Athena's Ashes (13 page)

Samil screamed as blood streamed from her nose, and the door behind them slammed open, two more guards surging into the room. As they crossed the threshold, Commander Jayla jumped from somewhere behind them, cracking the butt of her pistol against one of the men’s skulls.

He went down like a ton of rocks, and Jayla pointed her gun at the other. “Don’t move, asshole.”

The doctor scrambled to her feet and raised her own gun at Jayla. “I’m sorry you got involved, Commander. You’ve never been part of this plan. You were one of the good ones.”

Renna blinked up from her position on the floor as the whole room spun drunkenly.

Samil’s grip tightened on her gun and Renna opened her mouth to scream a warning at the commander, but her lips didn’t move.

Samil fired off a tranq shot, hitting Jayla in the neck.

Jayla furrowed her eyebrows. “Dr. Samil? What are you doing?”

Before the doctor could respond, a low vibration filled the air, growing louder. “Looks like I’m out of time. Come along, Renna. We have an appointment with a medical facility far from here.”

Jayla dropped to her knees with a thud. Her gaze met Renna’s across the room. Terror had stretched her features into a stiff mask.

“I’m sorry,” the commander whispered before she toppled to her side, unconscious.

The throbbing grew louder as the ship approached the bunker, and Samil hooked her hands under Renna’s armpits and pulled her toward the door.

“Damn, you’re heavier than you look,” she muttered.

Renna glared or, at least, tried to. Her muscles just wouldn’t respond. Maybe there was some way to slow the doctor down so she was caught in the bomb blast as well. She’d sacrifice herself if it meant stopping Pallas for good.

Renna’s eyes had turned to sand, her eyelids growing heavier by the second, but she forced them to stay open, to stay focused. She was not going out like this. There had to be some way to fight it. Coldness seeped through her limbs. She would have liked to have said goodbye to Finn. To see him one last time. But this way he’d be safe. He’d get over her.

The doctor hit a rough patch on the floor, jarring Renna, and she gasped as fire shot through her bad shoulder. The pain cleared her mind for a split second.

Her holo interface blipped into focus. Maybe her implant had reset. Maybe she could use it against Samil. Another bump and the heads-up display flickered off. Shit.

Renna fought for consciousness and for control of the implant. At the next bump, the display slid into focus. Something low and insistent blinked behind her left eye, and she forced herself to read the letters. It felt like trying to decipher an alien language, but eventually she got it.

The approaching ship wasn’t the MYTH bomber.

It was Lieutenant Blake and the
Eris
.

FIFTEEN

“Let the drugs take you, Renna. You won’t feel a thing.” Samil smiled down at her, then pressed a finger to her ear communicator. “Larson, I need someone in here now! We need to evacuate.” Samil paused, a frown marring her pretty features. “Where the hell is everyone?”

The door slammed open, and Blake stood there, his blaster aimed at Samil’s heart. His blond hair was disheveled, and with his brown eyes flashing, he looked like some kind of avenging angel.

“Dr. Samil? What are you doing?” Confusion furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced at Renna and the commander both motionless on the ground.

“Oh thank god, Lieutenant,” Samil said, her voice going soft and trembling. “Larson tried to kill them. We have to get help.”

“I can radio MYTH. They’ll stop the bombers if they know we’re here.” Blake lowered his gun and pressed a finger to his comm unit.

“Good idea. I’m going to go get my med kit. I’ll be right back.”

Renna tried to thrash and scream, to warn Blake, but her whole body felt like it was coated in cement. Things were getting dimmer by the second.

“This isn’t over, Renna,” Samil whispered, before darting away through the open door.

Renna gasped for breath, the words echoing over and over in her mind.

Pallas.
Dr. Samil
had escaped.

Blake crouched beside her and placed two cool fingers against her neck to check her pulse. “Hang in there, Renna. Help’s on the way.”

She felt her eyelids grow heavy, and he shook her shoulder. “Stay awake. You don’t need any beauty sleep. You’re gorgeous enough already.”

Blake spotted the feathered needle beside Renna and picked it up to study. His long fingers dwarfed the tiny barb. “Shit, that’s a Marko tranq. Takes at least twelve hours to wear off.” He stood to search the warehouse. “Where the hell did this come from, and where the hell is Dr. Samil?”

Renna tried to answer, tried to break free of the drug trapping her mind. She gasped for air, ordering her arm to move.

And then everything went dark as the tranq took over.

Cold. She was so cold.

The air felt strange—heavy somehow. As if a piece of metal mesh was draped over her like a blanket. Slowly, her vision cleared and she blinked at the lights glowing brightly in a ship’s corridor.

A happy sigh escaped Renna’s lips. She was back on the Athena. The familiar walls and controls of the CIC surrounded her and the tension slipped from her muscles.

Lieutenant Keva sat at her station, busily scanning the sector displayed on her holomonitor. Viktis stood behind her, peering over her shoulder at the screen.

“Looks all clear,” he said. “I think we should have a safe run through the system. Once we get to the nav point, switch over to the hyperdrive and follow those coordinates.”

Keva nodded, the bun of silver hair on the top of her head swaying slightly. “Kojima said the stealth system was working again. Gheewala was able to reprogram it on the new frequency.”

“Good, we’re going to need it to get in and out of that system without MYTH detecting us.”

Keva’s already thin lips all but disappeared as she frowned. “I hate this.”

“I know,” Viktis said, squeezing her shoulder. His hand lingered a bit longer than was acceptable. “But Renna’s working on it. You’ll be back in the fold in no time. I’m sure of it.”

Keva jumped as Finn’s heavy boots sounded on the stairs to the CIC, and Viktis dropped his hand.

“Status report,” Finn ordered, his impatient gaze raking over the crew.

The lieutenant scrambled to pull up the information on her console. “We’re approaching the Leporis system. Viktis thinks we can get through without anyone the wiser if we use our stealth drive.”

“Do it.” Finn turned to Viktis. “Any word from Renna?”

The alien shook his head, the sharp planes of his face deepening. “Not yet. It’s only been two weeks, Finn. Give our girl some time.”

A muscle jumped in the captain’s jaw as if he wanted to snap at the Ileth, but he turned away. “I want to know the instant you hear anything.”

Viktis clapped a hand on Finn’s back. “Look, Cap. We’re all worried about her, but you know Renna can take care of herself. She’s fine.”

“I’m not so sure. I’ve had Gheewala scanning the frequencies for MYTH transmissions. The base on Titus Beta was hit.”

Viktis’s amber skin paled. “Pallas.”

Finn nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of. But I don’t know if that’s where they took Renna or if she was even still there. What if her cover’s blown already? What if she’s dead?” He stared off over the CIC, clearly caught in some nightmare in his own mind.

“Renna’s smart. She knew the risks.” Viktis glanced at Finn from the corner of his eye. “And she’s too stubborn to be dead. I’ve seen her get out of worse spots than this.”

Deep lines were etched into the space between Finn’s eyebrows as he scowled. “We all knew the risks. Doesn’t mean I like them.” He turned and started back down the stairs. “I’ll be in my quarters. I want to know the second anything changes.”

Keva and Viktis exchanged worried glances.

“He hasn’t been the same since we left Forever Station,” the lieutenant said. “I don’t know what to do to help him.”

“There’s nothing we can do. It’s all up to Renna now,” he answered. “But I know what I can do to help you.” Viktis winked, and Keva flushed violet.

“Meet you in my quarters later?” she asked softly.

“You better count on it.”

Surprise shot through Renna at their exchange. She’d never in a million years have guessed Viktis and the uptight lieutenant would be attracted to each other, but it made sense. The pirate needed a good influence, and Keva needed to loosen up.

Renna grinned. She would give Viktis such hell the next time she saw him.

Around her, the Athena shuddered as the FTL spun up. Pressure built inside her head until her ears felt like they were going to explode. Another blink, and she was on the flight deck with the Athena’s pilot, Lieutenant Kojima.

“Dammit. What the hell is wrong with these sensors? They’re off the charts.” He tapped a command into his communicator. “Sergeant Gheewala, check them again. It’s still not working.”

Kojima’s fingers flew across the controls as he rearranged the flight path. Renna recognized their destination. Viktis had contacts in the small merc colony on New Rhea. The Athena would be able to hide for several weeks safely there. She wouldn’t have to worry about them.

But that damn longing surged through her again.

The only thing she wanted was to be back on the Athena. To be with Finn and Myka and Viktis. It felt strange to say, but for the first time in her life, she’d felt like she was finally home when she was on that ship. She sighed softly, and suddenly the sensors on the flight deck went crazy.

“What the hell is going on?” Kojima pounded on the console, but the numbers blinked and spun like they were possessed. “Captain Finn! Flight deck now!” he shouted into his comm.

Kojima struggled to get the ship under control as it rocked and shuddered. The navigation console lit up bright red as warning sensors went off across the Athena.

Finn thundered into the deck. “What is it? What’s going on? Did we hit something?”

Kojima shook his head, too busy trying to regain control to salute his superior officer. “She’s gone crazy. I’ve completely lost control of her. It’s like someone reprogrammed all her nav systems. She’s set a course for the Coro system.”

Finn grabbed the back of Kojima’s chair as the ship shuddered again.

A sharp ache started behind Renna’s eyes, and she squeezed them shut. What was going on? Were they in danger?

“What the hell is in the Coro system?” Finn demanded as he studied the system specs.

“Nothing. There’s a small backwater colony on Tartarus, but that’s it.” Kojima typed a few more commands into his console before finally throwing up his hands. “It’s completely locked. I can’t even get into the command prompt. We’re tied to this course until whoever has control releases us.”

Finn’s face went pale. “Too dangerous to send out a distress signal?”

Kojima nodded. “We’re in MYTH space. They get word and it’s all over.”

“Fuck.” Finn’s hand trembled as he raked it through his hair. “Keep trying to regain control. I’ll prep the team for evasive maneuvers and get Aldani and the kid loaded onto one of the escape shuttles.”

Kojima turned back to his console, while Finn stared out the window at the blackness surrounding them.

“Dammit.” Kojima flipped on the comm. “Crew, prepare for jump to light speed.” He turned back to Finn. “I’ve never seen this before. It’s like the Athena’s come to life. She’s got a mind of her own.” More beeps from the nav system as it recalculated. “And she’s not backing down.”

“Keep it together as best you can, Kojima. And let’s hope whoever is in control of our ship knows what they’re doing.”

Renna reached out to touch Finn as he passed, but her arm wouldn’t obey. All she wanted was for him to know she was okay and for them to be safe. She wanted him to know how much he meant to her, even if she couldn’t say the words out loud. But so much distance separated them. Even in her dreams she wasn’t able to reach him.