Reckless Rescue by Rinelle Grey Page B

they both get there eventually, then it doesn’t matter which we pick. We’ll go that way.” He pointed down the path Marlee had chosen. She seemed certain, and each of her suggestions had worked for him so far.
    Nelor crossed his arms. “The council is going to be up soon. Surely you want us to reach the ship as soon as possible.”
    Tyris bit back a retort and instead said as mildly as he could, “Which direction is the ship from here?”
    This, at least, they both seemed to agree on, they both pointed to the south-east without hesitation. Nelor’s path was a little to the right of the direction, and Marlee’s a smidge more to the left.
    “Right,” said Tyris. “Neither path goes directly, but since Nerris knows Nelor’s path, I’d rather take the other one.”
    Nelor frowned at him but didn’t argue. Marlee grinned sideways at Tyris, who deliberately didn’t return the expression. He was not going to get into the middle of this power struggle. How they had managed to live together for more than a week without smothering each other was beyond him. He strode off into the trees ahead of them.
    By the time they reached the Hylista, Marlee and Nelor had made up and were holding hands, though neither of them had the breath to whisper after the pace Tyris had set. It took little effort for him to ignore their behaviour. He was too busy staring at his ship.
    From this side, it appeared undamaged. He heaved a sigh of relief. The shields must have held then or it would be showing extensive external damage. He walked around the perimeter of the ship, running his hands over the smooth metal.
    His heart sank as he came to the rear, where the boosters stuck out above his head. He could see now why they hadn’t fired. The left booster was dented and damaged with the casing torn open on one side. Climbing up the trunk of a tree that had been knocked over by the crash, he peered into the darkness. His breath caught. It was hard to see much, but the internal oxidiser pump showed damage as well.
    Tyris smashed his fist into the side of the ship in frustration, barely noticing the pain it caused. Even given the right tools and equipment, he wasn’t sure he could fix this. Out here, with nothing but wood and maybe the odd hammer, he had no hope. And without the rocket boosters, the Hylista couldn’t break orbit.
    Tyris climbed back down and stared at the ship. What was he going to do now?
    “Can you fix it?” Marlee’s innocent voice interrupted his thoughts.
    “Shhh, don’t interrupt him, Marlee,” Nelor cautioned.
    Tyris was glad he didn’t have to reply. He needed time to take in the facts in front of him. The reality that even if, by some miracle, he could work out a way to fix the oxidiser pump, there would be no way to complete it before winter set in.
    First things first, he would worry about breaking orbit later. Right now, if he could get the power on…
    He pushed the mechanism that opened the hatch and walked inside. He didn’t even waste time trying to reinitialise the Hylista’s systems. Power had already been sketchy on his way down, and Nerris had said he couldn’t get it to come on either. It wasn’t going to miraculously just start working.
    It took him only moments to pull off the maintenance panel and discover why. The secondary power generator had been knocked loose and damaged badly during the crash. Tyris took a deep breath. This, at least, he could fix.
    Something moved behind him. When he looked around, he saw Marlee standing in the doorway. The expression on his face must have given a hint to his thoughts, for the smile slipped off her face.
    He sighed and threw the hatch cover onto the floor. The clatter echoed loudly inside the metal hull. “It’s going to take me a couple of hours before I can even identify the problem. You might as well make yourself comfortable.”
    Marlee stepped into the ship and put her hand on his arm. “We don’t have a couple of hours, Tyris. We have to go back