care. He took advantage of the beast’s injury to jump into the hovercraft. “Go, go, go!”
“Yes, sir.” Langston kicked the craft into optimum speed and they took off, churning up sand, which seemed to confuse the worm. They were meters away within minutes.
“Whoa.” Smith finally found his tongue. “What with the sun, the lizards, and now these death worms, there’s no way a person could survive here.”
“Shut up, Skyman.” Barliss was quick to correct him. “You forget as an engineer, Aries Ryder was trained to work in different environments under all sorts of pressures. You’re overreacting, soldier.”
He eyed Langston as the man drove the craft. The pilot didn’t seem as fazed by the attack. Barliss ignored the stronger man and turned back to Smith. “It’s a good thing I’m sending the report to the commander and not you, or we’d all be shipped out of here tomorrow, leaving a floundering young woman to fend for herself and abandoning a great part of our genetic DNA. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Smith’s gaze fell to the floor. “Sorry, sir.” His face flushed red.
Barliss gleaned no satisfaction from beating someone with no backbone. He sat back and watched the sun as it set on the horizon. Behind him the first sun began to rise, casting a strange yellow-red glow.
At camp, he’d dig up that old bottle of wheat beer brewed by his friends on the New Dawn , another perk of knowing the right people. Although it was his last one, he needed it. The situation with the sandworm had scraped too close to tragedy. He’d choose a new team tomorrow, hopefully a few men with spines.
…
Aries allowed Striker to guide her through the bowels of the alien ship, clutching his hand as if he were her lifeline. Which he was. Her entire existence rested on his survival skills and knowledge of Sahara 354. The corridors dimmed the farther they descended, as if the source of light, whatever that was, lost its potency. She wondered how it could still run at all after all of those years abandoned in the sand.
“Don’t worry.” Striker looked back and flashed a mischievous smile, reminding her of Tria. “I’ve been working on this ship for years now, studying how it operates. I know my way around it like a fish in a stream.”
His analogy made her grin. The only fish she’d ever seen were in the containment aquaducts onboard the New Dawn . Striker used phrases from Earth as if he’d actually been there.
“Where’d you come from?” Aries suddenly yearned to learn more about him, to know who her savior really was. “How did you come to be trapped here on Sahara 354?”
“Now, that’s a story.” Striker stepped over a bunch of fallen cables and picked through the rubbish. He worked through the pile as he talked, throwing away some cables and pocketing others in his long black cloak. “I was exiled five years ago. My shipmates decided they’d be better without me. They stole my ship and left me here in this purgatory to rot, mutinous bastards.”
“Exiled?” Aries put the pieces together. “You mean, there was a mutiny?”
“Yup.” Striker shook his head in disgust. “Bad luck, if you ask me. That and the loyalty of pirates has gone to shit. Excuse my English. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to anyone, never mind a lady such as your—”
“Pirates?” Aries stepped back, looking at him from a new perspective. “You’re a space pirate?” She put her hands on her hips, challenging him as if he’d told a lie.
Striker bowed like it was something to be proud of. “Born and raised.”
Aries looked him up and down. Pirates were supposed to have inferior DNA. Left to die on old Earth, they’d rioted, stealing the last colony ships and overtaking the main space station. Striker didn’t look inferior at all. In fact, he was gorgeous, skilled with tools, and possessed a worldly knowledge she couldn’t come close to grasping. Barliss was far more flawed than this hunk
“Yes, sir.” Langston kicked the craft into optimum speed and they took off, churning up sand, which seemed to confuse the worm. They were meters away within minutes.
“Whoa.” Smith finally found his tongue. “What with the sun, the lizards, and now these death worms, there’s no way a person could survive here.”
“Shut up, Skyman.” Barliss was quick to correct him. “You forget as an engineer, Aries Ryder was trained to work in different environments under all sorts of pressures. You’re overreacting, soldier.”
He eyed Langston as the man drove the craft. The pilot didn’t seem as fazed by the attack. Barliss ignored the stronger man and turned back to Smith. “It’s a good thing I’m sending the report to the commander and not you, or we’d all be shipped out of here tomorrow, leaving a floundering young woman to fend for herself and abandoning a great part of our genetic DNA. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Smith’s gaze fell to the floor. “Sorry, sir.” His face flushed red.
Barliss gleaned no satisfaction from beating someone with no backbone. He sat back and watched the sun as it set on the horizon. Behind him the first sun began to rise, casting a strange yellow-red glow.
At camp, he’d dig up that old bottle of wheat beer brewed by his friends on the New Dawn , another perk of knowing the right people. Although it was his last one, he needed it. The situation with the sandworm had scraped too close to tragedy. He’d choose a new team tomorrow, hopefully a few men with spines.
…
Aries allowed Striker to guide her through the bowels of the alien ship, clutching his hand as if he were her lifeline. Which he was. Her entire existence rested on his survival skills and knowledge of Sahara 354. The corridors dimmed the farther they descended, as if the source of light, whatever that was, lost its potency. She wondered how it could still run at all after all of those years abandoned in the sand.
“Don’t worry.” Striker looked back and flashed a mischievous smile, reminding her of Tria. “I’ve been working on this ship for years now, studying how it operates. I know my way around it like a fish in a stream.”
His analogy made her grin. The only fish she’d ever seen were in the containment aquaducts onboard the New Dawn . Striker used phrases from Earth as if he’d actually been there.
“Where’d you come from?” Aries suddenly yearned to learn more about him, to know who her savior really was. “How did you come to be trapped here on Sahara 354?”
“Now, that’s a story.” Striker stepped over a bunch of fallen cables and picked through the rubbish. He worked through the pile as he talked, throwing away some cables and pocketing others in his long black cloak. “I was exiled five years ago. My shipmates decided they’d be better without me. They stole my ship and left me here in this purgatory to rot, mutinous bastards.”
“Exiled?” Aries put the pieces together. “You mean, there was a mutiny?”
“Yup.” Striker shook his head in disgust. “Bad luck, if you ask me. That and the loyalty of pirates has gone to shit. Excuse my English. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to anyone, never mind a lady such as your—”
“Pirates?” Aries stepped back, looking at him from a new perspective. “You’re a space pirate?” She put her hands on her hips, challenging him as if he’d told a lie.
Striker bowed like it was something to be proud of. “Born and raised.”
Aries looked him up and down. Pirates were supposed to have inferior DNA. Left to die on old Earth, they’d rioted, stealing the last colony ships and overtaking the main space station. Striker didn’t look inferior at all. In fact, he was gorgeous, skilled with tools, and possessed a worldly knowledge she couldn’t come close to grasping. Barliss was far more flawed than this hunk
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