Zuna rocketed out of the hangar first with Fadek on board her big-engine ship. Leatherwood and Niur took a different heavy fighter that Niur used to fly when he couldn't get his hands on anything else.

  The three ships blasted onto the course. Hayes hauled back the helm and gunned the engines to climb for orbit.

  Richmond's stomach tightened. The energy field was down. Nothing would stop the friends from escaping this time.

  He had to stop himself from jumping up and taking the controls away from Hayes, but Hayes was doing just fine on his own. He drove the ship to the breaking point. Zuna and Niur hounded Hayes all the way up.

  The minute the friends gained altitude, a swarm of Lilri fighter craft erupted off the airfield. None of the fighters used the chute this time. They didn't have to. They spread into a massive cloud above the Necrodrome. No way could these ships get through that.

  "Go back down and through the chute!" Richmond called from his seat. "Get them to follow you, head down the chute, and you can get away into the city."

  Hayes obeyed instantly. The other two pilots copied him move for move.

  Richmond fought down a wave of nausea when Hayes tilted violently toward the ground and punched the throttle for all he was worth. He drove the ship to its highest speed, and pushed the ship even harder now than when he'd climbed for orbit.

  The other pilots did exactly the same thing. None of them spared the engines at all.

  The Lilri plunged into a close pursuit and pelted all three fugitive vessels with gunfire. The fighters dropped into the Necrodrome to follow the three escaping vessels down.

  Hayes ripped his helm toward the fighter chute. He was flying too fast to stop, but he had to pull away when more fighters blasted out of the chute right in front of him. He veered hard toward the course and took refuge among the obstacles.

  Fighters blacked out the sky. More kept pouring from the chute to hunt the fugitives down.

  Hayes swerved around obstacles. Sweat saturated his hair and shirt from fighting the controls so hard. He couldn't ease off for a second. He plowed into the maze flying way too fast, bounced off the walls, and skidded away around corners. The Lilri copied him and crawled up on his tail, but their gunfire got lost in the maze's tightly angled walls.

  He almost flew nose-first into more Lilri fighters coming at him from the opposite direction. He bellowed in surprise, yanked up the helm, vaulted out of the maze, and plunged away into the distance while the Lilri scrambled to catch up.

  More fighters swarmed the course from all over. Zuna and Niur shadowed Hayes, but none of them could get away.

  Hayes rounded the home stretch, heading for another set of obstacles on the other side of the gate.

  Another fleet of fighter craft blasted out of the obstacle right in front of Hayes. He spun aside and wound up flying straight into the hangar through the open gate. He didn't correct in time, flew into the holding cell, and smashed into the back wall.

  Richmond blinked the stars out of his head, looked through the cockpit window in front of him, and attacked his safety harness when he saw Zuna, Fadek, Leatherwood, and Niur deploying out of their ships. They spun backward to aim their laser rifles toward the open gate. Lilri fighters buzzed around out there. Some of them invaded the hangar, and the friends cut them to pieces with their lasers.

  Yagni and Richmond grabbed Hayes. He didn't seem to be injured; he just looked dazed from the collision.

  They hauled Hayes out of his seat and hustled out into the holding cell just as Zuna, Fadek, Leatherwood, and Niur backed into it from the hangar. The friends rejoined and took off for the exit door leading back into the corridor.

  They stopped in their tracks when dozens of armed Lilri invaded the holding cell through the door.

  The group opened fire with their lasers and cut down countless Lilri, but while the fight was still going on, more soldiers stormed the hangar from out in the Necrodrome.

  They set off another concussion that knocked all the friends unconscious.

  CHAPTER 9

  Richmond jolted back to his senses, jerked his head up to look around, and immediately collapsed back on the floor when he saw where he was.

  He was still in the Necrodrome holding cell, surrounded by his friends. They all lay or sat on the floor against one wall--and they were all unarmed now.

  Two dozen armed Lilri soldiers crowded the holding cell, but the soldiers didn't hold the friends at gunpoint. They didn't have to. They had closed the wall leading to the hangar. No one could get out that way.

  Enough soldiers packed the holding cell that Richmond didn't even consider trying to escape. Why didn't they just shoot him here and now? Did the Vasyke have some rule about condemned prisoners only getting executed in certain ways at certain times? That made no sense. Why not just stand him against any random wall and end this if he caused them so much trouble?

  He finally forced himself to pry his aching body off the floor, scoot over to the wall, and lean against it with Fadek, Zuna, and the others.

  The holding cell door opened. More Lilri soldiers escorted in the prisoners who'd take part in tonight's bout.

  Richmond couldn't get interested in any of this. The only difference was that all the soldiers stood around to make sure he and his friends didn't try anything else--as if he would just suddenly wake up tonight and stop thinking about escaping.

  The new prisoners all stopped in their tracks as soon as they entered. They paused there to stare at Richmond and his friends. Everyone knew the allies now. He could just hear the wheels grinding in these prisoners' heads.

  Was any of these people an innocent captive off the street? Did these people get kidnapped from their homes and taken against their will for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? He couldn't do anything about that as long as he stayed locked up in here. He wasn't sure anymore if he could do anything about it at all.

  All these near-death experiences were starting to take a toll on his mind. He no longer felt like giving up. They'd turned him dangerously reckless instead. He really had nothing left to lose. He was already dead. He'd died a thousand times since he landed on this planet. This person everyone admired so much--he was really just a ghost of someone long dead.

  Honestly, what difference did it make if he gave up and died right now or if he threw all caution out the window and tried something so recklessly stupid that it just might work?

  Whatever scraps might have been left of his self-respect evaporated in a breath of wind. He wasn't responsible for any of these people's lives or deaths.

  Zuna had told him a long time ago that she was already dead. She'd died when her brother got arrested and she took his place.

  She hadn't been alive all this time. Richmond hadn't been alive all this time, either. He just didn't realize it until right now.

  He'd blown up when Dovo shut down the warships. Richmond had been shot this morning by Lilri soldiers in that courtyard. He'd died when his Splitwing crashed on this planet. He died in the battle against the Brath. He'd died during his first bout in the Necrodrome and in every other bout he had ever flown in.

  This shell had been walking around doing things. People saw him doing things and fighting battles, but what they saw wasn't really a person. It wasn't him. It was more of an idea.

  He got to his feet. All the chains of restraint that held him back and made him cautious before--they all disintegrated in a split second.

  He crossed the holding cell and confronted the new prisoners. "Join me," he blurted out. "Join our alliance. We can get out of here if we all work together."

  The prisoners froze. Their eyes practically fell out of their sockets at his audacity. Dozens of Lilri soldiers stood right next to him, listening to every goddamned word.

  He didn't care anymore. The Lilri and the Vasyke already knew what he was planning to do. If they ever entertained any doubts that he was still working against them, they'd better get those ideas out of their heads now.

  He went from one person to the next. "I know a way out of the Necrodrome, but we all have to work together. Do you understand? You can't attack anyone in the hangar. We have to cooperate or none of us can get out. Are you with me?"

  "I'm with you," a big Krion said. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

  "I'll join, too," a Yenus chimed in. "We all believe in you, Captain."

  A dozen others agreed, and then the Lilri brought in a second batch of prisoners. Richmond went from person to person, inviting all of them to join his alliance. He told them all not to attack anyone in the hangar and to fall in formation with the allies as soon as they got into the arena.

  The Lilri stood by, watching and listening to everything he said. They didn't try to intervene. He made no effort at all to keep his voice down or to conceal what he was doing.

  "What about the threat that the Vasyke will send in Lilri fighters if we don't fight each other?" a Gulepe female asked.

  "That's exactly what we want," Richmond replied. "We'll cooperate with each other and the Vasyke will send in Lilri fighter craft. That's how we'll get out of the arena."

  "How?" the first Krion asked.

  "I'll show you when we get out there, but it's imperative that none of us fires a shot. The quicker the Lilri see that we won't fight each other, the quicker they'll send in fighters, and we can all escape."

  The Lilri brought in a third batch of prisoners. Richmond's time was running out. He rushed through them all, explaining what he wanted them to do. As soon as the new people heard that everyone else in the holding cell belonged to Richmond's alliance, all the new people joined, too.

  The prisoners kept casting wary glances at the Lilri. Richmond waited for the soldiers to grab him, force him down on the floor, and execute him in front of everyone. That's what he would have done if he was in their position. He wouldn't let someone like him make another escape attempt, especially not on a planet-wide broadcast of a Necrodrome bout.

  What were the Lilri waiting for? Now would have been the perfect time to make an example of him. That would be the quickest way to shut down whatever movement he may have started.

  The Lilri didn't intervene. He'd just finished talking to the third batch of prisoners when the wall slid up and the announcer entered the hangar.

  He gave the usual short briefing and left. Richmond's ribs ached from the tension. If he had been the Vasyke in charge of tonight's bout, he would have sent in fighter craft immediately. He wouldn't wait to see if the prisoners cooperated with each other.

  Just knowing that he was going to make another attempt should have forced the Vasyke's hand. He didn't understand their hesitation. Had they sentenced him to death or not? Was that whole trial just a stunt?

  He pushed it out of his mind. He was doing this. He'd just keep doing it until they finally got so sick of him that they blew his brains out. He had nothing else in the world to do.

  No way in hell would he ever hesitate or hold back anymore. Those days were over. The Vasyke and the Lilri were about to get the new and improved Joel Richmond.

  If they thought the old Richmond was trouble, they wouldn't like this new version at all. He would damn sure make their lives a living hell to pay them back for all the shit they'd put him through.

  The guard screen dissolved. The prisoners started forward to enter the hangar.

  The instant they crossed the threshold, people from the second group of prisoners spun around and attacked the third group. Another murderous battle broke out right there on the floor.

  Richmond considered going over there to straighten it out. He wanted to save the people who'd agreed to be his allies, but he couldn't waste time with that. He charged to his ship, touched the outer hull, and it swept him into the cockpit. The engines powered up.

  He barely checked to make sure his friends stayed out of any conflicts. They all made it on board all right.

  The new prisoners didn't fare so well. Ten of them went down in fistfights and skirmishes before they got on board.

  Richmond gunned his engines and plunged out into the Necrodrome. He flew into a hail of gunfire coming from other prisoners. He completely ignored them. He didn't even take the time to notice their gunfire, much less return it.

  He streaked away into a swerving breakneck course around the arena. His friends caught up with him right outside the maze. They fell in formation, and on their next pass, another seven joined them.

  He didn't have time to check who was with him and who wasn't. If they made it through this bout, he'd find out later after they all got out of here.

  Gun battles, air wars, and deadly firefights broke out in front of the gate. Richmond led his people up and over the conflicts, dropped back down into the course, and another five prisoners slotted in behind him.

  Explosions went off around the gate as prisoners annihilated prisoners. Were they Richmond's friends or enemies?

  The formation banked around the bend to the backstretch, heading for the maze. Richmond didn't see anyone in front of him. He and his friends had the backstretch to themselves.

  He burst out of the maze and made it a hundred yards before another ten prisoner ships came at him from directly in front. They'd flown the wrong way around the course to intercept him.

  He opened fire, but before he could land a single hit, everyone in formation behind him broke position and swooped ahead to overtake him. They rushed around him on both sides, dodged in front of him to take those hits in his place, and then unloaded on the enemy.

  They kept flying at the same speed. No one slowed down an inch. They plowed straight into the attackers, blasted them to smithereens, and kept on flying around the bend toward the gate.

  A few more battles dotted the area right outside the hangar. Richmond didn't see any difference between the combatants, but someone in the formation did. Eight of his comrades punched their throttles, raced in front of the formation, and overtook the skirmishes at the gate before Richmond's party got there. The allies scattered gunfire into the skirmishes, targeted random people, and detonated another four ships before the formation hurtled out the other side to safety.

  The last three prisoners fell in behind the allies. No one fired a shot after that.

  Richmond wound up in the center of their grouping. His allies flew in front of him, behind him, and on either wing. They plunged into the maze, veered through the course, and were just breaking out the other side when the Lilri fighters attacked, pouring out of the chute to invade the Necrodrome in force.

  "There they are!" Richmond yelled through his communications system. "Pull away to the chute! Get down inside it before they close the energy field! Pull away now!"

  He led the way by hauling his ship out of formation and climbing up the stands. His friends and allies screamed around in a steep curve to follow him.

  The Lilri were all flying way too fast to divert. They zoomed past him to make room for more fighter craft pelting out of the chute.

  Hundreds of them came in, impossibly fast. Richmond couldn't get anywhere near the chute until the last fighters erupted into the sky and scattered across the Necrodrome.

  He plunged into the chute right behind them. Darkness closed around him.

  His ship skidded and screeched against the walls, but his engines kept howling until he plowed out the other end right into the middle of the Lilri airfield.

  CHAPTER 10

  A dozen prisoner ships crashed, smashed, and banged into each other as they all blundered out of the Lilri fighter craft chute leaving the Necrodrome. Almost all the prisoner ships were too big to fit in the chute. They sustained irreparable damage just by flying through the narrow opening.

  "Everybody out!" Richmond ordered through the communications system. "Everybody out and onto the airfield! Hurry!"

  He didn't wait around for anyone to answer him. He activated his controls, and the ship transported him onto the tarmac.

  His allies took longer to deploy from their ships. The chute had carved off both of Zuna's huge engines. That ship would never fly again.

  The new people glanced around at everything in petrified horror. "Follow me," Richmond ordered, and headed straight out onto the airfield. He had no idea what he would do now that he was here, but he couldn't let all this readily available firepower go to waste.

  He considered telling his people to steal fighter craft, but the same old considerations changed his mind. Richmond spotted another warship not far away. He didn't see any crews, pilots, or mechanics working on it. The warship just sat there by itself, abandoned.

  He headed for it. Fadek and Niur hustled up next to him. "What are you going to do, Captain?" Niur asked.

  Richmond opened his mouth to say he really didn't have a clue what he was going to do. Gunfire interrupted him. The whole party spun around and then scattered before ranks of Lilri soldiers advancing onto the airfield to recapture everyone.

  Richmond tried to raise his rifle. Then he realized he didn't have one. Shit.

  He bolted behind the nearest fighter. He should board it right now and turn its guns on the soldiers. But that course led to only one outcome. It led to him getting into air battles against more Lilri fighter craft and eventually battleships.

  He veered behind three different fighter craft to keep out of the soldiers' way. He always wound up migrating back to the warship, but in a minute, the soldiers cut him off from that, too.

  Richmond would have ordered his allies to escape into the city streets, but the soldiers came from over there. They stalked across the airfield in a line of guns. The soldiers forced the allies to retreat in the only direction available--toward the desert beyond the edge of town.

  Richmond couldn't even see his allies anymore. They all scattered and hid behind other vessels. The fugitives had to keep running, dodging, and hiding whenever the Lilri opened fire.

  He glanced around for his friends. That's when he noticed how close he was to the desert.

 

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