Page 35

Story: Secrecy

A sound from above ripped me from my inner turmoil. I glanced up at the distinctive whine of thrusters cutting through atmosphere then quickly pulled Morgan down beside me.

My heart leapt as the ship passed overhead. It wasn't the angular, gray-hulled design of Kronock vessels. In fact, I couldn't see the ship at all. I only knew it was there by thesound and the slight distortion in the air where the sky became mottled.

It was a cloaked Drexian ship, using invisibility shielding.

It was our friends. It was rescue.

But then I remembered what we’d heard. It was a trap.

My momentary elation transformed into dread. Our friends were flying straight into an enemy snare. Once we’d unwittingly led them into.

“Grekkinghell,” Morgan whispered beside me. My thoughts exactly.

Something warm flickered in my chest at hearing our language on her lips, but there was no time to dwell on that now. The ship was heading directly toward the hills, which was exactly where we believed Deklyn had hidden his vessel. Did they know where my brother’s ship was? Had they picked it up on sensors? Or had the other members of our team sent out another transmission without knowing they were luring our friends into danger?

“We need to get to that ship before the Kronock," I said.

But Morgan was already moving. “Then we’d better run.”

I didn’t worry about whether we should abandon stealth for speed as I gave chase. Water splashed around our legs as we left the marsh behind, our environmental suits flickering to adapt to the rapidly changing surroundings.

The cloaked ship had vanished behind the range of hills, but I could still track its descent by the faint displacement of air and the pale exhaust trails in the inky sky.

"If they're following standard protocol, they'll maintain cloaking even after landing," I said between breaths as we ran. “But that doesn’t mean the enemy won’t be able to track them.”

Especially if they were waiting for them, I thought.

Morgan didn’t answer me, as she puffed out labored breaths. Her human physiology wasn't built for sustained running in the thinner air, but determination seemed to drive her forward, as she matched my pace stride for stride.

The ground began to slope upward beneath our feet, any lingering marshland giving way to solid earth and sparse, hardy vegetation. My muscles burned and my lungs heaved, but I wouldn’t stop. Not until we were safe.

Behind us came the distant rumble of more ships. But these were undoubtedly Kronock vessels coming after the second rescue ship, the one they’d been expecting.

Time was running out.

"Almost there," I gasped, though I had no way of knowing exactly where the ship had landed. I had to say it to keep myself and Morgan going without despairing that we were too late.

We crested a small rise, and I pulled Morgan down again as the dark outlines of Kronock soldiers came into view in the valley below, moving with purpose toward the next ridge of hills.

They'd seen the ship arrive. They were closing in.

I met Morgan's eyes, but I didn’t see the defeat I’d expected. Instead, she looked enraged.

“I’m not letting those fuckers capture our friends.”

I blinked at her, not accustomed to hearing her talk like that. But it fired up my own battle instincts. “Then let’s reach those fuckers first.”

And then we were on our feet again, racing against time and against the trap that was closing around us all.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Morgan

My lungs burned, but I couldn’t stop. Even as I squinted into the first rays of sun teasing the horizon and my vision blurred, I kept running. At least we were free of the swamp. That was something.

After slogging through the marsh, the solid terrain felt strange beneath my feet. No more sinking into mud with each step, no more worrying about what slithering creatures might be lurking in the murky water. The air smelled of dust rather than the stagnant, sulfuric odor of the swamp, which I welcomes even as I sucked in greedy breaths.