Chapter 10

"Stay here," Vaarn said, leaping off the bed. Grabbing his pants, he yanked them on and walked into his boots as he headed for the pilot"s seat. He dropped into it, his fingers going to the keyboard at the same time. His hands flew over the controls, bringing up all the shields and deploying sensors as he tried to pinpoint the source of the alarm.

"What"s going on?" Sadie asked, dragging on a long shirt she"d brought with her for sleeping in and dropped into the co-pilot"s seat next to him. He was pleased to see that her first action was to strap herself in. Perhaps she did have some common sense after all.

"We"re being targeted," he said, his voice tight as he scanned the readouts. "Long-range. It"s the Liis. They must have tracked us from the station."

The ship shuddered as a warning shot narrowly missed them, jolting both of them. His jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth, mind racing to come up with a plan to get them out of there, and get her to safety. This was why he"d wanted to come on this mission alone, and why a precious human female should never be out here in the first place.

"We need to evade them," he said, sliding her sideways glance. "The ship's not designed for close quarters combat with pirate vessels like this, it"s not armed enough. They"ll cut through our hull like a tin can so we need to run, and run fast. Hold on, this could get rough."

She nodded, her face pale but her expression determined as she settled herself in the co-pilot"s seat, small hands gripping the arm rests. He nodded in approval. Dropping the ship into manual control, he took over the flight systems. He might not have been a trained star fighter, but he knew this ship inside out, and what she was capable of. Plus he knew what technology was in the Liis ship"s. Their weapons targeting systems would be on predictive models, which meant that he had to be unpredictable.

His fingers flew over the controls, spinning the ship into a hard roll as another blast streaked past them. The force of the turn slammed them both back into their seats, and he cut a quick glance at Sadie. He was Latharian, a warrior trained and conditioned for the brutalities of battle. His enhanced physiology could handle the extra g-forces, but she was human… and female. She should never be put into these kinds of conditions.

She gripped the armrests tightly, her knuckles white, but she didn"t look terrified. He had no doubt this was the most excitement she"d ever experienced. And while he hated the fact that she was in danger, there was a part of him, a very small part, that was thrilled that she was here. That she could see him in his own environment, and he could show off his skills to impress his mate.

"Hold on," he called out. "Evasive maneuvers!"

He threw the ship to port, then snapped it back starboard in a zigzag pattern. His movements were so random that the Liis" targeting systems struggled to lock on, but he still winced as a few blasts came close. Warning lights flashed on the console as the shields took damage. That was too close with his precious mate on board.

He bared his teeth in a snarl. These draanthing pirates would not threaten what was his. "We need to break their line of sight." He kept up a running commentary. "There"s an asteroid field up ahead. We can use that for cover."

Her eyes wide, she nodded. He hit the engines and poured on the speed, trusting the ship"s engines to get them to the asteroid field before the pirates. It wasn"t a walk in the park, even for an experienced pilot such as himself. Huge rocks tumbled through space ahead of them, an assault course that ranged from small boulders to planetoids kilometers across. His jaw tightened. It wouldn"t have been his first choice, but they were out of options, and the debris would wreak havoc with the Liis" targeting sensors. They wouldn"t be able to follow them in there. One, they wouldn't be able to see them, and two, the pirate ships were too big, not maneuverable enough. They"d be destroyed within minutes of entering the field.

"Hold on," he warned a moment before he flipped the ship to its side, and raced through a narrow gap between two tumbling asteroids. The pitted gray surface streaked past in the front view screen, so close they could almost reach out and touch it.

A second later, he flipped them the other way and hit the brakes to bring them up sharply so they didn"t smash nose first into another asteroid.

He wove the ship between the spinning rocks, his muscles tight as he wrestled with the controls, dodging and rolling to stay ahead of their pursuers and avoid them being smashed apart. All the time he was conscious of the little squeaks and gasps as Sadie clung to the armrests as though her life depended on it.

"Can they follow us in here?" she asked, her voice so tight with fear that all he wanted to do was reach out and drag her into his arms to reassure her. But he couldn"t, he had to keep all his attention on what he was doing or they wouldn"t survive this.

"No," he shook his head. "Their ships are too large and not as maneuverable."

Behind them, the Liis ships struggled to keep up. He allowed himself a fierce growl of satisfaction as one clipped an asteroid, which sent it into a tailspin. It slammed into another asteroid, becoming a fiery blossom against the unforgiving rock.

"Ha! Not so easy without your computers to do the flying for you, is it?" He taunted the Liis, even though they couldn"t hear him. "Draanthing pirates."

He checked the sensors but the debris field concealed the pirates from him as much as it concealed them from the pirates. Grunting in the back of his throat, he altered some settings on the console in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Sadie asked, leaning forward to watch him with interest.

"I"m altering the scanners," he said. "The Liis use a particular type of armor in their hulls. It"s a specific alloy and I should be able to pick up on that."

She frowned, sliding him a sideways glance. "But… wouldn"t that mean anybody could track them like that? Why would they give that advantage away?"

Oh, she was a clever little one. He smiled at her, shoving his loose hair back over his shoulders. "Most people wouldn"t be able to reconfigure the scanners to pick up the alloy. It just happens that your mate is a genius."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "And so humble as well…"

The scans came up clear.

"Yeah, I think we lost them." He let out a deep breath and eased back on the throttle, allowing the ship's computer to set a course to bring them out of the debris field on the other side.

"You"re safe, kelarris," he said. "I just need to set a course to get us back to Devan Station."

"That was... like an action movie or something." She smiled, some of the tension leaving her body. "You were amazing. I"ve never seen anyone fly like that."

He chuckled, a sense of pride warming him through at her praise. He had proven himself worthy, and capable of protecting her. Exactly as a good mate should.

"I"ve flown these ships most of my life," he said as he laid in a course that would take them back home. "And while an asteroid field may seem dangerous to most people, combat pilots see the opportunities for concealment and attack. We"re trained to use them to our advantage."

Reaching over, he took her smaller hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Her lips parted as she was about to speak, but the ship lurched to the side, slamming them both into the arms of their chairs. An ear-shattering boom reverberated through the cockpit, almost deafening them before alerts screamed.

"What"s going on?" She cried out, her hand torn from his by the violent motion.

His hands flew over the controls, bringing up damage reports and sensor readings.

"We"ve been hit by an asteroid fragment," he said, his eyes narrowing as he fought to control the ship and keep them from smashing into the nearest rocks.

"Draanth," he hissed between gritted teeth. "Engines and stabilizers are all off-line. We"re going to have to drop out of the asteroid field."

Her eyes widened in alarm. "But isn"t that dangerous? Won"t the pirates catch us?"

He threw a map of the nearby system up on the view screen in front of them. "There"s a planet not far away, I"m going to try and make an emergency landing there. We won"t be in clear space long enough for them to get a lock on us."

He hoped.

* * *

"Get dressed. Quickly,"Vaarn growled. Not the good kind of growl either, when his voice was all sexy and low, like last night. This was hard, dangerous, and focused. The kind of growl she was sure he used with his enemies.

She didn"t question, just scrambled out of the chair and hurried to the back of the cabin. Grabbing her clothes off the floor, she pulled them on. Her hands shook so much that she fumbled the fastenings and nearly sliced her finger open with the zipper. Hopping on one foot, then the other, she managed to get her boots on and staggered back to the co-pilot seat.

The planet loomed large, filling the view screen and racing up to meet them at an alarming speed. Shades of teal and purple swirled across its surface, only broken up by jagged mountain peaks and vast seas.

The deck went out from under her feet and she squeaked as she grabbed for the back of the co-pilot"s seat. Forcing down the panic threatening to close her throat, she made a dive to sit down.

"Vaarn?" she managed, reaching for the buckle on her safety harness. She wasn"t any kind of pilot, but even she could tell they were coming in too fast, too steep. Her hands trembled, and she couldn"t keep a grip on the metal clasp enough to drive it home. Some great space adventurer she was turning out to be.

"No, don't strap in."

His big hands covered hers, stilling her frantic motions, and she looked up. He leaned over her, extricating her from the co-pilot"s harness and pulling her to her feet. Turning her around, he pushed her in front of him and herded her to the back of the cockpit.

"Vaarn, please," she begged, half-turning to put her hands on his chest. "Tell me what"s going on."

His expression was hard and readable, she saw the panic in his eyes. It was damped down and controlled, but there. That scared her more than anything. As long as she"d known him, he"d always been in control, no matter what.

"We"re going to crash," he said, and slammed a fist onto a panel on the wall. She jumped in surprise, a squeak on her lips, but then a hidden door slid open to reveal an escape pod tucked away inside.

Relief hit her. An escape pod. She hadn"t thought this ship was big enough to have anything like that, but God she was glad to see it. It was a way out, a chance to survive the situation they"d found themselves in.

She turned to him with a smile of relief, only for him to put a hand in the center of her chest and give her a hard shove. She stumbled, falling into the escape pod, the door sliding shut behind her.

"Vaarn! What are you doing?"

She was at the door in a heartbeat, hammering her fists against the curved glass of the window. Vaarn watched her from the other side, his face set in grim lines of determination.

"What are you doing? Open the door!" She demanded, tears burning at the corners of her eyes.

He shook his head, his voice muffled with the door between them. "I"m sorry, kelarris, but I can"t."

Panic clawed at her throat as she pressed her palms against the cold glass of the escape pod"s window. The expression on his face sent fear spiraling through her. He looked grim and determined, like a warrior about going into battle for the last time.

"Vaarn… please. What"s going on?" Her voice cracked as she pleaded.

"The ship took a hit from the asteroid field," he said, his voice difficult to hear through the door. "The hull"s compromised and we"re dragging a trail of debris with us into the atmosphere."

"But you can fix it, right? We"ll be fine?" As soon as she said the words, she knew they weren"t true. If they were, he wouldn"t have shoved her in here. "You"ve put me in here just as a safety measure, haven"t you?"

His silver hair glinted as he shook his head.

"No, Sadie. I can"t repair the hull in time."

She pressed herself against the glass. "Then come in here with me, we"ll both be safe then."

Sorrow tightened his expression. "I can"t, kelarris. The asteroid is breaking apart. It"s coming down with us."

She bit her lip, tears filling her eyes. "What does that mean?"

Her stomach dropped as if they were already plummeting planetward. She knew what it meant.

"It's going to hit us, isn't it?"

"No." His eyes locked onto hers. "You"re going to land safely because I"m going to clear your path."

Understanding dawned, and her heart broke. " You"re not coming with me."

She couldn"t say the rest. Couldn"t complete the thought. If he stayed behind then…

He nodded, once. "I"ll bring the ship down as far as I can, and use the weapons array to clear any debris in front of the escape pod."

"But you"ll die!" She slapped her hands against the glass again, hot tears blurring her vision so she couldn"t see him clearly.

His face softened. " Your survival is all that matters."

"No!" Her voice broke and she shook her head. "You can"t do this! Get in here with me! Please!"

He stepped back from the window, regret in his eyes. Every inch he moved further away from her and the door felt like miles carved into her soul. "There"s too much debris, I won"t risk your life."

"But you"ll give yours! Vaarn, you"ll die! Don"t do this, please!" She begged as she watched him stride back to the pilot"s seat. Helplessness filled her.

He didn"t turn back.

"Please! Please don"t do this! Please don"t leave me alone!" She screamed as his hand reached out and hit the release button for the escape pod.

Then he was snatched away from her, her last vision of the man she loved the flash of silver hair as the escape pod plummeted from its cradle.

"Vaarn!"

* * *

Vaarn"s heartbroke as his mate's screams echoed through the comms, crying and pleading with him to join her in the escape pod.

He couldn"t. He wished from the bottom of his heart that he could. But he hadn"t told her the full extent of the ship"s damage. He kept that from her, not wanting to scare her with the desperate nature of their situation. The truth was that the ship itself posed as much danger as the asteroid debris raining down through the upper atmosphere around them. The state that it was in, he had no choice but to try and pilot the ship down, away from the path of the pod. To try and keep her safe, in case it came apart, breaking up into yet more lethal pieces. He tried not to think about the fact that it was likely to, with him inside it.

He watched the pod on the scanners, taking note of all the dangers that would threaten her. Bringing the guns online, he twisted and turned the crippled vessel to destroy anything that got anywhere near her.

It was his duty as her mate to keep her safe. Glancing down, he caught sight of his wrists and bittersweet triumph rolled through him. Dark, vine-like marks under the skin encircled both his wrists. Mating marks.

Agony speared his heart as he realized that his first and final act as her bonded mate would be to sacrifice himself to save her life. Then he put emotion away, locked down tight in the center of his soul. Despair at having to leave her so soon, over not being able to grow old with her, and see their children, had no place in this fight.

Because fight it was. He would need all of his skills and experience, all of his knowledge of the ship, to keep her escape pod safe on its trajectory to the ground.

So he channeled his anguish into steel-willed focus, flying the damaged and near-crippled ship with a fierce precision that an imperial star fighter would"ve been proud of.

The ship rocked, alarms in the cockpit screaming as he alternated between firing at the asteroid fragments and simply slamming them out of the way with the damaged ship. He lost the rear engines, and the aft quarter was no longer registering as part of the ship, but it didn"t matter. All that mattered was clearing a route for the pod, no matter the cost.

A tumbling rock almost took him out, the impact sending hull plates flying past the little pod. The ship groaned, one of the fuel tanks ruptured, as they plunged into the planet"s atmosphere. Gritting his teeth, he used all the strength in his body to hold the ship on course, still firing at the debris to clear the way in front of the escape pod"s descent path.

He had to save Sadie. Nothing else was acceptable.

The ship reached its limits. With a deafening crack, the viewport imploded before him, sucking the oxygen from the cabin out in a devastating rush. Flames licked at the back of the cockpit as the ship began to break apart.

His chest constricted as he watched the escape pod hurtle toward the planet"s surface, disappearing into clouds where he couldn"t see it. His fingers flew over the control panel, opening up the comms system. He needed to get a message to his cousin, S"aad, but he didn"t have time to wait for the call to connect.

"S"aad, it"s Vaarn. Listen up. Sending you coordinates," he said, keeping his message to the short and clipped delivery they used in combat communications. "Ship damaged, pirates in the area, human female in danger and alone. She has a tracker bracelet…" He reeled off the code, and then his voice cracked. "S"aad… she"s my mate. Save her. Look after her. I"m trusting you with her life. Vaarn out."

With no way to control the ship, he had only one option left. Jaw clenched, he started the self-destruct sequence. It was beyond repair, and he couldn"t risk it hitting the escape pod in its freefall to the surface.

"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Self-destruct in fifteen seconds… fourteen seconds… thirteen…"

The countdown showed on the console in front of him but the audible warning was lost in the rush of wind through the ruined viewscreen. He turned and half fell, half ran to the back of the cockpit. Wrenching a storage closet open, he grabbed a drop pack and slung it over his shoulders.

The airlock hissed open, and the wind of the upper atmosphere tried to yank him out. His muscles tensed as he slid home the buckles of the pack. He"d done combat drops before, but never from this height. He had no idea if he would survive it.

His breaths were short, ragged gasps as he prepared to launch himself outside. Something exploded behind him, flames licking at his back, and he ran forward, leaping at the last minute. For a fleeting moment, he was weightless, then the wind grabbed him and flipped him over.

His eyes widened as the ground below raised up to meet him. Immediately, he twisted until he could see the escape pod, a small speck to his left plummeting toward the planet below. His beautiful Sadie was inside, scared and alone. The thought tore at his soul, but there was nothing he could do for her now.

He kept her pod firmly in sight, even as the ship erupted in a blinding burst of light above him. Debris scattered in all directions, the shockwave hitting him and spinning him off course.

As oblivion rushed to embrace him, his last thought was of Sadie, safe. He had fulfilled his duty as her mate. Grim satisfaction filled him. She would live… survive… even if he did not.

And that was all that mattered.