Rouhr

by Elin Wyn

  Vidia was not going to be happy about that.

  “The rift is going to cut the Xathi ship in half, right?” Dax asked.

  Fen confirmed with a nod.

  “That means one half will be in space and the other will still be in this planet’s atmosphere.”

  He raised a good point. I considered it for a moment.

  “The Aurora will fly with a minimum crew,” I decided. “Everyone else will be on the ground, prepared to deal with the fallout. We’ll lead the Xathi away from any inhabited regions so nothing will fall on the cities and towns. If any Xathi survive the fall, they’ll be bad off. Easy work.”

  The crew nodded.

  “Let’s set this in motion as soon as possible,” I ordered. “There’s no reason a single Xathi should still be alive on this planet by nightfall. Dismissed.”

  “General?” Thribb’s voice sounded smaller than I’d ever heard it before.

  “What, Thribb?” I asked.

  “I’ve done the crew a disservice.”

  He at least had the guts to look me in the eye when he spoke.

  “I wonder if you’ll allow me to make up for it by lending my assistance on board the Aurora in this final stand against the Xathi.”

  “That’s quite the offer,” I said. “Are you certain? It’ll be dangerous. I can’t promise we’ll survive it.”

  “I’m certain.”

  “Very well, Thribb. I’ll let you know when we are to depart.”

  26

  Vidia

  “I've been studying your idioms,” Rouhr said, leaning against the doorway to my office, where I stared at the latest reports of towns that had applied to us for more protection from the Xathi.

  “Seems like an interesting hobby,” I smiled, happy to see him look relaxed, easy in his skin for the first time in days. Or scales, I supposed.

  Either way.

  “I've got good news, and bad news,” he said, and my heart sank. “Or maybe it's bad news, good news, bad news. Maybe I haven't been studying as much as I thought I had."

  “Well, then.” I swallowed hard, my throat tight. “I've always wanted the bad news first. So, let's have it.”

  He stepped into the office, his face grim. “The Aurora won't fly. Well, she will for short periods. But she won't ever be truly space worthy. The crew is trapped here.”

  My hands flew to my mouth. How could something that condemned so many lives to separation from their homes and families still make me so happy?

  I was a terrible, selfish person, but still.

  Fingers trembling, I reached for him. “And how do you feel about that?” I asked, quite proud of myself for keeping my voice level.

  He grabbed my hand, then drew me around the desk and into his embrace. “Heartbroken for the crew members that wanted to go home, of course,” he murmured, hands stroking down my back. “Conflicted, a bit, about how this affects the oath I swore to the Skotan fleet.”

  I closed my eyes, bracing myself.

  His warm hand cupped my cheek, tilting my jaw up till I met his eyes.

  “And immensely pleased that you and I will have a chance to see what develops between us.”

  His lips brushed over mine before he pulled back.

  “That was the first of the bad news pieces, I suppose, wrapped with the good news.”

  I bit my lip. “You said there was another piece of bad news. Go on, tell me.”

  “We've come up with a way to defeat the Xathi,” he admitted, fingers kneading into my back. “But you're not going to like it.”

  At the very least, I was glad he gave me loads of work to do so I wouldn’t lose myself in worry. Moving the refugees that had been with the crew since they were brought aboard the Vengeance was a strangely bittersweet experience.

  Many refugees sought out crew members they wanted to say goodbye to, just in case something happened to them. All of the crew that wasn’t going up in the Aurora was getting ready to load and go to their positions out in the desert. Even those with no formal combat training had a part to play.

  Rouhr and I both had a lot of work to do over the next twenty-four hours. I knew we wouldn’t get to spend as much time with each other as both of us wanted, so we had comms linked through a private frequency so we could talk as we worked.

  That was probably for the best, anyway. If Rouhr saw what a nervous wreck I was, I knew it would be distracting for him. He had so much to think about, I didn’t want to add to the load.

  “How are the refugees taking the move?” he asked.

  “They're far more sentimental about the ship than I thought they’d be,” I admitted. “The Aurora was a safe haven.”

  “I’m glad that’s the case,” he replied.

  “How are the preparations on your end?” I asked.

  “The Urai engineers are doing some last-minute tune-ups on the Aurora that will help her last in deep space a little bit longer,” Rouhr explained. “The first transport units out to the desert just left. They aren’t going as far out as Amira and Dax went, just far enough so that the cities are out of fallout range.”

  “I’m glad the majority of the crew will be out there. Any Xathi that manage to survive the fall through the rift won’t stand a chance,” I said.

  “That’s the idea,” Rouhr agreed. “It might sound like overkill, but I think we’re due for it.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said.

  “You know what I haven’t been able to stop craving?” Rouhr said suddenly.

  “What?” I asked, wondering where on earth this was going.

  “Those long, thin things we ate at the party. Kind of a pale yellow? Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Salty.”

  “French fries?” I chuckled.

  “Yes! Those things are a warrior’s food, and delicious. I can’t believe it took me that long to try them,” Rouhr said enthusiastically.

  “I know how to make them.” I knew he was trying to distract me. It was a sweet gesture, and it really was helping ease the tight ball of worry in my chest.

  “Why are you only telling me this now?” Rouhr demanded. “I would’ve started courting you much sooner if I’d known you could make such delicacies.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” I laughed.

  “Anything to make you smile,” he replied.

  “Vidia.” Evie rested a hand on my shoulder. “It’s time to move the refugees to Glymna.”

  “Oh, fantastic,” I said, though my voice fell flat. I grabbed a datapad with a long list of names. When refugees started arriving on the Vengeance, I had done my best to document them so they could be reunited with family and friends later on. When the Xathi attacked, and we had to relocate to the Aurora, I had lost all of that information. I’d started the process of collecting it again, but I didn’t have anywhere near a complete list. My plan was to stand by the rift into Glymna, and take everyone’s names manually. It was going to take a long time, but I needed a long distraction.

  “Go get your work done,” Rouhr urged. “I’ll be around for a little while longer.”

  “Keep your comm on you,” I replied.

  “Of course,” Rouhr assured me.

  I made my way to Fen, who was waiting outside the Aurora with the Gateway. Evie, Leena, and Mariella helped the refugees to form a line in front of where Fen would open the rift. I explained that I would need everyone’s name before they passed into Glymna. Fen opened the rift, the first refugee stepped up, and the arduous process began.

  Only one in every four refugees was already on my list. That just went to show how little progress I’d made in reclaiming my lost information. After over an hour of taking names with far too little progress, I enlisted the help of Amira and Jeneva. I gave them each datapads with the same list that I had, and asked Fen to open two more rifts. That sped up the process considerably.

  We finished just before nightfall. When the last refugee went through the rift, I handed my datapad to Jeneva.

  “I’ll be back in a min
ute,” I assured them. Before they could ask what I was doing, I ran back into the Aurora. Rouhr wasn’t in his office. Instead, he was in the control room with Fen, learning as much as he could before it was time to lift off.

  “Vidia, what are you doing here?” He was surprised, but not unhappy, to see me.

  “I’m about to go to Glymna,” I explained. “I just wanted to wish you luck.” My voice broke on the last word. Rouhr walked over to me and wrapped me in his arms. Fen politely left the room to give us a moment.

  “I’m glad you came to see me,” he whispered.

  “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” I replied. He pulled away to look me in the eye.

  “It’s not goodbye,” he said with a gentle smile. “By this time tomorrow, the planet will be Xathi-free, and we’ll be sitting down to a nice, quiet dinner.”

  “Promise?” I asked.

  “Promise.”

  Logically, I knew that, regardless of any promise, something could go wrong, and I could lose him. But hearing him promise to come back made me feel a little better about all of this.

  I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. He kissed me back hard, holding my body against his to the point where it was almost painful. After a few minutes of letting myself get lost in him, I pulled back.

  “If you don’t let me go now, you’ll never get me off the ship,” I warned. He laughed dryly.

  “You’re right,” he nodded. “Get back to Glymna. I wager there are loads of people who could use your help.” I hugged him one last time before walking out of the control room. It took all of my self-control not to run back to him.

  I held in my tears until I was far away from the control room. I cried softly all the way back to the outside of the Aurora, where the rifts to Glymna were still open, waiting for me. I wiped my eyes and stepped through.

  “You can close the rifts now, Fen,” I called through the comm. The rift behind me disappeared. I found the other women immediately. They were all sitting together on a cluster of plush couches, looking as forlorn as I felt. I plopped down in the empty seat next to Evie.

  “This sucks,” Amira sighed. She passed me the datapad she’d been using. Jeneva handed hers to me, too, as well as the one I’d asked her to hold for me.

  “Does anyone else feel like they’re going to be sick?” Mariella’s usually rosy complexion looked sallow.

  “I feel like I’m going to pass out,” Evie replied.

  “We just have to remember that they’re trained for this, and that they’re the best at it,” Jeneva said calmly, though her eyes were filled with tears.

  “We should form a club,” Leena said. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. “We can meet up every time one of our men risks his life.”

  “So, daily meetings, then?” Amira replied. All of us giggled a little bit. We stayed up late, chatting long into the night about our mates, our worries, and our hopes for the future.

  We must have fallen asleep right there on the couches, leaning against each other. The next thing I was aware of was being gently shaken awake by Seraphe.

  “Hello, ladies,” Seraphe spoke softly. Many of the refugees were still sleeping all around us on cots or soft mats. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I know you all must be feeling quite distressed.” None of us answered her. “If I may, I’d like to offer you the use of our observatory. It’s the finest on the planet. It will be your best chance to observe the Aurora, if you wish.”

  I brightened up immediately, as did the other women.

  “Yes, please,” Evie said, getting to her feet.

  “Excellent! Follow me!” We hurried after Seraphe, who led us through the caverns of the city, up stairs carved into the side of the mountain, and over stone bridges until we must have been right under the mountain’s peak.

  Seraphe led us through a set of bleached stone doors into a circular room made completely of glass. The sky stretched out above us in shades of pale pink, yellow, and white. It must have been very early in the morning.

  “I’ve already programmed it to the Aurora’s coordinates,” Seraphe explained. “Once the Aurora starts to move, you can track the ship here.” She gestured to a gleaming control panel with knobs, buttons, and levers. “Don’t worry about anything happening downstairs,” she insisted. “My colleagues and I will take over for now.”

  “Thank you, Seraphe,” I replied. I didn’t risk saying anything else for fear that I would burst into tears.

  “Of course, my dear.” She patted me on the cheek lightly before leaving the observatory.

  “Look!” Mariella said. “This will put whatever the telescope is seeing on the screen, so we can all watch.” Mariella pressed a shiny button, and the large mounted monitor at the left side of the telescope flickered on.

  At that moment, the Aurora was steadily lifting off the ground to align with an open rift. We grasped each other’s hands as we watched the ship slide through and vanish.

  27

  Rouhr

  It didn’t take long for the Xathi to start firing at us, but it wasn’t a problem for the agile Aurora. The skilled pilot, a Urai called Mar, effortlessly dodged the incoming projectiles.

  The Xathi’s guns were heavy hitters, but the downside to such big, powerful guns was the time it took to reload and re-aim. Mar ensured that we used that to our advantage.

  However, we hadn’t anticipated the Xathi’s ship to lift off the ground as quickly as it did. Our plan was to badger them until they had no choice but to agree to an aerial fight.

  Our mistake was assuming they wouldn’t want to.

  I should’ve guessed that after the Vengeance explosion, the Xathi queen would be desperate and enraged enough to charge into a fight with us.

  “Fen,” I called to her. “Get ready to open the rift on my call.”

  “I will try,” she replied. “But rifts of that size take time.”

  “Understood,” I nodded. “Mar, keep the Xathi distracted until Fen has the rift open.”

  Mar didn’t reply, but I knew that was because he was so focused on the Aurora’s controls. He didn’t want to risk breaking focus to use his speech pad.

  The Aurora banked hard to the left around the side of the Xathi ship. Their guns never came close to us. I watched the Xathi struggle to orient their ship as we zipped under and around them.

  As serious as this was, I couldn’t help but revel in being back in the air.

  We’d been grounded for far too long.

  “How are we doing on that rift, Fen?” I asked.

  “It would be done faster if I didn’t have to answer your questions,” she replied.

  “Noted.”

  “Mar, keep heading out to the desert. We need to get as far away from the cities as possible.”

  The Aurora continued its evasive maneuvers in an eastbound direction. The Xathi ship continued its pursuit.

  “The rift is open!” Fen reported. “We must hurry, it is very unstable.”

  An abrupt sound of metal striking metal rang through the control room. One of the Xathi’s projectiles had skimmed the Aurora’s hull.

  “Thribb, damage report!” I called.

  “No structural compromises,” he reported back. “She’s holding steady.”

  “Excellent.” I switched the comm to the frequency of the ground teams below. “Ground teams, are you in position?”

  “Yes, General,” Vrehx replied.

  “We’re approaching the rift. Once we’re on the other side, we will likely lose contact,” I said. “Are you clear on your mission?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Vrehx confirmed.

  “It’s been a pleasure, Vrehx,” I replied.

  “We’ll see you when this is over,” he answered.

  I laughed before clicking off the frequency.

  “Approaching the rift,” Fen reported.

  “Let’s do this,” I nodded.

  We neared the twisting gash in the sky. The Aurora abruptly turned upward, gathering speed until we passed through and
found ourselves floating in the great expanse of space. Stars glittered against a velvet backdrop of sky.

  I’d forgotten what a beautiful sight this was, the clean purity of space.

  “Xathi incoming.” Fen’s voice jarred me back to the battle.

  As the Xathi ship neared the rift, I wondered if the queen was aware of the danger she was in, or if revenge was all that mattered to her at this point.

  “On my signal,” I ordered. The Xathi ship began passing through, leaving Ankau.

  One of the Xathi’s guns hung out a little too far off the ship and snapped off where it came into contact with the rift. I waited until just under half of the Xathi ship was through before signaling Fen. “Close it up!”

  “Hold on to something!” Fen ordered as she slammed her fingertips into specific points on the Gateway.

  The rift shut like a vice. One moment, the Xathi ship was whole, the next it was cut clean in half.

  The force of the rapid closure sent a shockwave through space, slamming into the half of the Xathi ship on this side of the rift, sending it spinning out of control, coming apart in a thousand pieces.

  The shockwave slammed us, too.

  We spiraled into deep space, hammered by fragments of the enemy ship.

  Mar was able to get the Aurora under control quickly, and I was grateful for it.

  “Fen, how much time until the Aurora’s systems are overburdened?”

  “Approximately one minute and twenty-three seconds,” she replied.

  “Go ahead and open a rift back to Ankau,” I said. “Take it easy this time, we don’t want another shockwave knocking us off course.”

  “Yes, General.”

  I turned back to watch the Xathi ship float lifelessly through space. Some of the Xathi had fallen out and now tumbled through the vacuum. Some were still twitching. I wondered if the queen was out there, floating lifeless among the stars.

  A sharp clatter sounded behind me.

  I spun to see Fen crumble silently to the deck, the Gateway rolling away from her limp hands.

  “Fen?”