Cassia nodded as a heavy weight shrouded her heart. She didn’t want to lose any more men, and yet she hated herself for questioning her best friend. She busied her hands by reassembling the med-kit, but it didn’t offer any distraction from her thoughts.
“Don’t worry. I know who I can trust.”
The Hypersonic Deluxe lived up to its reputation.
Kane reached speeds fast enough to strip him bald and peel the brown off his skin. The dashboard gauge indicated he could increase velocity by another twenty percent, but he stuck to his pace. Any faster and he might travel through time.
Besides, he was almost there.
He’d been listening to the exchange between Renny and Doran, whose com-link had come online about an hour ago. Someone must’ve placed a tracker on the Banshee’s shuttle, because no matter where Doran hid, the Origin followed. That alone didn’t pose a threat, but the half-ton pulse cannon mounted to its hull did. One direct shot at the shuttle and Fleece would succeed in dispatching another pirate lord.
Kane didn’t have much of a plan, but he figured he’d start by piloting alongside Doran to see if he could find and dislodge the tracking beacon. Using his com-link, he locked on to the Banshee’s ever-moving position and followed it until he spotted the ship barrel-rolling to escape a blast of cannon fire.
“I see Renny, but not the shuttle,” Kane said through the link. “Where are you hiding, Doran? Let’s see if I can shake your tracker loose.”
Solara’s voice came through the link. “We’re under an abandoned hangar at thirty-nine degrees north, eighty-four degrees west.”
Kane set the coordinates and veered left. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the Origin mirroring his flight pattern. It was like Fleece had overheard the conversation. “Never mind the beacon. I think Fleece is hacking our transmissions.”
“That would explain a lot,” Renny said. “Everyone go offline and change course. Let’s see if that helps.”
It didn’t help.
The Origin continued its relentless pursuit of the shuttle, no matter how well Doran concealed it. Soon it became clear there was no hiding from the ship. Or running from it—not with that much thruster power.
“We need a new plan,” Doran said. “I’m almost out of fuel.”
Kane swore through the com-link. “What we need is a weapon.”
“I’m fresh out of laser cannons,” Renny told them, “but I’ve got a pistol for each hand. Maybe it’s time to take this fight to the ground.”
Kane thought back to the bomb the Origin had dropped out of its waste chute. Whether in the air or on the soil, they didn’t stand a chance against the ship’s firepower. He patted his chest to make sure the jet pack straps were still fastened. “Renny, let me try something first.”
“Like what?”
Kane didn’t want to say it aloud, in case Fleece was listening. “How many hits can the Banshee take?”
“Depends on where they land.”
“Maneuver behind Doran and block as much pulse fire as you can. On my mark, we’ll all shift due west.” When nobody objected, he shouted, “Now!”
Three vessels simultaneously shifted to the west: the Banshee, its shuttle, and the Origin. All except for Kane, who veered east on a collision course with the largest ship. Maybe he didn’t have a pulse cannon, but he had a missile in the form of a brand-new Hypersonic Deluxe.
“What’re you doing?” Renny demanded. “Turn around!”
Kane fisted the wheel and watched the Origin grow larger as he approached it with blinding speed. He stayed above the line of fire until he was near enough to make out the mammoth bolts along the ship’s hull, then he darted toward the cannon mounted at its underbelly.
“Stand down,” Renny yelled. “Kane, that’s an order!”
Kane wasn’t listening. He was too busy mirroring the Origin’s final swerve as Fleece tried to avoid the collision. Kane aimed his shuttle directly at the pulse cannon at the exact moment its barrel swiveled toward him, glowing red and preparing to blast.
Locking the engine at full power, he punched the Eject button and closed his eyes as he flung backward into the air. Whiplash wrenched his neck, but he didn’t hesitate to turn on his jet pack. Its thrusters roared, and he rocketed away from the ship as his shuttle struck the cannon with a deafening blast.
Heat nipped at the back of his neck. He glanced over one shoulder to find the belly of the ship engulfed in flames. There was only one way to extinguish a fire that large, and clearly Fleece knew it, because he pointed the Origin’s nose at the sky and took off like a shot. With full thrusters, it headed toward the atmosphere, where the lack of oxygen would choke the flames. Kane hadn’t destroyed the ship, but he’d definitely put it out of commission for a while.
Once the crew had assembled on the ground, Renny smacked Kane upside the head and then pulled him into a hug. “You just earned two weeks’ bathroom detail. Don’t scare me like that again.”
“Yes, Cap’n.”
Doran glanced at a fragment of the shuttle’s wing that had fallen in the grass. He let out a low whistle. “Was that a Hypersonic Deluxe?”