“No changes in the mission. It’s just that this is one mission where you won’t have a fellow Drastan warrior to assist you. We’ve had debates over whether this was too dangerous for you to undertake, and let me tell you, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.”
She flinched. Nix had fought for years to prove herself, but her sex always seemed to come up whenever there was a serious mission involved. Well, too bad, she was seasoned and well trained. “Am I still sanctioned to go on this mission?” she asked stiffly.
“Yes, of course. I have faith in your abilities as a warrior. We all do. Otherwise my father wouldn’t have you training the others.”
“What’s the problem then?”
“You’re...family. My father, my brothers, and I all think of you part of our extended family and we would hate it if something happened to you.”
Nix gulped back the emotions that were threatening to burst forth. She thought of the Estros as her family as well and had often wished that she had been born an Estro rather than a Saber. It meant a great deal to know that they cared for her as well. She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “I appreciate that, but I know what I’m doing.”
“Don’t take any risks if you can avoid them.”
“All missions pose a risk, but I won’t take any unnecessary ones,” she said, in an echo of Corey’s promise to Maggie.
“If you see or hear anything suspicious, report it back to us. Don’t act without backup.”
“I will do my best.”
He nodded once more before turning away. Nix watched as Liam walked over to take his mate in his arms, and then they walked out of the docking bay together. Turning, she found Corey with his eyes on her. She cleared her throat.
“I’ve already inspected the ship. Let’s go.”
She climbed into the small four-person shuttle, taking the pilot’s seat automatically, but then thought twice about it. She moved over to the co-pilot’s seat.
Corey stood there staring at her in surprise. “Really? You’re giving control over to me?”
“Just the flying part. You need the practice.”
Corey took the pilot’s seat and did the routine checks. He pushed the button to open communications with the control deck. “Shuttle 1231, ready to depart.”
“You’re set to go, 1231,” the response came back.
Nix nodded for Corey to proceed, and the shuttle rose up and out of the outer docking bay doors. As soon as they were clear, Corey maneuvered them out into dark space, redirecting them toward the planet below.
There were still dark clouds covering a good portion of the planet, caused by the nuclear disaster years ago. Nothing grew on the surface and wouldn’t for at least a good thirty years or more.
It was a horrific sight—nothing but a wasteland. Nix had personally never seen anything like it. Not even after having gone to planets recovering from war had she seen such devastation. The worst part was, it had been caused by what appeared to be a simple misunderstanding.
“I never get used to seeing it like this,” Corey commented, nodding toward the view of the planet.
“It’s a different view than what you were used to seeing.”
He snorted, “That’s an understatement. It’s not the world I grew up in, for sure.”
“What was it like before the nuclear catastrophe?” Nix didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to know, but she did. She wanted to understand Corey.
A faraway look came across Corey’s face as he spoke. “I was a senior in high school, eighteen. My friends and I were skipping classes that day to go to a skateboarding event.”
“What’s skateboarding?”
“A skateboard is a narrow board about eight inches wide and about 28 inches long with small wheels on the bottom, both at the front and at the back. Kids would balance on the board and use one foot to push off the ground and propel it forward.”
“Was that your means of transportation? Seems inefficient.”
“No...yes.” Corey laughed, shaking his head. “It wasn’t used typically as transportation, just by kids who didn’t have cars. They could get around short distances with them. Anyway, there were events for professional skateboarders who did tricks on them. They competed and won prize money. I was a big fan of those events.
“When my friends and I found out our favorite pro skater was in town, we ditched school and headed downtown to the arena hosting the event. That’s when all hell broke out. People stuck in traffic started abandoning their cars and running down the streets. Children were crying, the adults were yelling at each other in a panic. There was something…a feeling or vibe in the air that made everything seem surreal.” Corey paused as he recalled that day as if it had happened just yesterday.
