Soven skidded in.“Port gun.”
He nodded and turned to sprint back to the station.
Arven came in.“Starboard gun.”
He nodded.
“Full coms open.Sealing hatches and pushing out.”She felt a ping and sighed.“Really, Baket?Calling for reinforcements?”
Geri’s voice said softly.“That was me.There are three ships incoming, Margo.You can’t get them all.”
Margo moved the ship away from the station.“Watch me.”
The next two hours went by in a blur of impacts, energy blasts, and threats being screamed through the coms.
When the battle was over, the slip ship was damaged but was repairing itself.That was an interesting feature.The raiders had been after the ship.
She contacted the surface.“Fight is over.Raiders are driven off.Zowoth are looming like creeps.Status is good.I am going to pass out if one of the guys can take the com after I park again.”
She moved the vessel back into the station cradle.Her head was throbbing, and she pulled the gun contacts away from her temples.She wiped her nose and saw the blood.Yeah, she wasn’t suited to the signal, but she still made the guns work.
She got out of the pilot’s seat, stood, took a few steps, and hit the floor.She lay with her face against the flooring and muttered, “Medic!”
Hands pulled her up, and Baket carried her with eyes that were blazing blue.
“Aw, this is embarrassing.”
Aken-Var said through Baket, “What is?I have had hands on you before.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t wearing as much.”
“The suit is appropriate on you.Was that you shooting?”
“Just the forward guns and the ones on the belly of the ship.”
He carried her to the med unit.“That was your first time linking to the guns?”
“Yeah.”
“There is probably some internal bleeding.However, the next time you use them, it will be easier.You will have scar tissue in your mind.”
“Delightful.”
The unit opened, and he settled her in.“I am going to keep apologizing in a thousand different ways.”
She paused and looked at him as the door came down.“Words usually work for me.”
There was a click, and the unit started to work.He cursed, and she grinned as she let the machine do its job.It was at this point that he probably realized he hadn’t actually apologized to her.
He had probably figured it out by now.
* * * *
Baket looked at theHmrain on the screen.“Pilot Margo had an issue with an imprecise connection to the targeting systems.This ship wasn’t properly tailored to her.We have an appointment at Orexi station to get that corrected.She will be fine in battle but needs a little repair after each time.”
Birun looked at him.“Good.The ladies were worried.Geri felt her fall but nothing else.Now, why do you have blue eyes?Only one Zowoth has blue eyes.He who summons multitudes.”
“I am in Baket.He is close to my bloodline and easy to occupy.He and Margo also have a warrior-to-warrior friendship.She doesn’t flinch when he picks her up.”
