him it was because she had decided to not because he had ordered her. He hid his grin again as he clambered up the last part of the rock face, already anticipating their return to the shuttle.
By the time he reached the crest, though, he’d locked all those thoughts away to concentrate on the matter at hand. He hadn’t been lying to Indra about the danger posed by the automated defenses. It was entirely possible something had occurred and activated them since the shuttle had been abandoned here. Or… in a worst-case scenario, somehow the AI had activated them. Usually AIs could not do that, but from the mission briefing he’d been given, this was an experimental unit… so Liaanas only knew what it was capable of.
Not for the first time in his life, Nyek wished he’d qualified to train as a drakeen pilot. Having one of the heavy-duty combat bots at his back would be an advantage right about now. His eyes narrowed as he crouched just below the rise. Without one, though, he would just have to improvise…
Picking up a rock, he stood and hurled it, aiming around ten feet to his left. Then he quickly dropped back down into cover.
Silence. Nothing moved. And, more importantly, laser cannons didn’t blast his head off or obliterate the part of the ledge where his decoy had landed. Sending up a quick prayer to the goddess for his continued good fortune, he boosted himself up onto the ledge and walked toward the shuttle.
It lay at the back of the small outcrop of rock, canted to its side. It was badly damaged, that much was obvious, but whether that was from the original crash or from subsequent movement down the nearly sheer rock faces above, he couldn’t tell. From the original report, this area had been covered in snow when the shuttle had crashed, so it was entirely possible this wasn’t the original crash site and the shuttle had moved with the melting snows.
He kept his wits about him as he approached and an eye on the remaining cannon array. The other appeared to have been torn off somewhere, but the one nearest to him looked to be functional, if resting in the powered-down state. That didn’t mean anything, though. Under AI control, those things could be powered up and firing in a nanosecond.
Nothing moved and he breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the side of the shuttle, too close to the hull to be in the array’s line of fire. Standing in front of it, he studied the door. It wasn’t damaged, and there was no sign of life.
Taking his blade, he pried open the panel to the side to study the controls. They were dead, which meant the entire shuttle was out of power or there was a disconnect someplace. Some wiring had knocked loose in the crash and the events after it maybe. Walking around the vessel, he did a visual inspection. It had come to rest slightly canted to one side, with its nose against a rock face. Rocks covered the front, over the view screen. He frowned as he bent down, trying to get a better look.
Reaching into a gap between some rocks, he gently pulled something free and then smiled at the jewel-like cube that glittered in his palm. It was part of the view screen, and if that was broken, even just a little, it meant they could get in. He looked up. All they had to do was move all these rocks, shimmy through, and recover the AI unit. Then they’d be on their way.
The smallest sound behind him made him spin like lightning. A second later he had Indra pinned against the side of the shuttle, his blade against her throat. Her stricken gaze clashed with his, her normally golden skin pale, and he froze. He’d come so close to hurting her…
“What did I tell you?” he demanded, fear making his voice harsh. “You were to remain in safety until I called you.”
Carefully, every movement controlled, he lifted the blade, sliding it away into the sheath on his thigh.
“You didn’t call,” she swallowed, her hands clamped around his upper arms. “I thought something had happened to you. But next time I’ll let some fucking plant eat you or something.”
Fear had brought her back to her snippy self. With gentle but firm movements, he tilted her head to the side, checking her delicate skin for cuts.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m not a