Hotbloods 6: Allies

He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his eyes glazing over, a dopey look falling across his face. I knelt beside him, my heart thundering in my chest, and checked for the steady open-and-close of his gills. He was still alive. Satisfied that he’d be fine once he came around, I ran to the hatch, opening it up and beckoning for the others to sneak aboard. As soon as I waved, they hurried up into the belly of Killick’s ship.

“Are you okay?” Navan asked, the moment he got on board. “Did he touch you?”

I shook my head, smiling wryly. “I’m fine. I think he got the short end of the stick, to be honest. Poor guy. I had to take him out with a bit of Aksavdo, but I’m not sure how it works on merevins.”

“Ronad, can you take a look at him?” Navan asked, glancing down at the unconscious merevin. “Just make sure his vitals are okay.”

“Do you think I really hurt him? I only used the amount of force they taught us to use at the training center!” I gasped, suddenly panicked.

“No, don’t worry. He’ll be fine, but we should probably make sure he’s out cold and not just faking.”

Ronad bent over the merevin and started checking his vitals, while Bashrik rushed through to the open cockpit, flicking on the controls and firing up the engines. Everything lit up like a Christmas tree, a thrum of energy pulsing through the length of the ship. Even so, it was far quieter than any vessel I’d ridden in before, the engines barely audible.

“Bash, hold up on taking off. We need to remove any sensors first, to stop us from being tracked. Can you scan the ship for sensor locations?” Navan shouted through to the cockpit.

“Yeah, come look at the blueprints. There aren’t many,” Bashrik called back. Ronad left the merevin on the ground and joined Navan in the cockpit, the pair of them checking out the locations of the sensors and trackers fixed throughout the ship. A moment later, they headed off through the branching corridors, seeking out the locations shown on the monitor.

“Can you help me with this?” I asked tentatively, looking to Angie for help.

She pulled a face, saying nothing as she approached the merevin, but helped me drag Killick toward a nearby door. Mort opened it for us, revealing a bathroom beyond. I figured it was as good a spot as any to keep him locked up. At least here, he couldn’t send out an SOS. We threw him in and wedged the door closed.

“I suppose you’ll be needing a guard dog?” Mort sighed, clearly bored by the prospect.

“Are you volunteering?” I replied.

He shrugged, shifting back into his natural state. “Might as well. This looks like a decent place to guard from,” he said, moving over to a squishy, velvet armchair that faced the bathroom door. He sank down into the cushions, pooling his flesh across the armrests.

“Well, make sure you actually keep an eye on things. We don’t want him getting out and sounding an alarm,” I warned.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, sweet cheeks. I can guard with the best of them.”

Shaking my head, I wondered whether to follow Navan, or head to the cockpit to see what was going on with Bashrik. A sudden, startling whine made me freeze. It was a weird sound, like a cat yowling, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Had we triggered a sensor by coming in here? I’d watched Killick turn off the alarm system, but maybe there was a backup, and that sound was the whine of our time running out.

“What is that?” I muttered, stalking around the room to try to root it out.

“It’s coming from your pants,” Angie said, staring down at the pile of clothes she still held in her hands.

I walked over to her and removed the strange compass from the pocket of my pants, squeezing the sides so that the celestial map shot up in front of us. The same two green dots flashed in the center of the holograph, but another one had appeared on the map, moving toward the farthest edge of the image.

Angie and I exchanged a look of nervous excitement, and the two of us were soon running into the cockpit to show Bashrik.

“It’s another human!” I shrieked.

Angie nodded. “It has to be Lauren!”

“Then let’s go after her,” Bashrik said, noting the spot on the map and charting a course for the same location, his hands moving rapidly across the controls.

Navan and Ronad came back, holding a cluster of circular devices in their hands, a tangle of wires protruding from the back of each one. They stared from the celestial map to the controls, and back again.

“You found her?” Ronad asked.

“She’s on the map! We just need to chase after her before she disappears again,” I urged, looking to Bashrik. “We’re wasting time!”

Bashrik arched an eyebrow. “You got all the sensors?”

Navan nodded. “I’m pretty sure we got them all. We burnt out the circuits, but we should probably chuck them out of the airlock when we get into deep space.”

“Then let’s go get our girl back,” Bashrik said, as Angie looped her arms around his neck in gratitude. The engine pulsed into life, the vessel slowly lifting up and away from the docking bay.

“Cruiser Loligo, state your intent,” a voice crackled through the loudspeakers.

Bashrik pressed the comms button. “This is Killick Loligo, preparing to leave. Please advise.”

“You are clear to exit, Mr. Loligo. Please use the purple route upon departure. Docking clamps have been removed,” the voice confirmed. “We hope you’ve enjoyed your stay with us on Wander, and we hope to see you again.”

“Thank you for your generosity,” Bashrik responded, before turning off the comms. The ship jolted as the clamps came away, allowing the vessel to rise freely through the gap in the yard roof. Bashrik navigated it smoothly away from the wealthy side of the port-planet, pushing the throttle and shooting us out into the anonymity of space. Even I could tell this thing had more power than any of the vessels we’d previously used. The cruiser moved through the atmosphere like a hot knife through butter.

“You mind if I copilot?” Ronad asked, taking the seat beside Bashrik.

“Not at all. Feel free to take the helm,” he replied, as Angie sat herself down in his lap. His arms encircled her waist. I wished I could talk to her like I used to, but things were still awkward between us after the Xiphio incident, and neither of us had made the move to apologize.

Navan had disappeared, too, though I hadn’t heard him leave. It was weird for him to have gone without saying where he was headed, but I was too tired to give it much thought. All I wanted to do was find a room and curl up, forgetting everything for a short while. Wearily, I turned to head out of the cockpit, when Bashrik’s voice stopped me.

“Can you leave the compass? I might need it to keep a tail on Lauren,” he said.

Nodding, I handed the device over, noting the embarrassed flush in Angie’s cheeks as I did so. She couldn’t look me in the eyes, and I knew why. She would never have admitted it, but the fact that a third green dot had shown up meant one thing: I had been right to steal the compass. And even though she wouldn’t apologize for being wrong, it didn’t matter. It had given us back our hope, and that meant more than the rift between us.

“I’m going to hit the hay,” I announced.

“Sleep tight,” Ronad replied kindly.

“Yeah, goodnight, Riley. You’ve earned a rest,” Bashrik added. “This is all because of you.”

“I couldn’t have done any of it without your support,” I said quietly, knowing I’d be waiting a long time if I wanted a similar sentiment from Angie. “Wake me up if anything happens, okay?”

“Will do,” Bashrik chirped. “If you’re looking for Navan, I think he already claimed a room. Last door on the right.”