"She'll kill us all!"
Only you, bonehead, if I get half a chance. Summoning her remaining dignity, she lurched into the corridor, followed by the two men.
Ian caught her elbow. "Is that true, Tee? Are you going to kill us all?" He regarded her with an irritatingly amused smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to dock your pay for every life lost."
Perhaps she might have chuckled at his teasing had the stakes not been so high. She yanked her damp cap over her hair. "I intend to fly this ship safely and to your satisfaction."
"Good. But the cockpit's this way." And with that, his grin turned devilish, and he steered her in the opposite direction.
The Sun Devil's cockpit was smaller than the cargo freighter she was used to, but she'd managed all right with the starspeeder, a smaller ship. A sweeping forward-viewscreen framed a vista of brown hills below a pallid sky. Below the screen was the pilot's station, a panel with state-of-the-art instrumentation, as on the Prosper. The indicator lights winked invitingly, illuminating the black composite of the control yoke. Her fingers twitched in anticipation of gripping it. Ian sat in his captain's chair. "All hands to launch stations." Gredda, Push, Muffin, and Quin took their seats.
At Ian's firm command, Tee buckled herself into the snugly comfortable pilot's seat. Her empty stomach and bone-deep tiredness made it difficult to resist the craving to lie down and sleep for an entire standard year. But she willed away her sluggishness and shook her head, bunking.
The voices around her hushed. Slowly she became aware of the crew's doubtful gazes, particularly Quin's.
She wrapped her dust-streaked hands around the control yoke. "Strap in." Her lips drew back in an evil smile. "Tight."
There was a chorus of clicking harnesses. Then the scuffling ceased as the crew awaited her next order. To her delight, Quin looked decidedly paler.
She used the ship's computer to guide her through the unfamiliar prelaunch checklist display: prompts scrolling past on the viewscreen.
"Pilot ready, Captain," she said upon completing the last step in the procedure.
Ian folded his hands over his stomach. "Commence launch."
That he was calm with her at the controls of his craft infused her with confidence. She tapped the comm icon and told Blunder's port controller they were ready.
"Cleared to depart, Sun Devil."
She heard the sound of straps being yanked extra tight. Then a deep rumbling gave way to a satisfying surge of power. A force several tunes that of normal gravity pressed her into her seat. Her queasiness surged. She took deep breaths to control her nausea until the ship was out of the atmosphere and in its assigned space-lane routing, where the forces of acceleration eased. She was grateful the Sun Devil had a gravity generator, making the shipboard environment feel normal. If she had to contend with weightlessness, as she had on the starspeeder, she'd have long since lost her last meal.
She used everything she had to concentrate on Ian's instructions to take the ship through a short jump to hyperspace, where greater than light-speeds could be achieved through physics she battled to comprehend. Only after they'd dropped back into normal space did she have a free moment to grin at the silent crew.
Gredda gave her a respectful nod. The others attempted weak smiles. But the Earth dweller's eyes simply gleamed. She'd gotten him off Donavan's Blunder, and that was what he wanted.
Exhaling, she relaxed a fraction and returned her attention to her viewscreens and the planet Grüma ahead. Maybe this wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind, but by the looks of it, she'd found herself a job.
Chapter Five
Gann Truelenne dismissed the escort assigned to him; he preferred to navigate the maze of corridors in the palace himself. His travel cloak whipped around his legs as his strides carried him into the heart of the largest personal residence in the galaxy. To his left and right massive columns
Only you, bonehead, if I get half a chance. Summoning her remaining dignity, she lurched into the corridor, followed by the two men.
Ian caught her elbow. "Is that true, Tee? Are you going to kill us all?" He regarded her with an irritatingly amused smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to dock your pay for every life lost."
Perhaps she might have chuckled at his teasing had the stakes not been so high. She yanked her damp cap over her hair. "I intend to fly this ship safely and to your satisfaction."
"Good. But the cockpit's this way." And with that, his grin turned devilish, and he steered her in the opposite direction.
The Sun Devil's cockpit was smaller than the cargo freighter she was used to, but she'd managed all right with the starspeeder, a smaller ship. A sweeping forward-viewscreen framed a vista of brown hills below a pallid sky. Below the screen was the pilot's station, a panel with state-of-the-art instrumentation, as on the Prosper. The indicator lights winked invitingly, illuminating the black composite of the control yoke. Her fingers twitched in anticipation of gripping it. Ian sat in his captain's chair. "All hands to launch stations." Gredda, Push, Muffin, and Quin took their seats.
At Ian's firm command, Tee buckled herself into the snugly comfortable pilot's seat. Her empty stomach and bone-deep tiredness made it difficult to resist the craving to lie down and sleep for an entire standard year. But she willed away her sluggishness and shook her head, bunking.
The voices around her hushed. Slowly she became aware of the crew's doubtful gazes, particularly Quin's.
She wrapped her dust-streaked hands around the control yoke. "Strap in." Her lips drew back in an evil smile. "Tight."
There was a chorus of clicking harnesses. Then the scuffling ceased as the crew awaited her next order. To her delight, Quin looked decidedly paler.
She used the ship's computer to guide her through the unfamiliar prelaunch checklist display: prompts scrolling past on the viewscreen.
"Pilot ready, Captain," she said upon completing the last step in the procedure.
Ian folded his hands over his stomach. "Commence launch."
That he was calm with her at the controls of his craft infused her with confidence. She tapped the comm icon and told Blunder's port controller they were ready.
"Cleared to depart, Sun Devil."
She heard the sound of straps being yanked extra tight. Then a deep rumbling gave way to a satisfying surge of power. A force several tunes that of normal gravity pressed her into her seat. Her queasiness surged. She took deep breaths to control her nausea until the ship was out of the atmosphere and in its assigned space-lane routing, where the forces of acceleration eased. She was grateful the Sun Devil had a gravity generator, making the shipboard environment feel normal. If she had to contend with weightlessness, as she had on the starspeeder, she'd have long since lost her last meal.
She used everything she had to concentrate on Ian's instructions to take the ship through a short jump to hyperspace, where greater than light-speeds could be achieved through physics she battled to comprehend. Only after they'd dropped back into normal space did she have a free moment to grin at the silent crew.
Gredda gave her a respectful nod. The others attempted weak smiles. But the Earth dweller's eyes simply gleamed. She'd gotten him off Donavan's Blunder, and that was what he wanted.
Exhaling, she relaxed a fraction and returned her attention to her viewscreens and the planet Grüma ahead. Maybe this wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind, but by the looks of it, she'd found herself a job.
Chapter Five
Gann Truelenne dismissed the escort assigned to him; he preferred to navigate the maze of corridors in the palace himself. His travel cloak whipped around his legs as his strides carried him into the heart of the largest personal residence in the galaxy. To his left and right massive columns
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