“Larson and I were trying to patch into the Athena as well. Seems like the first thing the attackers did was disable all communications on planet.” Finn shook his head. “What are these people after? Lenue is nothing but a backwater spaceport. There’s no value here. And Myka’s not here. I thought these attacks were tied to him.”

“That’s what we need to find out.” Renna sucked in a breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. “Aldani’s been lying to us. His ex-partner is behind this.”

“Dammit.” Finn raked a hand through his hair. “I should have known. Dallas had me investigate Navang’s biomedical device company, NavStar, almost six months ago. Everything came up clean. A little too clean.”

They climbed the last flight of stairs, and Renna shoved open the door to the roof. The flight pad was empty, and she scanned the sky for the ship. Finn turned and searched in the other direction. The echoes of screams filled the air, even this high up. Each blast of a bomb striking its target made her jump. She forced herself to block the noises out. If she let herself think about what was happening, how many people were dying, she’d be paralyzed. And now, more than ever, she needed to stay strong.

“There!” Finn pointed off in the distance. “That’s the Athena.” He pulled Renna back into the stairwell, and they watched the ship approach.

“Thanks for rescuing me,” he said softly. “You could have gone without me, finished the mission. No one would have thought badly of you.”

She gaped at him. “Is that what you think of me? That I’d steal your ship and your crew and disappear? I thought you trusted me. Or was that all a lie, too?” Anger and disappointment licked across her skin like the fire in one of the buildings below, burning away the fear and exhaustion that threatened to make her collapse.

“No. That’s not what I mean.” Finn pinched the bridge of his nose before trying again. “That didn’t come out right. I just meant that I knew you’d do the right thing.”

She glared. “I don’t have time right now to work out if I should be offended or not. Not to mention, your crew would never leave you behind.”

“I still appreciate you risking your life to find me.” He gently touched the skin beneath the cut on her cheekbone. “We’ll get you patched up as soon as we get back on board.”

Her gaze drifted past his head to the dark form sweeping toward them. “I think we’re going to have a few other things to worry about first.” She pointed at the other ship, and her blood turned to ice. Had the Athena seen them?

She stepped around Finn and pressed below her ear to turn on her comm. “Renna to the Athena. Do you read?” Dear gods, let the comms be working at close quarters, she prayed. “Athena, do you copy?”

A burst of static sounded in her ear before she recognized Kojima’s voice. “This is Athena. What’s your position?”

“We’re on the roof of the hospital, but there are hostiles incoming. Watch your left flank. They’re going to attack.”

“I see them. Evasive maneuvers in place. We’ll loop back around to pick you up when we’ve lost them.”

The Athena changed course, curving away from the hospital and causing the other ship to shoot past them.

“What the hell is that?” Finn asked, staring at the onyx machine. “I’ve never seen that ship designed before.”

“It’s made from the same material as the facility. I have a feeling Navang designed it. I just wish I knew why.” She held her breath as two white streaks burst from the belly of the enemy ship and snaked toward the Athena.

The ship banked, slipping behind a high rise, and the missiles hit the building in a fiery explosion, blowing out all the windows on the block.

“Shit. All those people.” Her hands were shaking, and she clenched them in front of her.

“It was empty. They evacuate tall buildings like that first.” Finn’s fingers pried hers apart, and he held her hand tightly as the Athena came around behind the enemy ship.

“There! Kojima won’t let them get away. Watch this.” Finn squeezed her hand as the missile bay doors on the Athena opened and the main gun fired at the other ship. It started its turn to escape, but it wasn’t as agile as the Athena. The MYTH ship fired four shots. They hit the side of the enemy in a waterfall of sparks. A moment later, an explosion ripped through the air.

Renna clasped her hands to her ears as the ship blew apart in a volley of shrapnel and fire. Down below, she could hear people cheering at the Athena’s victory. At the destruction of the enemy.

Less than two minutes later, the Athena touched down on the roof. Renna and Finn raced for the hatch, which slid open to meet them. Keva and Viktis were waiting for them.

Finn stopped short inside the airlock and glared at the pirate. “What the hell is he doing on my ship?” he demanded of Keva. To Viktis, he turned and said, “You’re like a bad disease that just keeps showing up.”

Viktis grinned. “And you’d know all about bad diseases, Captain? I hope you were tested before you slept with our girl here.”

Dear gods, would the man ever grow up? She rolled her eyes as Keva’s mouth dropped open into a shocked O.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Keva said. “He said he had information on the attack and that he’d been working with Renna. Should we throw him off?”

Viktis stepped aside. “Why don’t we discuss my merits after we get the hell off this planet?”

Finn shook his head and strode past toward the CIC. “He can stay. But one Ileth toe out of line and he goes in the brig.”

“Damn, Renna. This guy is a gem.” Viktis frowned at her as they followed Finn through the ship. “I can see why you chose him over me.”

Renna slanted him a look. “Enough. We barely made it out of there in one piece. We don’t have time to ice your injured pride right now.”

The Athena’s engines spun up, and the ship lifted off. Less than a minute later, they were through the atmosphere and away from the attack. Renna paused at the bridge window and looked down at the plumes of smoke drifting up from the city.

Aldani’s had cost them more than time; it had cost those people their lives.

Viktis leaned against one of the railings in the CIC. “Captain, I have some information. That is if you’d like to take your head out of your ass long enough to hear it.” He paused for effect. “The attacks aren’t random.”




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