Chapter 64

Chapter

Sixty-Four

Vyk

I did not release Fiona’s hand as we raced up the stairs, but I did slow my pace to adjust for her smaller stride. Even so, we raced down the hallway and burst through the open door of Admiral Zoran’s office.

Tivek barely glanced up as he bent over the broad desk next to Zoran. The admiral did not look up, although he addressed me before Fiona and I had crossed the long room.

“Tell me what you know, Commander.”

“Not enough,” I said. “The human successfully blocked our communications, but it is my fault that I was distracted and did not notice the gap in transmissions. He must have disabled my communication settings when he broke into my office, or he deleted warning messages. ”

“Or both,” Fiona said in a low voice that dripped with rage.

“I should have connected the dots sooner and known that there was a swarm coming. I did read reports of the Kronock reporting colonies being devoured. I should have known.”

Fiona squeezed my hand fiercely. “It is easy to think that now, but you had no way to know.”

She might be right, but that did not make me feel better. I was the security chief. I should have seen the signs.

“You are not the only one who was too focused on the envoy’s visit to note the change in communications.” Zoran glanced up, flitted his gaze to my hand holding Fiona’s, and then returned his attention to the tablet on his desk. “I suspect that was the captain’s plan.”

Fiona cleared her throat. “I am also to blame. I might have been the reason he requested the assignment and withheld important information.”

Zoran grunted. “There is not one to blame but the human who betrayed our alliance.” He curled a fist on the desk. “I assume he has been handled?”

“He is unconscious in our dungeons,” I said, even though a part of me wished that he had regained consciousness when I had imprisoned him. I would have enjoyed an Inferno Force-style interrogation.

Zoran waved a hand in the air. “As you can hear, our long-range, proximity sirens have been triggered, but we have not pinpointed the location of the enemy.”

“Does this swarm have stealth technology?” I asked, my heart stuttering at the thought .

“No, but from what I understand, the swarm is not a typical fleet of ships either. That could be making it hard for our sensors.”

Tivek cleared his throat. “Incoming transmission from High Command, Admiral.”

Zoran straightened as a life-sized, holographic figure flickered to life beside me.

I pivoted to look at the Drexian with dark, shaggy hair and a sash crossing his dark uniform. I knew High Commander Dorn, but not from his position on High Command. I knew him from his illustrious time as an Inferno Force Commander. I released Fiona’s hand so I could thump a fist across my chest just like Zoran and Tivek.

Dorn acknowledged our salutes with one in return, even though as High Commander, he owed us no such honor. But Dorn was not your typical member of the High Command. Yes, he came from a prestigious clan, but he had always preferred life on a gritty Inferno Force battleship on the outskirts of the galaxy, and he had always respected the service and honor of his fellow Drexians.

“I regret that we must see each other this way,” he began, “but I am grateful to finally reach you.”

The admiral nodded. “We have just become aware of our jammed communications and of a traitor in our midst.” He added quickly. “This time a human, not a Drexian.”

Dorn frowned and scraped a hand down his scruffy cheeks. “The envoy from Earth?”

Zoran made a sound in the back of his throat that was his version of a yes .

Dorn rocked back. “Then I will not waste your time, Admiral. I have transmitted all the information we have on the Sythian swarm and the recent change in its composition and trajectory. We would have preferred you had this days ago, but the situation is not yet dire.”

“Then why are our proximity sirens sounding?” Fiona whispered to me.

“You do not believe an attack is imminent?” Zoran asked even as the sirens echoed in the corridors.

“The last sighting of the swarm was still far from Drex,” Dorn said. “There is time to prepare and fortify. We are sending reinforcements.”

Zoran tipped his head in a small bow. “Thank you. I had hoped that another rescue would not be required so soon after the last.”

“This could not be helped.” Dorn squared his shoulders. “Our home planet and the Academy must be defended. I will contact you again shortly once you have had time to review the reports.”

Then his transparent image shimmered for an instant and was gone.

Zoran’s shoulders relaxed a fraction, but he pinned me with a hard gaze. “I need you to tell me why the proximity alarms are sounding, if the High Commander still believes the swarm is far away.”

I gave him a sharp nod, spun on my heel, and then hesitated.

“I should stay here and help with any battle plans,” Fiona said with a measure of regret in her voice .

She was right. She would be better used with the admiral, but I did not like the idea of leaving her.

“Take the Assassin,” Admiral Zoran said, meeting my gaze with one that told me he understood more than I had suspected. “You may need her strategic skill more than I will.”

Fiona released a breath, and I did not wait for the admiral to change his mind. I grabbed her hand and bolted from the room. Having her by my side gave me renewed strength, and I could not help thinking how much had changed since my first day at the academy, how much I had changed.

We dashed down the hall, I pressed my hand to the panel for my door and rushed inside with Fiona. Once I was behind my desk, I released her hand, activated my tablet, and started to scan the flood of transmissions that had been suppressed. At the same time, I pulled up at the readouts for the security systems and proximity alerts.

There was no doubt about it. Something had triggered the security net I had set up to detect incursions into Drexian space farther away from the planet. I flicked my hand up to cast a holographic recreation of the star chart into the air. As I squinted at the approximation of the space surrounding Drex, it was evident where the alarm had been triggered.

“But there is nothing there,” I muttered as I stared at the empty space.

“That’s impossible,” Fiona said, as she gazed at the holographic image. “There has to be something out there, unless it retreated. Do swarms retreat?”

I could not answer her because I did not know. I knew precious little about this new enemy of ours. As I huffed out a frustrated breath, an alert sounded from my screen. I read the coordinates then remembered to breathe as I read them again. I was being hailed by someone beyond the planet but not beyond Drexian space.

I exchanged a glance with Fiona before I tapped my finger to accept the hail, bracing myself for whatever enemy might appear, although I could not imagine what a bloodthirsty Sythian who was bent of devouring everything in its path would look like, or how it would communicate

The creature that appeared on my screen had silvery horns curling around his ears, dark hair pulled up into a knot atop his head, bright-blue eyes that seemed to glow, and black markings on his skin that curled up his neck. He was no Sythian.

“I am Runn of the Taori.”