Chapter 46

Chapter

Forty-Six

Fiona

I wasn’t trying to avoid the captain, but I did not see him the next morning at breakfast or in the corridors. By the afternoon, curiosity was eating at me.

“Where do you think he is?” I asked Ariana, as we sat together in the Stacks poring over various rescue plans for when we located Sasha. Crumbly books were stacked on the long wooden table to hold down the curling edges of the unrolled parchments that covered the surface, and the scent of dust and leather permeated the cool air.

Ariana cut her gaze to me, her brow furrowed. “Where do I think who is?”

“Sorry.” I gave an absent shake of my head. “I was thinking out loud. ”

“Is this about the security chief?”

“What?” My voice rose significantly above the usual hush I used in the ancient library. “Commander Vyk? Why would you say that?”

Her lips scrunched to one side as she eyed me. “I don’t know. I’ve noticed the way he watches you. I know you’ve always hated him but hate and love are two sides of the same coin.”

I rolled my eyes at this. “I don’t hate him.”

Now, her brows shot up. “Really? Since when?”

The conversation had taken a turn that I had not been expecting. “The guy might be surly as hell, but he’s just doing his job.”

Ariana leaned over the parchment that showed one of the first known renderings of Kronock space. “Does his job include tormenting visiting envoys from Earth?”

Okay, that was harder to explain away. “You know the Drexians. They’re always trying to do something badass and dangerous. I think it was Vyk’s way of welcoming him.”

Ariana mumbled something about not signing her up for a Drexian welcome.

“But it’s not Vyk I was talking about,” I said, trying to get the conversation back on the rails. “It’s Devon.”

“Another guy who looks at you like you’re a snack.”

“There’s nothing between us. Not anymore.”

“If he pulled strings to get the gig to come here, he’s still into you. ”

I sighed, the sound louder than I intended. “Which is why I need to find him and tell him that it’s over. Actually, it never really began. I need to tell him that it was one night—one fun night—but that was it.”

Ariana shook her head. “Sounds like a super fun conversation.”

She was right. It was not going to be a fun one, but I needed to be honest. Discovering that Devon had pulled strings to come here had been gnawing at me all night. I’d been so consumed by what Ariana had overheard that I’d barely slept. I might not have asked Devon to come here, but I was the one who left without a proper goodbye. I owed him an honest conversation now.

“I need to find him and get this over with.” I stood and pushed back my chair, the legs scraping across the stone floor. “Where would an envoy from Earth be?”

Ariana bobbled her head from side to side. “I’d guess that he’d either be with the Academy Master, or he’d be meeting with all the humans at the Academy individually. I assume he needs to interview all of us to hear our experiences.”

I considered this. I hadn’t heard of him setting up meetings with the human instructors and cadets who’d remained at the school between years, so I suspected he was still in the early stages of his overall assessment. Chances were good he’d be meeting with the admiral or completing his tour of the academy.

I glanced at the papers on the table and cringed. “I promised to help you narrow down the best routes.”

She waved a hand at me. “Go. I’ve got this.”

“But you hate battle strategy. ”

She winked at me. “But I love flight plans, and this is just a glorified flight plan.” Her smile faltered. “I wish we would hear back from Kax and Jaxon. I know they sent out Inferno Force warriors to do recon on some of the potential Kronock holding sites, but shouldn’t we have heard something by now?”

I squeezed her shoulder. “Once those warriors go into Kronock space, they go silent. Since they have to fly off the radar—literally—they can’t communicate until they’ve reemerged and joined their ships. That will take time, since some of the sites were deep in enemy territory.”

Ariana nodded. “I wish we could do something more. I feel useless just waiting to hear.”

I nodded to the papers and tablets on the table. “What we’re doing isn’t useless. We need to be ready to go the moment we have confirmation of a target site. That means we need to create complete mission plans for each different site and the best routes to them. It won’t do Sasha any good if we get caught on our way to saving her.”

Ariana pressed her lips together for a beat. “You’re right. We have to be ready when we get the word. It just feels like it’s taking forever.”

“That’s because you’re a Wing, and you like things fast. Trust me that the most successful missions are planned to within an inch of their lives. The more contingencies we anticipate, the better prepared we’ll be for whatever happens.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.” She nodded fervently. “This mission to get Sasha has to succeed.”

“It will,” I told her, believing it deep within my bones. Everyone involved in planning the rescue mission was fully committed and determined to rescue the human pilot who’d been taken by the enemy. Everyone was willing to risk their lives to bring Ariana’s sister home.

I gave my friend’s shoulder another squeeze. “I’ll come back once I’ve settled everything with the captain.”

“I’ll be here, trying to imagine that I’m in the cockpit of a plane.”

“As long as you don’t make flying noises.”

She tilted her head at me. “Flying noises?”

I took a few steps back. “You know, shhhhooo, shhhoooo, pew pew pew.”

Her eyes widened. “Were those supposed to be what a ship sounds like?” She shook her head slowly. “Sad, Fi. Very sad.”

“That’s why I keep my feet planted firmly on the ground,” I said, before I turned and strode from the Stacks.

I hurried down the ominously silent corridor and through the echoing main hall, my feet clicking on the stone as I jogged up the stairs. I was so focused on finding the captain that I didn’t slow down when I rounded a corner and walked right into him.