The Lost Starship by Vaughn Heppner

over there?” Maddox asked, inclining his head to the right.
    She glanced at it, a utility door it seemed to her. “I see it.”
    “Good. Then turn around one hundred and eighty degrees from it and run ,” he said, releasing her elbow as he broke into a sprint into the direction he’d just told her to go.
     

-8-
    While panting, Lieutenant Noonan glared at Captain Maddox. She sat in the passenger seat of his flitter, a fast sportster with a bubble canopy. Below, the mall and the greater metropolis of Paris quickly faded from view as they climbed with unbelievable speed. She couldn’t even see the Eiffel Tower anymore.
    The engine hummed , but there was hardly any vibration. This was some craft, clearly a specialty machine approaching combat efficiency.
    After that harrowing sprint, Valerie was still sucking down air. Sweat prickled her face and neck.
    Maddox glanced at her and flicked yet another switch. A conditioning vent poured cooling air against her skin. She repositioned, opening a top button. Ah, the blowing air felt good.
    Valerie liked to stay in shape. Compared to Maddox, though, she was an out of shape slob. The captain seemed placid as he kept checking his instrument panel. He’d sprinted like a cheetah back there. Only as Valerie broke out of the mall, struggling to catch up to him in the parking lot, had she realized a sniper fired at them—not that she’d heard anything. The captain had thrown himself to the paving, and she’d seen something glittery break apart on the hard surface. Maddox had produced a long-barreled gun, snapping off several shots. Then he’d sprinted back, grabbed her and forced her to bend low as they wove through parked vehicles.
    She would have asked what was going on , but it was all she could do to keep her legs churning as he propelled her along. Finally, he’d holstered the weapon and pulled out a black unit, pressing buttons. She’d yelped when a flitter literally dropped out of the sky in front of them.
    Another of those glittery things broke apart against the machine’s canopy. Then they’d piled in. The flitter lifted before she clicked on her buckles. Now they headed north.
    “Who shot at us back there?” she said between gasps.
    “That’s a good question,” Maddox said. “I wish I knew.”
    “ You must have an idea.”
    He glanced at her. “There are several possibilities.”
    She frowned at him. “I’d guess it was the same people who came f or me in the mall.”
    “That’s loose thinking at best,” he said.
    “What do you mean?” she asked, stung. “That makes perfect sense. They tried to kidnap me in the mall. I saw what the sniper fired at you. It wasn’t bullets. Steel-jacketed rounds don’t break apart on paving or against armored glass. He shot darts. Something with knockout drugs would be my guess.”
    Maddox gave her another glance, this one more quizzical.
    “Did I say something stupid?” she asked, exasperated.
    “I didn’t expect someone like you to be so observant in these kinds of situations,” Maddox said.
    “What ’s that supposed to mean?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “A Star Watch lieutenant. What did you think I meant?”
    She said nothing.
    “Someone from Detroit perhaps?” he asked.
    Her face stiffened. “You listen to me—”
    “Save yourself the indignity,” Maddox said. “I meant no insult. I’m letting you know that I’ve read your file.”
    “Yeah? ” she asked. “What does it say?”
    “For the most part it speaks about your competence in your chosen area of expertise.”
    “And the rest?”
    He grinned. “None of us are perfect, are we?”
    “If you think because my family lived on welfare that you’re better than us, you have another thing coming. “
    “That’s an interesting word.”
    She scowled. “What is? What are you talking about now?”
    “Better,” he said.
    “What about it?”
    “You asked if I think I’m better than you. That’s too broad of a question. I run faster, so that