Queen of the Savages - Complete by Lisa Lace Page B

engines strained.
    "Hit it harder, brother," urged Rev.
    Tev rocked the joystick more forcibly. The engines roared and complained. The ship was trying to break free, but the bigger ship was holding on tight.
    Tracy hoped these two knew what they were doing. She remembered Rev's statement about having only emergency flight credentials, and hoped that Tev had better training. As the two brothers tried to rip away from the clamps of the Ceichis, she became nervous.
    A horrible wrenching sound ran through the ship, and suddenly the transport spun crazily away from the Ceichis. Tracy felt bile rise through her gut.
    "Rev, see if you can stabilize the ship magnetically," Tev spoke harshly. He struggled to trim the ship to a stable flight line.
    Rev's mouth drew in a tight line as he rose from his seat and ran toward some panels behind Tracy. Twisting, Tracy couldn't quite see what he was doing, but as she reflected on it, even if she could see it she would have no idea what was going on.
    He fell to his knees and ripped away one panel in particular. Sparks flew as he touched different flowing red lines, but finally, he sighed in satisfaction when the lines flowed blue.
    "Got it!" Rev said with triumph in his voice.
    The ship stopped jerking. Tev relaxed his grip on the joystick.
    "Good job."
    Tracy's head turned toward Tev's voice, but something on the screen made her stop.
    "I think something is happening to the big ship out there."
    Both Rev and Tev instantly looked to the screen.
    "They are powering up to chase us," said Rev.
    "We're going to be caught. There's no way this little ship can outrun them," said Tev.
    "I have an idea," said Rev. He returned to the console and settled in the second pilot's seat. "Give me the com, Tev. Let me show you a trick I learned."
    Tracy swallowed hard. In their previous space flight, she didn't know he "just learned" some maneuvers. In reality, a more accurate description would be that Rev made them up on the fly. They had been successful, but did he really want to do it again?
    Rev gently nudged the ship around until it was heading back towards the Ceichis. Tracy watched as the Ceichis got larger and larger.
    In space, it was difficult to accurately determine distances with your eyes alone, but even Tev was growing nervous. "Brother?" asked Tev.
    Rev smiled, and Tracy saw a hint of daredevil spirit shine through his eyes.
    "Just a little bit longer....now!" said Rev. He accelerated the speed of their transport with a push of the joystick. They rushed towards the Ceichis even faster. At the last moment, Rev adjusted their course. The small ship avoided a collision with the Ceichis and a wave of exhaust washed over the larger ship.
    The stars in the screen crushed together in streaks of blue, white, and red. The transport shuddered.
    This time Tracy didn't faint. The sound of the engines changed from groaning and whining to a whirling sound.
    Whop.
    Whop.
    Whop.
    The sound echoed through the ship. On the screen, the streaks of color slowly disappeared until the view became totally black. Rev eased off the joystick and the noise from the engines settled to a gentle thrum.
    Tev looked thoughtful. "I see what you did. You collapsed their jump field. What led you to think about doing that as a trick? We were told in flight training that it was dangerous."
    "With any luck we'll be well away before they can recover."
    "You still haven't answered my question."
    Rev was quiet. When he did speak, his voice was soft and not in his usual hearty timbre. "At the time, I was thinking I'd rather do anything other than to be separated from my mate."
    He spoke these words without looking directly at his brother.
    Tracy watched the reactions of the two Kerdim males. Tev looked back at Tracy with a contemplative stare. A shadow fell over his face, and then he turned back to the controls.
    "We have much to discuss," said Tev tersely.
    Rev nodded and turned his gaze to his own controls.
    "Yes, brother, we do."
    An