The freighter shuddered once more, and alarms went off, blaring through the ship, and drowning out Bea’s sobs.
A moment later, smoke drifted into the cabin.
“The cargo hold is on fire,” Vic announced. “I’ve sealed it off … but the drive console in the passageway is in danger of melting. If that happens, we’ll be dead in the water.”
“I’ll try and stop that from happening,” Malik shouted over the wailing alarms. He unclipped his harness and pushed himself out of his seat. His gaze then cut to Jenna. “I’ll need help.”
Wordlessly, Jenna nodded. She rose to her feet, and as she wriggled past Isla, she glanced through the cockpit window and glimpsed fighter planes emerging from the belly ofTheStar Tempest.Star Kites—Mir-Brennan fighters—were coming to their aid.
They left the cabin, and Malik sealed the door behind them.
In the passageway beyond, he grabbed an extinguisher and a mask and thrust them at Jenna before grabbing some for himself. Donning their masks, they made their way down the passageway, past the exit hatch, and toward the cargo hold. The smoke grew thick here, making visibility difficult.
Something struckThe Wayfarerthen, and the freighter listed to one side.
Jenna flew sideways and would have collided with the wall if Malik hadn’t caught her.
He hauled her against him, and then the freighter righted itself.
For an instant, their bodies were flush, and Jenna shoved herself away. Malik let her go, and they moved forward.
But when Jenna’s gaze settled on the drive console—a large panel of counters, screens, levers, and buttons that controlled the ship’s lightspeed and hyperdrives—she cursed. It was on fire.
They ignited their extinguishers, spraying a stream of blue foam over the fire. It took them both to put it out, and when they had, nothing but a tangled, melted mess remained of the console.
“Shit,” Jenna muttered. “That doesn’t look good.”
“Come on.” Malik’s voice was muffled through the mask. “We’d better get back to the cabin.”
They retraced their steps fast, their boots ringing on the metal floor, resealing the door behind them.
“The drive console is fried,” Malik announced.
“Just is wellThe Star Tempesthas locked us in a tractor beam then,” Vic replied, glancing over his shoulder, his hazel eye glinting. “That’s quite an escort they sent out. They want you safe … My Lady.”
Jenna’s gaze traveled past the cyborg to the view beyond the cockpit window. While she’d been helping Malik put out the fire, the freighter had stopped shuddering. The attack had ceased. Instead,TheStar Tempest’shull loomed before them, a hangar door yawning to receive them.
Jenna nodded. Hysteria twisted under her ribcage then. She’d reached her limit. Her skin prickled as the belly ofTheStar Tempestbecame the heavens.
Of course, they wanted to keep her safe.
She, Isla, and Bea were all that was left of the Mir-Brennan ruling family.
32. MY LADY
“FOR FUCK’S SAKE.”
Halting in the doorway, Jenna glanced down the corridor to see Vic standing before the melted mess that had been the drive console, viewing the destruction.
“I’ll see to it that your ship is fully repaired,” she assured him. “And I’ll give you double the price I promised back on Morith.” She paused then, flashing him a brittle smile. “You’ve earned it.”
Vic turned before favoring her with a respectful nod. “Thank you, My Lady.”
My Lady.
For most of the rescue mission, he hadn’t used an honorific with her. But now he did. It was a reminder of the responsibility that had been thrust upon her.
Jenna turned from the cyborg, her gaze flicking over her shoulder at where Malik, Isla, and Bea waited behind her.
