Page 66 of Synnr's Ride

Their makeshift cell was a closet off of the main cabin, but no one was inside. All the evidence of Zilly and Kark that Hanna had seen before Zilly knocked her out was gone.

If she and Jori had waited any longer to check out this lead, there wouldn't have been any clues left.

They took the Apsyn standing outside the cabin by surprise, and he went down before he could call out an alarm. Hanna and Jori both wore their wings proudly, the edges of them dancing together and power sparking in a celebration of their bond.

Something hit her in the back, glancing off her wings, but the force hard enough to make her stumble. Hanna turned, raining down power at the group of Apsyns daring to attack her. Two were fried in an instant, while the final one took off running.

She had to drop Jori's hand as they covered fire from both sides.

Before their bonding, they'd already be dead. Now this was as simple as breathing.

She counted six men down, but no sign of Zilly. One of the men could have been Zilly's father, but Hanna doubted it.

Engines fired, the boom of ignition drawing her attention away from the remaining Apsyn. Jori took him out.

Then they ran.

The ship was a small vessel, meant for quick transport hops between Kilrym and Aorsa. Hanna would bet all she was worth that it had falsified papers and no connection to Zilly or her family.

It was a completely unremarkable hunk of gray metal. Hanna had seen thousands of similar ships in her time, and she wouldn't have thought twice of it. But this ship was the one that wanted to carry Jori away as a hostage.

Hanna wasn't about to let that happen.

She sent a blast of her spark at the right engine, but it glanced off.

"Braznon's bowels! It's shielded." Who put up their shields before the cargo bay door was closed? Shields worked against energetic strikes, not people. A team of soldiers could stampede onto the ship and capture the crew, shields be damned.

Hanna bounced on her feet.

"Don't do it," Jori warned, one hand gently placed on her arm. "I've got the ID number. We can track it now."

"They'll scrub that the second they land. You and I both know Zilly and her family will get set right back up. Whatever they're planning, all we did was take out lackeys. We have to stop them now." Jori wasn't holding her in place. She could make the run herself, but she didn't want to do it alone.

"Ah,punt." Jori dropped his hand.

They ran.

The engines were firing in their pre-takeoff sequence. Hanna and Jori still had a few minutes before it would be ready to launch into orbit. And the second Hanna cleared the loading ramp, she searched for a power box.

She couldn't kill the engines without getting to the engine room, but that wasn't the only necessary system on the ship.

An unobtrusive white box hung on the wall that separated the cargo bay from the hall leading into the ship. Hanna flipped it open and smiled at the switches before sending her spark out of her fingertips and breathing in the acrid scent of burning metal and plastic.

"Life support system compromised. Beginning self-repair," announced the ship's system.

"Smart." Jori nodded in approval as they continued into the ship.

No life support, no launch. Not unless their target was suicidal.

She and Jori had to move slower now. There'd been six Apsyns on the ground. Zilly was definitely still unaccounted for, and her father was most likely near her. The ship was small, but only in spaceship terms. There were multiple rooms, narrow halls, and easy places to corner anyone unfamiliar with the design, no matter how powerful they were.

Hanna strained to hear anyone coming their way. All she could make out was the whining siren of the failed life support system.

They walked by what passed for the armory, a small closet right off the sleeping quarters. The hooks were empty except for one blaster that was blinking a light that indicated it was broken.

The sleeping quarters consisted of two rooms of bunks, one on either side of the hallway. Four bunks and seats in each, though in each of the rooms, only three of the seats appeared used.

The corridor led up a small ladder and into the cockpit. Or, Hanna assumed that was where it led. The door was sealed off.

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