Fain snorted as he pulled his mask back into place. “I’ll get the engines fired. May the gods be with us. This has all the markings of a very short trip.”
Caillen smirked with a nonchalance Desideria definitely didn’t feel as he took over the controls and did a prelim check. “Who wants to live forever?”
Actually, she wouldn’t mind a small dose of immortality. The concept worked well for her.
Fain muttered as the engines roared to life, “Yeah, but no one said I wanted to die today.”
In spite of the danger and her racing heart, Desideria laughed at his dry words. Normal men would be terrified, but Caillen, Hauk and Fain seemed to thrive on imminent danger. Their attitudes were infectious and it brought the warrior in her to the forefront and made her ready to fight to the bitter end. “Where are the guns?”
All three men turned to her with curious stares that annoyed her. “I know how to fight, boys. I am Qillaq.” She narrowed her gaze at Caillen. “You might be able to fly anything with wings. I can shoot anything with a trigger and if it can be aimed, I can use it to maim.”
He did a charming sweep of her body that turned her body strangely hot. It also made her feel very feminine and desirable. “Baby, I never doubted you for a minute.”
Fain jerked his chin to Hauk. “Take her up and don’t get hurt. I’d have to kill your ass if you did.”
She didn’t even want to comment on the oddity of that particular threat. Hauk inclined his head to Fain before he pulled Desideria toward the rear of their ship.
Caillen slid gracefully from the navigator’s into the pilot’s chair as an ion cannon blast struck the shuttle so hard it caused it to rock. Just like old times for him—it wasn’t a launch unless he was under massive local fire. The steel around them squealed in protest, but lucky for them it held. They only had a few seconds before the authorities were in and they were dead.
Really, it would be impossible to fly a shuttle with a giant hole in the door and he ought to know since he’d tried to do it on more than one occasion.
The good news was, he’d actually succeeded in doing it.
Once.
Don’t go there. Some memories just needed to be purged.
Fain arched a brow as he took the con. “You going to jerk my guts out?”
“Probably.”
Another loud blast rocked the craft.
“Now that’s just rude.” Caillen flipped another switch over his head which generated a pulse shield. He heard the soldiers curse and whine as it knocked them flying.
Good, you little bastards. I hope it leaves a mark and ruins your sex plans for at least a week.
He did the final sys check and felt the blood pick up its pace in his bloodstream. The ship was ready to launch.
Except for the fact that the hangar bay door was still closed and reinforcements were arriving by the dozens to keep it blocked and them from leaving.
“That don’t look promising,” Hauk said through the intercom.
All of a sudden, blasts shot from their ship to the Enforcers. The authorities scrambled for cover as the bright color bursts exploded around them and left marks all over the walls of the bay.
Putting the mic in his ear, Caillen grinned at Desideria’s precision. She nailed everything she aimed for which wasn’t the soldiers. She blasted close enough to keep them down or scatter them away from the exit, but not enough to kill.
Go, baby. He respected her mercy and it said a lot about her that she wasn’t gunning them down.
While she did that, Fain hammered the hangar door with their cannons. The hole he created wasn’t that big, but Caillen should be able to squeeze through.
Unless he sneezed. The slightest miscalculation would kill them faster than the Enforcers.
Caillen dropped the grav weights and held the throttle wide open as he headed for the opening at full speed—a fool’s pace indeed and one he was famed for.
He scowled at the angry voices from the Enforcers’ open channel that echoed in his ear. “Is my Andarion rusty or did they just call us the ass of a dung beetle?”
Hauk laughed over the intercom. “You’re an idiot. They said they’re launching fighters to come at us.”
“Ah. I think I like being called a dung beetle’s ass better. Guess we better go, huh?”
“Nah, let’s sit around and invite them for tea.” Fain’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Caillen activated the ship’s force field to the max. “Hold tight, kids. We’re going out hot and we’re staying that way until we either escape or end up as a bright burst of flaming fuel. I hope someone remembered the marshmallows. Just in case. We might as well go into paradise with a sweet taste in our mouths.”
“You’re a sick bastard, Dagan.” Fain took up the navigator’s position. “You know we won’t be able to jump. They’ll have your drive jammed.”
Caillen laughed at his dry, dire tone. “Oh ye of little faith. You ain’t with some run-of-the-mill pilot, giakon. You’re with a Dagan. There’s not a wormhole in this sector I’m not dating tight.”