Living in Freefall (Living on the Run Book 1) (26 page)

“Jordon what? He what?” Buck staggered at the news.

“I’m sorry, sir. That is the word from
Freefall
.”

Tyson rested a hand on the rebel leader’s shoulder. “Buck,
we’ll take my shuttle. Radioman, inform Hammond of this development and have
him meet us on
Freefall
.”

“Aye, sir,” the com-officer said before keying in a direct
line to
Noble Sun
. “Admiral Hammond, sir, I regret to inform you that Jordon
Kori did not survive this battle. His sister informs us that her brother died
before
Freefall
could get to him. King Blackhart and Captain French are
shuttling to
Freefall
to pay their respects. You are welcome to join
them there.”

“Understood,” came the reply. Shortly after, the Providence
fleet took a position just outside the asteroid field.
Noble Sun
sent
one shuttle into the field.

After dropping Buck off on
Freefall
, Tyson returned
to his own ship to fetch a few more folks.

There were times—not many, but a few—when Ericca was glad to
be in the company of her enemies. As she stepped from Tyson Blackhart’s
shuttle, it struck her that this might be one of those times.

Jordon Kori’s death was tragic. There was no denying that.
Seeing Mara and Rachel crying in each other’s arms was heartbreaking. Ericca
felt diminished by the loss as well. It was then that she realized she had a
hole in her heart that only Jordon could fill. Pushing down the unwanted
emotions, she refused to cry.

Buck didn’t care much for Jordon but he stood by his sister.
To Ericca he seemed broken up, but believed his feelings were aimed more toward
his sister’s emotional distress than his own.

Along with Buckhannon, several rebel captains had come to
pay their respects as well, and their solemn faces sincerely reflected feelings
of loss.

Admiral Hammond had come as well.

The reason for his being here was written on his sour,
pinched-in-anger face. He hadn’t come to comfort the surviving Kori family. He
hadn’t even come to pay his respects. Evidenced by the doctor examining the
body, it was clear Hammand had come to see for himself that Jordon Kori was indeed
dead.

The doctor turned to Hammond, nodded, then stepped away.

It somehow seemed right and just that Hammond’s arm was in a
sling. Ericca was glad Archer had taken the time to wound the man the way he
did, though now it was small consolation.

Close behind Hammond, to his right and left, stood Mr.
Childers, his First Officer, Capt. Torrington, and a man Ericca didn’t
recognize. Behind them were several armed Providence Marines. That too was
good. Despite all the protection, Hammond wouldn’t escape her wrath. He looked
up and saw Ericca. For a moment their eyes locked on each other. The exchange
seemed to Ericca more of an ‘
I’ll get you
’ stare-down dual of nerves
than anything else. Did he actually intend to beat her at
this
game? She
had learned this stare-down
contest of wills
from saloon rogues. It was
a serious game with serious rules, and she was good at it.

After a long moment, Hammond diverted his eyes. To cover his
discomfort, he turned to Mara and Rachel to offer his condolences. Once
that
BS was over, he led his men straight to Ericca and her party, which included Archer,
Tyson Blackhart, and the pirate king’s small security contingent.

Stepping right up to her, Hammond looked her up and down.
His acid expression became more severe. “I’ll have that little ship of yours,
little girl,” he said coldly. “Count on it.” He seemed completely disinterested
in the real reason for the sober occasion.

“You’ll be taking my bullet,” Ericca said in a voice colder
still, her eyes locking once again on his.

“You had your shot, Missy. You should have taken it when you
could.”

Ericca raised a contented smile then reached up with a stiff
finger and poked his shoulder. Hammond winced in pain and jerked back. His
marines instantly raised their rifles, as did Blackhart’s security in response
to their threat.

“She leaves her light stuff to me,” Archer said softly. “If
she wanted you dead . . . you’d be dead.”

“I came to take Captain Kori back to Providence,” Hammond
said after recovering from his aggravated injury. “Barring that, I’ll have his
ship. And I’ll have yours too.”

“Hammond, you really are a bastard,” Tyson said coolly. His
focus on the old man said he was ready and willing to shoot the admiral on the
spot.

Hammond glared at the pirate king. “In coming here I lost
men.”

“I lost men as well,” Buck said, stepping up from behind
Hammond. “In fact, I lost more men than you did, old man. So don’t act as if
you’re as generous as all that.”

Hammond looked back to find not only Buck, but the other
rebel officers as well. They had surrounded his marines and, other than Buck,
each captain had jabbed his own weapon into the necks of Hammond’s men.
Outflanked an outnumbered, the marines raised their hands and surrendered their
weapons, big and small.

“You got all that you’re going to get,” Tyson warned. “If
you want more, you’ll need to ask politely.”

“And we’ll take your requests under advisement,” Ericca said
coolly. “Now . . . go away.”

As Hammond withdrew, Captain Torrington stepped up to Ericca.
“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For making all the difference. You gave me the courage to
do this.” He turned to Hammond and called to him. “Admiral!”

Hammond turned with the others to look back at the young
commander.

“In front of everyone present,” Torrington said, “I hereby officially
resign my commission.”

Hammond scowled. “You what?”

“You heard me.”

“You do this, boy, and you’ll never be able to return to
military service.”

An ornery smile spread across Torrington’s face. “Promise?”

Unamused, the admiral turned and headed away.

“What do you intend to do?” Ericca asked.

“What I must. I’m going to find a bar, and start a brawl.”

“Seriously? Could mess up your face.”

“Good. Some say I’m way too pretty as it is.” He extended
his hand. “Will you accept my apology and my gratitude?”

Ericca didn’t know if the man was serious or not, but she
couldn’t hold back a smile. Taking his hand, she added, “Good luck, umm . . .”

“Jon.”

“Good luck, Jon. See you around the ‘verse.”

With that, he offered his hand to Riley. “You too. Lying in
the corridor, I awoke with spit on my face. I take it that was a gift from
you?”

Riley looked at the outstretched hand, then considered Jon’s
face for a moment, before accepting the handshake. “Yes, sir. That came to you
free of charge.”

Torrington smiled the more. “I earned that, so thank you.
And just so you know, I hope to be just like you when I grow up.”

Archer laughed, then just as quickly remembered where he
was.

Jon looked back at the rebel captains behind him. “Can any
of you gentlemen help a guy find his way into trouble?”

Captain Norton stepped forward and drew an arm over the
younger man’s shoulder. “If trouble’s yer want, then trouble I’ll give ye. Come
with me, boy. I know the perfect place to fill the bill; a little bar on Enri.”
With that, he dragged Torrington away toward an awaiting shuttle.

Ericca turned her attention back to the original reason for
her being here. She never got a chance to say goodbye to her own parents. At
least, in that sense, this would be different. She went to the Koris and wrapped
her arms around Race for a moment. She pulled away and turned to Mara. But even
now she couldn’t shed a tear. She just didn’t know how. Meagerly, she raised
open arms to the older woman.

Mara looked at her, her open arms, and then scoffed as if
she’d just been offered dirt in place of roses.

Ericca and Archer, in
Viper
, rounded an asteroid.

“There!” shouted Archer. “Over there.” He spotted a clear
plastic bubble wedged in the crevice of a large asteroid. These simple
plasticine emergency devices were used as personal lifeboats. Light and easy to
carry, a bubble could inflated at the moment of sudden decompression to envelop
a person in the blink of an eye. A closer look revealed this one held a small
girl.

Fearing the tractor beam would tear the bubble, Ericca
pulled
Viper
up beside it.

The young girl inside, still alive, smiled and waved at Ericca.
Some ship’s captains hired kids as young as nine to work as cabin boys. It was
considered a kindness to give the children of needy families work and an
income. This girl was about that age.

“Time to take a walk, little brother. Take
Viper
back
and get help. She probably doesn’t have a lot of air left, so don’t be slow.”

“Roger that, sis. Take our spare air scrubber. If worse
comes to worst, maybe you can attach it to her pod without popping it.”

“Maybe. Now get going.” Ericca pushed out of her seat and
jetted to the pod.

Archer nodded once then pulled away.

A half hour passed and still no Archer.

Ericca found that if she pressed her face to the soft
plastic she could talk and be understood well enough to comfort the girl.
Pressing her ear to it made it possible for her to hear the girl speak. She
called herself Penny.

As conversations go theirs was precarious. After some time
had passed Penny began to gasp and gulp for air.

Ericca considered her spare handheld air scrubber. If there
was a way to attach it to the pod without tearing its plasticine membrane, she
didn’t see it. The only thing standing between the girl and the cold vacuum of
space was thin and frail. It seemed hopeless. One pinprick, one small
insignificant rip, and the internal air pressure would abruptly force the
membrane to give way.

“Blast,” Ericca muttered. The situation was becoming
desperate. “Where are you, Archer?”

Seeing something behind Ericca, Penny’s eyes went wide as
saucers.

Ericca turned. Another massive asteroid—
tumbling slowly
—closed
on her position. Even if she brought her maneuvering jets to full, she’d not
budge or slow the asteroid’s approach enough to save the girl. The smartest
thing she could do would be to get out of the way and let the girl get crushed.
In Ericca’s thinking, that wasn’t an option.

She pressed the communicator embedded in her jaw. “
Viper!
Come in,
Viper
.”

Nothing.

“Archer, where are you?” she shouted into her mic.

Still no reply.

If nothing was done the straight on collision would
certainly kill Penny. Desperate, Ericca turned to the asteroid the child was
pinned to, and grabbed hold. Firing her maneuvering jets at an angle to the
asteroid, she held on and raised power to full, hoping against reason that if
she couldn’t alter the course of the approaching asteroid, maybe she could get
this one to turn faster on its axis. Ever so slowly, the asteroid began to
move. If she could manage to get it to turn at all even a slight change in
rotation might be enough to move the girl out of danger’s path.

Come on, Archer, where are you?
her mind screamed as
she strained against the rock.
Spin, you retarded freaking rock! Turn!
It was beginning to work. Though slight the rock’s rotation seemed to increase,
and the girl’s pod began to move out of the way.
Blast!
As Penny’s
lifepod rotated toward safety, Ericca traded places with her by moving directly
into harm’s way.

Ericca couldn’t quit now. The asteroid hadn’t yet moved far
enough. The speed of rotation was increasing, but not as quickly as Ericca
wanted or needed. She couldn’t quit now. Not now. The girl wasn’t yet clear of
danger. Ericca strained, and then her maneuvering thrusters sputtered,
faltered, and quit. Grabbing the rock Ericca scrambled to pull herself along
its face to get clear of the collision.

Pain, sharp and sudden, stopped her cold. Clamping down on
her right leg, the asteroids closed together. She screamed in surprise and
agony. The colliding asteroids then caught her left arm between them and, as
one rock rolled against the other, both her arm and leg were crushed. Long
terrifying moments. Then it was over. She looked down. Her right leg was gone.
The energy field that surrounded her space suit wrapped around the severed
stump, cauterized the vessels to keep her from bleeding out. Her left arm was
numb. She looked. It too was gone. If not for a depression in the asteroid, her
body would have been crushed as well. She felt a moment of sickness. Her head
swam. Then all went black.

Ericca forced her heavy eyelids open. The world was blurry
and distorted. After a moment, things began to clear. Nearby, Archer sat
holding what looked like a mechanical arm. A girl behind Archer, sat on the deep
window sill. Ericca remembered her. She was one of Tyson’s pages. She was in
fact the same girl back at Tyson’s mansion that Archer had left Ericca for. The
same girl who had warned Archer of Tyson’s deceit.

Ericca moved slightly and immediately knew who and what the
prosthetic was for. Archer was so focused on it that he hadn’t noticed she had
awakened.

After a while the fog rolled away and her head cleared . . .
somewhat. “Hey,” she said at long last. Her voice was weak but there was
nothing she could do about it. She hadn’t meant it to sound like a greeting.

He looked up. “Hey, yourself, sweetie,” Archer said, getting
to his feet. The girl sitting in the window turned, dropped her foot to the
floor, but stayed where she was. She offered a friendly smile, but said
nothing. Archer dropped the artificial arm into his chair, and came to Ericca’s
side. “So. You’re finally awake.” He took her right hand in his left.

Realizing where she was and why, she jerked free and turned
away. “You can go now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. His tone was gentle but matter-of-fact.

She tried to take a deep breath but it caught in her throat,
and tears began to well behind her eyes. She didn’t have to look to know she
was now missing two limbs. “Please . . . go away.” It was a struggle
to keep from crying openly.

He took and released a breath. “Sis, I am
not
going
anywhere
.”

Unable to fight it, she began to sob.

Taking a seat on the bed beside her, Archer brushed hair
from her eyes. “Now doesn’t this beat all,” he said softly, soberly. “I’ve
known you all my life, and for years now, despite all you’ve been through, I’ve
never seen you cry since the crash. You’ve been cut with swords, daggers, and
hell . . . you’ve even been shivved. When you were fifteen, Saundler
even broke your arm just to see you tear up, but you wouldn’t even then. After
none of it did you cry. What’s changed, sis?”

She rolled her head toward him. Her face was moist; her eyes
were red and puffy. “Are you blind?”

His brows leveled. “Ericca, you aren’t the sum of your
parts. If I spent the rest of my life doing so, I’d never discover who you
truly are.”

“
Who
I am? You mean
what
I am.”

“What you are?” the girl blurted half laughing. “Besides
being the most fascinating creature I have ever encountered, what are you? Girl,
don’t sell yourself short. Few people will ever meet anyone with the depth of
love and compassion you’ve just demonstrated. My God, woman, you risked your
life to save a stranger. How many of us can say that?”

Ericca looked away and rubbed her brow. No. She didn’t have
to look to see what she had lost. The memory of the asteroids coming together
flashed before her eyes, and she flinched and tried to sit up, but now with one
leg missing she couldn’t. She felt the blood leave her face and her stomach
rebelled. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth and her shoulders began
to heave. Her throat burned and her mouth filled.

Lifting a bucket from the floor with one hand, Archer helped
her sit up with the other in time for her to vomit into the bucket. Archer’s
girlfriend was at her other side in an instant, doing what she could to help. Grabbing
a tissue from the nightstand, she handed it to Ericca who wiped her mouth, and
breathed heavily to settle her stomach.

“I can’t do this, Archer.”

“You can’t do what?”

Just then someone rapped on the doorjamb. A young girl into
the room.

Archer pulled the bucket away and set it on the floor.

“Did I come at a bad time?” the girl said.

Ericca’s eyes widened. “Is that . . . Penny, are
you . . .”

Penny smiled. “Thank you, Miss Ericca, for saving my life.”

Without warning, Ericca felt hot tears stream down her
cheeks, and her chin began to quiver all over again. She raised her hand to
hide her mouth but by then it was too late. She didn’t want to cry. Never
before had she allowed herself the freedom to do so. All her life, for Archer’s
sake, she had fought against showing fear or sadness or . . .
God
forbid
, tears. For Archer’s sake—
and for her own
—she had to be
tough. And she had learned to take anything and everything thrown at her. Now
there was simply no fighting it or holding back the flood of emotions drowning
her. Rebelling against the inevitable, she sniffled, then gave up and gave in
to the torrent of feelings overtaking her.

“Don’t cry, Miss Ericca. I’m okay.”

She held out her hand and the Penny ran to embrace her
rescuer, stepping up onto the bed’s lower rail to do so.

“Penny said you never left her side, Ericca,” Archer said.

“I can’t tell you what that meant to me,” Penny said. “I was
so afraid.” She paused. “I’m so sorry, though, that you were hurt because of me.”

Ericca sniffled, and squeezed Penny tighter. “You were worth
it.” Before she had said it, Ericca meant to offer only a polite response. But
now that it was said, she believed it was true. This young girl, her life, was
worth the price paid, the loss of Ericca’s arm and leg. In fact if she had to
do it all over again . . . she’d do it . . . reluctantly,
but she’d do it nevertheless.

Ericca looked up at Archer who was so serious all of a
sudden. “Um, Miss. . . .?”

“McGaven. Penny McGaven. I’m forever in your sister’s debt.”
She pulled back. “If you ever need anything, Miss Ericca, anything at all, you
just call on me. K?”

Ericca patted Penny’s back, and squeezed her once more. “I
have all the payment I need right here.”

Penny, herself fighting back tears, released Ericca but
kissed her cheek before stepping off the bed’s rail. “When I have a little
girl, I’m going to name her Ericca. That’s a pretty name. My favorite.”

“Thank you, Penny. That’s sweet.”

“Uh uh. Thank you, Miss Ericca,” Penny said. “Now, I should
let you get some rest.”

“Penny?”

“Yes?”

“Please come visit me. I’d like your company now and again.”

Penny beamed, and nodded.

“Where are your folks?”

“I ain’t got no family. No captain or ship no more either.”

“Hey, I don’t have a sister. Maybe . . . you could
be mine. I’m kind of broken, but . . .”

“You mean, I could be Penny Archer?”

Ericca looked up at Riley questioningly.

“I don’t know,” Riley said soberly. “There is a battery of
tests you’ll have to pass first.”

“Oh, yes, I forgot,” Ericca agreed. “I forgot about those.”

Penny put her hands on her hips defiantly. “Well, I’ll pass
any test you give me.” With that, she spun around and left the room.

Riley and Ericca chuckled together. “I like her,” Riley
said.

“I do too,” Ericca agreed, then burst into unrestrained
sobbing all over again. Though she desperately wanted to, she just couldn’t
keep herself from openly crying.

Archer sat down next to her and cradled her in his arms.

She turned to sob the more into his shirt, and heard him
swallow loudly, himself fighting back tears. “This is embarrassing. I feel so
awkward.”

“And I imagine, vulnerable as well,” Riley added.

When she had finally cried herself out she looked up at the
man who had never given up on her. As sudden as a balloon popping, everything
changed. The sadness and despair plaguing her vanished. Stupid! Like a puzzle
with its last few pieces put into place, a picture had suddenly come into sharp
focus and some things now made perfect sense. Like looking into a mirror and
finally seeing oneself, she knew who she was in the big scheme of things. And
she liked what she saw. Other things though became more confusing than ever.
Only recently did she learn who Jordon was, that they had met as children. Why
didn’t he say? Why did he keep
that
from her? And she realized, now that
it was too late, that she missed Jordon as much as she missed anyone. Despite
his awkwardness, his incompetence as a ship’s captain, his timidness, he had a
good heart and he was kind to Ericca and Archer.

“This is Darsea,” Archer said, snapping her from her
thoughts.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ericca said, offering a meager smile. “I
wish we could have met under better circumstances, Darsea.”

“No issues here,” Darsea said as she messaged Ericca’s
shoulder to comfort her.

“Where are we?” Ericca asked.

“We’re in Rhone,” Archer answered. He looked around the
room. “This is a fairly decent hospital actually. Who woulda thunk?”

“In order to save you, Ericca, time was of the essence,” Darsea
said. “It made no sense to take you anywhere else.”

“Speaking of which,” –Ericca glared at Archer– “where were
you? Why did you take so long?”

He took a breath. “
Viper
died.”

“What?”

“Just before I cleared the asteroids,
Viper
up and
quit. Power died just like that. Engines, shields, radio . . . all
dead.”

“Captain French had to rescue him before they could rescue
you,” Darsea said.

Ericca sighed. “Well, it all worked out I guess. My poor
baby though. Can we save her?”

Archer shook his head. “Sorry, sis. Rachel says it’s gone
for good.”

“Where’s my ship?” she asked, raising her head to see them,
now aware of her situation. “Where’s
Ericca
?”

“We gave it back to Tyson,” Archer said flatly.

“You didn’t want it, did you?” Darsea asked.

Ericca sighed disappointedly. “Not really. Not after what he
had done. How are the Koris holding up?”

Archer looked at his girlfriend. “Only as well as one would
expect, sis.” Dropping his eyes to Ericca, he soberly added, “
Viper
was
placed next to Jordon’s body, and
Freefall
and everything in it was sent
into the Saigus sun. Hammond was furious, but there was nothing he could do to
stop it. I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

“Good riddance,” Ericca said under her breath. She dropped
her head to the pillow. “I meant about Hammond. Not Jordon Kori.
He
, I
will miss dearly.”

Archer pulled the girl around in front of him. “On a
brighter note, Sis, Darsea and I, well . . .”

“Well, good for you, brother.” Ericca reached out, and took
hold of Darsea’s hand. Gripping it firmly Ericca didn’t release her. “Darsea,
what are your intentions toward my little brother?”

“My intentions? I, uh, I . . .” Darsea’s confusion
morphed into certainty. She straightened and tightened her grip on Ericca’s
hand. “I assure you that my intentions toward your brother are strictly
honorable. I promise to have him in before curfew, and in every way treat him
with the respect due a fine young gentleman.”

Archer laughed and shook his head.

Ericca looked at the girl sternly. “See that you do, young
lady. Know this. I own a gun.”

“Wow. Riley was right. You
are
tough.”

“So you read me? We have an understanding then?”

Darsea smiled. “I promise I’ll do nothing to warrant being
shot.”

Ericca released the girl’s hand and winked at Archer. “I
like her. She’s a keeper.”

“I’m sorry about your arm and leg, Miss Ericca.”

Ericca smiled. “Don’t be. I’m not. Not anymore.”

Darsea half smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Archer stepped up, leaned over the bed, and kissed his
sister’s cheek. “You need your rest. If it’s okay, we’ll stop by later.”

“Sure, Archer . . . umm,
Riley
.”

Archer’s brows leveled. “Excuse me?”

“Bout time I got your name right.”

He grinned. “We’ve already given that a shot, you and I.
Your calling me Archer seems right . . .
better
even. Let’s
stick with that.”

Ericca gave Archer a long look. He seemed somehow more
mature. “So, where are you taking Darsea, Archer?”

His grin grew. “See? Doesn’t your calling me Archer sound so
much better?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

He exchanged a look with Darsea. “Rhone has a waterpark, and,
well, I’ll be back later.”

She turned to Darsea. “Thank you, Darsea, but you two go
have a good time. I’ll be okay.”

Slipping from Darsea’s hand, Archer went to his sister’s
bedside, and bent to kiss her cheek. “You have my number. Call me if you need
anything, anything at all.”

“I will.” She kissed him back. Riley gave her one last
concerned look, then left with Darsea.

“Waterpark my foot!” Ericca muttered in amusement. “Men! Wet
bikinis on trim figures more like.”