Page 171 of The Last Hope

Thank the gods.

I exhale, my hand sweating on the joystick between my legs.

“I can’t believe that worked,” I say, stunned, my gaze planted on the windshield.

“Of course it did,” Kinden says. “It was my idea. I’d call it a success.”

“And we also just subjected hundreds ofRomuluscadets to third-degree burns and years of pain and suffering,” Padgett says, eyeing Kinden. “What would you call that?”

“An unfortunate casualty.”

Stork spins around in his weaponry chair. “Look, we need to hyperdrive to Earth’s galaxy, but Kinden has to radio theLucretziaand let the current admirals know. Or else the Earthen Fleet will blow us up upon arrival.”

“What?” half of us shout.

Court is the one to answer, “We’re flying a Saltarian starcraft.”

“Bingo,” Stork says, confusing us all again, but we have no time to ask about his choice of word.

The starcraft rumbles violently.

“Gem?” Court asks.

She hurriedly presses buttons on the MEU station. “We have a problem.”

Mykal curses under his breath. My shoulders jostle in my straps. Pain blooms from Mykal’s aching limbs that are tossed around in the jumpchair.

Court grips the armrests of the captain’s chair. “Are we losing engine power?” We all tense.

“We will.” Gem unstraps herself to reach up to another button and switch. “The hyperdrive fuel pump is leaking, and to compensate, the starcraft is using the engine’s reserves.”

We can’t hyperdrive, but what’s worse: if we lose engine fuel, we’ll sputter out and drift uncontrollably in space. We could collide with debris, craters, asteroids, or even a moon—we’ll all fykking explode.

Court inhales strongly. “What’s the best solution?”

“The only solution is to fix the fuel pump.” Gem slows, a dread weighing her movements. “It’s on the outside.”

“The outside?” Mykal frowns.

I fly the starcraft around a jagged asteroid, and Padgett decelerates to a crawl. Conserving fuel.

“The fuel pump is on the outer shell,” Gem says, sinking back in her chair. “These starcrafts were built to fix fuel pumps on the ground. Not in space. In emergencies, the starcraft uses the main fuel supply so we can immediately land and refuel.”

I wipe my palm on my leg and grab the joystick. “Can we refuel anywhere?”

Gem reads out all the energy gauges, and Stork and Court leave their chairs and study the coordinates to the nearest Saltare planet. We’re not out of the Saltarian galaxy because we can’t hyperdrive.

We’re supposed to be going to Earth, and my stomach lurches at the idea of rerouting our course.We’re so close.

We’re so close.

We’re so close.

Stork mentions Saltare-4.

Zimmer unclips himself from the jumpchair. “I’ll do it.”

“What?” My voice spikes above the rest.