Chapter 5
I strapped into the shuttle and pulled on my helmet. The seal clicked, then locked with a pressurized hiss that cut off the world. The chaos of the landing party; shouts, equipment clanging, boots on metal, vanished. Now there was only my breathing, harsh and too fast in my ears.
I looked at the cockpit and saw Torvyn running the pre-flight checklist, his movements precise and unhurried. I felt a tap on my arm and turned my head. Lyrin sat down across from me and tapped the side of his helmet.
"How are you doing, Kira?" Lyrin's voice filled my helmet, warm and close despite the barrier between us.
"Nervous, scared, freaked out. A combination of all those emotions plus a few I can't name," I said.
He nodded. "I understand. I felt the same way on my first combat mission."
"Yeah, but you have a blaster; I have nothing."
"It's better without a blaster, trust me. Remember, your job is to save the women in that camp, not hurt people."
"Okay. It's probably safer for everybody in here if I don't have one."
Another voice cut through the comms, Torvyn's, steady as bedrock. "Kira, listen to me. I've flown through ion storms, corporate blockades, and a black hole's event horizon. This? This is just another landing. You focus on your job, I'll handle mine. We'll all get home."
Something in my chest loosened slightly. "Thanks, Torvyn."
"Standby for launch," he said, all business again.
The Starbreaker's shuttle bay doors slid open.
A blue-grey orb filled the shuttle's front viewport, swirled with white clouds, and was dotted with lights that blinked on as the planet rotated away from its yellow sun.
For a moment, I forgot to breathe as the sheer impossible beauty of a whole world spread beneath me.
Billions of lives down there, and somewhere on that surface, women were trapped in cages, waiting for rescue.
Waiting for me.
I pressed my hand against my chest. Tightness squeezed my lungs until I gasped, not realizing I'd been holding my breath.
"Launch vectors have been loaded. Commencing RADAR and communications jamming.
" Vaelix's voice crackled through the static, professional and calm.
Then, quieter, almost like he didn't want the others to hear: "Kira, I have complete confidence in you.
You were meant for this. All the data support it. "
I blinked back unexpected tears. "Thank you, Vaelix."
"Godspeed, task force. Commence launch countdown."
"Three, two, one, shuttle Alpha, away," Torvyn said.
The shuttle dropped. My stomach lurched into my throat as the harnesses crushed down against my shoulders, restraining me while the ship fell like a stone toward the planet below.
Through the top viewport, I watched as four other shuttles shot out of their respective bays, like burning asteroids aimed at the center mass of the large planet.
Then the main engines fired. The force slammed me back into the crash couch, pinning me as we plummeted into the gravity well. My vision tunneled, darkness creeping in at the edges—
Suddenly, my suit constricted around my legs and arms, forcing blood back into my brain. The darkness receded.
"Two minutes to touch down," Torvyn's voice crackled to life inside my helmet, an anchor in the chaos.
"This is Starbreaker tactical," Vaelix said. "Sensors show two guard shacks at the front entrance of the compound. We assess that ten guards are lightly armed. We have not intercepted any off-planet communications from them, nor any internal communications about our shuttles."
"Copy, keep eyes on, going comms black," Torvyn said.
"This will be a combat landing." Lyrin's eyes locked on mine, and something flickered through the Tether—his calm, his confidence, an anchor against my rising panic. "Hold on tight. Let Kaedren's team do their job, and when it's time, I'll get you to yours. Trust me."
I tried to nod, but couldn't. "Got it," I whispered, my breath ragged.
Through the Tether, I felt Lyrin's steady presence, like a hand in the dark.
"Touchdown in three, two, one," Torvyn said, his voice calm. "Contact, doors opening, Kaedren, move."
I shut my eyes. Fists clenched. Harness locked.
My body had turned to ice, frozen in the crash couch while chaos erupted outside.
Blaster fire. Shouting. The whine of energy weapons.
My heart hammered so hard I thought it would crack my ribs.
Cold sweat streamed down my face, pooling at my throat.
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything but sit here while people died because I was too much of a coward to—
Kira.
Lyrin's voice, not through the comms, through the Tether, warm and certain.
I'm here. You're not alone.
I felt the others, too, distant but present. Vaelix's sharp focus from orbit. Kaedren's battle-calm outside the shuttle. Even Torvyn's unshakeable certainty at the controls. They were all here with me.
For me.
"Kira, open your eyes." Lyrin's actual voice now, gentle.
I opened my eyes and looked up. He was standing over me, his hands around my helmet. I heard a soft click, and my helmet pulled away. I gasped for air, then felt Lyrin's warm hand caress my cheek. His other hand quickly unclipped my harnesses, then reached for my hand and pulled me up.
"The guards have been neutralized, and Kaedren has found the entrance to the women's dorms. He and his team are standing guard. You're in charge now. Let's go," Lyrin said, helping me stand.
I nodded, then jogged out of the shuttle.
I almost tripped as I made my way down the shuttle's ramp, taking in the aftermath of the battle between Kaedren's team and the corporate guards.
The landing zone was littered with debris, scorch marks, and bodies.
Some wore the Starbreaker's colors, most wore corporate security armor.
"Don't worry about them, our medics are already working on them," Lyrin said.
"What about the guards?"
"We're triaging them too. We don't let them die just because they're our enemies. We'll patch them up and drop them off at a neutral port. We can talk more about that later. Right now we need to get to our target," he said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Right, the target," I said.
A blast of light filled my view, and I threw my arm across my face.
A wave of heat rolled across me, then an explosion filled my ears.
The blast wave pushed me to the ground, and I rolled across the edge of the landing zone.
I pushed myself up, ears ringing, and blinked the debris out of my eyes.
I stepped forward, stumbled, and fell to the ground.
A body lay next to me.
I turned it over. Green skin. Long, delicate ears.
Oval eyes that stared at nothing. It was one of Kaedren's men.
A low groan escaped his lips as I ran my hands down his evac suit.
They stopped at a large hole where purple blood sputtered out.
I pulled a medpack from my belt and slapped it on his wound.
"It's okay, let the meds do their job, all you have to do is close your eyes, I've got you. You're safe," I said, holding the man's hand.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he choked. Blood poured from his mouth as his body spasmed once, twice, then sagged to the ground. His chest stopped moving. The medpack emitted a long tone, and I beat my fists against the man's chest.
"No, no, no, no…"
"Kira." Lyrin's hands closed around my arms, lifting me.
"He's dead," I sobbed. "I couldn't save him."
"He was already gone before you reached him." Lyrin's hands cupped my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. Hazel, fierce with belief. "You tried. That matters. But the women inside, they're still alive. They need you, Kira. Can you do this? For them?"
He paused, and through the Tether I felt his absolute certainty. "I know you can."
I looked at him, searching his eyes for any doubt. I found none.
I nodded. I didn't know if I believed him, but I knew he believed in me.
That would have to be enough for now. I stood, shook my head, then made my way to the entrance of the dorms. Kaedren stood guard his massive frame blocking the doorway, weapon trained on the horizon.
I squeezed his arm as I approached, and mouthed a thank you.
He looked down at me, and something softened in his scarred face. "You honor Jexal's memory by doing this," he said quietly. "Go. Save them."
I felt his grief through the Tether, sending soldiers into battle knowing some wouldn't return. But beneath it, a fierce pride in the mission. In me.
"We've picked up a silent alarm that has been triggered," Vaelix said, his voice distant. "You have thirty minutes before the second colony sends their quick reaction force. If they get eyes on you, it will only take fifteen minutes for the corporate reserve force to arrive."
"So we move fast," I said.
I ran to the entrance, a heavy metal door with rust bleeding down its seams, and threw it open.
The smell hit me first. Human waste, unwashed bodies, despair made manifest. I gagged, stumbling back a step before Lyrin's hand steadied me at the small of my back.
Cones of yellow light bloomed ahead of me, highlighting a walkway. Along each side, metal bars ran from floor to ceiling. The silence was suffocating. If there were women here, they were doing their best not to be noticed.
I took a step forward and fought back the urge to vomit. Lyrin tapped my shoulder and handed me a nasal implant. I placed it on my nose, and the air cleared. I could breathe again.
I stepped forward, and my torchlight swept across the first cell.
Women. Dozens of them, packed into a space meant for maybe ten.
They sat on bare concrete, some with their heads between their knees, others pressed against the bars like they'd been trying to claw their way out.
Their clothes, if you could call them that, were filthy rags. Their hair hung in matted tangles.