She closed her eyes. “Xander?—”
Then a new sound blasted around them.
The roar of starship engines.
Xander and Malin looked up.
TheInfinitas, with its distinctive scorpion shape, hovered above them.
Malin pumped a fist in the air with a smile. The blasts of air generated by the engines whipped up the debris around them and sent the Rahl into chaos.
Xander saw a thin metal line lower from the ship. “Come on.” He pushed Malin ahead of him.
They sprinted together. The line finished descending but was still far above their heads. The nearby buildings were preventing the ship from descending lower.
“It’s not low enough,” Malin yelled.
He took a second to assess, then he grabbed her, and swung her onto his back. She let out a short scream, but instantly realized what he had planned. She wrapped her arms and legs around him.
He ran, took three large steps, and leaped into the air.
His enhanced strength took him high into the air. He grabbed the line with his mechanical arm, then used his other to reach around and secure Malin’s slight weight.
Below them, he saw a few of the Rahl warriors attempting to jump up and grab them.
But then the line was retracting, whizzing upward, sending them higher and higher.
Niklas pulled them aboard the ship. “You two okay?”
Malin’s eyes were squeezed shut. “Fine.”
“Dathan—” Niklas slammed the ship’s hatch closed “—get us out of here. Before the Rahl can scramble any ships.”
“You got it,” came Dathan’s cheerful reply from the cockpit.
Xander cupped Malin’s face, looking her over. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m okay. Just don’t love heights.” She smiled. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll put it on your bill.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my stars, Xander. Did you just make a joke?”
“CenSecs do not joke.” He savored her smile, and glanced at Niklas. “We found the location of the Antikythera. A planet called Technis.”
“Never heard of it.” Niklas frowned. “Where is it?”
Xander ran the name through his databases. Nothing. “I have no idea.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mal stood in the shower in her cabin longer than normal, washing the grime of Rhage away.
She pressed her hands to the plas-stall and let the water flow over her head. Well, technically it was more mist than water—a water-saving feature all starships utilized—and the water had a faint chemical tang of the water recycling unit that she hated.
But she was clean again. That’s what counted.
With a sigh, she flicked off the spray and grabbed a towel. She’d left Xander glued to a computer console running every known search trying to find any reference to a planet called Technis.
