Chapter 21: Kelta
We hike for almost thirty minutes before reaching the metallic flake-covered terrain. Blaster leads us into a narrow passageway mostly sheltered from the dust. At the end is a cliff that reaches far into the sky, a broken mountain they haven't been able to climb but have clearly tried.
Thruster helps Titans up the vertical wall, two at a time. Blaster and Reactor are first. They stand guard from the top as Thruster returns for me and Banshee.
When he sets us down atop the broken mountaintop, I get the most beautiful view of Ellipsis I’ve ever had. The way the sun beams out over the landscape brings out the colors of the golden dunes, green forests, and blue sky. Many years of living in darkness have made me forget. But now I have a fresh memory of a planet to carry with me.
Thruster arrives with Shear and Knurl, and we quickly descend the other side, out of range of the metallic barrier. When we are safely locked in a rocky crevice, I tell them what happened.
"One of our allied fleets was targeted. Solcrue puffed a cloud of this signal-blocking material around their asteroid cluster. Couldn't get a call out, but they kept trying, relaying signals ofwhat they needed, which the Solcrue used to figure out their status. Nearly wiped out the whole fleet. The survivors stayed in the asteroid belt, fled away from the rest of us, and hid in asteroid craters until the Solcrue gave up.
“There’s something about the border that helps them isolate signals from the region. They just need to point their scanner toward the circle, and they can heareverything.”
Reactor sighs. “That’s useful. I’m even happier that I saved your mate, Thruster. We would’ve been stuck in there forever.”
Banshee agrees. “Every time we tried to get through the ring, our sensors would just go crazy until we couldn’t think through the ruckus.”
“Think it’s safe to make a call out now?” Thruster asks me.
"We're outside. It's as safe as it usually is or isn't. Why? Who are you trying to contact?"
Thruster points into the distance at a passing ship.
Blaster lifts his rifle. “SkySprinter!”
Thruster encourages him to lower it. “That’s Holo. He can access Skysprinters. He has recordings of codes and can project handprints and irises.”
Holo sets the fighter down in a flat area among the rock. The ramp opens. “Not a lot of room. Didn’t expect so many of you. But I can get you all back to the camp in one trip if you’re okay with cramped quarters.”
He turns to me. "Thank you for the ping, Kelta. I would not have known where you were otherwise."
“Thanks for answering.” I draw him into a hug. “Without your advice, Thruster would have to be dug out of the sand, and I’d be dead.”
Holo hesitantly returns my gesture, keeping his eyes on Thruster. Then he motions us all onboard. Thruster takes the copilot’s seat and summons me into his lap.
“You two aren’t going to do it while we’re in here, are you?” Blaster asks.
I grin. “No promises.”
“Yes, promises.” Thruster clutches me tightly. “No one else gets to see my female in such bliss. That and your flawless body are for my eyes only.”
“I’m not flawless. I have tons of scars now.” I rest my head on Thruster’s shoulder.
“You’re perfect to me.”
Holo closes the ramp behind Shear and lifts off. “Hang on, we have a tail.”
“Skysprinter?”
“Poison Arrow.”
I strain to look back. “It’s not advancing.”
“No, just watching from up high.” Holo flips a setting on the dash and dives us low into the hills. He darts us into a channel in the rock just big enough for a ship. He closes the channel behind us with a string of bullets. We bank, turn, dive, and resurface several minutes later near the deep valley.
“Guess a few survived the explosion,” Thruster remarks, sounding disappointed.
“Still took out a berserker. That’s helpful,” I say.
