Captain Tor'van's voice came through immediately. "Copy that, Rescue Seven. Docking bay three is prepped and ready. Medical team standing by. Well done, both of you."
The return flight took eighteen minutes that felt like hours. I nursed the failing shuttle through space, coaxing damaged systems to hold together just a little longer. Vaxon monitored our trajectory, ready to take manual control if anything else failed.
Behind us, in the cargo bay, Will and Lisa remained stable in their stasis pods. Alive. Against all odds, alive.
Because of Will. Because he'd chosen to sacrifice himself so they could survive. Because he'd counted on someone finding them, even when hope seemed impossible.
Tell her to live. That's an order.
I would. Somehow, I'd find a way to actually live instead of just surviving. To honor his sacrifice by building something good from this wreckage.
But first, I had to land this dying shuttle without killing everyone aboard.
"Elena." Vaxon's voice pulled me back from the edge of another spiral. "Landing vector?"
"Calculating." I adjusted our approach, compensating for thesluggish controls. "It's going to be rough. Tell everyone to brace."
He relayed the warning. Then, quietly, just for me: "You can do this."
"How do you know?"
"Because you've been doing impossible things since the moment you stepped aboard Mothership. One more won't kill you."
The docking bay loomed ahead, massive doors open, emergency lights guiding us in. I could see the medical team assembled, emergency crews standing ready. Dana was there too, I realized. And Jalina. And Bea. My friends, waiting to pull me out of yet another disaster I'd survived.
The shuttle hit the deck hard. Too hard. Landing gear groaned, structural integrity warnings screaming, but we were down. Down and stopped and alive.
"Everyone out," Vaxon ordered. "Medical priority—get those stasis pods to the surgical suite. Elena, you okay to walk?"
I released the controls with shaking hands. "Define okay."
He unstrapped, moved to my side, and offered a hand. I took it. Let him pull me up, steady me when my legs decided they weren't sure about supporting my weight anymore.
"I've got you," he said simply.
Yeah. He did. And that terrified me more than the raiders ever had.
Chapter
Six
Vaxon
Pain was a distant concept, filtered through layers of shock and failing consciousness. I watched Elena drag my body behind a twisted support beam, her small frame somehow moving my eight-foot-eight bulk through sheer determination and adrenaline. Blood, my blood, slicked the derelict's floor, leaving a trail that would make us easy to track.
The raiders would follow. They always did.
"Stay down." Elena's voice cut through the fog in my head. She'd positioned herself between me and the corridor, salvaged raider weapon in her hands, hazel eyes burning with something feral and fierce. "I'm not losing you."
I tried to speak. Tried to tell her to finish the engine repairs, to save herself, to follow basic survival protocol that said one life didn't matter when hundreds hung in the balance. But my mouth wouldn't form words. The plasma burns across my torso had done more damage than I'd initially assessed,nerve damage, probably. Muscle tissue compromised. Internal bleeding.
I was dying.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, I felt only regret—not for myself, but for her. For the fact that I'd finally admitted what I felt, finally kissed her in that moment of desperate honesty on the derelict, only to die before we could explore what existed between us.
"Vaxon." She glanced back at me, and I saw fear crack through her fierce expression. "Don't you dare close your eyes. Stay with me."
I wanted to obey. Wanted to stay conscious, to protect her the way every instinct screamed I should. But darkness pulled at the edges of my vision, promising relief from the pain that was starting to break through my shock.
