ANDROMA
THE SIGHT OF Adhira spreading before her should’ve taken Andi’s breath away.
Instead, she was just hoping she would still be breathing once they landed. The crew’s fate was in Lira’s hands, and Andi could only hope her pilot could keep them from exploding into bits of metal and flesh.
As they neared the planet, Lira sent a message to the landing dock she’d managed to secure moments ago in the capital of Rhymore. This would be their first time landing on Adhira as a crew, and Andi didn’t think it would bode well for any future visits they might make to the planet if they crashed.
Especially for Lira, whose scales had already begun to glow to the point of smoking.
“Those complete airheads,” Lira mumbled as she turned off the com. “They think we have enough power to make it to the landing base, but at this point, the engines are so bad I’m surprised we haven’t lost the oxygen pump yet.”
“Don’t listen to them—land where you can, and they will come to us,” Andi said, trying to calm her Second. This was the first time Andi had ever seen Lira so close to losing complete control of her emotions, and she knew that it was the impending return to her home planet that was unnerving her so.
As they entered the atmosphere of Adhira, the ship gave a lurch. Andi definitely did not like the screeching groan the ship made—or the fact that they weren’t slowing down as they should.
This definitely wasn’t a normal atmospheric entry.
“Come on, baby,” Andi said, patting the Marauder’s dash as if it would actually listen to her plea.
“Coming!” an unwelcome voice came from behind her.
Andi let out an audible groan.
“Get in a seat, Dextro. Now!”
“I’m trying to lighten the mood, Androma. We all know Lira is fully capable of handling this situation.”
“Thanks,” Lira muttered as Dex plopped into one of the chairs behind her, legs sprawled out in front of him like he was about to watch a film. Breck and Gilly rushed in after him, strapping into seats, as well.
“Where’s Alfie?” Andi asked.
“Down making sure Valen doesn’t fall off the table,” Gilly said. “Which wouldn’t matter, anyway, since he said there is a 93 percent chance of immediate death or dismemberment upon impact.”
“Damned artificial lifeforms,” Breck growled.
Andi turned back around, eyes wide as she took in the oncoming view.
Below, the Endless Sea appeared, the single ocean on Adhira that made way for the large central land mass, which was scattered with veiny rivers, monstrous trees, red deserts and the central Rhymore mountain.
Lira’s hands were steady on the controls as she eased the ship the best she could toward the quickly approaching ground. Andi watched as her pilot maneuvered around the massive trees that dotted Adhira’s landscape. They were so tall that they peaked above the clouds, and some even towered higher than the mountain.
Dex hooted from behind her, as if this was a joy ride instead of a highly dangerous emergency landing that could kill them all.
Godstars, he was a fool.
Blocking Dex out, Andi gripped the armrests of her chair and looked out the viewport again, which was now full of trees and utterly devoid of any glimpse of the sky.
“This had better not scratch my ship!” she yelled, thinking of its already damaged hull.
“Scratch?” Gilly yelped. “I think we’re in for more than that, Cap!”
“You want the good news or the bad new first?” Lira asked Andi, teeth gritted, eyes wild as she wove around the worst obstacles in their path.
“The good news,” Andi said, hoping it outweighed the bad.
“The good news is that the trees should lessen the impact, and when we come out of the forest, we should be only a few meters from ground level. There is a field up ahead, according to the radar, and at this angle, I’ll be able to manipulate a semicontrolled landing.”
Andi was momentarily relieved, but tensed again at the ominous expression on Lira’s face.
“And the bad news?” she asked.
Her pilot grimaced. “We’ll be landing in one of the clearings that has a major village surrounding it. Even with the trees slowing us down, we’re still gaining too much velocity, meaning we’ll likely plow right into the village.” Her voice caught in her throat, as if she were holding back equal parts terror and nausea. Her hands flew over the controls. “The field isn’t large enough to land in without potential casualties.”
Andi’s head spun, racing for any idea to grab a hold of. “If the ship was lighter, would we be able to stop in time?”
There was a pause before Lira responded. Andi could almost see her making the calculations in her head.
“Yes. But we’d need to lose at least one ton if we want to make a dent in the velocity.”
A sudden lurch threw Andi forward against her harness as they hit a wicked bout of turbulence. By the time she looked back up, rubbing the back of her now-tender neck, her view was no longer of the catastrophe happening outside, but of a rear end.
Dex’s rear end.
“Do you have a death wish, Arez?” Andi yelled, trying to reach the band of his cargo pants to pull him back.
“No, I’m not hell-bent on destruction like you are, Racella. If you would pull your head out of whatever dark hole you have it in, you would notice that I’m helping you.”
Before Andi could stop him, he’d slammed his palm against a big, red button and a whooshing sound echoed throughout the ship.
“Did he just hit the red button?” Gilly screamed.
“You’re welcome, ladies,” Dex said. “You can thank me later. I just released the escape pods and lessened our load enough for us to stop before we completely annihilate that village with my ship.”
“My ship!” Andi barked at him.
“Would the two of you just stop fighting?” Breck howled.
Lira cursed as the harness strapped across her chest began to melt away beneath the heat of her scales. Already, the suit she wore was turning to cinders. If she didn’t regain control of her emotions, Andi knew she’d lose consciousness.
“Lira.” Andi tried to sound calm. “You have to breathe. You have to keep yourself present.”
Her pilot’s brow wrinkled, scales flashing ever brighter. “I will breathe when I see us safely on the ground, Androma.”
An enormous tree loomed in front of them, and the ship screamed as Lira tilted them sideways to avoid it. Dex toppled into Andi’s lap.
“Lira!” Andi yelled, shoving Dex away. “Steady us!”
But the ship was careening even farther, tilting so far to the left that Andi felt as if she’d been turned onto her head.
With horror, she looked back at Lira, just in time to see her pilot slump forward in her seat, her head lolling against her chest, her scales so bright it was like staring into a purple sun.
“She’s out!” Andi yelled.
And they were out of time.
Every muscle in her body clenched as she saw the rapidly approaching field and village in the distance.
Memory’s voice spoke, loud and clear, through it all.
“Prepare for impact in 3, 2, 1...”