High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,79
there were issues. The Sig was a massive step up, but there were only a few of them.
“So you wouldn't fly it; would Linnel?”
She shook her head. “He was one of the workshop engineers for most of my time in the military. I didn't realize he could fly at all. Unless the person on the stretcher was the pilot.” She backed away from the runner. “I wouldn't have thought he would risk it.”
“Except he's not behaving logically right now.” Iver looked toward the camp.
“So, the lander becomes our only way out.” Hana wished the Dynastra was good to fly. They could already be on their way.
“Looks like it.”
She joined Iver, and he pulled her close, so they stood together on the path, entwined in each other's arms.
He kissed her, bending his head and cupping her face with his hands, his body blocking the crisp wind that blew down from the high peaks of the Spikes.
She shivered, pressed closer into him. If they didn't need to go for help, didn't need to get the VSC here to stop Jake and his friends, she'd suggest they grab their packs and walk into the Spikes.
“Maybe they're killing each other in the camp. Maybe when we get there, they'll all be dead.”
Iver nuzzled her temple. “That would suit me. We could just jump in the lander and take off.”
Hana rubbed her cheek against his chin. “Jake's definitely going to get a surprise when he gets back to camp.”
Iver gave a hum of agreement, and she reluctantly stepped back from him.
“Do you think he didn't understand about the doors?” She faced the camp, listening for any sign of carnage.
“What do you mean?” Iver got into step with her as she started up the path.
“I noticed no one told Jake the doors didn't lock at the beginning. Do you think he didn't know?”
Iver stopped. “You think he ordered Brynja and Tillis to come and help down here because he thought the door was locked?”
She nodded. “And they either forgot he didn't know that, or were too afraid of him to tell him.”
“That means he doesn't know a lot about Faldine.”
“And yet, he knew about the camp, and was working with Lancaster and some of the former Faldine rebels.”
Iver waved at the ruin as the top of it came into sight now the shield was down. “Did you pick up on what Barre and Craven were talking about in the ruin? About Cepi?”
Hana slowed as they got closer to the wall. “You think this has something to do with what happened to Cepi's enviro generator?”
“This ruin seemed similar to the one on Cepi to me from the start,” Iver said. “And then there's the hidden generator, creating an encasing shield, just like there was on Cepi.”
“You think the same people built both structures?”
“We never worked out what was powering the Cepi generator, and if this shield is as old as the ruin, I'm willing to bet it's been here thousands of years, humming away.”
“So Craven and Barre knew where to find the shield engine because the team that tried to steal Cepi's generator told them what to look for?” Hana shook her head. “I thought they were all killed.”
“The team that went onto Cepi was killed, but the people who were paying them, who silenced them when they realized the crew they'd sent in wouldn't be able to get off the moon with the generator--they were never caught.”
“You think Jake is working for those people.” Hana spoke slowly.
“I do,” he agreed. “I was told by Admiral Valerian that the VSC thought the Core Companies of Garmen were behind the attempted theft.”
“But the Cores are dismantled now.” They were certainly living through exciting times, Hana reflected. The last year seemed to have been a series of crises. The VSC regaining control of Garmen, a former breakaway planet, was just one of them.
“The Cores are gone,” Iver said. “But not everyone involved with the Cores is accounted for. Some of them scattered before they could be scooped up.”
“Theoretically, what they were doing on Garmen was legal, wasn't it?” Hana wondered what the Cores executives had been involved in that they thought it better to run than stay and face whatever sanction the VSC decided to dish out.
“Not according to the footage Sofie Erdo smuggled off the planet. The owners of the Cores knew they'd be facing prosecution if they walked back into the VSC openly, so most have gone to ground.”
“And you think some of them, the same people