floor beneath her jumped as the Earthrise lifted. Reese steadied herself against the wall and felt the faintest relief from the churn in her stomach. Maybe they’d get out of this one unscathed. She toggled the comm to all-hands. “Irine? Where are you?”
A striped head popped into view from up-corridor. “Err... right here?”
Reese jerked a thumb at Hirianthial, who hadn’t moved since coming up the ramp. “See that he finds a place to sleep.”
“Right, Captain. You there, you’re with me.”
Reese watched them long enough for them to turn the corner, the solid and curvy tigraine girl and the willowy man. She wondered how he kept so much hair so healthy... nearly two weeks in captivity and he still looked like he belonged on the cover of a novel. It boggled the mind.
Reese jogged to the bridge, swaying as the ship rose through a few bumpy winds and rocking as the stabilizers balanced. The pressure exacerbated her headache; she’d never gotten used to gravities higher than Mars’s, and high accelerations always made things worse. When the lift ejected her onto the cramped bridge, she was only too glad to slide into a chair and buckle on the safety harness. Kis’eh’t was at the exterior sensor control panel, her own harness binding her centauroid lower body to the floor and Allacazam cradled between her forelegs. Sascha was in the pilot’s seat.
“Did we succeed?” the Glaseahn asked, glancing at Reese.
“We got him, yes,” Reese said.
“We’re clear of the atmosphere,” Sascha interrupted.
Reese slid her hand over the engineering display, scrutinizing the stress analyses as they scrolled past with a grim face. The ride smoothed out as the Earthrise rose, the transition from atmospheric night to the void-black of space invisible save for the glowing blue sensor data and the steadying of the starlight. Reese breathed a sigh of relief as the internal gravity evened to something approaching normal.
“We might even make it to Kappa in time to save the rooderberries,” Kis’eh’t said.
Most Pelted revealed their skin and its flushes at their ears. Humans, of course, suffered from whole-body blushes—most of them anyway. Reese had been blessed with skin dark enough to keep her embarrassment or upsets to herself, most of the time. But only a tiny corner of skin around Kis’eh’t’s eyelids was exposed. Reese was nevertheless startled by how stark a gray it turned.
“Uh... we’ve got a ship up our tail.”
“I see it,” Sascha said, voice distracted.
Reese twisted, staring at the sensor data. Her eyes rose to the aft windows where a gray splotch occluded part of the planet, growing even as she watched. “ID?” she asked hoarsely.
“It isn’t running a beacon,” Kis’eh’t said, bending over her panel.
Reese’s stomach screamed for chalk.
“What’s going on?” Irine asked, popping out of the lift with Hirianthial.
“We’ve got a tail, and it’s heading straight for us,” Reese said, fingers playing hopscotch over the keypad. “And it’s pulling a higher acceleration than we are.”
“They’ll overhaul us in fifteen minutes,” Kis’eh’t reported.
“Not if I can help it,” Sascha said.
“I thought I told you to put him in a room?” Reese said to Irine.
The tigraine shrugged. “You said to find him a place to sleep, not trap him there. He wanted to come with me, so I said ‘sure.’”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Reese said. Providing there was a later. “Buckle up if you’re going to stay.”
Irine wedged herself into the space next to the pilot’s chair and tied on a spare harness, then clamped herself to her brother’s leg. Hirianthial stayed in the back. Smart man.
“Reese, they aren’t exceeding our maximum limit,” Kis’eh’t said.
“She’s right,” Sascha said, “but we can’t go our max unless we—”
“Dump the berries,” Reese said, covering her eyes. “Blood and Freedom.”
“Captain, that boat is crammed with
A striped head popped into view from up-corridor. “Err... right here?”
Reese jerked a thumb at Hirianthial, who hadn’t moved since coming up the ramp. “See that he finds a place to sleep.”
“Right, Captain. You there, you’re with me.”
Reese watched them long enough for them to turn the corner, the solid and curvy tigraine girl and the willowy man. She wondered how he kept so much hair so healthy... nearly two weeks in captivity and he still looked like he belonged on the cover of a novel. It boggled the mind.
Reese jogged to the bridge, swaying as the ship rose through a few bumpy winds and rocking as the stabilizers balanced. The pressure exacerbated her headache; she’d never gotten used to gravities higher than Mars’s, and high accelerations always made things worse. When the lift ejected her onto the cramped bridge, she was only too glad to slide into a chair and buckle on the safety harness. Kis’eh’t was at the exterior sensor control panel, her own harness binding her centauroid lower body to the floor and Allacazam cradled between her forelegs. Sascha was in the pilot’s seat.
“Did we succeed?” the Glaseahn asked, glancing at Reese.
“We got him, yes,” Reese said.
“We’re clear of the atmosphere,” Sascha interrupted.
Reese slid her hand over the engineering display, scrutinizing the stress analyses as they scrolled past with a grim face. The ride smoothed out as the Earthrise rose, the transition from atmospheric night to the void-black of space invisible save for the glowing blue sensor data and the steadying of the starlight. Reese breathed a sigh of relief as the internal gravity evened to something approaching normal.
“We might even make it to Kappa in time to save the rooderberries,” Kis’eh’t said.
Most Pelted revealed their skin and its flushes at their ears. Humans, of course, suffered from whole-body blushes—most of them anyway. Reese had been blessed with skin dark enough to keep her embarrassment or upsets to herself, most of the time. But only a tiny corner of skin around Kis’eh’t’s eyelids was exposed. Reese was nevertheless startled by how stark a gray it turned.
“Uh... we’ve got a ship up our tail.”
“I see it,” Sascha said, voice distracted.
Reese twisted, staring at the sensor data. Her eyes rose to the aft windows where a gray splotch occluded part of the planet, growing even as she watched. “ID?” she asked hoarsely.
“It isn’t running a beacon,” Kis’eh’t said, bending over her panel.
Reese’s stomach screamed for chalk.
“What’s going on?” Irine asked, popping out of the lift with Hirianthial.
“We’ve got a tail, and it’s heading straight for us,” Reese said, fingers playing hopscotch over the keypad. “And it’s pulling a higher acceleration than we are.”
“They’ll overhaul us in fifteen minutes,” Kis’eh’t reported.
“Not if I can help it,” Sascha said.
“I thought I told you to put him in a room?” Reese said to Irine.
The tigraine shrugged. “You said to find him a place to sleep, not trap him there. He wanted to come with me, so I said ‘sure.’”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Reese said. Providing there was a later. “Buckle up if you’re going to stay.”
Irine wedged herself into the space next to the pilot’s chair and tied on a spare harness, then clamped herself to her brother’s leg. Hirianthial stayed in the back. Smart man.
“Reese, they aren’t exceeding our maximum limit,” Kis’eh’t said.
“She’s right,” Sascha said, “but we can’t go our max unless we—”
“Dump the berries,” Reese said, covering her eyes. “Blood and Freedom.”
“Captain, that boat is crammed with
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