Kwaide (The Ammonite Galaxy Series, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-six

At last there was time to breathe. She turned the small pod around so that she would have a visual on the result, and waited. The microseconds ticked past as if they were long minutes.

Then there was a huge flash in front of her, and the sky exploded into light. The brilliance which was hurting her eyes hurtled towards her, throwing the pod into a crazy dance. Through the fog of sheer white light came the sound of the explosion, carried by the sparse upper atmosphere at a slower speed than the light. Then came a smattering of shrapnel – each tiny piece capable of bringing death. The pod shuddered, but held.

Diva waited for the final impact, the one which would signal the destruction of the pod itself. She laughed again recklessly, ready for the end to come. 

There was another huge flash of light, and she was so dazzled that she was blinded by the intensity. Then she was aware of a huge crump of sound. The pod gave a tremendous shudder from its nose cone to its tail fins. Metal screamed. The shuttle hung in agony for a moment, and then began to fall out of the sky, turning over and over on itself as it plummeted in the direction of Kwaide’s hard surface. She frowned, puzzled. Surely she should be dead by now? How had she been able to hear that sound? Now her brain was sluggish, making it an effort to think. If she had heard the sound so long after the flash, then the explosion was not that of her own pod. The second missile must have been triggered by the first explosion!

No sooner had she reached that belated conclusion when new pieces of shrapnel began to arrive. She felt the pod plunging down to Kwaide, felt small quivers in the thin material as it was decimated by the shrapnel, felt her stomach left far behind by the force of the fall, and then felt nothing at all …

SIX WAS ANXIOUSLY waiting for Grace when she docked at the orbital station. 

“How are you? Is Diva all right? How many bombs got through?” He threw question after question at her, and she raised one hand in an attempt to stop him. The Kwaidian was moving from one foot to another, anxiety cutting a groove across his forehead to match the new white scar on his cheek. His eyes were burning with apprehension.

Grace shrugged her shoulders as an answer to everything. She felt what little energy she had left draining away through her feet, and her legs failed her for a moment. Ledin caught her by the elbow, and led her gently to the nearest chair.

“Rest here for a moment,” he told her sympathetically. “I will bring you a glass of water.”

Grace nodded her thanks, giving him a grateful look.

“I will take the pod back down,” decided Six. “I might be able to do something to help. You stay here, Grace, you look all in.”

Grace shook her head. “I must come with you,” she said, trying to struggle to her feet.

Ledin’s voice came from the console, where he was monitoring the events on the surface of Kwaide. “There are two pods missing,” he said. “Two and five.” 

Six turned and gave Grace a totally unnecessary shake. “Which one was Diva in? Tell me!”

Grace lowered her head, to match her heart. “Five,” she told him slowly. “Five.”

Six stopped, paralyzed. He turned white. Then he turned on Ledin, who took a step back when he saw the expression on Six’s face.

“What do you mean, missing? Explain yourself!”

“Two of the pods have ceased transmitting, First Six.” Ledin gave Grace the glass of water he was still holding.

Six gave an uncertain laugh. “Nothing will have happened to Diva. Nothing can have happened to Diva.”

Ledin looked most uncomfortable, but wisely refrained from answering.

Six took Grace by the shoulders and shook her. “She will be all right, won’t she? You were down there, Grace, what did you see? What happened?”

Ledin prized Six’s fingers off Grace’s skin. “You are hurting her, First,” he told the Kwaidian gently but firmly.

Six looked down at the red marks he had left on Grace’s skin. “Sorry,” he said automatically. Then he looked more closely. “Sacras! I really am sorry, Grace. Forgive me, please.”

Grace gave a wan smile. “It’s all right, Six. I understand. Take Ledin here, and the others, and see if you can find her. I will stay here on the orbital station, in case we need to take the Variance out.”

Six frowned. It would be a tight squeeze with five in a pod. Ledin stepped forward. 

“I will stay here too, First. It may be necessary to take out both ships, and there should be two experienced pilots here at all times.”

Six nodded. “That is true,” he said. “Very well. I will be in contact as soon as we get down there.” He gestured to the waiting men to follow him, and they were gone within a minute, leaving an empty silence behind them.