“Noted.” Renna snapped off the communicator before sprinting to the CIC.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
Keva spared Renna a brief glance between barked orders. “We just caught four ships on our system scanners. They’re coming in fast.”
“Lieutenant Keva.” Flight Lieutenant Kojima’s voice boomed over the comm system. “The ships are headed right for the main part of the city. They’re deploying bombs. Impact in t-minus ten minutes.”
“Dammit!” Keva tapped something into the computer. “I can’t get through to warn Larson and the captain. If this is anything like Hesperia, the port will be destroyed in minutes.”
The crew kept the panic to a well-ordered minimum, but Renna’s muscles throbbed with the urge to flee. “Keep trying to raise him, I’m on my way to the hospital now. There’s a landing pad on the roof. Be ready to meet us there.”
Keva nodded. “Be safe out there. We don’t have much time.”
Renna tore through the ship, adrenaline lending her speed. As she ran through the docking portal, a roar filled the warehouse and the whole ship shuddered. But Renna continued her sprint. She’d spotted a vibrobike in the corner. It was a beautiful machine, with sleek lines and a five-hundred horsepower engine. Hopefully it would get her to the hospital in one piece. She’d have to pay the owner back for it later.
If any of them survived.
She threw her leg over the bike and kicked it into gear. With a squeal from the tires, she took off. She pushed the machine as fast as it would go, until the buildings and cars she passed were nothing but a blur. The machine seemed to have a mind of its own, and she gripped the seat with her thighs as it rounded corners and dodged debris at her slightest touch.
Fires burned whole blocks where the bombs had already hit.
A boom sounded in the distance, and the ground vibrated as one of the buildings collapsed in a plume of smoke and rubble. Screams and shouts filled the air as people fled the destruction, searching for safety. Wherever that was.
Renna coughed and tugged her shirt over her mouth, keeping her head down as she passed through a wall of smoke. The scent of sulfur and ash filled her lungs and stung her eyes until everything around her wore a hazy halo.
She wove the bike between emergency vehicles and scattered bodies, urging it to go faster. The hospital was only a few kilometers away, but it felt like she was running a gauntlet as more bombs rained down onto the city.
When she glanced behind her, starships shot one after another from the spaceport like a flock of birds, their silhouettes black against the purple sky. Maybe they’d had enough warning to evacuate the population.
And maybe she’d actually be able to retire to that paradise world she kept dreaming about.
Renna swerved as a man ran screaming from the building beside her, his clothes blazing. He made it five steps before collapsing in flames. She gritted her teeth and looked away. There was nothing she could do for him. Getting to Finn was the only thing that mattered right now.
She kicked the bike into a higher gear just as an explosion erupted on her right, sending a shock wave full of debris at her and the motorcycle. The impact sent the bike spinning, and she flew off, landing with a bone-jarring thug against another building. Pain sledgehammered through her body, her bones and muscles rebelling against the collision. She lay there, paralyzed and gasping, each breath a thousand tiny knives. Renna stared up at the sky and forced herself to relax, to breathe through the agony.
She focused on the tiny black bird soaring high above her in the purple sky. Her eyes narrowed and focused. It wasn’t a bird. It was a ship, growing larger and larger as it approached. The sheer mass of it made her jaw drop. It was double the size of the Athena, with strange wings on the sides, almost like the old airplanes they’d made before space travel. The dull, metallic color glinted in the weak sunlight. Instinctually, she knew it was made of the same strange material they’d found at the facility on Banos Prime.
And it was coming in fast.
Renna staggered to her feet. Hospital. Captain Finn. Athena. Her head swam, making the road beneath her feet jump and move. She focused on standing straight. If she didn’t hurry, none of this would matter anyway. They’d all be dead.
She took one slow step and then another. As she moved, the fire in her lungs eased and her muscles loosened. The hospital was close. Hopefully it was still standing.
Less than two minutes later, she rounded the alley and her shoulders sagged in relief as she spotted the hospital. It hadn’t been hit yet, despite the bombs falling all around. Maybe that meant Finn was all right.
Renna burst through the front doors and headed for the stairwell, climbing two at a time. “Find Captain Finn,” she ordered her implant. It returned a heat signature in the fourth floor conference room where she’d met with Major Larson yesterday. She made for that corridor, skirting past the medical personnel scurrying in every direction, trying to stabilize and evacuate patients.
She slammed open the conference room door. “Finn!”
The captain and Major Larson jumped at the thud of the door against the wall, but she didn’t wait for them to answer.
“What the hell are you two still doing here? The attack is getting worse by the second.” Renna’s heart threatened to pound through her ribs. She hadn’t run like that in months. Something warm trickled down her face. She raised her fingers to the cut throbbing on her cheek, and they came away wet with blood.
Major Larson frowned at her. “We couldn’t get through. Comms are down.”
Why did the guy look so unhappy to see her?
“Doesn’t matter now,” she said, shaking her head. “We need to get to the roof. The Athena is on her way.”
Finn nodded. “Major, come with us. It’ll be safer onboard.”
Larson shook his head and strode toward the door. “I’m heading to HQ. We have a bunker there. I’ll be in contact soon, Captain. Be safe, both of you, and stop these bastards. Whatever it takes.”
Finn’s eyebrows furrowed, but he and Renna followed Larson out into the hall. “Yes, sir. You can count on us.” Finn saluted.
The major returned it. “Go on. Get out of here before it’s too late. That’s an order.”
Renna grabbed Finn’s arm and headed back to the stairwell.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as they ran toward the roof.
“We couldn’t get you on the comms, and Keva wouldn’t leave without you.” Renna ignored the other part of her that said she didn’t want to leave without the blasted man either.