B Clones (Clones #1) - Laurann Dohner Page 0,65
fast, but she figured he must be going to the cockpit.
The noise continued. It was an alarm of some sort. She worried what it might mean, certain it couldn’t be good.
She reached the cockpit door to find it open and Blade seated, his hands flying over the controls. She panted, stopping behind him to grab ahold of the back of his chair. Dark, open space met her gaze as she looked out the large front window.
“What is it? What’s wrong, Blade?”
The beeping stopped after he reached up and flipped a switch. “Two ships are approaching us fast.” He paused. “Shit.”
“Is it the authorities?”
“No. It’s the Dorby and the Rezzel.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“They’re two large pirate freighters. They transport things to and from Kellerton Station for the hub. I avoided the main route they normally take but they must have changed course to dodge standard shipping traffic.”
“Are they going to attack us?”
“They’re pirates, and we’re in a luxury shuttle. We’re too tempting a target to resist. Strap in, Hailey.”
She moved to the other seat and sat, fumbling with the belts. “I’m scared,” she admitted shakily.
“They won’t want to blow us up. They’ll only try to disable us. That’s the good news. We also aren’t helpless. These Varlius shuttles have weapons. I’m going to try to outrun and outmaneuver them.”
“Do you think they’re going to get us?”
“I’m not allowing them to board us alive.”
That didn’t help ease her fear. She felt strong vibrations beneath her bare feet touching the floor, and even through the chair. The overhead lights flickered.
“What’s going on?”
“Some power is being diverted to increase our speed. It’s fine. We might lose gravity if the stabilizers are affected. Just stay belted in.”
She saw something appear in the far right corner of the window. Her mouth fell open as she realized what it was.
A very large ship with a long body came into view in the distance. Within seconds, another one followed.
They freighters and the Morgan seemed to be heading right for each other.
“Are we flying at them?”
“We have to get past them. They just happened to be coming from the direction we need to go.”
The ships were getting bigger and closer. “Why can’t we turn the other way and make a run for it?”
“I’m certain they’re already broadcasting our location to every pirate ship. We need to leave the Nornor Sector. It’s riddled with pirates. This is the shortest way out.”
A small red light came shooting out of one of the other ships. She wasn’t certain what it was, but Blade cursed and she felt the floor and her chair vibrate hard again.
Then the two ships seemed to dip out of sight.
“Are they gone?”
“No. They’re still there. You just can’t see them right now. I’m trying to avoid us being hit.”
“By them?”
“The Rezzel opened fire on us.”
She wanted to scream when another blast of red shot past the front viewing window. It didn’t hit, but it came close. Instead, she gasped as her body pulled to the left before she heard a loud whooshing sound.
“Are we running from them now?”
“No. I had to turn since the weapons on the Varlius models are located in the back between the thrusters.” He paused. “Come on…come on… Yes!”
“What?” She twisted her head, staring at him.
“Impact.” He released one of the controls to punch the air with a fist before grabbing it again.
“We’ve been hit!?”
He turned his head and flashed her a cheeky grin. “Not us. Them. And I’m not just trying to disable them. It was a devastating hit. The Rezzel has stopped pursuit.” He faced forward again, his focus on the small screen on the console in front of him, that she couldn’t view too well.
“What about the other ship?”
“Still pursuing. I’m firing on them now.”
She heard another whooshing sound. “That’s what that noise is?”
“Yes.”
Long seconds passed. She couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Did we hit them?”
“I clipped them but they aren’t disabled. Freighters are hard to destroy because of their massive size. But…the Dorby is breaking off pursuit.”
“Why are you frowning?” That sounded like good news to her.
“That was too easy.”
She saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned. She saw both large ships again in the far corner of the window. They were a distance apart now, instead of flying near each other the way they had been before.
“No it wasn’t,” she protested. “My heart is pounding and that was crazy scary.”
“The Dorby is heading toward the Rezzel. Maybe they were critically hit. It’s possible they must