Three.
Two.
One.
The ship bucked and jolted like we were tumbling down a rocky cliff. Somehow Jamie and Alexius kept the ship under control. Its outer hull shielded us from the worst of the blast, the temperature rising inside their starfighter just enough to make me uncomfortable. But our skin hadn’t melted off our bodies, so I considered that a win.
I only had one side of my harness buckled. Mia was less fortunate, her body swinging wildly as she hung on to the shoulder straps with her gloved hands. Once we stabilized, I reached for her leg and pulled her back down into her seat. She buckled the harness with shaking fingers as I held her in place.
“Thanks.” She grinned at me, and I sighed with relief. She was unharmed. Thank Vega.
“Anytime, my Mia.”
A voice came through the starfighter’s ship comm. “Starfighters? This is General Jennix on a secure channel.”
“Yes, General,” Jamie responded.
“Confirm retrieval of the Starfighter MCS pair.”
Jamie looked over her shoulder at me. Mia sat directly behind her, so the two Earth women could not make eye contact. Instead Jamie reached back with her hand, which Mia gripped at once.
“Affirmative.”
“Excellent news, Starfighter. Return them to the Resolution, then continue with your original mission. I have informed General Aryk of your detour, but you are to say nothing. The shuttle teams are now directly under General Aryk’s command. As far as Captain Sponder is concerned, Mia and Kassius are dead.”
I looked to Mia. She eyed me.
“Yes, General.” Jamie ended the comm and the four of us sat in silence for a few seconds. The quiet did nothing to dampen the cold rage settling like an ice blanket over my bones.
“He almost killed you,” I said. “Not once but twice.” I’d hated Sponder before, but now… he’d wanted Mia dead. Me? I knew he had it in for me, but nothing… no one fucked with my pair bond.
Before the bomb, it had been my mission to be free of Sponder. Now he was going down.