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She grumbled something against my chest that I couldn't quite make out, then she pulled back to look at me. "I'm just eager to see everyone. It's been too quiet without Morgan trying to analyze every strategy.”

"I can't wait to see Torq's face when I tell him everything he missed," Jess called out as she passed us, arms laden with med kits. "Like how the holosimulation achieved a measure of self-determination.”

Fiona grinned as she followed with an armload of environmental suits. "Vyk will be devastated he missed the Irons pulling off that emergency evac drill faster than the Blades."

"Irons besting the Blades," Britta teased, nudging me with her elbow.

I laughed, though the sound was hollow. There was so much to tell our friends. The original crew didn't even know we'd escaped the holochamber yet. Ariana would be furious when she learned Volten had risked himself to save me, but the knowledge that my best friend would throw himself into danger without hesitation still warmed me.

"Hey, Volt," I called toward the cockpit. "Who's going to tell Ariana you had yourself inserted into the simulation?”

His laughter floated back to me. "I have no idea what you're talking about. That injury must have scrambled your memory." He twisted his head, his grin wide. "Everyone strap in. We're almost ready for departure."

The ship's loading ramp suddenly trembled with the impact of heavy, purposeful footsteps. I turned, hand instinctively reaching for my weapon, as Admiral Zoran stormed aboard, his expression stern.

My stomach dropped. Was the mission being aborted? Was I being pulled from duty because of my injury? Were the others who weren't originally assigned to the rescue team—Britta, Jess, Fiona—being ordered to remain at the academy?

Fiona spoke first. "Is everything okay, Admiral?"

Volten emerged from the cockpit, cocking his head at the Drexian who was also his half-brother. "Why are you back here?"

I noticed then what had escaped my initial observation and what made my pulse jangle. Zoran wasn't wearing his ceremonial robes. Instead, he was dressed in his dark academy uniform, the silver insignia of his rank on his lapel the only indication of his status.

"We've received an SOS transmission from the rescue team," Zoran announced without preamble, his voice tight with controlled emotion.

The words silenced everyone for a beat. Icy dread slithered down my spine as Fiona finally gasped, Jess clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob, and Volten's face drained of color.

"Their ship has gone down on the planet where we believe the Kronock are holding the prisoners," Zoran continued, his eyes moving from face to face. "I want to be clear that it was a hard landing, not a catastrophic crash. I have every reason to believe the crew survived."

"We need to leave. Now." Volten's voice cracked as he raked a hand through his hair.

"I agree," Zoran said. "Which is why I'll be joining you."

The statement hung in the air for a moment, as startling as his arrival had been. Zoran had been Inferno Force before becoming an Admiral or joining the academy, and his combat skills were legendary. But it was unheard of for the Academy Master himself to join an unauthorized rescue mission. There would be no way for him to deny involvement in the rogue missions now.

"The mission is already unauthorized," Zoran said, as if reading my thoughts. "We might as well commit to full renegade status."

“Then welcome to the resistance,” Volten said with a dark laugh. “Strap in.”

Questions whirled through my mind as Volten returned to the cockpit and everyone else prepared to depart. Who would run the academy? What would happen when Drexian High Command discovered what we'd done? But those concerns paled beside the image of our friends stranded on a hostile world, possibly injured, certainly in danger.

Zoran didn’t take a seat with the rest of us behind the cockpit. Instead, he joined Volt, and assumed the role as co-pilot, the two working silently as the engines were engaged and the ramp lifted.

Britta tugged gently on my hand. “We’d better sit. I don’t think Volten is waiting for anything or anyone.”

She was right. The engines kicked into high gear even before I’d fully strapped in next to her, and Jess gave me a nervous smile as she tugged on her straps across from me. I knew the human cadets had been in the Earth military before joining the academy, but I doubted any had been on missions like this one. They certainly hadn’t encountered aliens like the Kronock.

My stomach clenched at the thought of the scaly beasts, then it tightened even more at the prospect of our friends crashing on one of the aliens’ planets. As nerve-wracking as it was to be flying into certain danger, I welcomed it. It was better than staying behind and worrying about what might be happening.

As the ship lifted off, breaking through the atmosphere with a bone-rattling shudder, I found myself thinking of the Drexians and humans on the original rescue team and willing them to be safe.

“Jumping,” Volten called out.

The stars stretched and blurred as we were tugged through space, the ship's engines groaning. I tightened my grip on Britta's hand, not sure whether to be grateful she was with me or terrified.

Chapter

Twelve