“Fieri…” I say. “We’re going to have to split up.”
“I know. I know.” He says it like he’s frustrated and thinking hard. “Calculating.”
Blaize drifts just below me, eyes glowing green. “I can take seven or eight. I’ve been practicing in this Hellion suit with Aura. Ten if the situation permits.”
“MONA says twelve, or they’ll make it through,” Fieri replies.
Osiris swears. “How the hell are we supposed to wreck that many ships?”
“We’ll figure it out,” Vryskas says.
“Or die trying.” Rykarn rumbles a low note. “But I’d love to torch a neb ship as my final flight. Send me to Magmium on the wings of revenge.”
The first ship breaks into our orbit. It slips through our loose cluster like a lazy, unaware snake, hunting for its first meal of the day. I see Fieri’s green eyes as he crawls over the vessel. He’s claimed one, but he’s waiting. Vryskas snags the next. He clings to a rear aileron near the dorsal thrusters. Osiris catches the third.
Watching my friends risk everything fills me with desperation that threatens to make my Inferno break cover.
Shut up. Hold on. We’ll get our chance. But not yet. We have to be smart, or we’ll never get to see Brynna again.
Only when I think about my fated, now truly mine, do I manage to wrangle my Inferno into submission.
A ship cruises over my head. It’s the size of a frigate and bears the guns of one. I reach up and give just enough of a flare of lightless heat off my wings to nudge me within range. I snag a crease in the hull near a shield generator and feel it tug on my hand. Folding my wings up, I look back at Sidius and see him get picked up by another vessel.
I crawl over the hull, keeping my eyes open for sensor arrays and gun and hatch movement. Slipping myself over the propulsion housing, I pry a panel free, find the power supply system, and wait for the signal.
A single beep comes over my ear. Seconds later, two tones. When I get the three-beep pattern, I tear out the cords. Sparks fly around me. The ship I’m on falls dark. Propulsion cuts out.
I kick free of the ship and drift out into space again. The first wave of vessels hovers like a belt of metal asteroids far out of reach of Mindor’s gravity.
The five-beat pattern signals a reset for the next wave. I am far from my brothers now and want to fly back to where we are together again. But I close my eyes and think of Brynna.
Stay alive. Get back to her.
The next wave of ships maneuvers carefully around those of their dead-in-space brethren. But they fall for the same trick. I climb over another vessel, a cargo transport this time. I rip out the propulsion power harness, savor the heat of the sparks, think of Brynna, and kick free into space.
When the Nebs send another wave in the same way, I start to wonder if they have any tactic other than overrunning their enemy with numbers. We aren’t necessarily killing them unless they’re too dumb to fix their power, and life support gives out.
By the seventh wave, we’ve filled space with dead ships, and I’m starting to think we should stop.Mesannoklooms closer, keeping its biggest ships tight against it like a wall of protection.
“This isn’t right,” someone finally says, breaking com silence. “I can see them inside. They’re dying. We’re mass murdering Nebs, and they’re not even trying to fix their ships.”
“On our way,” Eluni’s voice cuts in.
Minutes later, a fleet of Orillium charges through the solar system, releasing green blasts that coat the ships we’ve darkened, encasing them. They fly through with a speed that startles even me. They’re in and out before I can count them all. They trail green light as their hyperdrives launch them for Thorian space.
“Why are you saving them?” someone screeches. “They deserve to die! They’ve killed millions of us.”
“We know next to nothing about them,” Aura calmly replies. “They were non-combative. The next wave, however… Shields up!”
I look out at the approaching vessels and see guns illuminate. “Shit!”
Missiles streak across the stars, turning them into a grid of death. I break cover and race back toward my team, my wings streaming fire. Osiris’ speed isn’t like the others. He is furthest back in our flight. The deadly wave of Nebulous ammo is quickly gaining on him.
“I’m maxed out.” Osiris sounds broken.
I give in to my Inferno, let him take over, and feel the heat crawl over the surface of my skin.We can’t let him die. I can’t lose more brothers.
I’m almost to him. Missile fire flares just ahead of me.Come on.
