A life-sized holoprojection of a green-scaled Aquisian manappeared in front of Nadar. “Three standard fleets on our end, sir. Two are Dalian.”
Kalie swallowed hard. Three fleets—three destroyers. A single Dalian destroyer was manned by a crew of nearly ten thousand, and there were two of them, not to mention the cruisers, the frigates, the corvettes… And Carik’s battleships, which were far larger and far more lethal.
Mira exhaled sharply. “So the Feds are already here.”
“And they only sent one fleet?” Zane’s suspicious voice startled her. He hadn’t spoken to her since Mira forced him to free her from that reckless oath.
Kalie didn’t turn from the metal ring looming at the end of the route. Once they dropped through that stargate, Nadar’s four fleets would open fire on her people. Two Dalian fleets was only half of Dali’s strength, and she’d known all along that she couldn’t count on the fleets from Oakwood, Shofield, or Stafford. Only two of those three had mobilized—that was better than she could’ve hoped for. The attack on Stafford must’ve succeeded.
Closing her eyes, Kalie breathed in the strong, pungent scent of metal. If all went according to plan, her people wouldn’t be harmed. “Does the radar give the flagships’ designations, officer?”
She didn’t need to ask—theTerraand theScimitar, Oakwood and Shofield?—
“TheScimitarand theHalle.”
A pit plunged into Kalie’s stomach as she gaped at the Aquisian officer, silently pleading with him to deny it. He said nothing.
No.No.
“Isn’t that…” Zane trailed off, frowning at her.
“TheHalleis Alexandria’s destroyer.” Kalie’s insides hollowed out, and she gripped the viewport’s railing for support. “That’s Julian up there, and the fleet from Shofield.”
“The Alexandrian fleet is there?” Nadar asked. “I thought you were positive they’d stand with you.”
I was, Kalie tried to say, but the words stuck in her throat. Nervous murmurs swept through the pits on either side of the catwalk.
“So Hewlett and Menliss’s fleets aren’t in the air yet.” Zane ran ahand over his face. “If Ryker’s not on your side, they might be staging a trap.”
“I’ll call Grant, see if he has any answers.” As Mira’s comm rang through the bridge, she flashed a strained smile.
“Princessa, we’re one minute from the drop, you need to make the decisionnow?—”
Kalie doubled over the railing. Voices swirled behind her as Mira’s comm trilled, but her pulse pounded in her ears, drowning it out. Her shallow, rapid breaths rattled in her chest. The stargate’s ring of metal loomed before her, blocking out the light of distant stars. Beyond it, Dali appeared—a distant bulb of blue, with dark arrows blotting out the swirling oceans. So many ships. So many people.
“Grant’s not responding.”
“Forty seconds to drop?—”
“Princessa, you need to?—”
“Thirty seconds?—”
“It could be a trap, Kal.”
“Are you with me?” she asked, whirling on them. Her pulse was pounding too fast, and her mouth was dry as sandpaper. “Do I have your support?”
In the end, that was all that mattered.
Three faces stared back at her—Mira, with her silent comm clenched tightly in her grip. Nadar, whose gills rippled as his eyes met hers. Zane, pale and tense, but resolute.
“Until the end,” he murmured.
“Ten seconds!” the bridge officer shouted. “Princessa?—”
“Yes.” Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and faced the viewport. “Make the drop.”
As Nadar’sflagship shuddered through the stargate, the stretch of space between her fleets and the three orbiting Dali was eerily calm. Standard fleets had thirteen ships—a destroyer, threecruisers, four frigates, and five corvettes. Thirteen times three… thirty-nine ships stood between her and Dali. Kalie closed her eyes, praying to Azura for strength and victory. An officer appeared at her shoulder and tried to guide her to an open seat, but she shook him off and glanced at Nadar.
