Chapter 3

3

It only took a few seconds for Loris to open the door to her cabin and grab her bag from inside. Years in the military had drilled into her to always be prepared for shit to go sideways, and she hadn't dropped the habit, despite the fact she'd been a civilian for nearly fifteen years.

By the time she was back in the corridor, Maddison stood waiting, her own pack slung over her shoulders. "We're going to the bridge. I need to know what happened, and it's the safest place I can think of."

She grabbed Maddison's arm and took off at a jog. The deck lurched, lights flickered, and with every few strides the ship uttered low, tortured groans or sharp creaking noises that made her increase speed.

At least they weren't in the passenger area. Loris could imagine the chaos that must be unfolding on the lower decks. Scared civilians leaving their cabins, clogging up the corridors, unsure where to go or what to do.

They were still a few steps away from their destination when new alarms rang out. Over the noise, she heard the captain call for all off-duty crew to report to the bridge.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Once they reached the door, Loris watched her friend's back while she tried to input the passcode. It took her several tries and a long string of curses, but Maddison eventually got it open. They raced inside, the door sliding shut behind them.

Maddison spoke first. "What's happening?"

Captain Perez shot them both a grim look and pointed to an empty chair. "Sit down, strap in, and shut up. I'll explain if we live through the next few minutes."

Maddison glanced at Loris, who nodded.

Once Maddison was secured, Loris took up a position behind her, one hand firmly gripping the back of the seat.

The deck bucked again, and this time the lights flickered and died. The emergency lighting kicked in almost immediately, bathing the bridge in a reddish glow that only added to the sense of foreboding.

Time passed slowly while every member of the bridge crew worked furiously, their eyes locked on their screens and hands flying over the controls. Loris couldn't make out any details, but she didn't have to. The ship was in trouble. She kept expecting the door to open and more of the crew to arrive, but it stayed closed. If none of the crew were able to make it here, hull breaches or sealed hatches had to be in their way.

Captain Jodi Perez's voice broke the silence.

"How many escape pods deployed?"

"Six deployed. But those bastards have shot down three of them," a crewman named Hooper replied. The woman was ashen, her hands closing into fists as she slammed them down on her console.

"We're sitting ducks out here! We're going to die."

Captain Perez shot her a stern look. "Keep it together, Hooper. We're not dead yet."

The pilot called out a moment later. "Ma'am, we have another problem. We're falling into the gravity well of a planet, and we only have partial power to our normal engines."

"Fuck!" the captain yelled. It took only a second for her to recover. "Joy, get me everything you can about that planet. Atmosphere, survivability. Can we breathe the air if we go down?"

"Yes, ma'am." Joy wasn't part of the bridge crew, and Loris was surprised to see her at a station. Why was the ship's guest liaison officer here?

The question went unasked. Now wasn't the time. Not when the ship was coming apart around them. At least, that's what it felt and sounded like to Loris.

Captain Perez bowed her head in defeat as she opened the ship-wide comms again. "This is the captain. I'm ordering everyone to abandon ship. I repeat. Abandon ship."

She turned to look at Maddison. "That includes the two of you."

"I should stay," Maddison argued.

"No, ma'am. You need to board the command shuttle. Once we're inside the atmosphere, the autopilot can handle the descent and landing on its own."

"Where do we go?" Loris asked, already scanning the area. She needed to get Maddison out of here. Now.

"That hatch over there." Jodi pointed out the spot and then turned her attention to the one called Joy. "Bashir, you go with them and see to their safety. I'm counting on you."

Joy nodded crisply and unclipped her safety harness.

Loris barely got two steps before things started to unravel.

Crewman Hooper protested, "What the hell, Captain? You're sending the blind party planner? What can she do to protect the VIPs?" Loris realized the other woman was already unclipped as she got to her feet, looking wide-eyed and ready to bolt. "I'll do it."

"Hooper! You will sit your ass down right now. Your place is here, ensuring we do everything possible to bring this ship down intact."

Loris led Maddison, keeping her body between her client and the unstable crewman. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Joy Bashir attempt to join them without drawing attention to herself.

She failed.

Hooper—Loris belatedly remembered that the woman was the first officer on board—uttered a wild, broken sound and threw herself at Joy. The smaller woman went flying, arms flung out as she tried to regain her balance. Her head hit the deck with a thud that made Loris wince. She didn't need to look closely to know that Bashir was down and out of the fight.

Loris dropped her bag and charged at the first officer before the other woman had time to recover. Her unexpected takedown of Bashir was ugly and out of control, leaving her vulnerable. Loris took full advantage of the opening. The bridge wasn't large, but it allowed her enough room to accelerate a few steps before she stretched out one arm and used it to clothesline the out-of-control crewman.

Hooper made a horrific gurgling noise and clutched at her throat. Her eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open as she struggled to breathe.

Loris turned and lashed out with one foot, striking the already injured officer in the back of her knee and sending her toppling to the deck. She hadn't heard anything, but she'd felt the way the joint gave way and knew Hooper wouldn't be getting up again. Not with her knee shattered. She might survive her fractured larynx if she got immediate medical treatment, but something told her Captain Perez wouldn't make that a priority. Not when the ship was going down.

"Take Bashir and get out of here!" Perez barked at Loris.

"On our way." Loris took a second to straighten and give the captain a sharp salute, her fist clenched and held by her right cheek. "Good luck, Captain."

The captain nodded once and then moved to take over the first officer's now empty chair. No one even glanced at Hooper.

With no time left, Loris hurried over to the still unconscious Joy Bashir and grabbed her under her arms. "Maddison, get inside the shuttle and start emergency departure protocols. I'll be right there."

Maddison was visibly shaken, but she vanished through the hatch without question. Loris had taught the woman how to perform basic flight checks and emergency procedures long ago. She had no doubt they'd be on their way in no time at all, which was good because the faster they got clear of the doomed ship, the better their chances of survival were.

At least in the short term. Getting away from the Harvest was one thing. Making a go of it once they were down on the planet's surface was another thing entirely. She didn't even know where the hell they were, and she had no time to ask.

The shuttle was larger than she'd expected, which was nice. She managed to wrestle the still unconscious Bashir onto a bench and strap her in. Then she made her way to the cockpit. Maddison gave up the pilot's seat immediately. "We're almost ready to go. I waited for you to start the final sequence."

"Good job." Loris dropped into the newly vacated seat and assessed the controls. Nothing unexpected. In fact, it was older technology, similar to what she'd learned to fly during her military service.

"Strap in and take a deep breath. We made it through the first challenge."

Maddison smiled tightly as she fastened her safety harness. "That challenge represents the loss of everything that son of a bitch gave me in the divorce. It's all gone, Loris. The ship. The business…" She sobbed softly. "The people. Oh gods, Loris. Are they all going to die?"

She considered lying but then decided not to bother. Maddi wasn't stupid. She knew the answer already. "Some of them will. But Captain Perez and her crew are good at their jobs. Trust them to take care of everyone still on board." She tapped in the command to launch. "Everyone but that bitch Hooper."

They broke away from the main ship. For one glorious moment, everything was calm. No more alarms. No flashing lights. Loris exhaled a long breath.

Then the shuttle was plunged into chaos as atmospheric entry tore at the little ship. She reacted instantly, attempting to alter course to improve their angle, but the controls stopped responding.

"What the fuck?" she shouted in frustration.

Then a thought occurred. "Ship. Can you respond?"

"Yes." The voice was flat, artificial, and indifferent. "What is your query?"

"Why can't I use the controls?" she demanded.

"No registered pilot is on board. All systems have reverted to automatic control."

Maddison gasped.

Loris cursed to herself. "Override requested. I am a qualified pilot."

"Negative. No registered pilot is on board. Emergency protocols have been activated."

"At least tell me where we're going?" she snapped.

"This shuttle will descend to the planet below. Name unknown."

"And what system is this planet in?" Surely this fucking machine had some information.

"Current location confirmed. System name unknown. Planet name is unknown." It spewed a series of coordinates Loris couldn't understand. Astro-navigation was beyond her understanding.

"Simplify it for me. Whose territory are we in?"

"This shuttle is two hundred light years from its expected course. All territory in this sector is claimed by the verexi."

Maddi uttered a small, fearful sound and gripped her hands in her lap.

Loris bit back another litany of curses. How the fuck had they wound up in the territory of the most unpleasant, xenophobic, and fiercely territorial species in the galaxy? The Harvest shouldn't have come anywhere near their region of space.

This shitshow couldn't get any worse. Could it?

She was afraid the answer was yes.