46. Athena
Athena
Darkness engulfed the room, and everyone screamed. My own heart hammered so hard against my ribs I could feel it in my throat, and for one terrifying moment, there was nothing but blackness and the groan of the ship as it was bombarded by enemy fire.
Then the lights flickered back on, softer than before, the amber lights replaced by dim red ones. It was enough to see by and enough for me to see the fear etched on every face around me.
"Get farther away from the glass!” I yelled, waving my arms as more red beams painted a stripe across the black sky from the enemy ship to ours.
We all scrambled back from the wall of windows just as the entire ship pitched hard to one side, sending Hal stumbling into Vallia and both of them grabbing for the edge of the low black table to keep from falling into the large cushions.
Another shudder rolled through the floor beneath our feet, and I was glad I wasn’t watching the suspended bridges twist and flail across the central chasm of the ship. Worse yet would be crossing one as the ship pitched from side to side.
"We ran from one Imperial attack straight into another," Hal muttered, his skin a sickly shade of green. “This is intolerable.”
"The Vandar will save us," Vallia said, though her voice wavered enough that I wasn't sure if she believed it or was only trying to convince herself. "Lorken wouldn't have brought us aboard if he couldn't protect us."
I wanted to believe that too. I did believe it, mostly, though watching the enemy ship loom outside the window had shaken some of that belief. I’d thought the Vandar were untraceable. People whispered that they moved through space like wraiths.
Vern cleared his throat, and when I looked at him, his shoulders were hunched, which made him look small, despite his height. "I'm sorry.”
Lettie frowned at her brother. "Sorry for what?"
"This." He gestured vaguely toward the shuddering walls around us. "This is my fault. If I hadn't brought Dell aboard with me, the Zagrath never would have found us."
My chest tightened at the raw guilt in his voice, but he didn't deserve to carry this. Not after what he’d sacrificed to help Kolt and Skye.
"How could Dell be a traitor, though?" I asked gently. "He was in that prison with you. The Zagrath threw him in there same as they threw you in there."
Vern's gaze dropped to the floor, and when he spoke again, his voice had gone quiet.
"I should have known something was wrong. He told me, back in the cell, that the Zagrath were holding his family as well.” He swallowed hard.
"I didn't think much of it at the time. Lots of prisoners had family being held.
I never imagined he'd—" He broke off, shaking his head.
"Is that why he did it?" Lettie asked, making her way to stand close to her brother. "Because they had his family?”
Vern nodded, miserable. "He was desperate to get them back. When I caught him fiddling with that ship's comms system in the hangar bay, he didn't even try to deny it. Just kept saying that if he proved his loyalty to the Empire, they had to let his children go."
I felt something twist uncomfortably in my chest at that, a strange, unwelcome sympathy creeping in alongside the anger I knew I should be feeling instead.
Dell had endangered all of us and had doomed the entire ship to the battle currently raging, but I couldn't fully hate him for it.
If someone I loved was being held by the enemy, would I do the same?
A series of strange, heavy thuds made me snap my head toward the door. They weren’t the booms of photons hitting the hull. They were deeper and more resonant, as if something was landing on the hull.
Cold terror prickled across my skin, and I swung my gaze to the view of the Zagrath ship.
Fighters were pouring from openings in the side, but as I squinted, I could make out slightly larger ships moving toward us.
They weren’t engaging in the dog fight but were flying steadily toward the Vandar hull without firing.
Vallia's voice dropped to no more than a whisper. "I think they're landing on the ship like Vandar raiding ships.”
“Do the Zagrath do that?” Lettie asked.
“Maybe they learned,” Hal said in a strangled voice.
“When Vandar raiding ships attach themselves on ships’ hulls, they cut their way inside,” Vallia added. “Do you think that means the Zagrath are boarding this ship?”
Hal emitted a squeak as Hatch and Ringo pivoted toward the door, squaring their shoulders. I appreciated their intention, but without weapons, their bravery wasn’t much of a defense.
If Zagrath soldiers were attempting to breach the warbird's hull, then we were sitting in warlord’s quarters with no way to defend ourselves. As we exchanged nervous glances, I think everyone realized the same thing.
Lettie planted her hands on her hips. “I, for one, am not going to sit here and wait for them to find us."
"Lettie," Hal started, "I don't think—"
"I mean it." She jerked a thumb toward the door with her chin lifted in defiance. “We’re like fish in a barrel here, especially if they know where to look for the Raas. Who's coming with me?"