“Maybe Yori’s intel was incorrect. It had to be. He gathers as much as he can when he can but he can’t possibly know everything, and he has been wrong before. Or maybe somebody deliberately fed him wrong information.
“I hear what you’re saying to me right now, Talon, and I’m telling you he, of all people, would not betray the people on this planet. He would not see them die and be hurt in this way. They’re his people. He has risked his own death hundreds of times to save the lives of the people below.
“They must’ve captured him. They must’ve taken him to the mind miners, and if they got enough out of him to know that there was a plot in place, they would’ve given the order to go ahead. Or perhaps it was the civil war you incited that got their attention. What better diversion to take over a planet than a planet killing itself with infighting?”
Talon’s hand rested on the nape of her neck, soothing away the tension there. “We have to find a way to stop them. I only brought it up because at this moment, we really cannot trust anybody.”
No, they couldn’t. She had no idea what had happened to Yori, and she had to worry about the population at the moment, and not the resistance’s leader.
Caleb said, “Hey boss, are those fighter crafts?”
Talon looked to where Caleb pointed. “Yes, they are.”
Caleb said, “I hate to say this, boss. I cannot argue that we had to put down the ship, but the truth of the matter is, we’re not doing any better down here on the ground. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel better if I was above, taking some of those ships down.”
Talon said, “So would I.”
Jessica’s heart ached, as she understood exactly what had to happen now. She could see from where she stood that the fighter planes were small craft capable of only holding several people. She was a hell of a fighter, but she knew nothing about flying, and she was needed there on the ground.
Talon and Caleb and a few of the others could command those fighter crafts, and they’d stand a better chance they could get some of those enemy ships down.
Talon reached for her, and she went into his arms. His lips came down on hers in a fierce and passionate kiss that sent shivers down her spine. The kiss was brief, too short and too fast because that was just too little time.
Everything they wanted to say and do would have to wait. It would have to because they did not have the time to say it now, and if they tried to make the time they might all very well just die and the world as they knew it would end all around their dead bodies.
Talon leaned back and said, “I will see you again. I would much prefer that you be alive when I do.”
“The same goes here for me.” There was a hard, salty lump in her throat that tasted like the tears she could not and would not shed in front of him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but she had this dreadful feeling that if she told him she loved him at that particular moment, it would be akin to saying goodbye to him.
Talon said, “Stay above as long as you can. I think you’re right about concealing off the below. I know I would if it were me. The best way to keep an enemy from fighting back is to cut them off completely.”
Jessica nodded. “I will take nobody with me, at least none of your regular crew. I just saw some of the resistance members run by and I can join up with them. They know where the weapon caches are hidden. Fly well and bring your ass back here in one piece.”
He gave her a mocking salute and a grieving smile. A loud explosion rattled the ground below them, knocking her slightly off balance and toward him. He held one hand up to steady her and then he was gone, racing along the ruined and smoking surfaced toward the fighter crafts.
The enemy was taking out every large ship, and it seemed that they had overlooked those small but deadly ships there on the other side. Jessica waited until she saw Talon climb into one and shoot skyward before she turned away and headed down the street after the resistance fighters and directly into the heart of a pitched battle.
