The Lost Ship of the Tucker Rebellion - Marie Sexton Page 0,100

through it, to where Laramie stood stock-still in the center of the blinding beam.

But Laramie wasn’t looking at him. He was looking all around the spherical room.

Denver followed Laramie’s gaze and had to suppress a gasp. Tiny pinpricks of light floated all around them.

“Can you guys see them too?” Denver asked the onlookers in the doorway.

“See what?” Zahn snapped. “The two of you standing there staring at the walls as the minutes tick by? Yeah, we see it.”

Which meant they weren’t seeing the vast expanse of tiny, flickering lights.

“I don’t know. You feel okay?”

Laramie focused on a glowing speck in front of him, and suddenly it seemed to fly toward them, growing in size, pushing the surrounding points out of sight, until it floated in front of them, a brightly glowing orb approximately two feet across.

“Whoa!” Laramie said.

Denver thought it was a bit of an understatement. “What did you do?”

“Gentlemen.” Tonlet’s voice seemed overly loud in the circular space, almost like it came from all directions. “A little louder, so we can all hear, please.” It was a subtle reminder that not everybody knew about Denver and Laramie’s psychic abilities. And once they did know, it was a safe bet not all of them would like it.

Something to be dealt with later.

“They have discovered the control system for the Legacy,” OPAL answered for him. “Laramie has zoomed in on the Kuiper Belt. We passed that asteroid yesterday.”

“How is he doing it?” Zahn demanded. “Can any of us do it? I need to learn!” He began to step down into the bridge, but Dusty held him back.

“Stay the hell out of the way,” she said, her tone icy. “We’re on a time limit here.”

“Indeed. The Titan X fleet will be in a position to fire in approximately 1.4 hours.”

“So soon?” Denver asked. How the hell had they lost so much time?

“The asteroid is the only thing preventing them from being able to fire already.”

“Not good,” Laramie grumbled.

Denver rubbed a hand over his eyes and was surprised to feel grit in the corners of them. He’d been awake for longer than his body was comfortable, but he couldn’t slow down now. “Leave figuring out how to run this thing to us,” he said. “The rest of you should be with your crews. If they rupture the hull of the Legacy, you’ll still be able to make a break for it.”

“You can’t keep how to run this ship a secret, Captain,” Zahn said.

Denver sighed. He’d lost the urge to punch Zahn—he didn’t have the energy for it—but if anyone could bring a man back from the brink solely to lay him out, this guy could. “I don’t know how to run this ship at all yet, and having all of you standing by watching and interrupting us isn’t going to help us figure it out any faster. If you want us to make it out of here without getting arrested, I suggest you get out of the way.”

“Your point is as clear as diamond.” Helpful Tonlet again, making the hair on the back of Denver’s neck stand straight up. “Come on, friends. Let’s leave our intrepid leaders to bond with the Legacy. Once they know how to run her, they’ll tell us.” His eyes glinted in the pale light. “They’ll have to.”

That was the deal. Denver didn’t say anything, just nodded, then looked back at Laramie as they began to walk away, not without complaints. Dusty stayed, but only said, “I’ll be your lookout. Get to work, guys.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Laramie reached out and grabbed Denver’s hand. “Get in here. I have a feeling you’re not gonna get much done from out there.” He tugged, and before Denver could protest, he was engulfed in the same light as his brother.

It didn’t feel any different. He’d expected—well—some sort of connection, but he wasn’t getting that sort of sensation. The only connection he felt was the one he shared with Laramie. Although once he focused on it, he wondered if it weren’t amplified a bit. He couldn’t just sense Laramie’s exhaustion. He could feel it, deep in his bones. His joints ached. Laramie’s accelerated pulse was like a second heartbeat next to Denver’s own. He was running on sheer adrenaline at this point.

“I wasn’t even thinking it.” He was far more worried about escaping the current situation. There’d