“And did not deserve the fate dealt her.”
Barus had not been present on the bridge when they made contact with Eliana, so Dagon had replayed their conversation for him.
A click sounded in Dagon’s earpiece.
“Commander Dagon,” Janek said, voice tense, “your presence is requested on the bridge.”
Dagon tapped the earpiece. “What is it?”
“I believe I’ve picked up something on comms.”
He glanced at Barus. “You’ve located one of the pods?”
“No, sir. I think…”
Dagon waited. Janek was not usually one to mince words. “Janek?”
“I think it’s the Earth woman. I think Eliana may still be alive.”
His heart jumping in his chest, Dagon swiftly turned and strode out of the training room.
Eliana? Still alive? Impossible.
And yet his pace steadily increased until he was jogging toward the lift, Barus right on his heels.
Moments later, he strode onto the bridge and speared Janek with a look. “Explain.”
Janek glanced up from his station. He cast the other crewmen on the bridge a quick look.
All were silent, their faces solemn.
Janek’s lips tightened. “I wanted to believe her,” he admitted. “When she said she could slow her heart rate and make the oxygen last longer, I wanted to believe her. So I left the comm line with her open and…”
“And what?” Dagon prodded impatiently.
Janek hesitated, as though fearing all would doubt him. “I think I heard a moan.”
Barus shook his head. “That’s not possible.”
Janek ignored him and shot Dagon a look. “I know I heard something.”
Dagon strode toward his seat. “Let me hear it.”
Everyone remained silent as they all listened carefully.
Dagon strained to detect even the slightest rustle of her suit, the sound of a soft breath, anything… but heard nothing. “Eliana,” he called.
No response came.
Janek shook his head. “I know I heard something.”
Dagon trusted him. “Eliana,” he said louder.
A sigh carried across the line.
“Max?” Eliana mumbled.
His breath caught.
“I was having the worst dream,” she complained groggily.
Murmurings erupted among his crew.
Dagon’s heart began to slam against his ribs. How was this possible? “Eliana?”
She emitted a sharp grunt of pain, then—sounding much more alert—said, “Ah hell, it wasn’t a dream. That sucks!”
He shared an astonished look with Barus.
“Dagon?” she said. “Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for leaving the line open. How long was I out?”
“Three days.”
“Damn. I had hoped I’d sleep longer than that.”
“My apologies. I woke you. We hadn’t heard from you in a long time.”
“And you thought I was dead?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
When next she spoke, her tone conveyed a smile. “I told you I could make the oxygen last longer. How much do I have left?”
“Press the blue button on your sleeve again.”
A female voice speaking Lasaran announced, “Fifteen hours and forty-two minutes of oxygen remaining.”
Barus shook his head. “How did she make ten hours of oxygen last three days?” he asked in Segonian.
Dagon shook his head.
“What did she say?” Eliana asked.
“You have fifteen hours and forty-two minutes of oxygen left.”
“Damn. So I’ve already used up almost half of what I had?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t suppose you found any allies who were close enough to swing by and pick me up, did you?”
“No. All were farther away than we are.”
“Are you still headed my way?”
“Yes.”
“Have you found any other survivors?”
“No. But the Lasarans have recovered several escape pods.”
“Were any of my people rescued?” she asked, hope brightening her voice.
“Not yet.”
“Oh.”
“But we are all still searching.”
“Thank you.” She had a nice voice, deep for a woman and a little husky from sleep. He didn’t like hearing the disappointment that darkened it now. “What about the Yona? Has anyone found any of them yet? I know those guys look and act as though nothing ruffles their feathers, but I’m sure they don’t want to die out here either.”
“No Yona soldiers have been rescued yet.” He opted not to tell her that the bodies of several had been drifting in space near some wreckage found by his fellow Segonians. The soldiers had done what they were trained to do—they had remained on the ship, fighting until the last minute, and died when the ship was blasted apart.
“That sucks.”
He frowned. “I don’t think my translator is accurately defining the word suck.”
She laughed, a happy sound that made his lips twitch until she grunted in pain again. “I was wondering how you were speaking English to me. You have a translator?”
“A translator chip,” he elaborated. “All starship commanders and crew members have one. The Lasarans sent us an upgrade that included ten Earth languages so we would be able to communicate with you when we found you.”
“Cool. I’m guessing your chip is telling you that suck means to close your lips around something and create a vacuum?”
“Yes.”
“That’s actually correct. But the phrase that sucks is slang used to express… well, either annoyance or sympathy, depending on how it’s used. Like if someone said, My boss just fired me, you might respond with Wow, that sucks.”
He nodded. “I shall commit that to memory.”
“So you’ve spoken with the Lasarans?”
“Yes.”
“Do they know who attacked the ship?”
“Gathendiens are responsible.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she practically shouted, fury entering her voice. “The Gathendiens did this?”
Eyebrows flew up all around the bridge as crew members exchanged looks of surprise.
“Yes.”
“The same Gathendiens who used a bioengineered virus to try to exterminate the Lasarans?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, seriously, Dagon, you have got to find a way to reach me before I die so I can hunt those bastards down and kick their collective asses.”
Barus grinned. “I like this woman.”
“Who was that?” she immediately asked. “I don’t recognize his voice.”
“He’s my second-in-command, Barus.”
“Nice to meet you, Barus,” she said, her voice still full of pique. “I take it you don’t like the Gathendiens either?”
“I loathe the Gathendiens,” Barus replied.
“Good. Then do me a favor and help Dagon find a way to reach me faster so I can help you kick those fuckers’ asses.”
Grins broke out among the crew.
She didn’t ask them to find her so she would live. She asked them to find her so she could exact vengeance. Every man here understood that.