12
Mia
Jamie and Alexflew the Valor back to Battleship Resolution with the comm channels open so we could all hear what was happening. When our ship exploded, the mission had been paused. All teams had been battle ready and waiting for the shields to go down to begin their portion of the takeover of Xenon. But the entire plan hinged on Kass and me overriding the controls on the moon base. No one—ourselves included—expected to do it by hand. On the moon’s surface.
Or that we’d survived the crash. But our comms to General Jennix had kept the mission from being aborted or delayed. As soon as we’d shut down Dark Fleet control of the moon base, the mission was a go.
We’d survived. We’d taken down the force field around Xenon that the Dark Fleet was using to keep Velerion forces from regaining control of their colony and the factories. We’d done everything we were asked to do, and now our role was complete.
As Jamie took us back to the battleship, we heard the details of the rest of the mission. Everything. The attack. The losses. The way the people of Xenon rose up to help overthrow the ground forces under Queen Raya’s command as well as the Dark Fleet ships serving her once the force field had been removed.
It was a quick assault. A quick victory. I could only imagine how eager the Xenon colonists were for their liberation.
Jamie and Alex didn’t linger at the docking station, only hovering the Valor over it so we could descend the ramp before it was retracted. Then they were off.
So were we. Straight to the forward operations center inside the battleship’s control room.
In all the years I’d worked in law enforcement, helped to hunt down and capture the bad guys, I’d never wanted to see anyone behind bars as much as Sponder. I’d met people who were vile. Evil. Without conscience. But I’d never hated any of them.
I hated Captain Sponder.
I was possessive of Kass. Ridiculously so. Knowing that Sponder had it in for Kass, that he’d almost kept him away from me, made me furious. But knowing Sponder had actually planted evidence to see him rot in jail for something he didn’t do, made me clench my fists, ready to break his nose all over again. And Kass was just the tip of the iceberg. I didn’t know much about what had happened to the Velerion people over the last two or three years, but Sponder had probably killed thousands of people. Thousands. He was pure evil.
But Kass? He was so far past where I was in his anger. His jaw was clenched, his face a hard mask. He had a mission of his own. Nothing, not even Commissioner Gaius, was going to stop him this time. Uncle or no uncle, Sponder was finished.
We made our way through the maze of corridors to get to the forward operations command center, our pace swift. The doors slid silently open, but the room was full of commotion and noise. It looked like the Houston NASA control room in the movies. A front wall was covered in comms screens, each one showing a different part of the mission. Ground fighters. Air battles. Everything was happening at once. This was the place where it could all be witnessed simultaneously.
And everyone was going to see what happened next.
Kass stopped just inside the entry. His gaze scanned the room until he locked on, like an IPBM targeting a planet, to Sponder, who was onboard the Resolution and sitting at his command station like the cat who ate the canary. He thought we were dead. He believed his treachery had gone undetected. Again.
Kass stalked around the rows of control desks and stopped beside the man. Sponder looked up, his eyes widening, and he stood. In fact he hopped up much faster than I expected for someone of his age.
“You belong in the brig,” Sponder said. His nose was crooked and swollen, and he’d have two black eyes in a few hours from Kass’s earlier headbutt.
“You belong in the ground.”
The mission continued around us, but Jennix came over. Another general—I assumed since the uniforms matched—as well.
“MCS, this is not the time,” Jennix said.
Kass took a second but finally lifted his gaze from Sponder. He looked over the asshole’s shoulder at Jennix.
“It is, General. He locked me up with fabricated evidence, planted a bomb on the Phantom, which not only was intended to jeopardize the entire mission, but murder Mia and the other pilot. And he refused to retrieve us from the moon surface in order to cover his crimes.”
As Kass spoke, Sponder started to sputter and deny.
“Who knows what other ways he’s sabotaged Velerion? Or this mission.”
Jennix didn’t even blink.
“Why should I trust the words of an MCS who cheated?” Jennix asked. She knew the truth. I could see it in her eyes, but she was enjoying watching Sponder squirm. As was I.
“Innocent until proven guilty, General,” Kass replied.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “The same could be said for Sponder.”
“I request his immediate removal from the command center!” Sponder said.