Jasyn slammed a pot into the sink of sudsy water. Bubbles spilled over the side and ran onto the floor of the hut. She attacked it with a brush, pretending it was Lowell as she scoured it clean.
“Go cook lunch. What good is that doing? Why isn’t he out there looking for her? Why are they all just sitting around talking?” She wiped her face with the back of one hand. “Stupid.”
“Who’s stupid?” Clark asked, walking in. The hut was marginally cooler than outside, due mostly to an ancient fan that creaked as it stirred the air.
“Everyone and everything here.” Jasyn hauled the pot out of the sink. “What are they doing, while I’m in here scrubbing things that have never been cleaned before. Any news?”
He took the pot from her and rinsed it under the barely trickling tap. “Trey finally heard from his lost agent. Lowell had a laughing fit for some reason when he called in.”
Jasyn paused, another pot raised above the bubbles. “Why would Lowell laugh over something like that?”
“Who knows? He said he’d found Dace. They sent a flitter two hours ago to pick her up.”
“Then where is she?” Jasyn drowned another pot. “Two hours is a long time.”
“They didn’t tell me anything, but I think something else went wrong. The other flitter left an hour ago with some of those new Patrol Enforcers Chief Querran called in.” He put the clean pot to one side. “They had some pretty sophisticated tracking equipment. Trey told them it would be junk out here.”
“I hate that no one tells me anything.”
“You’re worried.” Clark pushed a strand of hair to one side and rubbed her neck. “So am I.”
“So let’s do something. I’m sick of waiting around.”
“You just hate cooking and slaving away in here,” Clark teased.
“I’m billing Lowell for this,” Jasyn promised. She lifted her hands from the sink, wiping off bubbles. “It’s ruining my hands.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Clark said, moving behind her and taking her hands.
“Clark, someone might see,” Jasyn said, nudging him with an elbow.
“So?” He kissed the back of her neck. She melted against him. “You’re making it very difficult to stop,” he said into her hair.
“Do you know where they’re looking? There’s one more flitter sitting out there.”
“What are you thinking, Jasyn?”
She turned in his arms. “Finding Dace isn’t Lowell’s priority. I doubt he’s even started looking for her. You know where she was found. You can fly a flitter. I can look.”
“I think you’re underestimating Lowell and that is not a smart thing to do.”
“Then I’ll fly myself. I’m not going to wait around here any longer.” She pushed away from him, grabbing a towel to dry her arms. “Are you coming or not?” she asked, pausing at the door.
“Lowell’s going to nail my hide to the wall,” Clark muttered as he hurried to catch up with Jasyn.
No one looked twice as they climbed into the flitter and started it. The two of them had been flying back and forth from the mansion for most of the night and morning. Clark lifted up, pulling the flitter around and heading out as if making another run.
“The air currents in that area are tricky,” he said to Jasyn once they cleared the camp. “And half the instruments don’t work right.”
“So we fly low and look,” Jasyn said.
“Through trees?”
“Are you trying to talk me out of this?”
“Yes.”
“Then land and you can walk back. I’m going to look for her, Clark. You can help or you can go away.”
“I’ll help. I’m just warning you that it’s not going to be easy.” He stopped talking as they crested the ridge.
Another flitter rose from the valley below the mansion. Black smoke trailed from its engines. It lurched drunkenly into the air.
“That’s not one of ours,” Clark said.
“Get closer.”
Clark lifted them higher, trying to avoid the crosswinds just above the ridge. The other flitter turned in their direction. White smoke erupted from a front port. Clark swore and twisted the flitter down and to one side. A missile screamed past, exploding behind them. The blast knocked their flitter half around. Clark straightened out.
“Gun controls are under your left hand.” He reached for the com, hoping it would work.
“Guns?” Jasyn asked, eyes wide.
Clark leaned far over and flipped the panel open. The other flitter circled around, trying to get above and behind them. Clark sent their flitter racing down the valley, flying low and fighting wind.
“Targeting sights,” he said, tapping a screen that glowed blue. “Hit the button to fire. There isn’t much of a charge but maybe it’s enough to discourage them. Ready?”
Jasyn nodded, moving her hands nervously over the controls.
“Then hang on.” Clark pulled the flitter into a steep climb. The engines whined. He leveled it off and shoved the throttle forward. The flitter shot ahead. Clark swung it to the side, carving a wide curve through the air.
They caught the other flitter’s tail as he finished the turn. Smoke poured from the engines as it fought to gain altitude. The targeting screen lit up red. Jasyn stabbed the button in front of her. Red bolts of light shot from their flitter. The other flitter swerved, firing back. Clark dropped altitude and the bolts passed overhead.
The other flitter slid to the side, dropping down into the valley. Clark turned the flitter on its side and followed them down. Jasyn swiveled the controls, aiming the guns. She shot again and missed, hitting a tree instead. It went down in a shower of sparks.
The other flitter lifted, twisting around to get behind them. Clark spun up and away in the opposite direction. They both turned and ending up facing each other and racing forward. Jasyn bit her lip in concentration and hit the firing button. One bolt glanced along the side of the other flitter. The engine burst into flames. The flitter spiraled away. Clark followed it down. It fired a single burst as its spinning turned it in their direction. One bolt hit, cracking the windshield and sending them into their own spiraling descent.
The other flitter fluttered down, skipping across the ground, tearing up trees, before finally coming to rest crumpled against an outcrop of rock at the far end of a long clearing, smoke billowing. The bare ground that showed was mostly rock. Clumps of hardy plants clung to pockets of soil. Clark fought the controls and managed a slightly more controlled descent into the other end of the clearing. The flitter settled tilted to one side.
“Now what?”
“You keep calling.” He handed her the headset to the com.
She reached past him and hit the emergency beacon. “I come with you, if you’re going to go running out there and get shot at. Let that signal them.”
“There should be guns in the back,” Clark said, knowing he wasn’t going to win any arguments with Jasyn. “Just be careful.”
“You, too,” she answered.