Page 16 of Full Speed to a Crash Landing

“That’s one way to put it,” he says under his breath.

“—I threw it out of the airlock. But it was too late.”

Realization settles on him. The three-meter hole in the side of my ship. Right at the airlock. Rendering my ship breached and the cofferdam inaccessible.

“That’s an . . .impressiveway to destroy your own ship,” Rian says finally.

“Glory’s not destroyed,” I snap back.

He shrugs as if conceding the point, but it’s hard to argue that a gaping hole isn’t a legitimate concern.

Rian flicks the data screen built into the table, and the privacy filter fades. It takes me a second to register that I’m looking at the interior of my ship, caught through a drone lens. Rian sent out a cam to confirm my story. This was all recorded before. He’s no doubt already viewed it at least once. I take one little nap, and he got busy spying on both my suit and my ship.

I shoot him a look that clearly says,Really?

He shrugs.

I mean, I get it. But my story is more airtight than my ship.

I made sure of that.

Rian taps a control. “Magnusson, can you confirm solar fuel on theRoundaboutmanifest?”

The crew member’s voice is gravelly over the comm unit. “Stand by.”

Rian smiles placidly at me, but I’m kind of pissed that he’s so obvious about his line of questioning. Where is the respect here? I drop my eyes to the screen, watching the drone recording slowly pan about the bridge onGlorybefore drifting through the secure bulkhead door and down the main corridor, mimicking the path I’d taken before evacuating.

I know that ship backward and forward. Every rusty bolt, every frayed wire. She’s mine.

And it guts me to see that wound on her side, so fresh and raw.

When I look up, Rian’s eyes are softer. Kinder.

Shit.

I roll my shoulders back and stare at him, running my tongue on my teeth. I did not mean to let him see anything real. Before I can say something snappy, the comm crackles.

“Roundaboutcargo logs confirm three full cases of solar fuel rods, contained within half-units.”

Three? Damn. I should go steal some more.

Just not any of the cracked ones. Obviously.

“Do not think about going back for more,” Rian says, eyeing me.

“I would never consider it,” I say, aghast.

“Approximate location of those units would be...” Magnusson rattles off some number coordinates, and then Rian tells him to make note of possible danger should the remaining rods be cracked as well, for when Saraswati and Magnusson go back down.

I cross my arms over my chest as Rian disconnects the comm. “Told you.”

Rian nods, still thinking.

Still trying to find a hole in my story.

“I was concerned that there was debris in the orbital field or something else that may pose a threat to theHalifax,” Rian says, not quite meeting my eyes.

“Bullshit; you thought I faked my ship being damaged.”

---