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The door was open.
I slapped a hand on a big red button marked “CLOSE DOORS.” Metal shutters slithered down the observation window and slammed into place over the door.
Stari grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back.
“Come on,” she said. “The security system won’t hold them for long.”
The Changelings fired at the shutters on the inside of the room.
Stari cradled the metal box containing the trackers to her chest as we stole into the hallway outside the surgery section.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
A few minutes ago, the base was bumping with hope and excitement. They were just hours from changing the trajectory of their futures.
They were going to be free. All they had to do was fight, and they were more than ready for it.
Now, their dreams stood tattered and broken.
A wall exploded, drawing a scream of surprise from my throat. The thick concrete crushed a Yayora mechanic to the floor and flattened him beneath its immense weight.
Stari bolted through the base, dragging me behind her, weaving between the Yayora soldiers heading in the opposite direction, marching with weapons drawn.
Stari stopped one soldier and pointed to his blaster.
“Give me that,” she said.
The soldier handed it over and switched to his rifle.
Stari led me to the command center. Inside, it was a hive of activity. Grandpa barked orders, sending soldiers to confront each breach that sprung up on the huge screen.
Already, there had to be a dozen of them. Flashing red lights, each one bringing Changeling soldiers into the base.
When Stari decided to help me and follow up on Chax’s concerns about the Changeling siblings, she’d informed Grandpa. He wasn’t particularly interested but allowed the tests to take place.
He glanced at each of us before his eyes shifted to the metal box in Stari’s hands. He let out a breath, the realization of what had happened wearing him down.
“We were so close,” he said.
“We’re not done yet,” Stari said.
But I could see in Grandpa’s eyes that to him, they were done.
“If we can get the ships out of here, we can launch the attack now,” Stari said.
“Changeling ships are outside, waiting for us now,” Grandpa said. “The moment we set off the detonators and ascend, they’ll destroy our ships before they even fully breach.”
Grandpa shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But we can’t let the ships be destroyed like this.”
“They’re going to get destroyed anyway when the Changelings get to the hangar,” Stari said.
She placed her hands on his shoulders.
“Please, Grandpa,” she said. “Don’t let it end like this.”
Grandpa brushed his granddaughter’s cheek with a finger.
