Page 21 of Crossing Quinn

The ship bucked violently, throwing me to the floor. I could hear a mechanical voice warning, “Coolant leak in the main engine. The engine will fail in ten minutes. Warning. Coolant leak in the main engine. The engine will fail in ten minutes.”

Balock’s balls. That meant no life support, but suffocating was better than being eaten by the Tai-Kok. “Aw. Did you break your crappy ship?”

“Shut your drekking mouth,” Dolon snapped.

“Warning. Coolant leak in the main engine. The engine will fail in eight minutes.”

“Jandjviles Air Command, this is the merchant ship Retvizan. I’m declaring an emergency. I need immediate clearance to land.” There was a note of panic in my uncle’s voice.

A harsh male voice answered, “Retvizan, we are scanning your vessel now. Stay on your current heading and power down your weapons systems. Any deviation will be considered a hostile act.”

The thugs that ran Jandjviles were a bit fanatical on security. They had to be with all the criminal types they dealt with And the Alliance enforcers’—the peacekeepers of the galaxy—continual efforts to blow their base to smithereens.

“Powering my weapons systems down,” Dolon responded.

“Retvizan, you are cleared to land on airstrip six. Do not leave your ship until the security detail has cleared it.”

“Warning. Coolant leak in the main engine has reached critical level. Catastrophic engine failure in three minutes.”

“Jandjviles Command, my main engine will fail in three minutes.” Dolon gasped for air like he was in labor.

I had a sinking feeling my uncle wasn’t the best pilot in the galaxy.

Jandjviles’s planetary traffic controller responded, “We have scanned your ship, and emergency vehicles will be standing by.”

My uncle’s spacecraft pitched radically as it entered Jandjviles’s atmosphere. I rolled across the floor and slammed into the wall.

The hull began to vibrate so badly my teeth clattered. Stressed metal shrieked and began to buckle. The interior lights flickered and died. A loud click sounded, and a harsh sulfurous glare filled the cell, glazing everything with a cold, unearthly light.

Drekk. If I got out of this alive, I was kissing Quinn on the mouth and getting some tongue action in too.

“Retvizan, you’re coming in too fast. Bring your nose up,” the traffic controller snapped.

“Trying,” Dolon snarled.

“Any damage to our facility will result in your ship and cargo being confiscated,” the controller advised.

The spacecraft bounced several times and came to a sudden, stunning stop. I crashed headfirst into a wall. Whoa! Jandjviles Command had deployed a capture net to stop Dolon’s ship. I waited for the room to stop spinning.

“Prepare to be boarded by our security forces. Be sure you are unarmed.”

“I am unarmed,” Dolon groaned.

Goddess, I hoped he was bleeding from every orifice and had broken some bones. I blinked. The energy barrier was down. What the heck was I doing just lying here? I scrambled to my feet and darted out into the corridor.

My berserker senses went on alert. The image of eight heavily armed security personnel formed in my mind. They were heading my way. I quickly raised an invisibility illusion.

They trotted by my cell and entered the control room. “Hands where we can see them,” a low, rough voice commanded my uncle.

“I’m unarmed. I’m unarmed,” Dolon cried.

Too bad. I had been hoping the security personnel would kill him.

Another male asked, “Where is the female?”

“In the holding cell,” Dolon answered.

Time for me to leave. I ran out the exit and darted around two more security guards stationed at the bottom of the landing ramp.

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