Wesley inhaled and exhaled out of frustration that Kaden had yet again slipped through his fingers. “Go in for a landing and we’ll see what kind of parts he left behind,” he said softly. Ash brought the Principia down inside the entrance, illuminating the lamps on the front of the ship to give them a view of hangar. Parts that Kaden had apparently felt were inadequate and pieces of the old Andromeda were strewn everywhere. The hangar resembled a junkyard of disassembled parts, computers, and wiring. It was simply a mess.
Once the ship was secure Wesley wanted to go out and collect what he could of the usable parts, hoping there was something that would help his team of engineers re-build another starship on Kyanos. Ava followed him, Andre, and Ash to the entrance into the cargo area of the ship.
“Whoa, Ava, I want you to stay on the ship this time. The three of us will handle this,” he said authoritatively.
“I don’t want to stay in here without you,” she argued. Now that they were back together, she disliked being separated from him.
“It will be fine. I can sense that Kaden is not here if that’s what’s worrying you. We won’t be long.” He kissed her gently a few times and gave Naomi a look before shutting the door to the cargo area behind him.
“Come up to the monitors with me, we can watch everything that they are doing. Besides, it’s freezing out there,” Naomi said confidently.
Ava complied, remembering that she had more than once gotten herself into trouble by not following orders. She watched the three men gather parts and toss them into a large cart that they ran back and forth to the cargo ramp of their ship. From the expressions on their faces they seemed pleased with some of their findings. Ava looked around the hangar, remembering that James had killed two Asterions here, but thankfully, did not see any signs of their bodies.
She reflected on the events of the past year of her life and felt a great range of emotions flood through her. She had changed and grown so much as a person. She had been gloriously happy and also immeasurably sad. But most of all she was grateful that she as a human had been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to know these wonderful beings that called themselves the Asterions. Melanie had told her that every day they try to learn to be more human, but it seemed to Ava that she herself had been learning to be more human from them.
As she looked out at her beloved Wesley and her other two friends she felt a wave of hope sweep through her for the future. Aside from that, she also could not help but instinctively feel a gnawing, sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach that their war with Kaden was far from over.
The Solar Flare Page 29