Free Nightmares & Dreams: A Science Fantasy Space Western: Eydulan Series Book 2 by Mark Brandon Powell Page A

Felicity as her FTL drives hum to full. Kat closes her eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen. There was nothing else she could do.
    Whisper says, “You can open your eyes now Kat. We’re out of harms way. For now.”
    “We are? Thank God.”
    “I didn’t know I had become a deity to you.”
    “You know what I mean Whisper. Gravan are you ok?”
    He says, “I think so. I got a couple of small burns. Nothing a quick trip to the medical bay won’t fix. You?”
    “I’m ok. Whisper how’s our passenger?”
    “He’s alive. Probably in agony, but from nothing we’ve done.”
    “Guess that’s to be expected. How are you two and the Felicity doing?”
    “Fury and I are fine but the ship’s engine is in need of a few repairs, the shield generator is busted again, and the whole outside of the ship is scorched. I don’t have sufficient knowledge to categorize that.”
    “Bad would be the appropriate category.”
    Gravan says, “Well, once I get done in the med bay, I will head over to the shields. Do you think you can handle the engines?”
    Kat replies, “I think so. Whisper can tell me what to do.”
    The next few hour Kat had spent in the engine room with Whisper. Wires and circuit boards were fried, which needed to be replaced. The alignment of the crystals inside of the housing needed to be put back into place. Which was an experience Kat hopes to never have to repeat. Then she had to drain and connect all of the breakaway hoses back into the right order. Which doesn’t sound all that bad, but the fluid filling the hoses was sticky pinkish syrup like liquid and smelled like a week old gym bag that was baking in the sun. She had to forcibly keep herself from throwing up multiple times.
    Whisper explained how when the spell hit and overloaded the shields, the excess magic started to flow into the magi-tech reactor. If it would have continued, the engine would have exploded, which is why they have breakaway hoses. Something that wasn’t standard in Guild ships. That was the Earth Empire’s doing, because the Guild doesn’t attack its own in space. They like to be more personal.
    With all of the work finished, and a long hot shower done, Kat goes into the common area. Gravan was cooking some kind of chicken dish. There was a hint of spicy sweetness in the air. That was one thing she never had to question, food. It was always being prepared around there. She likes to think his obsession with cooking lead to his obsession with sharp objects. Something she will have to ask him about later, when they don’t have people trying to kill them or someone who needs rescuing. Right now they need to talk about their next move.
    Kat says, “Gravan, we need to figure out what we are going to do next.”
    He nods not turning around, “I know. If Whisper was right…”
    Whisper interjects, “I always am.”
    “Yes, I know. So like I was saying, if she’s right, then they already sent the Felicity’s ID in as a bandit ship. So anywhere we go in Guild territory will be dicey.”
    Kat runs her fingers through her hair, one of her many nervous tics. With Hanna in Guild territory, how were they going to get there. Knox would probably take them, but leaving the Felicity anywhere close to them could mean trouble for him and Gale. Something she wasn’t about to put them in the middle of. Again. Knox could always just reregister Felicity, but the last time he did that it took almost a month. Time they didn’t have.
    Ragnarok was the planet that officer had said he took Hanna too. It’s in the center of Guild space, so there isn’t an easy way to just show up there unannounced. There is over a dozen different check points between the outer edge of Guild territory to get there. That has to be at least part of the reason it was there, now that she thinks about it. Hard to escape when in every direction you go people will be waiting for you. There had to be a solution where they can get to the planet, rescue Hanna