14. Hakan
Hakan
Loading the supplies onto the transport takes no time at all. I feel lighter than air — perhaps because my spirits, my energy, my sheer joy can’t be contained.
“I don't want to go back to Earth,” she just told me, her wonderful words still reverberating through me. “I want to stay with you. And the boys.”
Sweeter words I’ve never heard.
I gaze at her in wonder, choking up.
She chose me. Chose us.
The boys are eagerly inspecting the supplies. *Did you bring us anything?* Davi asks.
“We could’ve already found out what you brought,” Riz adds eagerly, “but we kept our shields up, just like you asked.”
“Glad to hear,” I say. “Anyone come near the ship while we were gone?”
“Nobody.”
“You’ve both done well.” They beam at the praise.
When Davi, still poking around the supplies, discovers the bag of candy from Barzella, his face lights up.
“What’s this?” he exclaims. “Is this for us?”
“It is. But first, we need to get everything sorted and stored. Are you ready to help with that?”
“I can help!” Riz says immediately.
“Me, too!” Davi adds.
“Then let’s get to it.”
Daisy and I exchange amused glances. It doesn’t take long to get everything put away properly — food in storage, clothing in the sleeping quarters, medical supplies in an accessible location, engine and hydraulics parts secured for when I have time to work on the transport's systems.
I gesture for the boys to sit at the small table in the kitchen area. Daisy and I sit down with them and hand them their gifts. "These are for you."
The boys are ecstatic. The candy from Barzella disappears with remarkable speed, and the puzzles fascinate them immediately.
Daisy leans her head on my shoulder as we watch them play. There’s something deeply satisfying about this moment — the simple domesticity of it, the sound of their laughter, the belonging, the togetherness.
Family. I feel myself tearing up. I can barely accept that I’m once again experiencing something this special and precious.
Daisy's hand finds mine under the table, her fingers lacing with mine.
For the first time in five long years, my future is about more than just me surviving. My future is now our future.
Daisy says, “So now that we have our supplies, are we heading to Nazen?”
I nod. “Three days in hyperspace, assuming no complications."
"Complications?" she asks.
“There aren’t many in hyperspace. Once in a while, you can run into spatial anomalies or experience mechanical failures."
She gives me a look. “That’s not exactly reassuring."
I allow myself a smile. "We'll be fine. This transport might be ugly, but it's sturdy. And I'm an excellent pilot."
"Modest, too," she teases.
The banter feels good — wonderfully normal, in fact. I step up from the table. “Time to get going.”
In the cockpit, I power up the engines and request departure clearance from Crozan's traffic control. After getting approval, I guide the transport out of the docking bay.
Below us, the gas giant that Crozan orbits dominates the viewport — a massive sphere of swirling orange and red clouds.
"Coordinates set for Nazen," I announce, inputting the calculations for our hyperspace jump.
Daisy and the boys join me in the cockpit.
"Jumping in five seconds."
When the countdown reaches zero, the hyperdrive kicks in.
With a gentle whoosh, the stars streak into lines of light, space itself bending around us as we punch through into the alternate dimension that allows faster-than-light travel.
The transport shudders slightly — Virdathian engineering is functional but not elegant — then settles into the smooth thrum of hyperspace flight.
The boys watching the light show with wide eyes.
"It's beautiful," Daisy breathes beside me.
"It is," I agree. "No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old."
For a long moment, the four of us watch the light show in comfortable silence.
I'm about to suggest that we make dinner — hyperspace travel is boring once the initial wonder wears off — when without warning, the comm system crackles to life.
Static fills the cockpit and a voice breaks through — weak, distorted, but unmistakable.
" — anyone receiving this — under attack — need assistance —"
I'm already reaching for the controls, trying to isolate the signal and boost its strength.
" — coordinates following — being pursued by a Virdathian battle cruiser — they’re trying to capture us, pulling us in with their gravity beam — please, if anyone —"
The voice cuts out, replaced by a stream of navigational data that scrolls across the screen.
"What is it?" Daisy asks urgently.
But I'm not listening to her. I'm listening to the boys, who’ve both gone rigid, their faces pale, their eyes unfocused.
*Grandfather!* Riz’s mind cries out.
*It’s him!* Davi confirms. *He’s alive. He needs our help!*
My mind starts racing. The boys' grandfather — being chased by a Virdathian battle cruiser? Without immediate assistance, the odds of him surviving or escaping are zero.
"Hakan?" Daisy's hand is on my arm. ”What are we going to do?"
I'm already calculating vectors, running scenarios through my mind. The coordinates transmitted are just minutes away.
To help the boys’ grandfather, we’ll need to drop out of hyperspace — and into danger.
“We’re heading to him," I say, my hands already moving over the controls.
Daisy's voice is tight with concern. "Hakan, we're in a transport vessel. Do we have weapons or shields strong enough to —"
"No," I interrupt. “We’re not going to fight them directly."
We’re almost at the coordinates. “Hold tight,” I say. Daisy grabs the boys and suddenly, with a sudden, jarring whoosh, we’re out of hyperspace and back in regular space.
“What's the plan?" Daisy asks, fighting to keep her voice steady.
"We're in a Virdathian transport.” I say, prepping the ship's systems. "To other Virdathians, we look like one of their own. We can use that."
"Use it how?"
"Battle cruisers are massive ships. They're designed to carry dozens of smaller transport vessels like this one. We’re going to request permission to dock.”
Understanding dawns on her face, followed quickly by horror. “We're going to go inside the battle cruiser?"
"Once inside, I'll blow up their gravity enhancer and destroy the other transports in their hangar bay. The cruiser will be crippled.”
"And their grandfather’s ship will be able to escape?” she asks.
"Yes."
"What about us?" she asks quietly. "How will we escape once you've destroyed their transports?"
"We'll leave before they realize what's happened." I turn to look at her and the boys. “What we’re about to do is risky. Very risky. If they see through the deception, if they realize we're not who we claim to be, they'll either capture us or destroy us without hesitation."
She's pale but determined. "The boys need their grandfather."
"Yes, they do.”
She looks at the boys. “Boys —“
*We have to save him!* the boys cry out in unison.
She reaches out and takes my hand. "Whatever you need from us, we'll do it."
I squeeze her hand back, gratitude and fear warring in my chest. "I need you to stay on the ship with the boys. Keep them safe. If something goes wrong —"
"Nothing will go wrong," she interrupts fiercely. "You're going to save their grandfather and we're all going to get out of this alive. That's what's going to happen."
Her certainty is almost enough to make me believe she’s right.
I turn to the boys. "I need you to shield your thoughts. Completely. If there are any Andreevans or other telepaths on that battle cruiser, they might sense you. Can you do that?"
They nod in unison, and I feel their mental presence immediately dim, their shields snapping into place with impressive speed.
I return my attention to the controls while I think back over everything I know about Virdathian battle cruiser layouts.
The ships are standardized — the Virdathians value efficiency over innovation.
The hangar bay is mid-level, with multiple entrances to allow rapid deployment of troops and equipment.
The gravity enhancers are a deck below the hangar.
If I can get inside undetected, I'll have just minutes to act before someone realizes I'm not supposed to be there.
Just minutes to cripple the cruiser's operational capacity.
It should be enough.
It has to be enough.
Up ahead, I see our targets.
The boys’ grandfather’s ship is a small personal craft, fast and maneuverable but lightly armed, running at full speed, engine trails bright against the darkness.
Behind it, gaining steadily, is the Virdathian battle cruiser.
It's massive — easily a thousand times the size of the smaller ship, bristling with weapons and armor. Its hull is the mottled gray-black of Virdathian military vessels.
"Oh my God," Daisy breathes.
I activate our comm system and broadcast on the Virdathian military frequency. "Transport vessel V-7749 responding to support request. Requesting permission to dock."
There's a pause that feels like a lifetime, then a harsh voice responds: "V-7749, identify your point of origin."
"Dispatched from Mavorrah. Heard pursuit call and moved to assist."
Another pause. “Your craft was reported missing.”
“We lost comms — we got into a fight with a fucking Kravan.”
“A Kravan?” the voice says, incredulous.
“Yeah. Can you believe the fucker was a farmer on that shit jungle planet?”
“Verifying. Stand by.”
The voice returns. “You kill that fucker?”
“Blew his fucking head off, sir.”
The voice chuckles. “Permission granted. Bay 3, lower section.”
“Acknowledged."
I angle the transport toward the battle cruiser, moving with the confidence of someone who belongs there. The massive vessel grows larger and larger until it fills our entire viewport.
The hangar bay is ahead, a yawning mouth of light in the cruiser's dark hull.
"Here we go," I mutter.
I guide us inside, hands steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me. The hangar bay is enormous, with dozens of transport vessels.
And Virdathian crew members — dozens of them, moving about their duties.
I set us down in an empty berth, running through the landing sequence with forced calm. The moment the transport's landing struts touch down, I'm out of my seat.
"Stay hidden," I command. "Lock the hatch behind me. No matter what you see or hear, stay on this ship."
“Hakan —" Daisy starts, fear naked on her face.
"I'll be back soon," I promise her. "I will always come back to you."
I kiss her — hard and fast — and then I'm moving.
I grab a plasma pistol and a concussion grenade, then ask my hassana for something I’ve never asked for before:
Make me not seen.
Around me, the air starts shimmering as my hassana bands bend the light hitting my skin. I hold my arms in front of me and watch them disappear, followed by the rest of my body.
It’s working — but for how long? I open the hatch, step outside, then shut the hatch again.
So far, no one is paying attention.
I race across the hangar to the stairs are, then race one level down to the gravity enhancers. The machines — there are two of them, side by side — look like giant black blocks, a good twenty feet tall and wide. They’re fenced off but otherwise unprotected.
I leap over the fence onto the top of the nearest one. The plasma grenade I brought with me won’t be powerful enough to destroy the machines, but the blast should temporarily shut them down.
I unlock the grenade and drop it between the two machines, then leap off them and run like hell up the stairs to the hangar.
I need to be fast. Using my hassana, I manifest a sturdy spike and race to the nearest Virdathian transport. Without hesitating, I drive the spike into the transport’s heating regulator.
Then I race to the next transport and do the same.
I’m jamming the spike into the third ship when the first ship starts smoking.
I’m spiking my sixth ship when the first transport erupts in fire.
Alarms sound. More ships start belching fire and then flame.
I realize I can see my arm. Fuck. My energy is flagging. I’m becoming visible.
Ahead of me, a Virdathian is pointing at me, “A Kravan! A Kravan!”
I leap at him before he can move and drive my blade into his throat.
More alarms start going off.
I use the plasma pistol to take aim at approaching Virdathians as I move from ship to ship, spiking their heating regulators. The Virdathians scatter, some reaching for weapons, others diving for cover.
Without warning, the entire hangar shakes as the grenade one floor below goes off.
Here in the hangar, more ships are exploding. Chaos achieved.
Two Virdathians try to block my path and I slice through them.
I'm almost back to our transport when I see another craft, undamaged, lifting off the deck and turning its weapons systems on our transport.
Fuck.
They’ve figured out which ship we came in on.
They’re trying to destroy it.
No!
I change direction, sprinting toward the hovering transport with everything I have. A Virdathian is trying to close the hatch and I rush in, sliding my blade through him —
Then rush into the cockpit. The Virdathian pilot turns and —
I jam my blade into his head.
Time to get the hell out of this cruiser.
I leap from the craft, hit the ground running, and dive for cover behind a cargo container.
A transporter near me explodes, the blast wave picking me up and hurling me a dozen feet.
I hit the ground hard, stars exploding across my vision, but I force myself up.
My transport is just ahead. I can see the hatch — still closed, still safe.
I run.
Weapons fire follows me, plasma bolts scorching the air. One grazes my shoulder and I stumble but don't stop.
Almost there. Almost —
I reach the hatch and slam my hand against the control panel.
"Open!" I shout.
The hatch cracks open and —
That's when something hits me.
Not a plasma bolt — something heavier. A laser blast, catching me in the side, burning through flesh and muscle.
The pain is instant and catastrophic.
I see my own blood.
As the hatch opens wide, I see Daisy — and her expression turning to horror.
I manage to pull myself into the transport. As the hatch closes, I hear her screaming my name.
And then I'm on the floor.
Darkness is closing in. I feel hands on me.
Daisy's hands.
And I think: *I failed them.*