crushing her as the pod continued to hard blast.

It wasn’t stopping as she knew it should have. The escape pod was on full blast speed, which meant it was pouring fuel into the thrusters, forcing the pod to rocket away from the Star . She closed her eyes, managing to force air into her lungs. The pressure was still there but it eased as her body adjusted to the speeding pod. She’d been through hard blast only once before. That had been when the Star had done it to avoid the debris from her shuttle. It had only lasted a few seconds. The pod was burning fuel far longer than that.

“We are being pursued by the Star ,” the computer announced calmly. “Evasive maneuvers.”

Mira did scream when the pod rolled and everything spun. She wished the gravity had completely shut off so she wouldn’t experience the sick feeling of the small ship rolling but she couldn’t get the words out to order the computer to shut it off.

The pod violently shook as it adjusted course. She kept her eyes closed, clutching the belts over her chest, unable to do anything else. The Star was coming after the pod. That shocked her. She wondered suddenly if the Star could capture the smaller vessel but she didn’t think it could. Escape pods were usually pretty fast because they were for higher speeds in case of real pirate attacks.

“Pod 3 has successfully pulled away from the Star . Reducing burst to steady to keep out of range and initiating normal gravity from minimal gravity for comfort. Monitoring to continue until the threat is no longer on sensor range,” the computer announced. “Fuel levels are acceptable. Attempting to auto signal Earth with status.” It paused. “Out of range. Will attempt every hour to establish contact with Earth.

Please remain belted until no hostile threat is detected. Changes will update.”

Mira opened her eyes finally, breathing easier, her fear easing. She had escaped. She took more deep breaths. The Star had tried to come after her, which made no sense to her. She wondered if Flint was still on board or if he’d already left on the Rally . Her guess was that he’d already left or the Rally would have come after her instead. It was the faster ship.

She wondered if Flint was would miss her. Pain hit at the thought. He’d probably just replace her with a new woman when he heard she was gone. He’d get a new possession. Maybe the next woman wouldn’t mind that he felt nothing more toward her than ownership. The thought of him touching another woman hurt though, causing her to utter a curse.

“State problem.”The computer’s voice broke the silence.

She shook her head. “No problem. I was thinking out loud.”

“I will initiate voice mode. If you wish to address the pod, state Pod 3 before orders. I will not respond to other voice commands so you may communicate amongst yourselves in the compartment.”

Mira shook her head, eyeing the empty pod. The stupid computer thought she had someone else to talk to.

“Pod 3?”

“Pod 3. State problem.”

“I was wondering how long until we reach Earth.”

“At current rate of speed it will be four days, six hours, thirteen minutes, forty-one seconds.”

She sighed in relief. “That’s great news. That’s faster than I thought it would be.”

“We can’t stay at current rate of speed,” it announced. “We will run out of fuel in three hours, fourteen minutes, sixteen seconds if we continue current burn ratio. The fuel will be cut when threat is out of scanner range. Ask for estimation when pursuit is over.”

She clenched her teeth, thinking, taking a few deep breaths to relax. “What happens if the Star continues to pursue the pod?”

Seconds ticked by. “Programming states to continue burn until threat is out of scanner range. If pursuit continues we will burn all fuel in three hours, twelve minutes, three seconds.”

Mira was horrified. If the Star continued to chase her it would only be a matter of hours before they caught her. She wasn’t a damn pilot. She stared at the controls, realizing she was at the mercy of the automated pilot.

“Are there other options, Pod 3?”

“None.I have auto scanned for any other emergency locations but we are out of range.”

In other words, she was screwed. All she could hope for was that the Star broke off its pursuit of the pod. It might happen, she reasoned. The Star wouldn’t want to get too far from the Rally while it was