Page 79 of Lhora
Fallmin smiled. “Yes. If you have difficulty reaching him, keep trying. I know your feelings are true. His are the same. Those connections were made between you.”
His face grew blurry as tears rose in her eyes. Lifting her face, she focused on the display of color in the distance. As she prepared herself, she opened her head and heart, to the center of her soul, and reached for him.
A handful of heartbeats passed. Then a handful more.
Lhora?
She gasped. “Duren!” The word passed her lips before she could stop it. Holding onto the rope ladder, she reached for him a second time.
Her stomach almost lurched out of her body.
“They’re falling! Their ship is coming down!”
“Hurry, Lhora! Get into the ship so we can track them on radar!” Fallmin ordered brusquely.
She clambered up the ladder, moving hand over hand as fast as she could. Her father was right behind her. She didn’t stop until she reached the gangway. There, a pair of hands grabbed her underneath the arms and hauled her into the hold.
Scrambling to her feet, she raced for the ladder. She remained connected to Duren, sensing the weightlessness as his vessel continued to freefall. She was aware of him trying to get the ship prepared for a crash landing in the event they missed the water.
The water.
“Aim for theBeccan!” she called out the moment she reached the bridge.
“Intercept!” a voice boomed from behind her. “Full speed!”
Her feet went out from under her as theVolotook off with an open throttle. Fortunately, Torfen managed to thrust an arm out in time and snag her around the waist to keep her from flying across the bridge.
“What are we going to do?” she yelled at the Gur.
“Divert them!”
“Divert how?”
Her father’s eyes never left the holo globe that showed their white dot rapidly drawing closer to the yellow one that continued to fall. They were seconds away from intercepting the ship, and even then they had just a few seconds before theBeccanhit land.
“Angle at forty-two degrees!” Fallmin ordered!
“Forty-two degrees!” Omin responded.
“Crack all mizzen sails! Drop all foremast sails!”
“Mizzen sails deployed! Dropping foremast!”
The Gur whirled on Torfen, who’d taken his position at the wheel. “There’s no time to push her over the water. We’ll have to sideswipe her.”
“Starboard or port?”
“Whatever you can get to first. Omin! Here’s where you and Torfen earn your keep!” The words were made in jest, but held serious overtones. Both men smiled and bent to their task. “Open communication to theBeccan,” Fallmin ordered.
“No comm,” Kerso responded. “It must be down.”
“Lhora.”
She followed her father up to the forecastle.
“Buckle in.”
Normally she abhorred using the harness. It took away valuable seconds to undo when she needed to go below deck. But this time she threw the straps over her shoulders and fastened them to the belt around her waist. If they managed to reach the ship in time, the resulting collision could jar their vessel out of its flight path and send them spiraling back to the ground as well.
