“What’s wrong?”
“The tablet has—” Domik stopped and dropped the tablet, looking out the pod’s window and swearing under his breath.
“What?” CJ asked, before looking at where he was staring.
Spread before them was a sight like none she had ever seen. Ships, Xakul and Taurean alike, had stopped firing. And the Taurean ships were now visible, their cloaks no longer hiding them from view.
As CJ watched, a Xakul ship spun listlessly, colliding with a Taurean ship and sending it spinning away, uncontrolled.
“Domik? What’s going on?” She breathed.
“I think the Xakul have released an EMP,” he said, gazing out the window, transfixed.
“A what?” CJ had never heard of such a thing, but whatever it was, it must be something powerful enough to render all the ships inert. But why would the Xakul do such a thing to their own ships as well as the Taureans? It made no sense.
“I’ve heard of this happening, but…” he trailed off.
CJ’s brows drew together in frustration. “Domik, what’s an EMP?”
He blinked, focusing on her again. “It stands for electromagnetic pulse.” She must have still looked confused as he continued. “Have you heard of solar storms?”
She nodded.
“An EMP has a similar effect. It wipes out all electronic equipment within its range, rendering it unusable.”
“Oh.” CJ paused. “So all the ships…”
“Are dead.”
“For how long?”
Domik shrugged. “It depends on how powerful the EMP was, but considering that—” He pointed to the planet below, where night was soon to fall. CJ blinked as she realized why it looked so strange. There were only a handful of lights scattered across the vast area that would normally be lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Shit.” She breathed.
“Exactly.”
“What do we do?”
Domik took a deep breath, as if steeling himself to deliver news that she wouldn’t like.
“Just tell me, Domik.” She scowled, not enjoying being kept in the dark. Literally, as it would seem.
“We can try to get to the Zataras,” he said, gesturing back through the mass of ships spread out in front of them.
CJ watched as two Xakul vessels crashed together, wincing as they crushed a Taurean ship in between them. She didn’t like their chances of making their way back through that. If they could get the little manual thrusters on the pod working.
“Is there an alternative?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes,” he said, his voice a deep pit of grim.
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” She asked, a hint of sarcasm coloring her words.
He jerked his head toward the planet below. “We try our luck down there.”
“But that’s suicide!” She gasped.
“We don’t have the luxury of waiting for someone to come and get us. If we weren’t in the middle of an active battlefield sure, that would be an option. But, right now?” He shook his head. “I don’t like our chances.”
CJ shook her head in denial. “No, we have to stay.”
“We’re too exposed to take that risk, CJ.” His voice was irritatingly calm, while her guts were tied up in knots. Domik blinked, expression unreadable. “If we stay, we die. What’s it to be?”
