On a Rogue Planet Read Online Free Page A

cables beneath. If she could splice the navigation conduit with the stabilizer controls, maybe, just maybe, they could avoid smashing into teeny tiny pieces on Charox’s surface.
    But nothing she did succeeded in getting the stabilizers back online.
    “Damn it.” She slammed a fist against the console. “I have to go down to the engine.” It was a long shot. “Maybe if I can—”
    “Malin, strap in.”
    Xander’s voice now sounded strained. He was leaning over the command console, palms still flat against it. But his big body was tense, sweat dripping down his face.
    “What are you doing?” She raced over.
    “Strap in.”
    He was clearly still interfaced with her ship.
    “What are you—?”
    “Strap. In.” His words were like bullets.
    She sank into her chair and pulled her straps on.
    Slowly, the ship righted. Her lips parted and she stared at the screen. The stabilizers were back online. Not at full capacity, but enough for the ship to function.
    It wasn’t possible! They were too damaged.
    Her gaze shot to Xander.
    Lines bracketed his mouth and his face was pale.
    He was killing himself to stabilize the Firebird .
    “Xander, enough.”
    He ignored her.
    She gripped his arm. “Enough!”
    “Almost…there.”
    “You’re going to kill yourself!” She heard the fear in her tone. “Enough.”
    She managed to yank one of his hands off the console. His body started convulsing.
    “Shit.” She helped him back into his chair and his head slumped forward. Please don’t be dead . She touched her fingertips to his neck. Felt a pulse.
    Okay, the best thing she could do for him was get them safely back to Khan. He’d nearly killed himself to get the Firebird functional again.
    She set a course for the Phoenix moon.
    Then she noticed the flashing red light on the console and her chest tightened. Damn it. Couldn’t they catch a break?
    Enviro was failing…not just in the cargo bay but across the ship.
    She glanced at the unconscious CenSec beside her. This time she was on her own. She had to find a way to keep him and herself alive.

Chapter Three
    Mal blinked slowly, trying to stay conscious.
    She’d shut down everything she could except the engines and the enviro system in the cockpit.
    But even that was failing now.
    “Oxygen at unsafe levels,” said a modulated female computer voice.
    Mal dragged in a shuddering breath. They were close. They had to be. She just had to hold on a little while longer.
    She sagged against her straps and tried to focus on Xander’s inert body beside her. He hadn’t regained consciousness. She swallowed the huge lump in her throat. His face was pressed against the console, turned her way. He looked less intimidating with his eyes closed and muscles loose. His dark lashes were ridiculously long.
    Suddenly his eyes shot open.
    “Xander?” she whispered.
    His eyes flickered. “Status.”
    Not a question, an order. The very corner of her lips twitched. “On course. An hour from Khan.”
    At her husky murmur, his dark eyebrows drew together. When she’d first seen him, she’d thought him completely void of emotion. But a childhood spent travelling the galaxy with her dad had made her a people watcher and she was starting to glimpse tiny hints that he did feel something, sometimes. Drawn brows, the tightening of his jaw, the longer than normal pauses.
    “My systems are…damaged.”
    “Whatever you did to stabilize the ship, it took you out. You’ve been unconscious.”
    He tried to move and groaned.
    Mal dragged in a breath and tried to move too. With no success. She slumped forward again. She had no energy. She just wanted to sleep.
    “Malin, something else is wrong.”
    “Enviro’s failing.”
    His jaw tightened. “Have you—?”
    “I’ve tried every trick I know.”
    “Have you sent a distress call?”
    “Comms are damaged.”
    “Without my systems functioning, I’m unable to do anything more.”
    “Well, all I’ve got left is prayer.”
    “You believe