Avalon

“All right,” Celeste said, then marched out the door with Shady following after her.

Jeth trailed behind them, afraid of what he might find. Once outside the bridge, he took the stairs up to the engineering deck. He scanned the machinery and the various equipment racks as he walked down the long bay toward the shuttle entrance. Nothing looked amiss, but he would have to check more closely once he finished the sweep.

He stopped beneath the ladder to the shuttle and pulled it down. Once inside Flash, he scanned around, relieved to see no obvious damage here either. And when he powered the shuttle on, everything booted up correctly except for the nav system display, which showed a “no signal” error across the screen. But that was okay. He didn’t need the nav for this.

Jeth piloted Flash out of the dock and began his scan. He did four sweeps, just to be sure, but he found nothing amiss, not so much as a new scratch. He knew his ship well enough to be certain.

Relieved, Jeth docked the shuttle and stepped back down the ladder onto the engineering deck. He checked the time, pleased to find that he’d burned up forty minutes already. He was tempted to go down to the bridge to check on Lizzie’s progress, but he resisted. He doubted she could be done yet, and he still needed to check all the equipment and machinery up here.

A loud shriek from behind him made him jump. He spun around, certain the holes were about to start again. He spotted Cora dashing up the stairs toward him, hot on Viggo’s tail. The cat’s paws, ill-adapted for the hard floor of the engineering deck, slipped out from underneath him, forcing him to take an extra four strides for every step forward, but still he managed to escape her, disappearing underneath one of the racks.

Jeth sighed. And this is why cats have no business on starships.

Cora slid to a stop, and the crestfallen look that came over her face was so miserable Jeth almost laughed.

“Cora,” Vince called as he marched up the stairs. “You can’t just go running around by yourself.”

“It’s all right,” Jeth said. He squatted before the little girl, taking pity on her. “If you want to catch a cat, you’ve got to use the right tools.”

Cora looked up at him with her big dark eyes. “What kind of tools?”

“This kind.” Jeth stood and walked to the maintenance cabinet near the stairs where he knew Flynn kept old pieces of wiring that he thought might be usable for some future repair job. Jeth selected a suitable-sized piece and walked back to Cora. Kneeling, he slid one end of the wire underneath the rack where the cat had disappeared and started to wiggle it back and forth. In seconds, a furry yellow paw poked out, trying to snag the wire.

Jeth worked it back and forth, slowly coaxing the cat out while a delighted Cora watched.

The moment Viggo was fully out from underneath the rack, Cora grabbed him and hauled him into her arms. The cat struggled, but the little girl was too much for him, and after a moment he gave into the inevitable and let Cora stroke his head and neck.

“Have you found anything?” Vince asked, now that Cora was distracted.

Jeth shook his head. “Nothing on the exterior, but I just got started in here.”

“I’ll help you look.” Vince headed for the starboard side and began examining the first equipment rack.

Jeth took the rack opposite and did the same. They searched all the way down while Cora played with the cat. He was relieved when they reached the end of the deck without finding any holes. Only the metadrive compartment remained, but from the outside it looked as undisturbed as everything else.

Just as Jeth was about to pull open the door, a burst of white noise erupted around them. The screech was louder than any that had happened before, and it made Jeth’s hair stand on end. Behind him, Cora cried out. He turned to see Viggo racing down the stairs away from them and Cora clutching her arm. At the sight of blood seeping out from the ragged scratch across the top of her hand, she started to cry.

Vince stooped and picked her up. “Shush. It’s okay, Cora,” he murmured stroking her hair. He was so big, she seemed to disappear inside his arms. “It was just an accident. Doctor Milton will make it all better in a moment.”

“Are you sure?” Cora said between sobs.

“I’m sure.” Vince glanced at Jeth.

He waved them on. “I’ll finish up here.”

“Okay,” Vince said, and he carried Cora toward the stairs.

Crack.

Jeth instinctively ducked at the sound that echoed as loudly as cannon fire. At the head of the steps, Vince did the same, wrapping his body completely around Cora as a human shield. Bright light filled the room, and Jeth shut his eyes only to hear the loud shriek of metal splitting.

He opened them again. A smattering of fist-sized holes marked the wall near the stairs, exposing the ship’s insides. Vince and Cora stood less than a meter away from them.

Jeth raced over. “Are you two all right?”

Vince nodded as he struggled to calm Cora.

Jeth turned toward the holes, examining them with his heart in his throat. They weren’t deep, and the area behind them appeared mostly empty. He didn’t think anything critical had been damaged. At least not here.

“Take her to sick bay,” Jeth said to Vince, and then he raced down the stairs toward the bridge, terrified at what he might find when he got there.

Chapter 13

“I NEED MORE TIME,” LIZZIE SAID AS SHE STOOPED toward the maintenance computer’s screen.

“We don’t have more time.” Jeth paced back and forth across the bridge. Once he’d determined no new damage had occurred there, his impatience to get out of there had quadrupled.