I almost jumped out of my skin when the portal opened.
Looking more shadow than man, Rune jerked his head toward the forward cabin. “Go on, get buckled in. And move it!” He spun to his left and strode down the corridor toward Liriene’s quarters, leaving the five of us to scurry off in the opposite direction.
A million questions raced through my mind as I trotted through the darkened ship right behind Lu, Eran’s hand on my back urging me to hurry. Had the Gaspar diversion worked? Did Rune manage to dispose of our DNA? What about the computer thing … was that taken care of? The planet! What did we really know about the planet? Would this ship even fly that far after more than four hundred years in mothballs? Were we all going to die? What in Hades did we think we were doing?
Somehow, I wound up strapped into a seat between Lu and Eran, staring at Etsuo and Gregor, who stood near the cockpit door, probably waiting for Rune. Then suddenly, he was there, herding Lexi, Jordi, Isidor, Na’weh, and Liriene into the five seats across from us. I breathed a momentary sigh of relief. At least we had all made it this far.
“Okay, listen up,” Rune growled quietly. He was totally focused, all business. I had never seen him so completely alive, so obviously in his element. “We don’t have time to run through the usual preflight equipment checks. Let’s hope this baby powers up the way she’s supposed to, because they’re going to find Garan any minute now, and when they do, they’ll come looking for me. When they hear this craft power up, they’ll all come running.
“Your surplus DNA is history. The planet’s coordinates are locked in, and the network connection to the Janus has been disabled. We’re buttoned up and ready to go.” He took two steps toward the cockpit, then stopped and turned. “Oh. One more thing. I didn’t mention it before, because I didn’t want anybody more nervous than they had to be. It involves takeoff. Since we’ve never flown one of these babies before, we can’t be sure what the ride will be like. Etsuo here knows this ship from stem to stern, and he thinks we’ll be all right. But brace yourselves, because liftoff could be rocky.” The fact that his warning didn’t provoke complete hysteria was all the proof I needed: I had crossed the numbness threshold. Rune scanned our faces, his gaze steady and reassuring. “All set?” he said.
“Not quite.”
The voice came from the rear of the darkened cabin. It was a woman’s voice. Not just any woman’s voice; it was Marisol Cruz’s voice. I recognized it as the death of hope even before I saw Rune brace for battle, before Cruz came to stand in the aisle next to our seats, before my horrified eyes locked onto the Inducer clasped with nauseating familiarity in her all-too-capable right hand.
Ω
Check back next week for the FINAL chapter!
© 2010, Kathy DiSanto, all rights reserved
