“What?”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Her head began to clear. Her thoughts sharpened as the Yona warrior straightened and spun away. “Valok?”
He ducked out of the pod, then turned and met her confused gaze. “Thank you.”
Simone shook her head. “For what?”
“Letting me feel.”
The hatch closed.
“Wait!” She lunged forward but was jerked to a halt by the harness. Her fingers fumbled for the latches.
Boom!
Bright light flared beyond the crystal windshield as flames burst into being.
Her heart stopped as shock rippled through her.
That had to have hit Valok!
“No!” she screamed in horror.
The pod jerked, shoving her back in the seat like a roller coaster embarking on a ride. A roar arose, accompanied by thunks. The pressure pushing her back against the seat increased as light flickered on and off. Then black space filled the window.
A small gray craft shot past, followed closely by a sleek, black fighter.
The black fighter fired its weapons and blew the gray craft to bits. But Simone was too shaken by Valok’s death to cheer.
An escape pod flew by with two gray Gathendien craft in pursuit.
A deafening roar shook the pod as flames lit up the darkness.
Then the bright walls of the qhov’rum rose before her, blocking everything else.
Light exploded around her. A screeching, grinding noise filled the pod, so loud it magnified the ache in her head tenfold.
Then quiet fell, broken only by her pounding heart and gasping breaths.
Moisture filled her eyes as she stared through the window at calm, black space.
“Evie?” she asked, voice hushed.
“Yes?” the computer responded. One of the Lasarans had told her they named the computer after either the engineer who had installed it or designed it. But she was too shaken to remember if it was E.V. or Evie.
“Did the Kandovar just explode?” Please, say no. Please, say no.
“Affirmative.”
She closed her eyes. Tears she couldn’t hold back slipped down her cheeks. “How many crew members were still aboard?”
She knew Valok had been. She’d seen the explosion that took him.
Her hands curled into tight fists on her thighs as sadness warred with burgeoning anger. Why hadn’t he gotten into the damn pod with her?
“Unknown,” the computer responded.
“Did the other escape pods launch?”
“According to my last contact with the Kandovar, many escape pods launched successfully before the ship was destroyed.”
Then all of the gifted ones should’ve gotten away safely.
What of her fellow Immortal Guardians? The last time she’d seen them, they had been scrambling to get everyone else to safety. Had they made it to pods, too? Or had explosions taken them, as well?
Her hands began to shake. “Would you please attempt to hail the ship?”
“The ship is no longer intact,” Evie stated. “Any attempts to hail it—”
“Just do it!” Simone snapped as she swiped at her wet cheeks.
“Attempting to hail the Kandovar.” A moment passed. “Unable to make contact.”
“Try to hail the other escape pods.”
“Hailing escape pods now.”
She’d seen two Gathendien fighter craft chasing down an escape pod. What if those bastards were picking them off, one by one? Were they in there killing all her friends while she sat on her ass doing nothing?
“All attempts to hail other escape pods have failed.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Were they destroyed in the blast?”
“Unlikely. Escape pods are built to withstand extreme temperatures so they can provide shelter on planets with uninhabitable environments.”
“Then why can’t you contact them?”
“The range of this pod’s communications system is limited. The other pods may have already traveled beyond its reach.”
“How is that possible? The pods probably launched only minutes before this one did.”
“The qhov’rum propels craft forward at speeds that even the fastest engines cannot replicate. If the qhov’rum remained functional after this pod breached its walls, it has already carried any escape pods and fighter craft that remained within it a distance that would take this pod with its weaker engine many months to traverse.”
This pod only carried two months of supplies.
“What about the pods that were thrust through the walls of the quov’rum by the blast like this one?”
“They are likely scattered across vast sectors of space now. My inability to contact them supports that conjecture.”
Simone thought furiously. “Can we reenter the quov’rum?”
“Negative. This pod’s engine cannot generate the propulsion required to breach the walls.”
So the explosion must have hurled the pod through it. “Are there any Lasaran outposts near us?”
“Negative.”
“What about Yona outposts?”
“Negative.”
“Any space stations or spaceports?”
“Negative.”
“Are there any habitable planets nearby?”
“Negative.”
“Any ships belonging to members of the Aldebarian Alliance?”
“Negative.”
Frustration rose. “Well, there must be something nearby! Space may be vast, but it isn’t freaking empty!”
“Affirmative.”
She blinked. “What?” Then she frowned. If the computer told her that space was indeed vast, Simone would lose it. She’d just watched Valok die in a blast of fire. Her immortal friends might very well have been killed, too. Those small Gathendien fighter craft could be blowing up her mortal friends who managed to escape in pods. And the Lasaran and Yona soldiers who’d remained on the ship…
More tears rose.
“Affirmative,” Evie repeated placidly. “My sensors have detected something nearby.”
Finally! “What is it?”
“A Gathendien warship.”
Simone sat up straighter. “What? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Gathendien ships were not on your list of inquiries.”
Computers could be so maddeningly literal! “Well, where is it?”
“It exited the quov’rum moments before this pod did.”
Simone unsnapped her harness and lunged for the window, peering all around. “I don’t see it.”
“It is too far away to see.”
“How is that—?” Oh. Right. The quov’rum moved everything forward so quickly that even a few seconds could cover vast distances.
Then the meaning of the computer’s words dawned on her.
The Gathendien warship had been inside the quov’rum.
Everything within her went still. Her tears ceased. Her jaw clenched. “Is the ship you’re detecting the one that blew up the Kandovar?”
“Though I cannot determine that with certainty, the timing and placement of the ship make such possible.”
Absolute fury filled her, accompanied by cold determination. “How far away is it? Is it close enough for us to reach?”
“Affirmative. Unless the Gathendien ship alters its current speed and trajectory, this pod can reach it in under two months.”