Page 19 of Tempting Jupiter (Arena Dogs #2)

Chapter Thirteen

Seneca watched the way Jupiter interacted with the woman. He’d never seen him show anything but hate to humans, but it wasn’t Jupiter’s concern for her health that surprised him the most. It was the easy verbal sparring, as if they’d known each other for years.

“You think you can fix the ship?” Jupiter kept a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m no mechanic,” she said. “So if there’s anything big wrong, I doubt I’ll be able to do much. On the other hand, I’m a wiz at computer systems. There’s obviously some systems damage, but I may be able to reroute things enough to get the ship back in functional condition.”

The woman was swaying on her feet. She’d avoided the seat, but eventually had no choice but to use it. She needed rest and time to heal, but time was something they didn’t have.

Jupiter paced as the woman worked. Yes, they’d followed Mercury as pack leader, but they were used to doing their own share of the fighting.

Waiting made Seneca feel useless. It had to be even worse for Jupiter.

It didn’t take long before more lights and computer displays began to flicker on.

A shudder rumbled through the decking and then faded away.

Feeona turned her chair to face them and rested her forearms against her thighs. She’d started to shake again. “I have good news and bad news.”

“What’s the bad news?” Jupiter’s scowl had deepened.

“The maneuvering thrusters aren’t responding at all and the standard space drive is only functioning at half capacity. It won’t get us anywhere.”

Seneca hoped the rest of her news outweighed the bad. “You said there’s good news.”

“Sure. Lots of it. Like, no sign of Fitz or Stone yet.” She tapped the console with one hand. “The Renegade here has enough power to continue to run the grav drive and enviro for the next year or so.”

“So we aren’t in immediate danger,” Jupiter concluded. “But we have no way to get away from this place and the other ships will return eventually.”

The woman lifted her head. The circles beneath her eyes had darkened. She needed rest. “Yes and no. All interstellar ships have two drives: the standard drive for short distances within a system and a skipdrive for long distances. The skipdrive may still be functional.”

Jupiter strode over to her and squatted down in front of her. “Why are you unsure?”

“The skipdrive is tied directly into the navigation systems and right now I’m completely locked out.”

Seneca remembered the conversation he’d witnessed on the human ship. “Owens asked Fitz if he was able to retrieve the navigation data and Fitz told him he was unable to do so.”

“Easy to see why.” The woman shook her head as she spoke. “I’ve never seen this kind of encryption on something so innocuous as nav controls.”

Seneca carefully chose his words. He wasn’t sure what information to reveal to her. “Fitz and Owens seemed to think the ship’s crew attempted to protect information about where the ship came from.”

“That fits.” She turned her attention to him briefly, then returned it to Jupiter, still directly in front of her.

Jupiter took one of her hands and cupped it in his. “This is why Fitz was planning to tow the vessel, so better technicians could attempt to break the encryption. We must not let that happen. We have vowed to destroy this ship before letting them retrieve that information.”

It made Seneca uneasy to see Jupiter place such trust in her. She’d helped them. Saved Jupiter’s life—something that had earned Seneca’s gratitude. Despite that, they knew very little about her and her motives.

“Okay,” the woman answered easily. “I can understand that.” She sat straighter, pulling free of Jupiter’s hands. “But I may be able to clear the existing nav charts and load Fitz’s data. That way I could use the computer to do the skip calculations without actually using the ship’s nav history.”

Jupiter stood, towering over her with his powerful body. “Good solution.”

She looked up to meet his gaze. “Thanks, but it will take me time to implement and once we get where we’re going we’ll be just as dead in the black as we are now.”

“Anywhere would be safer than here,” Jupiter answered.

She rested her good hand on the console as if preparing to get back to work. “I agree. So, I’m going to give it a try.”

Jupiter held her gaze with that look of his, the one that brooked no refusal. “What can we do to help?”

She didn’t hesitate. “You can look around to see what we’ve got.

First priority, any weapons you can use in case we don’t get out of here in time.

Second priority, locate the engineering section in case we need to do anything down there to get this ship moving.

While you’re looking, take an inventory of food and water.

I’ll need to plan our skip so that we don’t run out before we can get off this ship.

Take note of anything else you think will be useful, fresh clothes, meds.

Whatever. I’ll open ship-wide coms, so we’ll be able to hear each other. ”

Jupiter barked for Sen to go and search, but it was clear Jupiter had no intention of going far from the woman’s side as she worked on the computer. She was perilously weak. Jupiter might be restless, but someone needed to make sure she didn’t lose consciousness.

It was the right course of action, even if it did feel all wrong to Seneca. They were a team. They worked together. Or they had. Now Jupiter had the woman and Seneca would search the ship alone.

***

Jupiter wanted to go with Seneca. Something was troubling his pack brother, but it would have to wait.

He would have to be content with the reassuring sound of Seneca’s voice across the ship’s com system as he searched and reported back what he found.

Fee had closed her eyes, connecting to the ship through her device.

She sat eerily still except for the barely perceptible sway or twitch of muscles struggling to keep her upright.

He wanted to hold her so she could relax, but that might prove counterproductive.

If she relaxed, she might lose her battle to stay alert and do… whatever it was she was doing.

He left her for brief moments to investigate nearby.

In the strange square room that he had previously believed served no purpose, he found that pressing on the wall panels revealed hidden cupboards.

Some held equipment or unopened supplies while others held what looked to be personal belongings.

Several scented of Dog when he opened them and held coats, boots, even pouches of coins or small gems or pieces of plascard with writing on them.

All things no Dog on Roma would possess.

None contained weapons, so he returned to check on Fee.

She sat motionless as before, but Bug had taken flight. It circled her like a pooch-snake, a common pet of the patrons. The view screen still showed the space outside the ship. One of the distant dots grew larger as he watched.

Jupiter barked a warning. “They’re coming.”

“I know. I know.” Fee’s voice was little more than a mumble. “We’re going to have to try to skip .”

“Fee.” Jupiter shook her shoulder until her eyes blinked open. “How can we help?”

Bug abruptly zipped off down the corridor that led deeper into the ship.

“Follow Bug and take Seneca with you. I have the nav system and skipdrive controls, but it needs a hard reset.” When he frowned, she reached out and pushed at him. “Just go! I’ll tell you as we go.”

The dot on the display was large enough to make out the shape of a bulky vessel.

He turned and bolted after her flying machine.

He found it hovering over the ramp downward.

As soon as he had it in sight, it headed straight down, floor after floor.

Jupiter ran, pushing his muscles for maximum speed.

Around and around until he could see what had to be the bottom of the ship still a few decks below.

Planting a hand on the safety rail as he continued to move, he vaulted over the side and fell down through the center.

He hit hard at the bottom, but he let his knees bend, ducked his body into a tight ball and led with his shoulder as he let momentum tumble him to the decking.

He managed to roll and come up on his feet.

He spared a heaving breath to bark for Seneca, then dashed after Bug.

Jupiter wove his way through an unfamiliar landscape made of metal, hulking blocks bolted to the floor and walls and cylindrical columns that stretch from floor to ceiling.

A low mechanical hum rumbled around him and the stench of death hung heavy in the air.

Some of the crew must have died down here, then been removed.

The smell would be stronger if the bodies were still there.

Bug hovered in front of a control panel on the face of the biggest object in view. It filled one end of the compartment completely, with snakelike conduits stretching out in all directions and disappearing into the decking, walls, and ceiling.

“Look for a row of glowing red buttons.” Fee’s voice echoed from the ship’s com system.

“There are things glowing red all over this panel,” Jupiter growled.

“Look for five in a row. They are square, not part of the display screen. Actual raised buttons that you have to press in order from left to right. Look where Bug is hovering.”

Seneca appeared at his side. “Look.” He pointed. “They are numbered below.”

“That’s them! Push them, now!” Panic edged Fee’s shout.

As Seneca pressed each button it changed from red to green. When the last button had been pushed, Bug darted over to another area of the control panel.

“Flip these red switches, top to bottom.”

Jupiter flipped each switch as Fee continued with her instructions.

“When you finish that, the big lever to your right will be engaged. You have to pull it down to bypass the safety system and engage the skip-field generator.”

The lever she referred to was easily as big as Sen.

Jupiter reached for it and pulled. His biceps bulged with effort, but it barely moved.

He stepped sideways to get a better grip and give Sen room to help.

They tried together and the lever moved, but only a small portion of the way.

It was nowhere near the bottom where it needed to be.

“Now, guys! We’re running out—”

“Mattie!” Another voice carried through the ship and for a moment Jupiter thought Fitzhew had already boarded the ship.

Seneca grabbed his arm before he would have released the lever. “It comes from the other ship.”

“Come on Mattie. I know you can hear me. You’re not going anywhere in that ship. Let’s talk. We can make a deal.”

Jupiter and Seneca pulled together, making progress centimeters at a time.

Fee didn’t bother to respond to the captain. “There has to be a metal bar that locks into the side of that thing for leverage.” Her words were clipped, fast. They had no time for searching for the bar.

Sen barked. Jupiter saw his intention and braced for the full force of the lever.

Sen released his grip and moved back. He took a few steps then launched himself at the machine, bounding up its face until he could wedge himself between the ceiling and the lever, now beneath his feet.

Aided by his own weight, Sen pushed with his whole body.

It gave, moving to half the full distance.

Jupiter barked. “Again.” This time he added his weight. Sen pushed against the ceiling and Jupiter pulled himself up until his upper body was above the lever, his arms extended downward and his feet no longer touched the floor.

The lever gave way. Seneca and Jupiter landed sprawled on the floor. The ship shuddered beneath them.

“We’re in skipspace.” Fee’s voice broadcast relief more than celebration.

Jupiter reached out and grabbed Sen’s hand. “Victory,” he whispered.

Sen squeezed his hand in return. “Victory.”