by Adam Carter
“Once the hatch is closed,” he said to Rosalita, “you’ll have to go to that console over there and hit four, seven, two, three. Then the big red button.”
“Got it. For what it’s worth, good luck.”
“Thanks.” He pulled the hatch shut above him, plunging the two of them into total blackness. The inner chamber was airtight, that was what he had told Arowana, and he was praying he was right.
A few seconds later the entire thing juddered, paused, and then tumbled end over end as it was launched into space. Rayne fell into him, clutching him tightly. The chamber was cramped enough as it was without her doing that, but he could feel her heart pounding through his body and was sorry for having terrified her like this. But it was the only way he could save Hart.
They remained that way for what seemed a long time. He could not say how long, but it was far more than the minute he had promised Arowana. Finally the engine jerked aggressively as he struck something. Rayne yelped, their bodies tumbled end over end until at last they landed on the floor, but that offered enough proof for Hawthorn to surmise there was gravity in the chamber. That meant they had passed into the docking bay of the Glory.
Opening the hatch, Hawthorn was relieved as the hiss of air proved him right. He did not tell Rayne how painful their deaths would have been were they to find they were still in space after all.
He saw they had indeed made it into the docking bay of Jupiter’s Glory. Haskell’s craft rested close by, and he could see a bloodied figure lying on the decking. Rushing over to him, Hawthorn dropped to one knee and gave him a shake.
“Gordon,” Rayne said, having been dragged along with him. “You can’t just shake wounded people.”
He knew she was correct, although he was still far more worried about Hart than anything. “Wyatt, Wyatt, wake up.”
Harman stirred. Blood trickled from his nose and he only manage to open one eye, for the other was a puffy mess. His clothes were torn and his limbs were limp, but he was definitely still alive.
“Wyatt, talk to me.”
“Gordon?”
“Wyatt, tell me about Haskell. Did you manage to injure her at all?”
“Hey,” Rayne said, “look what I found.”
Hawthorn had vaguely noticed a small collection of useless items spilled across the floor, but it seemed amongst them all Rayne had somehow found the key to their handcuffs. She unlocked them with glee and rubbed her sore wrist as the cuffs fell away.
“Wyatt,” Hawthorn persisted, but Harman barely knew what day of the week it was. Realising he would get no sense from him, Hawthorn left him lying on the floor and ran across the room.
“I’ll catch you up,” Rayne said. Hawthorn half-turned as he ran and saw she was checking Harman over for further injuries and to make sure he would not bleed to death. Hawthorn figured that was probably something he should have himself thought of, but did not berate himself over it.
He fled the room with only the vaguest acknowledgement, and it was only when he was three corridors away that he realised he probably should have given Rayne directions on how to follow him. Yet he did not for one moment even consider going back for her.
Hawthorn ran through familiar corridors, his mind conjuring up disgusting images accompanied by the odour of ever-spilling blood and the screams of a young woman who had already suffered so much. He would not have to imagine such horrors for long, for he knew they awaited him ahead.
The workshop came into sight at last and even without a weapon Hawthorn barged through the door, bellowing a war cry to mask his own fear.
He ground to a halt, his cries dying in his throat, as he saw Bethany Hart rhythmically hammering some heated metal. Hawthorn impotently opened his mouth, confusion spreading through his brain. Then he saw a body on the floor. Victoria Haskell lay motionless, her face a sickening mess from where her skull had been caved in from a single blow of a hammer.
“Beth?” Hawthorn said. “Are you all right?”
Hart looked up but barely acknowledged him. He wanted to envelop her in a hug, but had no idea how she might react.
“Beth, I … Did she hurt you?”
“She wanted to,” Hart said flatly. “I could see that in her eyes.”
“You killed her.”
“Killing people is simple, Gordon. I should know: I’ve done a lot of it.”
Hawthorn had never taken another’s life and did not want to be in a position to ever consider it an ordinary aspect of the day. In that moment more than ever he wanted to take Hart into his arms and tell her everything would be all right, but watching her work so blandly he knew the display of overt affection would be far likelier to push her towards a mental breakdown than someone trying to murder her ever could.
“I’m glad you’re OK,” he said instead.
“Iris?”
“She’s fine.”
Hart paused, her hammer hanging in the air. “I’m glad,” she said and resumed her work. It was a start, but her road to recovery was still a long way from over.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The hanging threat of the Carpoan sword-ship had shaken the crew of the Obsidian into abandoning their schedules. Captain Gardener had agreed to pay a visit to the Glory and had met its crew in the docking bay, trusting Lexie and Tomoko not to leave without him. That was a lot of trust, so far as Hawthorn was concerned, but Gardener had a long way to go in order to rebuild all the bridges he had burned. Not having any small vessels, Gardener had been forced to come over via docking tube, so if his crew did decide to abandon him he would at least have some notice as the tube retracted.
Hawthorn had covered Haskell’s body with a sheet and loaded it onto a trolley for him. Gardener could wheel her all the way back to the Obsidian himself, for Hawthorn did not want to have to deal with her.
“I’m sorry for the trouble she caused,” Gardener said.
“The trouble you caused,” Hawthorn said. “You’re so focused on meeting quotas you didn’t even notice you had a psychopath on your staff.”
Arowana placed a hand upon his arm to stop him, although he knew she was as angry as he was. Cassiel had chosen to stand guard over Wraith while he tended to Harman in the infirmary. That left Hawthorn and Arowana as the only representatives of the Glory’s crew. For the sake of diplomacy it was probably not the best idea to have the two who hated Haskell the most see the captain off.
Rayne and Rosalita were also in the hangar, and Hawthorn wondered whether either would step in to save Gardener should they need to.
“I’ll get out of your hair,” Gardener said, taking the hint that he was not wanted. “I’ll take Haskell back to the authorities on Malkavia. There’ll be a full investigation. The Obsidian will be grounded for months. We’ll lose all our contracts. Does that make you happy?”
“Slavery hasn’t been abolished, so no, it doesn’t make me happy.”
“You were never going to abolish slavery.”
“I have an idea,” Rayne said. “When we get home, claim you saved all those people from a war zone and treated them for radiation poisoning, with your own people getting sick in the process. Sure, there’ll be awkward questions asked about Haskell, but this could make you a hero.”
“And lose all my trade?”
“It might help you escape a prison sentence.”
“I saved them from a war zone,” Gardener said quickly. “At great expense to my own crew. Yes, I like that.”
“Hold on,” Hawthorn said. “Carla, you’re going back with him?”
“Of course I’m going back with him. He owns me.”
“No one owns you.”
She smiled, squished his cheek with her thumb and forefinger and said, “Gordon, you never did understand what it means to be a slave.”
Trotting back to her captain, she took hold of the trolley and wheeled Haskell through the docking tube.
Hawthorn shook his head. “What just happened?”
“Forget her,” Arowana snorted. “Stupid kid dese
rves that man.”
“And you?” he asked, gently taking hold of her arms. “Are you going to be all right?”
“I will be. But we have to make a trip to Ganymede.”
“Ganymede? It’s one of the larger moons, Iris. That’s not a good idea when we’re supposed to be hiding.”
“I’ll take the shuttle. I won’t be long.”
“The Bunnyhop Express?”
“That’s seriously what we’re going for?”
“Iris, why do you need to go to Ganymede?”
“I need to visit the Sharp family. Someone should tell them what happened to Matilda.”
Hawthorn did not try to talk her out of it. She had filled him in on everything about Matilda. “I’ll come with you,” he said. “Like you said, we won’t be long.”
She did not smile, but in her eyes he could see her relief. “Thank you.”
“Excuse me,” Rosalita said, her hand half raised. “Uh, I don’t actually have anywhere to go.”
“No,” Hawthorn said quickly. “No, you’re not staying with us.”
“Seems to me you don’t have much of a crew.”
“We have a fine crew, thank you.”
“A lift, then? It’s just, I don’t fancy going back to that slaver vessel. And I’m technically a criminal, even though it was the corporation’s fault.”
“We’re big on that here,” Arowana said.
“Hey,” Hawthorn said. “We are not criminals.”
“Sort of,” Arowana said. He knew what she meant. If Securitarn ever discovered the two of them were still alive they could get the authorities to issue an arrest warrant.
“At least let me stay until Wyatt’s better,” Rosalita said.
“Why?” Hawthorn asked. “So you can nurture him back to health?”
“What? No, so I can kick his backside for not remembering my name.”
Arowana smirked and said, “I think that alone makes it worth keeping her around a little while.”
“All right,” Hawthorn said, “but she’s not staying.”
“Believe me,” Rosalita said, “I don’t want to stay.”
“Good. Because you’re not.”
“Nope.”
“Right.” Hawthorn frowned. He was half aware he had just been involved in an argument and was fairly sure he had lost it.
He forgot all about it when he noticed there was a young woman standing silently in the far doorway.
“Beth,” he said, surprised.
She looked at him with the same dead eyes she always did, but he could see a little concern there. He wondered why.
“That slave,” she said.
“Carla?”
“You tried to save her.”
“I’m doing that a lot lately.”
Hart considered that. “Sometimes,” she said as she turned away, “you just can’t save everyone. I have something to show you. Both of you.”
“All of us?” Rosalita asked.
Hart ignored her so, swinging her arms, Rosalita just hung around the hangar.
Hawthorn and Arowana followed Hart all the way back to the workshop. It was not as hot there any more, for Hart’s work was done. Hawthorn looked around and noticed she had even cleaned up a little.
“You’re redecorating?” he asked.
“No. I just tidy up once I finish a project.”
“Your last project was the shuttle. That went fine.”
“This one went better.”
She grabbed hold of a tarpaulin and tugged it free. Revealed beneath was something which made Hawthorn’s eyes water. The craft was small, able to fit only one person, and formed of hard angular lines. It was sleek, with two missile tubes either side of the thin, oval cockpit, while the outside had been painted a fiery red and yellow.
“A fighter-ship,” he said. “Beth, you built us a fighter-ship.”
“No. I built you a fighter-ship. If you want to share it, go right ahead.”
Hawthorn seized her, clasping her in a fierce hug no matter what the consequences might have been. She did not pull away, and as they parted he even fancied he saw a smile tug at her lips.
“Beth, thank you. Thank you. Now all we have to do is think of a name.”
“Something less ridiculous than Bunnyhop Express,” Arowana said.
“I had a name before I started on it,” Hart said, and this time Hawthorn was certain there was a smile to her eyes. “It’s called the Blaze.”
“The Blaze,” Hawthorn said. “Hence the fire motif. I like it.”
“Think about it,” Hart said.
Hawthorn thought about it with a frown and a slow shake of his head.
“Come on, it’s not that difficult.”
“Nope. A clue?”
“Oh for …”
“Blaze,” Arowana supplied. “The Blaze of Glory.”
Hawthorn almost exploded with joy. “That’s … brilliant. That’s … That’s … one big fighter-ship to somehow get down to the hangar. Will it even fit through the workshop door?”
Shaking her head, Hart muttered something about him killing the moment and, taking up her hammer, went to work on her next project.
Also available by the same author in e-book and paperback:
Dinosaur World books:
Excavating a Dinosaur World
Dinosaur Fall-Girl
Dinosaur Plague Doctor
Ike Scarman & the Dinosaur Slavers of Ceres
Dinosaur Prison World
The Dinosaur That Wasn’t
Awfully Wedded Strife
Tales of a Dinosaur Prison World
Deities of a Dinosaur World
Return to the Dinosaur Prison World
Nikolina Finch & the Dinosaur Utopia
Of Stags, Hens & Dinosaurs
Dinosaur World Gladiator
The Wounding Tooth
Dinosaur World Massacre
Dino-Racers
Dinosaur World Unscripted
Christmas on a Dinosaur World
Utara the Savage
Sheriff Grizzly:
Book 1: Sheriff Grizzly
Book 2: The Horse Thief Honey
Book 3: The Coyote Colt Kid
Book 4: Joins the Circus
Book 5: The Haunting of Athelstan Swift
Book 6: The Santa Claws Showdown
Gamebooks (300 paragraphs):
Lost Treasures of a Dinosaur World
The Underworld Horror
Knights of Torbalia gamebooks:
The Return of the Stolen Jewel
Into the Massacre
March of the Demon Trees
The Thief of Tarley Manor
The Class War
The Haunting of Past Wraiths
Miscellaneous gamebooks:
Sheriff Grizzly: The Good, the Bad & the Grizzly
The Christmas Adventure of Sam and Klutz
Operation WetFish: Vengeful Justice
Hero Cast trilogy:
Book 1: The Villainous Heroes
Book 2: The Heroic Villains
Book 3: The Forge of Heroes
Jupiter’s Glory:
Book 1: The Dinosaur World
Book 2: The Pirates and the Priests
Detective books:
Detective’s Ex
One-Way Ticket to Murder
Who Slew Santa?
The Curse of the Genie’s Detective
The Woman Who Cried Diamonds
The Murder of Snowman Joe
The Murder of Loyalty
The Prostitute Butcher
Operation WetFish, Vampire Detective:
Book 1: The Power of Life and Death
Book 2: Chasing Innocence
Book 3: The Hunt for Charles Baronaire
Book 4: Christmas on the Kerb
Book 5: A Necessary Evil
Book 6: No Comment
Book 7: Fear and Ecstasy
Book 8: Call of the Siren
Book 9: Happy Families
Book 1
0: A Step in the Right Direction
Book 11: What Money Can’t Buy
Book 12: ‘Tis the Season
Book 13: The Power Trip
Book 14: Trust and Betrayal
Book 15: A Gathering of Minds
Book 16: The Pain of Life
Miscellaneous:
Holding the Nuts
One Week to Love: Speed Dating of the Gods
The Trojan Ant
Gauntlet of Daedalus
The Faerie Contract
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