“What’s happening behind?” she asked.
Rico flipped the monitor and the screen filled with flashing lights. She stared at it, trying to make sense of the chaos of ships.
“Looks like they pulled it off,” Rico said. “They’re between us.”
It did, and Tannis grinned. “Janey, can you get Devlin?”
“No problem.” She flipped the comm unit to speaker. “He’s on speaker.”
“Thanks, Devlin.”
“My pleasure. You take care of my little brother.”
“Will do. See you around.”
“Remember that offer is always open.”
“I’ll remember. Okay, shut it down, Janey. Let’s get after that ship.”
…
It took them an hour going at full speed before they picked up the weapons ship on their scanners. Callum stayed in his seat and watched the crew. They worked well together. There had been no sense of panic, well except for maybe Tannis. But she had more at stake here than any of them.
She was up on her feet now, stalking the bridge, fizzing with energy. “Any sign yet?” she asked for the fifteenth time—he’d counted.
“Captain, sit down,” Janey said. “I promise I’ll tell you when they show.”
She ignored the request and continued pacing, hands shoved in her pockets, and Callum sat back and admired her sleek, sinuous figure. If all went well, they would be there and back within twenty-four hours.
“There she is,” Janey said.
“How long until she’s in range?”
“Ten minutes.”
Tannis flung herself into her chair, fingers drumming in the armrests. “Well?”
Janey sighed. “Nine minutes and thirty seconds.”
“Okay,” Rico murmured. “Let’s get ready to blast the bitch out of the sky.”
“Just hold on a second,” Callum said. He’d been considering an idea while they caught up. Now, he was interested to know what the others thought. “Janey, are you getting anything from them?”
Janey glanced at Tannis, and she nodded her permission.
“I’m picking up a lot of chatter,” Janey said.
“What sort of chatter?”
“I think it’s the Church, but I don’t think they’re communicating. It’s more like the steady pulse from some sort of tracking device—a beacon perhaps.”
Tannis swiveled in her seat to face him. “What is it?”
“I have an idea.”
“A good one?” Tannis sounded as though the notion of a good idea coming from him was unlikely.
“Well, obviously I think so.”
“Spit it out then.”
“Why don’t we not blow her up?”
“That’s an idea? It sucks.”
“Why don’t we take her instead?”
“Board her?” Rico said.
“Why would we want to do that?” Tannis asked.
She was being slow. He presumed Tannis wasn’t thinking straight. He hoped it was because of his proximity, but suspected it was more that she was close to getting the Meridian she had dreamed about for so long.
“At the moment,” he said, “we’re planning on taking the shuttle down to Trakis Seven. But the shuttle is small for the three of us, and I’m not sure I trust Tannis and Venna in a small, enclosed space together.”
“Good point,” Tannis muttered.
“Plus her range is short. El Cazador is going to have to stay relatively close in order to pick us up after we’ve been on planet.”
“And,” Rico said, “we have to presume that if we blow up that ship, then they’ll come after us. Either the ones who survive the Rebels—and having seen their performance I’m presuming some will—or they’ll send someone else to intercept us.”
It looked like he had Rico on his side. “But if we take the ship,” Callum continued, “and use her to get to Trakis Seven, the beacon will show her going exactly where she’s supposed to go.”
“And El Cazador can get out of the way until we need to rendezvous.”
Tannis sat for a minute, chewing on her lower lip. “Hmm, won’t they just comm the Church when we try and board?”
“Not necessarily.” He turned to Janey. “Can you set up a jamming frequency? Stop any comms getting through, but keep the beacon functioning?”
“Of course.”
He turned back to Tannis. “So, what do you think, Captain?”
“Rico?”
“I’m for it. Can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself.”
“Skylar?”
“I’m with Rico. It’s obvious, really.”
“Okay, Janey—jam them.”
“I’m on it.”
“So how do we do this?”
“Daisy can take the controls on El Cazador,” Rico said. “She can send them a few blasts from the front to keep them busy while we sneak around the rear in the shuttle.”
“Who’s going?” Skylar asked.
“I reckon you and me, Jon and Tannis. That’s four against four—it’s probably overkill, but no point in taking chances.”