“No. Bend them. Just enough to prevent smooth operation of the rail system.” Darius had already moved into position to cover the first mark, Tycho’s huge body wrapped around the beam. He braced his legs on the panel below and pulled.
At first, nothing happened. Slowly, I saw movement, a bowing in the center of the beam where Darius had his arms wrapped around it.
“Is that enough?” His strained voice reminded me of the only other time I’d heard him that focused and out of breath. That time, he’d been bending and breaking me into a mess of shattered, orgasmic pieces.
I would never get enough.
“Step back please.” Tor waited for Darius to abandon the structure and scanned it again. “Yes. I believe that will create sufficient stress on the joints to increase the impact of our explosives.”
“Great. Where’s the next one?”
Darius moved to the second beam connected to the central node Tor had chosen as our target. I moved to the third position and pulled. Twisted. Put everything I had into it until my muscles burned.
Tor was a Titan. I didn’t know that my extra effort had any effect, but I wasn’t about to take any chances.
A few minutes later, Tor gave us the go ahead to attach the bombs we carried. Each placement marked for maximum effect.
“Next?”
A new set of targets appeared on my nav grid. “That’s on the other side of the ship.”
“Each target is equidistant.”
More geometry. “Fine. How are we going to get over there this century without using our boosters?” I glanced down at my grappling claw and the line that ran between the claw to my Titan. “I have an idea.”
“Yes, love?”
“Ever play leapfrog when you were a kid?”
“I have never leaped a frog.”
I handed the business end of my grappling claw to Tycho and extended the attached line to its maximum length. “Don’t let go.”
“Never.”
With that, I used Tor’s mighty strength to propel me through space until the line caught, yanking me to a halt. The force stop caused me to move backward, toward Darius, but I caught a beam and wrapped my arms around it. Legs, too. “Your turn.”
“Don’t let go.”
“Never, Darius. You’re mine.”
With a running start, Darius leaped forward, his Titan moving toward me at a mind boggling speed. “I shall hold you to that, pair-bond.”
He shot past me and I braced for the sharp tug I would feel when he hit the end of the line.
Moments later, it was my turn again, but we’d already covered a significant distance.
“This is going to work.”
“Of course it is.”
We spent the next few hours leapfrogging past one another all over the enemy ship. I didn’t know how close we were to Xenon, or Velerion or the war. But we were moving as quickly as we could and praying Tor’s plan would work.
When the last beam was sabotaged and the final charges placed, I heard Darius take a deep breath. “Come on. Hold onto me.”
“What the plan?” I asked, moving Tor into Tycho’s reach. Darius and I wrapped the Titans’ arms around one another. I was not letting go.
“We get the fuck off this ship and pray your friend Mia is as good at her job as everyone says she is.”