Page 96 of The First Spark
Despite her twisting stomach and shaky muscles, sitting in the dark cockpit was peaceful. The electrical system was shot. Only a few screens had survived the burnout of system overload. Blue glowsshone from the emergency accent lighting, but the brightest light came from the distant stars.
“That was close.” The tips of Zane’s mouth curved upwards. “To be honest, I expected to be a cloud of ashes by now. You outdid yourself.”
Kalie tried to straighten up, but pain seared her ribs and she groaned. “You didn’t do too bad either.”
Zane snorted. “I saved you, and I get ‘not too bad’?”
There were a million things she wanted to say—thank youandI’m sorryandwhy did you come backandhow did you know—but after what he’d said yesterday, after what she’d said, they were on unsteady ground. No words could express the guilt gnawing at her. It was easier to fall back on banter, so she turned her nose up.
“Iwas the one who got us to the stargate route. I’d say I saved us, thank you very much.”
A brief grin twitched at Zane’s lips, but as he stared at the distant stars, his face hardened. “She’s prepared. We bought ourselves some time, but she’ll have planes on our tail and a blockade waiting before we hit the next exit.”
“I know.”
Kalie drummed her fingers against the nav screen where the flight path was supposed to glow. The nav systems were shot, but she could find the route on the map without them. Thank the gods for Ariah and her contingency plans.
“It’s forty-eight minutes to the next exit. We’ll drop at minute thirty.” She tapped a point on the screen and trailed a bleeding finger westward, to a spot where a gate waited. “If we pick up the connector at the exit, it’s twelve minutes to this stargate, but since we can’t use the gate routes, it’ll be an eighteen-hour flight. From there, we can jump to the gate and take Route 136. It’ll take us about nine hours to cross the sector.”
“Where exactly are we going?”
Kalie sucked in a hitching breath. Pain lanced through her ribs, and stale air flooded her nostrils. “Etov.”
Zane’s mouth fell open.
Her wry smile made her face ache. “I’m going to run, like they expect me to. Then I’m going to fight.”
“For the throne.”
Kalie nodded.
“Hannover—”
“Kalie.” She exhaled sharply. “After that, call me Kalie.”
“Kalie…” Zane paused, his lips frozen in the shape of her name, as if it was something to be savored. “I understand wanting revenge. But do you really think it’s all worth it? All the bloodshed, the famine, the death?”
A sharp retort was on the tip of her tongue, but she clamped her lips shut. His tone was reasoned, not the fire and fury he’d rained down yesterday.
He had a point. All that suffering…
But hers was a righteous cause, wasn’t it?
“If you fight for the throne, it’ll be a second civil war. And, no offense, but I don’t think the people care who wears the crown.”
“Why did you come back for me, then, if you don’t approve?”
“If you died, I’d never get my money.”
She raised her eyebrows. “All that for money?”
“It’s alotof money.” Zane stretched his arms out to the dashboard, dropped his head, then straightened with a deep sigh. “You frustrate me.”
Kalie bristled.
“You’re stubborn, and prideful, and you sure know how to cut a guy down with your words?—”
“Wow, thanks.”
