Thundering boots echoed in the hall. Too many people were on their feet instead of strapping in, as was protocol with the Fold almost on top of them. It could happen in minutes, or hours, or seconds. What had possessed her crew?
Ashlan was shaken further to hear panicked shouts from the veteran convoy crew racing past in the corridor.
She was on her feet and rounding the table when the senior duty officer for the wheel appeared, screaming for Ashlan to come. To see.
She followed. The ambassadors followed. The duty officer held her hand to her mouth, unable to answer their questions. Ashlan pressed her for answers in commanding tones and honeyed ones, but to no avail. They squeezed into the elevator and rounded on the duty officer, but she backed into the corner, shaking her head. Tears leaked out her eyes. She pressed her other hand over her mouth, as if holding in a scream.
The doors opened on the outer level of the spinning, gravity-providing space wheel. Here, audible alarms hammered her ears. Dennis succumbed to the duty officer’s terror and froze in place there in the elevator, but Coral followed Ashlan. Half a dozen crew were on their knees in the corridor, or slumped against the walls, crying. Aslan ran past them, danced around stumbling, unseeing senior officers struck dumb and mute from shock.
Ashlan made it to the outer observation deck. Her decades aboard ship allowed her to look out at the stars spinning around, and orient herself quickly enough to see what had changed in their world.
Her legs almost gave out.
“By My Gods, no!” Ashlan gasped.
“What? Ashlan what is—?” The Reach ambassador’s words cut off as her eyes locked onto one of the blown-up images covering even screen in the room.
Wordlessly, she buried her face in Ashlan’s shoulder, shaking with silent sobs and screams.
“It’s coming!” someone screamed, just as the orange and red bolts racing faster and faster around the convoy exploded into a solid wall of brilliant light. The pink of sunset, shifted to bloody neon and finally exploded into a searing, corona of white for the barest of instants.
When the light was gone, so was the convoy, in another place. The faintest afterimages of the light remained to illuminate the black of true nothingness beyond.
Ashlan grabbed the woman crying on her shoulder and squeezed her tight. Her own tears spilled.
They were in the Fold, their years-long journey to Reach begun.
The world outside was gone.
Alliance Marines is available from Amazon here