Honor's Knight (Paradox Book 2) by Rachel Bach

Author:Rachel Bach [Bach, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780316221078
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2014-02-25T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

9

The forest here was denser than the high woods Rashid and I had walked through. I couldn’t see more than few feet through the trees, but I scanned the undergrowth with every sensor I had. Other than the usual wildlife, though, the forest was empty, and that made me more nervous than finding a whole battalion of the king’s armored corps.

“Okay,” I said at last. “I give up. Where are your goons?”

“Why would I bother hiring mercenaries if I was just coming to talk to you?” Brenton said.

I glowered at his back. “That’s not what I was talking about. Where are your other symbionts?”

“I didn’t bring them,” he said casually. “Didn’t have time. Rashid’s message said Caldswell had already called in a retrieval team.”

“So it’s just the two of you?” I was almost insulted.

“We expected to have Rashid as well,” Brenton said with a shrug. “He’s no slouch. And it was the Eyes we were worried about fighting, not you.” He glared at me over his shoulder. “I’ve learned my lesson, Miss Morris. If I want to take you on again, I’m going to hire a tank.”

“Don’t count on it,” I said proudly. “I’ve beaten a tank.” Barely, with help, but his words still made me happy. It was a foolish, idiot kind of happy. Brenton was blatantly buttering me up, but after hours of crawling through the dark trying not to get caught by monsters who could hand me my ass without blinking, I was ready to take any reminder that I was actually someone to be feared. The last twenty hours had not been kind to my ego.

The undergrowth was so thick I didn’t see Brenton’s ship until I nearly walked into it. It was a sleek little planet jumper with a long aerodynamic shape that looked brand new and seriously expensive. The heavy guns on its nose and the sound dampeners over its thrusters showed it was all business, too, and I gave an appreciative whistle.

“Damn, Brenton,” I said, reaching up to run my gloved hand over the smooth muzzle of the plasma cannon. “What army did you steal this beauty from?”

“I prefer to say we requisitioned it,” Brenton replied as the door slid soundlessly open.

The ship’s interior was just as nice as the exterior. It was small, just a cockpit directly attached to a crew cabin with two bunks that were currently folded over to form padded benches, but everything had that slick, professional feel you only find in top of the line equipment. Brenton went straight to the pilot’s seat, poking things on the projected display as the engines hummed to life.

“Better strap in,” he said as Nic sank into the navigator’s chair. “Going to be a quick takeoff.”

I dutifully grabbed the wall harness, bracing for a rough ride. But despite Brenton’s warning, the sleek ship lifted off the ground light as a butterfly. Maybe I’d spent too long on the Fool, with its deafening roars and constant shaking, but I barely even felt the thrust as we shot into the night sky.

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