way. “Is it the Rally ?”
“Unidentified. Hailing.” A pause. “No response.”
“How far out?”
“We will make contact in four minutes.”
“Four minutes?” Shock tore through her.
“Warnings have been issued in minute increments for twenty-three minutes. You did not respond.”
She had slept deeper than she had thought. “Is the Star still pursuing?”
“Affirmative.”
“Can we full burn?”
“Negative. Fuel resources are at an unsafe level. Full burn could cause tank rupture.”
She knew that meant the pod could explode as the shuttle had. She shut her eyes, trying to think. The Rally was going to reach her in less than four minutes. Damn.
“Orders?”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“Orders?”
“Fuck!” Frustration hit her hard. The damn computer was asking her what to do and it wasn’t giving her any options. She had no idea what to do beyond a full blast to put distance between the pod and the Rally . “I don’t know.”
“Orders?”
If she risked a full burn it would probably blow her up. All it would give her was another ten minutes, if that, before the Rally caught her again. She was screwed and she knew it. She’d never thought Flint would chase her down. It was insane to waste his fuel to come after her. She’d underestimated her worth to the crazy cyborg . She didn’t want to die so she didn’t order the computer to do something suicidal. She’d been bluffing about blowing up the pod.
“Third ship in range. Unidentified.”
She frowned. “What?”
“Proximity alert!” A sharp blast sounded through the pod as an alarm screamed. “Impact is imminent. Evasive maneuvers. Reversing engine thrusters to soften impact.”
The gravity went as the pod engines cut out. They suddenly flared again. The pod vibrated violently and then all hell broke loose when it slammed into something hard. Mira was grateful that the gravity was gone or she knew the violent hit might have torn her painfully from her seat. As it was, she was just jarred a bit, barely enough to cause mild pain.
“Pod 3 has been hooked,” the computer announced. “Computer is attempting to send Earth an emergency transmission.” It paused. “Negative signal. Would you like Pod 3 to continue to try to send emergency signal as long as there is power?”
“Affirmative,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Confirmed. Hatch is being breached.”
She unhooked her belt so she could turn her head. She almost floated out of her seat. She could order the pod to turn the gravity back on but she didn’t. It would slow Flint down getting to her if he had to cross the pod to the pilot seat to reach her without gravity. Every second was one more instant that she was going to be free.
She could see the pod hatch from where she floated just above her seat, gripping it to stay in place. She heard a loud pop as the hatch was wrenched open. She swallowed hard, feeling fear. Would Flint be the first one in the door? She was pretty sure he would be. Would he kill her outright or take her on the Rally to do it? She was certain he’d be so furious that he’d want to end her life. He seemed like the unforgiving type.
Terror struck as she saw the man who entered the pod. It wasn’t Flint. It wasn’t even a cyborg . He was human but he was scarred and something was wrong with his head, only sporting hair in a few places as if he’d suffered radiation poisoning. She’d seen it before on the news when a ship had had some kind of containment failure. Survivors lost clumps of hair that never grew back without surgery, if they were lucky enough to be fixed. The man floated into the pod and his eyes met hers.
Near heart-attack-inducing terror hit her. His eyes were two different colors. She’d seen that on the news too. He’d definitely suffered severe radiation poisoning. From the different eye color, the lack of a full head of hair and the skin scarring, she knew when he’d been exposed. Unborn infants exposed to high
“Unidentified. Hailing.” A pause. “No response.”
“How far out?”
“We will make contact in four minutes.”
“Four minutes?” Shock tore through her.
“Warnings have been issued in minute increments for twenty-three minutes. You did not respond.”
She had slept deeper than she had thought. “Is the Star still pursuing?”
“Affirmative.”
“Can we full burn?”
“Negative. Fuel resources are at an unsafe level. Full burn could cause tank rupture.”
She knew that meant the pod could explode as the shuttle had. She shut her eyes, trying to think. The Rally was going to reach her in less than four minutes. Damn.
“Orders?”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“Orders?”
“Fuck!” Frustration hit her hard. The damn computer was asking her what to do and it wasn’t giving her any options. She had no idea what to do beyond a full blast to put distance between the pod and the Rally . “I don’t know.”
“Orders?”
If she risked a full burn it would probably blow her up. All it would give her was another ten minutes, if that, before the Rally caught her again. She was screwed and she knew it. She’d never thought Flint would chase her down. It was insane to waste his fuel to come after her. She’d underestimated her worth to the crazy cyborg . She didn’t want to die so she didn’t order the computer to do something suicidal. She’d been bluffing about blowing up the pod.
“Third ship in range. Unidentified.”
She frowned. “What?”
“Proximity alert!” A sharp blast sounded through the pod as an alarm screamed. “Impact is imminent. Evasive maneuvers. Reversing engine thrusters to soften impact.”
The gravity went as the pod engines cut out. They suddenly flared again. The pod vibrated violently and then all hell broke loose when it slammed into something hard. Mira was grateful that the gravity was gone or she knew the violent hit might have torn her painfully from her seat. As it was, she was just jarred a bit, barely enough to cause mild pain.
“Pod 3 has been hooked,” the computer announced. “Computer is attempting to send Earth an emergency transmission.” It paused. “Negative signal. Would you like Pod 3 to continue to try to send emergency signal as long as there is power?”
“Affirmative,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Confirmed. Hatch is being breached.”
She unhooked her belt so she could turn her head. She almost floated out of her seat. She could order the pod to turn the gravity back on but she didn’t. It would slow Flint down getting to her if he had to cross the pod to the pilot seat to reach her without gravity. Every second was one more instant that she was going to be free.
She could see the pod hatch from where she floated just above her seat, gripping it to stay in place. She heard a loud pop as the hatch was wrenched open. She swallowed hard, feeling fear. Would Flint be the first one in the door? She was pretty sure he would be. Would he kill her outright or take her on the Rally to do it? She was certain he’d be so furious that he’d want to end her life. He seemed like the unforgiving type.
Terror struck as she saw the man who entered the pod. It wasn’t Flint. It wasn’t even a cyborg . He was human but he was scarred and something was wrong with his head, only sporting hair in a few places as if he’d suffered radiation poisoning. She’d seen it before on the news when a ship had had some kind of containment failure. Survivors lost clumps of hair that never grew back without surgery, if they were lucky enough to be fixed. The man floated into the pod and his eyes met hers.
Near heart-attack-inducing terror hit her. His eyes were two different colors. She’d seen that on the news too. He’d definitely suffered severe radiation poisoning. From the different eye color, the lack of a full head of hair and the skin scarring, she knew when he’d been exposed. Unborn infants exposed to high
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