Page 23 of Star Cruise Captain's Story

Theo took the flyer up in a steep angle, the engines no doubt in the red zone as he applied power. Gil and his two companions had to cling tightly to whatever was handy to avoid being bounced like pinballs in the small boarding area and injured. He hoped the rest of the group had managed to get themselves into seats and strapped down but there was nothing he could do to help anyone right now.

We’ve got a lot of traffic ahead of us,Theo said, continuing his rapid ascent and adding new evasive maneuvers to his flight path.Maeve’s warning about the volcano touched off a mass exodus all right and there’s no flight control directing anything. I saw two collisions already.

Keep us from having the same fate,Gil said with a trace of humor in his voice. He was counting his blessings Maeve hadpersuaded Theo to join her team because the guy was a hot pilot before he’d moved into command of a Space Navy ship. His skills had obviously not grown rusty.

Count on that, Theo replied.Don’t forget, my wife is there with you. I’ve got a lot at stake here.

Gil heard Theo call ahead to Maeve on theValkyrie Revengeto get the engines spooled up and open the landing bay.

I’m busy right now, she said, voice tight.I’m repelling a boarding party who wanted to hijack us. Come in hot and wary.

Roger that. Don’t shoot us though.Theo sounded half serious.

Hey, buddy, I used to be a battleship, I know what I’m doing here, was her snippy response.

The last portion of the ascent to theValkyrie Revengewas tense. Gil managed to reach the cockpit and take the empty chair next to Theo, who was doing a masterful job of piloting. “Almost there,” he said to the younger man.

“Almost doesn’t count,” Theo replied. The flyer jolted as it was struck by fire from another vessel and sirens wailed. Theo shut the alarms off with a savage sweep of his hand across the sensor board. “I don’t need the distraction right now. Anything critical?”

“Nope.” Gil kept his eyes on the readouts and vids, astonished at how many ships of all kinds had taken to the air to try and escape the planet. “I’ve never seen such a melee outside of a battle. It’s definitely every person for themselves right now.”

Theo wove his way over and around other ships, some of them massive, and there was no more incoming fire, which was a relief to Gil. He supposed the mass exodus worked in their favor to the extent neither the remaining Jlonngi or Arturo’s gang could track him down in this unstructured flood of vessels. Now safely in space, they were clear of anyone trying to hijackthe flyer for their own. “I’m approaching the landing bay now, Maeve,” Theo said. “You think you could open the door for us?”

“Opening the cargo bay instead—there’s damage to the landing bay,” she said. “Do your best to make it work. I’m jumping to hyperspeed the instant you’re aboard.”

“Make it work, she says, like it’s a simple maneuver.” Theo swore as theValkyrie Revengeappeared on the screens, dead ahead. There was quite a bit of hull damage and the cargo bay doors gaped open. A blasted hulk floated off to starboard which Gil assumed had been the aggressor’s vessel. Maeve wasn’t fooling with diplomacy or warning shots on this trip.

He watched in fascinated horror as Theo reduced speed to a crawl and gingerly brought the flyer into the mother ship, into a space where it wasn’t supposed to be but there were no other choices. Breathing a huge sigh of relief as the flyer set down with a thump in the confined area Maeve had cleared out for them, Gil was jolted against the back of the co-pilot’s seat as she made good on her vow to jump to lightspeed. He wondered if she’d managed to close the doors before jumping. It seemed she was in a hurry to get away from the chaos happening in near space around Pagettia Three.

And we’re safe now, Maeve said over the subaural com in Gil’s ear.Well on our way to Zebulon Six. I estimate three days travel to get there. Plenty of time to align our stories and decide what we want to tell the authorities and what we don’t choose to share. Switching to the actual com, she added, “Welcome aboard theValkyrie Revenge. We’ll do our best to make your trip with us a pleasant one.”

Gil had to laugh at her tone.This isn’t the Nebula Zephyr, he reminded her subaurally.

The ex-hostages survived to become my guests and I always welcome new arrivals,she answered in a teasing tone.Are you going to debark now?

Taking her not so subtle hint, he took command of the situation. Jake had been in charge of the rescue mission and the combat operations but Gil felt it was now his duty to organize the logistics of fitting all these people into a ship not intended to hold them. Not to mention the need to get medical intervention going immediately for the man with the crushed leg and anyone else in need of more than first aid.

CHAPTER NINE

Afew hours later he was as satisfied as he was going to get, given the challenges. The ship’s wardroom had been converted into a dormitory for the five relatively healthy male ex-hostages. The ship had enough cabins to assign one to Daveed, which had been Maeve’s intention when she bought it, but he refused the space and insisted the three women take it over. His brother had been quite attentive to the youngest of the female rescues, as he had been during the entire ordeal. Gil hoped he’d get time to talk to Daveed about the situation but for now he was satisfied the woman displayed a liking for Daveed’s company and Gil had higher priority things to concern him. The two most severely injured men were in the sickbay with Dr. Shane and Tyrelle alternating shifts watching over them. Daveed was going to bunk in with Red, who was the only person on the ship without his spouse along. Gil was glad Meg had remained behind on the cruise ship. She had no military experience and although she was an exemplary crew member and calm in emergencies, she didn’t need to be exposed to the dangers the team had faced here.

Maeve was hard at work repairing the ship, which Theo was flying.

Gil began his evening rounds in the control chamber, where the officer and Jayna were sitting, quietly conversing and eating a dinner of survival rations.

“Care for anything to eat, captain?” Jayna asked when he entered the space. “We’ve got extras.”

“I’m fine—I’ll eat later, thanks.”

“We’d planned to have a celebratory dinner tonight,” she told him. “We even brought along a bottle of the rarest vintage feelgood in the Stores on theNebula Zephyr, but under the crowded conditions, we all decided the party had to wait.”

“I think that’s best,” he agreed. “We’ve been through an ordeal and while it would have been great to let off steam, we’ve got quite a crowd aboard.”

“Hardly the accommodations we can provide on our own ship.” Theo chuckled. “Much as I like this baby and love being in command again, it’ll be nice to get back to our proper places.”

Clearing his throat, Gil straightened and said, “I want to express my gratitude again for the two of you dropping everything and coming on this unorthodox mission to save my ass. And my brother’s as well. I can’t tell you what it means to me.”

“Hey,” Jayna said softly, placing her plate to the side as she got up to walk to where he stood. “We’re brothers and sisters in arms here, captain, you know that. We don’t let anyone go it alone and we don’t leave anyone behind.”

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