“What’s happening?” Nyx asked over the renewed rumbling of the ship around them.
“It’s like we’re snagged on something,” Eunha answered, flipping quickly through the data. “God damn it, I can’t see what’s going on!”
Cordelia couldn’t tell if they were moving backward or if the ship above them was overtaking them, but the planet drew no closer no matter how hard she pushed the accelerator. She loosed a wordless shriek of frustration, knuckles whitening around the controls.
“Commander, what is that?” Nyx asked, sitting as far forward as her harness would allow.
Cordelia followed her pointed finger, turning her gaze on the planet below as something surged from the surface.
Tense seconds passed before Cordelia realized she was looking at what appeared to be a rapidly growing ball of fire. It slid soundlessly past their ship, so close that Cordelia could have reached out to touch it if not for the glass. A moment later, they were surging forward again in an erratic path as the ship rattled violently. The lights flickered briefly.
Warning: damage to the hull.The ship’s AI was thunderous.Integrity at 83%. Please make an emergency landing or return to your pod for evacuation.
“Was that a missile?” Eunha shouted as they struggled to regain control of theCassandra.
Another ball of fire surged past them, close enough to shake them off course again. They couldn’t see the blast, but it shunted them down, setting off another cascade of alarms.
Nyx cursed and made the sign of the cross over herself.
Integrity at 78%.
Cordelia’s vision was blurring, fear warring with adrenaline, shaking her focus.
It’s going to come apart. It’s going to burn again.
Deep breaths, Cordelia.
“Get in your pods,” she heard herself say in a level tone, just loud enough to be heard over the cacophony.
“Commander…”
“Get in your pods!” she shouted, turning on Nyx.
Nyx’s face hardened, a muscle feathering in her jaw, but she popped the latch on her harness and staggered out of her seat. She was trying to hide it, but Cordelia could see she was relieved. Cordelia turned toward Eunha, who had mutiny in her eyes.
“I’m your copilot,” Eunha said. “You need me here. If something happens to you, there will be no landing this bitch!”
“Get up, Eunha.”
“No!”
“I am your commanding officer, and I am telling you to get out of that chair andget in your fucking pod.This ship is coming apart. No one is landing anything!”
Eunha’s expression turned fraught. Her hand hovered over the release of her harness for a long moment as her eyes flicked from the planet to Cordelia and back again. With a curse, she hit the button and fell to her knees, crawling from the bridge toward her pod.
A strange, numbing calm spread over Cordelia as she turned her attention to the planet rapidly growing before her.
She’d failed six simulations after surviving the attack on theLetothat had claimed the rest of its crew and colonists, with a diagnosis of PTSD from the staff psychologist that ultimately ended her career as an astronaut before she’d ever seen space firsthand. For years, she had been sure that would be her legacy. She’d been resigned to it until Lyra had tapped her for this mission and given her a second chance she still wasn’t sure she deserved.
She turned her gaze sidelong at the distant stars stretching out forever in every direction around the planet.Thiswas all she’d ever wanted.
I did it.
A smile stole over her face even as tears tracked down her cheeks. She blinked hard to clear her vision, shaking herself.
It was unlikely that she would successfully land the aircraft with so much damage to the hull and no guidance from the settlement or mission control.
She would get them as close as she could to solid ground, and then she would launch the pods. The preservation systems in the pods would take care of the rest. This was all she could offer them: a chance for their lives at the cost of her own.
