Page 19 of Crossing Quinn

I lied through my teeth. “Papa is busy fighting off Nilus’s warriors. He wants us to wait for him in the bolt-hole.”

“How did Nilus find us?” A flood of tears rolled down my mother’s face. “Oh Goddess. I’m responsible, aren’t I?”

“No, Dolon is. Nilus is a grave robber. Your brother hired him and his henchmen to plunder Qeeturah.” I handed her the Askole bio-belt I had brought from the bolt-hole.

“Henchmen?”

“Jeebito or Tabaw have been helping him rob other finds.”

Mami pulled her bulky dress over her head and wrapped the belt around her waist. “I knew he was a scoundrel. Can’t we go back to our ship?”

Drekk. I quickly tapped her communications bracelet, and her suit covered her. “It’s been damaged.”

“How badly damaged?”

I sidestepped the question. “Papa wants us in the bolt-hole.”

“I’m not a child. I deserve the truth.”

Mami would find out sooner or later. “Nilus destroyed our ship.”

My mother let out a moan and keeled over.

I blew out a long breath. Now I had to carry her.

The lights flickered, and a high-pitched whine sounded.

I frowned. It almost sounded like a transporter. Nah. Transporters were expensive and drew a lot of power. Power I doubted this piece of junk could generate.

“Wake up, Mami.” I patted her face. “Papa is waiting for us.”

The sensation of sudden danger screamed through my senses. Dolon! He did have a transporter. I threw up an invisibility illusion around my mother and me.

Dolon sprinted down the corridor, tripped over my mother’s foot, and did a face-plant on the floor. “Drekk!” Dolan scrambled to his feet and ran into the cockpit.

A minute later, the engines roared to life.

Balock’s balls. I couldn’t let Dolon take off.

The cockpit door slid shut. There was an ominous click.

Every muscle in my body tensed. Did Dolon know we were on board? Duh. I gave myself a head smack. He wouldn’t have locked the door unless he knew. Grabbing Mami, I threw her over my shoulder and hurried to the transporter room. We had to get off my uncle’s ship before we were out of transporter range.

Luckily, all my uncle’s henchmen were dead, and I didn’t have to fight my way in. The icy-cold room held an old one-person transporter platform and control console. I eased Mami down on the pad and hurried over to the controls. I’d send her first. I typed the coordinates for the bolt-hole into the keypad.

The ship tilted radically as it did an emergency launch. I grabbed ahold of the console.

Mami slid off the platform.

I tightened my grip as the craft shuddered and shook and made a weird whirring clatter.

The vessel reached escape velocity, but the whirring noise got louder. Balock’s balls. Dolon was pushing the engines too hard. He probably realized Nilus wanted him dead and was trying to get out of range of Nilus’s laser cannons. We had to get off this ship now. I dragged Mami back up on the platform.

Her eyes fluttered. “Lysis?”

“Stay put, Mami.” I darted around the console and shoved the control lever to the Send position. A glittering blue light appeared, and my mother vanished. I grinned. Quinn was going to have his hands full with her.

I put the transporter on auto-send and stepped on the platform. For a brief moment, my molecules started to break apart. The light vanished abruptly.

“Consider yourself my guest,” Dolon said mockingly from the speakers.

Jumping off the platform, I quickly checked the settings on the command console, and my shoulders sagged. Dolon had cut the power supply. A white vapor suddenly spewed from the vents. Sleeping gas. The room spun dizzily. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor. The cold, wet vapor clung to me, making it difficult to breathe.

“What to do with you? Decisions. Decisions,” Dolon gloated. “Do I eject you out the airlock or sell you to the slavers?”

Drekk! I tried to get my feet under me, but my limbs refused to obey me.

“I’m going to have to think on it awhile. Sleep tight.”

Everything faded to black.

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