Keryn nodded and took a deep breath. Having Adam as her voice of wisdom somehow filled the lonely void she had been feeling in her chest. The Voice was gone, but a new voice was quickly taking its place.
“Alright,” she said, though her voice still quivered slightly. “What do we do now?”
Adam nodded in affirmation. “The first thing you do is get on the radio and let them know that you’re still our leader. Get everyone back to the Cair Ilmun and let’s make sure Cardax doesn’t get away.”
“We’re surrounded. How are we going to get out of here?”
“You leave that to me,” Adam said as he stood and moved toward the back wall. He continued speaking as he worked, his actions hidden from Keryn’s view. “People kept telling me that chivalry was dead. I don’t believe that. I still firmly believe that chivalry is alive and well in some men. And a chivalrous man,” he continued as he hurried away from the wall, “always opens the door for a lady.”
As Adam hurried back toward the table, Keryn could see the metallic object affixed to the wooden wall. Adam gestured toward the object as he covered his head with his hands. “You may want to cover your face.”
No sooner had Keryn protected her face between her knees than a concussive blast ripped through the room. Though the blast was focused into the wall, Keryn could still feel her ears pop from the sudden change in pressure. Coughing away the thick dust that now filled the room, she squinted in order to notice the large hole shorn through the back wall. Beyond, Keryn could see the scrub brush and long, flat desert that marked the outside border of the town.
“Ladies first,” Adam motioned as he shook plaster and wood slivers from his hair.
Together, they rushed through the hole and turned toward the space port.
CHAPTER FORTY
Iana wanted to vomit.
Her stomach was being pulled inside out as she tumbled through the wormhole, her Duun fighter rebounding off the flowing walls of the distorted tunnel. Being able to see the exit to the tunnel so close ahead did little to alleviate the incredible disassociated feeling she experienced throughout her body. Her limbs barely felt like her own as gravitational distortions appeared throughout the cockpit, pulling blood flow in multiple directions throughout her body. Though she maintained her grip on the ship’s controls, her knuckles were sickly white.
Sirens filled the cockpit as the internal sensors warned of microscopic hull breaches forming throughout the ship. Iana had been lucky to survive the first warp when the Squadron appeared behind the satellite grid. Had she another choice, she would have never put herself through such torture a second time. Unfortunately, Iana found herself with little other choice. Terran fighters had skimmed the atmosphere, remaining under her radar as she tried to keep Yen and his team safe. By the time she had noticed the fighters, they were too far away to catch before they would reach the Cair Thewlis. Left with no other option, Iana had risked her own life to warp closer to Earth. Though only a few hundred miles, the trip through the wormhole felt like an eternity.
Gritting her teeth, Iana accelerated toward the end of the tunnel. Smoke was now starting to trail from one of her machine guns under her left wing. It boded ill, since the machine gun carried a large complement of ammunition. Iana hoped it wasn’t a fire. If the ammunition belts ignited, she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Yen and his team killed. She’d be dead long before that happened.
Finally, much to Iana’s relief, the blue and green planet at the end of the tunnel came fully into view as she was launched out of the end of the wormhole. Disoriented and sickened, it took a moment to gain her bearings. Earth was now significantly closer than it had been before, but that didn’t mean that Iana had warped to the right location. Scanning her radar, she let out a sigh of relief as the three Terran fighters appeared directly below her. Aside from the structural damage to her ship, Iana’s warp had been perfect. Angling downward, Iana dove toward the three unassuming fighters.
Her rockets were launched before the Terrans were able to register that an Alliance ship had inexplicably appeared on their radars. Splitting their formation, one of the fighters climbed to intercept Iana while the other two continued skimming the atmosphere. Her plasma rockets streaked downward toward the darting fighters. The first two missiles struck the atmosphere and exploded prematurely, the tension causing the warheads to detonate. Sparks of plasma soared across the sloping atmosphere, filling the sky below with a dancing spectacle of lights. The third rocket, however, found its target, detonating near the engine well of one of the fighters. Consumed in flame, the Terran ship broke apart.
Instead of taking evasive maneuvers, Iana charged headlong toward the advancing Terran fighter. The one closing the distance with her was not her main concern. She knew that he was only a distraction; a tool to keep her preoccupied while the other fighter began its strafing runs against the Cair Thewlis and Yen’s team. Whether or not she destroyed the closer ship, she would have to bypass it eventually to reach the skimmer, the one she considered to be the much larger threat.
Fire leapt from the front of the Terran fighter as it climbed toward Iana. Turning into a barrel roll, Iana watched as tracer rounds flashed by the cockpit. Her Duun fighter jerked as bullets pierced her right wing. She glanced nervously out the window, but saw that the damage was minimal. Armored plating had been stripped away and shredded, exposing the wing’s mechanical inner workings. But, as far as she could tell, the wing was still fully operational.
Pressing down on her console, Iana returned fire. The forward machine gun, the one located under the nose of the Duun, fired first, filling the space between them with hundreds of rounds of hot metal. As the Terran turned to dodge the barrage, she opened fire with both the machine guns located under the wings of her ship. Not surprisingly, the machine gun under the left wing refused to fire. Pounding on the controls, she saw more smoke starting to billow from the weapon that had been damaged during her second warp.
Even without the second machine gun, her damage was done. The Terran fighter was struck repeatedly along the back half of the ship and small spouts of flame jutted from the punctures. The damaged fighter still continued forward, though its movements were now significantly more jerked and unsteady. Cutting her controls to the side at the last possible moment, Iana flew harmlessly past as the fighter continued its flight out further into space.
With the path now clear to the Terran fighter below, Iana accelerated into a steep dive, intent on attacking the ship from an angle that exposed the most surface to her assault. With the entire top of the ship open to her, Iana smiled broadly as she began firing her full complement of working machine guns. Round after round struck the atmosphere below the Terran fighter as he dodged and weaved in an attempt to shake her relentless attack.
Furrowing her brow in frustration, Iana dove closer, ensuring that her next volley would be fired from a much closer range. Her Duun fighter shook angrily as she pushed the controls forward, the damaged wing responding with trepidation as Iana approached the friction-filled atmosphere. The tones from her targeting array sounded wildly as her computer searched for a lock on the shifting Terran ship. Falling into place behind him, she stayed in stoic pursuit until she heard a solid tone, a satisfying notification that the Terran was now firmly in her sights.
Squeezing on the trigger, flames leapt forward as tracer rounds coated the hull of the Terran fighter. Smoking, the fighter pitched forward, its tail end flipping up above the cockpit. Angling downward, the fighter struck the atmosphere at an awkward angle. The friction from the atmosphere shredded the Terran ship as it pitched and rolled into a glowing ball of flame. Debris from the ship was cast far and wide, spreading like sand over the surface of the planet.