Chapter 13

As Brynn and Darren walked through the last door, Brynn was in a room with a dozen people, all with headsets and a screen in front of their face. The room was large, at least ten meters across, and half that from the door the next wall.

A low murmur filled the observation room, punctuated by bursts of frantic chatter over the speakers. Brynn's gaze locked onto the massive display--dozens of red, green, and blue dots pulsed and shifted like an intricate dance of war. The image on the screen showed the two immense ships and all the fighters. The battleships were shown in a greater detail than the fighters, who were just simple dots. The blue dots were apparently the fighters while the red dots were the attacking craft. A moment later, two of the blue dots converged on the red dot and the red dot disappeared. She couldn't figure out what the green dots were. Maybe civilian crafts trying to escape?

"Captain, our shields are holding, but if we don't manage to scare them off, they won't stay that way for long."

The next voice was unmistakably the captain's. "All fighters, attack at the coordinates I've specified. Focus your attack on the life support and ventilation systems."

The blue dots all seemed to move at once, moving in a tight formation as they made their way to the red ship.

The comms crackled, then a voice--low, venomous, and familiar--coiled through the room. A cold shiver rushed down Brynn's spine, goosebumps rising like a wave across her skin.

"The Delethirian Empire will not be thwarted by your pathetic attempts to engage us, Captain Johansen. Lower your shields and cease fire and I assure you the lives of your crew will be spared. Surrender while you still can."

It was the voice of the woman who had attacked Atalanta not two days before. Suddenly, the red dots seemed to explode and multiply. She could hear the scattered voices of pilot's last cries as the red dots overwhelmed the blue and began to make them disappear, one by one, until there were only a few left. Brynn counted over twenty of the red dots still on the display. "Blue Twelve to Blue Five. Cover me. These bastards need their numbers cut back a little."

"Chariton! What are you doing with one of my ships?!"

"Well, it looked like so much fun, I didn't want to miss out. Do you mind if I lend a hand as it seems you're a little short on numbers?"

There was no response.

"Blue Five, copy?"

"Copy Twelve. I'll stay back a little ways to make sure none of them sneak up behind you."

The display zoomed in a little on the fray as the two fighters turned and engaged. The Delethirian ships tried to loop around and attack, but they seemed just a little too slow. Idris' ship was indicated with the number twelve, his wing man's ship indicated with the five.

Slowly, the dots moved around the map and the red dots seemed to disappear. Then they moved back to engaging the enemy battleship.

"Enemy shields at seventeen percent, Captain. We should be able to hold out long enough to finish them."

"What's the status of our weapons?"

"Rail batteries are at fifty percent. Energy reserves at thirty-five percent and dwindling fast. We need to kill these guys a little faster, Captain."

"Chariton! Why is that ship still hanging around?!"

"That's a good question, Captain. Maybe it's something about you they find appealing. You're warm personality, perhaps?"

Silence.

"Or perhaps-"

"Shut up, Chariton! Get in there and take out their weapons."

The hologram zoomed back out, showing Idris' wing man breaking off as he moved closer to the ship... much closer. He trailed along the surface of the, firing on the hull, the shields working to absorb his firepower, but barely managing to do so. The image zoomed in again a little closer, showing as he swept over the craft and landed shots where the battleships munitions were firing from. But then something unexpected happened.

Idris skimmed along the battleship's hull, weaving dangerously close. Then--an eerie shimmer rippled across its surface. A pulse of energy lashed out, wrapping around his ship like a spectral hand. In an instant, it yanked him inside.

"Captain, the ship is... breaking away..."

"What? No! Disable them before-" But she was cut off. Mid-sentence, the ship broke away from the battle and jumped away, the antispace window swallowing it whole before anyone could blink. Everyone stood there gaping, relieved and confused by the sudden change in events.

Blue Twelve, do you copy?"

Silence. Only the hollow crackle of dead air.

"Captain Chariton, respond!"

More static.

The weight in the room shifted--like the air itself had thickened, suffocating.

"Captain Chariton, do you copy?"

Static. Just an empty hum, swallowing every voice that had once filled the room.

Everyone seemed to turn to Brynn with sad eyes and despondent expressions. "There's... no response, Captain..."

Brynn stood motionless, arms folded tight, as if bracing against a storm only she could feel. The voices around her blurred, muffled by the roaring silence in her ears. Biting down hard on her lip, she felt her heart completely stop as the silence began. Until this point, she'd been strangely calm, or at least seeming to be such. Pacing, arms crossed, but calm for what the situation was.

Now she was just frozen. Staring off, and slowly she felt herself become sick, her face paling, head become light. The room tipped as the silence dragged even further on, and she stumbled back on unsteady feet until she felt the wall behind her. Hands reached behind her as she grabbed for the solid metal wall to keep from fainting, even as her face took on the coloring of the dead.

Her lips parted, but no words came. Only the frantic pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

Idris. Please. Please say something. Don't leave me.

But there was nothing escaping her lips, everything in her still, stomach turning as it threatened to rebel. There were no other sounds for a long moment. The seconds crept on for what seemed like hours, when it had only been about five minutes.

"Lieutenant, what's our status?"

"Our shields are stable. Weapons are low. Minimal damage over Avenger's hull. All decks report stable life support and atmosphere."

There was another long silence. "Return to yellow alert, Lieutenant."

And that was it. The bridge chatter disappeared from the observation room and everything seemed to fall silent. The officer of the observation room approached Brynn, holding out a hand to help her. "Miss... are you going to be ok? Should I call a medic for you?"

Jumping slightly at the voice addressing, her she looked over at the officer strangely, not fully processing words. When they finally sunk in, Brynn leaned a little more against the wall, her feet sliding forward as she struggled to keep that balance.

"I... I... don't need a medic. I'm not hurt. I'm not... bleeding. I'm... fine. I'm..." Alone. Alone all over again. Idris was gone and she was alone. She'd lost the first person she'd cared about since she was a child. Everything hurt. Swallowing hard, she looked away from the officer and tried to take a shaky breath. What did she do now?

Something welled up inside her--too big, too raw. Not just panic. Not just grief. It crackled beneath her skin, an electric hum spiraling outward, pressing against the air itself. It felt different this time, sharper, like static waiting to snap.

The officer looked at her, very concerned and nodded slowly. Despite all of this, he still motioned for someone to come over to his side. He looked over at Brynn and then spoke to the man he'd called over, his eyes indicating her several times as they whispered. The second man looked over at her, then at the officer, nodding, and left the room in a hurry.

The hum in her veins spread, an unseen pulse rippling through the air. The overhead lights flickered erratically, shadows stuttering across the walls. Monitors sputtered, static crackling through their speakers.

The man's eyes grew wide suddenly, and then the lights went out, and then the popping starting. Sparks flew. One of the consoles exploded. There was the sound of someone crying out.

Time seemed to slow around her, and she saw the room slowly lighting up intermittently, before she felt herself swimming, like she was wading through oil, and then she felt the floor fly up and meet her in the face.

The world wavered--light, sound, time itself bending at the edges. A violent crack split through the air, and then--nothing.