by Anna Hackett
And was ignoring him. Stubborn woman.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from outside. Flames licked up the hull and viewscreen as they entered the planet’s atmosphere.
The Pathfinder vibrated violently, and he watched as the snow-covered ground got closer.
“Elana? Back here now!” There was no answer. His gut clenched. “Elana!”
Emergency power flared to life and he touched the controls. He didn’t have time to do much, but he adjusted their angle of approach.
“Everyone brace for impact! Elana, get your butt strapped in.”
This was going to be bad. Really bad.
The ship rushed past tall mountains on the left, jagged peaks reaching into the sky. There was still no word from Elana.
Where the hell was she?
Ry gripped the console and watched the ground rush up at them. Fast. Too fast.
They hit with a bone-rattling thump. White snow sprayed over the viewscreen, and Ry heard screams, the crunch of metal, and the crash of breaking glass.
He was tossed roughly against his straps, and then there was a snapping noise, as something broke free from the wall, flying at him. It cracked against the side of his head.
And then there was nothing.
Chapter Six
Rynan woke up to a throbbing head. Stars, he was cold. Fucking cold.
His seat was tipped on its side, and he looked up and stared lopsidedly through the cracked glass of the viewscreen at the expanse of white outside. Wind howled wildly through the smashed glass.
Fuck, they’d crashed.
He tore at the straps pinning him to his chair, freeing himself, and dropped to the floor. The metal was freezing under his fingers.
He shivered. It was frigid inside the ship.
“Help! Help!”
Goldie. Pushing to his feet, he staggered through the wreckage of his ship. His chest went rock-hard. He loved the Pathfinder. She was his baby. But Ry shoved the pain down deep, and focused on his job.
He moved over to the main cabin. Goldie was stuck in her chair, with her boy-toy astro-archeologist whimpering beside her. He glanced over at Daarn and winced. The bodyguard was dead. A metal beam had speared the man through his chest.
Shit. Locking that shock down, Ry hurried over to free Goldie and Arus.
“Stay calm,” he told them.
Then it hit him. Elana. He lifted his head. Where the hell was she?
Panic was like Fathan poison in his blood. “You guys stay here.” He moved over to a large cabinet on the wall and pried it open. Inside, was cold-weather enviro gear. “Gear up.”
“You’re leaving us?” Arus’ voice rose in panic. “Alone?”
“I’ll be back when I find Elana.”
Goldie nodded. Ry didn’t wait to see if they followed orders. He pushed his way back through the listing ship toward the maintenance bay.
She had to be okay.
“Elana!”
He charged down a corridor and came to a halt. Here, the ship had been torn open, and snow had been forced inside. Horror made every muscle go tight. What if she’d been sucked out during their crash landing?
No. “Elana!” His bellow echoed off the walls. “Elana!”
She could be hurt. She could be dead. The panic turned into a solid rock in his chest.
He stumbled over to where the emergency electrical panel hung open. He swiveled his head, trying to picture her standing here. Snow coated the floor.
There was no sign of her.
He dropped to his knees, barely able to breathe. He’d had his head so far up his ass about his feelings for her, and now she was gone. Pain ripped him open.
Then he spotted a slim hand sticking up through the snow.
Elana.
He rushed over, fell to his knees, and started digging through the snow to free her. Her dark hair came into view, and he grabbed her under her arms and yanked her up.
Free of the snow, he laid her flat, pressing his fingers to the side of her neck. God, she was cold. And his hands were shaking.
When he felt her pulse, relief pumped through him. He leaned down, pressing his face to her cold neck. Alive. Thank the stars, she was alive.
She coughed once and shifted beneath him. “Rynan?” Her voice sounded scratchy.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you.” He sat back and pulled her into his lap.
She burrowed into him but glanced around, blinking and confused. “We crashed?”
“Yep. Crashed on a fucking ice world.”
“Well, you never really hear about people crashing on a nice beach world.”
He snorted. If she was making jokes, she had to be feeling okay. “We need to get back to the others. Priority is shelter for Goldie and Arus, and then contact the Nomad.”
“Did you manage to get a Mayday call out?”
He shook his head. “We didn’t have comms power and the pirates were jamming us.”
“Damn.”
He helped her to her feet, and watched as a shiver wracked her body. Scratch that—first priority was cold-weather gear for the both of them.
Together, they stumbled their way back to Goldie and Arus.
“You guys holding up?” Ry asked.
Goldie nodded, swimming in her oversized, cold-weather coat. “We’re fine.”
Arus’ shocked face said that he was anything but fine, but the young man managed a nod.
Elana moved over to the console that was leaning drunkenly in the cockpit. She touched it and shook her head. “Nothing.”
Ry pulled out a coat and some trousers, and moved over to her. She took them with a faint smile. Then, he pulled his own gear on.
“We need the emergency beacon,” he said. Every ship had one in case of emergency.
She nodded. “Let’s get it.”
He looked at Goldie and the older woman held up a hand. “Let me guess. Stay here.”
Despite the situation, a smile tugged at his lips. “You’re all right, Goldie.”
She sniffed. “I know. If I was a younger woman, I’d give that young lady of yours a run for her e-credits.”
Ry glanced at Elana, who was studiously ignoring his gaze. “Thanks, Goldie. I think.” He gripped Elana’s arm. “Come on.”
The two of them rushed to the center of the ship, where the emergency beacon was stored. But as they came up on the reinforced storage locker, he jerked to a halt. “Fuck.”
This area of the ship had been completely destroyed. Almost like a giant had smashed an angry fist into the ship.
“Damn,” Elana murmured, her mouth tight.
Ry managed to jerk the mangled lock and warped door open, and inside, they discovered the shattered remains of the beacon.
“You think you can fix it?” she asked.
Rynan didn’t want to answer the question. At the moment, he was having trouble fixing the simplest of things that he’d fixed before. “Let’s pack it up. I’ll see what I can do later. For now, let’s get the cold-weather survival gear, food and water, and get Goldie and Arus warm.”
Elana nodded, and they headed back toward the main part of the ship. Ry had equipped the Pathfinder with gear for every conceivable scenario. Depending on what happened, there were supplies available to survive the desert, the water, the jungle, and, of course, an ice world.
At the storage lockers, he pulled out several backpacks and started filling them. He handed Elana a clip-on light, and a laser pistol, which she strapped to her thigh. He quickly filled the remainder of the packs, purposely keeping Goldie’s and Arus’ packs light and easier to carry.
Suddenly, there was a rush of sound overhead.
Elana froze and Ry stiffened. They both glanced up through a rip in the ship’s hull.
A bright light strobed across the wreckage.
“The space pirates,” Elana muttered darkly.
Ry cursed loudly, before zipping the packs shut and grabbing them from the floor.
“We need to get out of here.” Ry yanked his p
ack onto his back and then yanked a laser rifle onto his shoulder. “Now!”
Slogging through the deep snow was hard work.
Elana lifted her boots, watching how the sticky snow clung and made her feet seem even heavier. Her muscles were already aching from the hard walking. They were all wrapped up in full cold-weather gear—including hoods, gloves, and goggles—and she and Rynan were carrying two large backpacks, with the tents and the bulk of their supplies. Goldie and Arus had smaller packs, which contained food and some medical supplies.
They’d hurriedly rushed out of the Pathfinder, following Rynan into the snow. It was daytime, but they were too far from the system’s sun to have more than murky light. The thick clouds obscuring the sky didn’t help, and Ry had predicted there was snow on the way.
She looked behind them, to where Arus was helping Goldie through the deep snow, following in the path Elana and Ry had made.
What the hell were they going to do?
Ry was marching determinedly just a few steps ahead of her, but he paused and glanced back over his shoulder. She did the same, her gaze latching immediately onto the wreckage of the Pathfinder in the distance, the only dark shape in the expanse of white.
She could also see the two small pirate ships hovering in the air over the Pathfinder. Their searchlights strobed across the twisted metal. They no doubt had a team on the ground, already picking over the ship. Bastards.
Ry’s face was set like stone.
“I’m sorry, Ry.” She gripped his arm, hating the hundred layers between them. She knew what the ship meant to him.
“We’re alive,” he ground out. “That’s all that matters.”
She looked ahead at the desolate snow and ice. Now they just had to stay alive.
“Let’s continue on to those mountains.” He pointed to the dark smudge of a mountain range in the distance. “We might find some shelter there.”
She nodded, and they kept moving. Before long, the wind picked up, howling across the landscape. And the snow got deeper, every step becoming a slog.
Ry, of course, was unstoppable. He dropped back to help their passengers through some particularly deep drifts, but never actually stopped. Elana knew him, and knew that he’d never give up. Not in a fight, not in a battle, and certainly not in a survival situation. It was one of the things she admired about him. That unrelenting toughness.
A strobe of light behind them made her glance back. Every muscle in her body went rigid.
“Uh, Ry? We have a problem.”
He spun and cursed.
One pirate ship had broken away from the Pathfinder. It was currently sweeping over the snow, searchlight swinging…and heading in their direction.
“Pick up speed,” Ry roared.
They all started moving faster, loping through the snow. Elana wasn’t entirely sure they were moving any faster. She shook off some snow that had landed on her hood.
Bright lights swept over them. Then laser fire blasted the ground to their left. Elana dived into the snow and heard Goldie scream.
More laser fire and snow blasted into the air around them.
“Up.” Ry gripped Elana’s arm and yanked her to her feet.
She yanked out her laser pistol and shot at the ship hovering above them. She may as well have been throwing snowballs.
“We need cover,” Ry roared, shoving Goldie and Arus ahead.
They kept moving, trying to dodge the laser fire. Elana looked up and squinted through her goggles. “There’s something ahead!”
They broke into a run and thankfully the snow depth reduced until they were running on just a small layer of snow. As they neared the large objects Elana had spotted, she gasped.
Ruins. There were icy ruins.
As they neared the first giant statue, Elana stared at it in awe. It was carved from rock and coated in ice. It looked like a giant head with an elaborate headdress, staring into the distance. She saw another one, this one tilted on its side. Another one was cracked down the middle.
Suddenly, laser fire hit the closest statue, exploding it to pieces. Elana threw her arm up, watching as pieces of rock and ice flew everywhere.
“Find some cover!” Ry dropped to one knee and raised his laser rifle.
“Quickly.” Elana shoved Goldie and Arus ahead of her. They were running down what she guessed had once been a wide street. There were remnants of buildings, but they were clearly ancient and had been destroyed by time and the elements. The walls were no more than knee high.
Laser fire strafed the ground and Elana shoved the pair out of the way. She leaped back up and spotted a large slab of rock resting at an angle. It would do.
“Up. Keep moving.” She herded them over to it and shoved the pair under the rock. “Stay down and don’t move until either Rynan or myself come back.”
“We won’t,” Goldie answered, huddling into Arus.
Elana heard more laser fire and turned.
As it peppered down around Rynan, her heart clenched. He knelt in the middle of it, unfazed and resolute as he returned fire.
She yanked out her laser pistol and ran. Damn the man for being so courageous.
“Ry, run!” Her voice was lost in the roar of the ship’s engine.
The pirate ship moved fast, pulling away and wheeling back around. Ry jumped up and ran, arms pumping.
As the ship returned, Elana ducked behind a giant rock and saw Ry leap over a small rock wall. He ducked but green laser fire lit up the gloom. It peppered around his hiding place.
Dammit. He was pinned down.
More laser fire hammered the wall and rock disintegrated.
She had to do something. Elana raced out into the street, waving her arms. “Hey! Over here.”
The ship swiveled. Faster than she’d seen a ship move.
“Elana, no! Get down.”
She sprinted down the street, rounding another giant carved head. Laser fire hit behind her.
Spying another wall, she darted toward it.
She heard the ship’s engines reverberate in her ears, heard the laser fire getting closer. Shit, she wasn’t going to make it.
A hard body slammed into hers.
She and Ry hit the ground with a bone-jarring jolt.
“Don’t you fucking get yourself killed,” he growled. He hauled her up and together they sprinted for the wall.
As laser fire erupted around them, they both dived. Together, they landed behind the rock wall, sliding on the icy ground. The laser hit the other side, but the rock held.
“Keep your head down,” Ry said. “Crawl over to there.”
Following where he pointed, she crawled along the wall and they both wedged in under a large slab of rock.
Elana sucked in some deep breaths. Ry’s big body was wrapped around hers.
“They’ll wait us out,” she murmured.
“Yeah.” He scowled, looking out to where the pirate ship circled around the ruins.
Thinking, Elana yanked her backpack off and fished around inside. She pulled out a small device. It was a small explosive used for demolition.
Ry eyed it, a brow rising. “That boomer has a small range and not much kick.”
“Might be enough to mess up a small starship.”
“It would need to be right on the hull of the ship. The ship currently flying around above our heads.”
She smiled. “Remember that gunfight on Dashton Moon?”
He scowled. “That one where we went up against that small Claava gunship?”
She nodded and watched a light ignite in his eyes.
He gave her a nod. “Might work. Let’s do it.” Then he reached out and gripped her shoulders. “But do not get hurt, Elana.”
“Ry, it’s my job—”
“Fuck your job, which you quit, remember? I almost lost you in the crash…” his voice cracked. “Not happening again.”
Warmth flushed through her. “Ry.”
“Whatever stuff is going on between us, I will not let you g
et hurt. Ever.”
She released a breath. Protective to the core. “Roger that. Now, let’s do this.”
Chapter Seven
Ry moved into a crouch, his muscles bunching as he watched the pirate ship. “We need to get it lower.”
Elana shifted, the boomer clutched securely in her hand. “You get it lower and then we’ll take the bastard down.”
He stared into her face, a face he knew as well as his own. He trusted this woman with his life and he felt something shift inside him. He nodded and then broke out of cover.
Ry powered down the slick street, dodging broken ruins and rocks. The pirates spotted him, the small ship jerking around and swooping in on him.
Yeah, come on, asshole. We have plans for you.
The ship dropped lower, but not low enough yet. Ry dodged around a statue, then leaped over a huge boulder. Laser fire sprayed the ground. He dived and rolled, and when he came back onto his feet, he spotted movement to his left.
Elana ran gracefully, but quick as a Raakhar gazelle. She was watching the ship, the boomer ready.
Time to end this. Ry veered off, aiming for a large statue. He leaped onto it, trying to find purchase on the slick surface. As he climbed up, he found himself face to face with a giant eye, and for a fraction of a second, he wondered who the hell had called this icy rock home.
He pushed up, balanced on the top of the statue. Hands by his sides, he turned his head, his gaze zeroing in on the pirate ship.
“Yeah, over here, you bastard.” Ry stared at the tinted glass of the cockpit. “Come and get me.”
The ship changed directions, aiming right at Ry. It descended until it was coming in directly at him.
Ry’s lips moved into a grim smile. “Got you.”
As laser fire erupted from the ship, Ry leaped off the statue, arms held out at his sides. He hit the icy ground, bending his knees as he slid to a stop.
“Elana!” He knelt down and held his hands out, cupped together.
She aimed right for him, sprinting fast.
Ry didn’t look up, but he felt the pirate ship moving in above him. He felt the hot gust of air it kicked up and heard the roar of the engines. He imagined its laser canon swiveling to take aim.