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

Chapter 15: Pursuit

Sweat shone on Mara's forehead as she looked toward the sun, partly visible from their vantage point on the far side of Darkene. She was concentrating fiercely, so Scotty kept his suggestions to himself for the moment. Suddenly, she surprised him by smiling.

"The fleet is here," she said. "Not a moment too soon. It is extraordinarily difficult to transport large objects while our space is so disrupted."

Scotty looked at the sky, wishing he could see the disrupted areas, which according to Mara were spreading rather than dissipating as they had hoped. "So you can rest for a minute before we go get Khediva and Tirqwin?"

"Yes." She sank to the ground gracefully and let out a breath. "There are only two Kyan ships remaining; hopefully the amassed firepower of the fleet can deal with them." She paused a moment, closing her eyes again. Then she stood. "Let us go. The Wayfarers among the fleet will be more comfortable with Khediva among them."

After the momentary, disconcerting sensation of shifting phase, Scotty blinked, and the grain field was replaced by Khediva's control deck. The air smelled cleaner, he thought hopefully.

"The fleet has arrived. Are you ready?" Mara asked.

Khediva replied, "Very nearly. Tirqwin is finishing some work on the engines, and then we will be prepared for transport. How many Kyan ships have you removed?"

"All but two," Mara said. She smiled wryly. "I did not want to insult your fellow Wayships by leaving them nothing to do."

Khediva snorted in acknowledgement of Mara's flash of humor. "Will you be remaining aboard after the shift?"

"No. I think it best we are not distracted by each other's tasks. My responsibility is to safeguard the planetary and moon populations; the space battle I will leave to you and the fleet."

"Very well. I will take this opportunity to wish you good fortune, then."

"You as well, Khediva."

"And Scotty, try to keep in one piece."

Scotty grinned. "I'll do my best!"

Tirqwin emerged from the corridor, his ivory suit rumpled and smudged in places. "We are ready," he announced. Then he frowned. "Mara, are you certain you cannot take a moment to rest? Let the fleet take the initiative; perhaps it will be sufficient to defeat the remaining forces."

"I am going down to Giandrah once we are back in phase," Mara said. "I will be able to use the Crystal to refresh myself while I see to our defenses. Do not worry about me; you cannot afford the distraction."

Tirqwin glanced at Scotty, who nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility settle more heavily on him. Tirqwin was worried about Mara, and he was trusting Scotty to look after her, a trust he would not have given anyone else in the universe, except Sabrina. Touched, Scotty cleared his throat. "Let's get this show on the road, or we'll miss all the excitement."

"We cannot have that," Tirqwin agreed. "Be well, both of you."

"Shields at maximum," Khediva reported. "We may proceed when you are ready, Maratobia."

"May Miah guide us all," Mara murmured, then closed her eyes and concentrated. Scotty grimaced at the phase shift, which was not becoming easier with practice; then he staggered a little as something impacted the Wayship and the deck tilted abruptly. He nearly overbalanced in the next moment when he found himself on the stable, level ground of Giandrah.
"What was that?" he demanded.

"Khediva's shield is holding," Mara assured him. "The Kyan sensed our shift, it seems."

"Then we're done with that. Good!"

"Have you any rations among all those supplies?"

"Sure. Food or drink?"

"Drink, please."

Scotty handed her a small canteen. "How's it going out there?"

"Fairly well. The fleet has disabled one of the Kyan ships, though it is now under repair. They have engaged all the Reissians as well, so no one is at leisure to target our population. We have a few minutes to rest."

"Good." Scotty chose a spot near the cavern wall to sit. "Um. What did you do with Imari?"

"She is in the Conservator's office," Mara replied. "Would you like to see her? Her injuries were mostly internal, and I have put her in stasis."

"Later," Scotty said, not wanting to deal with an emotional situation on top of everything else. "You wanna go lie down in your room?"

"It is too close to the collapsed zone," Mara said. "I do not think the cavern is stable in that area, particularly if we begin moving around nearby." She sighed. "We will have so much work to do when this is over."

"Yeah," Scotty said, "but hey, you have minions. No need to heave boulders around yourself."

Mara gave a faint smile. "True. There are others better suited to that work than I. Tirqwin is always telling me I should learn to delegate better."

"Yeah, I'd agree, except I'm always afraid I'm the one who's going to get delegated to," Scotty replied. "Did I understand right that the shield over Dansestari is functional?"

"Yes, it was reactivated after Control was destroyed, to prevent the Reissians damaging more facilities in retaliation," Mara said.  "It will keep us safe while we wait and monitor the situation." She waved a hand, and a diagram of Praxatillus' orbital space appeared in the air in front of them. Scotty peered at it in concern, but he soon realized that their fleet was indeed making headway against the Reissians. The remaining functional Kyan ship seemed mostly to be concerned with protecting its disabled counterpart.

"This is too easy," he murmured.

"Do not borrow trouble, Scotty," Mara advised. "And I doubt those fighting this battle would agree with you."

Scotty nodded but did not comment, engrossed in the real-time display. He did not even notice when Mara folded herself into a sitting position next to him and closed her eyes, nor the eerie silence that fell over the cavern.