Before I could process my legs bending and my feet letting go, I was flying. A moment of weightlessness churned my stomach. I hit the wing of the corsair, the fall pounding my last breath out of my lungs and banging my elbow so hard I lost feeling in my left arm. My weight tipped the wing, and my fingers scrambled to find a hold on the shiny metal surface. Gavin jumped to his stomach and reached for me as Alcor stood in the hatch and held his legs.
I was slipping. Images of a stalagmite piercing my chest as I hit the ground ran through my head. The corsair leveled out, and Gavin’s fingers brushed the tips of mine. His eyes were intense, making me realize just how close I hung over death’s door.
“Just a little farther.”
I bent my knee to climb forward. A trail of blood smeared the wing, and my stomach sickened.
“Don’t look down. Look at me.” Gavin spoke like it was an order. I was the team expedition leader. I should be giving the orders.
I hauled myself forward, and Gavin’s hand closed on mine. “Got her! Alcor, pull us in.”
Alcor dragged us to safety. “That was quite a jump.”
I’d never been so happy to see his boyish face.
He spoke like I was a hero, when all I’d done was try to stay alive. Still, I couldn’t ignore his compliment. “Thanks.”
Lyra helped us climbed down the hatch into the passenger compartment. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?” I was still reeling from the jump. The egg sacks were piled at the rear of the passenger seats. The hatchlings were our insurance in case one of their laser beams still worked. Yet seeing them again sickened my stomach.
“How did you open the loading bay and disable the beam?”
It was a long story, and I didn’t have time to explain the mother brain, the orbs, and the strange reason why the arachnids didn’t kill me. “I dislodged one of the crystals.”
Lyra slumped forward in disappointment, but she had the good sense not to ask any further questions. Alcor held up a skin regenerator, but I pushed by him. “No, I have to talk to Sirius.”
“Why? He’s taking us home.” Alcor clicked the device off, eyes wide with disbelief. They were on to my plan, but I didn’t have time to explain it. Leaving Alcor, Lyra, and Gavin with mouthfuls of questions, I walked to the cockpit and pressed the panel.
The portal opened just as our ship cleared the ceiling of the loading bay. We soared above the jungle, and the sense of freedom intoxicated me until all I wanted to do was stare at the endless purple sky.
Sirius smiled. “If I could leave my controls, I’d wrap my arms around you.”
I pushed my romantic thoughts away. Although I wished he could put his arms around me, I didn’t have time to explore the option. “We can’t go back.”
Sirius pulled on a lever, and we bolted so high, violet sky filled the sight panel and the jungle disappeared beneath us. “Why not?”
“We still have their eggs. If their ship still works, they’ll follow us right to the New Dawn.”
Sirius’s face paled then he nodded. “You’re right.” He pressed a panel, and the back view of the corsair showed the alien ship trailing us. My heart fell to my feet.
Sirius engaged the engines at maximum speed. “Where do you suggest we go?”
The alien ghost’s image flashed in my mind. Now or never. “Due east past the forest to the other side of the peninsula.”
Sirius stiffened. This flight was too much like our last flight, where we’d gone over the ridge to investigate the pods and ended up crashed right in the middle of the field. “That’s where the remaining fields of pod plants are.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “I know.”
He pressed a few buttons, and the corsair’s nose turned east. I sighed with relief. At least we wouldn’t argue. He trusted me now. That trust was the greatest gift he could have given me in that moment. Besides another kiss...
“Is their ship closing in on us?”
Sirius glanced at altitude readings, velocity, and the back video feed. Black smoke radiated off the top of the ship and I wondered if it was normal exhaust, or if I’d caused internal damage.
“You must have done something to their ship, because they can barely keep up.”
I slumped in my chair, feeling the cushy plastic against my back, and allowed myself to breathe. Every second, we took them farther from the New Dawn. “Good. That will buy us some time.”
“I hope you have a plan. Those arachnids won’t come outside in this light. If they can get close enough, they’ll just beam us back in.”
I belted myself in the seat next to him. “Remember the beam that lifted the crystals?”
Sirius glanced at me blank faced. “Yeah.”
“We’re going to collect as may bursting pods as we can, then we’re going to fill this ship with them and abandon it.
Sirius shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
I leaned in and whispered as if they arachnids could hear me over the intercom. “Their eggs.”
Sirius’s eyes widened. “You mean they’ll beam this ship up along with the poison.”
“Exactly.” I owed those alien ghosts so much. “They have a ventilation system, right? You know what those microbes due to brains.”
Sirius turned to me with pride and awe in his eyes. “That’s ingenious.”
I looked away, embarrassed. It wasn’t my plan, but there was no time to explain the alien ghosts, and I wasn’t sure he’d believe me anyway. “We’ll see if it works.”
Just then, the intercom buzzed with life. Crophaven’s image flickered in and out.
I pointed to the screen. “Boost the reception.”
Sirius turned a knob and Crophaven’s face solidified. The lieutenant looked like he had a hundred more wrinkles. Thick circles spread under his eyes. “Nova, is everything okay? What’s going on?”
“The aliens are hostile. I repeat: hostile.”
His eyes widened and his throat constricted like he’d swallowed a fly. “And the team?”
“A few cuts and bruises, but they’re safe.”
The lieutenant’s shoulders rose and fell with relief.
Guilt trickled through me even though it wasn’t my fault. “I’m sorry I couldn’t report sooner. We were captured and our locators couldn’t get through.”
“Understood.” Crophaven flagged someone in the room to dispatch the good news. “Excellent job, Nova.” His eyes held mine in a steady look of pride. “Our systems tell me you’re headed due east to the pod fields, and the alien ship is hot on your tail.”
“That’s correct, Lieutenant.”
“Turn around. I’ll dispatch a fleet of corsairs. They can ensure your escape.”
My fingers tightened on the dashboard and I leaned into the screen. “No. Don’t engage the alien craft. I’ve disabled one of the tractor beams, but the main laser beam may still be functional.”
The wrinkles around Crophaven’s mouth twitched. “With all due respect, Ms. Williams, you can’t fight the ship alone.”
“And you can’t get to us in time unless we turn around. I’m not luring this weapon of mass destruction back to the New Dawn. I have a plan involving the pods. Meet us at the edge of the fields.”
I closed the channel before he could argue and Sirius raised an eyebrow.
I huffed. “He can fire me once this is over.”
Sirius nodded and leaned into the controls as if he could force the ship to the fields faster. “Let’s hope your plan works. I know he’ll bring an army.”
“Then we have to make sure we kill as many of those arachnids as we can before they arrive.”
Leaving Sirius to navigate, I returned to the passenger cabin to explain my plan to the team. This was not the assignment they’d signed up for, but it had to be done.
Gavin stood from his seat while Alcor tended to Lyra’s chest wound in back. “So, what’s going on?”
I grabbed his arm and brought him over to Alcor and Lyra. “Team meeting, starting right now.”
Alcor had just finished bandaging Lyra’s chest. “Not before I see to your wounds.”
My voice snapped. “There’s no time.”
Alcor stood up and glared. I’d never seen him so commanding. “You’re losing too much blood.”
“Oh, all right.” I plopped down and showed him my leg wounds. “I’ll talk as you heal, okay?”
“Good enough for me.” Alcor whipped out the skin regenerator and his fingers flew over the keypad as if he’d used it as much as Dad played Galaxy Battlefield. “This cut is superficial, but this one goes right through a major vein.” He gave me a compassionate smile. “They really got you good.”
Dizziness swam in my head and I realized I’d been pushing myself too hard. What if I didn’t have enough strength to carry the pods? I grabbed his hand in desperation. “Can you heal it?”
“If I use the advanced setting, I can.”
“Advanced setting?” I thought I’d paid perfect attention in med class.
Alcor nodded. “Only experienced doctors are allowed to regenerate important veins and arteries.” His dark eyes sparkled. “You’re lucky my parents taught me how.”
The skin regenerator warmed my leg as Alcor worked. For the first time, I realized why Andromeda had put him on the team. His eyes read that device like a child’s book. He held the beam over my thigh with immense skill and patience, pausing when the device beeped. Yeah, Alcor knew his stuff.
To get my mind off thoughts of my veins regenerating, I studied the faces of my team. Gavin’s jaw was set in grim determination, and Lyra tied her hair back in a messy ponytail, something she never wore back on the New Dawn. They were ready for anything I threw at them.
“Listen up. We can’t go back to the ship. The alien craft is trailing us, and I don’t want to lead them to our home. I have another plan.” I winced as the skin regenerator heated my leg.
“Sorry.” Alcor met my eyes. “Just a moment of pain while I reconfigure the setting.”
I nodded. “We’re going to the pod fields.”
Lyra gasped and I held up a finger to silence the complaint on the tip of her tongue.
“Done.” Alcor gestured to see my arm. He was so intent on healing, I wondered if he was even registering the fact we were headed back into danger.
I didn’t want to distract him now or I’d end up with malformed skin on my arm. I looked at the others. “We’re going to fill this ship with pods and leave the alien eggs on board.”
Gavin raised his laser toward the back of the ship. “Why don’t we just kill the alien eggs now?”
“I’m not sure if they can detect what’s on the ship. We have to leave some alive as a lure.”
Alcor had moved on to my hands, unwrapping the fabric Sirius had tied so well. “Almost done.”
Gavin crossed his arms. “A lure for what?”
I smiled, thinking of their alien eyes gleaming with surprise as the hatch opened and the pods rolled out. “To beam the ship back up full of pods. We have a good chance they’ll be infected just like we were. I know it’s dangerous, and we could get infected, but we have masks. This could be our only chance to effectively wipe out a chunk of their population without killing massive amounts of our people.”
Gavin nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Lyra bit her fingernail. “I don’t know. It sounds risky.”
“Nova’s right.” Alcor stood up and flicked the regenerator off. “From what I’ve seen of these creatures, they have the same anatomical traits we do: eyes, legs, mouth, brain...you know what I mean. It’s most likely the microbes will affect them the same way.”
A new respect for Alcor formed in my mind. I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Gavin and Lyra suited up. I turned back to Alcor. “Thanks.”
He shrugged. “It’s my job to heal.”
I shook my head. “I know. Thanks for backing me up.”
Alcor stuffed the regenerator in his pocket as quick and smoothly as I holstered my laser. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t believe in you.”
I realized, if I was to be a good team expedition leader, I had to believe in him as well.