Hold Fast Through the Fire

by K. B. Wagers

  Are you sure?

  She hung there as her uncertainty rose up with a scream. Rosa’s recent pep talk about trusting herself slid away like sand under the onslaught of a lifetime of conditioning. It was far too easy to swallow down her concern and catch up with the rest of the crew.

  She told herself that she would mention it to Stephan after.

  Nika turned as Max caught up with him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said.

  Nika knew he deserved this lack of trust. Deserved even more than that, really, for lying to her all over again. He hoped Stephan was right and they’d get the information they needed to wrap up this operation once and for all.

  Then I can go back to being an Interceptor.

  And I’d stop feeling like a piece of shit around my crew.

  The familiar sound of Sapphi and Chae doing the preflight checklist filled the bridge as he climbed the stairs.

  “Everything’s green, Commander,” Sapphi said. “Just waiting on the tower.”

  Chae jumped when Nika put a hand on their shoulder. “Stephan, we’re good to go.”

  “Copy that. ST-One, what’s your status?”

  “Ready when you are.”

  “We have clearance from the tower, Nika. Hangar bay overheads are open.”

  He nodded at Sapphi’s announcement. “Take us up, Chae.”

  Chae hesitated. “Sir, I’m getting some odd readings.”

  “Define odd, Chae.”

  “I don’t know, sir. I’m sorry.”

  Nika looked to Sapphi. “You said everything was good?”

  “On my end, yes.”

  “Jenks, can I get a confirmation we’re good for takeoff?”

  “She’s being the normal amount of squirrely, Nik,” she replied. “You’re green.”

  Nika patted Chae. “Let’s go.”

  Zuma lifted off. Nika glanced over his shoulder as the other three members of the crew came onto the bridge. They weren’t often all up here at once, though there was still plenty of room. Max and Tamago moved to the bank of screens by the stairs, heads together as they watched the trucks head for the gate of the Trappist Control facility.

  “Intercept in two minutes,” Max said.

  “I’ve got ST-One on the radar, port side. Everything else is quiet,” Tamago replied.

  “Zuma, ST-One, the trucks are at the gate and proceeding to the base.”

  “Copy that, Stephan. Chae, bring us around. You want to keep an eye on where ST-One is when you do.”

  “Copy that, Commander.”

  Nika didn’t give Chae any grief for falling back into formality. The kid was nervous enough as it was; he didn’t want to make it worse by distracting them.

  Tamago thumped the screen. “Damn thing, do not fuzz out on me in the middle of this. Jenks, why is this—”

  “Zuma, we’ve got contacts on the ground.” Tivo’s voice came over the coms. “Heat signature, three o’clock low!”

  The lead truck exploded almost instantaneously with his warning.

  Nika heard Jenks mutter, “Well, shit,” from behind him.

  “Zuma—” The com cut off and this time Sapphi swore.

  “What the actual shit are you doing, girl?” she demanded of the ship. “I don’t know why everything is screwed up. Jenks, shut the coms down and then turn them back on. We’ll see if a hard start will help get her to stop being so fussy.”

  “We did a whole damn diagnostic on this piece of shit,” Jenks muttered. She slapped at the coms panel. The bright blue spark that erupted from it flung her across the bridge and into the far wall as it streaked through the main console.

  Nika jerked Chae out of the pilot seat, but he couldn’t get to Sapphi in time and watched helplessly as the electricity ripped through his ensign.

  Max lunged forward, kicking Sapphi from her seat. The bottoms of her boots did their job and insulated her from the shock, but she swore she could taste the lightning on her tongue.

  “No, damn it.” Tamago jumped over a dazed Jenks and landed on their knees next to Sapphi’s still body. It was a sight Max would never be able to wipe from her mind, but somehow she pushed her fear and grief away and jerked the med kit off the wall.

  The only light on the bridge was the dying sunlight filtering in through the main window. Max slammed a hand down on the emergency power switch, flooding the space with an ominous wash of red. The engines kicked on for a second, lifting them . . . and then died.

  Chae jumped for the pilot’s chair, starting the procedure for a loss of power. The manual emergency controls popped free from their storage and Max dragged her attention back to the rest of her crew.

  Whatever her concerns about Chae, they vanished under the pressing need to help Tamago.

  Nika was crouched by Jenks, checking for a pulse, and Max’s own heart gave a painful thump when the chief protested groggily, waving her arms at him.

  “Sapphi, you do not get to die on me.” Tamago was doing chest compressions as Max set the kit down next to them. “Get the breather.”

  Max complied, not needing any more direction as her own training kicked in. She affixed the breather to Sapphi’s face, trying to shove aside the thousand memories of animated expressions that might never cross it again.

  “Come on, Sapphi. Can’t call yourself a hacker if you’re letting a little electricity bring you down.” Tamago stopped compressions and checked for a pulse. “LT, I need—”

  Sapphi convulsed, trying to drag in a breath against the breather’s rhythm, and Max scrambled to get it off her face. “Easy, easy, Sapphi. We’ve got you.”

  The ship lurched again and Max grabbed for both Sapphi and Tamago as Zuma dropped into a nosedive, Chae’s desperate call filling the bridge.

  “Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Interceptor Zuma’s Ghost. Repeat, Interceptor Zuma’s Ghost, Zz5. We have lost power. We are going down.”

  “Nonono.” Chae knew begging with gravity was useless. It was a miracle they’d coasted for as long as they had without gravity noticing.

  Cascade failure of ultimate proportions. What’s your solution?

  They shoved both feet against the console and hauled on the manual controls, but the ship slid easily into a nosedive.

  They’d done this before, but with shuttles. Smaller, easier to control than the massive Interceptors. But they had what they had, and if they could get it to level out, the crash wouldn’t be nearly as bad.

  You mean not deadly for you? You’re going to call it a win that you’ve only killed Sapphi?

  Guilt and panic went to war in their head, even as the training drummed into them by their Interceptor instructors took control.

  “Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Interceptor Zuma’s Ghost. Repeat, Interceptor Zuma’s Ghost, Zz5. We have lost power. We are going down.” Their voice felt raw in their throat as they tried sending the distress call with their own DD. “This is all my fault.” Those words slipped out, thankfully lost to the chaos of the bridge.

  They pulled harder, fighting against mass and gravity and every other immutable law, and losing, when suddenly Max was there, grabbing the stick and pulling with them.

  “Chutes, I need the chutes.”

  “I’ve got the stick, Chae,” Max gritted out. “Do what you need to.”

  Chae let go of the stick and kicked at the panel by their left knee. It opened and they reached in. “Deploying chute!” They slammed the levers for the chute releases into position. Zuma jerked again as the rear one deployed, yet the ground didn’t seem to slow in its rush to meet them. They hit the second set of levers, deploying the airbags.

  “Brace! Brace! Brace!” Chae yelled.

  Max grabbed them and dragged them from their seat, covering them with her body as Zuma came down hard into the red dirt of Trappist-1d.

  Eighteen

  A jumble of voices filtered back into his brain through the heavy layer of pain and confusion.

  “Nika!”

  That was J
enks, and the fear in her voice snapped him back to full consciousness. “Are you hurt?”

  “Am I hurt? You’re the one who wasn’t responding.” She poked him.

  “I’m okay,” he managed, catching her hand.

  “Oh thank fuck. I thought you were dead. Can you move? Your elbow is digging into my spleen.”

  “Don’t make me laugh, brat.” He pushed himself up, blinking the dirt out of his eyes, and looked down at her. The rush of events hit him like a rail shot. “We crashed.”

  “Looks like. Still alive, though. Come on, get off me.”

  “Are you injured, Jenks?”

  She forced out a smile. “Head’s still buzzing from that sideswipe of a shock and everything hurts, but I’m all right.”

  Nika squeezed her hand and let her go.

  “Commander Vagin!”

  “Over here.” Nika managed to get his other arm under him and rolled off his sister as Petty Officer Diego Cano from ST-1 reached them.

  “Easy, Chief.” Diego caught Jenks by the arm when she stumbled to her feet.

  “Where’s everyone else? Is Sapphi okay? Shit, where’s my dog?”

  “Everyone’s outside already, Doge included.” Diego looked at Nika. “Are you injured, Commander?”

  “I’m all right, Diego. Go with the chief, I’m right behind you.”

  Nika looked around the bridge. The front window had broken despite the best efforts of the airbags and the place was littered with dirt and debris from what he assumed was their long slide through the earth before coming to a stop.

  “Nika, are you there?” Stephan’s voice was strained in his head.

  “Yeah.” He picked his way across the bridge and down the stairs.

  “We’ve got a med shuttle almost at your location. Tivo said your ensign is stable but she took a bad shock. What happened?”

  “I have no idea. Let me take care of my crew. We’ll figure it out later.”

  “Nika—”

  “No, Stephan. I’m seeing to my crew. The other shit can wait.” He disconnected, the memory of Tamago pleading with Sapphi to come back replaying itself in his head. He had to get to them.

  The scene outside the ship was organized chaos. He spotted Scott tending to Max. Chae was nearby, slumped against a rock but apparently unharmed; Spacer Emery Montauk was sitting with them. His sister was protesting as Diego tried to herd her over to Chae.

  “Jenks, don’t argue with Diego. Let him check you,” he said as he passed them.

  Jenks flipped him a rude gesture, but then grimaced, and for once, Nika won an argument with his sister.

  Tamago and Tivo were bent over Sapphi’s stretcher, the pair of them calling out readings to each other with easy efficiency.

  Nika crossed to them and went to a knee next to Tamago. “How is she?”

  “Awake.” Tamago’s face was smeared with red dirt. “She’s not tracking great, though.”

  “Hey, Nika. When did you get back?”

  “Never left.” He reached out and took Sapphi’s hand. “Gave us a scare there, Sapphi.”

  “Feels like that time I did a four-day Space Treachery tournament. Did I ever tell you about that? I won. Kicked so much nerd ass.” She smiled at him, her eyes fluttering closed. “There are squids in my arms.”

  “She keeps going in and out,” Tivo murmured.

  “Stephan’s got a med shuttle headed—” He looked up as the craft arrived. “Here it is.”

  “Good. She’s stable, but I don’t like the readings we’re getting and I’ll feel better when she’s at the hospital.” Tamago winced as they got to their feet and went to meet the medical personnel coming off the shuttle.

  “You going with them?”

  Tivo nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Make sure Tamago gets checked out.” Nika squeezed Sapphi’s hand once more and then let go.

  “We didn’t see an outside shot beyond what hit the trucks,” Tivo said in a low voice. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. Some kind of short. Maybe entirely coincidental—our ships aren’t necessarily top of the line.”

  “You don’t think that.”

  “I don’t. But I can’t rule it out.” Nika glanced in Chae’s direction. “The alternative is unpleasant.” He didn’t think Chae would have put themself at risk like this, but desperation made people do stupid things. “We’ll see you at the hospital.” Nika headed back across the open area, stopping next to his sister. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just cracked my head when the ship bit me. Can I go with Sapphi?”

  He nodded. “Take Chae with you.” He glanced up as several other shuttles came in for landings nearby. It was going to take a hauler to get Zuma back in the air and on its way to the yard so they could figure out what went wrong and start repairs.

  Nika turned, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness beyond the lights from the ships, he could see the massive line Zuma had dug into the ground during its landing.

  Things could have been so much worse.

  “Put pressure on that,” Scott ordered as Nika joined them.

  Max looked away from her brother to Nika as she pressed a patch to her hairline. Blood was streaked down the left side of her face and there was a dark stain on her shirt. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

  “I’m all right.”

  “You sure about that? She said she was all right, too,” Scott said, and an exasperated look flickered across Max’s face.

  “I am all right,” she said.

  “I don’t think I’m obviously bleeding anywhere.” Nika sat down, linking his fingers through Max’s when she reached for him and trying to ignore the rush of relief that followed. “But you’re welcome to verify. I sent everyone else on the med shuttle with Sapphi. Do you need to go, too?”

  “It’s just a scratch. I’m fine otherwise. I can stay and help here.”

  “There’s not much to do.” Nika exhaled. “I’m assuming Stephan’s already got a call in to figure out how we’re going to get Zuma back to Jupiter Station.”

  “The Laika will be back in a week,” Scott said.

  “We’re not going anywhere until Sapphi’s ready to travel anyway,” Max said. “Stephan better have an answer for me when I ask him who shot at those trucks and what happened to our ship.” She let his hand go to rub at her face and Nika shared a grim look with Scott.

  He had a feeling the truth was about to come out whether Stephan wanted it to or not.

  It was surprisingly easy to pretend like the world wasn’t collapsing down on you when everyone else was caught up in worries of their own. Chae sat to Jenks’s left in the uncomfortable hospital waiting room chair and bit the inside of their cheek to hold back the tears. They’d both been checked out and cleared by the medical staff and now waited to hear how Sapphi was doing.

  Chae wanted to scream. They wanted to cry. But that would mean explaining it all to the chief and they were already in deep as it was.

  It’ll mean telling her I’ve been lying all this time. That I was responsible for Sapphi nearly dying, for all of us nearly dying. And it could mean next time, it’s my fathers caught in an “accident.”

  Chae couldn’t have found the words even if they’d wanted to.

  “Dai.”

  Jenks was out of her seat like an asteroid sucked into a gravity well when Luis appeared in the doorway. She hit him dead center, wrapping her arms around his waist. The big man folded her into an embrace and bent his head, whispering in Jenks’s ear.

  It reminded Chae, stupidly, of Julia, and how it had felt when she hugged them. Back when they thought the hug had meant something.

  They looked away from the painfully private moment, their own emotions joining the symphony of hurt already singing through their body.

  “Nika and Max just arrived. They’re headed in to see Sapphi. Max figured you two would want to see her also before we go back to base.”

  Chae realized the words were directed at both of them and looked back as Je
nks turned in Luis’s embrace. She was smiling and holding her hand out.

  “Come on, Chae.” She looked back at Luis. “Did anyone tell you Chae landed us? No fucking power, screaming in hot, and they brought us down in one piece. I was unconscious for most of it, but I heard it was impressive.”

  “No,” Chae whispered.

  Please, don’t . . .

  “Listen to them. So modest. Don’t believe it for a second.” Jenks leaned forward and grabbed Chae’s hand. “Come on, let’s go give Sapphi grief for lying around while the rest of us are going to have to piece Zuma back together.”

  There was a strange sympathy in Luis’s amber eyes as they passed him that only made Chae feel even worse.

  In Sapphi’s room, Max was bent over the bed, her arms wrapped around Sapphi in a hug. She let the ensign go and stood; those brown eyes locked on Chae and for a second they considered running back out the door.

  Except Luis was right behind them.

  Jenks crossed the room quickly, but she didn’t say anything, simply pressed her forehead to Sapphi’s and closed her eyes tight. A soft smile appeared on the ensign’s face and she patted the back of Jenks’s head, murmuring something too low for Chae to hear.

  Then she looked up. “I hear you saved our butts,” she said, reaching for Chae’s hand, and they somehow got their feet moving. Even as their heart was twisting itself into a hot, painful knot. All they could do was shake their head.

  “Seriously, Chae, thank you.”

  Chae swallowed. “Of course,” they whispered. Thankfully Tamago intervened with the doctor and Chae was able to fade into the back of the room.

  They had a moment to collect themself before Max appeared. “Come with me.” The grip on their arm wasn’t painful, but Chae knew there was no escaping it as she propelled them out the door and down the hallway away from Sapphi’s room. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know what you mean, Lieutenant.” Even as the lie slipped out, Chae regretted it.

  Max’s expression darkened with a fury they’d never seen from her before. She let them go and leaned down until they were nose to nose. “I. Heard. You. On the bridge. You said this was all your fault. Why?”