Page 60 of Infala: Bonded to the Enemy
Valin flashed her a little grin. Shalia felt her heart pound harder at the sight of it. With every passing day she found him more and more attractive. Impossibly so at times. Distractingly. And, from what she could tell, he felt the same about her.
She shook it off and focused. “So, an escape pod.”
“Yes. Most have been scrapped for parts over the years, but I know at least one has been left intact. It’s been used as a storage compartment since before I took command, and that’s why it’s essentially forgotten by everyone. But the systems should still befunctional. Once we launch, a beacon will activate. I’ll need to disable that before we go.”
“And then? We just zip down to the surface?”
“Yes. But with the admiral’s ship so near, they undoubtedly have this platform on their long-range scans. And that means we will have a very narrow window in which to descend. One where the platform will block the signature of the escape pod. I’ll have to position this station between us and the incoming ship to do so. It will be tough, but doable. We’ll need to gather what we can then depart at once.”
“Okay,” she said, following him into a cluttered supply closet. “But where is it? Do we have much farther to walk?”
“No, my dearest. You’re standing in it.”
Shalia looked around at the supplies piled up everywhere. Somewhere underneath all of this mess were the controls. Seats, too, she hoped. Valin was already hauling boxes through the door into the neighboring compartment.
“Help me clear this out. We must hurry.”
“On it.”
The two of them worked quietly and fast, but there was so much stuff it was taking far longer than expected. Finally, they managed to reach a display console. Valin activated it and routed sensors from the station into the pod.
“Damn,” he muttered.
“What is it?”
“The inbound ship. I can see it on the periphery of the station’s scanners. We have to work faster. They’re ahead of schedule.”
Shalia’s burst of adrenaline got her moving, and Valin seemed to have regained some speed as well, the repetitive boredom of clearing out the pod now replaced with some seriously pressing urgency. It was messy, loud work, but this far from the crew quarters no one would notice.
It had taken longer than anticipated due to the ridiculous amount of crap stored in the pod, but they finally got it empty and ready for flight. Valin wanted everything out in case ofturbulence, which could turn a simple box into a deadly projectile if it wasn’t strapped down. They then replaced the removed items with their own supplies. Food, water, whatever else Valin had snatched up in their hurried walk to the pod, all was aboard and stowed securely in short order.
Finally, they were ready to go.
“You’re sure about this?” she asked as he sealed them inside and cycled the door shut. Her ears popped a little with the pressure change.
“There is no other option. The ship will be here soon, and the closer it is, the less our odds of descending without them tracking our path. It’s going to be hard regardless; the pod isn’t designed for regular flight.”
“But you can steer it, right?”
“To an extent. I will almost certainly burn out the maneuvering thrusters in the process, but that should be enough to keep the station between us and the admiral’s ship. Dohrag battleships have very effective long-range scans, but rank has its privileges, and as a commander I happen to be privy to details the lower-ranked crew are not aware of.”
“Like details about their scanning equipment?”
“Precisely. It will require a steep angle of descent, but we can make it. I’m sure of it. As for where we go when we land? We will deal with that variable once we’re safely on the surface.”
“I know a place,” she volunteered. “It’s a kind of primitive village society, but they’re good people. Another survivor from my homeworld brought me to them. I’m sure they’d help.”
“My kind are not generally welcomed with open arms.”
“Let me talk to them. You just get us down in one piece.”
“Powering up the systems now. We’ll be ready to leave momentarily. I’ve disconnected the pod from the station’s systems. They’ll have no idea we’ve left. All we have to do is wait for the pod to cycle through the safety checks.”
Shalia moved close, stepped up on a seat to look him in theeye, and leaned forward, kissing him deep and hard. “I’m in your hands,” she said. “I trust you.”
Valin, cupped her face in his massive palm, holding her tenderly with the same hand that had so easily taken Grallox’s life. “I will not let you down.”
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