"Leave? Now?" Jerimon gaped at Jasyn. "You can't be serious."
"Shut up and strap in or get out and stay here," Jasyn said tightly. She was furious, at Dace for not explaining, although Jasyn understood Dace hadn't had time or privacy. She was angry at Jerimon for acting stupid. She shoved him aside and sat in the navigator's chair. Clark was already warming up the engines.
"Are you flying or not?" Jasyn snarled at her brother. She hated the danger, hated knowing Dace was running again. She was angry at a universe that kept tangling them with enemies they did nothing to deserve. She was angry at the Fates that dictated danger at every turn. She was scared to death for Dace and Beryn. She was angry and upset at Lady Rina for dying. She lashed out at Jerimon. He was handy.
Jerimon flared his nostrils and pinched his lips shut, but he sat in the copilot's chair. Larella slipped in behind him and sat in the scanning chair. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
Jasyn called up the port office. "This is the Phoenix," she said when they answered. "We have an emergency. We're leaving. Now."
"We have orders to lock down the port," the man on the other end answered. "You will shut down your engines and remain—"
"We came here expecting to be safe," Jasyn snapped, cutting across his unnecessary orders. "Half of our crew are running for their lives. You want to explain that?"
"Your crew is known for causing trouble," the man said. "You will remain or you will be charged—"
"We're leaving. You've been paid. And now you've been warned." She cut the signal. "Get us out of here before they can call in reinforcements."
She didn't need to. Clark was already lifting the ship, gunning the engines and squeezing every ounce of power he could out of them. She typed in a course for Ophir, the planet where Scholar held court with his band of teenage misfits. Why Dace chose that planet, Jasyn had no idea. It was a long jump, one that would push their ship, but she set the course anyway.
"Cruisers are after us," Jerimon said, glancing back at the scanning screen. "We're pirates again."
"You could have stayed behind."
Larella surprised her by smacking Jerimon across the back of his head. "We do what is necessary." She turned to Jasyn, her eyes solemn and scared. "We don't go back and help them?"
"We can't," Jasyn said. "Not without getting into so much trouble ourselves that we'd be stuck there for life. Dace said to head for Ophir. She'll meet us there. Somehow." She made herself believe it. After everything she'd seen Dace manage, she'd be there. No matter how bad the odds, Dace managed to beat them. She had to cling to the belief that Dace's luck was still good, at least for getting out of trouble. Her luck at staying out of trouble was bad, not her luck at staying alive, in one piece.
Clark poured on the power. The Phoenix roared, her engines running at capacity for the first time. With empty holds they leapt forward, gaining speed at an incredible rate.
"Jump point," Jasyn said.
Clark hit the slider. They trembled and slid into hyperspace, the ship vibrating. They were moving too fast. It took a moment for the turbulence to clear and the engines to settle. Jasyn sighed and slumped back in her chair.
"Eight days," she said.
"Long jump," Clark said. "Where are we going?"
"Ophir."
"Why?"
"Because Dace said to meet her there."
"I tapped into their datanet before we left," Clark said. "I've got all sorts of information they don't know we have."
"We've got the Patrol after us now," Jerimon said. "And this time we can't blame it on organized crime."
"You'd be surprised what we can do," Clark said. "Relax, Jerimon. Learn to live a little. Take a bit of risk. Quit worrying about rules. They were made to be bent."
"You know, Dace was right," Jasyn said, forcing herself to relax. "She said you only obeyed the rules when they were in your favor, but you expected everyone else to follow them. She also said you had an overrated opinion of authority. Shall we let you run to Patrol?"
"And turn myself in? I'm thinking about it," Jerimon said.
"Then why didn't you? I gave you the chance to leave. You could have stayed on Shamustel." Jasyn studied her brother, realizing that for all the time she'd been flying with him, she still didn't know him very well.
"And miss all the fun? We'll just have to emigrate to the Federation when this is over," he said, referring to the only real government besides the Empire on this side of the galaxy.
"Be my guest," Jasyn said. "I think I'll try Dace's method of making Lowell feel guilty. He's got power. He'll fix it, or he'll deal with me."
"We have to find him first," Clark said.
"So we go to Ophir and start looking," Jasyn said. "That's where he told Dace to take Mart."
"I like the way you think," Clark said.
"A Crystals game," Jasyn said, "only the stakes are higher."
"And not all of us want to play," Jerimon muttered.
"I say we lock him in his cabin," Larella said. "He's getting on my nerves."
Jasyn watched her brother wilt. He swiveled his chair, knocking into Clark and not even noticing it.
"I'm sorry, Larella," Jerimon said. "It's the stress. I spent a year in prison. I don't want to go back."
Larella's eyes were wide with sympathy and curiosity. "What did you do?"
Jasyn rolled her eyes and left the cockpit. Clark followed her. She sat at the table, all her bravado used up. Tears stung her eyes. All the despair she fought flooded through her. She sagged, her chin on her hands. Clark put his hand on her shoulder, warm and comforting.
"She's got Beryn with her," Clark said.
"If he's anything like Caid, I feel sorry for whoever's chasing her." Jasyn made an effort and pushed the despair away. "Here we are again, scrambling for our lives. I don't know how much more I can take."
"Think of how dull life would be." Clark took a seat next to her and pulled out a deck of cards. They were never far away on the ship.
"Think of how calm it would be. Think of how much cheaper it would be not to have to keep paying bribes. Think of how much nicer it would be to not be nervous whenever we spot a Patrol cruiser heading our way."
He laughed. "Lowell's behind this, we'll get out and everything will be fine."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Do you?"
"I don't know what to believe," she said.
He dealt the cards. She picked up her hand. They heard Larella giggle.
"I believe your brother has finally found someone to appreciate him," Clark said as he sorted his cards.
"I think they deserve each other." She played a card.
"I think you're right." Clark picked up her card and added it to his hand. He discarded a different one.
"Are you sorry you married me?" Jasyn asked as she drew another card. "You didn't have to get involved."
He lowered his cards. "And miss out on you? You're the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Your father doesn't believe that."
"My father's opinion doesn't count. And the last time I talked to him, he approved of you."
"That was before we ended up on Xqtl. We were still the heroes of Parrus at the time. At least Dace was."
"We'll be heroes again, Jasyn." He reached for her hand.
She squeezed his hand, warm and alive in her own. "It's your turn," she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back. "You sure you want to keep playing?"
"Why shouldn't I want to?" she said, leaning forward over the table.
"Because," he said, his face inching closer to hers, "you just lost." He spread his hand on the table.
She sat back and had to laugh at the grin on his face. "You cheated."
"So did you." He glanced at the cockpit where they could hear Larella's gasps and giggles accompanying Jerimon's version of events that led to his landing in prison. "I just had an evil idea," he said, his grin getting even wider. "Shall we invite them to play? Loser does dishes, of course."
"Jerimon doesn't stand a chance, does he?" she said.
Clark only grinned. She laughed.