain of space behind.
The roar of the engines settled now that they’d broken free of the planet’s gravitational pull.
It struck Jenna then that she didn’t feel queasy, as she usually did during takeoff. Indeed, she’d been too scared, too preoccupied, to think about herself.
Vic bit out a curse, and an instant later, Jenna saw why.
Just ahead, a battle was in full flight. Four arrow-shaped Mir-Ferrin battle cruisers, includingDefiance, one of the Mir-Ferrin flagships, had engagedTheStar TempestandThe Star Monarch. Pyro-torpedoes detonated against the battleships’ shields, the light from the explosions illuminating the emptiness of space.
“Vic … open that channel toTheStar Tempest,” she shouted. With all that fire, there was no way they’d get to the battle cruiser without being shot down. “Now!”
Vic complied, punching something out on the screen in front of him. Static then filled the cockpit. “Star Tempest, this is Vic Mir-Riorde, captain ofThe Wayfarer. Urgent request to board … I have Lady Jenna Mir-Brennan with us. Over.”
A beat passed before a clipped voice responded. “Negative, Captain. You’re flying a Mir-Ferrin freighter … unless you can provide proof that—”
Jenna swore under her breath. She’d forgotten to warn Commander Levi about that earlier. Unclipping her harness, she shoved her way past the others and launched herself at the console. She then grabbed hold of the back of Vic’s seat and leaned forward.
“This is Lady Jenna Mir-Brennan,” she snarled into the comm. “Open a landing bay ready for us and send out an escort immediately.”
A shocked silence crackled back before the comms officer cleared his throat. “Copy, Lady Mir-Brennan.” He paused then for a second before speaking once more, his voice all business now. “Make for Landing Bay C4 on the aft hull. An escort will be with you shortly … we will try to cover you until then. Over.”
Jenna’s breath gusted out of her.
“Strap yourself in, Jenna,” Vic replied, his voice tight. “We’re about to enter rough seas again.”
She nodded, retreating to her seat—and had just clicked the harness back into place whenThe Wayfarerjolted, a graunching noise filling the cabin.
“That didn’t sound good,” Isla gasped, glancing around her, eyes wild.
“Two Arrows are on us,” Vic reported. “We’ve just lost our rear shields.”
Bea started to cry, her frightened sobs muffled as she clung to her mother.
Jenna swallowed hard. Arrows were Mir-Ferrin fighter planes. The arrowhead shape was a hallmark of the clan; they used it for all their craft, from utilitarian freighters like this one to their biggest battle cruisers. Arrows were fast, agile, and as deadly as Idralian sand-stingers.
Vic stopped speaking then, his entire focus on guiding his ship towardTheStar Tempest.The crab-shaped vessel seemed too far away; it felt as if a huge gulf divided them. One filled with enemy ships.
TheStar Tempestbegan firing on the Arrows then—white laser streaming from its guns. The fighters were nimble, and avoided it easily, although the diversion boughtThe Wayfarertime.
