Stolen - Nhys Glover Page 0,49

mind to Jenna. She had fallen deathly quiet since telling me to strap in. I wanted to turn my head to look at her, but Charsus was staring at his console so he could press one button or lever after another.

I could fly a spaceship. It was one of the many skills we’d acquired from our fathers, and then later, more intensely, during our trials. But this ship was different from ours. This ship was at once archaic and futuristic in comparison. Sure, I could pilot it in a pinch, but why would I, when Charsus already had the expertise we needed?

The ship suddenly somersaulted; spinning us end-over-end until I couldn’t work out which way was up anymore. Jenna screamed. Charsus screamed. And in Charsus’ head I screamed.

Nausea roiled through me. No, that was Charsus. Or was it Jenna? I was pretty sure I was picking up her feelings as well as her thoughts.

When we finally came to a standstill—right way up I was pleased to note—Charsus looked across at Jenna. She looked positively green.

“You look like you’re about to barf,” she told Charsus in a croaky voice.

He grunted out a laugh. “Must be catching. You all right?”

She nodded, although I didn’t think she felt there was much truth in that nod. This was wild! Was this what it was like all the time for my familial pod, being in each other’s heads all the time? How did it work in bed?

I pushed that thought down, aware Jenna might be reading my thoughts right now. I didn’t want her knowing what a sex-obsessed idiot I’d become.

Charsus turned back to the console and began to initiate take-off. A loud screeching grind had us cowering away in terror from the sound coming from above us. A huge claw was digging its way in!

Jenna screamed again, almost as loud as the screech of tearing metal.

The thruster ignited. With a sudden forward surge we shot up and away. But the claw was still in the fuselage above us and we could hear bumping and thumping, as if the large creature was thrashing to escape.

Charsus spun the ship end-over-end. We all lost our stomachs once more. But a loud tearing sound and the sudden disappearance of the claw told us that the maneuver had worked. We had freed ourselves from the monster.

Charsus straighten up and then brought the ship down low to the ground, covering long distances in seconds. The mountains on the horizon didn’t seem so far away now.

Suddenly, the craft began to lose power. I felt Charsus’ panic as he brought the ship even lower, so he could do yet another emergency landing like the one he’d done on our arrival. We bumped and bounced our way across the uneven ground until we finally slid to a reasonably comfortable standstill.

How far were we from the monster? It didn’t seem like we were going to be able to repeat that maneuver if it found us again.

“It’s going to pry us open like a tin-opener,” Jenna said in numbed shock.

“Only if it followed us. We moved fast. And there’s a good chance we scared it as much as it scared us, and it won’t want a repeat,” Charsus soothed.

I could tell he didn’t quite believe what he was saying, and I hoped Jenna couldn’t read him as well as I did.

“What do we do now?” she breathed, a little of her terror abating.

“Wait and see if it comes to find us. If nothing happens, then we go back to bed.”

‘How long do we wait?’ I asked him.

He shrugged. ‘I do not know. We have no idea how fast that thing moves, or even if it is the only thing that noticed us. There may be more. I am going to hazard a guess that these creatures have territory, their own hunting grounds. If we have crossed into another creature’s territory we might be safe from the first. If it does feel tempted to come after us, the owner of this territory might decide to fight. Really, though, I am making this up as I go along. I have never had to deal with anything like this in my very long life.’

‘I guess that makes three of us, then,’ Jenna piped up with a glint of humor in her tone.

‘Hey, who says I haven’t?’ I joked.

I could feel her grinning at me in droll amusement.

‘Okay, so that’s three of us then,’ I relented, having achieved my goal of lightening the mood.

‘What’s going on with the talking