Page 26 of The Last Hunt
“Shit!” she cries, her hands going automatically to cover her eyes.
“I got it, Maevey!” TAI shouts. “The sensors are working here!”
Maeve feels the Archer shift position and she cracks her eyes open a smidge. TAI has lowered a shade and radiation shield in front of the viewscreen. Maeve gasps at what she sees.
A star.
The crack in the Narrows has spit them out directly in the path of one of this system’s stars. And Daik’s ship is heading right for it.
“Hold up!” Maeve shouts, gripping the joystick hard. TAI gives control of the Archer back to her, and Maeve pulls the ship to a halt. “We can’t follow too close to the star! Its gravity well could pull us in - and though I want this bounty, I’d rather not die for it.”
“Very wise, Maevey,” TAI says, her voice sounding almost breathless.
A blur passes them, and Maeve watches in horror as the Menace races toward the star after Daik’s ship.
“Though it seems as though some are not as wise,” TAI remarks.
“Hail them!” Maeve demands. She leaps down and leans on the dash, still needing to squint at the brightness of the star even through the shade shield.
“No response!” TAI says.
“Aethon -” Maeve says. “No - no - no - Aethon!” Fear rips through her gut as she watches the Menace pelt after Daik’s ship. Maeve sees what’s going to happen before it does. Daik’s tiny Needle-class ship bounces off the outer atmosphere of the star, shooting away from the gravity well and back out into the Keidar Belt. But the Menace is much denser than the Needle-class ship. It shoots straight through the upper atmosphere into the corona. It’s too bright for Maeve to see more, so she flips her viewscreen to see the visuals in map form. Daik’s ship is speeding off into the Keidar Belt. The Menace has halted just inside the star’s corona. She can see it flaring with power, but it’s too far in. It’s caught in the gravity well.
“Fuck,” Maeve chokes out, her body vibrating with adrenaline.
“They’re hailing us,” TAI says. “The Menace.”
“Onscreen!”
Aethon’s face appears on her viewscreen. He’s panting, his face flushed, his dark hair plastered to his sweaty forehead. He leans on the dash, his chest heaving as he breathes. Lights blink behind him as the Menace’s systems are overloaded with radiation.
“Bladesy,” he croaks.
An alarm on the dash of the Archer begins beeping and Maeve sees the radiation levels increasing in intensity on her own ship. She needs to leave in a hurry if she doesn’t want permanent radiation damage. And then there’s Daik - Maeve’s eyes flick over to another light indicating his ship. If she doesn’t turn and chase him now, he’ll make for a jump point. And he might start to wonder how two ships found him relatively easily so deep in the Narrows. He might find the tracker she put on his ship. If he finds it, she’ll have lost her biggest advantage.
“Maeve,” Aethon says, his voice hoarse.
She looks back at him. He shakes his head, his arms rigid as he leans on the dash of the Menace.
“Please, Maeve,” he says. “Please help me.”
“I should leave you there,” Maeve hisses at him, leaning toward his image on her screen. “You blackmailing piece of shit.”
“I never would have -” he pauses, heaving in a breath that looks like it hurts. A red lesion is forming on his neck. Radiation poisoning. “- never would have done it. I would have kept your secret.”
“I don’t believe you,” Maeve snaps. She grits her teeth. She should chase Daik. She should get that bounty and leave this life behind. She should leave Aethon Trell here to die. But would she be able to live with herself?
“I’m sorry, chriss-”
“You don’t get to call me that!” she interrupts. “Shut the fuck up.”
“I’m sorry, Maeve,” he says. His voice breaks up as the radiation starts damaging the Menace’s systems. The last thing Maeve sees is him reaching toward her - then the transmission cuts off. Maeve slams her hand on the metal support beam above her head.
“Can we get them in a tractor beam without being caught in the star’s gravity well?” Maeve demands, running her hands over the dash, adjusting the Archer’s systems to compensate for the radiation. In the corner of her eye, she sees Daik’s ship getting farther and farther away.
“I can make it happen, Maevey,” TAI says, her voice firm.
Through careful maneuvering, Maeve and TAI guide the Archer as close to the Menace as possible. They catch the Menace in a faint tractor beam and painstakingly haul the ship out of the star’s corona. The Archer’s hull groans as Maeve forces her ship to pull the Menace out of danger - fighting the star’s gravity all the while. The heat from the star penetrates her shields and sweat drips off Maeve’s nose and chin. Her clothes are damp with it. Her cheeks are hot, and Maeve is sure she’ll need to dose herself with radiation meds as soon as they’re clear. She doesn’t want to think about the damage Aethon must have sustained.