Page 48

“Sorry. No.”

“We need to hurry. If others have the same idea to abandon the station, it will attract attention. The cyborgs won’t be far behind.”

“Promise me we’re not going far. We’re just sending a distress call.”

“Then waiting for backup to arrive.” Loka secured the docking ramp.

“We can’t wait long.”

“If we fight just the two of us, we’ll end up like Ernie.”

When Heather didn’t reply, Loka glanced at her as he powered up the engines. She held Ernie’s limb in her hand.

“I’ll buy you another Ernie.”

“No, you can’t replace him.” She tucked the metal leg into the pocket of her jumpsuit.

“Then a real pet. One of those... cats you mentioned.”

“They’re lovely. I’m not sure how well they’d take to life in space. We’re not supposed to have pets on the station. Their fur clogs the filters. Don’t worry about me and my lack of pet. Just get us out of here.”

Loka edged the ship forward, heading toward the closed docking bay doors. “These open automatically?”

“Yes. They’re triggered by a sensor. Only the security team can override the sensors if they detect anyone making an unauthorized departure.”

Loka slid the ship to a crawl, getting closer to the doors. They remained closed.

Heather leaned forward, peering at the doors. “At least, they should open automatically.”

Loka clenched his hand around the steering rudder. “The station must be on complete lockdown. They don’t want anybody getting in or out.”

“We’re trapped?”

“Unless you know a way to override those doors manually?”

Heather’s nose wrinkled. Her eyes widened, and she nodded. “I might. I remember the docking bay doors getting stuck not long after the station opened. I watched them use a lever to crank the doors open.”

“Show me.”

“No. You need to pilot the ship. I can do it. It’s not hard. Get as close to the doors as you can. Open the ramp for me. I can jump out and crank the lever. I’ll be in and out in a couple of minutes.”

“I should go.” Loka’s hands tightened on the steering rudder, loathing the idea of Heather being away from his protection.

“I have no clue how to pilot a Lillip ship. If you leave me in charge, I will crash. That would blow our chances of getting out of here.”

Loka grumbled under his breath. Heather was being logical, but he didn’t like it. Away from him and out of the ship, she was vulnerable.

“I can do this.” She patted his knee. “Let me try.”

He nodded as he maneuvered the ship close to the doors. Several other ships were lining up behind them, expecting the doors to open. “Hurry. We don’t want people trying to blast their way out of here.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can. You can watch me through the window.” Heather kissed his cheek before hopping up and dashing out of the cockpit.

His fingers touched the place where she’d kissed him. The more he got to know this quirky little human, the more he liked her. She wasn’t afraid of a challenge, and although he’d seen how scared she was when faced with the cyborgs, she’d fought back.

Loka leaned forward in his seat as he saw Heather run to the right side of the docking bay doors. He watched as she pulled a panel from the wall, exposing powerlines and cables.

Checking the scanners, Loka identified four ships behind him.