Page 38 of Bound

“Itislike a motorbike.” I laugh out loud. “I feel like I haven’t ridden in ages! And I haven’t ridden in ages!” I grip harder, and with a lurch, the hover craft increases its speed.

Behind us, a plasma bolt slams into a wall.

“Keep going,” Rych says.

A quick glance over my shoulder, and I see he has a pulsar pistol in his hand. I grip the throttle as he returns fire, and we jink through the alleyways which are, fortunately, large enough for the craft and the two of us.

“Where to?” I shout over the sound of the engine and the wind as we race down a wide passageway.

“Next left,” Rych says in my ear, “and we should be out of Kal.”

I take the turn, feeling my way with the new machine. It’s incredibly responsive and stable as we whirl around, and I see, at the bottom of the hill, an open space. I increase our speed, and we race downwards before firing out from between two walls.

“Shit!” I try to slow down before we hit the wide river.

“Keep going! This is all terrain,” Rych calls out. I grip the throttle with all my might, and we skim over the surface, spray hitting the forcefield around us until we’re free of the water. Irisk a check behind us and see, through the mist, two of the Oykigs stranded on the other side.

“Go!” Rych exhorts me as several bolts hit the surface where we just were. “Before they get their own transport.”

We shoot forward again, into the waving grass of the wide plain, and I keep up our pace until the grassland morphs into low sweeping hills and there are places we can hide. I bring the hover craft to a halt.

Rych rolls off with a groan and throws himself down on the ground.

“Are you okay?” I ask, leaping off after him.

“Not used to fast ground transport,” he grumbles. “Prefer flying.”

“You’re travel sick?”

Rych nods. He has one hand wrapped over his abdomen.

“Let me see,” I say, gently lifting it away.

The burn doesn’t look great, but it also isn’t any worse than when I briefly saw it before.

“There are supplies on the hover craft.” Rych eyes the thing with suspicion. “I’m not sure what as I borrowed it.”

“Borrowed?”

He gives me a shrug and a wan smile. “Maybe stole.”

“Great, so we can add thieves to our resumes, as well as hooligans.”

“I already am a thief, little spark, and as for hooligan, if that has anything to do with the way you piloted the hover craft, I am in awe of your hooliganism,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.

RYCH

I’ve never been good with ground transport. Although any flying we get in the dome isn’t long distance, at least when we are sent anywhere, it was usually under the influence of paraxio.

The nausea wears off quickly. My pride in my little mate and how easily she adapted to the controls of the hover craft swells in my chest instead. It makes the pulsar bolt injury burn at me, but it’s a small price to pay to see my Chrissie in action.

“Keep still,” Chrissie orders. “I need to get this on your wound.” She spreads a cooling salve from the craft’s medi-kit over my injury.

“Don’t like it,” I grumble, attempting not to move but squirming anyway.

The smell of it makes me think of the medi-bay at the dome. A place I avoided as far as I could. One night there was enough.

“Don’t be such a child! This’ll stop any infection andyou’re already healing,” Chrissie says with not a little awe. “How?”

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