Page 43 of The Last Hunt
The creaking quiets to a dull groan, and Maeve leans forward, her gaze focused on the time they’ve been in the jump point. They need to last at least another minute. The seconds tick by so slowly Maeve wants to scream. She focuses on stabilizing the Archer’s flightpath. The ship jolts unevenly through the normally calm jump point space. Aethon is gripping the edge of the dash with one hand, the other tapping out a frantic beat on the controls. TAI and CAL are silent, both dealing with the internal systems of the ship.
A minute and a half later, the Archer winks back into normal space. Maeve immediately halts the ship, her heart racing. Aethon leans back, his body relaxing and rubs a hand over his face before slumping down into his chair.
“Fucking hell,” he groans.
“Status report?” Maeve calls.
“We’re ok!” TAI replies. “We need to reinforce that support strut, but lord willing and the creek don’t rise - we’ll make it to the nearest starbase.”
Maeve leans forward, both elbows on her knees, her face in her hands. “God - that was almost worse than the Narrows.” She sits up and watches as Aethon pats the dash fondly.
“But she held on,” he sighs. “Good girl.”
Maeve swallows hard, adrenaline making her feel a little high. When she gathers herself she asks, “What’s the closest starbase?”
“Valley Starbase is the closest,” CAL says.
The name sticks in Maeve’s mind, and for a moment she can’t remember why. Then it hits her. Valley Starbase is run by Quinlar Cho - a man Maeve and her old mentor Harlan Yates had brought in on a bounty for murder fifteen years ago.
“Fuck,” Maeve groans. “Are there no other starbases around here?”
“You ok, babe?” TAI asks. “Your blood pressure is pretty high.”
“Yours as well, Captain Trell,” CAL adds. “Please take some deep breaths.”
“I can play you some soothing music,” TAI says.
“We almost died, give us a few minutes!” Aethon replies. “Organics take awhile to calm down.” He turns back to Maeve and rolls his eyes. “Mother hens.”
Maeve blows out a hard breath. “TAI, are there no other starbases around here?” she repeats.
“Valley Starbase is closest, Maevey,” TAI replies. “Charger Starbase is the next closest, but it’s too far for the Archer in its current state.”
“Shit,” Maeve mutters, shaking her head.
“Is something wrong with Valley?” Aethon asks. “I know it’s not in the best area of space what with the closest planet being Vitraxia, but they have a repair depot.”
Maeve bites her bottom lip. “The station commander is Quinlar Cho. And he doesn’t like me very much.”
Aethon furrows his brow. “Quinlar Cho…”
Maeve can still see the cold, dead look in Cho’s dark eyes after she and Yates had finally caught him. She’d been eighteen and fresh off Tellamar, hardened by the gang wars and the murder of her parents - but something about Cho’s gaze had sent ice straight through her heart.
“They won’t hold me for long,” Cho had promised as Yates dragged him up to the intake desk at Two Roses headquarters. “And if I ever see either of you again, I’ll make you regret this.” Cho’s words didn’t seem particularly scary to Maeve, but the way he said it made her uneasy down to her bones.
She heard he’d gotten released early - no surprise from the corrupt planet of Vitraxia where he’d been imprisoned - but Maeve had been alarmed when she heard he’d somehow gotten a job as the station commander of Valley Starbase. She’d avoided the place ever since.
“My first bounty,” Maeve says, turning to look at Aethon. “He promised revenge - you know, all the normal shit.” She shakes her head. “But I think he meant it.” She shrugs. “He probably won’t even remember me. It was fifteen years ago. And besides - repair depots aren't under the jurisdiction of the station commander.”
Aethon raises one brow. “We’ll be careful. I’ll take point on the repairs. You can coordinate from on board.”
Maeve clenches her jaw and maps out a route to Valley Starbase. She huffs. “I’m not going to hide on the Archer. It’ll be fine. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about me.”
“Maeve -”
“What’s our top speed, TAI?” Maeve says, cutting Aethon off. He rolls his eyes and turns back around to watch out the viewscreen.
“Half-impulse, honey,” TAI replies.