The tailing starfighter’s energy blasts swept past, two or three hitting the hull, the G-forces ripping at me as the ship turned around. Cutting the vectoring thrusters, I launched back toward the satellite, nearly colliding with one of the starfighters.

  “Come on, come on,” I said, desperate to make it to the wire. It was impossible to see ahead, but I did my best to judge it by the bottom of the station, searching for the outer airlock.

  There, it was. I pushed forward on the stick, arcing the ship downward, trying to line up our descent with the elevator cable. I spotted it against the light of the planet as I came nearly parallel to it, using it as a guideline. The starfighters didn’t shoot for fear of hitting the cable or sending us into it. While I didn’t think a collision would hurt the cable much, it was probably a risk orbital security didn’t want to take.

  In fact, I counted on it.

  That didn’t mean we were going to get away. I had to stay with the cable as long as possible. What it did was buy us time, and every second counted. We raced into the atmosphere, the OS starfighters giving chase. One of them moved into position directly behind us, lining up the shot once more. I moved my finger to hover over the power button, keeping a grip on the throttle, ready to cut it completely.

  The energy bolt from the OS fighter was my cue. I killed the power at the same time I completely cut the thrust, only a split-second before the bolt slammed into the thruster. The ship shook, the warning sound blaring so fiercely I thought it would deafen me. The smell of smoke and burning metal filled the interior as I waited for the engine to explode and take us with it.

  We didn’t die. Not yet. The ship continued the descent on its already built up velocity and the rapidly increasing gravity from entering the atmosphere. That still didn’t mean we were safe.

  I didn’t really know the first thing about making an emergency crash landing. I understood the physics of flight, and looking through the cockpit’s canopy I could see the escape craft had small wings able to provide lift. Being a spaceship, it didn’t have flaps or any other control surfaces, which meant it relied on thrust vectoring to change course. I had killed the power to sell that we’d had a critical hit, in hopes of getting the OS starfighters off our tail. I would need to bring the ship back online to control our vector. But would it even come back online? The smell making its way forward was a big clue it might not. And if it didn’t? I had just strapped us into a large kinetic bomb, on a direct downward course toward the security station at the other end of the space elevator. Not only would we die, but Grist and the other guards might be killed as well.

  I didn’t like Grist all that much, but I definitely didn’t want to end his life.

  Without the HUD, I couldn’t see behind the ship. I imagined the OS starfighters were still back there, observing our descent but not engaging. Maybe they didn’t realize we were on a collision course with the station. Once they did, they would probably start shooting again. I hadn’t thought that far ahead when I came up with this stupid idea.

  I tapped the power button, holding my breath while I waited for it to respond. We had dropped enough altitude that the curvature of the planet was no longer visible on the periphery. Only wisps of white clouds, the gray-brown of the mountains, and the green surrounding them were visible, along with the silver of Persephon city and the spaceport at the periphery. Even that was moving out of view quickly as we rapidly approached.

  Sparks flew from the side of the cockpit, followed by smoke and an even more acrid burning smell. The ship refused to come online, the hit from the starfighter a fatal blow. Thicker air meant more resistance and more turbulence, and we began to bounce and shake while our velocity continued decreasing. Not enough.

  “Damn it,” I whispered. I had done my best. I knew the odds were bad, and I couldn’t beat them. Whether we crashed into the station or the starfighters blew us apart before we blew up on impact, the adventure of a lifetime was coming to an end.

  I tried the power again, causing a few more sparks to my right. With nothing else to do, I hit it a third time. No sparks. In fact, a light rumble sounded from the rear and the shuddering intensified, the power supply fighting to ignite the damaged rear thrusters.

  “Come on,” I growled, yanking back hard on the stick. The vectoring thrusters fired successfully, beginning to lift the nose, slowly pulling us out of the suicidal dive. I held the stick back, watching the mountains getting closer, feeling the Gees, the ship rattling harder as the maneuver put added strain on its frame. And on me, although I had to do no more than tighten my stomach muscles to keep breathing.

  The HUD had returned with the power, and it flashed in front of me now, alarm bells ringing in my ears at the potential collision with the ground. I ignored it and pulled the stick all the way back, the thrusters doing the best they could to pull us up. Nothing else was under my control. We would either make it or we wouldn’t.

  It wasn’t as close as I thought it would be. We were still near ten-thousand feet when the nose finally made real headway in its effort to rise, the thrusters pushing the ship close to level. The small wings caught the air, providing lift, and we drifted flat as I allowed myself a single exhale. The rear camera had been destroyed in the starfighter hit, so I leaned up and looked back, trying to see if we were being followed.

  An energy bolt hit the fuselage just behind the cockpit, the flash of light nearly blinding me. I flinched away, cursing as I tried to bank hard right. Unable to maneuver as well in the atmosphere, the thrusters enacted a gentle turn. Or maybe not all of them were functional. Either way, the evasive maneuver was a joke, giving the starfighter plenty of time to line up another shot. I stopped banking, choosing to descend more rapidly instead and looking down, searching for somewhere to crash land.

  Another energy bolt hit the top of the ship, a sudden whistle of air forming in the back. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the blast had gone straight through the metal and between the seats where my terrified passengers held on for dear life. I knew the next shot, probably the last one the OS starfighter would need to take, would come at any second.

  The starfighter suddenly surprised me, rocketing past us. Rapid-fire plasma bolts trailed behind it, peppering the air with fire as our purple starfighter from Head Case chased the fighter off.

  “Whooohoooo!” I shouted as loudly as I could, my heart leaping as the small starfighter raced past us on the orbital security ship’s tail. I had to assume Alter was in the cockpit of the starfighter. I followed it as it broke off the engagement and circled back, waving my free hand as it shot past us.

  The escape ship fell into an unnatural shadow a moment later. Looking up and back, I saw Head Case overhead, the purple fighter swinging past it and sweeping back again to keep us covered. My entire body tingled with excitement, the overwhelming tension and pressure of the moment beginning to subside.

  I looked to the passenger compartment, certain Matt had managed to enter the remote access for the ship and fly it to us. But I found the phone discarded on the deck, having fallen out of his hand at some point.

  So who was flying Head Case? Could it be Keep? Whoever it was, I was beyond ecstatic they were here.

  Returning my attention to the landscape, I spotted a large field surrounded by trees at the base of the mountains directly ahead. Compared to what I had just done, landing the ship there would be a piece of cake.

  Again, after all the times it had seemed impossible, somehow we had made it.

  CHAPTER 17

  I brought the escape ship down relatively smoothly considering I only had the vectoring thrusters to work with, and I had never actually landed a starship as though it were an airplane. We hit the ground relatively hard, bounced twice, and skidded along the grass. Fortunately, the starboard wing prevented the fuselage from rolling. But like the old saying went, any landing you could walk away from was a good one.

  As soon as the ship settled, I removed my restraints and jumped to my feet, legs weak and body more sore than I expected. All things considered, I was lucky I hadn't blacked out during any of the most critical moments. Rushing to the back, my eyes swept over my passengers. Quasar sat calmly, Druck’s face was a little pale but he was otherwise alert. Matt looked like he had puked and passed out.

  “Where’s Shaq?” I asked, not spotting the Jagger right away.

  “Here,” he buzzed, causing me to look up. He held fast to the perforated metal of the ceiling, having used his claws to lock himself in place.

  “Are you okay, buddy?”

  “Mmm-hmmm.”

  “Zar, Druck, are you good?”

  “I’m fine,” Quasar replied, unbuckling her restraints as she looked over at Matt. “He didn’t handle it too well.”

  “He usually doesn’t.”

  “I’m okay,” Druck said. “But I wouldn’t complain if I never had to do anything even remotely like that ever again. And I’ve done ten klick drops in a fifty ton mech.”

  “Does that mean what I think it means?” I asked.

  “If you think it means free-falling in the cockpit of a humanoid-shaped war machine, depending on anti-gravity transducers in the feet and what amounts to a huge jetpack on your back to prevent from being crushed on landing while being shot at from both the air and the ground, then yeah. It does.”

  I nodded. “That’s sort of what I was thinking.” I turned to Matt and shook his arm. “Matt, wake up, man. Matt!”

  His eyes fluttered open, staring at me. “Shit. We’re still alive. You must be the best pilot in the galaxy for real.”

  “Not even close. We just have the right friends. Come on. We can’t linger here. I’m sure either law enforcement or Kasper’s military is on the way right now.”

  Matt unbuckled his restraints. Quasar helped him to his shaky feet.

  “I can’t believe I’m free,” Druck said, laughing.

  “You aren’t free yet,” I replied.

  I backed up to the airlock. The outer hatch had been torn off when I left the satellite and one of the energy blasts had grazed the interior door. I shuddered at the thought of how close it had come to puncturing open our tin can and venting our air out into space. I shuddered at the thought of how many times we had nearly died on the path between Deck Forty-nine and touchdown on Kasper. Opening the hatch, I breathed in deeply of the air that rushed in at the same time I jumped out.

  Head Case had already come down in the field behind us, straddling the deep gouge my crash landing had left in the earth. The entire hangar door sat open, the ramp fully extended, each side of it supported by the ground on either side of the channel. Alter had already returned the purple starship to the hangar, and she walked toward us in her Enigma form, expression set and serious. All business.

  I couldn’t do the same. I was all smiles as I hurried to meet her. “Alter. I’m so glad you’re here. I thought—”

  “Get on board and get ready to fly,” she said, cutting me off. “Half of the armed units in and around Kasper are coming our way.”

  It was probably the worst greeting anyone had ever given me, but I understood the urgency. “Is Keep with you?” I asked.

  “No. Why would he be with me?”

  The response immediately left me feeling idiotic for ever thinking she would betray us for Keep. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got a couple of new passengers. Help get them settled.”

  She nodded curtly. I sprinted past her, not slowing down until I was inside the elevator on board Head Case. Taking it to Deck Four, I hurried to the flight deck and flopped down in the pilot’s seat completely out of breath. My head started pounding, bright flashes popping in front of my eyes, replaced with streaky waves of darkness.

  “No, not now,” I said out loud, squeezing my eyes tight and fighting to overcome the darkness. “Not until we’re in hyperspace.”

  I grabbed my helmet and locked myself into the seat, grateful to be back behind familiar controls. The augmented reality allowed me to see through the front of the ship and watch as Alter, Matt, and the others hurried on board.

  “Ben, let’s go,” Alter said, contacting me from the hangar.

  She had kept the engines running, so all I had to do was pull back on the stick to send Head Case back into the air, floating skyward while I glanced at the sensor grid. Alter wasn’t kidding. Dozens of vehicles were approaching our position from the direction of the spaceport—from land, space, and air. Getting through them would be like threading a needle.

  I opened the throttle, able to hear the light roar of the thrusters as Head Case blasted forward, more grateful than ever for the inertial control systems. Rather than immediately heading for space, I let the ship build up velocity as we headed away from the units giving chase, maintaining, and then building a little distance between us.

  Pilot Alter hurried onto the flight deck, taking her position in the co-pilot seat. I waited until she was secure before changing our vector and beginning the launch toward space. Angling Head Case nearly perpendicular to the ground, we rocketed upward. A quick look at the grid showed OS starfighters still overhead, waiting beyond the atmosphere to get their crack at us.

  “I thought you’d abandoned us,” I said. “Or you at least weren't going to help us.”

  “Why would you think that?” Alter replied. “I don’t want Head Case to wind up in Sedaya’s hands.”

  I had thought maybe she would say she didn’t want to leave her friends behind. “How would it wind up in his hands all the way out here?”

  “He’s got eyes and ears everywhere. No doubt he knew about the auction, and what was part of it. Certainly, he knew you’d been imprisoned.”

  The thought that maybe Tattoo had planned to jump us under Sedaya’s orders danced across my mind. Was that why she had betrayed us?

  “Well, I thought you’d try to save us from prison,” I added, feeling stupid for saying it as soon as it left my mouth.

  “I had problems of my own, Ben. I barely got out of the spaceport without getting caught.”

  “You? I find that hard to believe.”

  “It’s true. And how was I supposed to get you out of prison? Pose as a guard? And then what?”

  “I don’t know. Have us sent back to the surface station and pull us out there?”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. You could have eat…” I trailed off. I had been upset with her for killing one security guard, and here I was about to suggest she should have killed more to save us. “How did you know we would escape?”

  “I didn’t. But I kept tabs on the security links, hoping you might figure something out. You’re more capable than you think. And you did figure something out. When I heard there was an attempted prison break, I thought you might be involved. When word came through that you had stolen the emergency escape ship, I came to help.”

  “And what if we hadn’t escaped?” I asked.

  “The auction was supposed to be in three days. If you were still imprisoned by then, I would have left.”

  “With Head Case.”

  “I don’t have another ship.”

  “And abandoned us.”

  “Yes, if that’s what it came to. But that wasn’t my goal. How could I let the ship, and me, be captured like that? I would have waited as long as I could and perhaps come back for you if I had to and had the opportunity. It doesn’t matter now. I’m here. You’re here. I’m glad you made it out.”

  “Me too,” I said. “But if there isn’t another pilot here, how did you use the starfighter and Head Case at the same time? Can you split yourself in two?”

  Alter laughed. “No. The ship has a follow mode, linked to the 3LV3N.”

  “3LV3N? That’s another mouthful. That ship needs a name, too. Can you set the follow mode on a person? That might be interesting.”

  “Yes, but it would also be dangerous to anyone around you.”

  I flipped the switch to activate the shields as we blasted toward the upper atmosphere. A quick look at the grid showed the orbital security starfighters were moving in, but I wasn’t all that worried about them. I didn’t think they had the punch to break through Head Case’s shields. There was something else on the grid. A much larger ship that looked as though it was vectoring our way from its original berthing at one of the orbital stations.

  Looking out ahead of us, my whole body trembled as I confirmed what the grid suggested. I had wondered what kind of event might cause a Royal Sentry to get involved.

  It seemed I had my answer. “Alter,” I said.

  “I see it,” she replied.

  “What do we do?”

  “We need a clear path to jump to hyperspace as quickly as possible.”

  “That’s going to be hard to do with those starfighters moving in.”

  “Then we have to remove them.”

  “I don’t want to kill people who are just trying to uphold the law. That’s something I wanted to talk to you about later.”

  “If we don’t remove them, they’ll slow us down until the Royal Sentry can remove us.”

  “There has to be another way.”

  “Once the Sentry clears the station, they’ll begin launching fighters. Dozens of fighters. We’ll lose our chance to escape. I’m sorry, Ben. There isn’t another way.”

  I glanced at the grid, and then back out into space, watching the massive Royal Sentry ship gaining velocity as it pulled farther away from its dock. How could things keep going from bad to worse? There had to be a stop gap somewhere, a break waiting there for them, didn’t there?

  I wasn’t so sure.

  “Ben, you need to make a decision,” Alter pressed.

  I didn’t want to shoot at them. I didn’t want to make the hard choice. I wanted to write software, play music and have fun with my friends. I wanted to be a young adult enjoying life. I had written back to Keep’s text on a lark and it had turned out to be real, and I had signed up for the adventure of a lifetime. But nobody told me the adventure would be more like a horror movie. And that I would need to finish growing up in days.