Phasers shot all around them as the two stared at each other.

“How is this even possible?” cried out Val.

“Come,” said her brother as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to her feet. “We need to get out of here. We can talk later.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, my ship is gone!”

“Mine isn’t,” said Peter as he slid behind another crate, heading toward the back of the landing strip.

Val followed him, keeping her head low as shots continued to fire around them.

“You have a ship?”

Peter snickered. “What, did you think I’d grown wings to fly through space?”

A shot singed the top of her hair and she cursed.

“Damn it! How far is it?”

“We’re almost there.”

He pointed at an Imperial battlepod. This was one of the smaller models—it only had room for a pilot and co-pilot.

“How the hell did you get that?”

He looked over his shoulder and grinned.

“How do you think?”

Her groan was covered by a barrage of shots that came close to blowing their heads.

They ran the last few feet and rushed through the open hatch. It closed behind them as the firing phasers resounded against the hull.

“You realize they’ll bring out heavier weaponry now?”

Peter led them through a narrow hall to the cockpit area.

“One advantage of a battlepod,” he said as he sat in the pilot’s seat, “is that it can withstand some rather heavy blows. I doubt they have anything that could hurt this beauty. Especially once I’ve activated this.”

He hit a large red button with the palm of his hand and a high-pitched whistling sound rose around them.

“Shield?” she asked.

Her brother’s fingers ran all over the controls—pressing buttons, lifting levers, and tapping instructions on the tactile screen.

“One of the most advanced available in the Imperium,” he said without slowing down or looking up.

Val realized the shooting had stopped and peered out the window as the ship began to hum and rise.

Tholin’s men had gathered in the spot where Starrider had sat not so long ago. They seemed to be arguing, some pointing at the battlepod as it lifted into the sky. Four of them broke off from the group and ran toward smaller ships.

“Oh, crap!” she said. “I think they’re coming after us.”

“Let them.”

“But—”

“I’m telling you, Val, they have nothing that could hurt us. It’s just not possible. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.”

As if she could relax with her ship gone... and Nim! She needed to find him. Them. There was Kaine, too, who was on the brink of dying. And the girl, Ondine. All aboard the ship. Her ship.

How could it have just lifted off like that, leaving her behind?

And how the hell could Peter be here, alive?

“How did you find us?” she asked.

“I didn’t. Not exactly.” He tapped on more controls and the ship turned, then picked up speed. “I was here on, uhm, business. I was about to leave when I recognized your ship.” He glanced at her. “There aren’t that many Corvairs still in circulation, you know.” His focus went back to the controls. “So I decided to wait and see. Could be you’d sold it to someone else or something.”

“Never!”

“That’s what I figured.”

The ship shot out of the atmosphere, and the stars were suddenly all around them.

“We need to find it,” she said in a pleading voice.

“Already on it, sis. Don’t worry. We’ll get Nim back.”

As he spoke, the ship rocked and sizzled.

Peter hit a button and the on-screen display switched to the back of the battlepod.

Four smaller crafts were on their tail and shooting at them.