Page 36 of Honor Bound

“You missed the Gliese 581 going through the gateway and breaking apart. This is going to be a piece of pie in comparison,” she reminded him with an inelegant snort.

The freighter lurched as the ground gave way beneath them. Julia’s body slammed against the seat harness, the force squeezing the breath from her lungs. She could feel the ship’s desperate fight against gravity, the engines roaring as Sergi pulled back hard on the controls.

Her eyes widened as the ocean appeared to rise up to swallow them. The scientific part of her brain understood it was an optical illusion, but that didn’t seem to matter to her stomach. She felt as if they were on the downward side of a roller coaster—something that she had always detested. If Sergi didn’t pull up soon, it wouldn’t be much of a ride.

“Sergi… Sergi… now would be a good time to pull up,” she hissed, pressing back against her seat.

Sergi cursed, the words coming out in a mixture of Russian and English as his arms strained to level the freighter out before it hit the water. Julia’s cry mixed with Sergi’s shout of triumph when the freighter hit the ocean like a stone: skimming the water’s surface—bouncing, shuddering, groaning—but holding together before rising.

A breath she hadn’t realized she was holding escaped in a sharp gasp.

“Woo hoo!” she shouted, surprising even herself. The tension cracked just enough to let in a sliver of relief.

“Ash has nothing on me,” Sergi replied, grinning as he banked the freighter hard, looping back toward the ice shelf where Roan and La’Rue had been stranded.

Julia’s heart clenched when they crested the remains of the floating ice shelf and she saw the debris. Jagged edges of ice and smoke rose from the battlefield. She frantically scanned the area, searching for asign of Roan or La’Rue.

“Sergi… I don’t see them,” she whispered, fear creeping in.

Sergi’s jaw tightened. “Neither do I.”

Around them, Legion fighters were retreating from the onslaught of Plateauan and rebel fighters. Sergi circled around, landing on a narrow, but stable section of ice. His hands flew to the controls, shutting down the freighter’s system as fast as he could, before he released his harness and rose. Seconds later, he was running through the freighter, yelling for H to lower the platform.

Julia fumbled with the release on her harness before following him. Her boots slipped slightly on the frosted deck as she descended the cargo ramp. Across from the freighter, she saw Roan frantically digging through the rubble with bare hands, his face a mask of desperation. Blood streaked his temple, but he didn’t stop.

Julia rushed to his side just as Sergi shouted, “I found her!”

Climbing over the chunks of ice, Julia helped clear the debris around La’Rue. Her heart squeezed with worry when she saw La’Rue pale skin and lips tinged blue. Calm descended over her as her training kicked in.

She wouldn’t lose another person.

She looked up and nodded to Sergi who tenderly lifted La’Rue’s limp body, cradling her against his chest as if his will alone could keep her tethered to life. Her eyes flashed to Roan when she felt his hand on her arm, steadying her as she climbed over some of the blocks of ice. She gave him a brief, weak smile, her eyes flashing over his wounds as her mind raced through every bit of medical knowledge she had.

Roan turned his head, locking eyes with hers.

Concern darkened his eyes. “What is it?”

She hesitated, then exhaled sharply, as if gathering courage.

“I’ve lost too many people already in my life.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

Emotion flared in his eyes, as if something disintegrated inside him. Julia was afraid he would push her away when he lowered his eyelashes and bowed his head. Instead, he reached out and his fingers, still raw from the ice, curled around hers.

“You won’t.”

* * *

Minutes later, La’Rue lay in the small med-bay. The room felt cramped with the four of them in there. Julia looked at Sergi when an alarm went off. She knew he didn’t want to leave La’Rue, but he was the best one to handle the situation. La’Rue needed her medical skills and Roan’s knowledge of how to use the advanced medical equipment. She couldn’t operate the freighter. The room filled with the hum of machinery and the faint scent of antiseptic. Julia worked quickly, cleaning La’Rue’s wounds, applying pressure where needed, while Roan scanned for internal injuries.

Roan.

She glanced at him, his face drawn, exhaustion etched into every line. His movements were slower, but he didn’t stop. She knew he had to be in tremendous pain. Her eyes flashed to his hands. They were raw from the cold and ice.

Her heart sped up when it suddenly dawned on her that she wanted to know him better. Not just the soldier or the general, but the man beneath all that.

Because somewhere between the chaos and the silence, he mattered more than she’d expected. Before she could dwell on that, alarms blared again. Sergi’s voice responded from the cockpit.

“Star Runner, this is theTracer.”

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