“The mines are shooting at us!” Raider snarled.
Kira forced herself further down the hallway, the bridge’s hatch just ahead. “Finn, I need you to find Elena, Joule, and Ziva and get them secure.”
It was likely none of the three had been in a space battle before. They wouldn’t know how rough the ride could get.
Kira didn’t want them breaking their necks by accident during a quick maneuver.
“Don’t worry about us, Auntie. I’ve got Joule and Ziva and we’re already strapped in,” Elena responded.
The tight knot in Kira’s stomach loosened.
“Finn, what about ki shields? Can you use them to protect the ship?”
“I can, but I don’t think it will help much. Ki shields aren’t meant to deflect that kind of fire power. We’d need someone with a shield affinity who has been trained in that art,“ Finn responded over the comms.
Torvald nodded. “Our defenses wouldn’t be worth much if every Tuann could circumvent them.”
Joule’s voice came through the line. “I can help.”
Kira hesitated. Joule wasn’t wrong. As the only person on the ship with the affinity they needed, he could be of help.
The problem was that Joule was still young. He was at the beginning of his training. As talented and determined as he was, that would only take him so far in a situation like this.
Kira made a split-second decision. “Do it.”
Joule would never get the chance to grow into the man she knew he could be if he didn’t survive.
“Is that wise?” Torvald asked as Kira cut the line. “He is young.”
Kira headed for the bridge’s hatch. “Do you know what the worst feeling in the world is? It’s being powerless as you watch the world burn around you.”
Kira didn’t expect miracles from Joule. It was enough if he could delay their deaths by even a second.
That second might be all she needed.
Kira burst onto the bridge. The view outside careened as Raider worked to keep the ship away from the mines chasing them.
The cameras located on the Wanderer’s hull zoomed in on the objects chasing them. Kira was familiar with them, having seen them once before during the voyage to Ta Da’an. Like the sea mines of humanity’s nautical past, they looked vaguely like angry hedgehogs. They bristled with spikes, their exteriors blending in almost perfectly with the black of space.
As she watched, yellow lights lanced the darkness. They headed straight for the Wanderer.
Raider cursed as he pulled back on the ship’s yoke.
“Can we return to the station?” Kira asked, finding a seat and strapping herself in.
Torvald moved up behind her, not bothering with finding a chair as he studied the monitors.
“No. We’ve already tried,” Raider said.
“Every time the ship veers that way, the mines cut us off,” Jin added.
Kira studied their trajectory. From the looks of things, it appeared the mines were forcing them toward the planet. It was not a tactic Kira would have predicted. She’d expect the mines to try to keep them away from the planet.
Kira cursed silently to herself. What did she want to bet she had a guess as to why?
Ta Sa’Riel was protected by a planet wide defense system that Kira and Elena had already run afoul of once during their previous exit from the planet. The moment they got close to the planet they’d be besieged on two sides. There would be no escape then.
“Someone come up with a plan. Playing tag isn’t going to work for much longer.” Raider jerked the yoke to the side as the ship rolled.
