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

Chapter 14: Countdown

Mara stopped in Bathir to drop off Ford and most of the others so they could continue their work, but she took Scotty and Mukryilla with her when she left again. When they materialized in the temporary command center in Zarn, they were taken aback by the unprecedented level of noise and activity. Until now the underground base had been sparsely staffed, with most of Baldaran's team training recruits or leading intelligence-gathering forays. But today everyone seemed to be finding an excuse to wander into or past the command center, hoping to hear an update on the fleet. Scotty started to elbow his way past his fellow soldiers, intending to clear a path for Mara, but Mukryilla brought the entire room to a standstill when she barked, "Attention!"

Scotty swore he could hear spines twanging as everyone snapped to attention, even the civilian techs. Surprise was rapidly replaced by grins, though, and some of the civilians began applauding. Scotty made sure to wipe the grin off his own face before Mukryilla could turn and catch it.

"Quiet," she said sternly. "And at ease. You cannot possibly all have business in this room. Go to your posts and stay there. This is no time for sightseeing."

"Yes, ma'am!" came the general response, and the room began to clear out. Mukryilla stepped forward to look at the main display, and Mara said, "Scotty, go inform my son of our arrival, please."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, heading off to Baldaran's office. He didn't get far, though, before he realized he was too late. Subcommander Rigeon and the King nearly ran him down as they rounded a corner.

"Scotty, welcome back," Baldaran said. "How goes Bathir?"

"Better, sir. We've liberated the Academy." Scotty was itching for an update on the fleet, but Rigeon's steely stare reminded him that protocol forbade interrogating the sovereign.

"Excellent. Not many casualties, I hope?" Baldaran asked as Scotty fell in behind them.

"Hardly any, despite the fact that a bunch of college kids got their hands on Reissian weapons," Scotty replied. "Ford dealt with that pretty quickly. I think he was suddenly having visions of Lily in twenty years."

Baldaran chuckled as they entered the control room. "Commander! I am delighted to see you recovered. Are you rejoining us here, or have you remembered the joys of field work?"

Mukryilla gave him a wry smile. "With your majesty's permission, I will take up my duties here. I no longer have the energy for field work. I will leave that to Scotty and your oldest brother, who you will be pleased to hear has shown exemplary leadership of his people."

"Ford has always risen to the occasion," Baldaran agreed, then turned to hug his mother. "You look exhausted, Mother. Will you rest?"

"How long until the fleet arrives?" she asked.

"They arrived at the edge of our system and are making a series of short supralight jumps," Baldaran replied. "We have been plotting likely courses that bring them into orbit on the far side of the moon to provide some protection from the enemy fleet, which has remained in relatively low orbit. We estimate between four and six hours until they engage the enemy."

"Have they been detected?" Mukryilla asked Rigeon.

"We believe so, but we hope the enemy is not familiar with our tactics in these kinds of situations and will not be able to predict our ships' actions as accurately as we can," Rigeon replied. "Planetary invasions are rare, and we have refined our tactics since the Battle for Dansestari."

Mukryilla turned to Mara. "Are you able to create a distraction to draw the enemy's attention? We should do everything possible to give our fleet the advantage of surprise."