Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [223]
Higher up, Klikiss ships closed in from several directions. Robb and Nikko jointly worked the piloting controls, taking the ship on a steep ascent. 'Everybody strap in!' Tasia shouted as she crawled into position at the repaired weapons controls. She took a scattershot approach, figuring that anything her beams hit would be a target. On the screens, four fluttering machines vanished in small explosions.
'Let's see how much acceleration we can take,' Robb called.
Orli and Steinman held onto a bench in the back passenger compartment. DD and UR somehow maintained their balance, as if their feet were fastened to the deck.
Overhead, the scanners showed a group of interlocking Klikiss spacecraft descending from orbit. 'That could be a problem,' Tasia said.
'Then start shooting!'
With another flurry of blasts, she cleared a hole in the formation. Flaming Klikiss wrecks tumbled through the air around them. The Osquivel continued its steep ascent as they pulled away from the atmosphere. They tore through the massed alien vessels, scattering some, outdistancing the rest.
With a sigh of relief, Tasia nudged Robb aside and took the piloting controls. 'Let me drive.' She didn't allow herself to breathe normally again until she had engaged the stardrive and left Llaro far behind.
One hundred and thirty-seven
Patrick Fitzpatrick III
If anything, Patrick's feelings for Zhett were stronger than ever.
'I come from a very rich family, but I don't have much to offer you. Not anymore.'
'You've already given me the best gift, Fitzie, one I'll always treasure.' From one of the many pockets in her jumpsuit, she withdrew a folded piece of paper and opened it to display the colourful (if somewhat crude) drawing of a bouquet of flowers he had left at her quarters, when trying to get her attention.
He saw it and chuckled. 'You kept that?'
'Of course I did. I could tell how much heart you put into it. Not much skill, but definitely a lot of work.'
'I wasn't even sure you'd gotten it. You never answered me.'
'I didn't think you deserved an answer. You hadn't apologized yet.'
'You never gave me a chance! You wouldn't let me talk to you.'
She shrugged as if that were somehow an irrelevant detail.
'Well, at least I came clean. I tried to atone for everything I did. I confessed all of my terrible actions that hurt the Roamers.'
Zhett sighed with exasperation. 'But you never apologized to me.'
He blinked at her and couldn't find any words. Finally he said, 'What do you mean? I spoke in front of all the skymine chiefs. I told all the Roamers and the whole confederation what I had done. I faced your board of punishment. I even walked the plank for you!'
Zhett raised her dark eyebrows. 'You're not listening, Fitzie. You didn't apologize to me.'
Despite the grand scale and far-reaching consequences of all the terrible mistakes he had made, he realized what Zhett had needed to hear. 'I'm sorry I tricked you. I'm sorry I locked you in that asteroid chamber and led you on so that I could help the others escape. I used you, and you never deserved to be treated like that. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings.'
'That's a step in the right direction, but we'll keep working on it.' She kissed him again. 'And I'll reward you every time you get it right.'
When Zhett presented him with a satiny ribbon embroidered with intricate clan symbols, Patrick didn't understand the significance. Del Kellum, though, looked extremely proud. 'You've been working on that betrothal band for years, now, my sweet.'
'I have not,' she quickly responded. But she flushed when her father gave her an entirely sceptical smile.
'Hold out your wrists,' Kellum boomed to the pair. Zhett raised her hand. Patrick started to raise his left one, but Zhett picked up his right hand and placed it next to her own. They faced each other.
Kellum looked at him. 'This is what you want, isn't it--to