Page 58 of Into Orbit
I eyed him sideways, wondering whether Ashton would think it was appropriate to exchange blows with a being in chains.
‘Vesper. Willow better not be implying what I think he’s implying,’ Anna chided harshly.
Vesper rolled his eyes. ‘One moment.’
A scent washed through the room, wood charred by new flames, mixing with Anna’s sweet, fresh scent. A moment later, Anna shook her head.
‘Say something, you big lump,’ Vesper said commandingly, gesturing at the Roth.
The Roth scowled in response. ‘Something,’ he growled a moment later.
Anna gave a shocked laugh. ‘Oh,’ she breathed. ‘I understood that.Oh. Thank you,’ she rushed. ‘Thank you. For the blankets and the pillows, and for … after the doctor …Thank you. And please thank the Prince as well. For the …’ She trailed off.
‘Beheading?’ Vesper supplied lazily.
Anna glared at him. ‘For theprotection.’
The Roth studied her expressionlessly. ‘I will tell him.’
‘Technically, it’s his fault you’re here in the first place,’ Vesper said, stretching as far as his dark-matter binding would allow. ‘I wouldn’t be too effusive in thanks.’
‘The Roth took you?’ I said slowly. ‘From Earth?’
Anna sank back down into her pillows, as if she’d exhausted her energy; sweat was beading on her brow, so she might well have. I gave her another sip of water. ‘He took me.’
I filed that information away for if I ever got off the ship. If the Roth had taken her against her will, then he’d broken even more laws than the three beings who’d taken Maeve’s friend Tessa; she, at least, had possibly gone consensually.
I closed my eyes and allowed myself a moment of despair. Getting off a Roth ship wasn’t likely; staying alive was only slightly more probable. I needed to prove myself useful enough that they wouldn’t kill me once Anna had recovered. If the ship had no doctor, then that was a helpful start.
The longer you’re alive, the longer Ash has to find you, the hopeful part of my brain whispered.
I quashed it, then sent a quick prayer to the green gods that Ashton wouldn’t be stupid enough to come.
‘Willow?’
I looked down at Anna. ‘Yes?’
‘Will I die?’
I mustered a smile. ‘Not anymore,’ I told her. ‘Though your recovery may be slow, unless I can fetch more supplies from the ship’s medical lab.’
‘Slow is better than never,’ she said, sinking down into her nest of luxurious blankets with a sigh.
I stood and went to the glass. ‘I have enough antibiotics, but the drip I made isn’t sufficient,’ I said to the Roth. ‘She’ll need more fluids in six hours. Can I go to your lab to get more supplies?’
He scowled at me. ‘No,’ he said immediately. ‘You will tell me exactly what you need, and I will bring it here.’
Better than nothing. ‘I need –’
An alarm blared.
The Roth’s eyes widened.‘Brace,’ he snarled.
I flung myself at the bed and over Anna moments before the ship shuddered, and our ears rang with the sound of a giantboom.
‘Manualmode,’Igrowledat the Pod.
The Pod’s computer gave a softbeepas it shifted from automatic and the controls unfurled from the dash. I flicked off the engine boosters and set a course for a large arc around the two ships before me.
