And among them, the one person who was most important to Darren was here, by his side, outright refusing to leave it.
Aiden reached over and rubbed the back of Darren’s neck, the smirk on his face transforming into a fond smile as he trained his gaze on the field with wheat behind the two shuttles. He didn’t agree nor disagree with Darren’s words and Darren simply moved on, letting his mind cycle through the many possible outcomes of this stunt they were about to attempt.
“Haven’t you already?” Aiden eventually said, his voice so quiet as if he was whispering a secret.
It touched Darren’s heart and soul and he smiled to himself, balling his hands into fists as he let himself hope for the best for the first time ever.
“Barbara,” he yelled, getting the woman’s attention. “The three of us will stay with the Maine.”
“Okay! We have concluded loading, so we’ll head up. Good luck!”
“Right. Let’s get the Maine’s jump drive sorted.” Bea clapped her hands and made her way to the Maine’s airlock.
Aiden followed her, but Darren stayed outside for a few extra minutes. He watched the shuttles lift off, disappearing in the sky before the dust and sand could settle back on the ground. A soft breeze broke out, and he enjoyed that too while Bea and Aiden’s voices discussed engine tweaks and start-up sequences through the earpiece’s comms. Taking one last look at the wheat fields, he breathed in Earth’s fresh air and headed inside.
As they awaited George’s call, his nerves were on edge, the wait feeling like hours instead of the twenty minutes it actually lasted.
“This is the Sinaloa. I don’t think Barbara’s diversion is working anymore. Things are getting heated up here,” George said, his voice filling the Maine’s cockpit. “The GN is looking for us. They are grounding stations left and right.” He paused, speaking to someone on a different line. “I just heard from Nan. A GN squadron is headed there, so she’s moving the cruisers out of Lambert Outpost. They’ll meet us halfway.”
Darren’s stomach coiled, giving him a bad feeling. He raked a hand through his hair. It had grown longer, reaching past his ears now, but he kind of liked it this way, so he didn’t cut it. “We are in position and ready.”
The original plan was for the Maine to leave Earth once the Sinaloa arrived at Lambert, but they’d accounted for a scenario where they might need to do it sooner.
“We’ll let you do your part then. I’ll report when we are preparing to jump. Good luck.”
“Roger that! Good luck!” Bea chipped in. A small smile played at the corners of her lips when she met Darren’s gaze. “Are you ready to make not just Marcus, but his entire GN fleet chase after us, boys?”
Darren nodded. Aiden did as well, but the motion was a bit stiff. He also frowned at the visualized trajectory Bea had on the central screen. “You are sure we can make it look like we crashed?”
“That’s what the shuttle loaded with spare parts in the cargo hold is for! We’ll send it crashing at some rock and use the fireworks as a distraction so we can jump.”
It was a good plan. It was also their only plan, but that didn’t matter because they were going to make it work.
