19. Claire

CHAPTER 19

CLAIRE

I slip a pair of orc-sized leather pants on. They're tall enough that they go up past my breasts, and I pull a belt around myself tightly to keep it up.

As much fun it is to parade around this ship naked, you don't want that much exposed skin when working with a scorching hot engine. That's a good way to get your ass burned to a crisp.

All of this is my fault, so I'm going to fix it. If I never sent that stupid message, I could have simply spoken to Gromnyr. You know, like an adult would. I could have asked him about his people and his history.

Instead, I acted like a petulant brat, just because I wanted to be punished again. Now the entire ship is in danger and if I don't get this engine purring we're all going to die in a fiery explosion.

No pressure.

I enter the engine room and a shiver runs down my spine when I see the state the thing is in. There are scorn marks and loose wires all over, and the entire room smells like oil and smoke. It's so hot in here that I'm sweating instantly.

"You poor thing. They haven't been taking good care of you, have they?"

The engine groans, seemingly agreeing with me. Or that's just the stress, seeing as it's about to fall apart.

Heavy duty coolant-tanks line the walls, but the fluids don't seem to be moving. No wonder the thing is overheating.

I duck down and crawl into a small space underneath the engine. A coolant pipe is busted.

"There you are," I say. "Don't worry, I'll cool you down."

As I get to work, I feel the ship getting hit by another barrage of cannon fire. I hope Gromnyr knows what he's doing! I work as fast as I can and patch the pipe up. She'll need replacing soon, but it'll work for now.

The second the coolant starts running again, the engine calms down. It's still sputtering and coughing, and not quite purring like a kitten as it should, but it's not actively exploding either.

That's a win in my book.

I hit a button on the wall-mounted comm device.

"Try jumping now," I say.

"Are you sure?" Gromnyr's voice comes back to me, laced with worry. "Will you be safe?"

"Of course," I say.

As if on cue, a fierce explosion rocks the ship. I stumble and catch myself on one of the coolant tanks. Gromnyr barks orders, and a moment later the engine starts humming.

The vessel shudders and we're launched forward.

We jumped.

We're safe.

We're alive!