HMS Valediction

Chapter 22.2

I don't question him but check over my shoulder one more time. ARC10's orange ooze glows, giving it the appearance of a lump of coal seated among glowing embers. I can hear its horrendous racket from here.

I face the city again. Moon is in the distance. I need to follow. Sprinting at my top speed, I catch up. He navigates us to a new part of the city, one where creatures are in a frenzy. They rush around, some screaming, some fighting with others. It's chaos. I follow Moon through the crowd as he shoves his way through, clearing a path for me. Creatures start, screeching at our presence.

We emerge on the other side of the congested terminal to the open runways.

Another golden army approaches from our left.

Moon changes direction. We sprint away from them into a series of platforms holding different ships. Mechanics and pilots grunt as we dive through them, the golden army on our tail.

The night is endless and so are the blaring spotlights that keep us in full view of the enemy and the enemy of us.

Finally, we approach a platform without wreaking havoc in it. Docked as quiet and quaint as a teacup, a small ship purrs to life when Moon approaches. It's as clean as porcelain, as delicate at glass. Moon sprints up the lowered hatch that slides out from the ship's opening, landing at his boots. The thing is so pristine, I hesitate for a single second, scared to track my bloody, torn feet inside it. When a spear flies past my head, piercing a cushion in the cabin, I rush up the lowered gangway and fling myself inside, all fears of my mess thrown aside.

"Buckle in," Moon says, tapping into the glassy dashboard in front of him. He rests one hand on it and the other taps at icons in the air I can't see. The launch is smooth, smoother than igniting the Jeep and gunning it out of its parking stall. Rushing into the seat at his side, I fumble with the straps behind my shoulders, trying to squeeze my arms through them as modeled through Moon's actions.

A rush of G knocks me back. I sink into the seat as the pressure takes my breath away.

We're clear. Above the planet, above the halo of lights that don't obscure the stars, above the golden blemish on our launchpad, we soar.

The window before us is massive. Full 180-degree views capture my attention. Other ships hover just out of the atmosphere, the mountain and the blue-bellied ship on opposite sides of my peripherals. The blue ship glitters. The mountain hoovers, deadened in the blackness until a light emerges from its zenith. The glow trickles down the ship, illuminating symbols and etchings on its massive body that I've never seen before.

ARC10 rises after us, chugging along between our small dropship and the mountain.

I'm so glad to see it. The legs retract, forming the bulbous, outline of a demented peach pit. It's the first time I'm seeing my ship from afar. Truly seeing it in its element. The bottom radiates with pulsing orange goo. I can even see it from here.

Moon scowls. "Your ship needs to move. Fast."

"What the hell am I supposed to do from here?"

"No..." Moon's scowl deepens.

"What?"

"She wouldn't."

"Who wouldn't?"

"What would be the point in that?"

I clutch the straps over my shoulders and shout, "Are you speaking to me or not, because I'd like to know what the fuck you're talking about."

Moon reverses his ship. I'm thrust forward, my arms reaching out to hold myself back from smashing my head against his control panel.