Why did I agree to this? Amanda looked at the massive bulk of Markath's warform, frightened. She'd kept away from him when he'd set out on his scouting flights before, but this time he was right there, in arms reach. Watching one of the aliens shift between the humanoid form and the huge dragons they became was always impressive, but she'd rarely seen it so close up. It had never looked more impressive.

Markath was magnificent, even by dragon standards. Wings wider than the skyship they were flying on. Scales that glittered in the pale evening sunlight and muscles moving under them with the effortless grace of a cat. His claws, she knew, could cut through steel, and his teeth were the size of daggers. If he'd wanted to wreck the Golden Kite, there wasn't a thing that she or Captain Harshaw could do to stop him.

Somehow, despite all that, he didn't frighten her. He should have, a giant predator big enough to swallow her whole was looking at her with an intensity she'd never seen so close up, but she felt safer than she had since she'd come to Mars. The eyes in that great head were still Markath's, and for all that he was intimidating, she knew he wouldn't harm her. That wasn't what she was afraid of.

The red dragon braced himself against the deck, his huge wings flexing in the air, and Amanda forced herself to step closer. Her gloved hands brushed over the scales, and even through her spacesuit she could feel the heat of his body, the furnace burning inside him. With an effort of will, she braced herself and pulled herself up onto his back.

She fit perfectly, as though he'd been made for her to ride. That thought made her grin despite herself — Amanda knew that, if she mentioned it to Markath, he'd say that was true. That fate had made them to fit each other. Maybe there is something to that, she thought before she could stop herself.

Don't think about it now. There are more important things to get done.

Markath looked back at her as she pulled on her helmet, and she nodded to him. That was all the signal he needed to leap into the sky.

The rush was incredible. The Golden Kite fell away beneath them, and Amanda clung onto Markath's neck for dear life. They were out of the air bubble around the skyship in a moment, silence wrapping around her like a blanket in the near-vacuum beyond. The sound of her pounding heart filled her ears as they rose above the Martian plains, sweeping out in a wide spiral.

It felt incredible and terrifying. So high above the hard ground, she knew that if she fell she'd have no chance of surviving the impact. But Markath wouldn't let her fall. She knew that too, with a certainty that frightened her. His heart beat a strong powerful pulse that she could feel under her as she clung to him, a hypnotic beat that drew her in. She could listen to that for hours, she knew. Despite the spacesuit between them, his body called to hers and she could hardly think of anything else.

This is what I was afraid of, she thought. Well, this and falling to my death. God, it felt good to press her body to his, and part of her simply wanted to enjoy the experience of racing through Mars's skies. To lose herself in this moment with him, let him carry her off to his lair and do whatever he wanted with her.

But, Amanda reminded herself, his lair was days of travel away, and they had a job to do here. And she wasn't going to let anyone carry her off. She wasn't.

Repeating that to herself, she carefully brought the binoculars to the faceplate of her suit. It was difficult to look through them in her helmet, but they were designed to be usable in a spacesuit. After a few moments of trial and error she had the hang of it.

Scanning the horizon, she tried to keep her mind focused on the search. There was so much space to cover and so little time. The sun was nearly down already, and the shadows cast by the rocks below stretched out long on the sands. Markath looped his course around, searching, and Amanda looked the other way from him, but the darkness was drawing in. Her heart sank.

There! Something gleamed in the dying sunlight, and she jerked the binoculars back around. Something metal, a blur at the edge of what she could see and almost hidden behind a hill. But it was there. She'd definitely seen something.

Suddenly she realized that neither she nor Markath had thought this far ahead. They had no way to communicate in the silence, and Amanda knew that if she lost sight of the reflection she'd have no way to find it again. For a moment she hesitated, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. Reaching forward, she smacked Markath hard, trying to attract his attention.

Nothing. His thick, scaled dragonhide was too tough. Winding up, she hit him again as hard as she could, slamming her fist down on his neck. That was enough to make him twist his head around, looking back at her. It was hard to read a dragon's expression, but she thought he looked confused.

Gesturing wildly, she tried to indicate the direction she'd seen whatever it was she'd found in. A moment later, he understood, turning in a tight circle and flying that way as fast as he could. The sun was vanishing below the horizon, and the dark Martian night was drawing in fast. Amanda hoped that she'd be able to see something by the time they got to the hills she'd seen through the binoculars.

She needn't have worried. As fast as Markath had been flying before, now he was truly racing and she realized that had only been a fraction of his top speed. The ground sped by under them, and ahead she could see something metallic sticking up from a dip in the landscape.

The prow of the Outrider, she realized as they closed on it. The skyship lay at an angle, and as they closed on it, the damage became more apparent. Even in the dark she could see that the ship's hull was twisted and broken, and a huge rock lay across it, crushing it. There were no lights, no sign of life. The back of the ship vanished into a cave beneath the hill, but what they could see of it was damaged beyond use. Her heart pounded, fear filling her. Had anyone survived whatever had happened here?

But then she saw movement. Someone in spacesuit, looking up and pointing at them as they soared overhead. Markath slowed and doubled back, dropping lower, but in the dying light she couldn't make out any more detail.

Something flashed below, and it felt like the world dropped away under Amanda. Markath's wings folded against his body and he fell like a stone, Amanda hanging on for dear life. Another flash, and she thought she felt something flicker past her helmet. Are they shooting at us?

Her hands gripped Markath as hard as they could, the binoculars falling to hang from their strap at her neck. Amanda realized that she was screaming, and was suddenly glad that no one could hear her as the rocks below grew rapidly.

She didn't want anyone to know that her last words were "ohgodohgodI'mgoingtodie."

At the last second Markath's wings snapped out and he pulled out of the dive, close enough to the ground that Amanda was surprised he wasn't scraping off the rocks. They were moving so fast now that the rocks zipped past in a blur that she couldn't follow. If anyone was still shooting at them they weren't getting anywhere near. Panting, Amanda forced herself to relax as best she could. It was almost exhilarating, sweeping over the plains of Mars in the darkness. If they hadn't been in so much danger, Amanda thought she might have enjoyed the experience.

Finally, Markath slowed and rose to a safer height, and Amanda forced herself to look around. Now that night had fallen, she could see no sign of the crashed ship, but the Golden Kite's lights were easy to spot in the distance. Markath angled his flight towards them. Amanda tried to get her breathing under control, and she'd nearly managed by the time he landed on the skyship's deck.

Sliding from his back, she felt her trembling legs give way under her. Before she could hit the ground, Markath was at her side, shifting and catching her. His strong hands supported her, lowering her to the deck, and she looked up to see his face. He looked almost frightened as he put her down, and that was enough to make her laugh.

Instantly, his face hardened, and Amanda almost felt bad. But she couldn't stop laughing, the relief of making it back to safety was too much.

"Are you hurt?" Markath asked, looking her over with careful intensity.

"No," Amanda managed to gasp. "I'm fine, I think. Just shocked. Were they shooting at us?"

Her humor cooled as he nodded, and another question popped into her head. "Did they hit you? Are you okay?"

He looked fine, no wounds showing. But she wasn't one hundred percent sure what would happen if a shifter was hurt in one form and then changed to another.

"I am unhurt," Markath assured her. "Whoever was shooting wasn’t a very good shot. Or maybe they were trying to warn us off rather than hit us, I don't know. I wasn't going to take the chance on finding out, not while you were with me."

Finishing his examination, he sat back on his heels and muttered something under his breath. Amanda couldn't make out any of his words, but the relief in his voice was palpable.

"I would never have forgiven myself if I'd gotten you injured," he said in English. Amanda snorted and shook her head, sitting up against the railing.

"This is my damned rescue mission, Markath," she told him. "If I get hurt on it, that's my problem and my fault."

"No." Markath's eyes met hers, and the force of his gaze was enough to take her breath away. "I am here to keep you safe, my mate. I will not permit you to be hurt, no matter what."

His wings spread above them, almost like a protective canopy, and Amanda couldn't doubt the sincerity of his intent. Swallowing, Amanda felt her body respond to this magnificent man pledging himself to her defense. Her cheeks heated, her legs felt weak, and her pulse raced.

It was so tempting to let him keep her safe. But she couldn't do it, not when it meant staying on Mars. If this expedition proved anything, it was that this planet wasn't her friend. Amanda forced herself to take a deep breath.

"I'm not your property," she said, hating that her voice sounded so weak. Markath leaned back, his jaw tightening.

"No, you're not," he said, not breaking eye contact. His voice was quiet but forceful, and the deep sound of it echoed in Amanda's mind as he spoke. "Nor would I want you to be. You are my partner, my mate, and I could no more own you than I could own the stars in the sky. Let me protect you as a warrior should his mate, that is all I ask."

Amanda hesitated. It wasn't easy to admit that she needed help, but if they were flying towards someone who'd shoot at them, perhaps protection was a good idea? And that was apart from the way Markath's protective nature made her feel.

But I'm going to have to stand on my own soon enough, she told herself. He's not coming back to Earth with me, and I don't have a place here. I don't want to start relying on him.

Before she could decide how to answer, Captain Harshaw coughed meaningfully, and the two of them turned to face him. The big man had a worried look on his face.

"Did I hear something about shooting?" he asked. "Because flying into a firefight, well, that wasn't part of our arrangement, was it?"

Markath growled and the captain paled, holding up his hands as he continued. "We had a deal! But I'm not risking my ship for it, nor my life. That's not what we arranged."

Standing, Markath looked down at Harshaw and Amanda could see the tension in him. Before he could do something he'd regret, she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. The two men were going to end up in a fight if she didn't do something to stop it, and that couldn't end well. Having the captain angry with them would be a disaster, and more than that, he had a point. She didn't have to like it to acknowledge it.

"They didn't know we're a rescue mission," she said quickly. "It was dark, they didn't have lights, someone saw a dragon. Probably they thought Markath was a pirate. It'll be different if we approach on a human skyship with the lights running."

The captain looked dubious, but between her words and Markath's angry glare, he didn't seem to want to push the issue.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm not sticking around if they start shooting, okay? Rescuing some stranded scavengers is one thing, combat's another."

Markath's growl started deep in his chest and Harshaw took a step back. Amanda squeezed again, and he subsided with a frustrated glance at her. Yeah, I don't like it either, she thought, but we can't force a man to fly into a firefight. If it comes to that, we'll figure something else out.

She hoped that they wouldn't have to. That, now that they'd found the Outrider, things would be simple. But she had a sinking feeling that everything was only going to get more complicated.