Wait, Kell said.
She shouted above the clamor, Were going to be cosmic powder in a second.
Wait, he said again. Then, Trust me.
Despite the chaos of the storm around them, she held his dark, cool gaze. Once more, she marveled that he trusted her enough to put his life in her hands.
So she waited, letting the energy current take the ship where it willed. Incredibly, the hulls shaking subsided, and the ships wild trajectory evened. Mara felt the controls ease back into her command.
How? she asked.
Sometimes, its better to let the current take you where it wants to go.
She chuckled, then cursed when a blade of lightning shot from the clouds and clipped Arcadia s wing. The ship screamed and bucked. Mara held tight to the controls.
Checking the energy shields readout, she saw that Arcadia couldnt take many more direct hits.
More lightning struck, and Mara just managed to steer away from thembarely. She used every ounce of piloting skill she possessed to weave and dodge the lightning, sweat filming her back.
Kells brow furrowed, and the flashes of garish light from the lightning carved the lines and hollows of his hard face.
Does the cockpit window have viewing filters? he asked.
Yesusing the planetary filter now. The filter allowed her to keep track of planetary masses,
no matter what obstruction blocked her view. The shape of Ryge could be seen through the thick morass of energy clouds.
Use the spectral resonance filter.
She frowned. Why?
No time to explain why. Do it.
She never took kindly to having people tell her what to do, but Mara wasnt foolish. Now was not the time to take offense. She tapped her fingers on the control panel. The filter overlaying the cockpit window shifted, switching to spectral resonance.
What she saw made her gasp. The sickly yellow clouds now appeared as multihued shapes. It took a moment for her eyes to acclimate
as she learned how to read the images. With the filter engaged, she could see the patterns of energy as they shifted and formed.
Including seeing the hot blue glow that coalesced in the moments before lightning formed.
Which meant she knew the areas to avoid as she steered the ship closer to Ryges surface.
Brilliant, she crowed. She knocked a fist into Kells solid shoulder, and he grinned at hera mesmerizing sight.
No time to appreciate it now. She still had to get them safely to the other side of the storm. Using the spectral resonance to sidestep developing lightning, Mara guided them through a complex dance.
She saw gathering energy and slipped around it, then took advantage of a swell to shoot forward. Time lost its significance as her world narrowed. All she knew was the shifting forms of energy, the narrow passages of safety. It took precision, delicacy. Her heart beat with a combination of fear and excitement.
They rose one final current of energy and thensuddenlythe clouds parted. Ryges surface appeared. Its grimy seas and sandy wastes, and the glittering sores of its cities. No one ever thought Ryge was a pretty planet, but at that moment, Mara had never been so glad to see the old rubbish lump.
She switched off the spectral resonance filter to better see the planet that came as close as any to home.
The comm line trilled. Arcadia , this is Beskidt By Control. Am I drunk, or did you just fly through that son-of-a-bitch energy storm?
You probably are drunk, she answered, but, yes, I did fly through that bastard. With one incredibly smart and daring 8th Wing flyboy beside her.
Whomever was at the other end of the comm line whistled. Well, hell. Youre cleared to land at Dock 32-Rho.
Mara cut the line and focused on landing. The familiar skyline of Beskidt By drew closer, spires and slums crisscrossed by small darting craft and larger shuttles ferrying people from one nefarious destination to another. Everything lay washed in tawdry light from countless signs and advertisements, and some buildings crumbled while new monstrosities rose toward the sky. The city stretched like a riddle with no answer, as though it had been designed by a mad specerij addict.
She knew her way to the docks and didnt need the flashing lights along the landing strips to guide her there. The only thing that struck her as odd was how quiet it seemed around the docksuntil she remembered that no one was coming in to or leaving Ryge while the storm continued to rage. Only sheand Kellhad managed to get through.
Nice flying, Kell said, and though his eyes never stopped moving, taking in everything around him, when he did glance at her, his gaze was warm with admiration.
I did it, she breathed. We did it. She started to laughit felt wild and freeing after the tension of the last hour.
His low, husky laugh blended with hers. Hell of a ride.
The atmosphere between them thickened, sultry as a heat typhoon, heavy with promise.
They finally touched down at the designated dock. The moment the landing gear contacted the ground, Mara and Kells gazes locked. Heat washed over her. She didnt know who moved first,