Doran shook his head. “We need you in the shuttle to collect anyone Renny misses.”
Kane gnawed on the inside of his cheek, silently turning the idea over until he locked eyes with Doran and made a single demand. “Promise you’ll watch after Cassy. I know what she did to you was wrong, but—”
“I’ll bring her back,” Doran said. “Or die trying.”
“All right. Then I’m in.”
Kane extended his hand, and for the second time since their fight, Doran shook it. But this gesture was more than an empty peace offering. When they clasped palms, a look of understanding passed between them, an unbreakable trust that they would do whatever it took to bring their people home.
Solara peered out the multipassenger shuttle window and watched the pirates’ hangar door close. It didn’t seem so long ago that she’d entered this ship willingly. Now she would eject herself into empty space if given the chance. She didn’t want to be here when Demarkus realized he’d nabbed the wrong twin.
Glancing at her lap, she strained both wrists against her bindings, but they held firm and delivered a light electric shock as punishment. She jumped in her seat, bumping Gage’s shoulder and drawing the gazes of Cassia and Captain Rossi, who occupied the seats directly across from hers.
The captain brought both bound wrists to his helmet to unfasten it. “No use wasting your oxygen supply,” he said. “Might as well breathe the shuttle air for free.”
Cassia followed suit.
Stretching her spine, Solara peered toward the front of the shuttle and noticed that the pilots had left. She pulled off her helmet. “I escaped from this ship once, and I can do it again. But first I need to unlock these cuffs.”
As soon as Gage removed his headpiece, Cassia and the captain did a simultaneous double take. “Who’s this?” Cassia asked.
“Oh, him?” Solara said, scanning the floor for something to use as a lock pick. “That’s Doran’s evil twin.”
Gage rolled his eyes. “Excuse me for wanting to protect everyone stuck out here in the armpit of the galaxy. Which is exactly the point of my research, by the way.”
“If I were you,” Solara advised, “I’d shut up about that research. If you think your father’s bad, wait until the pirates find out what you can do.” Thumbing at him, she told Cassia and the captain, “Meet Gage Spaulding, the inventor of Infinium. His mom faked his death nine years ago, and they’ve been living out a twisted revenge fantasy ever since.”
“Wow,” Cassia said, wrinkling her nose. “And I thought I had baggage.”
“Enough about me,” Gage dismissed. Leaning forward, he peered out the window at the cluster of men chatting at the far end of the hangar. “What does this Demarkus person want with Doran?”
“To kill him as an example to his men,” Solara said.
“I imagine he’ll do the same to me,” the captain added. “For shooting him in the chest last year.” He lifted one broad shoulder. “Can’t say that I blame him.”
Cassia squirmed in her seat, clearly worried about her own fate. “I think he’ll do a lot worse than kill us.”
Gage snapped his eyes to hers. “What could be worse?”
“A trip to the slave auction,” Cassia said. “That’s probably where we’re headed. Pirates are scum, but they’re not stupid when it comes to business. They know we’re not worth anything dead.”
“Except for me,” the captain said with a half grin, rubbing the spot above his Beatmaster 3000. “They can sell my carcass for spare parts.”
Cassia nudged him with her elbow. “Don’t joke like that.”
“Who’s joking?”
A lump of fear rose in Solara’s throat, but she held her breath and counted backward from ten. The only way she would solve this problem was by staying calm, and by God, she did not come to the outer realm to be sold as a slave. When the countdown finished, she closed her eyes and imagined all the tools within her reach. An idea came to mind, and she touched her pocket to make sure the ore samples were still there.
“You know those rocks I stole from your lab?” she asked Gage.
“Like I’d forget.”
“How combustible are they?”
He slanted her a glance. “Very. Why?”
“Because I think I know a way out of here.” She twisted her hip and brought both hands to the bag in her pocket. The act cost her a dozen electric shocks, but she was able to fish out a few bits of ore and hand them to the others. “Hold on to these. When I give the signal, we’ll make them go boom.”
Gage laughed. “And then what?” He raised an index finger and added, “Assuming we can ignite the ore and we don’t end up with a chest full of shrapnel.”