Page 48 of Star Mates

But no warning sound rang out, no alarm bells. Logan jumped to his feet and grabbed her hand and before she could blink, they were in the hallway. He banged on the walls, alerting the occupants inside the other cells that they were free if they wished. A few people poked their heads out, a few she recognized. Disbelief clouded their faces, but soon the emotion gave way to elation, to fervor, and a cry rose up as they raced from the cells.

Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. The entire time they hurried, her heart thumped heavily in her chest. Every shadow, every noise had her flinching because she expected them to be caught at any moment. Each step they took carried them closer to freedom, closer to escaping the horrible fate that awaited them as captives of the Merloni and Unarians.

Alarms finally blared to life, shrilly shrieking as the lights changed to red. Logan cursed again but kept running, his hand a band of steel around her wrist. Several times they had to take cover in a cove, hiding as Kexians rushed by, their garbled talk raised in anger.

Finally, what seemed like the longest few minutes of her life, Logan pulled her into a long corridor where door after door stood in a long line. He played with the controls of one and she watched him, waiting on tenterhooks, her fingers wringing together nervously.

“This door is easier,” he announced and a second later it slid open.

He pushed her inside and then hurried after. They were actually in an escape pod, that they had made it! But her relief was short lived as she realized they were going to have to now get past sensors.

“How are going to get past them noticing us?” she asked.

“They’ve got a riot on their hands,” he said as he sat down and turned on the pod’s computer. The viewscreen began scrolling lines in the Merloni language, the same language she remembered from their original trip. Now, it seemed, Logan had no problem reading it. “I’m glad this thing is self-explanatory.”

“I hate to break it to you but riot or not, someone’s still driving the ship.”

“Escape pods are also called life pods because they are equipped with cloaking devices,” he replied, concentrating on the buttons before him. “Just in case an enemy is firing upon them. This button will provide us with that protection. Strap yourself in, Emmarie.”

She hurried to the other seat and did as he instructed. A second later Logan hit a command and the escape pod ejected. Emmarie felt like she was on a roller coaster plummeting downward as the pod blasted out into the inky darkness of space.

“Now,” Logan drawled as he took hold of the small craft’s joystick, maneuvering the ship how he wanted. “They’ll know a pod jettisoned but they won’t be able to track us.”

“Are we going back to Arden?”

“I believe we’re on the other side of the Outlaw Rings,” he said, pointing to a small map in viewscreen’s corner. “I don’t think we should chance the asteroid field.”

“Then what do we do?”

Logan took a deep breath. “I’m going to find us a place to hide.”

“Hide? For how long?”

“I don’t know, I’m winging it.”

“Logan, we can’t stay hidden in enemy territory indefinitely! We’ll need provisions…food, water…a toilet.”

“I know! I’m thinking.”

His gaze darted over the screen before him. Most of it showed the space they traveled through, but on each side were scrolling pictures and what she assumed were instructions and could only hope they were giving some valuable tips.

“Okay,” he finally said. “I know the frequency that the Durians used whenever they communicated with Sparta, so I think I can jury-rig some type of distress call that only they’ll hear.”

“You can do that? Are you positive?”

“I’ve learned a lot over my last few weeks at command central working with computers,” he replied grimly. “I could go on Star Trek and teach them a thing or two about technobabble.”

She had to smile at that. It reminded her when they’d woken up on the crashed Merloni ship.

“We’ll stay on board until they find us,” he announced.

“What about the other necessities?”

“The inventory of the pod shows about two weeks’ worth of rations,” he said. “I’m hoping we don’t need that much.”

“What if we do?”

“If it starts getting a bit desperate, then…we’ll have to make decisions at that time. For now, we’re safe enough.”

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