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“Yes?” the AI’s voice responds.
“Take us down onto the planet’s surface. Land the ship as close as safely possible to the escape pod’s position.”
“No.” The machine doesn’t even pause to think about Zarkan’s request. Then again, it doesn’t really think. “Emergency protocols have been initiated, which means the only one who can give orders is the captain of this vessel. Of which you are not.”
I growl, ready to punch something again. Did I mention that I hate AIs?
As usual, Zarkan keeps his composure, turning to the Genixarian captain. “Transfer command of the ship to me.”
The asshole smirks. “Why would I do that? So that you could rescue those primitive creatures and use them as proof of my crimes? You’ll never get control of this ship.”
“I see.” Zarkan shoots a look at D’Aakh, who only shakes his head. He’s an excellent tech, and he could probably bypass the ship’s protocols, but it would take time. Too much time.
The longer we stay here, the bigger the chance that a UGC battleship will arrive to take control of the situation. We’ll never get the chance to rescue Astra if that happens. They’d blow us out of the sky if we went anywhere near the planet.
Zarkan rubs his chin again, looking lost in thought. “Alright,” he says eventually, “there only seems to be one solution.”
He pulls out his pistol and shoots the Genixarian captain straight into his chest.
My jaw hits the floor, and I hear Faelin’s gasp.
“Wow, he was totally going to attack you,” Lyriana says, faking a relieved tone so badly I laugh. “He just threw himself at you. Good thing you shot him before he could hurt you, Captain.”
Omni grunts. “Mhm. True.”
D’Aakh just rolls his eyes—and his antennae—then addresses the computer. “Your captain is dead, killed by our captain,” he announces. “By the old pirate laws, we claim ownership of this vessel. Do you recognize the transfer of power?”
We all wait with baited breaths for the AI’s response. I’m determined to get a crowbar and smash every computer on this ship into pieces if it doesn’t agree to help us.
The AI is only silent for half a minute, but it feels like an eternity to me. “Welcome aboard, Captain,” it finally says, lifting the emotional boulder off my chest. “Orders?”
Zarkan grins. “Well, it seems like we’re rescuing Tareq’s girl and then… We’ll see. Take us down to the planet below.”
“Calculating route.”
My hand shakes as I raise it to squeeze Zarkan’s shoulder. My day has been such a rollercoaster of emotions, I’m struggling to hold back the tears but I manage to contain my outward composure, just. Lyriana would tease me for years if I actually burst into tears right now. “Thank you, Captain,” I say, my voice trembling almost as badly as my hands. “I can’t even…”
“It’s alright, Tareq,” he replies, his face showing nothing but a kind smile. “We’re the Nova squad. We’ve always had each other's backs. Plus,” he adds, his smile turning into a wide grin, “I’ve always wanted my own cruiser.”
Chapter 23
Astra
As the pod descends through the atmosphere, the communicator loses signal until I can’t hear anything but static. It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve seen enough movies to know that radio connection always dies when the escape modules are landing. I’ve also seen enough movies to know that if the pod is damaged, we’ll burn up in the atmosphere or crash land on the surface. I’m not sure which option is worse.
Nikolai is busy making sure that the aliens who fit into seats are safely buckled up. It’s a brilliant idea, so I join him and together, we wrangle most of the aliens into the seats, including the still unconscious snake. His iridescent skin is chafed from where Lizardman dragged him across the floor and he’ll certainly be sore all over when he wakes up, but he’s alive, so he’d better be grateful.
Lizardman has no chance of fitting into the seat. He simply sits down in the corner and I hope the ride won’t be too bumpy. The eight-legged wolf is curled up at Nikolai’s feet and the panda is hugging my leg and drooling on my knee.
The landing is surprisingly smooth. There are some slight tremors as the pod slows our descent, but turbulence on an airplane tends to be worse. Or so I’ve heard. I never had the money to go anywhere by plane. Instead, I graduated straight to spaceships.
The pod’s engines hum as it slowly takes us down. From my seat, I can see a gray sky through the tiny window. Gray sky and an occasional mountain. A very bare mountain with nothing but rocks and some snow on the top. Nothing green, which worries me.
What if something goes wrong and Tareq doesn’t come pick us up? What if we have to survive in this place? From the brief glimpses of the planet I got through our window, there was nothing green anywhere. Just rocks and snow and more rocks. Maybe an occasional gray lake. Everything here is gray, even the snow. And the sky. It’s an ugly, inhospitable looking place.
However, it must be inhabited by someone or something, otherwise the slavers wouldn’t have stopped here. Tareq told me they were going around forbidden planets, picking up primitive creatures for a special auction.
I guess I should be flattered that out of the seven billion people on Earth, they picked me. And Nikolai. I wonder how that choice was made. Whether there was some thorough screening or they simply flew down and grabbed the first human they met. I’ll probably never know.
