The objects lodged in the glass were still moving as if with a mind of their own, twitching and burrowing deeper, until a hairline fracture forked through the pane.
“It’s going to give!” Nyx shouted. “We have to go back!”
“We can’t,” Eunha said desperately. “We’re not going to survive entering atmo with a fracture like that.”
“Well, we’re not going to survive the vacuum of space, either! Commander, please!”
The drone lodged both its hook-like hands into the glass, pressing itself close and scanning them again with that blinding laser.
“We wait for Fendar,” Cordelia said. “Eunha is right, we’re not surviving that descent in this state—and we’re not leaving Thea behind.”
The crack deepened audibly, and fear fell like a blanket of silence over them. When it forked nearly to the edge of the frame, she held her breath. Despair teetered inside her, threatening to overtake her good sense.
Failed them. Failed again. Cursed.
No! Not this time.
“Now!” Fendar shouted. “Go, go!”
Eunha recovered faster, punching the throttle and sending them lurching toward the hangar just as the glass began to give. They slammed into the metal deck of the hangar as huge chunks of glass rained over them, heavy as softball-sized hail. It pummeled her senseless, one piece striking her arm hard enough that she lost her grip on the controls. The ship went spinning unrestrained like a curling stone over ice, slamming hard into the far wall of the hangar.
When they finally fell still, the others were so quiet that Cordelia had a moment of despair that they’d been lost despite Eunha’s maneuver. Nyx whined, and there was a chorus of harnesses releasing. Cordelia followed suit, blinking spots from her vision as she stumbled out of her chair. Her knees failed her, and she sank to the metal grate next to Eunha, whose face was covered in blood. Her eyes were closed, and her expression was peaceful in repose.
“No, no,” Cordelia muttered, crawling over to her. “Eunha, wake up.” She grabbed the pilot’s shoulder and shook hard. Her head lolled on her neck. “Eunha!”
“Easy.” Haerune caught her wrist. “You’ll injure her worse.”
Rentir growled behind him, but Haerune was all business as he flicked Cordelia’s hand away. He pulled a scanner from the small of his back and trailed it over Eunha.
“A concussion, I think. The abrasion to her forehead looks worse than it is. I believe she’ll live, but she needs the medpod.”
“Fuck, it’s moving!” Nyx shouted from behind them.
Cordelia turned, squinting through the miasma of flame-suppressant still hanging in the air. The drone pushed itself up on its wiry limbs. The scanner flashed over the nearest hybrid—Fendar, who was slumped over in his seat with his eyes closed. There was a whir as the barrel of its gun trained into place, but it never got the chance to shoot. With a scream of fury, Nyx hit it hard with a bar of enameled metal that had once been the handle to the storage compartment.
It slumped, but a moment later it was back up. Nyx hit it again, and again, and again, screaming obscenities all the while. It was enough to stir Fendar back to consciousness. He put a hand out to stop her as she beat the wreckage of the drone.
“It’s done,” he rasped, urging her to lower the handle. “You’re wasting your energy.”
Panting, she staggered back and slumped into an empty seat.
“We need to move,” Rentir murmured, gathering Cordelia into his arms. He buried his face in her neck and breathed deeply. “They’ll know we’re here now.”
The other males rallied, tallying their injuries—none of which were fatal—though Yelir was walking with a limp, and he refused to let Haerune inspect him.
“I’m fine, you fool,” he snapped, swatting at the medic. “We cannot waste time.”
Exasperated, he let the miner be. He returned to Eunha’s side, carefully gathering her out of the chair. “Fendar, can you locate a medpod?”
The male shook himself, tearing his gaze away from Nyx. “I need to jack in to the local network, but it should be an easy task.”
“Alright,” Cordelia interjected. “Let’s get moving.”
They climbed out of the wreckage of the ship. Rentir saved her from rolling her ankle when a metal joint gave way under her boot, sweeping her up and onto solid ground. His tail wrapped loosely around her waist as he set her down. Gently, she pried it away.
Fendar turned in a circle, squinting as he cast his gaze over the hangar.
“Hey,” Nyx said hoarsely, batting at him with the back of her hand. “What’s that?” She pointed at a flickering screen set into the wall they’d smashed into.
