Impossible Rescue by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2023-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

11

Liezl expected the station to go off like a flash bomb behind them as they flew away. She didn't learn until later that Shoji went back to release the prisoners. A hot wave of guilt washed over her when she realized what her assumption meant: that she believed Shoji would have detonated the station with all those people still inside.

But his face. His eyes. So cold and faraway. The way he ruthlessly killed those Baz guards but seemed so detached while doing so. How he was the opposite when he killed the warden. How he seemed to delight in it.

She felt guilty for her assumption, but she didn't believe she was wholly wrong in making it.

Liezl all but dumped Kinsey and Isaac in the engineering compartment once they boarded. She gave Wiggins and Krust no indication as to their responsibility to these new crew members, who looked like they were decomposing, and smelled like it, too. And she said nothing to Isaac and Kinsey as to why they were looking at Jason Wiggins, former CEO and well-known human garbage.

She hurried to the cockpit, expecting a battle or an explosion, or maybe just spurred by the adrenaline burning through her. But when she burst in, she found only Shoji calmly in his control harness. The teddy bear was propped on the monitors in front of him.

He didn't jump at her urgency. He didn't bark orders. He gave no indication that they'd just entered the escape phase of a jailbreak. "We're clear," he said. "Go check on the others."

It felt like a dismissal, but Liezl said, "What about—"

"Kinsey and Isaac are your priority." His tone was sharp. "We're going to dock with the destroyer. We'll use their med-bay."

Everything inside her wanted to press for more, but Liezl knew that would lead only to dark stares and grunts. She left the cockpit, hands shaking from adrenaline that now had nowhere to go.

Kinsey and Isaac had pressed themselves together. They communicated with whispers and micro-movements, years of practice keeping their thoughts hidden from prying eyes and ears. They looked like they'd been moved from one cell to another. Their eyes narrowed on Liezl as she dismissed Wiggins and Krust, ordering them to check levels on the engine and see if they'd sustained any damage from kicking in the side of the prison station. She squatted in front of the former captives.

"Do you remember me?" Liezl asked.

Kinsey let out a chuckle, then winced at the pain. "Of course. Just wondering what a bureaucrat, a CEO, and a hostile alien are doing in my ship."

Krust leaned around, appearing from behind the engine casing. "I'm not a bureaucrat," he said. "I don't know what that is."

"You're the hostile alien, idiot," Wiggins snapped. "Danbury is the bureaucrat."

"I don't feel hostile," Krust said.

Liezl sighed and shook her head. "We're still working on our team building, but they know what they're doing."

"They better," Kinsey said. "Don't want any amateurs messing with my engine." Her eyelids became heavy and started to droop.

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