Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 1.1

They were greeted on docking by the ship's captain and senior officers, as well as a slightly disheveled Ranjalla Cadolar, who grinned in response to Ford's inquiry and declared victory in the bedtime battle. Ford barely managed to contain his impatience as he observed the courtesies due the ship's crew and then whisked Sabrina off to bed, ignoring her protests that she wanted to look at the numerous messages their family and friends had sent via the ship.

"They will wait until morning," he pointed out. "Cooperate, darling. I'm quite capable of undressing you and tucking you in regardless, you know."

Sabrina eyed him appraisingly. Their marriage had seen its share of playful tussling, but she strongly doubted Ford would attempt to manhandle her while pregnant. She might actually win this battle, she decided. The first faked cramp would have him gibbering in apology.

"No," Ford said, "the first faked cramp gets you a night in the infirmary, and you know it. Play fair, Sabrina."

She gave in with a smile. "I wouldn't, you know."

"I'll try to refrain from tempting you nonetheless," he said. "I propose a compromise: you get into bed and I'll download the messages to a data pad."

"What a brilliant idea, Ambassador Tassan," she replied, giving him a kiss.

Once Ford was engrossed in his own messages, including several about the last class project he was finishing up, Sabrina was free to read until she fell asleep, which she did sometime between their breaking orbit and accelerating to faster than light speeds a safe distance from the planet. She had been sleeping more heavily than normal since the pregnancy began, so she was surprised to wake suddenly in a dark room. Ford had obviously woken, too; he sat up and looked around.

"What is it?" she yawned.

The ship shuddered, then tilted alarmingly. Ford grabbed for the edge of the bed to steady himself, his other hand clamping down on Sabrina's shoulder to keep her from falling out of bed.

"We've dropped back into normal space," Ford said. "Stay in bed. I'll go see—"

He started to get up and was flung to the floor as the ship bucked again. Sabrina opened their link and tried to sort out his racing thoughts: not a malfunction, enemy fire, our itinerary was secret, Kyan or Reissians?

An alarm sounded. Ford got to his feet and helped Sabrina out of bed and into her robe as the captain's voice came over the com.

"All passengers to the emergency compartment. Repeat, all passengers to the emergency compartment. We are under attack. This is not a drill."

Ford took Sabrina's hand and palmed the door control. They stumbled out into the corridor, nearly colliding with Kendara.

"What's happening?" Ford demanded.

"I don't know, sir," she replied.

"Ford," Sabrina protested, as he thought about heading to the bridge. Don't leave me, she thought desperately.

Kendara added, "They're doing everything they can up there, sir. You need to get to safety."

Lien arrived, fully dressed and alert. "It's Kyan. We need to get to the compartment."

The Kyan don't leave survivors, Sabrina thought, her hand going to the curve of her stomach.

Other doors along the corridor opened, and Ranja and her husband Nerrill came out, shepherding their two young children. The oldest, Corbin, clutched Bennie, a large brown tabby, while his little sister Neralla clung to Trixie, a petite tortoiseshell.

"Good job. We were worried about the cats. Let's go," Ford told the children, motioning for them to keep moving. They had hardly taken two steps when Sastarn and Lyrabeth arrived.

"You're going the wrong way," Corbin told them.

"We had to make sure the prince and princess were okay," Lyrabeth replied.

The ship gave a long shudder, ending in an alarming shriek of metal and the addition of a second klaxon. "Hurry," Kendara urged as they felt the artificial gravity fluctuate.

The emergency compartment was close to the passenger quarters, since it was meant for them. With the wave of Kyan attacks terrorizing this part of the galaxy, space travel had become even more dangerous than usual. Life pods did no good when the attackers' aim was to destroy all life forms they encountered. Instead, the newest ships had specially shielded compartments meant to look like debris while holding survivors in stasis until rescue.

"What about the crew?" Sabrina asked Kendara.

Kendara shook her head, and Sabrina bit her lip and stopped asking, not wanting to frighten the children further. They reached the compartment, and the Cadolar family took seats along the back wall, the parents strapping the children and cats firmly in before taking their own seats. Kendara and Sabrina grabbed seats to the right of them, and Ford and Lien took seats between them and the door, with Sastarn and Lyrabeth sliding in after them. Ford made sure he got the seat beside Sabrina; once he was strapped in, he reached over and took her hand.

"It's going to be all right," he assured her.

She looked at him with wide eyes, trying to appear calmer than she felt. How?

If you get frightened, use your recall device.

No! Tirqwin and Khediva will be killed if they get in the middle of this, she protested. There's no point in all of us dying.

We owe our child every chance at survival, Ford thought, holding her gaze with an intent look. Father and Khediva haven't lived this long without being careful. Don't make decisions for them.

An explosion rocked the ship, and the door to the compartment slammed down. There was a slight hiss as the compartment pressurized under its own air supply; then they were tossed around like a seagoing ship in a storm for a few minutes. Sabrina closed her eyes and swallowed down the nausea, her fingers gripping Ford's until they threatened to break. The emergency lights flickered and steadied in the ensuing silence.

Nerrill cleared his throat. "Was that—"

"The ship's gone," Lien confirmed.

Sastarn said, "The sooner we go into stasis, the longer we'll be able to last. It may be a while before we're retrieved."

Everyone looked at each other. Neralla began to cry. Her father bent over her and whispered reassurance as Lien said, "He's right. With your highnesses' permission?"

An alarm cut across Ford's response. They all looked up at the readout above the door, and Kendara cursed. "We've got a leak. Must've happened when we were thrown clear. Everybody into stasis now!"

Ranja and Nerrill hit the stasis activation controls over the children's seats, then their own. They were immediately enveloped in white bubbles. Lyrabeth and Sastarn paused for a quick kiss before doing the same. Kendara and Lien hit the controls above the royal couple's seats, but nothing happened.

"Malfunction!" Lien yelped, tearing at his restraints. Kendara was already out of hers and slamming the emergency release for Sabrina's harness. Sabrina, unprepared for the lack of gravity, propelled herself nearly halfway across the compartment trying to get up. Kendara caught her and guided her toward a seat on the opposite side.

"Don't throw up!" Kendara warned, glancing at Sabrina's expression as she pushed her down into the seat.

"Ford!" Sabrina cried, seeing her husband still immobilized in his seat as he and Lien frantically tugged at various release points, none of which appeared to work.

"Stasis, now! The air's going!" Ford shouted back.

Kendara didn't give her a chance to protest. Suddenly Sabrina was enveloped in a sealed bubble, cutting off all sound and light.

Did anyone think to test these things for pregnant women? My baby! Sabrina thought, with rising hysteria, as she felt the stasis field begin to power up. Ford! Our baby...

As her consciousness faded, she reached for her pendant.