“No,” he firmly stated. “We’re entering the atmosphere. It might become harsh. Just know we’ll make it. I have you.”
He closed his eyes and took the opportunity to brush his lips against her soft skin. Kelsey didn’t flinch away at the feel of his lips on her forehead. She grabbed hold of his wrist and clung to him tightly.
“Thank you for trying to save me.”
“I will succeed in saving you,” Crath replied, choked up a bit by emotion at the possible lie.
He’d finally found a human to love and they were probably going to die. At least they’d go together.
It deeply saddened him. As many times as Crath imagined finding someone from her race to bond with, Kelsey was more than he’d ever hoped for. He liked her fiery spirit and courage. She also held a job comparable to his. Both of them put away criminals.
Kelsey was perfect.
The rattling grew worse, almost violent. “Three minutes,” he warned.
“Until what?”
“To reach the surface. Remember that. Just three minutes maximum. Then the worst will be over.”
He adjusted his arm to protect their faces better. He also wrapped his arm more firmly over hers to make sure they weren’t flung away from her body when the pod ejected. That could cause her hands to strike the sides of the pod with enough force to break bones before the padding activated. He’d survived a previous pod being deployed during a planetary crash, and it was one of the worst experiences he’d ever had.
Now he was about to do it again. On purpose.
Crath hoped The Vorge would understand his coded words when they received his transmission. He’d told his brother Cavas about a pirate who’d crashed a ship on a planet to fake his own death and fool the authorities hunting him. It had been Crath’s second-biggest challenge to find the killer. The planet he’d chosen had technology that made scanning for life signs impossible. He’d had to literally track down the pirate the old fashioned way.
Crath had mentioned seeing York and Sara’s eyes, specifically, because of their color. The planet they were about to crash on was predominantly blue and green. He’d also told them he’d need a lift, was in trouble, and used his undercover name to remind them about his wrist tracker. It could be used to locate him. He’d shared the secured frequency with his littermates in case they ever needed to find him again.
The pod ejected with an earsplitting boom. Gravity stabilizers went offline. The female in his arms screamed as they were violently spun. It was a sickening feeling. He held Kelsey tighter, ignoring how the high-pitched noise of her terror hurt his sensitive ears.
Her screams abruptly cut off at a particularly violent spin. The belts kept them from being flung into the pod walls. He was grateful that he’d belted her in with him instead of just attempting to hold her. No matter his strength, he’d never have been able to succeed. It took everything he had just to keep her head against him and her arms pressed to her body.
Alarms blared inside the pod. He didn’t bother to open his eyes or try to peek at the monitor. They were rapidly falling toward the planet’s surface. At any second, the pod’s landing thrusters would engage to slow them before impact. When they did, he nearly lost his last meal at the brutal jerk.
The spinning stopped as they leveled out.
Kelsey’s body had gone limp against his. He hoped she’d just fainted and wasn’t injured. Regardless, there was nothing he could do until the pod landed. Hopefully, in one piece and intact.
He heard a loud whooshing noise and tensed. Large inflated pads suddenly crowded them, deploying from the walls and ceiling. It was a protective feature to cushion the passenger from brutal impacts. It was also why he’d covered their faces.
The landing thrusters suddenly whined as the pod attempted to slow their descent. They were slightly muted thanks to the protective cushioning between them and the interior walls of the pod. He forced his body to relax to avoid tension injuries from occurring, hoping the impact would be survivable.
They hit the surface hard, despite the thrusters, and the pod rolled again. The thrusters cut out entirely. His body was buffeted against the padding. All the while, Crath clung to his human. They hit something—and then everything came to a stop. All the noises died.
He sucked in air and felt the security pads deflating, the pressure against his body withdrawing.
They were mostly upright but tilted backward at a slight angle The heavily weighted underside of the pod had clearly worked properly, since they hadn’t landed upside down or lying sideways. The latter might have blocked the exit or caused injuries from falling when the passenger unbelted from the seat.
Crath lowered his arm, seeing the pod interior intact. He fixed his attention on Kelsey next. She breathed but remained unconscious. He took a deep breath through his nose, not scenting blood. He carefully began to unstrap them from the seat.
He needed to go outside to make certain the pod couldn’t be easily seen. Otherwise, he’d have to find something to cover it up with in case the Cristos did a fly over. He snarled over the pod’s tight confines as he lifted his human gently and sat her slumped body on the seat after he stood.
He didn’t see any visible damage to Kelsey. He turned, hating to leave her for even a moment, and unsealed the pod. The door hatch only opened a few inches, obviously damaged. He gripped the edges of it and pushed hard. Metal groaned but he got it to open wider.
He stared at the alien planet. A heavy canopy of trees mostly hid the sky from his view. He had to wiggle his body through the door to step on…mud. His boot slid a little but he caught his balance and leaned out farther to view their surroundings.
They’d landed in a heavily forested area, just the way he’d planned. The pod had come down on a small hill and they’d slid about ten feet before it had stopped, leaving a clear trail. He rushed outside and grabbed a nearby leafy bush, ripping large chucks of vegetation off. He climbed up the hillside, throwing the shrubbery over the deep ruts of wet dirt that had been scored into the ground. He kept doing so until the trail no longer showed, using several precious minutes six minutes.
The sound of a faint engine had him cursing and rushing back to the pod. He shoved at the door with his shoulder as he leaned in, forcing it open even wider. A quick tap on his wristband activated a shield around him, for a circumference of five feet. Crath grabbed the sack of supplies, using the bag’s strap to hook it over his shoulder. He then placed the shuttle’s emergency med kit on Kelsey’s lap before gently lifting her out of the pod.
The engine sound grew louder. Crath turned with the small human in his arms and started to run away from the pod and deeper into the thickly grown trees. If the Cristos found the pod, he wouldn’t make it easy for them to be captured.
Nothing and no one was going to take Kelsey away from him. He already considered her to be his life-lock.
The engine sounds closer still, he ducked against a wide tree trunk, putting his back to it, and peered up at the thick canopy of branches. The leaves were huge and nearly blocked out the sky. He caught a glimpse of something in the distance. At least one Cristos ship had followed them to the planet. He also saw smoke blackening the air near where it flew.
That sight made him smile. The shuttle must have exploded on impact to make that much smoke, just as he’d hoped. He held still, watching as the enemy ship circled around the crash site in the distance. He feared leaving his hiding spot in case they had sensors to track moving objects.