The world was black, save for the sky, which was stained a somber orange. Soon it would be dawn, and the Redland Runner would no longer have the safety of the dark to shield it from what was coming. The ship sat silent amid a maze of hefty rocks scattered about the desert, their craggy shapes silhouetted against the sky—the only forms breaking up the vast flatness of the Deadlands. Well, them, and the three Verloren warships relentlessly prowling the plains.

  Kaelis huddled with her teammates, the four of them pressed up against the windscreen of the bridge. From their hiding spot, nestled within a circle of rocks, they kept their eyes glued on a narrow gap between the stones. Standing still as statues, the team watched the trio of warships stalk across the middle distance, their swarm of spotlights combing the earth ahead of them, piercing through the gloom of morning twilight. Steadily, the lights grew closer.

  As Sheah had predicted, it hadn’t taken long for Verloren to scramble whatever ships they had in the area. Even though it’d only been a few hours since the Redland Runner’s brazen escape from Bruckhaven, company warships were already spreading across the desert, hunting for the team and the ancient map they carried. And after a full night of slow and steady driving to avoid the attention of any Unbound, they hadn’t made it nearly far enough to escape. So now they hid, praying that the warships might simply mistake them for a landship-shaped rock.

  The Verloren ships weaved through the lofty stones, their headlights blinking in and out of the shadows. The crew tracked their movements, standing paralyzed, breathless, quiet. Needlessly quiet. Kaelis jittered nervously, the steady silence only serving to accentuate the tension. She could only take so much.

  “Why aren’t we talking?” she softly blurted out.

  The crew harshly shushed her.

  “What?” she shrugged. “It’s not like they could hear us sayin’ anything.”

  “Please just hush, okay?” whispered Sheah.

  Kaelis folded her arms and rolled her eyes. If she was going to die, then she would prefer to be comfortable.

  Suddenly the floor of the bridge trembled faintly beneath her feet. Gradually, a deep rumble consumed the ship, the vibrations growing more pronounced with every passing second. Kaelis’s sass shook from her body. She joined the rest of her team in bated stillness.

  A ring of light surged onto the ground a few meters off the bow. A beastly wall of guns and steel slowly heaved itself across the gap in the rocks, blotting out the sky behind it. Kaelis swiftly forgot how to breathe as she watched the Verloren warship thunder by, quaking the earth menacingly as it stalked through the maze of stone. A flurry of spotlights swept across the terrain, scraping at the edges of the Redland Runner’s shadowy hiding spot.

  Kaelis nervously dug her fingers into Jira’s chair, her eyes fixating on the half-dozen cannons sticking off the warship’s deck. If they were spotted, then that was it. There would be no running, no escape, just an armor-piercing round through the engine block, or worse, an explosive round straight into the bridge. Either way, one flash and it would all be over.

  The Verloren ship lumbered by for what felt like hours, its undulating searchlights shining mere feet from the Redland Runner’s bow and inching closer with every orbit. Kaelis bit her lip, just wanting to scream and get it over with, the tension more than she could bear.

  After an agonizing crawl, the rear wheels of the warship finally passed in front of the gap in the rocks. Coming up empty, the vessel deactivated its spotlights and stirred its engines, picking up speed. Dejectedly, it slunk out of the thicket of stone and off into the wasteland, joining the other ships to continue their search elsewhere.

  The entire crew loudly exhaled in unison. Kaelis forced her hands free of the driver’s seat, her fingers leaving deep impressions in the leather. With a hearty sigh, she slumped her back against the wall. The rest of the team remained motionless and let several precautionary minutes float by, waiting for the ships in the area to slip beyond the horizon. Once satisfied with their safety, Jira activated the cabin lights.

  “That was close,” she said.

  “Closer than I’d like, that’s fer sure,” Dez added.

  “Indeed,” said Sheah, blinking away the sudden brightness. “Thank goodness we were able to find sufficient camouflage. Thank you again, Dez, for suggesting it.”

  Dez cheerfully shrugged. “I aim to hide.”

  “Unfortunately, hiding will not remain a viable strategy for long. If we linger in the Deadlands, we shall be sitting targets the moment the sun goes up. Speed is our best option. We must make for Richter’s Pass, post haste.”

  Dez nervously ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “I hate to tell ya, Ms. Ziedler, but I don’t think we’re gonna be able to make it to the Pass as is. The ship’s in a real sorry state.”

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  “What?” asked Kaelis with a hint of surprise. “What happened?”

  “Oh, the pirate attack, outrunnin’ the Verloren Armada, jumpin’ over the Grand Ravine—and them’s just the most recent things. The engine lining is cracked, and the hull’s hangin’ on by a rivet. We push it too far, too fast, and they’re gonna be scrapin’ us up from the dirt.”

  “Oh, my poor ship,” sighed Sheah, gently patting the dashboard. “I hadn't realized it had sustained such heavy damage.”

  “Can’t you fix it?” Kaelis asked Dez.

  “Not with the whole Verloren armada breathin’ down our necks,” Dez replied. “When their expedition launches for Ama-Lasria tomorrow, we ain’t gonna be able to spit ‘round these parts without hittin’ a company warship. What we need is a place to lay low, hide out while I make the repairs.”

  “That’ll be tough,” Jira grunted.

  “And that’s just the half of it. Thing is, we don’t got the proper equipment to mend a lot of what’s broken, so it'll have to be a patch job. And even if I can get the ship back up to speed, I don’t know how far we can go without some fresh parts.”

  “What components do we require?” asked Sheah.

  “More than we got, I can tell ya that much.”

  “Hmm…” Sheah tapped a finger against her cheek. “Surely there must be somewhere in the Sarulean Valley where we can go for safe haven.”

  Kaelis’s eyes lit up. “I know a pl—”

  “Captain, are you aware of any outposts in the area?”

  Jira glanced up at the ceiling before dolefully shaking her head.

  “Ahem—I know a place,” piped Kaelis louder. The crew all turned and looked at her with surprise. “…What?” she shrugged. “Why is it weird that I know places?”

  “Kaelis, we cannot house ourselves in old ruins,” said Sheah. “Not only will the Unbound be a threat, bu—”

  “I know about more stuff than just ruins!” huffed Kaelis. “There’s a small village nearby. Been there a few times, one of the locals is a friend of mine. She’s a gate sentry, I’m sure she’ll let us in.”

  “A wasteland settlement?” Sheah scoffed. “Certainly not! We would do well not to consort with back-country brigands and ruffians, especially not at this juncture. We shall sooner be stripped for parts than given sanctuary.”

  Kaelis rolled her eyes at Sheah’s sheltered outlook.

  “You ever been to one of the settlements, Ms. Zielder?” asked Dez.

  “Well… no. But I have seen many photoplays, and—”

  “Movies are fake,” said Jira.

  “Yes, I realize that. But—”

  “The Captain’s right,” said Kaelis. “Most settlements are just neutral ground to do some trade and get some refuge. We’ll be fine, you don’t got nothin’ to worry about.”

  Sheah wrung her hands together. “…I… suppose I could consider it…”

  Jira grunted. “How far is the town?”

  “Not far, I think,” replied Kaelis, picturing the map of the area in her head. “It’s northeast, in the heart of old Saruleah, maybe a two hour ride. We should be able to get there before daylight hits.”

  Sheah loudly sighed out her apprehension. “Very well. I can see no other option,” she declared, straightening her glasses. “Let us make for this village. What is it called?”

  “Concord,” answered Kaelis. “It’s a cute town. You’ll like it.”

  “I see. Then we make for Concord, and we pray to the Angels that they take us in without issue.”

  “And if they don’t?” asked Jira.

  Dez rubbed his mustache nervously. “Well, let’s just hope it don’t come to that.”

  Jira stood. “Right. I need sleep. Sheah, you’re on the helm.”

  “Pardon?” squeaked Sheah. “M—me? Now?”

  “You’ll be fine,” said Jira, marching towards the door. “Just follow the compass northeast, keep the wheel steady.”

  “R—roger that.” Sheah sat herself in the driver’s seat. “Oh, it’s warm…” she grimaced.

  Jira made her way down to the main deck and promptly disappeared into her quarters.

  Dez stretched his neck and made for the door as well. “Guess I’ll make sure the engines don’t rattle themselves apart before we get there,” he said. “Lemme know if ya spot any trouble.” With that, he drifted from the bridge and down into the ship.

  A few moments later, the Redland Runner’s headlights blared on, followed by the gentle revving of the engines. Quietly and carefully, Sheah lurched the ship from its hiding spot and angled it to the northeast.

  Kaelis hobbled out the back of the bridge, wincing in pain at the shallow gash on her leg, courtesy of Lilith Vogel, Verloren’s psychotic Operations Director. Feeling a weary weight catch up to her after such a long and taxing night, she slumped against the railing. While her body felt drained, her mind was as awake as ever, still buzzing from the excitement of the night’s events. Unsure what to do about it, she watched a pair of distant lumpy rocks recede from view, the faint hints of dawn just starting to reveal their separate forms.

  “Kaelis,” called Sheah. “How is your leg doing?”

  Kaelis turned to face the bridge. “Feelin’ better,” she replied. “Jira patched it nice and good.”

  “I am pleased to hear that,” said Sheah. “Perhaps you should take this opportunity to get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us, after all.”

  “Naw, I’m good,” Kaelis dismissed. Sleep was the last thing she wanted, not when they were still in the thick of it. “Here, I’ll go man the cannon.” She spun back around, taking in one last view of the jungle of rocks trailing behind them. Gazing out, she arched a curious brow. In the spot she was just looking, now far away and growing smaller, sat only a single, solitary rock. Kaelis shook her head, puzzling over her own memory—weren’t there two rocks just a second ago?

  Ignoring the tricks of the dark, Kaelis pushed herself from the railing and made her way towards the cannon. She needed to focus. There was still a long way to go to the village, and there was still plenty to go wrong in the meantime. Lurching the heavy gun into forward position, Kaelis stared vigilantly at the desert ahead, her every sense as sharp as a blade.

  Miles passed with nothing but the dark. There were no signs of danger around them, but still Kaelis refused to falter. She kept an eye on the murky flatness. More barren miles flowed by. Her lids grew heavy. She listened to the hum of the tires and felt the gentle rocking of the ship beneath her feet. She looked out at the horizon… at the empty sky… at the dirt… the deck…