Afloat by Isabelle Adler

Author:Isabelle Adler [Adler, Isabelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, sci-fi, spaceships/pilots, action-adventure, space battles, abduction, aliens, alien ships, bisexual, demisexual, military
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2021-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Matt turned to Ryce, his heart hammering with awful premonition.

“You don’t suppose whoever fired on us—” he began, his voice strangely hollow.

“No,” Ryce said firmly, glancing sideways at him while still hanging on to the steering sticks. “It had to have been one of the Fleet vessels, mistaking us for an enemy craft. That’s the only logical explanation. The Lisa is fine. Something must be scrambling communications from your adapters, that’s all. Nothing seems to be working like it’s supposed to on this thing.”

Matt let out a long breath. “Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

“See if you can get ahold of someone on your comm,” Ryce said, turning back to the screen. “Mission control would want to know what’s going on. Those things in your bag are their first priority, and they’re currently with us, not Lady Lisa.”

“Okay.”

Matt flexed his hands to stop them from trembling and fished his commlink out of the inner pocket of the flight suit, forgoing trying to use his adapters to establish connection. He scrolled through his contacts until he came upon Grayson’s name. As awkward as their interactions had been, talking to him was preferable to trying to explain to Admiral Cummings how they’d ended up in a malfunctioning Alraki spacecraft, in need of extraction along with his precious alien tech.

He hit the contact, praying that whatever mysterious forces had suddenly prevented him from talking with his crew would relent enough for the call to the admiral’s aide to come through.

“Yes?” Grayson’s imperious voice was heavily distorted by digital interference, and there was no video, but Matt had rarely been happier to hear someone being snooty to him over the commlink.

“Grayson! Thank God,” he said, not bothering hiding his relief. “It’s Matt. We made it out of the frigate before it blew up, but Mr. Easom and I were separated from the rest of the team and our crew after commandeering an Alraki spacecraft. The schematics and the hardware are with us. It’s a long story, but we’ve sustained significant damage, and—”

“Where are you right now?” Grayson responded curtly.

“We’re on our way to the Waga moon,” Matt said. “But I’m not sure we’ll be able to arrive at the base in this thing after someone used us for target practice.” As if to emphasize his words, the high-pitched wail of the thrusters hit an especially jarring note.

“I’ll arrange a transport to come for you,” Grayson said. “Send me your exact coordinates when you land.”

“Great,” Matt said. “Thank you.”

“I’d advise you to maintain complete radio silence as you wait for pickup. The Fleet is shutting off the Waga quadrant as a no-fly zone for now, and it’s best if you don’t add any more confusion to the mix. No more chatting on your comm, please.”

Matt made a face, but he knew it’d be useless to argue. “Fine. In that case, could you contact Walker and make sure everybody aboard the Lisa is okay? We can’t seem to get through to them. The bridge isn’t answering.”

“It’ll take care of it.

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