“I’m in.”
To the left of the black hole, Tannis could see Trakis One, dark ocher encircled by spiraling radiation rings of palest yellow to blood crimson. A single moon revolved lazily around the planet. They’d researched it when they were planning to break Jon out of the prison, and she knew that the orbit and size of the planet kept it from the pull of the black hole. But anything approaching had no chance. Except for the brief period when that moon passed between them. Denser than the planet, despite being smaller, it provided sufficient cover for a ship to reach the planet’s surface. But this time, they weren’t aiming for the planet; they were aiming for the hole itself.
They were insane.
Jon and Alex appeared in the doorway, hand in hand, and hurried over to where she sat.
“Captain?” Jon said, shifting from foot to foot.
“What is it?”
“We’re not coming. We’d like to but…”
“Er, running out of time here,” Rico said behind them.
“Alex is pregnant.”
Tannis’s gaze dropped to her stomach—it looked as flat as ever. “That’s…fabulous.” Actually, she wasn’t sure, since she’d never thought much about babies, but Alex looked pleased.
She tugged free of Jon, leaned down and hugged Tannis. “Take care,” she whispered. “And come back.”
“I will.” She hoped.
“Aw, puppies,” Rico murmured. “How cute.”
Jon grinned. “Piss off.”
“So where are you going?” Rico asked.
“We’ve talked about it,” Jon said, “and we’re going to try and slip away, head over to Trakis Two and hole up until the birth.”
“Take one of the bigger shuttles,” Callum said. “They’ve got the range, and they’re fitted with the stealth control.”
“Thanks.” Jon came forward, wrapped his arms around her ever so carefully. She wanted to snap that she wouldn’t break, but she wasn’t sure it was true.
“Thanks for everything, and we’ll see you when you get back.” He straightened then turned to Callum. “Look after her.”
“I will.”
Tannis collapsed in her seat and watched as Alex hugged everybody, and then the two of them disappeared from the bridge. Would she ever see them again? She doubted it.
Callum came to stand beside her and rubbed her shoulder. “You will.”
“Are you a mind reader?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the shuttle clear,” Rico said a minute later. “Let’s do this. And you might want to strap yourselves in. I’m thinking it’s going to get a little bumpy.”
Crouching down in front of her, Callum fastened the harness. When she was all strapped in, he sat back on his heels.
She forced her mind to concentrate. She needed to tell him something. “I just want you to know—whatever happens—this was worth every moment.”
“I know. Me, too.”
He kissed her quickly, then took the seat beside her.
They were in the grip of the gravitational pull now, dragging the ship closer. She glanced sideways at Callum. He leaned forward in his seat, his hands clamped around the arms, his violet eyes glowing. Catching her gaze, he reached across and gripped her hand. “I love you,” he said.
She squeezed his fingers. “I know.”
A deafening roar filled her ears. Their speed increased abruptly, forcing her into her seat, and she lost her grip on his hand. Tannis wrapped her fingers around the armrests and held on.
“That’s it.” Rico’s voice sounded as though from a distance. “We’ve lost control, and we’re going in.”
On the monitor, the black hole loomed closer as though all the brightness was being sucked from the world. The ship’s lights flashed on, then off and she caught brief glimpses of Callum. Then they went out, leaving them in darkness.
The pressure built until the air was squeezed from her lungs. She was losing control of her senses, everything closing in, until she was aware of nothing but the emptiness ahead.
She tried to keep her eyes open, but it didn’t matter as the ship dove headfirst into the very center of the hole. Everything went black, and her last thought was that yeah, just possibly, this whole job might have been a huge mistake.
But still she couldn’t regret it.
Chapter Twenty-five
Tannis sat in the darkness and realized she was alive.
That was unexpected.
The lights flashed back to life, and she blinked and looked around her. The bridge seemed in good shape, and the others were all awake and unharmed. Callum was already out of his seat and at the monitors. He turned and grinned, his eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement.
“Stay there.”
Yeah, like she was going to get up and start leaping about. She settled back and watched.
The main monitor showed the black hole they had just come through. From this side, it appeared harmless, golden like a sun. On a second monitor, a huge ship floated in the screen. Really huge.