by J. M. Page
His eyebrows rose and Lina sent him a questioning look, but he only shrugged in response as Suriah waltzed off toward the guards.
“What is she doing?” Lina hissed. She was walking right up to them!
“What Suriah does best,” Bain said, sounding a little weary of the whole thing, despite the amusement she heard in his voice.
“Hey there,” Suriah said brightly. “How’s it going?”
The guards muttered something, looking straight ahead and not really acknowledging the princess. That seemed odd to Lina, but maybe the queen had given them specific instructions, or — if Bain’s confidence was anything to go by — they were just used to this from her.
“What did you guys do to get posted all the way out here?”
She was met with stone-faced silence. Lina was sure this wasn’t going to work. “Maybe we should try to go around another way,” she whispered.
Bain held a finger to his lips and shook his head. “Trust her.”
“It’s pretty out here though… So far away from the palace. Hot though, don’t you think?” Surie asked, fanning herself with her hand. “The palace is always so nice and cool and shaded. The sun is nice and all, but those uniforms must be stifling. I’m hot just looking at you guys,” she said. Even from a distance, Lina could hear the flirtatiousness in her voice, she could see it in the way she moved.
Bain was still as marble next to her.
“I don’t know how you boys do it. You’d think they could at least send you some cold drinks out here now and then. You look thirsty. Are you thirsty?”
By now, the guards were absently wiping sweat from their forehead. If they hadn’t noticed the heat before, Suriah was making sure they couldn’t ignore it now.
Surie paced around them, working her way toward the water, but they wouldn’t let her past.
“It’s just such a beautiful day, I was thinking a swim in the stream is exactly what I need to cool off…” she said, sidestepping one of the guards to climb on a big rock.
“Princess Suriah,” one of the guards said, his voice a warning, but also clearly concerned. “Please get down, it’s not safe.”
“Oh, nonsense! It’s perfectly safe to go swimming. I’ve done it a hundred times!” She reached for the hem of her shirt and began to pull it up, revealing her smooth flat belly as she did.
Lina turned to Bain and he looked like this whole charade was causing him physical pain, but he held his position. He didn’t move and didn’t make a sound. Lina reached for his hand and squeezed, bringing it to her lips in a silent thanks for going through this for her sake.
One of the guards stared unabashedly at the princess while the other looked supremely uncomfortable, trying his best to both shield his eyes and coax Suriah off the big rock.
“Princess, your mother—”
“Wouldn’t know fun if it hit her on the head,” Surie said, dancing away from his reaching hands. “It’s just a little swim in the river. You’re here to keep a close eye on me. What could possibly go wrong?” she said, dousing her words with innuendo as she switched focus to the guard who couldn’t stop staring. Not that Lina could blame him. Suriah was beautiful and vivacious and commanded attention everywhere she went. Not to mention she was a princess. What guy wouldn’t be drawn to that?
“Come on, can’t a girl have a little fun?” Now she was taking off her shoes and still spinning out of the way of the guard who was determined to get her off the boulder for her own good.
“Princess, please. You have to—” The guard lunged for her and Suriah dodged out of the way. Her foot slipped on the moss-covered rock and time slowed down as they all watched her tumble into the river.
“PRINCESS!” the guard cried, likely seeing his whole career flushed down the drain as her head disappeared under the water.
It was the ogling guard that immediately dropped his weapons and dove into the river, resurfacing with Suriah in tow.
She spluttered and coughed, clinging to him dramatically.
Once he pulled her to shore, he brushed her hair out of her eyes and checked her over quickly. “Are you alright?”
Suriah seemed entranced with the man now that they were face to face — her, sitting in the mud, him kneeling at her side, concern etched into every line of his face. Even Lina noticed the guard was super cute and it was no wonder that Surie was suddenly tongue-tied as she nodded.
“Just… wet,” she said.
“That was very dangerous,” he said sternly, standing and holding out a hand to her. Meanwhile, the other guard looked like his whole life had just flashed before his eyes. He was pale and sweaty and bracing his hand on a nearby boulder for support like he might just faint at any moment.
Surie slipped her hand into the cute guard’s and he pulled her to her feet. Instantly, she winced and wobbled, falling into his chest as his arms instinctively went around her to catch her.
“My ankle,” she whined. “I think I hurt it when I slipped…”
Cute-guard frowned, pulling away from her enough to look down at her bare feet. Nothing looked swollen from Lina’s vantage point. “We should get you back to the palace,” he said, turning to his companion.
“But… The queen said…”
“The princess is injured. It is our sworn duty to ensure her safety.”
The other guard still looked like he wanted to argue but he snapped his jaw shut and slumped, knowing defeat when he saw it.
“Alright, but this is on you.”
Cute-guard was unfazed. “Do you think you can walk with my support, or should I carry you?”
“I… I think I can make it,” Surie said, testing her foot and wobbling back into the guard after a tiny cry.
Without saying anything else, he swept her into his arms, one under her knees, one wrapped around her back, and started off toward the palace, his fellow guard trudging behind them.
As the trio passed, Bain and Lina crouched further down into the tall grasses. Suriah turned and found them, giving them a big smile and a thumbs up.
“You’re so strong to carry me like this,” she said, awed as she squeezed the guard’s bicep. Soon, they were too far to hear and then, out of sight entirely.
Finally, Bain and Lina stood, stretching after being crouched down for so long.
“Gotta hand it to her, that girl knows how to distract some guards,” Lina said with a chuckle.
Bain still looked pained as he nodded. “She does. I just wish her tactics weren’t so…”
“Effective?” Lina teased.
He granted a conciliatory smile. “Alright, fine. You got me there. They are that.”
“Shall we?” she offered, knowing he didn’t want to dwell on his sister’s budding seductress talents. Though, the way she was looking at that guard… maybe she wasn’t too far away from the kind of relationship her brother had found. Only Lina hoped she’d be a bit luckier in that regard.
Bain raised the bridge across the stream and they crossed to the caves without saying much of anything. Once they got to the main cavern, Lina grinned.
“I can’t believe we did it,” she said.
“Well, it’s not done yet,” he reminded her.
“Right.” She’d tried to not think about the daunting task of putting together a spaceship when she had only the vaguest idea of how the pieces fit together. But it was her only hope.
“I found something that might be of use to you, when I was scouring the archives. It was buried in a link chain that ran ten links deep, so I’m sure my mother isn’t aware it’s accessible at all. It seems like it should have been buried with everything else, but this one reference slipped through the cracks.”
Lina shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
From his back pocket, Bain pulled a stack of folded papers and presented them to Lina. Her brow furrowed and she took the papers, flipping through them one by one until her heart was soaring. “Are you serious? This looks like everything!”
“I’m pre
tty sure it’s everything. I grabbed everything that was there. Will it help?”
Her grin threatened to split her face in two, but she didn’t care. She threw her arms around Bain’s neck and peppered him with kisses until she couldn’t contain her delight anymore and squealed happily. “Help? Bain, these are complete blueprints. They’re going to make everything so much easier.” Repairing, she could do. The thought of building this thing just from how she thought it worked had been terrifying, but with blueprints? She could fix anything.
“Well then, let’s get to work. I don’t doubt my mother will send more guards the moment she realizes Suriah’s deception. Hopefully, Surie can hold her off for a while.”
Lina nodded, already scrambling down into the basin where she began to cobble together the scattered pieces of the destroyed ships. She salvaged what she could, welding the hulls of three different ships together in a patchwork of metal, but it would hold. It didn’t need to look pretty, it just needed to get her out of here.
Chapter Sixteen
After a few hours, Bain left the cavern to scout.
“They’re back at the river,” he said when he returned. “But I don’t think they know we’re in here.”
“Small miracles,” she answered, soldering wires to a circuit. Her stomach rumbled and she clutched it, squeezing her eyes shut tight, trying to tell her body it could wait until the voyage was over. She’d brought everything she could think to, except for snacks.
Bain was a big help, too. He managed to do the heavy lifting and the extra pair of hands was useful when she needed to hold something steady and secure it in place. There was no way she could have put the ship together without him.
And now that it was ready, she just wanted to stay.
“Do you think she’s space-worthy?” Bain asked as she stepped back and surveyed the ship as a whole.
“Only one way to find out,” Lina answered, pulling the door open. It creaked loudly, echoing in the massive cavern as the stairs fell to the ground with a solid thunk.
She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders, her eyes following the stairs up into the dark tunnel of the ship. Then, she turned to Bain, blinking away tears.
“Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Really.”
His arms engulfed her, and Lina wanted to melt into his chest, to draw his breath into her lungs to keep that little piece of him with her. She took a deep breath, savoring his intoxicating scent.
“It was my pleasure,” he said. Then, after a moment of silence, he added, “You can still change your mind if you want, you know.”
She nodded slowly. “I know. But I can’t. I have to go.”
Bain blew out a breath and smiled. “I knew you’d say that. Well, I suppose we should get going then, huh?”
It took Lina a second to process what he’d said. “We?”
“Of course,” he said. “You’re crazy if you think I’m not taking you home myself.”
“But…” It was one thing for her to go flying into uncertainty in a ship they weren’t even sure would fly or hold together under a planet’s gravitational pull. It was another thing entirely for Bain to join her.
If she’d made an error constructing the ship, she’d rather it only be her in danger. If this ship was a death trap, she’d rather Bain not be caught in it.
“What if it’s… You could die,” she said, unable to phrase the worries racing through her mind. Mom probably already expected the worst after Lina was sucked into the transporter. Of course she wanted to go back and soothe her worries, but if she never made it, nothing really changed. And the Mabnoans wouldn’t ever expect to hear from her again either, since she was going back home where she planned to stay. If she just happened to explode in empty space, there would be no one to even notice. But Bain… Well, his absence would certainly be missed.
“So could you,” he said, arching an eyebrow.
“That’s not the point,” she retorted, hands going to her hips. Explaining it to him would take too long and he’d just keep arguing. How could she make him see that he needed to stay here, with his people?
“Of course it’s not,” he said.
“You’re the prince, you need to stay here.”
“There’s a queen and a princess. The kingdom will be fine. It’s not a matter of whether we’ll die in this strange assortment of metal you’ve created. It’s a matter of me seeing the woman I love home safe and sound.”
Lina’s mouth dropped open and a slow smile stretched across Bain’s lips until she snapped it shut.
“You… you mean that?”
“Of course I do,” he said.
“You really want to come with me?”
“You’d have a harder time convincing me not to.”
She grinned and kissed him and grinned some more.
“But if we want to go, we should probably do it now. I’m sure my mother’s discovered my absence and will be putting two and two together any moment now.”
“Of course,” Lina said, nodding. She took his hand and led the way up the stairs to the dark cockpit, her heart racing, every fiber of her being thrumming with nervous excitement. They might never even make it out of this cavern if she hadn’t done things correctly.
She flipped a switch and was happy to see the lights come on all around the ship, lighting up the control panels and bringing the electric engine humming to life. The technology of this ship was incredible. She’d not even thought about fuel, but following the blueprints, she discovered that one of the parts she’d discarded was a generator or sorts. She couldn’t really say how it worked, but she was glad that it did. Her scheme wouldn’t have gotten far when she realized she didn’t have gas.
Bain went to the door and pulled the set of stairs up with great effort, the rusted hinges creaking the whole way.
“Safe and secure,” he said.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Lina reminded him, trepidation still sending icy fingers tiptoeing up her spine. This was it. This was the real test.
“Hey,” Bain said, stepping forward to slip an arm around her waist. “It’s going to be fine.”
She smiled even as the ball of anxiety in her chest tightened and grew. “You’re right.” Then, after a moment’s pause, “But… just in case…” She lifted up on her toes and kissed him. Not the quick happy kiss of before, but one that went to the core of her very soul, pouring in every unspoken word, every emotion she didn’t have a name for. “I love you too.”
He smiled and pulled her closer to him, giving her the nod that she should go ahead.
“Alright,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s see what this thing can do.”
She took control of the steering column and pushed the ship forward, down a long tunnel that opened up near the sea. When they first started working down here, that tunnel had been collapsed, but it was clear now and gave them a way out.
The ship didn’t respond to her steering at first, but then it jerked forward, rattling on unbalanced wheels, jostling them about as it bounced over the unmaintained runway.
“Maybe we should have pushed it,” Bain said, each word punctuated by another violent bounce. At this rate, the trip out of the caves would tear the ship apart before they ever got to test it.
But then, there was light at the end of the tunnel. The soft lilac glow of sunset over the ocean. The ground smoothed out and the ship managed to not bounce so much. Maybe they were going to make it out after all.
The ground turned to sand and water lapped at the landing gear, but Lina turned her attention to the sky.
“Here goes nothing…” she said. Bain squeezed her shoulder and she sucked in a breath, hitting the buttons necessary for the launch sequence that was laid out in the blueprints. How did she ever think she was going to do this without his help? Yet again, she was struck by how lucky she was to have him. To have found him. And she was so glad he was here at her side now, even if she didn’t know what awaited them
in the stars.
The ship was filled with an ear-shattering rumble. It sounded like an earthquake of metal, screeching and groaning, the whole ship vibrating uncontrollably. Lina watched the hull of the ship, waiting for it to be torn apart by the forces within, but her welds seemed to be holding.
All of the sudden, she was thrown to the back of the ship, Bain tumbling with her, landing on top of her. The ship shuddered and lights flashed and the ungodly cacophony seemed loud enough to make her permanently deaf.
And it was never going to end. The horrible noises kept coming, even while she and Bain were pinned to the back of the ship, even as she watched the sky rush toward them through the windshield. What was she thinking, entrusting their lives to this bucket of rust and bolts? How did she ever think that this was safe?
A terrible whining howl pressed in, even louder than everything else and Bain’s hands instantly moved to cover his ears. Lina couldn’t do that though. That noise was worse than all the others and she needed to figure out what it was before they were ripped apart in the atmosphere.
She extracted herself from the tangle of Bain’s limbs, clawing her way up the floor against the overwhelming force of gravity. The howl grew louder and louder and then something flew by her face. A piece of paper. It fluttered past and stuck to the wall, flapping madly as the pressure tried to suck it through the hull.
For the moment at least, the noise was lessened, but if she didn’t patch the hull immediately, there’d be no hope of surviving the oxygen-less vacuum of space.
She braced herself against the wall, using her foot against a nearby cabinet for leverage as she fished out her tools and set to doing the quickest, dirtiest patch job she’d ever done. The sky grew darker and darker as the ship struggled to escape Mabnoa’s gravity and time was running out. Already there were warnings at the controls about oxygen levels and the intense depressurization.
Come on, she growled in her head, fighting to get the weld tight before it was too late. Surely the old civilization had some kind of tape or something for problems like this, but their ships likely weren’t constructed so shoddily either.