Chapter Thirty-One
“Any luck?” Shank asked.
“Only bad.” Allie yanked another access panel open and started checking circuits to find the live one.
“We need to get ready to abandon ship.” That was Zeke. Abandoning ship was well and good for him. This wasn’t his ship. Allie wasn’t leaving until she saw the bats coming over the hills.
“Give Allie time to fix this,” Shank said.
Allie pulled her head out from under the console. “Are you kidding? I fly these things. I don’t fix them. I’m just trying to find an active circuit so we can have Becca fix it. Maybe.” Allie put her head back down and tested circuits as fast as she could move the wand. Nothing. She couldn’t find anything live.
“That’s it. We abandon ship and wait to find out who shows up.”
“We can’t just leave her,” Allie protested. She looked up at Zeke. He had a sympathetic expression, but there wasn’t a lot of negotiating room in his steady gaze or the way he shook his head.
“A ship is not worth dying for. We get clear and hide you guys until we can plan our next move. Double time, Grah. You have ten minutes to grab belongings, and then we’re booking it back to the settlement.”
Allie started to appeal to Shank, but Shank gave Zeke a quick nod and then turned and dashed off the bridge.Damn it.
“We could still find it,” Allie said, but even she could hear the lie in her voice.
“We could, but the chances are pretty good that someone would find us first. We retreat to a safer position before we get our asses kicked. We don’t have the firepower for anything else.” Zeke held out his hand, and Allie let him help her up. Her knees hurt from the hard decking.
“This rescue is really not going to plan,” Allie complained.
“They never do. Grab your gear, and I’ll meet you outside in ten minutes,” Zeke said, and Allie started to head for the corridor. “And Allie?”
She turned.
“However this turns out, thanks. Not many people would have done this.”
“Five of us did,” Allie said with a shrug, and then she ran for her room, already mentally planning her strategy for shoving everything she owned into a bag. She didn’t have much. She had a few keepsakes she’d shoved in her pockets and one small sack when they’d left theCandiruto start the rescue mission. Vi on theLincolnhad given her one change of clothes, and Shank’s family had donated some hand-me-downs. Ten minutes should be long enough to gather all her worldly belongings.
Shank was madly pulling out drawers when she came in. He’d thrown her stuff on the bed. Allie grabbed a bag out of the pile and started shoving all her stuff into it. She finished fast, and then she helped Shank pack. He’d left a lot of stuff on theMitakuye Oyasinwhen he’d joined Command, and he’d brought a fair amount with him. “Enough,” Shank said several minutes later. He hadn’t touched his electronics, and Allie looked toward the neat little cabinet that held his games and recordings.
“No time. We need to go now.” Shank lifted his two bags over his shoulder and headed out.
“This was starting to feel like home,” Allie said sadly.
“You never got to chain me down to the bed.”
“No chains.”
“We’ll have to improvise the next time we get a private bedroom,” Shank said. He reached for her, and she took his hand. “We’ll be fine. We have the commander and Jacqs back. We’ll all be fine.”
Allie couldn’t shake the feeling that he was wrong. “Let’s go,” she said. He nodded, and they both moved quickly through the corridors. They were still the last to arrive at the hatch. Copta and Becca stood close together. Ben and Jacqs had the SC operative between them. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and he looked a little roughed up. Zeke looked ready to spit nails.
