Page 54 of Bonded

Ruzan

“Ahyper jump would be a very dangerous maneuver. It would burn through the rest of the ship’s reserve energy,” Vryek said.

Priya was undeterred. “However, the ship is made to do that. And they want to try.”

Ithran’s face twisted in confusion. “Who are they?”

“The ship. It makes sense to call them ‘they’. Besides, they would prefer to be called ‘they’.”

Ithran nodded. “I trust your judgment, Pilot-Priya. Do you think they can do it?”

“They will try,” Priya said. “For all that we need to do, seems the better alternative rather than revealing the location of your home base.”

“I don’t like the idea that we would be dead in the water at the worst,” Vryek said. “Even with a fully energized Cephela, they wouldn’t be able to do an interstellar jump one right after the other.”

Priya countered. “That is so. However, if we stay on course, what then? The Kaza twins, or whatever crew they hired, might herd us toward another trap. Isn’t it better to take action rather than follow a path with the known result of a ship adrift?”

She was right. If it weren’t for Priya’s connection with the robots on the ship, we might never have even understood the ship as well as she did. We might not have understood that the ship needed help, or that we were so close to sabotage that they nearly overtook us. It made my blood boil.

“It is better, my Priya. So what now?” I asked.

“I think it would make sense if we let them think they are doing well.”

“What do you mean?” Ithran asked.

“We will have to see what the very last moment would be, but what would you think about the ship headed toward a random coordinate, slowing down until our pursuers were on top of us, and then jumping away?”

Vryek smiled. It looked bloodthirsty. “Yes, that would work. The hyper jump would engulf those in our wake with an energy pulse. It would fry their systems, or disintegrate them.”

As we spoke, there were multiple blips and pings on our rear-facing radar. They were no longer trying to hide, which meant that there was something else that made them so cocky. I said as much to the group.

“Let’s double down and make them think they are winning and that they have us running scared. And then when we time it right…”

Ithran punched his fist into his palm. “We crush them.”

TWENTY-FIVE

PRIYA

Priya

Icouldn’t shake this feeling of dread that we were acting on a plan that was essentially my idea. It would be one thing if it were something that other people have suggested or even if it was something the ship could confirm.

But I was the ship’s voice, and therefore, was the only way to communicate what they needed.

I sat in the holopad’s presence, wondering if I made the right choice.

The ship answered. “It might not be the right choice, but it is a choice, and the best one that you can make.”

“But there’s a possibility for you to be hurt.”

“Not hurt. I protect my crew. That is what I am made to do.”

I looked over to the nerve clusters that were just now lighting up. When I’d first arrived, they were dark. I hadn’t been aware of most of the wiring since they blended in with the shadows. “Are you sure? I feel with these nerve clusters, you might not be at your prime to do this.”

“Let me be the one to worry about you and the crew. It is my privilege to serve a crew that is honorable.”

I found it interesting that the ship would refer to the crew as honorable. I knew what it had been like to be imprisoned by people who were supposed to be on the side of justice. Caged. Objectified. Violated.

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