STARDUST, aurora rising | f. de seel

□ Chapter Six

The comms are quiet, and it unnerves me to no end. The eerie silence is only broken when I get a reading on one of the terminals that the Unbroken have their docking clamps in place and are making their own entry into the cargo bay.

"The Maker better take into account that we died on a mercy mission," Finian mutters, fiddling with an old, worn computer. "Because I'm going to need a place to hide when my grandparents reach the afterlife. I'm never going to hear the end of this."

"We're not going to die," I say, hoping it sounds more genuine than I think it does.

Zila doesn't respond- she just stares at her screen with a blank expression.

"My parents are dead," She says finally.

From across the room, Finian and I exchange a bewildered glance. The curtness of her tone makes my jaw drop and my eyes widen.

My head snaps back to the elevator when I hear a distant scream over comms. I shudder involuntarily, clutching my gun a little tighter.

Finian's yanked the cover off the bank of computers he's been working on, and peers around skeptically inside it. I realize he's about to crawl in, and I don't miss the nervous expression plastered on his face.

"Finian." He looks up at me, quickly trying to displace the worried look on his face. "You've got this."

"Well, you'd certainly hope so, wouldn't you?" He smiles weakly. His gaze skirts to Zila and he swallows tightly.

"Look, Zila. About your parents. I-"

"Sir, I'm getting a transmission from a Terran Defense Force Destroyer," Zila brushes Finian's words aside to speak into her comms. "Ident: Bellerophon. They just dropped through the FoldGate in response to our may-day and estimate they're eleven minutes from weapon range."

I frown, checking the screen she's looking at. On no planet does that sound right. There's even a pause before Tyler answers.

"Um, are you sure?"

"Holy crap," I breathe, half-speaking into my comms. "There's actually a TDF transmission."

"Put me on comms with the Syldrathi, Zila," Scarlett commands.

"Broadcasting."

Zila's fingers skim across a few buttons and I watch as a flat line appears. It ripples with waves as Scarlett begins to speak, picking up even the softest of words.

"Syldrathi invaders," Scarlett begins, her tone serious. "Please be advised we have incoming support from the Terran Defense Force vessel you can no doubt see popping on your scopes. If you want to keep your pretty asses in your pants, I advise your immediate withdrawal. Or you can stick around to see if a Wraith-class Syldrathi cruiser is a match for a fully armed Terran destroyer. Your call."

I find myself looking up in shock. I try picturing myself trying to speak like that to someone, and come to the conclusion that I don't have the guts. Zila doesn't return my bewildered look, so I share a gaze with Fin instead. He blinks a few times, head just over the edge of an ancient bank of computers.

With a shudder that passes through the whole rig, the Syldrathi cruiser breaks free. And I watch it's signal slowly begin to back away on the screen.

I let out a breath. The exhale is strong enough to make my ears make a little 'pop' noise.

"Sir, they're in retreat." I have to try and keep the joy out of my voice- resist the urge to do a small victory lap around the computer terminals.

"Cat, let the incoming TDF destroyer know you're there so they don't mistakenly blast you out of space," Tyler's voice resonates down the comms. I find myself nodding along with his proposal. "Zila, Galatea, we need one of you down here for medical. Finian, you too. In fact, just… all get down here."