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“Blaze, no!” Leandra struggled to sit up.

“I have to go after them. Have you got a ship I can use?”

“Of course.” She staggered to her feet with his help. “This way.”

Leandra led him out of the west wing and over to a small transport ship in the docking bay. “This isn’t anything special, but it’s the only option at the moment. We use it for short trips. You won’t be able to shoot down anything in this.”

“That’s all I need. I have to get on that Pecket ship and get Eden back.”

“How will you do that?”

“Don’t worry about that. You need to get help together down here. Those assholes cut the communications. Find everyone you can then call for backup. I don’t know how badly the comms system is damaged, so you’ll need to find a workaround to send out a distress signal.” Blaze was climbing into the ship and firing up the engines as he spoke. All he could think about was getting to Eden. He had to keep her safe.

“I’ll handle things down here. You get Eden and make those bastards pay.” Leandra stood back as he sealed the cockpit door.

Blaze nodded at her through the glass, tension thrumming through him. He had one advantage over the Pecket ship while it was still in orbit. They’d be slow getting up to speed. This little thing could zip right past them. But once they were in space and jumped to warp, he’d be screwed.

He pushed the engine to maximum and took off, instantly clocking the Pecket ship.

They’d be watching to see if they’d been followed, so he didn’t have much time. He had to get this right, or they’d blow him out of the sky.

“Warning, scanning underway,” the ship’s computer said.

“I bet they’re fucking scanning me.” Blaze growled at them. “I’m coming for you, motherfuckers. And I’m going to rip you apart for taking Eden.”

He was gaining on the ship with every passing second. In a few minutes, he could slide under them and attach to an air lock. Once he was locked on, he’d force his way into the ship. The rest he’d figure out once he was on board.

Blaze was five minutes from reaching them when a blast of laser fire flew from the Pecket ship.

He slammed his ship to the left, avoiding impact, before leveling out the vessel. “That’s right, assholes. I’m coming for you. And you’d better be ready for me.”

Blaze didn’t have long. The Pecket ship was heading through the planet’s atmosphere. In a couple of minutes, Eden would be lost to him. They’d warp out of here, and he’d have no way to track her down.

He ground his teeth together. He wasn’t letting her go.

“Computer, the second we’re in range, lock onto the Pecket ship. Locate the air locks and move to within compression hatch range.”

“Target is acquired. Locked on,” the ship’s computer said.

“Increase speed.” He dodged several attempts by the Pecket to shoot him out of the sky. They had firepower, but he had size on his side. Sometimes, small was good.

“The ship’s engine is at maximum capacity. Risk of hull damage if this speed is maintained.”

“Divert all non-essential functions to the engine power.”

“Confirmed.” The ship juddered and lurched forward.

It was a fucking bone rattler. The sanctuary’s transport seriously needed an upgrade.

Blaze gritted his teeth as he ducked under the belly of the ship and closed in on an air hatch. This would work. It had to.

“Computer, fix a compression tunnel onto that air hatch.”

“Caution advised. At these speeds, the tunnel will be unstable. Risk of death is fifty percent.”

“Do it. I only need a few seconds to get over there.”

“Confirmed. The compression tunnel is locked on. Compression stabilization underway.”