Free Quantum by Jess Anastasi Page B

through the violet-gray light of predawn, and he looked down to see Petros staring up at him with wide eyes. Hell. She hadn’t been trying to restrain him, but while they’d been asleep, he’d ended up against her with his arm beneath her shoulder. Her gaze shifted past him, and an almost-noiseless hum registered—more like a vibration in the air.
    A ship hovered above them, the light that had woken him sweeping in a search pattern across the ground, between the trees. Nazari crouched at the base of a tree fifty feet away, where she’d sat down for her watch earlier. Jaren still lay in the shelter of the huge rock as he’d been left the night before. Squinting, Zander could just see the rise and fall of the younger man’s chest.
    Logically, he wanted to assume a rescue shuttle had found them, but after the last twenty-four hours, he wasn’t taking any chances. As the ship hovered closer, the light cutting back toward them, he clamped his hands on Petros and kicked them into a roll, wedging them into the seam where the huge rock met the ground, ending with her on top of him. The boulder blocked Jaren, Petros, and him from direct view of the ship.
    “You don’t think they’re here to rescue us?” Petros asked in a low voice.
    “Since we got a missile instead of a recovery team, no, I’m not taking any chances.” With a bit of maneuvering—including shifting his hips upward in a way he shouldn’t have been thinking about with a possible traitor perched on top of him and a searchlight sweeping nearby—he pulled his comm out of his pocket. A quick check of the screen revealed he hadn’t missed any calls. If that ship had come from the Swift Brion , they’d have constantly pinged his comm to find him once they came within range.
    The lack of communication hardened his suspicions the craft wasn’t here to help.
    Nazari still crouched at the bottom of the tree. The ship was coming around, and if she didn’t move, they’d see her on the next sweep. They might, anyway. Their boulder—if it was metium-laced or had other heavy metals in the rock—would interfere with scans and protect Jaren, Petros, and him from pretty much anything. But Nazari didn’t stand a chance. If she moved, it might activate motion sensors. If she stayed put, the ship would find her.
    Zander clenched his jaw, frustration and futile impotence burning through him. He had to make a call. One that was going to put Nazari in danger either way. Retreating to the boulder would give her the best chance. But the risk in getting here was huge. Not to mention her injured ankle would slow her. But sitting behind the piss-poor cover of the tree would guarantee her getting caught.
    He thumbed his comm, and she murmured a response into hers.
    “Nazari, I’m ordering you to make a run on our position. Next time the light cuts toward the outer side of the boulder, go for it as fast as you can.”
    “Yes, sir.” She ducked her head, and even from here he could see her shoulders tighten.
    He lowered his comm, heart straining in his chest like his ribs were contracting around the organ, restricting the blood flow. Nazari shifted positions, ready to launch into a run at a moment’s notice, still favoring her injured leg.
    Christ. He couldn’t just sit here and watch her, knowing how immense the danger was.
    “I’m going out to get her.”
    He started to slide Petros off him, but she clamped her hands onto his biceps and locked her knees on either side of his hips, keeping him in place.
    “You can’t. I won’t let you.”
    He tore his gaze from Nazari to look up at Petros.
    “You won’t let me?” His fingers contracted where they’d inadvertently landed on her hips when he’d rolled them earlier. “I’m your commanding officer, Lieutenant Marshal. So unless you want an official reprimand for indecorous action endangering another soldier’s life, get the hell off me right now.”
    Instead of obeying the command, she planted herself more