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And he’s right. We are going to be fine.
We dip under the surface and the planet comes to life, kelp forests drifting in emerald green tendrils around the glowing subaquatic skyscrapers of Atarys. A few of them are missing lights or window panes, Merati citizens swimming through them like they weren’t once airlocked.
Tears shimmer in Nereus’ eyes.
“We’re going to save them,” I tell him.
And I’m confident that we will.
“Hostiles incoming,” Taln says from behind me.
I can already sense them: ten manta-shaped subs headed straight toward us, piloted not by soldiers, but drones. I don’t know if she has any operational military left; she prefers things that she can control, robots and…and cyborgs like me.
I can’t think about my fear. She can’t touch me with my family in my head instead.
“I see them,” I nod. “Activating cannons.”
The Wrath jolts as I slide to the left, narrowly avoiding the first volleys from Lamia’s fleet. I know it’s just my attunement to the ship, but I almost feel like the seat vibrates beneath me as the cannons slide into place, locking onto the enemy.
“Firing,” Taln says, his voice steady.
The ship jolts again, and I watch as two Merati subs burst in a flash of fire and light, another shot clipping the wing on a third. It spirals into a building, crashing through a crystalline window as water starts to pour in.
We’re going to kill our own people in this fight. It’s unavoidable.
“I hate what she’s done to us,” Nereus murmurs. “To this planet…there’s so much pain. I can see it all over the place, written on the city like scars.”
“And she’ll pay,” I say, gritting my teeth.
I spin the Wrath and fly us under the arch of a bridge, zooming in circles around the palace. We’re running with a skeleton crew right now, only enough people left onboard the warship to take care of maintenance. Static crackles through the comm and I hear Gliss, her voice strained.
“Can you warn me next time you roll the ship?” she grumbles.
“Sorry,” I grunt. “Status report?”
“They hit the hull with a single shot,” she says. “We’ve got a trickle of water coming in, but no major cracks.”
“If it starts to flood, get out of there,” I warn her. “Merati vessels are designed to be flooded, but you’re not.”
“Noted, captain,” she says with a bit of a mocking tone. Her lightheartedness is jarring in the heat of battle, but it makes me laugh…and that helps. And I can still feel the pulse of the others, pounding steadily at the back of my mind.
Then something goes wrong.
Just as a missile hits us, rattling my bones, I feel someone start to go faint. I see that Nereus notices, too, and I feel Taln’s grip tighten on my shoulder.
“Who is it?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Ryker,” Taln says. “He’s in trouble.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
FIONA
There’s something sinister about this palace.
I didn’t expect less, but even as Orion lands the Spectre and cloaks it so that we’re close enough to the palace to walk in practically undetected, it stands tall and imposing above us to the point that it makes my mouth dry.
How are we supposed to take this on? How are we supposed to win?
