But what had it been refined with?
Scans inconclusive
Kian sighed. He would explore the Ambassador's ship when they landed. See if an interior sample would explain what the ship was made of.
Remain on task.
Yes, Master System.
Sometimes Master System seemed to listen too much.
You know you do not have to--
The starfield lit up in an explosion.
What was that?
Kian started visual scanning, looking for something in the immediate field that might have shot.
Did Rhimodians attack the Terrans? Had someone broken protocols to attack the coming Ambassadors?
The Terran ship lurched to one side.
A burst of fire from underneath made the ship tilted again.
“Confirm explosion. Bahran. Confirm.” Wrathin’s voice echoed in the comms.
Bahran had been in the best possible position to see what had happened. However, Bahran didn’t respond.
“Bahran?”
A moment of silence.
"Bahran?" Kian whispered.
Had he been hit?
Kian attempted to bring up Bahran's life signs.
System unresponsive
Fury burned in Kian.
He had known this mission would not follow protocol.
Follow protocol.
Bahran's gone,Kian argued with Master System.
Follow protocol.
Kian gritted his teeth. The anger filtered through all the protocols he had to maintain his rationale, but the emotions were more substantial than the protocols.
A hiss of air, and then a voice. “Explosion confirmed,” Bahran said.
“What happened?” Harbin demanded, his own voice cracking through the comms—they all were feeling the lack of emotional control.
“I cannot be sure,” Bahran replied, panting.
