Page 44 of Through Uncharted Space

He clicked his own harness into place and placed his hands over the controls. When the small maintenance carrier moved forward, she shoved a fist in her mouth to stifle her scream.

They zoomed forward quickly. “I’m going to kill you for this.”

Dare ignored her, his gaze focused ahead. They gathered more speed, then dropped over the edge. Her heart leaped into her throat. They were now racing down the mountainside. In the darkness, she only had a vague view of the dark trees beneath them. She could hear animals screeching, and ahead were the distant lights of the city, like a sprinkle of jewels on a blanket.

She squeezed her eyes closed.

“Someone sold us out,” he said darkly. “If Vero gave our location to Golden Nova, I’ll make him pay.”

She was thankful that his dark, slicing tone wasn’t directed at her. She had no desire to be on Dare Phoenix’s bad side.

She pried her eyes open. Even with them closed, she was still well aware of what was beneath them. She stared straight ahead, her breathing shallow. “I can’t say I like Vero at all, but it could have been whoever sabotaged the Nomad. They could have found out where we were headed and passed it on.”

Dare grunted.

“Whoever it was,” Dakota said, “I’ll help you beat them up. They deserve it for me having to ride in this damn thing.”

His hand curled around her thigh and squeezed. “You’re doing so well, baby.”

“I’m one second away from the biggest panic attack uncharted space has ever seen. Don’t mock me.”

The air was rushing past them, but as long as she kept looking forward, she felt like she wasn’t going to lose it.

Suddenly, a wild, high screech echoed from below them. It made goosebumps rise on her skin. “What the hell was that?”

His hands flexed on the controls. “Vero said it wasn’t safe to travel up or down the mountain at night. My guess it’s because of whatever creature made that noise.”

She curled in on herself and moaned.

There was another screech, closer this time, and something impacted the bottom of the sling. It swung wildly.

This time she screamed and grabbed onto her belt with white-knuckled hands.

“Dakota!” Dare pressed a hand to her face. “It’s okay. Whatever it was, it can’t reach us. We’re too high.”

“It hit us.”

“Just a glancing blow. It won’t be long and we’ll be on the ground.”

Their destination couldn’t come fast enough. She tried to calm her breathing, imagining she was lying on a warm beach somewhere. Yes, the sweet sand between her toes, perhaps a naked Dare coming out of the waves. Hmm, okay, this was working.

He touched his ear, trying to make contact with the Nomad. His voice was becoming more and more frustrated.

“Okay, we’re coming to the end of our ride,” he said. “Hold on.” He pulled back on the controls, and she felt the small car jerk as it started to slow.

Bile rushed into her throat, and she saw the pale shadow of the platform at the bottom rushing up to meet them. Stars!

Dare’s hands were steady on the controls. They zoomed into the station, slowed, and drifted into a smooth stop.

Her heart hammered in her chest. She couldn’t quite believe they’d made it safely to the bottom.

Then Dare was tearing their harnesses off. “Come on, it won’t take them long to work out that we took the maintenance carrier down. They’ll be on us before we know it.”

He helped her down onto the platform. They moved through the shadows, heading for the entrance.

“Nomad?” Dare said. “Come in, Nomad.”

“Dare?” Dakota heard the faint sound of Rynan’s deep voice from Dare’s earpiece. “What the hell’s going on?”