Would he ever see those eyes in person?
Anger and, and...
Emotions burst through him. What was all this he was experiencing? Wasn't he supposed to be better in control of his emotional sensations?
“Confirm explosion. Bahran. Confirm.” Wrathin called. The flight pattern put Bahran in the best possible position to see what happened.
However, Bahran didn’t respond.
“Bahran?”
A moment of silence.
Jedriek blinked. Had they lost Bahran?
A sick feeling built in his gut. Bahran was a friend.
A member of the unit, yes, but he had always gotten along better him than he had with other Rhimodians. They worked well together. Jedriek enjoyed watching Bahran's back. He was a talented pilot and a cunning fighter.
No.
He is fine.
He would not be blown up.
Bahran was a strong pilot. He would be able to get out of harm's way before anything happened to him.
A hiss of air, and then a voice. “Explosion confirmed,” Bahran said.
“What happened?” Harbin demanded, his own voice cracking.
Everyone's emotional control was going to need to be checked after this. Programming adjustments for sure.
“I cannot be sure,” Bahran replied, panting.
Static exploded through the open communication channel just before Terran voices screamed. “You have killed our ambassadors!”
“We did nothing,” Harbin replied.
“We will destroy you!” The Terran commander yelled.
The Terran escort ships opened fire.
“Evasive patterns, now,” Harbin said.
4
Eleanor bit back a scream as panic welled in her chest. The ship, the stable solid protective structure they depended on, shuddered, and the deafening ka-boom shook everything. She fell to the floor.
They all had fallen. The corridor's structure groaned and cracked.
Veta pulled Caoimhe along the hallway. Smoke filled the passage. The ship’s onboard climate sensors were down. Mis-firing fire prevention systems burst off and on.
Or maybe that was the smoke and the fire, because parts were on fire, very close to them. Eleanor saw each piece, each blast, and she started to tremble. Tears poured down her face. She felt them, but she didn't care. They were just another crazed thing happening.
They were going to die.
This was what she'd been afraid of, going to the Rhimodian homeworld and dying, just like it killed her mother. This was her worst nightmare come true.
