going to get us to that shuttle.”
Saluk growled and flared his spikes. Saber crouched on Saluk’s back, and Salika took a deep breath. It was time to try this out with witnesses.
She raised her hands and called the power. She started with the electrical energy in the weapons, and then, she removed power from the guards themselves. The representative hit the ground and twitched.
Imron grabbed her and carried her to the shuttle faster than he ever had before.
To her amusement, he returned and brought Saluk and Saber into the shuttle.
Saluk staggered as he was set on his feet, but he immediately headed for the tiny medical unit. His mind called to hers, and Salika went to see what was concerning him.
The bomb was a foot square and wired into the ship’s systems. She took a look at it and blinked at the mercury switch. It was going to be triggered by takeoff.
“Don’t take off, Imron. I have to drop something off.”
She put her fingers in place of the wired connection and she continued the power flow while she yanked the strands free of the ship’s systems.
Once it was loose, she carefully held it and walked to the cargo hatch. Saluk hit the drop for the ramp, and it slowly lowered into place.
“Take off, now. With the ramp open.” She yelled it into the speaker.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. When I yell go, go.”
“Will do. Saluk, don’t let her fall out.”
Saluk growled affirmation, and the ship slowly lifted off the ground. They cruised away from the airfield, and when they were a few hundred feet above ground, she scooted down the ramp and let go of the bomb. “Go! Go! Go!”
The ship lurched skyward, and Salika crept back up the ramp. She was nearly to the top when the explosion sounded, and a heartbeat later, the ship rocked.
Salika grunted as she fell and slid downward. She was nearing the edge of the ramp when it closed. When it sealed, Salika rolled to her back and gasped for air.
Saluk walked up to her and nudged his head under her arm. The claw mark on the button told her the story. He had closed the hatch for her.
“Thanks, Saluk.”
She crawled along the floor of the cargo hold and stood on wobbly legs to walk to the command deck.
Saber hopped alongside her until she sat. He demanded to be picked up, and the moment she touched him, soothing energy ran across the nerves made raw by panic.
“Saluk spotted the bomb, and he also kept me from dropping to the ground.”
“It was dangerous.”
“I gathered that when I was skidding toward certain death.” She fished the crystal out of her tunic. “Shall I see if this is actually any information we can use?”
“Of course. It would be awkward if we had to go back and get what we were promised.”
She picked up the insulated tablet from her station and heard the click as the crystal docked.
The information was a history of the Luthan people, and it appeared to be intact.
“I need to look into my people. He called them Sorrows.”
She quickly flicked through the eons of information until she saw the word she was looking for. Sorrow. The Sorrows were a group of Luthans who believed that blindly pursuing science had brought them to their situation of death at the hands of technology.
Her ancestors had packed up and left Luthan behind, setting in place strict moral guidelines that were to confine and support their people.
What Salika knew and the Luthan didn’t was that those strictures had rapidly become scars in their society, inflexible and difficult to work with.
Every citizen on those ships had lost someone at Daenskil, and each genome was on file.
Those files were included in the data packet.
“I am really thinking that the representative wanted us dead and was then going to reclaim this.”
Imron raised his brows. “Is the information useful?”
“It will be. Are we out of their airspace yet?”
He smiled. “Not yet, hold on.”
She clutched at the tablet and Saber as they shot upward through the cloud layer and
Saluk growled and flared his spikes. Saber crouched on Saluk’s back, and Salika took a deep breath. It was time to try this out with witnesses.
She raised her hands and called the power. She started with the electrical energy in the weapons, and then, she removed power from the guards themselves. The representative hit the ground and twitched.
Imron grabbed her and carried her to the shuttle faster than he ever had before.
To her amusement, he returned and brought Saluk and Saber into the shuttle.
Saluk staggered as he was set on his feet, but he immediately headed for the tiny medical unit. His mind called to hers, and Salika went to see what was concerning him.
The bomb was a foot square and wired into the ship’s systems. She took a look at it and blinked at the mercury switch. It was going to be triggered by takeoff.
“Don’t take off, Imron. I have to drop something off.”
She put her fingers in place of the wired connection and she continued the power flow while she yanked the strands free of the ship’s systems.
Once it was loose, she carefully held it and walked to the cargo hatch. Saluk hit the drop for the ramp, and it slowly lowered into place.
“Take off, now. With the ramp open.” She yelled it into the speaker.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. When I yell go, go.”
“Will do. Saluk, don’t let her fall out.”
Saluk growled affirmation, and the ship slowly lifted off the ground. They cruised away from the airfield, and when they were a few hundred feet above ground, she scooted down the ramp and let go of the bomb. “Go! Go! Go!”
The ship lurched skyward, and Salika crept back up the ramp. She was nearly to the top when the explosion sounded, and a heartbeat later, the ship rocked.
Salika grunted as she fell and slid downward. She was nearing the edge of the ramp when it closed. When it sealed, Salika rolled to her back and gasped for air.
Saluk walked up to her and nudged his head under her arm. The claw mark on the button told her the story. He had closed the hatch for her.
“Thanks, Saluk.”
She crawled along the floor of the cargo hold and stood on wobbly legs to walk to the command deck.
Saber hopped alongside her until she sat. He demanded to be picked up, and the moment she touched him, soothing energy ran across the nerves made raw by panic.
“Saluk spotted the bomb, and he also kept me from dropping to the ground.”
“It was dangerous.”
“I gathered that when I was skidding toward certain death.” She fished the crystal out of her tunic. “Shall I see if this is actually any information we can use?”
“Of course. It would be awkward if we had to go back and get what we were promised.”
She picked up the insulated tablet from her station and heard the click as the crystal docked.
The information was a history of the Luthan people, and it appeared to be intact.
“I need to look into my people. He called them Sorrows.”
She quickly flicked through the eons of information until she saw the word she was looking for. Sorrow. The Sorrows were a group of Luthans who believed that blindly pursuing science had brought them to their situation of death at the hands of technology.
Her ancestors had packed up and left Luthan behind, setting in place strict moral guidelines that were to confine and support their people.
What Salika knew and the Luthan didn’t was that those strictures had rapidly become scars in their society, inflexible and difficult to work with.
Every citizen on those ships had lost someone at Daenskil, and each genome was on file.
Those files were included in the data packet.
“I am really thinking that the representative wanted us dead and was then going to reclaim this.”
Imron raised his brows. “Is the information useful?”
“It will be. Are we out of their airspace yet?”
He smiled. “Not yet, hold on.”
She clutched at the tablet and Saber as they shot upward through the cloud layer and
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