Pirate (LGBT - Sci-Fi - Romantic)

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One 

Connell regained consciousness to find himself packed tightly into a stealth pod, surrounded by breathing units. As he had suspected as soon as he woke, he was alone. He swore. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye.  

How long had he been out? He looked automatically for his wrist com but Mars had evidently kept it. He glanced at the instrument panel in the pod. An hour, he'd been unconscious for a whole hour. He checked the air supply and opened up one of the portable breathers to take some of the pressure off. It wasn't until then that he noticed the bandage tied neatly around both wrists. What had happened? It must have been Mars who put on the bandages. Had he been wounded somehow, getting into the pod?  

The thought of Mars again had him peering into the viewfinder on his stealth pod. Maybe if the Patrol found him soon enough they could go back for Mars. 

All he could see was empty space. He scrolled the view finder around to give him a 360 view and saw the second stealth pod several hundred metres behind him.  

What the-? What on Earth did Mars think he was doing?  

The second stealth pod had shown a faulty air supply, the idiot was risking his life! If he wasn't dead already.  

There was no way Connell could reach the other pod to check. Stealth pods didn't have their own means of propulsion and just drifted in space until they were controlled by a tractor beam or gravity. He couldn't believe Mars had chosen to risk his life in that other pod, rather than coming with him. Had he been that upset by his decision not to have sex with him, so upset that he'd rather die than be near him? 

Luckily before Connell could work himself into a complete frenzy, he caught sight of the approaching Patrol ship. It was the Delor. He was at the stage of anxiety where he'd even welcome Major Rice himself with open arms. If only they'd hurry up, he could get to Mars. It was still less than the two hour limit, surely he'd survived until now? Get a move on damn you, he muttered under his breath. 

With excruciating slowness, the Delor engaged his stealth pod in its tractor beam and began to draw him in. The other pod was still too far away. They'd have to wait until Connell was secure before continuing on to retrieve it. 

He fiddled with the instrument panel, trying to get the communication channel working. It was hardly ever engaged as most people preferred to use their wristcoms. 

"Attention Delor, do you read me? This is Lieutenant Liam Connell. Can you hear me?" 

"Lieutenant Kilkenny of the Delor here. I read you. Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine." Connell answered briefly. "Mars is in the second stealth pod. The air supply in that one is problematic, can you reach him first, instead of me?" 

There was a pause. "Ah negative Lieutenant. Major Rice insists we bring you on board first." 

Connell blinked at the instrument panel in confusion. He'd felt certain that Rice would dump him as soon as he heard Mars was in the other stealth pod. What was he thinking? Was he punishing Mars, thinking to leave him struggling for air in a failing capsule? 

Contrary to popular holovids, there were no sounds in space. But there was light. Connell shut his eyes involuntarily against the searing burst of light which flashed across his view finder. What on Earth had happened? He blinked tears from his eyes and peered into the view finder, trying to see what had caused the burst of light. It had to be an explosion. Part of him knew that even as he searched desperately for signs of the second stealth pod. 

All he could see were tiny pieces of metal, already flying outwards in an ever expanding ball.  

No! It couldn't end that way! What could possibly have caused a stealth pod to explode like that? 

He was still in furious denial when he was drawn on board the Delor. It didn't help that Major Rice was the first person to greet him. He bit down hard on his tongue, a tirade of violent abuse wouldn't help anyone. 

"Major! Mars was in that pod!" 

"Was he?" Rice was studying him thoughtfully. 

"What do you mean? Of course he was! Couldn't you tell by the nanobots?" 

"It's true, there did appear to be nanobots on board, but what caused it to explode like that?" 

"I don't know Major. The pod was faulty, we knew that when we ran a systems check earlier. I tried to persuade him to come in with me but he refused." Connell didn't know quite what prompted him to say nothing about the fact that Mars had stunned him and packed him into the first pod, but he didn't. Instead he added, "He thought there wouldn't be enough air for both of us in the one pod, he thought taking the second pod would be safer, despite the risks."  

Rice nodded, then grinned. "His mistake!" He would have preferred to have him captured alive, but at this point he'd take what he could get. At least Mars had finally got what he deserved. 

He looked at the bandages on Connell's wrists. "What happened to you?" 

"The wounds from the handcuffs opened up again, sir" Connell replied, without further explanation. Let Rice think what he would. He was getting a very funny idea about those bandages and the exploding stealth pod. He worked hard to keep an expression of angry frustration on his face.  

"I've got the co-ordinates for his hideout," Rice was continuing. "We'll just go and check it out while we're in the area." 

Connell nodded. "Of course sir." He was sure the entrance would be sealed shut, but he wasn't going to stop Rice from finding that out for himself. 

As Connell had suspected, the hideout was sealed tight. Rice wanted to try and force an entry, but Captain Montoya over ruled him. He took Connell's word that there was nothing much inside except for the now derelict Avata and some old equipment and decided mere curiosity was not sufficient reason to risk the safety of his ship. Montoya felt uneasy with all the asteroids so close and didn't want to spend any longer in their midst than he had to.  

Slowly and cautiously, the Delor began the return journey out of the asteroid belt and back to Aykut. 

"You've a lot of explaining to do, Lieutenant Connell," Rice said grimly. "Come and see me in my quarters." 

Connell followed silently. He had already prepared his story in advance. Now his brain was busy with something much more important. 

If he were a pirate who wanted to slip back beneath the radar, what better way than to fake your own death in front of your pursuers? He imagined Mars back in the Avata, working fast as Connell lay there unconscious. He imagined the other man drawing off as much of his own blood as was safe, taking some of Connell's to make sure there were enough nanobots to register clearly, then putting the container of blood in the faulty capsule along with a small explosive device and ejecting the whole decoy package into space. Safe and unsought in his hideout, he could tinker with the Avata for as long as it took ... 

XXX 

A month later 

The space drive died between one heart beat and the next. Not even a cough or a death rattle to warn him. One moment he was on a slow but steady course to Mut, and the next he was simply drifting in space. Mars swore, damn, he'd been so close. 

He sighed, he wasn't at all sure that he could fix the wretched thing again. He frowned at the console unit, he knew he should call for help but he had to be careful, he didn't want to come back to life only to go straight to prison. 

He was just reaching reluctantly towards the console unit, which was still operating fortunately, when a message flashed across the screen.  

"Attention. This is the Patrol ship Caron. Are you in need of assistance? Over." 

Mars sat back. And smiled.

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