Jet-black planes spawned from the Federation’s ships, nearly invisible in the darkness of space. The planes collided in a jagged line of orange explosions, midway between the fleets.
“We’ve lost a corvette!” an Aquisian officer bellowed.
Kalie squeezed her eyes shut. How many dead? A thousand? More? It didn’t seem real—in the span of a moment, all those lives, gone. As she opened her eyes, taking in the maelstrom of shrapnel, the heavy weight of reality settled on her shoulders.
They’d died for her.
The air around her was hot and stifling.
Breathe. Breathe.
An explosion boomed. Someone screamed.
“We’re taking heavy fire!”
The anguished shout crackled through the comm channel, and a fist clenched around her heart. Flames engulfed an Aquisian cruiser as lasers pummeled the crumbling ship.
“Order an evacuation!” Nadar roared.
A scream tore through the comms, and Kalie’s mouth wrenched open as a team of Dalian warplanes flew past the wreckage of the Aquisian cruiser’s bridge. The ship caved in. A vacuum swirled in the ruins of the distant cruiser, tossing specks into space.People.
She couldn’t breathe.
“That’s it!” Nadar thundered. “All ships, open fire on the Dalian rebels!”
The daze snapped, and Kalie remembered to think. To breathe. The weight of the deaths was still there, crushing and oppressive, but she pushed it away. “No. We’re here to liberate my people, not slaughter them. Stick to the plan, weapons and thrusters only.”
“I will not force my men to sit by as yours destroy them!”
Kalie’s fingers drummed a frantic beat against her wrist. Turning away from Nadar, she glanced at the viewport. As a navy bluewarplane streaked between two pieces of rubble, light flashed, and the Dalian plane vanished, replaced by billowing orange plumes.
Her people or Nadar’s. There was only one choice, really.
But she had to consider the long game. On its own, Dali could not stand. She couldn’t afford to alienate her closest ally.
“Two minutes.” Sweat stung Kalie’s eyes as she turned to Nadar. Beyond his chair, Mira and Zane were speaking quietly. “Let me try to make contact again. Give my people a chance.”
Nadar’s eyes narrowed.
“Two minutes,” she repeated, glancing at the pulsing cannons. Lasers pelted the forcefield rippling around the Federation destroyer. “We can reroute power to the forcefields. Give me another chance, Senator.”
His gills rippled, but he nodded. “Very well. Strike teams Aurora through Morae, continue the assault on the Dalian cannons, but refrain from lethal force. Neptune through Vext, regroup and launch a strike on the Federation flagship. Target the oxygen tanks first, then all other life support systems.”
Kalie beckoned to the camera drone. As it floated across the bridge, she shifted her gaze to the chaos beyond the viewport. Escape pods rained from two of the Federation’s crumbling cruisers. One caved into itself, like a sinkhole of metal, and shrapnel swirled between the tar-black shadows. A line of cannons along the flagship went up in flames.
Kalie raised her eyes to the camera drone.
Mother Azura, please.
The lens remained dim.
Julian. Let me in.
Light flickered across the glass, and Kalie’s heart leapt into her throat. It was just a passing glare.
“They didn’t accept it, Your Majesty.”
Raking her hands through her sweat-soaked hair, she met Nadar’s gaze. “Once the oxygen tanks go down, how much time does that give them to evacuate?”
