by Leslie Chase
Reluctantly, he let her go. "There's nothing to discuss," he said firmly, then grinned. "But we will talk about that nothing for as long as it takes you to accept it."
She turned to glare at him, but the twinkle of humor in his alien eyes made her laugh instead. With a shake of her head, she stepped onto the bridge of the ship.
Fortunately, it was a small vessel. The only skyship Laura had flown was Adele's yacht, but this little survey ship wasn't too different. There were more controls, clearly intended for a professional pilot rather than a dilettante like Adele, but most of them seemed to be for functions she wouldn't have to worry about. She hoped.
Okay, I can skip most of the preflight checks, she thought as she slid into the pilot's chair. If there's something wrong with the ship... well, then we're fucked no matter what it is.
Ordinarily, she'd never be so cavalier with safety instructions, but this was a special case. As soon as she powered up the thrusters, they'd attract the attention of the pirates, and from that point on every second would count. Muttering under her breath, Laura got her bearings on the various controls and nodded to herself. She was as ready as she was going to be.
"If you have a god to pray to, Rorax, we can use all the help we can get," she said. Muttering a quiet prayer of her own, she pressed the ignition button and felt the ship come to life underneath her.
It wasn't a quick process. The engines needed time to warm, the thrusters needed time to power up safely, and Laura had no idea how to speed those things up. Glancing around out of the viewports, she tried to breathe slowly and deeply, to keep the tension from her fingers as she held the controls. Gently, she pulled back, sending current through the alien crystals that provided the ship with lift. With a heavy creaking sound, the Bradbury rose from the ground and began to drift forward.
She turned the wheel cautiously, getting a feel for the steering as she tried to maneuver through the mess of awkwardly parked ships. The pirates' lack of discipline made things difficult — they could have been in neat rows, but no, that would have been easy. Instead, Laura had to guide their stolen ship through narrow gaps between haphazardly abandoned vessels.
The hull groaned as she misjudged a gap and scraped her ship against its neighbor. Outside, some of the aliens were starting to react, looking up at their unexpected departure. One crew laughed, pointing at the Bradbury as Laura overcorrected for her error and bashed into another ship. Others, perhaps the crew of the ship she'd hit, jumped to their feet angrily and strode forward waving for her to stop.
That tears it, she thought. No more time for subtlety. Pushing the throttle forward, she aimed the ship's prow for the cavern's entrance and hoped for the best.
With a screech of metal-on-metal, the Bradbury pushed aside the ship she'd rammed and leaped forward. The sudden acceleration pressed her back into her seat and she glanced over her shoulder to see if Rorax had kept his balance.
He wasn't there.
Where the hell are you going? She cursed under her breath — there was no way that she could leave the controls now, not without crashing the ship and dooming their escape.
"Rorax? What are you doing?"
"Making sure you get away safely," Rorax said from the rear of the ship. His voice boomed in the small space, and the sound of it, the strength of it, made her shiver again. It was an irresistible sound, and she knew she couldn't live without it.
"Don't do anything stupid," she shouted back, wishing she could run to him. But her focus had to be ahead of them. As if to prove that, a spire of rock loomed in front of them and the Bradbury's sluggish controls only just let her steer around it. "We're nearly out."
"And they're right behind us," Rorax said, tired anger in his voice, mixed with grim determination. "You'll never get far with the dragons on your tail, even this ship isn't as fast as a dragon in flight. But I can hold them off while you make a break for it, and then you have a chance."
Laura risked another look back, twisting further to look down the corridor that ran the length of the small ship. Rorax stood at the hatch they'd entered through, hands on the controls. The dark look on his face told her all she needed to know about his chances in this plan.
"They'll kill you," she shouted, feeling tears in her eyes. "Damn it Rorax, this was meant to let us both get to safety."
He looked around, flashing her a smile. "If I have to die, I can't think of a better cause than saving you," he said. "But their leader is my brother. I might be able to talk my way out of this, once you're gone. Nothing I could say would save you when they worked out who you really are."
Laura turned back, not wanting him to see her tears. Grappling with the controls, she steered around more rocks and towards the entrance. The shimmering veil of the atmosphere shield wasn't far now.
"They'll still chase me," she shouted back as she fought to keep on track. "You can't beat them all."
"Once you've got a head start, I'll tell them the truth," he said, and she heard the hatch open. "It won't be worth their while to chase you down then, not when you're not worth any ransom."
That seemed a thin hope, but his tone brooked no argument. Rorax's mind was made up, and this was the plan. No wonder he didn't tell me the details when we set out — he knew I wouldn't be okay with him putting himself in this much danger. Laura scowled, thinking. There has to be something I can do to help him.
"Wait!" she cried, fumbling at her belt and pulling out the quantum communicator. "Take this, you can talk to Adele over it — she can confirm your story."
As much as she hated the idea of being separated from him, if he was going to pull this trick to save her, she didn't want him to fail. That would be the only thing worse than him succeeding.
He caught the thrown communicator out of the air and clipped it to his belt. If he said anything more, it was lost in the roar of air from the hatch. Then he leaped through it and was gone, his wings catching the air.
Blinking to clear her eyes of the tears, Laura turned back to piloting her way to freedom.
16
Rorax
The wind caught his wings as Rorax jumped from the stolen skyship, the erratic currents throwing him into a tumble. With a frantic effort he caught himself, turning back to the cavern and flying to meet their pursuers.
There were three of them close at hand, flying frantically to try and catch up with the skyship. Rorax didn't know any of them well but he guessed they must be the crew of the stolen ship. That would explain why none of them had shifted yet — seizing the craft in warform would be easy, but it would risk wrecking it rather than recapturing it.
Behind them more dragons followed, looking curious and amused rather than concerned. Rorax ignored them for now, focusing his attention on the trio who were chasing Laura on her stolen ship.
Spreading his wings wide, he angled towards them, and at last they noticed that he was blocking their way. One charged towards him, howling a challenge, and they flew together.
Rorax ducked around the man's attack, twisting and grabbing at his wings as they passed each other. His pull yanked his opponent off balance and the pirate lost control, falling suddenly rather than flying. Rorax let go and let him tumble to the rocks — they were too close for the man to recover before he struck the ground.
The other two had passed him while he dealt with their leader, but now they turned back to face him with anger in their eyes.
"Rorax, what in the name of the Black Sun is this?" one demanded as they flew up to meet him. "A bad prank? Give us back our ship."
That's what I counted on, he thought, hearing the drunken slurring of the man's words. They'll think it's just a joke, because who would steal a ship from here and why? By the time they work it out, Laura will be far enough away that she won't be worth catching.
"You drunken fools don't deserve a ship," he shouted back, furling his wings and diving. The pair roared and followed him down towards the broken red rocks below, and he could feel the amused attention of the rest of t
he crowd on him. The pirates were enjoying a good laugh at their fellows' expense, and Rorax smiled.
The longer I can drag this out, the less chance there is they'll want to go to the trouble of reclaiming the ship these idiots let me steal, he told himself. Doubtless the trio could get a berth on some other crew, and they didn't strike him as the types to go looking too hard for the ship they'd lost. Not if there were easier options.
His wings snapped wide and he pulled up, just above the ground. One of the two chasing him waited too long and slammed into the rock before catching himself, but the other made the turn safely and raced forward. With Rorax's injured wing, he couldn't outdistance his pursuer and the man slammed into him from above, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
As he'd hoped, the show was enough to keep the rest of the pirates focused on him for now. Some circled above them, others landed to watch the two of them fight it out. With a snarl, Rorax kicked free of his opponent and rolled to his feet, the other man following him.
"Let's see how tough you are," the pirate said, spitting blood to the side and charging. Rorax snapped out a punch that thumped into the oncoming dragon's face and stepped aside to let him tumble past. Around him, the others laughed.
We were all soldiers together, Rorax thought with a rush of rage at the pirates. We should be shoulder to shoulder, rebuilding our civilization. But no, you idiots took the first chance to go off and take whatever you want.
Without the discipline of the Dragon Guard to guide them, they were falling apart. Tough and dangerous, yes, but they weren't working together anymore.
The other dragon picked himself up as Rorax circled him, glaring. He clearly thought that Rorax was dragging the fight out to humiliate him, and Rorax felt a small twinge of guilt for that. But only a small one: he remembered the humans trapped in cages inside the camp, and the dead men's helmets nailed to the sides of the ships. These weren't his comrades any more. They were murderers and pirates, and he had no reason to hold back.
"What in the Thousand Stars is going on here?" Korgan's roar cut through the laughter of the crowd, and Rorax stiffened. This was where it got tricky — his brother wasn't going to be so easily taken in. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that the stolen ship was out of sight, and Laura with it. He'd buy her as much time as possible, and just have to hope that was enough.
The thought of never seeing her again was like an icy spike to his heart, a thought that he'd avoided thinking so far by focusing on the fight. I'll just have to live with it, he thought with grim humor. It was hardly certain that he'd have to live with it for long.
"Your brother stole our ship," snarled the other dragon as he hauled himself to his feet and faced Korgan. "Some kind of stupid joke, he stole it and sent it out onto the surface. What're you going to do about that, hey?"
Korgan snarled an oath and backhanded the man hard enough to send him flying. His eyes narrowing, he stared at Rorax and flared his wings angrily.
"What have you done? Where's the female?" He stalked forward, looming over Rorax.
"Brother, I can explain," Rorax said, trying to keep his anger under control. "Let me speak and I'll—"
Korgan lashed out with a punch that would have sent Rorax sprawling if he hadn't been ready for it. Turning with the impact, it merely rocked him on his feet, and his instinctive response was to lash out with a kick at his brother's legs.
But Korgan was too fast for such a simple trick, leaping backward and disengaging. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other and then Korgan looked up over Rorax's shoulder.
"After the ship, you idiots. That's our prize escaping," he roared at the other pirates.
Damn it, so much for the distraction. Some of the dragons were already leaping into the air — there was no stopping the pursuit now. Not with words anyway.
I was always unlikely to survive this, Rorax reminded himself as he shifted into his warform and launched himself after the pursuers. At least this way I get to take out my anger on someone. And if I fail, I won't be alive to see it.
He had no intention of failing, though. And the first moments gave him a brutal advantage, while the others were still in their humanoid forms. The fire of his breath lashed out like a white-hot whip, snapping across the pirates and driving them from the air.
Rorax beat his mighty wings, moving to block the exit from the cavern and turning back to face the rest of the dragons. Some were rushing for their own ships, others were staring at him in horror that he would go to his warform for a fight with them. That was much more serious than the brawl with the crew of the stolen ship had been.
A fight between dragons in warform was a fight to the death, more often than not.
Korgan didn't hesitate. He shifted as he launched himself into the air, and the flame of his breath splashed across Rorax's scales as the two brothers slammed into each other. The clash was short and brutal, claws that could tear through steel raking each other as they both spat flames. Moments later they separated, looking to see what damage they'd done.
Bright bloody gashes on Korgan's chest showed where Rorax's claws had found purchase, but his own side burned with pain. Neither had come out the winner in that exchange, but Rorax knew he had an advantage here. The longer he held on, the longer he blocked the exit to the cavern, the further Laura would get. All he needed was for her to get enough distance to escape — nothing else mattered to him.
The other dragons hung back, waiting to see how the battle of the brothers would be resolved. No one wanted to get in their way, especially those piloting their own skyships. In his warform, Rorax could do a lot of damage to those if they came too close.
Korgan's clever eyes flicked back at his supporters, and Rorax could see his contempt for them. Not one was willing to put themselves into the line of fire for their leader, and he knew it.
Well, what did you expect? You've gathered together those who weren't loyal to their sworn leader and had no other cause than piracy. They're hardly going to be the types to risk their lives for you, are they?
But that didn't mean they weren't dangerous, he reminded himself. None of them were cowards, they had all been part of the Dragon Guard after all. They just had no commitment to this or any other cause — give them a chance to profit from taking a risk and they'd take it.
For now, at least, they were focused on watching the fight. Rorax grinned, baring his teeth and gathering himself. I might just win this, he thought. If he could defeat Korgan, then everything was up in the air.
Korgan snarled, pulling himself up but not rushing in. Rorax could see the calculation in his brother's eyes. Not exactly concern, Korgan was too confident in his own abilities for that, but a realization that this fight was closer than he wanted it to be. He needed a quick victory, and Rorax could play for time.
Beating his wings, Korgan blew a storm of dust into Rorax's face, forcing him to turn away and shield his eyes with a wing. And in that moment, Korgan charged. The impact shook the cavern, and Rorax jumped off the ground to avoid being pinned under his brother's weight. But Korgan didn't try to push him down. Instead, he carried them both forward, through the atmosphere shield and out onto the red sands outside.
They tumbled from the cavern, the air so thin that Rorax couldn't hear his own roar. Claws tearing at each other, the brothers rolled over and over, away from the entrance. Rorax dug his claws into Korgan's thick hide, breathing a gout of flame that fused sand into glass where it struck. Korgan's teeth tore at his neck, ripping away scales, and then they pulled away from each other, glaring with rage.
Rorax could feel the blood trickling from his injured neck, but the wounds on Korgan's side looked just as bad. He summoned up his energy for another clash, but as he prepared to charge a shadow flew overhead blotting out the distant Sun.
Another dragon, one of the pirates, heading out on Laura's trail. Rorax forgot Korgan instantly, leaping into the sky and catching the pirate's tail to drag him down into the dust. His target twi
sted back to snap at him, only for Rorax to catch his neck with a swipe of his talons and tear it open.
Korgan landed on his back before Rorax reached the ground, and the three dragons were locked in a desperate struggle. The newcomer thrashed, trying to get away more than anything else, but he trapped Rorax nonetheless and left him vulnerable to Korgan's furious assault.
Twisting against them, Rorax thought he might get free. But before he could escape, another dragon landed on the melee, teeth digging into his injured wing. A friend of the dragon he'd pulled from the air, or just someone wanting to impress their leader now that the odds were firmly in Korgan's favor? Rorax didn't know, and didn't care. Whatever his reason for getting involved, he'd settled the fight. Rorax couldn't win out against three other dragons in warform.
I just hope I've bought Laura enough time to get away, he thought as the weight of his enemies bore him to the rough ground.
17
Laura
The controls were simple enough, but the Bradbury's navigation system was new to Laura. She stared at the displays in confusion before shrugging and picking a route at random. There'll be time enough to work out which direction I should be going in, she told herself. For now, 'away' will do.
The only destination she had was one she didn't want to head straight towards anyway. Olympus Colony was the most obvious place to look for her, and if the pirates sent out search parties they'd certainly check that direction. It would be a better idea to get some distance first, and then start making plans.
Outside the cavern of the pirate camp, the thin winds of Mars had stirred up a sandstorm and Laura grinned as she flew into it. For once, some good luck: the storm would hide her as she fled, and that gave her a better chance of escaping. Setting the ship to fly low, she could hope to get lost in the clouds of dust. Then it was just a matter of pointing the prow at the horizon and making sure there weren't any tall rocks on her course that the Bradbury might hit. It was hard to spot them in the storm, but she'd take that risk in return for being hard to find.