Raivyn poked dispassionately at her plate. Skritka was giving a speech from the head table, but she hadn't heard a word he'd said. A sudden burst of laughter caught her off guard and she jumped slightly.

  She had earned a place at the victory feast, and she was happy to see Griffonia free from the Drakmundi, but was not looking forward to working with Trebor for the foreseeable future.

  “This seat taken?” asked a familiar voice.

  She turned to see Lawbine. A million conflicting emotions ran through Raivyn at the sight of her former suitor.

  “Uh, no,” she said unthinkingly.

  Lawbine took the seat. “I came with the volunteer force Aerat sent. Spent the last few weeks on clean-up duty in the southern cities.” He sighed, his mind obviously concerned with a different matter. “I've had plenty of time to think since you told me off. And I am sorry.”

  Raivyn took a sip of her drink, giving him time to continue.

  “I wish now that I'd made my intentions clear to you from the start,” he said. “I understand now it just would have meant getting the boot that much sooner, but at least I could have taken it with honor. See, your mom had this crazy idea that-”

  Raivyn snorted, nearly spraying the table in front of herself with a mouthful of drink.

  “My MOM?” she asked incredulously.

  “Maybe I should keep the explanations to myself,” said Lawbine with a sheepish grin.

  “Oh, no,” said Raivyn, just barely managing to recover from her snort without a coughing fit. “You tell me all about my dear meddling mother's plots.”

  Lawbine smiled. The conflict in Raivyn's heart melted away and she sat back, listening to Lawbine’s ill-fated tale of intrigue.

  ***

  Vanbrook and Doc picked up their pace, hoping they could reach the shuttle before the creature reached them. Fighting the instinct to draw his weapons, Vanbrook focused on running rather than fighting.

  Reclan saw the beast’s movements and scrambled to the cockpit, where she had access to the shuttle’s weapons. Only some of the smaller guns were capable of pivoting to fire on the beast, the others locked in the fore position. She trained the guns on the monster and fired. The rounds bounced off the surprisingly tough hide, but clearly enraged the beast. Angered but undeterred, it continued to bear down on Vanbrook. It would soon be in striking distance.

  “Get behind me!” demanded Doc, leaping between Vanbrook and the monster.

  Just as he did, the beast got close enough to reach out with one of its long, clawed arms and snatched Doc into the air. The robot swung his rifle into position and fired just as the creature tried to bite him in half. Tasting no blood but feeling the sting of a rifle being fired into the soft tissue of its tongue, it spit Doc onto the ground. Vanbrook had drawn his weapon and was firing on the monster when Doc hit the ground.

  “Go, Van!” shouted Doc. “It won’t bother me anymore, start running before it gets back up to speed!”

  Vanbrook hesitated for a moment but heeded Doc’s advice and took off for the shuttle. He managed to climb up the ramp just as the monster made another swipe, this one missing entirely. Reclan fired when she could, but had trouble getting a clean shot. Now that Vanbrook was in the safety of the shuttle, she tried to get a shot on the beast, but it was too late. Its prey had sealed itself aboard the shuttle, but it wasn’t ready to give up. Gripping the shuttle, it gave a mighty heave, flipping the shuttle onto its side.

  Reclan tumbled out of the seat, the side console and wall of the cockpit now where the floor should be.

  “Come on!” she shouted, reaching up for the controls. “Let’s see how you like this!”

  The crackling, snapping sound exploded once more, but this time the electrified hull was turned up to its highest setting. The creature yelped in pain, but came back for another swipe. Another brutal shock was all the confirmation the monster needed to recognize the shuttle was not worth the effort. Roaring defiantly, the creature stalked back into the woods, on the prowl for an easier meal.

  Vanbrook scrambled out of the door, which was now overhead, before the monster had reached the woodline.

  “Where are you going?” shouted Darvik. “That thing is still out there!”

  “Yeah, and so is Doc,” retorted Vanbrook, making his way over the edge of the flipped shuttle and climbing down to the ground.

  Darvik rolled his eyes. “Everyone else okay?”

  “Just bumps and bruises,” said Reclan.

  “I'm alright,” said D'Jarric.

  “Good,” said Fremig.

  “Alright, we'll be back,” said Darvik, following behind Vanbrook.

  ***

  "Attention all crew," a voice declared over the public comms. "This is Lieutenant Drilby. As you are aware, we have all been press-ganged into a voyage motivated by personal beliefs and unknown agendas. In response, I and some of my fellows have taken command of this ship. As soon as we are able to determine the appropriate course, we will be headed back for Griffonia, where Admiral Hunt and his rogue officers will face justice for their treachery."

  With each phrase, Drixen's eyebrows rose a little further on his forehead. Kaihla, his wife and fellow pilot, looked at him. He knew her well enough to see the worry under her stern features.

  "I'm going to the bridge," said Drixen.

  "Well, I'm coming with you," said Kaihla.

  He nodded to her. They headed out from the small cabin they shared into the hall where the fleet’s pilots resided, tucked away by the main hangar. Walking to the door that would take them to the lead, to the main hallway, they found that it was locked down. Drixen punched in his officer's code, but he was unable to override the system. He frowned.

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  "I think we're prisoners," he said.

  Drilby hadn't done them the courtesy of telling them so explicitly, but given his aims and the fact that Drixen and his pilots were well known to be loyal friends to the Admiral, Drixen couldn't say he was shocked at Drilby's tactics. He walked back to the pilots’ common room and saw that the others that were with them, about a dozen in total, all had equally quizzical looks on their faces. They were looking to their commander for more information. He sighed.

  "Well, it looks like we are prisoners aboard our own ship, folks."

  There was a discontented murmur. One of the pilots, a stocky Krauqian by the name of Kel-Kar, spoke up. "Well, Textbook, I think I might be able to get us out of here."

  "What do you have for us, Goggles?" said Drixen, calling the Krauqian by his callsign.

  "Well, my father was a hauler,” said Kel-Kar. “I spent a lot of time on large crafts. There's always access panels and maintenance access. Especially near quarters and hangars where life support is so crucial. Even with the ship locked down, we’ll likely be able to access them. The door is locked down. But that's a basic security procedure. However, it's more about making access difficult for enemies than it is about turning the ship into a prison, so things like the access panels are normally still fully functional. Once you get into the walls, well, I don't want to say it's easy, but it should be doable for me to get you where you want to go."

  Drixen smiled. "That being the case, I'd like to take a visit to the brig."

  ***

  Suddenly, there was a thump. Vanbrook turned around to see Darvik on his heels. Vanbrook rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He continued to make his way over to Doc.

  When they reached the robot, they saw that his entire midsection was badly damaged where the monster's teeth had clamped down on him. However, the robot himself appeared to be awake and alert.

  "What are you doing back here so soon?" he asked severely.

  "Really?" laughed Vanbrook. "We're here to help you, idiot."

  "Well, you could have waited until the monster was gone for more than a few seconds. I'm fine." He looked down at the twisted metal beneath his chest. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine, but I'd have kept. It's not like I'm gonna bleed out. I'll have to get back to the ship to really understand what's going on, and frankly, Reclan would probably have a better idea than I do."

  Darvik cocked his head to the side. "Why would Reclan understand a robot better than a... than a robot?"

  Doc shot him a baleful glare. "If you got chomped in half, I believe you'd much rather have me working on you than Vanbrook here."

  Darvik looked over at him, then back to the robot. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Sorry."

  Vanbrook once again rolled his eyes and looked to Doc. "So I take it then you're not gonna be walking yourself back over."

  Doc shook his head. "No, I think the main control wires to my legs have been severed. As far as I can tell, the bottom half is still connected, but I don't think any information is traveling down that way."

  "All right," said Vanbrook. "We'll help you up then."

  Lifting the heavy metal figure of the robot up between the two of them, with one arm over either of their shoulders, they dragged the robot back towards the shuttle. It was slow going, but neither was willing to admit they could use a break. They made it back to the shuttle before too long.

  D'Jarric had opened the shuttle door in the back that would allow them to step in without having to climb up to what was now the roof. He helped them bring Doc inside where they laid him down on a cot that had been set up on the wall-slash-ceiling of the cargo room.

  "That's it. Easy does it," said Reclan, stepping over.

  "What were you guys up to while we were rescuing Doc?" asked Vanbrook.

  "Well, I was keeping a weapon targeted on the monster in case it decided to come after the morons who decided to leave the shuttle before it was gone," said Reclan. "And D'Jarric was helping Fremig get out from underneath the machinery that had him pinned.”

  “Fremig said he was good," said Darvik defensively

  "Oh, he was fine, but he was also pinned under a few thousand pounds of machinery."

  "Okay then," said Vanbrook, turning back to Doc. "So, Rec, I guess work your magic here."

  Reclan sighed. "I'll do what I can. I have some tools that are now scattered all over the walls, but it's going to be tough without getting back to the Wingspan, which I will remind you all, we still don't know the location of."

  Vanbrook nodded. This was a tough spot they found themselves in.

  "Nothing to do now but wait, I suppose," said Vanbrook. "Maybe we can get the shuttle flipped back over, but if we can, is she going to fly?"

  Reclan shook her head. "I'm not sure. I was poking around the console while I was trying to keep an eye on our friend. And I think systems are pretty well damaged this time around. And I don't know what we'd use to get the shuttle flipped back over. Do you think the ATUC could pull it back over?"

  "Not sure," said Reclan. "Might be worth a try."

  Fremig walked into the room, rubbing his side where he'd been pinned to the ground beneath the machinery.

  "Well," said Vanbrook, getting an idea. "Maybe between the ATUC and our two brutes here, we might be able to get something accomplished."

  Darvik nodded in agreement. "We certainly know Fremig is no slouch. It might be worth a try."

  "It may just," said Reclan, "but there's going to be no controlling the descent once we get it flipped over to the point of no return. It'll slam down onto the landing gear pretty hard."

  "It's true," said Vanbrook, "but I don't think we can live, you know, like this."

  Reclan sighed in resignation. "I guess we’re going to have to risk it."

  Reclan spent the next few hours patching up Doc while the others organized everything that they could so that when the shuttle was flipped back onto its landing gear. Soon they were all gathered again in the cargo bay, where Doc was walking around on unsteady legs.

  “Well, I did what I could," said Reclan with a shrug. "You're gonna want to see a true Robot-smith before we call it good and, you know, hopefully one with more appropriate tools at that."

  "Well," said Doc, "it'll work for now."

  Despite being clamped in the back of the cargo bay on the wall, and Reclan's having to climb up into the seat sideways and strap herself in, the ATUC did fire up. Reclan was able to pilot it out the back door with a minimal amount of scratching and scraping as the machine, not designed for sideways flying, fell into the cargo space and righted itself.

  Wincing at the scraping metal, Reclan pulled around and parked the ATUC by the shuttle. Vanbrook and Darvik helped secure the chains to the rear of the ATUC and to the side of the shuttle, and Fremig and D’Jarric got themselves positioned on the opposite side.

  Reclan gunned the ATUC and pulled while the two strongest members of the squad heaved to set the shuttle upright. At first, the shuttle would only barely budge, but Reclan persisted. Soon, the side of the shuttle was lifting off the ground. Fremig and D’Jarric lifted from the other side, stepping back as soon as the shuttle got enough momentum to begin moving without their help.

  Reclan watched over her shoulder anxiously as the shuttle reached its tipping point and began to fall, then winced as it slammed into the clay with the sound of crunching metal.

  The chains were detached, the ATUC was parked back in the cargo bay, and the squad reconvened inside the shuttle to check the damage.

  Reclan made a beeline for the cockpit and looked over the various systems.

  "Oh, no," she said, "Not great."

  "What is it now?" asked Vanbrook.

  "It's the electrified hull," she said.

  "What about it?" asked Vanbrook anxiously.

  "It's down," she said. “Ugh, and so are the thrusters.”

  Vanbrook rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We may be in for a long night."

  "And that's not the best of it," said Reclan. "Hopefully it's just some bad connections or blown fuses, we’ll have to scour the ship for parts, but I’m not hopeful. Bottom line, we're not flying anywhere at the moment."

  Vanbrook shook his head.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down what they could and trying to get the shuttle flying, but to no avail. Eventually, they had a small dinner of the rations, of which they had enough to last a while. Looking at them, Vanbrook had to wonder if they'd live long enough to eat them all, given the hostility the planet had shown them thus far. He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and went off to his bunk.