"Anyone home?" Beryn knocked at the open hatch. The Phoenix was too quiet. He stepped all the way in.
There was a bang in the engine room followed by a round of swearing. Beryn grinned. Things were normal, not the disaster that Will had warned him to expect. They had only snippets of rumors from Linas-Drias. Will pulled Beryn from Tebros, where he really wasn't much help to Jasyn, to see what he could track down. First stop past Landruss and he'd found the Phoenix. It was a surprise. He walked over to the stairs and looked down into the engine.
"Beryn?"
He turned to find Twyla watching him. His grin faded. Something in her face warned him things weren't right.
"Will got worried, we hadn't heard anything from anyone. He sent me to find you."
Twyla sighed. "We were headed for Landruss. The maglev drive shorted just before liftoff. We had to stop to repair it."
"You want help?" Beryn offered.
"Ginni and Darus should have it by now," Twyla answered.
"So where are the rest?" Beryn asked.
"Gone," Twyla said simply.
Beryn dropped his duffel under the table in the galley. "Gone where?"
"Dace disappeared on Linas-Drias. We left right before the Patrol arrived with execution orders." Twyla dropped into a chair. "It was all wrong there. Rumors everywhere about the Emperor being assassinated by his own son. The Patrol was bullying everyone. It was awful, nothing like I expected to find. Nothing like the stories. And before you ask, we don't know anything we didn't know before we left. Except that someone is giving the Emperor-to-be dreamdust. Dace found that out right before she disappeared."
"So where's Tayvis?" Beryn asked. With Dace gone, Tayvis was going to be more than a little dangerous.
"He and Paltronis are starting their own mercenary company. They've got three ships so far. Everett and Xerian went with them."
Beryn dropped into another chair. "They're going after her, aren't they?" He didn't expect an answer. He didn't get one.
"Roland can't, despite his promises. He'll trigger a war that no one wants. He'll try diplomacy, but since no one knows anything on Linas-Drias, he won't ever find her." Twyla pulled her knees up, resting her feet on the edge of the chair.
There was a clatter from the engine room. Ginni was the one swearing this time.
"So what is their plan?" Beryn asked.
Twyla shrugged. "We're supposed to take the Phoenix back to Jasyn and get the Gypsies moving. And talk Roland into putting a price on Tayvis and Paltronis."
"That shouldn't be too hard. When he hears what they've done, Will is going to explode. I'll help you get the ship to Tebros, then I'm going after them. They're going to need—"
Sirens wailed across the port. The com beeped urgently. Twyla looked up sharply.
"What is that?" Beryn asked.
She didn't answer. She hurried into the cockpit and connected the com. "Emergency broadcast. Efraim's under attack." She snapped the com onto internal. "Ginni! Darus! We've got to move and now!"
Beryn shut the hatch and threw his duffel into a locker. It only took a moment to clear the loose items and stow them. Twyla was warming up the engines. Ginni came running up from the engine room. She barely slowed when she saw Beryn.
"Darus is locking down the tools," Ginni said to Twyla as she slid into the pilots chair. "Glad to see you, Beryn. Are you going to get up here and help us fly?"
He took the nav chair and booted up the system. Other ships were lifting from the field. Most of them were merchants, big and slow. They were running for their lives and they knew it.
"Darus," Twyla said into the com, "are we ready to go?" She listened intently. "Get us up, Ginni. Darus is on his way."
The Phoenix roared as it lifted up and away. Ginni pushed the throttle to the limit. The ship shuddered and slipped to the side.
"We just lost the maglev again," Twyla said.
"Where are you headed?" Beryn asked.
"Landruss," Ginni answered. "Someone has to let Will and Roland know what's going on."
The ship screamed through the atmosphere and into space. Darus took a seat in front of the scanners. He started sweeps of the area. He swore softly as they came online.
"We've got more than a dozen ships incoming," he said. "They aren't friendly, either. Get this bird moving, Ginni!"
Streaks of fire shot past them, exploding not far away. Ginni twisted the controls. The Phoenix leapt to one side, spiraling away. Twyla's hands danced over the controls, trying to keep the power balanced.
More shots ripped past. Shockwaves slammed into the ship. The lights dimmed. Alarms began to shriek. Ginni slapped them off and kept flying. Twyla shut down what she could, diverting power to the engines and shields.
"Give me a course," Ginni called to Beryn.
"I'm working on it," he answered. He typed as fast as he could, numbers scrolling over his screen.
"We've got one after us," Darus shouted. "Coming in hard to port."
More fire streaked past. The ship shook and bucked as Ginni hauled it to the side. They were slammed into their chairs. Ginni fought the controls. More fire streaked past.
Something hit. The engine screamed. Smoke poured through the air vents. The lights on the controls went red. Alarms blared. The ship tumbled, out of control. Ginni and Twyla fought to bring the engines back.
"Sudden death," Ginni said and shut off the main relays.
The ship went silent. Everything went dark. Another bolt of fire slammed into the ship. Air began to rush past them.
"Hull breach!" Beryn and Darus ripped open their safety harnesses and ran for the emergency kits.
Ginni hit the power buttons. The ship stayed dead. Only the few emergency lights were on, blood red and dimming.
"Get the suits out," Ginni shouted at Twyla.
One light on the board blinked red, the ship's engine core was redlining. They were in deep trouble. Ginni hit the switch to dump the core. The ship shuddered and bucked as it shot away, shoved out into space. It exploded, sending shards of metal scraping over the ship.
The air was getting thin. Darus and Beryn fought to attach a patch to the side over the gaping hole. Ginni scrambled from the cockpit to try to help.
Twyla had the emergency breathers out. She handed one to Ginni as she hurried past. It wasn't enough for full vacuum but it might buy them a few more minutes.
Ginni hurried past Darus and Beryn. The hole had shredded Jasyn's mural of fish next to the galley. Air screamed out of the engine room. She scrambled down the stairs, barely noticing how buckled and twisted they were. She hit the override and sent the emergency bulkhead crashing shut. The hiss of escaping air slowed.
"Got it," Beryn said. He and Darus stepped back from the new patch that covered most of the fish swimming on the wall.
"Everyone all right? No one hurt?" Twyla asked.
Another hit slammed into the ship sending them tumbling through space. Beryn was thrown into the wall. He wrapped his arms around his head and tried to protect himself. The gravity fields in the ship shut down. He floated free. A locker popped open. Dishes drifted loosely through what was left of their air. Beryn batted them out of his way.
The light flickered back on. The fixtures buzzed, the light dim and fading.
"Twyla?" Ginni called.
Twyla floated near the galley. She had something dark and liquid floating around her. Beryn shoved himself towards Twyla.
"Beryn?" Ginni called from near the cockpit.
"Twyla's hurt," he answered.
Ginni shoved off the wall, floating across the ship to where he floated near Twyla.
Twyla was unconscious, barely breathing. Blood leaked sluggishly from a long cut on her head. More blood soaked through her shipsuit. One leg was twisted strangely. Ginni grabbed Twyla, sending them both spinning into the wall. She wrapped her arms around Twyla and tried to keep her from bashing her leg more.
"How about you?" Beryn asked.
"A little banged up, but not bad," Ginni answered. "You?"
"About the same," Beryn answered. "Darus?"
There wasn't an answer.
"Darus!"
Still no answer.
Grappling hooks clanged over the hull. Metallic scrapings made the ship shudder. Something locked onto the hatch. The door squealed as it was forced open.
"Darus!" Beryn called again.
He caught sight of something floating near Louie's nursery door. What was left of their air was hazy with smoke. The emergency lights flickered, close to dead.
Beryn kicked off, barely catching himself on the doorframe.
The hatch burst open. The ship was suddenly full of men with guns. Beryn reached for Darus' arm. The older man wasn't moving. Blood floated around him, too much blood.
One of the intruders approached, hands out as he dove for Beryn.
Beryn kicked off the wall, spinning wildly. It had been a long time since he'd done any zero-g training. The intruders had no trouble grabbing him. One of them slammed a rifle across his face. His vision blurred. They shoved him across the lounge and through the airlock.
The men grabbed Ginni, throwing her after Beryn. More of the armed men caught her on the other side. Beryn sprawled on the floor of the airlock. He twisted her head to see who had captured them.
The uniforms were dark, no markings or insignia. They didn't match, either. It wasn't Patrol or Federation troops. These had to be pirates. The one holding Ginni shoved her head against the wall.
"There's one injured," one of the men said, coming through the emergency airlock tube. A second man followed him, dragging Twyla. He dumped her to the airlock floor once they were inside the ship's artificial gravity field.
"Clear the ship," someone said.
Ginni kicked backwards. The guard slammed her against the wall, jamming his rifle into her back.
The airlock shut. The emergency tube blew. Beryn slumped on the floor. Darus was still on the ship.
Ginni screamed wordlessly. One of the guards hit her until she stopped. He picked her up and carried her out of the airlock. Another guard picked up Twyla and followed. Beryn's guard grabbed the collar of his tunic and marched him after the others.
"Blast whatever's left into scrap," the pirate leader ordered as he left the airlock. He pushed past the prisoners, pausing just long enough to give Ginni a mock salute. "And thus ends the Phoenix Rising and her crew."
Beryn tried to kick him. His guard slammed his rifle across Beryn's back, sending him stumbling into the wall.
"Behave and you might actually survive," the pirate leader said. "Lock them in the forward brig."
The guards hauled Beryn to his feet. They marched through the ship to a tiny room. The door slid open. The guard shoved him inside. Ginni and Twyla were thrown in after him. The door slid shut again.
Beryn did what he could for them. Ginni had a huge bruise across the side of her face.
"Ginni?" he asked her.
"Mostly bruises," Ginni answered. Her eye was swelling shut. "How is Twyla?"
Beryn straightened her out, trying to make her comfortable on the floor. There weren't any bunks. The room was empty except for a single toilet and sink attached to the wall. Twyla was still unconscious. He shook his head.
"I don't know. She's bleeding pretty bad. Her leg looks like it's shattered." He sat back against the wall, nursing his own bruises.
"And Darus? What about him? He was still on the ship." Ginni's voice rose to a shrill pitch. "They blew the seals. He was still on the ship."
"He didn't feel a thing," Beryn said. "He was already dead, Ginni. That last blow sent him straight into the vent fittings." It was mostly true. Darus wouldn't have survived long in custody, not with the injuries Beryn had seen in the dim light.
Ginni stared at him, her eyes too wide in her face. Her hair was matted with blood on one side. The bruise across her cheek was ugly, swelling up hugely. She buried her face in her hands. A cracked sob escaped her.
Beryn reached for her, pulling her into his arms. He held her while she cried.