Chapter 54
Chapter
Fifty-Four
Tivek
W e’d been in stealth mode for long enough to feel relatively secure that the Kronock couldn’t detect us. Even so, we moved throughout the ship as quietly as possible, keeping conversations low or using rudimentary signs to convey our intent.
Ariana had done a good job of keeping our speed low and maneuvering us through meteor fields and behind planetary bodies, but that hadn’t stopped Commander Vyk from standing at post behind her in the cockpit, his gaze scouring the black sky for any hint of the enemy.
“We should reach the most likely location within two standards rotations,” Sasha said to Vyk so quietly her words barely carried to the seats behind the cockpit, where I sat.
“It’s taken longer than expected,” he growled.
“Can’t be helped. Not being seen means going slow and taking the scenic route.”
“Can’t stand being in Kronock space,” Vyk said with a shudder. “Not a single ship like this. Now if this was an Inferno Force battleship—”
“You’d be blown from the sky,” Ariana told him. “Ships that big can’t hide the way this one can.”
Vyk grumbled something I couldn’t make out.
“How about I take us behind this magnetic field for a while?” Sasha pointed to her console. “We might be able to send a transmission to the academy without the enemy pinpointing our location.”
Vyk shook his head. “No transmissions.”
Ariana turned to him, her face pinched. “We need the others. If the readings I’m getting about our target are correct, we can’t go in alone. Not with all those sentries.”
Vuk grunted. “We don’t know if the other crew is able to join us yet.”
“Maybe we need the Drexians to send whomever they can.”
This made my spine stiffen. Ariana didn’t want to request the team that had been prepped for the mission. She wanted to request anyone.
It had been a risk to launch the mission with a skeleton crew, but it had been a risk we’d all been willing to take given the information we’d had. But now that we were closing in on the spot where Ariana’s sister and my brother were most likely being held, the parameters had changed. The Kronock defenses were greater than we’d anticipated, and Ariana did not believe it was possible to pull off the mission solo.
My gut tightened but I drew in a long breath and released it, letting the simple movement calm me. I had not volunteered for the mission on a whim. I’d known the risks. I’d accepted them.
That didn’t mean I was eager to be part of a suicide mission. Not when I could do something about it.
I unhooked my safety straps and stood. Glancing at Morgan and giving her a small smile, I made my way to the back of the ship, hoping she would assume I was going to the head or taking a rest. I would be doing neither.
I touched the device I’d secreted in the pocket of my vest. It was time for me to send a transmission.