Catching his balance, he cursed and kept going. Like Sumi had said, if he went down, he was a lot harder to move than the others. And the last thing they needed was to carry both him and Nero out on their backs.
He ran on board first and placed Nero in the closest seat. Grinding his teeth against the pain in his leg, Hauk winced at the sight of the wound.
“Daddy!”
That one word and the excitement in that precious high-pitched voice brought tears to his eyes as a wealth of emotion coursed through him. Before he could stand back up, a tiny form slammed into him and threw her arms around his neck.
“Daddy! I was getting so worried! But Aunt Shahara and Aunt Jaynie and… and Uncle Ryn and Uncle Caillen told me not to. You know, you gots a lot of brothers and sisters, Daddy.”
He held her close to his chest. “That I do.” He set her down in a seat and harnessed her in as Nykyrian, Fain, Maris, and Darling pulled up the rear while Shahara started tending to Nero.
“Burn it!” Darling pounded on the flight deck door to signal to Ryn and Jayne that everyone was on board and the ramp secured.
“Everyone hold your ass,” Jayne said over the intercom. “We’re having to blast our way out. They’re sealing the doors, so everybody pray.”
The ship lurched forward as she dropped anchor and hit full throttle.
Kalea’s eyes widened.
Hauk buckled himself in beside her. “It’s all right, baby. Daddy’s right here. We’re going to see Mommy.”
He tried to hold her hand, but she was so tiny that she had to wrap her entire hand around his index finger. And as the ship shook, she buried her face against his arm and held tight. He rubbed her back, proud of the fact that she didn’t cry like most children would. But she did squeal a lot. Something that was piercing to his Andarion hearing.
They should have named you Baby Harpie.
Hauk cringed as he heard the sound of metal on metal as they scraped through the hangar doors. Visions of being crushed in a blast shield went through his head. That would be bad enough, but Jayne and Ryn appeared to be in the middle of an argument while they escaped.
“Get your hands off that, woman!” Ryn snapped.
“Where’d you learn to fucking fly? At a shoe store?”
“Don’t touch that!”
“You get your hands off!”
Gaping, Hauk met Nykyrian’s stunned expression. “Oh my God, who let the two-year-olds fly us?”
They all pointed to Darling.
With an innocent expression, he held his hands out. “Ryn’s a Tavali captain. He should know what he’s doing. And Jayne’s Jayne. She’s never failed us before.”
Suddenly, something hit the ship. Hard. The power drained instantly.
Ryn hissed over the intercom as Jayne went silent. “Oh… shit.”
CHAPTER 32
“Attention all passengers,” Ryn said over the intercom. “We seem to be experiencing some turbulence. Please, do not release your harnesses, and remember that if you kick the ass of the pilot right now, he won’t be able to fly you out of this lovely mess.”
“Passengers to pilot,” Darling said drily. “Please note, every one of us here, except our new junior member, is licensed to fly, so we don’t really need you and if you don’t get us back into motion, there will be lots of Ryn ass-kicking to go round. Your two little brothers are back here and we don’t like you much, anyway.”
“Yeah!” Drake weighed in. “And one of your brothers is not only a pilot, but a licensed assassin and you’re a Tavali. I get bonus pay if I deliver your head in a jar.”
“Our father weeps at your merciless ways. A pox to both your nether regions.” Ryn paused. “Oh hey, look! We got engines.”
“Say, thank you, Jayne,” Jayne said sarcastically.
“Thank you, Jayne,” Ryn mumbled over the intercom. Then louder, “Nyk, open the back panel and cross the dampner crystal with shields for me.”
Nykyrian’s eyes widened. “That’s a real bad idea, Ryn.”
Hauk put Kalea’s hand into Fain’s. “Daddy will be right back, sweetie.”
He unbuckled himself and went to the panel to access it. Curling his lip, he fought the urge to curse Ryn and Jayne for the damage that had been done during their escape.
“What are you doing, big guy?” Darling asked him.
“What I always do. Saving all our asses.” Hauk hissed as he was shocked rewiring their power modules. Worse, life support was quickly bleeding out. Unless he restored it, they only had minutes before it was gone. He plugged it as best he could and then used an override code to fool the overheated generators back on. He tapped his link to Jayne. “One pulse on my mark. Three. Two. One.”
She hit it and they went into hyperdrive.
“Go, Hauk, go!” Jayne shouted.
“Yeah. Don’t cheer yet,” he said under his breath as he kept working on everything that had shorted out. He cursed again at another shock.
His fingers turning black from it, he wanted to tell Jayne and Ryn where to shove this mess. Then he glanced to Kalea.
Snuggled up against Fain, she had her hands over her eyes and her fingers spread wide so that she could watch him through them. Damn, she was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.
She lifted one hand and waved at him.
Strange how in all the missions he’d run – in all the times he’d come through unbelievable odds and all the people he’d pulled to safety – he’d never felt as tall or as heroic as he did right then from that innocent sweet look on her tiny face.
That’s my girl.
His throat tight, he returned to working on the ship until he had most of it going again. They were still lower on shields than he’d like, but…
“Jayne? I’ve given you guys the best I can without pulling over for parts. Can you radio for an escort?”
“We already have one. Saf and three of his brothers fell in about two minutes ago.”
He breathed easier knowing that. “Good. We don’t need to take a hit. Shields are minimum, but I had to put that power to the hyperdrive, dampners, and life support. Let me know when we come out and I can redirect it.”
“You got it, Hauk.”
He put the panel back in place and returned to his seat.
Kalea bit her lip. “Are you a superman, Daddy?”
“Yes, he is,” Fain said. “He’s saved the life of everyone in this ship at least once, and many of us, a lot more than that.”
“Really?” she asked, eyes wide.
Fain nodded.
Hauk blushed as Kalea wrapped her arms around his biceps and hugged him tight.
After a few seconds, she tugged at his arm and made a face at him. “Daddy… I gots to go the bathroom now.”
Horrified, he gaped at the mere prospect of something he’d never done before.
“Now, you can panic, Hauk,” Nyk said with a rare laugh. “This one might not be housebroken.”
“Does she have nappies?” Hauk looked at Kalea. “Do you have nappies?”
“No, Daddy! Kalea a big girl. But I gots to go bad.” She twisted her legs together. “I can’t wait!”
He looked at Shahara.
“Don’t cut your eyes at me, big boy. I have a son. I know nothing about daughters.”
Darling laughed. “You’re crap out of luck, Andarion. We all got sons.”
Maris nodded in agreement. “And I’m from an all-male family, too. I’m worthless with this aspect of child-rearing.”
The flight deck door opened to show Jayne, who gave them all a withering stare. “Oh for goodness’ sakes, you big bunch of nancies. I can’t believe you’re all cowed by a little baby girl’s bladder.” She paused on Nykyrian and Caillen. “And you need to learn, since your daughters will be potty training soon enough.” She unfastened Kalea. “C’mon, sweetie. Aunt Jaynie will take you.”