Seducing Stag
Page 29

“Keep monitoring,” Stag ordered. He began to count down again from nine.
Nala wondered what they were going to do next. She kept quiet though, knowing their lives depended on getting out of the Pitch. They’d eventually run out of food, water, or the ship’s systems would begin to break down if they remained inside, unable to ever dock somewhere.
“Brace,” Stag warned, instead of saying zero when he reached it.
The belts dug into her hard, her body thrown forward as he reversed thrusters. She watched on the monitor as their course changed, Stag turning the ship. It began to shake and rattle, the stabilizers and gravity having difficulty compensating for the violent changes in speeds. Neither went out completely but she could feel the roll. It made her stomach queasy.
A loose item, the size of her hand, slid across the floor, then up the wall, and she knew it wasn’t her imagination. The entire ship was in a sideways spin.
“Now,” Stag rasped.
She was thrown back against her seat again and the item came sliding along the floor toward her feet. She identified it as some kind of pad attachment, a metal clipping device. She lifted her feet and it missed hitting her toes.
The cyborgs were crazy. They’d taken off fast, came to a complete stop, and were now full burning again.
She closed her eyes, braced her feet, and clung to her belts. The pressure of her body being shoved into the seat eased, and she dared watch what was going on again.
“Eight seconds,” Kelis stated. He began to count down.
Nothing happened when he stopped the countdown, and Stag actually cursed.
“What?” That burst out of her mouth.
He didn’t answer her. Hellion did. “We should be out of the dead zone but we’re not.”
It was a nightmare. They were trapped in the Pitch.
“Hold course.” Stag sounded too calm. “Maintaining speed.”
Blackness filled the screen—but then she spotted a light.
“There!” She pointed, forgetting her promise to Stag in her excitement.
“We see it.” He turned his head and shot her a dirty look. “Quiet, Nala.”
She sealed her lips. The belts dug into her as the ship reversed thrusters. Stag had to be doing everything by drastic measures for the stabilizers to be that out of sync. Nala was tempted to ask him why. The captain part of her protested his methods. He could have slowed their speed gradually, causing less stress on the ship.
More lights appeared in the distance. They were seeing stars.
The cyborg crew had actually done it. They’d found their way out of the Pitch.
It was the first time anyone who’d ever entered it had escaped, to her knowledge.
“Sensors are limited.” Kelis sounded tense. “I’m not picking up anything but they aren’t reliable at this distance.”
“I’m easing us out slow and releasing some oxygen.” Stag lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “We don’t want to show on their sensors.”
Frustration burst through her. That made no sense! Every ship could be detected on sensors, except those fancy ones some of the military had made. She couldn’t hold her thoughts any longer.
“What are you talking about? Venting oxygen? Why?”
Stag didn’t turn that time in his seat. He ignored her.
Veller was closest to her by the exit doors. He cleared his throat and whispered, “The Genesis Four shuttles are completely reliant on sensors to fly. We have someone who is familiar with their design and their weaknesses. We’ll read as a chunk of debris or an asteroid to them if we move slow. Venting oxygen creates a mass around our ship that confuses the sensors when they try to read the shapes they’re picking up.”
She understood—and it was brilliant. “Thanks.”
He inclined his head. Her next concern was how much oxygen they had to vent out, and if life support could sustain all of them. She didn’t ask though. Avoiding capture and attack was paramount at the moment. She probably would have made the same choice if she’d known it could have saved her crew. All human ships kept emergency tanks of oxygen, and she hoped the cyborg ships did, too. It would be tough being attached to a breathing rig for days until they could reach a station, but it beat suffocating.
Stars filled the screen now. They were completely out of the Pitch.
Kelis hissed a curse. “At least one shuttle remains in range.”
“Where? I’m not reading it on our sensors.” Tension filled Stag’s voice.
“I can only see it because one of the trackers attached. It’s almost out of this system, but it’s there. Nothing on the second shuttle.”
“We tagged one of them.” Hellion suddenly lifted his hand and made a fist. “Yes!”
Nala opened her mouth but then closed it. What tracker?
“They must not have detected it. Good. Show it on the main.” Stag leaned forward a little in his chair. “They’re probably traveling together.”
A blip flashed to the far right of the screen.
“We hope,” Hellion muttered.
“Silence,” Stag demanded. “We’ll keep this speed until they are out of range, then get out of here.”
“Home,” Kelis muttered. “I’ll be happy to see it.”
Nala saw some of the cyborgs smile. They might be thrilled to be returning to wherever they lived, but she wasn’t. At least on this ship, she knew she’d be with Stag. Once they docked with their station or landed on a planet, she had no idea what would happen to her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, blowing it. Life had taught her to tackle one problem at a time. She was strong. Whatever awaited her, she’d deal with it. She was a survivor.
 
 
Chapter Ten
 

Stag watched Nala take a seat on the bed they shared. The past few hours had been tense. The Markus Model shuttle they were able to track had gone out of sensor range and now the Varnish traveled toward Garden. Veller would wake him if anything happened. The male was an accomplished replacement to take the helm. He had faith in his abilities. “You spoke.”
She arched her eyebrows. “Sorry.”
“You promised you wouldn’t.”
“I’m human. Sue me. I was dying of curiosity. Why the full burns and drastic stops?”
“I had my reasons.”