Xandros’s eyes narrowed. “Who is flying?”
I pushed my hair off my face. “I am.”
All three of them went very still. “It might be better if I pilot,” Zyair said. “You are an excellent aviator, but?—”
I planted hands on my hips. “Won’t shifting back to human weaken you?”
He gnashed his considerable teeth.
“Rhodes is the better shot,” Xandros said. “I can fly her.”
Both brothers didn’t so much as look at him. But Rhodes’s mouth straightened, and he uttered one word. “Comet.”
“Are you going to hold that against me forever?” Xandros complained.
Rhodes arched a brow.
“Listen,” I said, taking control of the argument. “I might lack combat experience, but we are linked, now. Zyair can stay here, as a dragon. But through our link, he’ll also be with me, on the bridge.”
Zyair’s talons clicked on the metal floor as he clenched his forefeet. But Rhodes, surprisingly, agreed with me. “She is right, brother. It is the best way forward.”
That Zyair agreed with him became obvious when he hissed in frustration. I raised a hand to his muzzle, stroking away the lines of tension along it.
“It will be all right,” I murmured. “You are with me, wherever I go.”
Before he could construct another argument, I spun and left. I heard the rumble of Drake voices in their native tongue—Zyair wasn’t going down without a fight.
His angst filled my mind as I jogged to the bridge. I was grateful that the venom’s pain was bearable enough for him to think through it.
Yani sat in the navigator’s seat with Sookie in her lap. Her fingers absently scratched the hedgegopher as her orange eyes scanned my face. “How is he?”
“He was able to shift to dragon. It’s helping to slow the venom, but it’s still there.”
She nodded. “Manticore venom is powerful stuff. I hope this Amelia woman can deal with it.”
Hope wasn’t a strong enough word. I strapped myself into the pilot’s seat as theStardrifterdropped out of autopilot.
The navcube immediately gathered data from its surroundings,and spat out a holograph with various dots floating about. Ahead of us was the slipstream port, with its attendant infrastructure and collection of waiting ships. It resided just beyond the orbit of a gaseous giant planet whose purple-hued cloud cover spun restlessly.
My attention, however, was instantly drawn to a group of dots coming from around the far side of a small moon. The navcube had colored them green.
Nirzk power signatures. Six, and by their size, they were trouble.
“Watch them,” Yani said, tucking Sookie into her protective pocket.
“Will do,” I answered. The Nirzk ships—fast moving, vicious little starfighters—were on us in an instant.
“Let them make the first move,” Zyair stated over the open comm channel. His voice was hoarse and didn’t sound at all like him.
“What?” exclaimed Xandros. “Has the venom reached your brain?”
“We are within range of the port’s scanners,” Rhodes said patiently.
We were, but only just. They might not care what happens this far out.
Stardriftershook with the effects of a phaser blast off our bow.
“How will that matter if we are annihilated to spacedust?” Xandros snarled.
