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"When you depress the button on the side, the beam of light that shoots out can cut through metal," she leans forward and covertly whispers. "I tried it out on the end of that table over there. The light beam cut through it like hot butter." She hikes her thumb at the gurney attached to the wall.
"Maybe we can use it to cut through the lock," Zoe rushes out, her eyes haunted, and I know she hates being separated from Mordox.
"We'll have to wait until he leaves the ship again." Lena pockets the device. "No way can we cut through the lock without being noticed."
"What if our next stop is Valose?" Zoe looks over at Rex, excitement and determination gleaming in her eyes. "We may lose our chance if we wait."
"Was it loud when you used it on the table?" I ask.
"No, not a sound. But it was a little bright when the light touched the metal."
I catch Stacy's eye and give her a little nod to join us from where she stands at the wall, glaring daggers at Rex's scaled back.
"Why do the three of you look like you're conspiring?" Stacy smirks, settling down with us.
"Who, us?" I touch my fingertips to my chest and feign shock.
"What's the plan?" Stacy grows serious.
I lean in close to her ear. "Can you fly this contraption if we can get out of this cage?"
"For a chance to get back to Drax, I can fly anything," Stacy says. "I've been studying him operating the controls. It's nothing like the other ship I flew, but I recognize the controls for the thrusters and fuel levels. Once we take control of the ship, you'll have to help me navigate back to Crao."
"You can count on me, Captain Stacy." I salute her. "We have the means to escape this room but haven't figured out what to do with Rex once we're out."
"He'll have to be incapacitated," Lena ponders. "I don't want to kill him."
"We could sneak up behind him and hit him over the head with something," Zoe suggests. "But that's a pretty generic plan, and we'll have to get close to him to pull that off."
"Then what do we do with him after? Tie him up?" I shrug. "Because the lock to this room will be destroyed after I cut through it."
For what Rex did to Qhix and his sivot, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if he breathes his last, but I can understand why Lena would want to spare him. He'd taken them from a far worse situation and hadn't hurt them.
As far as taking us someplace safe, none of us knew anything of Valose or what awaited us there. And keeping us captive inside this room doesn't sit well with me, nor did the fact that each of us had a bounty on our heads.
I wave the other girls over for input and let them in on our plan to escape.
Chapter
Ten
QHIX
The void of space weighs heavy around me, an endless expanse of darkness deepening my fear for my mate's safety. As a Star Maverick sailing the uncharted cosmos, I am accustomed to solitude, or used to be. Not anymore. Not since my Tasha, with her fiery hair and indomitable spirit, awakened my sivot and laid claim to my soul. Whether she wants me or not, I am hers to command. The urgency to have her back in my arms, safe and warm, twists inside me like a blade, sharp and insistent. A constant reminder every moment lost could be one too many.
I must get her back. The thought of her in the hands of the filthy reaver ignites a fire within my belly that even the vacuum of space can’t extinguish. Why the Lizordian thought a bounty could be had for them on Valose was a mystery. Like humans, those warriors knew nothing of what lay beyond the silvery blue clouds of their own world.
My ship hums around me, a marvel of Thrushian engineering I wish could travel faster. Beneath my fingertips, the bioluminescent controls obey my every touch, pulsing rhythmically while casting an ethereal glow on my glossy blue flesh. The intricate design of my corium seems to dance under the light, a reflection of the surging power of my sivot raging just below the surface.
Before me, the viewscreen reveals the star-studded tapestry of the galaxy, offering an unobstructed view of the vastness we must navigate to catch the fast-moving Lizordian craft. Every fiber of my being vibrates with the need to reach my Tasha.
"Must go faster if we're to catch up," I grind out, then look at Mordox beside me, occupying the seat where my mate should be. "Any chance you have a tellic chip or two on you?"
"I wish," Mordox grunts. "All the tellic we have is on Crao."
I grunt and huff. "You mean all the tellic I had that you and your cronies helped yourselves to after you shot me with a stunner and divested me of my ship on Zune?"
Mordox bows his head in remorse. "Perhaps we should backtrack to Crao and reclaim it."
