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"Kolya?"

"Not now, Corwin," she snarled through clenched teeth. She kept her hands clamped onto the arm rests as the rover bounced over the terrain on its way back to the Mae Jemison, but could barely resist the urge to snap her arm out and slam her fist straight into the tip of his nose.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. He hung his head. "I didn't expect them to find me."

"I don't want to hear it," Kolya growled.

"Who the hell are they?" Grishnag glanced over her shoulder and let her yellow eyes drill into his skull until he answered.

"They're a bunch of thugs who work for Emil Varrick. He runs a criminal operation that's active in nearly a dozen systems. I kind of got myself on his ladar in one of the casinos on Alpha Phoenicis d, just before I traveled to Sevastopol Station." Corwin grimaced and rubbed his left hand over his face.

"What the hell did you do to piss him off?" Grishnag sneered at him. "Did you fuck his wife, or something?"

He shook his head. "I won too much money in his casino. I cheated and some of his guys figured it out. I returned the money, but the wanted to 'make an example' of me. So I ran."

"We're almost at the ship," Cora said softly. "One more minute."

"Is there some reason you singled me out when you were looking for a quick way off the station?" Kolya turned to aim her good eye at him, and glowered.

"When I saw you fight those muggers off, I thought you'd be handy to have around in case these guys managed to track me down." Corwin sighed. "I didn't think they actually would, though. I don't know how they found me so quickly. I scanned my clothing and everything in my pockets for tracking devices and came up empty."

"It wouldn't have been that hard for his people to follow you to Sevastopol," Cora said, slowing as the rovers approached the Jemison. "If one of them spotted you boarding our ship, they could've simply found out our destination from the station's traffic control center."

"So, you started sucking up to me because you thought I could protect you. And when you found out I was leaving right away, you practically begged to tag along." Kolya shook her head slowly. "I'm an idiot. I was stupid enough to think you might actually be able to see past this." She waved a hand at the scarred side of her face.

"It started out that way, but when I got to know you, things changed. You're so much fun to spend time with, you're -"

"I'm not listening to any more of your bullshit."

"Kolya, please, I really do care about you."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It's true!" His lower lip quivered. He blinked rapidly and his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry! I meant every word of everything I said to you over the last few days."

"Looks like we're here." Kolya waited for the rovers to roll up the ramp and into their docking ports, and then she popped her seatbelt buckle and launched out of the chair.

"Kolya ..."

She slid the side door open and jumped out. Her boots hit the metal deck plating in the Jemison's cargo bay as a brief hurricane filled the chamber. She turned to the ramp and caught a glimpse of the ground receding before the ramp closed. Cora, still linked wirelessly with her ship's controls, must have initiated liftoff the instant the rovers hit the ramp.

Kolya followed everyone to the flight deck. As soon as they arrived, Syala, Nishara, and Zilaka rushed forward to greet them.

"What's going on?" Syala pointed at the console as Cora darted over to it and sat. "They're saying they've locked their weapons onto us and will breach the hull if we try to rise any higher off the ground."

"That's why we're hovering." Cora scowled at her control panel. "I've returned the favor and targeted the gunship and their ship in orbit. I've also sealed all the internal hatches to limit atmosphere loss if they fire on us."

Assuming they don't punch a railgun slug right through the flight deck first. Kolya flicked another glare at Corwin and wondered if her pounding heart was caused by fear or rage.

Cora turned and pointed at Corwin. "Don't make a sound." She turned back to the console and opened a channel. "Who the hell are you and why are you threatening us?"

"Who we are doesn't matter," a male voice replied as a face appeared in a newly-opened window on her console. "And I'm not talking to an outdated sexbot. Put the captain on the line."

"I am the captain." Cora glared at him. "I've had a lot of upgrades over the last hundred-sixty years, including an up-to-date combat suite. Our passengers are under my protection, and my crew are my husband and wives - and if you think I'll allow you to harm any of them, you are catastrophically mistaken."

"We know McAllister is on your ship. You've got one chance to hand him over, or we'll blow your ship apart and leave you to rot. Or in your case, rust away."

Corwin moaned softly, ran his hands through his hair, and paced back and forth near the circular console at the rear of the flight deck.

"You have thirty seconds to give him to us. If you don't, you'll all die." The window with his face in it blipped out.

"Land," Corwin said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Zilaka stared at him.

Kolya turned and froze when she realized his already pale face had turned almost completely white.

"I misled Kolya to try to get away from those bastards, and I've put all of your lives at risk." Tears trickled down his cheeks as he shook his head and turned to the hatch. "Just land and let them take me. It's your only option."