“Oh, so you hacked into the territory’s system and did some damage.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s a disappointing reveal.”
“Uh-huh. They were really disappointed when I sold their security codes to the highest bidder. And the second- and third-highest. Then Grimmer contracted L’zar before they found out that we—you know what? I don’t need to tell you this.”
“Don’t stop now.” Cheyenne grinned. “It was just getting interesting.”
Persh’al stared at her with widening eyes, then he wagged a finger in her direction and went back to his metal seat. “You’re dangerously like your father, you know that?”
The amusement drained from the halfling’s face, and she turned to face the control panel. “No, I’m not.”
“You don’t like that. I get it. If you did, I’d say there’s something seriously wrong with your moral compass. And your brain, probably.”
She snorted.
“But it’s true. I’ve seen that look before, kid, and it wasn’t on your face.”
“There wasn’t a look.”
“There was a look, Cheyenne. It’s the same look L’zar gets when he’s put together some complicated little puzzle in his head and can’t wait to move the rest of the pawns into position.”
Cheyenne’s fist clenched at her side while her other hand hovered over the scrolling data glowing above the controls. “I don’t use people like he does.”
“Not yet, maybe. Not on purpose!”
The shuttle sped up again, pressing the troll back against his seat with a metallic thump. Cheyenne’s shoes squeaked across the floor at the burst of momentum, and she steadied herself with a hand against the wall. Then she looked over her shoulder to raise an eyebrow at the startled troll. “You were saying?”
“Too much, apparently. Crown be damned, kid. How fast are we going now?”
“One-twenty.” She shrugged. “Might be a good idea to keep it here. We don’t wanna have another mode of transportation break down on us or anything.”
“Hey, I paid for a working skiff. Never trust an outernóre junker handing over a machine with a smile on his face. I learned my lesson on that one, okay? Again.”
Cheyenne’s lips twitched into a smile, and she pushed herself toward the front of the shuttle again. “Whatever.”
“What are you doing now?” Persh’al glanced down at his hands, which were still gripping the edges of the metal chair, and forced himself to let go.
“Just checking things.”
“Well, don’t check too much, huh? Some of this stuff, even I don’t know what every command does. You were joking about a breakdown, but that’s still a possibility.”
“Okay, Persh’al.” She scanned the controls and the scrolling data commands, biting back a laugh.
“Don’t, ‘Okay, Persh’al,’ me. What’s that even mean, huh?”
“It means I’m starting to figure you out.”
He swallowed.
“Hey, this is cool.” Cheyenne’s finger swiped across the smooth metal panel, and a series of blue lights illuminated in strips on either side of the shuttle’s ceiling. They pulsed twice, then a slow, steady beat rose inside the cabin. “Eh, the music in that club was better.”
“That music sucked.”
“Yes, it did. But this works for now.”
Persh’al squinted at her. “I’m not sure I like the way that sounds, kid.”
“Why? You still afraid I’m gonna break something?”
“Kinda.”
“You need a distraction.” With a low chuckle, she swiped at the four different commands that had nothing to do with each other, then glanced up at the metal ceiling. Just like writing programs, only this works physically. I think.
“What did you do?” Persh’al glanced nervously around the shuttle, shifting in his seat.
“Seriously, man. Chill out.” Cheyenne added more commands and nodded. “This should do it.”
“Hey, I’m not taking orders or advice from a…whoa!”
The metal walls around them disappeared, rendered transparent by Cheyenne’s newly constructed command. The ceiling and floor disappeared next, leaving only the three rows of metal chairs and the control panel up front. Now, the drow halfling and the blue troll sailed through the darkening light of dusk, across an open field of brown grass dotted with glowing purple wildflowers, at a hundred and twenty miles per hour.
“What the hell!” Persh’al gripped the sides of his chair even tighter and pulled his feet up from the ground hurtling beneath them. “This is…you can’t just… Shit!”
Cheyenne laughed and gazed at the sprawling field and the thick forest coming up quickly on their left. “Ready to chill out now?”
“Not when I’m in a flying chair!”
“We’re still in the shuttle.”
“I know that!” His voice broke, and he swung his legs up to set his boots down on the chair beside him. “I’m still about to piss myself.”
“Hmm.” Cheyenne activated another panel on the wall in front of Persh’al’s seat, and a metal drawer unfolded from what looked like thin air before shooting out in front of him. A soft yellow light blinked as a tray lifted from the hovering drawer to present the troll with two tin bottles. “Refreshments. You think that’ll help?”
Persh’al peered at the bottles, frowned, and glanced at Cheyenne. Watching the landscape whir past them behind her head made him dizzy, and he clenched his eyes shut. “You didn’t program this shuttle to make us a drink. I know you didn’t just do that.”
“No. This thing is fully stocked, or at least it’s supposed to be. I don’t know if that stuff’s still any good.”
Eyeing the tin bottles like one of them might bite him, the troll reached out and snatched one from the tray to inspect the thin label. He cracked the lid, took a tentative sniff, and barked a laugh. “Mudshine.”
“Hey, our favorite swill.”
“I’ll tell ya, this stuff never goes bad.” He took a small sip and wrinkled his nose at the sharp sting of bubbles climbing up his face. “Okay. Okay, yeah. I’m chill.”
Cheyenne watched him guzzle half the thing down in one breath and raised her eyebrows.
When he looked at her now, it was a lot easier to forget the unnerving sensation of racing across open ground without walls or a floor beneath them. He grabbed the other bottle and raised it toward her. “Want one?”
She glanced at the map blinking at
