“You’re assuming I want to make a good impression,” Anpaytoo said loudly, but Cetan was already leading them away from the hangar and the slip. Blast doors slid open to show the interior.
The ship was huge; Allie knew that immediately by the curve of the halls. This exterior passage had such a slight angle to the curvature that she was guessing the ship to be at least a cruiser class, which was larger than anything she expected a pirate to run. Then again, she clearly knew nothing about pirates and next to nothing about her own government. Her ego hurt worse than her head.
Shank walked with an arm around her waist, and she closed her eyes against the overly bright light and let herself follow his lead.
“I thought for sure Mom would make me bunk with Chet.”
“I think she still does plan on that. She only said to get Allie to a room. I don’t remember her giving you permission to lollygag around.”
“I don’t need her permission anymore, Uncle Cetan.”
“Just be careful about how much you distance yourself from the family, Shank. Too much separation is a dangerous thing.”
“I’ll always be my mother’s first son.”
“Which does not outweigh her duty to her ship and people.”
“You can’t think I’d put this ship in any danger.”
Cetan didn’t answer immediately. They stopped, and Allie cracked open one eye long enough to see the panel for a transporter. The ship was large enough to have transporters.
Shank tightened his arm around her. “Are you okay, Allie? You’re really worrying me.”
“Terror-induced migraine,” she admitted. She could still feel her heart pounding, and her shoulders hurt from the straps on the pilot harness.
“I don’t blame you,” Cetan said. “I don’t know how you kept the ship in the bubble long enough for us to pick you up.”
Allie shrugged, and more pain lanced up her side. “Simple. I gave the computer random sensor readings, and if the shaking got worse, I changed the made-up numbers one way or the other until the shaking got better.”
“Random numbers? Really?”
Allie squinted up at Cetan. He seemed more in awe than dismissive or disbelieving. “They weren’t completely random. I did know what the sensors had been saying before they went off-line. I just kept feeding in numbers that made sense for what the sensors might have provided.”
Cetan shook his head. “She’s smarter than the last one you dragged home.”
Allie groaned. “I am not up for Claire stories.”
Cetan chuckled. “Much smarter. Come on; let’s get you settled.”
The lift doors opened, and Shank guided her into the small space. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. If someone would shoot her in the head, she would consider it a mercy. It was stupid to get this worked up after the danger was over, but she could feel her skin crawling with a need to run around and scream in fear. However, if she did that for even one second, her brain was going to liquefy and fall out her ears.
The lift quickly deposited them in a different part of the ship where the hall curved right at a much sharper angle. They were close to the nose of the ship.
“Here you go,” Cetan said. “The doctor will be around in a few minutes, and she’ll have painkillers or sedatives depending on what she thinks you need. Please don’t argue with her.”
“It’s my body. I only want one little pill,” Allie said. Shank urged her into the room and toward a large bed with a safety net that hung over it like an old-fashioned canopy. Allie collapsed on her stomach and covered her head with her arms.
“Listen to the doctor,” Cetan said again.
“I’ll make sure she takes the prescribed medicines,” Shank said. The bed tilted as he sat next to her. His warm hand started stroking her side, and Allie felt some of the tension drain out of her. They were safe now. The bubble hadn’t collapsed. They hadn’t been thrown out into the black to die of cold as the systems failed. They were safe.
Her brain knew that. Her body was still catching up with reality.
Shank pressed close to her side, his arm draped over the small of her back. “It’s okay now,” he whispered in her ear.
At another time, she would have taken the opportunity to proposition him for more sex, but before she could even form a thought, she found herself sliding off into sleep.
