Part 3 (1/2)

She tried vainly to pull them up, but the Nomad struck down again, this time staying down and skidding. White shards of ice flew up, spattering the external cameras. Alisa bounced around in her seat as the s.h.i.+p sc.r.a.ped and b.u.mped across the lumpy surface. A cry of pain came from somewhere within the s.h.i.+p.

The Nomad jerked to a halt, and the lights went out.

Chapter 3.

Images flashed through Alisa's mind of the last time she had crashed. Too many s.h.i.+ps, too much going on at once. Pandemonium. Dodging debris and other s.h.i.+ps. Flying recklessly. Firing. And then hearing the imperial message that was relayed throughout every Alliance s.h.i.+p: ”We surrender.” A surge of relief. Until the kamikaze fighter came out of nowhere, streaking toward Alisa, taking her out even after the surrender had been promised. The stars disappearing. The desert spinning below. Red sand everywhere. Red sun. White light. Pain. So much pain.

Alisa drew in a shuddering breath and blinked away the memories. The blackness of the present replaced the harsh red light in her mind. She grew aware of her seat on the Nomad and the s.h.i.+vers still coursing through the s.h.i.+p around her.

”Did you turn off the s.h.i.+elds?” Alisa demanded as soon as the world grew still. The lights had not come back on, and the cameras and view screen were out too. A few blinking red alerts came from the dashboard, but did not provide enough illumination for her to see much. She could barely make out Leonidas in the co-pilot's seat.

A groan came from behind her. Yumi.

”Me?” Leonidas asked. As indomitable as he was, he also sounded shaken from the crash. Or from something. Alisa remembered that strange tingle that she had felt before running into the other s.h.i.+p.

”You're the only other person with access to the helm controls,” Alisa said, but even as she spoke, she realized how ridiculous it sounded. Why would Leonidas have shut down the s.h.i.+elds? He could have been killed in that crash too.

”No, I don't-at least I don't remember...”

The confused way his words came out, so unlike the confident way he usually spoke, sent a s.h.i.+ver of unease down Alisa's spine.

”I'm not sure what happened,” he said. ”I remember seeing the other s.h.i.+p and hitting it, and then it's fuzzy. We-” A snap sounded, his harness unbuckling. He jumped to his feet. ”The other s.h.i.+p. They're out there, and they're not far from us. Beck,” he called and charged out of NavCom.

Alisa reached for her own harness fastener, but her hands were still shaking. She fumbled with it unsuccessfully.

”Captain?” Mica's shaky voice came over the comm, none of her usual brusque sarcasm present.

”I'm here,” Alisa said.

”I don't know what-for a minute there, I couldn't concentrate on anything, and then we hit something. We hit everything.”

”Yeah, we had the same experience up here. We're not far from the mafia s.h.i.+p, and I don't know what their status is. Beck and Leonidas are going out to meet them if they try to board us.” Alisa a.s.sumed that was what Leonidas had been planning when he charged out of NavCom. ”Can you get me a damage report, find out if we can get back in the sky? Or in the fog, as the case seems to be.”

”I thought I'd try to get the lights turned on first,” Mica said, a hint of her usual dry humor returning, though she still sounded shaky. Alisa hoped she hadn't hit her head.

Worrying about other people and their injuries helped Alisa steady herself, and she finally got her harness unfastened.

”Yumi?” she asked, standing up.

”I'm alive,” Yumi said quietly, still sitting in her seat. ”Is there anything I can do to help?”

”Why don't you check on your chickens? Go check on Alejandro, too, will you, please?”

”Yes. Where are you going?”

Alisa dropped her hand to her holster. ”To make sure no mafia thugs board my s.h.i.+p.”

Following the emergency lighting lining the walkways, Alisa made her way down the corridor toward the cargo hold. She paused at the intersection that branched to the crew and pa.s.senger quarters, hearing several thumps coming from the direction of Leonidas's room. He was probably getting his armor on. Since she had no armor, she continued to the cargo hold.

Irritated squawks greeted her before she reached the stairs. The poor chickens. It was a wonder they were laying any eggs at all with the constant stress of living on a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. On this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, at least. In the last month, the Nomad had seen more action than an Alliance wars.h.i.+p during the war.

”Captain?” came a m.u.f.fled voice from the deck of the cargo hold.

Alisa gripped the railing to guide herself down the stairs. ”That you, Beck?”

He sounded like he was already in his combat armor.

”Yes, ma'am. By the hatch. The mech said we should go out and check on the other s.h.i.+p, said they might have crashed too. That right?”

”I'm not sure. Sensors and cameras are down. I did see them hit a cliff, but unless their s.h.i.+elds also suspiciously dropped right before that, it wouldn't necessarily have damaged them.”

”Suspiciously?”

”Talk later,” Leonidas said, startling Alisa as he came up behind her. His voice was gruff, but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. A gentle armored hand. ”Beck and I will go check. Stay here.”

He tried to guide her to the side, so he could pa.s.s her on the stairs.

Alisa stubbornly continued down. ”There's nothing I can do here. I'm going with you.”

”You won't be able to see much out there without a helmet with night vision, Captain,” Beck said. ”I think we flew past the terminator into night.”

”Unless your helmets have fog vision, you won't be able to see much out there, either,” she said.

”Oh.”

Guided by the squawking of the chickens, Alisa found her way to the hatch, almost smacking against Beck's armored shoulder on the way. With his night vision helmet, he saw her and stepped out of the way, stopping her with a hand out.

”It will be cold out there too,” Leonidas said from behind her shoulder.

Alisa remembered her earlier thoughts-had it just been a few hours ago?-about wis.h.i.+ng that he was her bodyguard, or worked for her in some capacity if body guarding was too lowly for him, and that he would loom at her shoulder. This wasn't quite how she had imagined the scenario.

”Let us go,” he added. ”You've got your comm unit? We'll report in to you.”

”Let's just see what we're dealing with. If we can get the hatch open.” Alisa found the bulkhead with her hands and patted her way to the hatch controls. The b.u.t.ton wouldn't work without power, but there was a mechanical override behind a panel, if she could find it in the dark. Why hadn't she stopped in her cabin to grab her mult.i.tool and a jacket? Maybe it wasn't too late to get them. She just hated to delay because her instincts were itching, suggesting that delaying might be a bad idea.

A beam of light appeared on the wall where she was patting around.

”Oh,” she blurted, almost ridiculously pleased. She smiled over her shoulder and found that Beck was the one providing the illumination with a flashlight built into his suit. ”Thank you.”

Leonidas was a few feet farther down the wall, the panel Alisa had been searching for already open in front of him. He looked over at them, frowning slightly for some reason.

”See,” Beck said, ”I'm useful, Captain.”

”I never said you weren't useful. You make excellent duck.”

”Stand back.” Leonidas tugged on the latch, and a hiss sounded as the seal on the hatch released. He crouched by the side of it as it rose and the ramp automatically unfolded and extended.