Jak’ri’s eyes widened as he studied the map.
“What is it?” she asked. He looked stunned.
“I can’t believe how far we are from Purvel. We knew the Gathendiens wouldn’t linger in our solar system after taking us. Even though we’re on the outskirts of Aldebarian Alliance–occupied space and aren’t members of the alliance, we’re close enough to conduct business with many of its member nations and see a lot of import/export traffic.”
He shook his head. “The Gathendiens wouldn’t have wanted to draw notice from any of those ships. But this… We’re so far away from the alliance that without the qhov’rum you said was damaged in the battle with the Kandovar it would take us five and a half Purveli months just to reach Mila 9.”
“What’s Mila 9?”
“A planet on the farthest reaches of explored space. The Segonians have an outpost there.”
“Oh.” Though Ava had never met a Segonian, she knew they were members of the Aldebarian Alliance. And their blood was safe for Immortal Guardians to infuse themselves with. There had been a supply on the Kandovar that the Lasarans said was left over from the biannual Aldebarian Alliance war games, in which soldiers and ships from all member allies assembled and practiced engaging in battle together for times when they needed to defeat common enemies. Eliana had infused herself with that blood several times to confirm it would be safe for the others once they expended the supply of blood from Earth.
“Can this pod sustain us for five and a half months?” Ava didn’t relish the notion of such a long journey in such a small space but would prefer that to death.
“Doubtful,” Jak’ri said. “The standard is two months. This pod was designed to support four travelers, though, so we can probably stretch that to four months. Five if we ration. That should take us close enough to hail Mila 9 even with the subpar communications system in this pod. But I think it highly unlikely that we could evade the Gathendiens for that long.”
So basically she was back to where she had been before the Gathendiens had captured her: stuck in an escape pod with limited resources and no place to go.
And the same bastards who had captured her last time were going to do their damnedest to capture them again.
“Computer,” Jak’ri said, his eyes still on the map, “are there any stations or outposts manned by members of the Aldebarian Alliance closer to us than Mila 9?”
“Negative,” the computer responded.
“Are there any ships that aren’t Gathendien or Akseli nearby?”
“Negative.”
“Plot a course for Mila 9, maximum speed.”
“Plotting course to Mila 9, maximum speed.”
“Render control panel in Alliance Common.”
“Rendering.”
As Ava watched, the symbols on the display transformed from what looked like the gibberish she’d seen on the Gathendien ship to Alliance Common she could only somewhat understand since she was far more adept at speaking Alliance Common than reading it.
Jak’ri rapidly typed on a keyboard of sorts that materialized on the screen. “I’m sending a message to Purvel and sending the same to the Segonian outpost on Mila 9. But the communications array on this pod is not nearly as complex or powerful as that on a ship and has limited range. Computer, enable proximity alert.”
“Proximity alert enabled. Gathendien warship detected.”
“Is it in pursuit?”
“Negative. Warning. Gathendien warship is arming weapons.”
“Drek.”
“Weapons firing.”
Seconds later the pod shook.
Ava grabbed her harness. “Are they trying to blow us up?” she blurted.
He shook his head. “If it were just me, I’d say maybe. But they destroyed a Lasaran battleship with three members of the royal family on board to capture you and your friends. If they intend to claim planets in sectors that remain largely unexplored, they need you to further their research. They’re just trying to scare us.”
“Well, it’s working!”
Again, the pod shook.
“Computer, disable tracking beacon,” Jak’ri ordered.
“This escape pod is not equipped with a tracking beacon,” the computer informed him.
“Is this escape pod equipped with radar-scrambling technology?”
“Affirmative.”
“Enable it.”
“Cloaking enabled.”
Ava frowned. “This pod has cloaking capabilities?” The Lasaran pod hadn’t.
He nodded. “Akselis tend to be as unscrupulous as Gathendiens. Any pods they design and manufacture travel significantly faster than others to enable them to flee the enemies they engender. It doesn’t surprise me at all that they also design them to elude detection. Computer, search for habitable planets we can reach before life support fails.”
“Searching. Search complete. One planet holds the correct parameters. K-54973 possesses an atmosphere and temperature range suitable for Gathendiens.”
“Would it support Akselis?”
“Affirmative.”
Jak’ri looked at her. “Then we should both be able to survive there.”
She nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Computer, change course to K-54973. Maintain maximum speed.”
“Altering course. Anticipated arrival time is two days, seven hours, and sixteen minutes.”
Ava watched Jak’ri type in more commands. “With the greater speed and the radar-scrambling thing, do you think we’ll be able to escape any Gathendiens that will come looking for us?”
“That’s my hope, particularly since we were headed in a different direction before we activated the radar scrambling. Computer, reject all attempts by exterior factions to override my commands.”
“All exterior override attempts will be rejected.”
He stared at the portion of the console that reminded her of a radar image.
Ava tried to understand it. “What’s happening?”
He pointed. “That’s the Gathendien ship.” It was pretty hard to miss. “And that’s us.”
Their little pod looked like a dust mote by comparison.
“What’s that?” she asked as little blips lit up a few times.
“They’re still firing on our past trajectory. Heading to Mila 9 before we enabled radar scrambling might have bought us a little time. Computer, scan for other craft and alert us if any come into range.”
“Affirmative.”
Slumping back in his seat, Jak’ri turned to her.
Ava stared at him, clutching the straps of her harness with a tight grip she hoped would hide the way she trembled. She wasn’t sure what he saw in her face. Perhaps the fact that she was only a hair away from falling apart as reaction set in? But his brows drew down in concern.
Jak’ri swiftly unfastened his harness, then pried her fingers loose and unfastened hers. “It’s okay,” he said softly as he lifted her onto his lap.
Wrapping her arms around him, Ava buried her face in his neck as everything seemed to converge upon her at once. The torture they’d both endured. The battles they’d fought. The killing. Coming so close to being killed themselves. Losing Ziv’ri.