Page 37 of Hunted By the Wraiths
More plasma fire. I dove toward the asteroid field that surrounded The Quarry, the only advantage I had. TheGhostwas built for running blockades through debris fields. Those security boats were built for station patrol.
The first asteroid loomed ahead, a mountain of black rock spinning lazily in the void. I skimmed so close I could see individual crater marks, then rolled hard to starboard as another chunk of ice the size of a building drifted past. The proximity alerts became one continuous wail.
Behind me, one pursuer tried to follow my line through the rocks. Tried. The explosion lit up my rear sensors for two seconds before the debris cloud swallowed the light.
Four down to three.
Blood hit the console. Not mine. Thoryn’s side wound had torn wider, the movement of the ship pulling against whatever internal damage the vibro-blade had done. The bio-monitor’s alarm joined the symphony of other warnings.
“Thoryn.” Nothing. His breathing had gone shallow, rattling.
I couldn’t reach the medkit without taking both hands off the controls. Couldn’t apply another bio-sealer without stopping evasive maneuvers. The next asteroid cluster was coming upfast, a maze of tumbling rocks and ice that would require every bit of my concentration to navigate.
Blood pressure dropping. Estimated time to cardiac arrest: twelve minutes.
I made the calculation. Cold. Practical. The same kind I’d been making for years.
Save the ship and let him die, or save him and probably get us both killed.
Three pursuers still on my tail. The asteroid cluster ahead was a chaotic field of tumbling stone and ice. The bio-monitor estimated eight minutes now.
“Damn it.”
I locked the stick between my knees, trying to hold a survivable path, and grabbed the emergency medkit from under my seat. My hands found the bio-sealer by touch. The ship bucked as I missed a micro-adjustment, scraping against a chunk of ice. Warning lights flashed across the board.
“I swear, Thoryn, if you die while I’m trying to save you, I’ll kill you myself.”
The bio-sealer was slippery with my blood now too. My knuckles had split open from gripping the stick too hard. I tore Thoryn’s shirt wider, seeing the wound properly for the first time since we’d launched. Deep. Jagged. Probably caught something important.
Another proximity warning. I dropped the bio-sealer, grabbed the stick, and pulled us into a spiral between two massive rocks. One pursuer tried to follow, clipped the second rock, and spun off into the void trailing atmosphere.
Two left.
Six minutes on the bio-monitor.
I went back to the wound. The bio-sealer hissed as I pressed it against the torn flesh, foam expanding to fill the cavity. Thoryn made a sound, low and pained, but didn’t wake up.
“That’s it. Keep fighting, you stubborn lizard.”
The seal took thirty seconds to set. Thirty seconds of flying straight while two ships gained on us. Plasma bolts started finding their range, one scorching across our starboard shields. Then another. The shield generator whined, already overtaxed.
Seal set. I grabbed the stick properly again and dove into the densest part of the field.
This deep, the asteroids weren’t individual rocks anymore. They’d been grinding against each other for centuries, creating a cloud of debris that ranged from pebbles to boulders. TheGhost’s hull thrummed as smaller pieces struck us. The viewport developed three new cracks.
Behind us, one pursuer pulled back rather than follow. Smart. The other one, though...
The pilot was good. Very good. Stayed right on my tail through moves that should have shaken anyone. Station security didn’t have pilots this good. This was someone Vashil had brought in special.
“Maris Elen.” A new voice over the comm. Male, accented. “Your lieutenant paid me extremely well to bring you in alive. But dead works too. Your choice.”
Bounty hunter. Professional. Expensive.
I checked Thoryn’s bio-monitor. The countdown had paused; the seal was holding. Stable, but just barely. He’d lost too much blood. He needed a proper medical facility, not whatever patch job I could manage while flying through a rock storm.
The bounty hunter’s ship was modified, I realized. Extra armor, upgraded engines, military-grade shields. He could take more punishment than theGhost. In a straight fight, he’d win.
Good thing I didn’t fight straight.
