Mindee Arnett - Avalon

A couple of seconds later and after much scratching, meowing, and cursing, Lizzie reemerged with a struggling Viggo in her arms. She set the cat down and it raced off. No doubt to cause havoc somewhere else.

Jeth sighed as he sat on the nearest chair then stared down at his sister. “So why are you up so early?” He didn’t think she was on the bridge merely to rescue the stupid cat.

“Oh, I, um . . .” Lizzie bit her lip and got to her feet. “I couldn’t sleep. I was wandering the ship and heard Viggo crawling around up here.”

Jeth huffed, refraining from saying anything more about the cat, not when he sensed that his sister was distraught over something. “I couldn’t sleep much either.”

Lizzie nodded, shoving both hands into her front pockets.

Jeth could tell she had something on her mind, and so he waited, leaning back in the chair. He knew not to press.

“There’s, uh, something I’ve been wanting to tell you. . . .”

When she didn’t go on, Jeth said, “What is it, Liz?”

“I found something in my cabin a few days ago. It’s—”

She broke off as Avalon’ s proximity alarm started to blare. Jeth jumped out of his seat, his heart heading into overdrive. He turned to the front window and froze at the sight of a spaceship only a few meters off, so close it nearly swallowed the entire view.

“What the hell?” He dashed toward the pilot’s chair, switched off the ship’s anchoring system, and then pulled back on the control column. The ship lurched hard enough that Lizzie stumbled, half-falling into the comm station chair. She turned off the proximity alarm as Jeth steered them a safe distance away.

By now, the rest of the crew was piling into the bridge, all of them in various stages of disarray.

“Woah, where did that come from?” said Shady. He had one boot on and the other hanging from his hand.

Wonderment filled Lizzie’s voice. “It just appeared. One second, empty space.” She snapped her fingers. “Next second, that.”

Jeth frowned. It did seem like the ship had just appeared, but then again, neither of them had been paying attention to the front window. Still, the ship had been right on top of them before Avalon’ s proximity alarm had gone off. Maybe the sensor is faulty, Jeth told himself.

“Is it the one we’re looking for?” asked Shady.

“I don’t know,” Jeth said. It looked like other Marlins he’d seen, but he didn’t know for sure. “Let’s find out.”

“Already on it,” Celeste said from the copilot’s chair.

Flynn approached the window and pointed out. “Look at that hole.”

Jeth turned his attention the direction Flynn indicated. A large hole marred the ship’s lower bow. It wasn’t the kind of hole you’d expect on a ship that’s been in a firefight or suffered a collision. It wasn’t a ragged, chaotic shape but perfectly symmetrical, like it had been carved with a giant hole punch. The sight of it sent ripples of dread skidding over Jeth’s skin. What had made it? He crossed his arms to keep from shivering.

“It’s the Donerail ,” said Celeste, her voice tense. Jeth turned his gaze toward her, bracing for whatever she was about to say next.

“And according to the scan, there are three life signs on board.”

Nobody spoke. Nobody breathed. The ship had been missing for two months, Hammer had said. Well beyond its food and water capacity. It was adrift, dark, and forlorn.

But not dead.

“HOW’S ANYBODY STILL ALIVE ON THAT THING AFTER ALL this time?” said Shady.

“Got to be some mistake in the scan,” said Flynn, his pointed face pinched with worry.

“No, it’s not,” said Lizzie. Her fingers moved over the control panel in front of her as she examined the results. “The ship still has twelve percent power. Looks like nav and comms are offline, but life support is at seven percent. The gravity drive is fully functioning and cabin pressure is normal.”

Jeth exhaled at this news. Normal cabin pressure meant that whenever that hole had been made, the Donerail had had enough power to lock down the bulkheads surrounding the affected area and maintain hull integrity. If any of the crew or passengers had been near that area when the hole was made they would’ve been blown out to space, but the people elsewhere would’ve been fine.

“With reads that consistent, the scan must be accurate,” Lizzie concluded.

Three people still alive . Jeth cleared his throat. “Hammer’s intel must’ve been wrong.”

“So, what do we do next?” said Milton.

Lizzie gaped at him. “What do you mean? We go over there and rescue them, of course.”

“It’s not that simple, Liz,” Jeth said, running his hands through his hair.

“How do you figure?” She waved at the front window. “They’ve got to be starving. And with life support that low the air will be more than a little toxic. Not to mention wicked cold.”

“But Hammer insisted we’re not to board,” said Shady. “Job stipulation.”

Lizzie scowled at him. “Hammer didn’t think there would be survivors. The rules have gone out the window. Besides, people’s lives are more important than some stupid paycheck.”

“It’s not just the paycheck,” Jeth said. It’s Avalon.

“Right,” Shady continued. “It’s our asses too, if we ignore what Hammer said.”

“The complication,” Milton said, “is the weapon that ship is supposed to have on it. Isn’t that right, Jeth?”

Jeth nodded and sat up straighter. “Lizzie, run a scan for radiation levels and any possible biohazards.” If the scan came back with the results he expected, then those three people over there were dead already. Time just hadn’t caught up with them yet.

Lizzie sniffed but did as he asked.

Only the scan came back negative. For everything.

Jeth read the results four times, his mind refusing to believe it.

“The scan might be faulty,” said Flynn. “This is the Belgrave.”

“It’s not faulty.” Lizzie stood up, turning a fiery gaze on Jeth. “We have to go over there and rescue them.”

Shady crossed his arms. “How many times do we have to say it, little girl? Hammer told us not to board.”

“Hammer doesn’t have to know,” said Lizzie.

Shady made a sound like a growl. “He will, though. He’s got his ways. Like the time he found out I took that tiara on the Feria job.”

Celeste snorted. “That’s only because you went around wearing the stupid thing afterward.”

Jeth was tempted to point out that hiding a stolen tiara was a lot less complicated than hiding three strangers, assuming they brought them on board Avalon .

Lizzie turned an expectant gaze on him. “Come on, Jeth.”

Jeth sighed. His sister—savior of strays and the stranded. He knew he should feel the same, but dread kept getting in the way. And it wasn’t just because of the risk of breaking the deal with Hammer or the possibility that the scan was wrong about the radiation and toxin levels.

No, he dreaded going over there because there had to have been a lot more than three people on the Donerail when it went missing. What had the survivors done with the dead bodies? Were they just lying about? He doubted the hole had taken care of most of them. Maybe those survivors had gotten desperate during all that time adrift and done something else with the bodies.

Shuddering, Jeth forced the thought away before he lost his breakfast.

“Well, Captain?” said Shady. “What do we do?”

Jeth took a deep breath, wishing he didn’t have to make the decision. He wanted to be selfish and cowardly and just leave those people where they were. It would be so easy to moor the Donerail to Avalon and tow it out. The Donerail ’s passengers had survived this long. They might make it a little longer.