“Tycho.”
“Darius.”
Waiting until I was sure he was, indeed, heading for me and not randomly running in my direction, I waved an arm and slipped down below the upper surface of the Battlestar into the ship’s joint.
Seconds later, Tycho made the leap from above and jumped down next to me.
“Tor?”
“Your hypothesis was correct. The swarm appears to be confused.”
“Thank God.”
“Shall I establish direct laser comms with Titan Tycho?”
Was I ready to talk to Darius? Here? Now?
“Yes. Hurry.”
“Link established.”
Within a blink Darius’s face filled my comm screen. His dark hair, worried eyes. I wanted to kiss him. Hug him. Get him in bed and never let him leave.
“Darius?” I knew it was stupid, irrational and completely insane, especially hanging by one of Tor’s arms just a meter from the ledge, but I used Tor’s free arm to grab Tycho and hug his massive frame.
“Lily? Are you hurt?”
“I’m so sorry. I know you were only trying to protect me. I should have talked to you about it instead of storming off in a rage.”
“No. You were right. My behavior was inexcusable. You are powerful, Lily. A warrior. I fell in love with your fearlessness when we were training together. When you chose me, you saved me. And the first thing I tried to do was lock you in a cage.”
I was crying now. Damn it. I released my hold on Tycho but kept Tor close. “What are we going to do? This is not a Cruiser.”
On my screen, Darius appeared to be looking around, analyzing the ship. “No, it is not.”
“Do you think the other two teams are dealing with a demon star as well?”
“Demon star?” He grinned at me. “I like it.”
“I’m serious.”
“There’s nothing we can do for them. The only thing we can do is complete our mission.”
True. Very true. But I was very worried for Bantia and Ulixes and the other team. I didn’t know them, other than a brief introduction at the mission briefing, but I felt like we were all in this together. Like somehow, we were cosmically linked. Which was silly and whimsical, but I couldn’t make the feeling go away.
“How are we going to destroy this thing? I had Tor run the calculations. We don’t have enough explosive firepower to take it out. And the second something goes wrong, this thing will break into pieces and there’ll be nothing we can do to stop them.”
“I know.” Darius closed his eyes. “I’m thinking.”
“Apology accepted Darius.”
“Yours as well.”
“I love you.”
His eyes flew open. “Lily.”
“Don’t say anything. I just needed to tell you, in case…” I looked around the deep crevasse lined with beams and massive panels that could crush us in seconds.