Answers left unspoken, she led the way to the fuel tanks, opened the gate surrounding them, and instructed Tayel to secure a hose to one of the nozzles. Tayel’s palms sweat while turning the unlocked valve, and her pulse pounded in her ears. Her eyes refused to leave the door to the tunnel. Any moment it could open. Any moment she could be caught. She paced, willing the fuel to pump faster. Fehn gave the barrel a little shake and nodded. Relief flooded her and she closed the valve, pulled the hose, and closed the gate behind her.
It took forever to push the damn thing up the mountain. She couldn’t judge the exact time, but it took longer than an hour. She thought being away from the fuel tanks would ease her anxiety, but it didn’t. After all, she had to go back down there. They would have to go through the tunnel again, and then the restricted area at the docks. She wanted to cry. Maybe trusting Shy had been too big a risk.
At the top of the mountain, Tayel collapsed. The barrel rolled to a stop in the middle of the flat clearing.
Shy made a disgruntled sound. “Come on, Tayel. I thought you were athletic. Did you get enough sleep?”
Tayel moaned, “No,” with her face still in the grass.
“Stay here. Fehn and I will fill up my ship and I’ll find some water.” She paused. “What’s wrong with you?”
Tayel rolled her head to the side, but Shy wasn’t looking at her. She was looking at Fehn. His head turned, and his back fell from the release of what must have been a heavy breath. His lips pressed together to form a thin, angry line.
“The markings on your ship,” he said.
Tayel lifted her head to see what he was talking about. A rust-colored, medium-sized fighter sat in the clearing, its angular wings locked to the sides in landed position. A bright red symbol with three fangs surrounding a sphere stood out on the hull — the Sinosian raider insignia. Tayel’s jaw unhinged. The ship. The clothes. The story. It all made sense.
Shy was a raider.
“Hang on.” Shy put her hands up in a passive position. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to give you a bad first impression, but yes, I’m — I’m the raider princess.”
Tayel pushed to a stand.
“Everything else I told you is true. My brother. The Rokkir.”
“How can we believe anything else you’ve told us when we’ve already caught you in one lie?” Fehn yelled.
Shy took a step back. “I was going to tell you last night, but who would trust a raider? I need you to trust me. We got the fuel didn’t we? And here’s my ship — like I said. This is how we’re going to get to Modnik. Would you have come this far if you thought I was a raider leading you into a trap?”
Tayel’s insides burned. “You people — you raiders! You’re the ones killing everyone!”
“No, we’re not.”
“How can you say that?” Fehn snapped. “The raiders are doing everything. Killing. Invading. And apparently, infiltrating refugee camps!”
“You people!” Tayel’s voice cracked halfway between a yell and a hiss.
She remembered the sensation of letting Mom’s hand slide out of her own. She remembered Mom’s face and her eyes, disappearing forever under the Top Sector road. But the raiders hadn’t killed her — not directly. Tayel’s fists clenched into two trembling rocks at her sides. There were those dark portals to consider, too. Locke’s journal had mentioned that Rokkir used them to move from place to place. But the journal could have been a prop, and the portals could have been new raider tech. After all, raiders were the ones coming through them, not aliens.
“Listen,” Shy said. “You’re right. The raiders are causing a lot of harm, but I don’t know why. We would never commit to a full scale invasion. What’s the benefit in that when we’re extracting a tax from every planet for not invading?”
Fehn growled, “You tell us.”
“These are facts here. I am the raider princess, but I don’t know why my people are invading. I haven’t killed anyone. My brother, the heir to the raider throne, went to Modnik to—”
“Where conveniently, the siege is at its peak,” Fehn said.
“I swear, I’m trying to help! I need to see my brother. Raiders may be doing the damage, but they’re not pulling the strings. I swear to Alhyt they aren’t themselves. I want to stop them from doing the wrong thing. From tearing this system — my home — apart. Helping me is a chance for you to escape Elsha — to see your family again,” she said, eyes widening at Tayel.
“My family is dead,” Tayel whispered.
Shy’s fearful look turned to horror.
Fehn stomped toward her, and she held out her hands. “Fehn! I’ve gotten you this far. I don’t know why you were on Sinos, but if it wasn’t for me you’d have died in that wreck at the bottom of the mountain.”
He froze.
Tayel darted her gaze between the two of them. “What? What do you mean?” She gritted her teeth. “You came from the empire — not Sinos. Fehn. Fehn, you came from the empire, right? You’re a merchant.”
He glowered at Shy, his arms falling to his side.
“He might be imperial, but he came from Sinos,” Shy said. “His ship — which he stole from the raiders — crashed here at the bottom of the mountain near the fuel tanks. Didn’t you see the wreckage? The crash allowed me to land under the veil of his smokescreen, and then I pulled his ass out of the fire, passed the wreck off as my own so the guards wouldn’t think to look for another one, and got myself and Fehn inside. I told you last night that if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have a chance of getting off planet, and I meant it.”
Fehn grimaced, eyes shut. He didn’t say anything, which meant he didn’t have anything to object to. Tayel’s pulse sped, her blood flushing to the surface of her skin. She’d trusted Fehn. Now he’d come from Sinos, and for all she knew, he was a raider, too.
She shook her head. “Why were you on Sinos?”
“Good question,” Shy said.
“It doesn’t matter.” Fehn’s eyes stared downcast — defeated. All the fight he’d had fifteen seconds ago vanished.
“Tayel, please,” Shy said. “I’m sorry for what my people did to your homeworld — to your family — but I am not a bad person. I don’t intend to kill you, or lead you into a trap, or hurt anyone. I just want to leave. I want to help my brother stop the Rokkir, because I honestly believe they’re behind everything. They’re using us.”
Tayel tried to swallow, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. A cool breeze blew past. Shy’s long braided hair slid over her shoulder. She may have been the raider princess, but she was the only way to get off world, the only way to escape the threat of a potentially Rokkir-led government, and the only way to help Jace reunite with his family. Like her crazy plan, it was a risk to trust her. And though Tayel didn’t trust her, she had to work with her. For all the lies and surprises, a ship stood in the clearing, a full barrel of fuel nearby ready to be poured in.
“I’ll work with you. For now,” Tayel said.
Shy breathed out. “I appreciate it.”
“Red.” Fehn reached forward, but Tayel shrugged his hand away.
She helped fill the ship with fuel in silence, avoiding everyone’s gaze. Shy was the raider princess, Fehn wasn’t who he said he was after all, and Jace was nowhere to be found. A sinking feeling settled in Tayel’s chest.
She was alone.
Chapter 11
Tayel went through the same motions as before: wake up early, walk to the docks, slip into the restricted area. The familiarity didn’t make the task any easier, and the tunnel to the woods still made her skin crawl. She kept scanning the narrow passage for guards, straining to hear anything in the quiet other than fuel running through pipes or the patter of her steps against dirt.