by this new predator, all purpose.
As I begin to weave my way through the fleet, I wonder if it even registers in her mind that the man we are approaching is Kal’s father.
Kal, whom she loved.
For my part, I learned my lesson long ago. Open your heart to anyone, and it will end badly. They will betray you, as Miriam did, willing to trade the whereabouts of a six-year-old for her own safety. Or they will leave you, as my parents did, unable to keep our family safe. Cold and dead and left behind, with me thrown into the governmental care system, alone as I had never been.
Open your heart to anyone, and they will betray you, or abandon you.
Now Cat, Tyler, and Kaliis have taught me that lesson all over again.
Soon Aurora will join them.
I know it would be better to withdraw to my former state, but … despite my wishes, I do not feel nothing.
It seems I have lost the knack of it.
I ease around the stern of a battle cruiser, and behind me Scarlett murmurs a translation of its name. “Belzhora. ‘Drinker of Blood.’ ”
There is something surreal, ghostly, about the fleet we are now a part of. The silence is perfect, broken only by the soft hum of our ship’s drives. I have never encountered so much violent potential in one place. Like a coiled spring waiting to unload. Like a warrior watching for the first blink from their opponent.
“What are they all waiting for?” Fin asks.
“Perhaps the Terrans still seek to negotiate,” I suggest quietly.
“They’re about to run out of time on Caersan’s clock,” Scarlett replies.
And then the Unbroken ships part, and we see it. A gleaming wonder amid the muted black and white, a rainbow of refracted crystal and endless color. Impossible color. It shouldn’t be visible in the Fold.
“It looks like a chandelier and a telescope had a baby,” Fin says, trying to find some way to cut the tension singing through our small ship. He is whistling in the dark, trying to defy its might. But we are all staring at the vessel, all intimidated by it, except for Aurora. It breaks every rule, it radiates power, and we know it.
The Weapon.
I force myself to make a practical observation. “There is a clear perimeter around it. Approaching it will be difficult. We will be seen.”
Aurora shifts her weight beside me. “That won’t be a problem for long.”
So far she has been quiet, utterly focused, but now I begin to see that silence for what it was—a fuse slowly burning toward the explosives that wait at its end. She crackles with power, with intent, with absolute determination.
I do not want her to be on our shuttle when the spark reaches its destination.
“Options?” asks Scarlett, leaning forward to squint at the ship.
“Two,” Fin replies. “If we need to get Auri aboard, then either we make our approach less obvious or we create a distraction.”
“A distraction could be fatal,” I point out.
There is a short silence. This mission will be fatal anyway, we all know that. But what I mean is that it must not be fatal too soon.
“I hate to suggest this,” Finian begins. “But if we wait long enough, they’re gonna jump into the Terran system and we’ll have all the distraction we need.”
“That will likely result in a massive loss of Terran and Syldrathi life once the TDF engages the Unbroken fleet,” I point out.
“I didn’t say it was a perfect plan,” Finian shrugs. “I’m not the strategy guy. I have a deep suspicion I only passed first-year tactics because the instructor didn’t want me back in class the next …”
Finian’s joke trails off into silence as he realizes what he has done.
Given us another reminder that Tyler is not with us.
Another reminder of all we have lost.
Scarlett squares her shoulders, jaw clenched.
“Can we listen in on the Unbroken comms?” she asks.
I incline my head. “It will require utilizing the log-in codes the elder gave us, but if they are correct, then yes.”
“Do it,” Auri instructs me.
I connect to the Unbroken communications network, enter the access codes, and attempt to keep my breathing even as I wait to see whether they will be accepted. A finger of ice trails down my spine, but I do not speak. Abruptly a Syldrathi voice spills out of our speakers.
Scarlett listens a few moments, her brow creased. “Oh crap.”
“Bad news?” Fin asks.
“They’re getting ready to head through the FoldGate.”
A ripple passes through the fleet as it