Page 34 of Until the Stars Fall

“You’re not missing anything,” he said, “you’re a freaking genius. Yeah, this ship is about twenty years newer than that tech. We’ll be okay if we detach the power, but not the sails themselves. Let’s do it.”

We reattached the panel and started toward the power supply to the sails. Cold sweat dripped down my back. I gazed longingly at the airlock as we passed it again. Several rungs later, I looked back and shook my tether experimentally, then looked past him to where we were going.

“Beck, our tethers can’t go that far.”

He turned around to judge for himself, when Summer’s voice piped into our ears.

“Seven minutes! And that’s to get you back in too! You have about four minutes to do whatever you’re gonna do!”

Beck shook his head, frowning. “You’re right. Look, we’re at the switch. You stay here so you can ground it after I disconnect the supply.”

“Okay, but let me go back and unhook my tether to give you twice the length.”

I turned to go, but he gripped my arm.

“There’s no time, Gem, and you have that latching issue.” His face was pale. He chewed his lip, looking back and forth between the sails and his tether. Finally, he shook his head and gripped the access ladder, unhooking his tether with his other hand.

My heart dropped to my feet, and I grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?” The only thing keeping him from interstellar nothingness was his hand on that ladder and the propulsion in his suit.

He took a deep breath. “My propulsion works. Yours might not. I’ll go to the sail, disconnect it, and I’ll come right back. I promise.”

“No way!” I said, my grip on his arm solid. “There’s gotta be another way. Just gimme a minute to think.” The sails were only about sixty feet away, but if he slipped outside the shields, the ship would leave him behind, and we may never find him.

He swallowed hard. “We don’t have a minute.” He smiled bravely, his eyes seemingly full of unsaid words. “If I don’t make it, tell my family I love them.”

“Beck, don’t talk like that,” I pleaded, my voice trembling.

He licked his lips, and his eyes locked on mine, brighter and softer than usual. “And I want you to know, Gemma, you’re amazing.”

He faced the sails and pushed off.

My heart pounded. Gray edges around my vision threatened to take me over as Beck sailed untethered in interstellar space. I had to calm down. I’d ruin the whole mission if I didn’t get my nerves under control. This was fertile ground for my magic to ruin everything.

I took a deep breath, gripped the panel where the switch was, and reached in, closing my hand around it, ready for his command. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He sailed the sixty feet, and with perfect aim, latched onto the ladder at the base of the sails. Once he took out the screwdriver and began working, I started breathing again.

Just a few more things to get through, and we’d be safely inside. Then I’d yell at him for telling me I’m amazing, then scaring me half to death. I tallied what we had to get through like a to-do list in my head, like I often did when I had to get through something upsetting. Just five more things to get through.

He removed the two screws and flopped the panel open. That was two; just three more. He reached his hands in. The switch would be three.

“Now!”

I pulled the switch back on his call. Sparks traveled away from me, mini shorts flashing in a line straight to the sails. “Let go!” I shouted.

But too late—electricity moves faster than human reflex and reaction. The surge reached him, and his shout echoed over the comms. He shot away from the sail base, streaking toward the abyss.

“Beck!” My voice, Summer’s voice, shouting over the din of my heart in my ears.

I fumbled at my tether connection, disconnected, and pushed off hard in his direction. In seconds I was nearly to him, but my course was in a different vector. I grabbed my propulsion and steered myself toward him.

I was approaching him too fast. I stretched out my arms and legs. A crack splintered across his vacglass, and I slammed into him, throwing all my limbs around him.

We somersaulted too close to the shield’s edge. Seconds went by like ages. The din of the crew shouting was in my ears, and he wasn’t grabbing me back.

I dispersed my propulsion, slowed our flipping. As we evened out, I located the ship and got my bearings, tried to orient myself in the most advantageous position to get us back to the airlock. I glanced into his helmet. His eyes were closed. I was alone, one life responsible for two.

I pivoted and grabbed the shaft of my propulsion. Just a quick release in the right direction would get us there. I squeezed.

Nothing.

---