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“What’s the plan?” asked Cora. “We can only duck and dive around that thing for so long before we’re either taken out by the Jorvlens or wiped out by the asteroid.”
“Not if we land on its surface,” replied Levi.
He heard her gasp of horror beside him. “That sounds a little suicidal,” she said.
“It’s perfectly feasible. I’m one of the best pilots on Lorr. Why do you think my brother gave his ship to me and not one of my older brothers? They land missiles on asteroids all the time.”
“But that’s missiles. We’re in a little escape pod; the forces on that thing could be catastrophic,” Cora replied.
“Not if you land on it traveling at the same speed. In the early days, they used to mine the minerals off them like that.” Levi tried to sound optimistic.
“So why did they stop using that method?” Cora asked pointedly.
“They discovered it was easier to blow them up and put out nets to pick up the pieces.”
“Not because they lost too many mining craft then?”
Levi loved that his woman was super intelligent, but he could never get one over on her. That was for sure. “Okay, there were a few mishaps, but what choice do we have? We have two bad choices—a dodgy landing, or getting shot down.”
“When you put it like that, what are we waiting for?” Cora said with a tight little laugh. “Won’t they just lock on to us on the surface of the asteroid and pick us off anyway?”
“Well, that’s where you come in. We have to shut the pod down completely. There can be no readings whatsoever from us on the surface of the asteroid, or they’ll find us.” Levi maneuvered the pod into position, flying parallel to the body of the asteroid.
“You know what you’re asking. Don’t you?” said Cora. “If I shut everything down, we only have the oxygen contained within the pod until we reboot the pod, and who knows how long that might take.”
“Yes, I know that.” He brought the pod in closer to the asteroid. They could feel the turbulence of the slipstream already.
“And then the heating system will go off.” Cora’s anxiety was palpable. “The pod will rapidly cool to sub-zero temperatures. Within maybe ten or fifteen minutes, the interior of the pod will have cooled to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“It’s our only hope, them not detecting us,” he said, desperately trying to concentrate on landing them safely on the surface. They could worry about the rest after.
“I think you just might be crazy,” she said.
“Hold on, this next bit will be rough,” Levi said through gritted teeth.
The tiny craft bounced around alarmingly and Levi had to struggle to keep a hold of it. “Come on, baby. You can do it,” he hissed through his tightly clenched teeth.
With a final bump, the vehicle landed safely on the surface of the hurtling asteroid.
“Woohoo!” he yelled exultantly.
Cora started laughing beside him. “That was amazing!” she said. “I can’t believe you did it!”
“Still think I’m crazy?” he asked.
“Absolutely certain of it,” she replied with a massive grin on her face.
“We need to power off before they get here,” he said. “They can’t detect us or it will all be for nothing.”
Cora started pressing buttons beside him. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“It’s the only way it will work,” he replied.
“Okay then,” she said and initiated the process to shut it down using the rapid override. They were left in almost total darkness.
They could just make out the Jorvlen pods circling the asteroid. Levi hoped they wouldn’t guess their tactic. They would only have to circle the asteroid to figure it out, and it was one small step to land on the surface and recapture the stone.
The temperature in the pod was dropping rapidly. Levi pulled Cora into an embrace to share body warmth. The feel of her trembling form beneath his large hands overwhelmed him, and he kissed her deep and hard. If these were their last moments together, he wanted to make them count.
