“Thrust balance. Thrust balance,” she repeated to herself.
Her comm crackled, then a feminine voice said, “Echo Two Six Two. Stay on this trajectory. We are here to escort you.”
Two Strix flanked the Condor, and Nia’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. Out of nowhere, orange bursts came at her, bouncing off the shields, then the Strix’s on the right. She accelerated, trying to get away. The Strix burst apart, debris raining toward her. Nia had no time to mourn the death, because the orange fire hit her shields over and over again. A Marauder headed straight for her. The repetitive screeching beep of a weapons lock echoed within the fighter. Her control panel displayed shield strength at eight-five percent.
The Marauder blew apart, chunks of metal composite sizzling against Nia’s shields. She banked to get away, almost hit the other Tellusian escort, and righted the ship as another Strix took the place of the destroyed one.
Oriondrew closer and closer. Her stomach no longer lived in her body.
Another worry toppled all the others.I don’t know where to land.
Thank the stars Grey had brought the pulse cannon. Defenders guarded the command center three deep. Mace and the rest of the team stayed out of sight near the disabled security checkpoint. They’d already thinned out the enemy ranks but needed one last push. A stunning blast from Betel’s grenade, followed by Grey’s second last shot from the cannon, and they broke through the line protecting the entrance.
As soon as he stepped into the command center, a shot narrowly missed Mace’s head. He dove for cover behind the secondary terminals, Spiro beside him. Using hand signals, he communicated with Grey across the space behind another bank of terminals. Cache remained in the corridor protecting her tech team.
Four defenders remained in defensible positions near the main holotable, their CORE techies huddled along the far bulkhead whimpering. Mace’s hand tightened on his gun.
Laser fire shot overhead, sparks cascading. As soon as the volley ended, Mace signaled Grey. He and Spiro broke around the terminal in opposite directions. Weapons fire blazed toward them. Spiro hissed. Mace dropped low, aimed, and shot a CORE general right between the eyes, leaving a wide hole through his forehead. Another short burst of fire followed, then silence.
“Grey, report,” he barked, fearing for a moment one of his friends was hurt or worse.
“Clear.”
Grey came into a view, and Mace stood to appraise the situation.
“Spiro, clear the rest of the area, make sure there are no surprises. Grey, make sure the CORE techies stay put. Take their PALMs.” Mace jerked his head to the half dozen men and women trembling in the corner before he walked back to the corridor and gestured to Cache. “The command center is yours, Commodore. Welcome home.”
A satisfied gleam entered her eyes before she herded the tech team in, all business. “Mouse, start unlocking key systems, we need weapons and navigation. Callista, check if they’ve hidden any survivors.”
Mace joined her and the techies at the holotable.
“There are Tellusians in the brigs.” Callista lifted her head to meet Cache’s eyes. “They’re not doing well.”
“As soon as it’s safe, we’ll send for the medical teams,” Cache said with a nod.
“Can we see the outside feeds?” Mace asked the techies in general.
“Give me a second,” Mouse responded.
The viewer flickered, went off, then every screen flashed with images of the outside battle. Mace focused on thePhalanx. Surrounded by six Guardians, they fired nonstop at the Tellusian Destroyer. It looked to be adrift.
“They’re dead in the water,” Cache said, almost in a whisper. “We need to help them.” She turned to the techies. “We need those mines online now.”
“Working on it,” said Callista and Mouse at the same time. Newton hadn’t resurfaced since going under the table.
“Oh, hell,” Callista breathed, her eyes panicked. A countdown started on the main viewer: Self-Destruct 29:59
29:58
29:57
29:56
Chapter forty-two
“Ididnotorderthe self-destruct!” Cache shouted, her hand slapping the table.
“It started on its own!” Callista shouted back. “I hit some sort of tripwire beneath the systems.”
