He nodded, looking to the commander. “We’ll meet you back here in ten?”
“Meet you back here in ten.”
With that, we sprinted for the main entrance of Lunar HQ and headed for the engineering department first, cutting Bashrik off on his way back to the hangar. He was carrying a box full of tools and supplies.
“What’s going on?” he asked, startled.
Hurriedly, we recounted the discussion we’d just had with Commander Mahlo. He agreed to accompany us, running alongside as we raced to find the others.
“I don’t suppose you know where Angie and Xiphio are, do you?” I asked Bashrik, pausing to catch my breath. I felt suddenly dizzy, and black spots started appearing in my vision.
He shook his head. “If they’re not here, they might be in the medical wing. I know Angie wanted to see how Lauren was doing, and she has practically been living there, so that could be our best bet.”
I grimaced at the thought of trying to find the medical wing. “Do you know the way?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Bashrik beamed proudly. “I’ve been to visit Stone a couple times, although Lauren has been a constant fixture, and so I have had to… Well, I haven’t been able to speak to him, man to man.” There was a note of bitterness in his voice that made me smile, despite the dizzy sensation that threatened to overwhelm me.
“Come on, then, we don’t have a moment to lose,” I urged him, forcing myself to keep going even though my limbs felt like lead.
Navan and I followed Bashrik through the labyrinth of hallways until we reached the familiar sight of the medical wing’s sterile double doors. Bursting in, we slowed to a brisk walk, trying not to disturb the sleeping patients as we made our way toward Stone’s room. We found Lauren, Angie, and Xiphio all sitting around Stone’s bed, taking it in turns to tell him a story. They looked up in alarm as we entered.
“I thought you guys were repairing ships all day,” Angie whispered, which amused me in a macabre way, considering Stone was in a coma.
I explained everything without pausing for a breath. “So, that’s why we need you to come with us, right this minute.”
Angie got up and flashed a nervous smile at Bashrik. “Count me in.”
Lauren, to my relief, looked hesitant. “I might stay here, if that’s okay. Someone should be around, in case Stone wakes up… and I don’t want Ronad feeling like he’s alone. Dio could use some cheering up, too.”
“You stay and do what you have to do,” I said, smiling at her. “Xiphio?”
He lunged forward unexpectedly and scooped Lauren into his arms, holding her tight. “I apologize for my forward behavior, Miss Lauren, but I must say my farewells to you if I’m to go with the others,” he murmured. “If there’s to be a fight with Ezra, then I must be ready for every eventuality.”
Lauren chuckled, hugging him back. “You’re making it sound like you’re not going to make it.”
“None of us know if tomorrow is a certainty,” he said, ramping up the tragic hero role. “If I get killed today, I want you to know that my thoughts were of you… of us, standing here, saying goodbye.”
“Please don’t die,” Lauren gasped, her calm expression crumbling as she gripped Xiphio tighter. I watched him realize he’d gone overboard, his eyes widening as he tried to backpedal. Clearly, he hadn’t intended to upset her.
“I will do what I can. I will stay safe and make it back, fear not.”
I was about to suggest we head up to the surface to meet with Commander Mahlo, before the transport convoy took off without us—but then a stabbing cramp hit me hard in the lowest part of my abdomen. It twisted up like a knife, bringing a sudden heat to the back of my neck.
Really? Now? There couldn’t be a worse time to start my period, but it felt like I was about to get an unwanted visit regardless. In previous months, depending on where I was, I’d used whatever I could get my hands on, fashioning sanitary items out of cloth pads and tape. On Vysanthe, it had been easier. I’d just used the funny gel sponges that they used, which absorbed everything and turned it into water, but that kind of thing hadn’t been as easy to find in places like deep space, the Junkyard, and Zai. My chest was starting to hurt, too, which was just what I needed.
“Is everything okay?” Navan whispered, leaning over to me as the others talked to Lauren.
“Sore boobs, that’s all,” I joked. “You know, from where I got smacked in the chest during the battle the other day?” He’d seen my naked body each night, covered in bruises that had bloomed across my skin like black-and-blue camouflage.
“Maybe you should get yourself checked out, while we’re here.”
I shook my head. “It comes and goes. Anyway, these medics have bigger issues right now. I refuse to bother them with a case of sore boob syndrome.”
“Is there anything I can do to help the ladies out? A massage, perhaps?” he teased, murmuring in my ear. It wasn’t the right place or the right time for that kind of talk, but my cheeks flushed anyway.
“Eh, once you two lovebirds have finished making goo-goo eyes at each other and whispering saucy nothings, maybe we can get our asses up to see the commander?” Angie interjected, waggling her eyebrows at us.
I laughed, but the somberness returned a split second later as we said our goodbyes to Lauren. Perhaps Xiphio had a point—if something did happen to us during the exchange with Ezra, then this would be the last time we saw Lauren. She wouldn’t know if we were okay or not until later. I supposed it was almost worse for the ones left behind, waiting for news of loved ones.
It made me think suddenly of Jean and Roger, who had perpetually been waiting for news of me. Even when they thought I was in some sort of witness protection, they’d have wondered how I was, and when they could see me again. It broke my heart to think of them sitting at home, praying for the phone to ring.
“Okay, let’s do this!” I said, shaking away the painful thoughts. They wouldn’t do me any favors during this mission. All of that would have to wait until the moment this war was over, and I could be good again, set on my path toward making amends for all the things I’d done. I knew I’d start with Jean and Roger.
After stealing a wad of cotton padding and a roll of bandages from a clinical cupboard by the door, when nobody was looking, I stuffed them into my pockets. They’d come in handy later, when my unwelcome period decided to make an appearance.
As we were making our way back upstairs, Navan sidled up to me and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close.
“After all of this is over, you and I are going to pick a honeymoon destination. We can go anywhere you want,” he whispered. “We could go to the beaches of Phnossos, or the tropical islands of Tamatoa, or the volcanic sands of Fermeer…”
I smiled up at him. “I’m happy to go anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
Chapter Twenty
We arrived outside the entrance to Lunar HQ in the nick of time. Commander Mahlo was scanning the horizon from the gangway, tapping her foot impatiently, clutching a comms device so hard her knuckles had whitened. I waved up to her, and she gestured to a small fighter ship parked beside the transport vessel. It wasn’t the rebel ship we’d brought Orion back in, which disappointed me slightly, but it would do. At least we wouldn’t be left behind, forced to wait for information, not knowing how the deal had gone down.
“Let’s get these ships off the ground!” Commander Mahlo roared, retreating up the gangway. The loading ramp withdrew behind her as she disappeared into the belly of the transport ship.
Our group ran for the fighter ship, assuming our positions as quickly as possible. Navan and Bashrik took the pilot’s and copilot’s chairs, while Angie, Xiphio, and I strapped ourselves into the remaining seats in the cockpit. A moment later, Bashrik fired up the engines and took us up into the sky, moving through the dome that hid Lunar HQ from view. I’d expected it to have gained a slight blue tinge, given what we’d been told about the agents using their nudus to cover
everything in shields, but it seemed they’d had more important things to attend to… namely, the main transport ship. The whole thing was bathed in bright blue light, the shield thrumming with strength. Whoever the nudus-wielder was within the transport, they were doing a good job.
“We’re all aware we’re flying into a great big trap, right?” Angie murmured, flashing me an anxious look.
I sighed. “I tried to tell them that, but they keep saying it’ll be worth the risk.”
“Right… Good, well, I just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.”
“Didn’t you vote on this?” After all, she’d taken my place that morning, at the main meeting.
“I was kicked out of the room; can you believe it? Apparently, I didn’t have the right kind of authority to vote on ‘Fed matters.’”
“You were also being extremely disruptive, Miss Angie,” Xiphio interjected. “As soon as they mentioned the deal, you began calling them very rude names. I don’t think they took kindly to such things.”
Angie raised her hands in defense. “Hey, if they can’t handle a little truth, they shouldn’t be in this job. I thought the deal was stupid then, and I still think it’s stupid.”
I glanced at Xiphio. “You were in the room, though, right? How did you vote?”
“I voted against the deal, but I have to accept the mandate of the majority,” he replied reluctantly. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but I would never dare to call Agent Phocida a… Well, it does not bear repeating. At least we’re following the convoy and can assist when… rather, if things go awry.”
“Do you think they’re prepared for this?” Navan asked.
Xiphio shrugged. “Every agent is armed to the teeth, and we have the nudus shield protecting the main ship. I believe they have come more than prepared.” He paused uncertainly, as if he wasn’t sure he should continue. “My only fear is that, even then, it may not be enough.”
We traveled the rest of the way in near silence until, finally, the main ship arrived outside the dome to the rebel base. There were four ships in the convoy—the main transporter and three flanking fighters, including ours—all of them with their invisibility shields up, to hide us from the human aircrafts still lingering above. A couple of cloaked Fed ships remained in the skies above the dome, too, keeping an eye on the humans. The transporter set down in the shadows of the nearby woodland, not too far from the wreckage of Commander Mahlo’s previous ship, so Ezra could come to her without the humans spotting the exchange.
“Let’s see if we can hear what’s going on, shall we?” Bashrik said, patching us in to the comms feed from the main ship. It would enable us to overhear the negotiations between Mahlo and Ezra, firsthand.
“A small vessel is approaching the transporter,” a voice crackled through, though it wasn’t one I recognized.
Quickly, Bashrik toyed with the controls, bringing up a screen with several bleeping dots. “That one is the transporter,” he explained, gesturing to a large blue spot. “This one is the rebel ship, and these are our fighter ships,” he added, pointing to a small red dot and three smaller blue ones. “The green ones are human.”
I peered out through the windshield, trying to pick out the approaching ship as it emerged from the dome, but I couldn’t see a thing—just a slight ripple in the fabric of the dome, where the vessel had exited. “Aren’t the rebel ships cloaked? How can you pick it up on the radar?”
Bashrik smiled. “The Fed ships are equipped with advanced movement detection. If the ship was stationery and cloaked, we wouldn’t be able to see it. As it happens, this one is moving, so it’s fair game.”
“Confirmation on target?” the unknown voice of the transporter’s pilot crackled through again.
“Affirmative. I have eyes on Ezra.” Commander Mahlo’s voice took us all by surprise as it echoed through the speakers.
As our fighter slowly moved forward, I saw that the commander was right. Ezra had just exited his ship and had come to a halt in a woodland clearing—the same woodland clearing where the transporter had been set down. It wouldn’t be long until the exchange was made, and my fears were growing by the second. Ezra had arrived in a surprisingly tiny ship, with no backup whatsoever. That was unsettling.
“Commander Mahlo, I’m glad you could make it.” Ezra’s voice came through the comms system, picked up by the commander’s device. It sounded tinny and distant, but it was definitely him.
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” she replied.
“Now, before we get down to the nitty-gritty, can you confirm that Orion is on board?”
Through the glass, I saw her shake her head. “First, confirm the status of the prisoners.”
“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Ezra said casually, as though he had all the time in the world. “Are you still harboring the defecting coldblood named Navan and his human pet, Riley?”
“I don’t see how that is any of your business.” The commander’s tone was brusque.
“Well, it is my business, and it’s in your best interests to tell me,” Ezra pressed. “I won’t be agreeing to any deal unless they’re given to me.”
Navan and I shared a shocked look. In all my hurried planning to help with the exchange, I’d never expected Ezra to want us as part of the deal; he must have really wanted revenge for all the trouble we’d put him through. Perhaps, in hindsight, it hadn’t been the best idea to come here.
The commander folded her arms across her chest. “That wasn’t what we agreed to. It’s the prisoners for Orion, and no more.”
Ezra’s lips twisted up in a cold, calculated smile. “The prisoners have already perished, Commander.”
Without warning, he ducked to the ground, and his ship surged forward. The vessel swept over his head, diving through the nudus dome that shrouded the transporter in blue light. As I’d suspected, Ezra had found a way to get Orval to share the nudus with others, splitting up the ones he’d acquired from Stone with other “innocent” rebels or prisoners, who were apparently on the small rebel ship at that very moment, giving it the power to break through the protective shield.
“We’re taking fire!” The pilot’s voice sounded through the comms system. “Requesting immediate backup!”
As the small rebel ship pelted the transporter with blasts that rippled the outer shell of the hazy blue shield, we swung into action. Without a nudus-wielder to get us through the barrier, we’d have to turn our focus elsewhere, and I knew the perfect target.
“Go for Ezra!” I yelled, but Bashrik and Navan were already on it, swooping low, firing down. The other three fighters had jolted into action too, heading for the transporter. They had soldiers wearing nudus on board, so they could get beneath the barrier to defend the main ship from the rebel attack. Now, I understood why Ezra had chosen such a tiny ship—it could maneuver easily beneath the shield, where our fighters could only move around awkwardly, half in, half out of the barrier.
“Orion is on board our ship, Ezra. If you continue to fire upon it, you will kill him,” Commander Mahlo roared, her voice barely audible above the gunfire. I knew the blasts would inevitably bring the humans, but they seemed to be keeping away for now. No doubt, they were asking their superiors what they should do instead of helping us out.
Ezra smirked. “You really aren’t getting this, are you?” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the woodland, with Commander Mahlo sprinting back toward the transporter. A small portal opened in the side of the shield to let her in, just as the blue haze dissipated into thin air. Someone had reached the nudus-wielder. A moment later, however, it flickered back up. Either someone had taken over the nudus, or the wielder had managed to gain back control.
With only one rebel ship to deal with, and Ezra having run off into the woods, it seemed the Fed had the advantage. We could hear the fight raging over the comms system and saw the occasional pulse as something was fired below the transporter’s nudus barrier, and it sounded like the Fed was close to stop
ping the rogue rebel ship.
“Transporter, what’s your status?” Bashrik asked.
“Fighters have damaged the enemy ship. Smoke is trailing from the engines,” the transporter pilot replied. “It shouldn’t be too long now. Hold the perimeter.”
“Copy that.”
Bashrik was about to set the ship into a steady hover, so we could keep an eye on anyone who might try to escape, when an enormous tank came rolling out of the forest. It crushed everything under its tracks, and the exterior was clad in several mirroring devices that made it invisible, depending on which way you were looking at it. As it so happened, we were seeing it in its full glory. It looked like it had been fashioned from stolen human technology, which had then been retrofitted with alien technology to create this monstrous beast. A huge gun turret sat at the top, but this didn’t look like any ordinary weapon. The barrel bristled with vibrant blue electrical bolts, and the roar of the machine building up its power was enough to send a shiver of terror through even the toughest warrior.
“Take off!” Navan screamed into the comms. “Everyone, take off!”
But it was too late.
An almighty whip-crack ripped through the atmosphere around us. The very air seemed to freeze for a moment as a shimmering projectile shot out the end of the turret cannon. It headed straight for the transporter and everyone on board—and the other fighter ships, too, who were still struggling to catch the rogue enemy vessel. All we could do was watch as the crackling ball of shimmering light hurtled toward its target, screaming through the air. It was like the whistle of a bombshell whizzing past, amped up to a million.
It hit the transporter as though there were no shield standing in the way, and, for a good few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. Ezra stuck his head out of the top of the tank, wanting to see the devastation for himself, no doubt. Even he looked confused, as we all watched the ship… waiting for something to happen.
When it did, we weren’t ready for it. With a screech of metal and a crunch of crushed machinery, the transporter began to collapse in on itself. The entire ship crumpled as though it were paper in somebody’s fist. Over the comms system, we could hear the haunting cries of the ship’s crew as they were crushed along with it. The blue haze of the nudus barrier disappeared as the crackling light claimed the nudus-wielder.