Hazard watched her hands move and apologetically shook his head. “I don’t know what any of that means.”
Frustrated, she gritted her teeth and tried not to scream. She pointed forcefully up toward the hatch. “I’m going.”
“No.” Hazard blocked her path. “You’re not.”
“Why?”
“Look,” Hazard gestured to his mouth. “You cannot come with us. There’s an order to shoot you on sight. Before you and Terror kicked up this shit storm with the Splinter memorial attack, we might have been able to keep you safe on the Valiant or hide you in a Shadow Force safe house. That’s not an option right now. The whole fucking galaxy is on fire. We’ve got mutineers taking over ships, and Splinter double agents blowing up our bases. The odds of me getting my ship back to the Valiant without a firefight are slim to none.” Exasperated, he raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Maisie, but if you want to live, you have to go.”
She wanted to argue with him. She wanted to fight her way onto his ship. She wanted to do anything but leave Terror’s side.
But everything Hazard had explained was true. She was considered a terrorist under their laws. With the war now at a fever pitch, there would be no court, no inquiry, to prove her innocence. If she managed to not be shot by one of the men on Hazard’s ship or the Valiant, she would still end up in jail. Terror’s friends might try to fight for her, but they would be risking their own lives and their mates and families. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
If she was taken into custody, they would take her away to prison while Terror was recovering. She would get lost in the meat grinder of justice and end up taking a bullet somewhere on the edge of an Alliance prison yard. She’d probably be tortured, abused and raped before that.
The reality of her choices weighed heavy on her shoulders. She glanced at the hatch and then at the crippled ship. Completely sapped of all energy and unable to even consider fighting, she asked, “What do I do?”
Hazard may not have understood her word-for-word but he got the gist. “Take the escape pod. I had a good look at it before I clamped onto the ship. It’s intact and seems to be undamaged. It won’t get you far, but it will give you a chance to survive.”
He picked up the heavy bag he had dropped through the hatch first and held it out to her. She hefted the strap onto her shoulder and sagged under the weight of the bag. Hazard made sure she was looking at him before he explained, “This is from Vicious. He ordered me to get you on an escape pod and send you as far away from this shit as possible. There’s money in there. Clothing. Rations. Medical supplies.”
He shot a nervous glance at the hatch and pushed her out of the way. He walked over to the hole and called up through it, probably telling his crew that he was coming. He held up both hands and a neatly packaged explosive device was dropped into them.
Oh. That.
He gestured with his head toward the escape door in the floor of the cockpit. Holding up four fingers, he let her know that she would have four minutes before the explosion destroyed the ship. She would have to be careful about jettisoning herself too soon, otherwise the other pilot on Hazard’s ship would see her. Hopefully, the debris from the explosion would hide her long enough to make her escape successful.
With a final agonizing glance at the hatch, Maisie turned and fled toward the escape door. She wrenched it open and pushed the bag of supplies down the chute first. She followed right after and landed on her ass next to the escape pod. She climbed into the pod, stowed her bag and hastily disabled the tracking beacon on the small craft so none of Flint’s cohorts could find her. She glanced at her watch, calculated the time to jettison, and fired up the pod. The tiny ship flared to life, and she relaxed at the sight of all systems operational.
The ship’s onboard navigation asked for a destination. She briefly considered the planet Calyx. She was certain Fay would welcome her and keep her safe, but that was too high a burden to place on Fay’s family. It would be among the first place