He laughed. “I always end my meditations with a long swim.” He waved toward the ocean. “I like to dive off the cliff.”
Her eyebrows flew up. “That cliff?”
He nodded.
She shook her head. “I love to swim, but no way would I dive off anything this high. Isn’t it dangerous?”
He shrugged. “We are a hardy race. A dive from this distance doesn’t hurt us.”
Cool. Even if she were equally hardy, however, she doubted she would have the courage to make such a jump.
Another breeze caressed them.
“This is nice,” she murmured as peace settled upon her, banishing her worries for a moment.
Again he smiled. “I agree.”
Ava felt a little flutter in her belly as she met his gaze. It was a friendly smile, one that bore no hint of flirtation or leering. But it was so charming and appealing that she found it impossible to remain unaffected.
Though her heartbeat picked up, her breathing had returned to normal. “I guess we should start looking for my friends.”
“As you wish.” Rising, he extended a hand to her.
Ava accepted it and let him pull her to her feet.
As soon as she stood, he released her.
She looked toward the forest. Nerves immediately tightened her stomach into knots as she contemplated descending the steep mountainside. The climb up had terrified her. “Is there another way down we could try?” she asked. “One that isn’t so harrowing?” She was pretty sure that last word wouldn’t translate correctly but didn’t want to say scary.
When he didn’t respond, she glanced over at him.
But he was no longer there.
“Jak’ri?” She glanced behind her, then spun in a quick circle.
Panic suffused her when she discovered she was alone.
“Jak’ri?” she called.
What had happened? Where had he gone? How had he gone? She hadn’t heard any footsteps.
Her eyes went to the ocean.
Her stomach sank.
Had he jumped off the cliff? She hadn’t even heard him move. Hadn’t heard the grass rustle beneath his feet or the splash of someone hitting the water. But where the hell else could he have gone?
She crept over to the edge and peered over it. The ocean had to be at least sixty or seventy feet below her. The waters were calm, no rocks disturbing it.
She waited a long moment. “Jak’ri?” she called again, waiting for his head to appear, for him to surface, grin up at her, and wave.
“Warning,” a woman said calmly. “Proximity alert.”
Confused, Ava looked around but saw no one. “What?”
“Warning. Proximity alert,” the woman repeated, her voice very similar to that of the computer on the Kandovar. “Warning. Proximity alert.”
An alarm sounded, filling the air around Ava as the soil beneath her feet shifted abruptly. A huge chunk of the cliff jerked, then slid toward the ocean, taking her with it.
Ava jerked awake with a cry.
A red light flashed on and off above her as the alarm she’d heard in her dream continued to blare. Wincing, she sat up and glanced around the escape pod that had been her home for the past two weeks.
“Warning. Proximity alert.”
Right. “Alarm off,” she said loudly.
The alarm ceased.
“What’s happening, Evie?” Ava asked as she tapped the button that would turn her makeshift bed back into a captain’s chair of sorts.
“A ship has triggered the escape pod’s proximity alert,” the computer responded.
Her heart leapt. “A ship?” The alarm had blared with at least half a dozen proximity alerts in the past week. But asteroids had caused all of the others.
“Affirmative.”
“What ship? Is it the Kandovar?”
Please, let it be the Kandovar, she urged silently. She had been unable to achieve communication with them, so she had no idea what had happened after the Lasaran ship had launched her escape pod for parts unknown. Had they defeated the Gathendiens? Were they okay? Were her friends okay? Had Eliana and the other immortals made it to their own escape pods during the mass exodus? Because the last time Ava had seen them, they’d been racing off to help the Lasaran crew.
“Negative.”
“Is it another escape pod?”
“Negative. The ship is far too large to be an escape pod.”
“Do you know whose ship it is?”
“Negative.”
“Can you tell me if they’re friend or foe?”
“Please repeat inquiry.”
Right. Sometimes the computer didn’t understand Ava’s questions unless they were very literal. “Can you tell me if those piloting the ship are friendly or hostile?”
“Negative.”
“Can you guess if they are likely to be friendly or hostile?”
“This will require speculation based on an analysis of the ship itself rather than of the beings within it, so my response may be inaccurate.”
“That’s fine. Just do whatever you have to do to make a good guess.”
“Analyzing ship specs. Analysis complete. The ship is Gathendien in origin.”
“Oh crap.” Ava’s heart sank.
“Though I am unable to confirm the identities of those within it,” the computer continued in her tranquil voice that did nothing to dampen Ava’s rising fear, “there is a high probability that they are Gathendien. There is a significantly lower probability that the ship has been seized by pirates.”
There were space pirates? Seriously?
“Either way,” Evie concluded, “the fact that they shielded their presence until they were so close and have not yet hailed us indicates they have hostile intentions.”
“How close are they?” Ava blurted with alarm.
“Close enough to seize the pod.”
“What?” she bleated. “They can do that?”
“Affirmative. One of their docking bay doors is rising, so that does appear to be their intention.”
“Well, can’t we do something to prevent it?”
“Any attempt to elude them will likely fail. But if you order it, I will attempt to evade capture.”
“Yes! Yes! Do that! Get us the hell out of here!”
An invisible force abruptly threw her back against the chair.
“Fleeing proximity,” Evie announced. “Please fasten your harness to avoid injury.”
Ava was already fumbling with the straps and snapping them into place.
“Gathendien ship is in pursuit.”
Ava grunted as she was tossed to the left as if the pod had made a sharp turn. Thank goodness these pods could pilot themselves. She would’ve died from a collision with asteroids days ago otherwise. Another swerve jerked Ava to the right. “What’s happening?” All she could see through the windshield was black space.
“I am attempting to avoid the Gathendien ship’s acquisition beam while heading for Asteroid Belt 116749.”
“Excellent!” Surely it would be easier for a small escape pod to zip through asteroids than it would be for a hulking warship. “Let’s lose them in the asteroids!”
“Unlikely,” Evie said calmly as the pod swerved again. “Asteroid Belt 116749 is far enough away that we will probably be—”