Mindee Arnett - Avalon

As Jeth took a step toward the painting, an alarm began to sound. Shit, shit, shit . So much for instincts. Even worse, this meant Danforth had been right. Damn him. Scowling at the woman, Jeth ripped the painting off the stand and bolted for the door after Shady.

Three guards armed with stunners were waiting outside. Jeth stared at them, wondering how they could’ve gotten there so fast. They stared back, shouting at him to hold still. Jeth didn’t believe they would actually shoot him. He was just a kid. He’d once been a good kid, from a well-known and respected family.

He made a run for it. All three men shot at him at the same time, three stunner blasts striking various parts of his body and knocking him unconscious for hours. During that time strange, painful dreams had kept him company.

There weren’t any dreams this time.

Jeth woke to the feel of someone prodding him hard in the shoulder.

“Come on, Jeth. Get up!”

Celeste .

What’s she doing here? Where is here? What happened?

Jeth opened his eyes. His thoughts remained incoherent until he tried to move. Then agony shot through his body as if someone had doused his nerves with acid. He knew the aftereffects of a stunner well enough, and the memory of what happened struck him full force.

Sierra shot me .

That bitch .

“Good, you’re alive,” Celeste said. Jeth looked at her, but she’d already stood and headed for the door. “Jeth’s awake!” she shouted.

He pushed himself up, trying not to groan. His pride had taken enough of a beating already. He looked around, realizing he was still on the Donerail . “What’s happening?”

Celeste turned back to him. “We’ve been double-crossed.”

“Double-crossed?”

“You know, tricked, duped, betrayed, made to look like idiots. Take your pick.”

Jeth scowled as he lurched to his feet. “Tell me what happened .”

“We’re over here on the Donerail while Vince and Sierra are over there on Avalon . They forced us over here at gunpoint.”

“What?” Jeth pushed past Celeste, breaking into a run. He spotted Flynn coming toward him. That made two of his crew members where they shouldn’t be. Jeth kept going, making his way to the Donerail ’s bridge. The moment he arrived he spotted Avalon through the main windows, and the hammering in his chest slowed a little. His ship was still here. As always, he found comfort in the sight of her.

Lizzie was at the central control station, her fingers flying over the buttons.

Forcing his attention on her, Jeth said, “What’s going on?”

She didn’t look up. “They just disconnected the towlines.”

“What ?” Jeth’s heart began to pound again.

“They’re leaving.”

But they weren’t just leaving. They were stealing his ship. Waves of outrage and dread erupted inside him.

“I’m trying to hack into Avalon’ s nav system, but nothing works on this stupid ship.”

Of course it didn’t. The Donerail was a wreck. Which was why they wanted Avalon . Even with a busted metadrive, Jeth’s ship was better than this one.

He watched in horror as Avalon began to soar away from them. “They’re heading for the border.” He turned to Lizzie. “We’ve got to stop them.”

“Working on it,” Lizzie said, moving to another screen. “Okay, I’ve diverted what power is left on this heap to the remaining engines. It’s not pretty, but we might be able to follow.”

Jeth dashed to the pilot’s chair, instinct taking over. He grabbed the control column and felt the sluggish response. Still, it was better than nothing.

“What do we do?” Celeste asked from behind him.

Jeth glanced over his shoulder. She and Flynn were standing side by side and looking at him like lost children. He shook her off, fighting back the helplessness that made him want to scream and kick something. They’d never be able to keep up with Avalon on this ship.

“Are the guns working, Liz?” Celeste asked a moment later.

“Far as I know. The crow guns, for sure.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeth saw Celeste stride toward the ladder leading up into the crow guns. She yanked it down and started climbing.

“What are you doing?” Lizzie said.

“I’m going to slow them down.”

“You can’t. Milton might get hurt.”

“What?” Jeth said, glancing back at Lizzie.

Her voice shook as she answered him. “He’s still over there.”

Jeth turned to the window. What would they want with Milton? Then the answer came to him—they wouldn’t want him. Milton was probably still passed out in his room, the door chained shut from the inside. It had been impossible for Sierra and Vince to get to him, not without taking the time to saw through the door.

“What about Shady?” Jeth asked, pushing even harder on the Donerail ’s controls. It seemed as if the ship was slowing down rather than going faster.

“Down in the cargo bay,” Celeste said. “He put up a good fight, but Vince took him down with a stunner. Then he threatened to do the same to the rest of us if we didn’t do what he said.”

Jeth had no trouble picturing it. Shady was a helluva good fighter, but he was rough, relying more on brute strength and courage. Vince, on the other hand, was easily as big and strong, but he possessed all the training and experience of an elite combat soldier, too. Shady hadn’t stood much of a chance.

But at least he put up a fight, unlike me . Shame seared Jeth’s insides.

“Get up to the crow,” Jeth said to Celeste. “We’ve got to stop them.”

And with that, he switched on the targeting system and centered the crosshairs of the pilot guns over Avalon’ s port-side thrusters. He exhaled, preparing to do the impossible and fire on his ship.

He pulled the trigger, a spray of gunfire bursting out from the Donerail, but the bullets fell short of the mark. “What the hell?”

“It must be interference from the border. They’re crossing through now,” Lizzie said. Then she gasped. “Oh God.”

“What now?” said Flynn.

“They’re engaging the metadrive.”

“They can’t ,” Jeth said. “The metadrive is failing. The jump won’t work.” Or it might work, but not all the way. They might enter metaspace but never come out of it again, lost forever. Dead. Jeth pushed and pushed against the controls, his hands and forearms aching from the effort. If he could just get into firing range, he might be able to stop them.

A brilliant, pulsating light flashed in front of Jeth’s eyes, making them burn and half-blinding him. He blinked the tears away a moment later and looked out at the empty scene before him.

Avalon was gone.

JETH STARED FOR A LONG TIME AT THAT EMPTY PATCH OF space where his ship had been. She’s gone . His Avalon .

And Milton .

He couldn’t believe it. Refused to believe it. This was just a dream, a horrible nightmare. Two of the most important things in his life had just vanished into the nothingness of metaspace.

He wanted to hit something, except his entire body had gone numb with shock. I won’t go back to Renford, Sierra had said. He closed his eyes, realizing his mistake. He should’ve made sure he and Milton were alone last night. He should’ve been more careful and less trusting. Milton must’ve been right about Cora. Calling Renford meant returning her to the ITA, and that was something Sierra would never let happen.

Jeth shook his head, refusing to justify Sierra’s actions. He didn’t care. Sierra had stolen his ship. He would kill her.