Imani laughed. “Trust Rune,” she remarked as Rune steered the lift under the platform of fuel, carefully leveraging the platform into the air.

She rose high to get it above ship level. If any of the guards had the brains to look, she was well placed for a shot above the walls. “Come on,” I said to Imani. “We’d better make sure the ship is open and help guide those barrels inside.” Maybe I couldn’t help Rune drive, but speeding things up would minimize her exposure.

The two of us scrambled up the ship. Alexei and Cage were on our heels while Reed, Mia, and Jasper conferred with our new pirate friend on the ground. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I trusted Reed, at least, to keep the conversation in the realm of the possible. Mia you never knew about, and Jasper was still a wild card. I trusted him at least as much as Mia, but his family was involved, and I wasn’t sure how far he’d go to keep them safe. Reed caught my eye over the pirate’s shoulder and gave me a slight nod, and I remembered how easily he’d handled the fights and outbreaks on the ship. I nodded in return. I could leave this to him.

I outpaced the others—climbing was one thing I did a lot of in training—and reached the top of the ship just ahead of Cage and Alexei. Imani had fallen behind a bit, breathing heavily, and as Alexei passed her, he silently caught her in his massive arm and boosted her ahead of him. Imani didn’t say a word, either of censure or of thanks. Alexei had a way of making you feel neither was needed. He would have done the same for Anya, or Cage. Maybe it was a side effect of growing up the size of a mountain, but Alexei treated people in need of physical assistance like it was second nature to help.

With Rune hovering nearby, I clambered onto the ship. Sure enough, the hatch was closed. I pivoted to find Cage extending a flat-head screwdriver in my direction. “I grabbed it last night,” he said. “Thought we might need it.”

It’s amazing how grateful a life-and-death situation can make you for a little foresight. The awkwardness lingered between us, but at the sight of that screwdriver I felt like I could forgive him for anything. I jabbed it into the ship, and the door slid open. I stared into its inky depths. We’d lived on this ship for three weeks. We’d killed hundreds of sleeping aliens on it and stolen their home. And now their home was calling for help.

“Uh, guys?” called Reed. I spun to find him perched on the wall, a good fifty feet above the ground. Another hoverlift floated nearby. Either Reed was adept at hot-wiring or he’d found the keys. “We’ve got trouble.”

Of course we did. “Go,” said Alexei, cresting the ship right behind Imani. “I’ll help Rune with this.”