He had it almost immediately.
The young fixer stared at the screen in horror. Kyell was being hourly interrogated. Sooner or later he would be killed. And they were pounding on Arra too, though not nearly as hard.
Forget breakfast—an energy bar would have to do. Jae Tallen, fixer extraordinaire, had a lot to do. No more time for recuperation. The Sylel Wind had to be ready that night. Jae would wait no longer.
Without further ado he tackled the power cells.
When Caeben dragged himself out of sleep three hours later, Jae was walking down the companionway past the pilot's cabin, carrying an armload of spare parts. Startled into alertness, the man jumped out of his bunk and into the companionway.
"Jae? What's going on?"
The boy explained in a few succinct sentences as he continued down the narrow hall, Caeben at his heels. "I've got the power cells up and running," he finished, "and the turbolaser and grenade launchers are in tip-top shape again, but the quad guns need work, and so do the sensors, main computer, cockpit control, and life support. I've got a busy day ahead. We're breaking them out tonight."
"All right, but wait a second." Caeben squeezed around the boy to block his way. Jae stopped walking and tossed him an irritated glare. "Kid, have you eaten? It won't do either of us any good for you to get sick again and pass out or something."
Jae decided not to mention the spell of dizziness he'd experienced while working on the Wind's turbolaser. It was the fifth such he had endured since that first the day Arra had been captured. "I had a ration bar. I'm fine, really. Just let me get down to work."
"Are you sure you're all right?" Caeben continued talking as the boy ducked under his arm and continued down the companionway. The Sylelian followed. "You look a little pale."
Jae rolled his eyes. "You worry too much, Captain Matock."
"Caeben," his companion corrected. "C'mon, let me carry that stuff. I'm feeling useless and left out."
Jae paused with a sigh. "Fine." He handed over the spare arts. "You can be my errand-pilot again. Come on, let's get to the ventral quad gun."
Throughout the morning Caeben kept a scrupulous eye on the former urchin, watching for any sign of illness. But Jae carefully hid the occasional bouts of faintness and nausea he experienced. This was no time to baby himself. Kyell and Arra needed help.
Eventually Caeben caught his young friend's urgency, and both forgot all about stopping for lunch.
Late in the afternoon Caeben stood up from the cockpit control board and stretched. "You did it, Jae!" he exclaimed. "You've fixed the Wind in only two days! I thought for sure such a massive job would take at least three weeks, but we're in business already!"
The boy looked up from his position on the floor, blue eyes large in his white face. "What's the control board show?"
"All systems green and good to go."
Jae let out a breath in relief and allowed a weary smile. Now all they needed to do was get Arra and Kyell out of the Imperial prison, get back to the ship, blast off, evade all pursuit, and find a safe place to hide. Shouldn't be too hard.
Yeah, right . . .
And that was his last thought as the dizziness returned tenfold and blackness quickly overcame him . . . .
X
Jae woke to the sound of cursing. His head spun in pain as he realized that he was lying flat on his back on the metal deck of the cockpit. Caeben was kneeling at the boy's side, savagely berating himself as rubbed at the youngster's hand.
"Caeben?" Jae moaned.
"Jae!" Relief in the pilot's voice transmuted into vehement rebuke. "Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? We should have stopped hours ago, and taken time for lunch, too."
"We have to rescue Arra . . . and Kyell . . . . Let me up . . . ."
"Kid, there is absolutely no way that I'm letting you go to the prison complex. You're staying right here."
Jae's eyes cleared as he pushed away the nausea and weakness. He saw Caeben's face, gray eyes concerned to the point of anger. "You don't know how to hot-wire a gate or deactivate a guard droid. There is no way . . ."
"Well, you're just going to have to teach me. I'm telling you, you're staying right here."
Jae blinked, fully alert and awake now. "Caeben, let me sit up," he said with quiet firmness.
Caeben shot him a worried look, but did as he asked. The boy waited until the dizziness passed, then struggled to his feet, gripping the pilot's arm. At last he dropped into the chair in front of the dataport.
He pulled up a diagram of a gate mechanism, the kind the Imperial prison used. "Memorize this, and everything I'm going to tell you," he said softly. "We have to get them out tonight."
Caeben nodded and set to work studying the maze of wires while Jae told him what to do.
X
Kyell Tallen lay curled up in his cell, waves of pain washing over and through him. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on to his secrets or his sanity. The interrogations were growing steadily harder to bear. Lately he couldn't walk for half an hour afterwards. And then a half-hour after he could start moving again, they took him back to the interrogation room.
He didn't know how remarkable he was for holding on this long.
His Wookiee cell-mate, Arramylian, rumbled a question. Kyell had learned Wookiee while just a boy—he and his youngest brother. At the thought a wave of pain far more poignant than the physical ache swept through his heart.
"I'll be all right, Arra," he said. "I don't know how much longer I can stay quiet, though."
Do not give up, Arra said. I still believe we may be rescued. Your brother is a most exceptional child.
Kyell shuddered with heartache. After learning of his brother from the Wookiee, he had been unable to think of anything but Jae for nearly an entire day. To come so close, yet still be so far away . . .
"Thank you, Arra," he said, managing a painful smile. But he felt only despair. Sooner or later they would kill him, and he would never see his brother or the free stars again.