Star Eaters by Brooke Carter

Author:Brooke Carter [Carter, Brooke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2022-12-22T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Destin tried to fix his control panel, but it was no use. He’d known approximately where they were as soon as Herc mentioned the dead zone. But he needed the nav system to properly chart a course. He was not skilled enough to fly without it. Calla was no help because her people had no tech. They had destroyed it all many years earlier to keep IRIS from finding them.

Finally he decided he would try a reboot. “I’m going to shut the whole thing down and see if that helps,” said Destin. He pulled the main power lever, and everything went dark.

Calla stepped a little closer to him.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We have to wait a bit before turning it back on. It will only be dark for a little while.”

He felt her breathing next to him and the warmth of her arm next to his. The backs of their hands brushed.

“Wow,” she said.

“Huh?” said Destin.

“Look. The stars.”

Destin looked through the main window. Without the ship’s inside lights on, it was dark enough that they could see every little star in the galaxy. It was beautiful.

They stood like that longer than they needed to. Destin didn’t want it to end. Being next to her, feeling her close, and watching the galaxy float by made him feel the best he ever had. It was like there was a link between them or some special thing that drew them together.

Finally Destin pulled the power lever again. The ship came back to life, beeping and lighting up. His control panel reset.

Almost as soon as it got back online, another hail came through.

Calla ducked down.

Destin pressed the comms button. It was Herc again.

“Destin,” said Herc. He had a sly smile on his face. “You’ve been very bad.”

“W-what?” Destin asked. Two more Raider ships popped up on his radar screen.

“IRIS sent us all a message saying you went off plan. We have to bring you in.”

“No,” said Destin. “You can’t. I’m heavy with energy here. I can bring it in myself. I told you, it’s a glitch in my controls.”

Herc laughed. “If you don’t let us bring you in, then we have to take your energy and leave you out here in the dead zone.”

“No. Oh no,” Destin said. Without his nav, he would have to hand fly out of this mess.

“Hey, who is that?” Herc said.

Destin spun around. Calla was standing behind him.

“You will never get this energy!” she yelled. She was so mad that her face had flushed red.

“What the—?” Herc began, but Calla smacked the comms button and cut him off.

“He saw you,” said Destin. “That means IRIS will know you’re here. This is bad.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help it.”

Destin took a deep breath. “Forget it. I’m done with IRIS. But we have to get out of here. Now.”

He put the system into manual flight. “I wish I knew somewhere safe,” he said.

An alarm went off. A threat alert. The other Raiders were launching their Star Eaters. Soon they’d take his energy.

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