So Close to Home by Galen Surlak-Ramsey

Author:Galen Surlak-Ramsey [Surlak-Ramsey, Galen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946501233
Publisher: Tiny Fox Press
Published: 2020-03-30T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

A New Ship

“Yseri, Empress. Sitrep,” Tolby said over the comm.

It had been a good five minutes since we dropped the fire door on the Nodari captain, and throughout that time we’d bolted through the art gallery faster than a runaway rocket booster. Although we didn’t think it was following us directly at this point, we could still hear his occasional roars which were more than close enough to keep us pushing our bodies to the breaking point.

“We moved from our prior position, but we’re still a half a kilometer from the hangar,” Yseri said. “We had to ditch a Nodari captain.”

“There’s one down here, too,” I said. “But Tolby nuked its acid cannon thing, and I cracked open its skull.”

“Excellent news, tailless,” Yseri said. “Are you almost to the ship?”

“We’ll be there in two minutes, tops,” I said, checking the map.

“Then get ready for us,” Yseri replied. “We’ll be there soon as well.”

We ran on, taking one last bend to the left and practically jumping down a flight of stairs before reaching the final door—a door that Daphne stood by, patiently waiting for us. Even better, she had Taz with her. The moment the ashidasashi saw me, he leaped off her metallic head and adorably savaged my shoe.

“Taz!” I yelled with delight. “You made it!”

Jack nudged Tolby with an elbow. “Are you getting replaced?”

“Pshhh. Never,” I said, giving my little guy a belly rub.

“Glad to hear,” Tolby said. “But perhaps we should spend more time on opening that door and less time cooing over your pet.”

“Right,” I replied, feeling silly. That said, I didn’t feel that bad. Anyone who knew me for even an hour ought to know I get a case of the squirrels often. Some people find ADHD a pain in the butt to live with, but hey, I say it’s a blessing because without it, I’d miss out on all the super cool stuff the universe has to offer. I mean, the stuff is everywhere! Sometimes I wonder if when we die, we’ll get the stats on everything we found, or maybe the Easter eggs—surely there are some, right? You know, you die, get to the pearly gates or whatever, and there’s a personalized scoreboard. How fun would that be? Mine would dwarf everyone else’s; I just know it. Especially if lost socks somehow factored in. Holy snort, you could outfit—

“Dakota!” Tolby boomed.

I snapped back into the present. “Right, sorry. On it.”

I turned my attention to the door and went to work. It was one of the heavy, gear-like ones we’d encountered before, which made a lot of sense when you figured a prize Progenitor spacecraft lay beyond. Right as I plugged in, the roar of the Nodari captain put the fear of God in me. It wasn’t on top of us yet, but it might as well have been.

“I hope you can get that door open fast,” Jack said as everyone kept their weapons up and pointed to our rear.

“Me too,” I said while my stomach knotted.

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