His brother had a point. Nojan still wasn’t sure why Mayra would want to leave. Things had seemed to improve between them just before they landed, enough so that he’d revealed his love for her. Why now would she seek to escape when she was so afraid of being captured by sinister forces?
“I’m getting a transmission now,” Zelup said. “The crew reports that a small transport is missing from the palace landing pad. No one saw anyone take it, and no one even reported it leaving. No flight plan was input before takeoff either, all violations of protocol.
“I’m going after it,” Nojan said, already running for the door.
“Not alone, you’re not,” his brother called after him.
“Come with me if you want, but don’t slow me down.”
Nojan decided to take the familiar cruiser while Zelup powered up his warship for backup. “You’re lucky Marek is on his honeymoon with his lovely new wife,” he said over the comm. “Otherwise, he’d mess you up for losing the oracle Jazmine wants so badly.”
“Screw Marek,” Nojan mumbled. “He’s never around when you need him.”
Both vessels took off, screeching their way out of the atmosphere. “I’ve got the transport on long-distance scanners,” Zelup reported. “Good thing they don’t have your cursed cloaking software.”
Nojan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Navigating the black hole that kept Vartik hidden was no easy feat. He was relieved to hear that they’d made it through safely. “Is the transport headed toward Territh?” It was the only direction he could think that Mayra might choose. Not Territh exactly, more likely the lunar colonies.
“Negative. They’re heading in the opposite direction, toward the Outer Rim.”
Nojan’s jaw dropped. Why would they be heading there? Planets were sparse on the Rim, and mostly uninhabited. Except for Danzmin.
“Fuck,” he groaned. Was the little ship really headed for the demon planet, supposed home of the Crown Prince of Hell?
“That transport can’t match our hyperspace speeds,” Zelup said. “We can catch them easily. It’s like they’re not even trying to escape. Not really.”
Nojan agreed. Their whole attempt screamed of poor planning. It was almost like they were waiting to get caught. In moments, the little ship was on his viewscreen. “I’m going to attempt a tractor to pull them out of hyperspace.”
The beam attached to the ship and knocked it off course, pulling it toward Nojan’s ship. Before long, he’d aligned the airlocks and was ready to board. “Keep an eye on things,” he told his brother, climbing through the seal and entering the code on the outer panel of the transport ship.
The door sprung open and he entered, finding only a deserted ship. He headed to the console and hit some buttons, discovering that the ship’s course was indeed set to Danzmin. “Mayra? Sanri? Where are you?” He opened the door to the tiny bathroom but it was equally empty. Perhaps the transport had been a decoy all along.
Nojan sat himself at the console, his finger hovering over the button to radio his brother and tell him what he’d found. Instead, his eyes widened in shock as he saw his brother’s ship fire two energy blasts a few meters from the transport’s bow.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he screeched into the communicator. “Are you trying to blow me up?”
Zelup didn’t respond, but there was another barrage of fire, this time a little farther away. Suddenly, his brother’s warship was speeding away. Nojan watched in confusion as the ship disappeared into hyperspace and was gone.
“None of this makes any sense,” he muttered, running shaking fingers through his hair.
Then, without warning, a curious sensation covered him, as if he were being doused in ice-cold water. Consciousness faded to a pinprick and then was gone.
