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I nodded, but another violent shudder ran through the ship, knocking us both to the floor. Tivek twisted as we fell, taking the brunt of the impact on his shoulder while cradling me against him.

The lights flickered, then died completely, plunging us into darkness broken only by the flashing red of overhead emergency beacons. In the red-pulsing darkness, Tivek's face hovered above mine, his expression a mixture of determination and something else I couldn't quite name. Something almost like tenderness.

“I won’t let anything hurt you,” he said, his breath warm against my cheek. "Whatever happens, I’ll keep you safe.”

I knew it wasn’t a promise he could make, but every fiber of my being believed him. Every cell in my body trusted him. I almost laughed out loud at the thought of trusting a confessed spy who’d been lying to all of us. But one look in his eyes, and I knew he was telling the truth. He would keep me safe.

Another explosion rocked the ship, closer this time, and I closed my eyes, clutching Tivek tighter and praying I’d see the academy and my friends again.

Chapter

Five

Tivek

The ship pitched wildly as another explosion rocked the hull, sending tremors through the metal floor. Alarms wailed and an acrid stench burned my nostrils as I clutched Morgan against me to shield her from falling equipment.

I managed to stand and pull her up with me, yanking open the door. “Hold onto me!"

The corridor outside rocked beneath our feet, the artificial gravity fluctuating with each new impact. Emergency lights flashed crimson, casting everything in a hellish glow.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Ariana's voice crackled from the cockpit, strain evident in every syllable. "I repeat, brace for impact!"

Morgan stumbled as the deck plates buckled. I caught her around the waist, half-carrying her as we staggered toward the jump seats behind the cockpit. The walls seemed to close inaround us, the ship groaning like a wounded animal as its structural integrity weakened.

As we emerged from the corridor, the ship was in chaos. Commander Vyk gripped the back of the pilot's chair, his knuckles white as he leaned over Ariana's shoulder. Torq was frantically working the weapons console, his face illuminated by the rapid flicker of warning indicators.

"Get strapped in!" Vyk barked without turning to look at us. "Now!"

I guided Morgan to the nearest jump seat, my fingers fumbling with the harness as I secured her in place. Her face was pale in the flashing lights, but her jaw was tight with determination.

“What hit us?" I demanded, sliding into the seat beside her and fastening my own restraints. "Enemy fire?"

Vyk shook his head, twisting his head for a beat to reveal a scowl. "Unknown. Ariana?"

"Mine field," Ariana gritted out, her hands dancing across the controls as she fought to stabilize our descent. "Cloaked. No signatures until we were right on top of it. Once I thought the coast was clear and we hadn’t been detected, I took us out of orbit around that planet. It was smooth sailing until, well, it wasn’t.”

I exchanged a glance with Vyk as he glanced over his shoulder, both of us reaching the same conclusion simultaneously.

"If there's a mine field..." I began.

"Then we're near something they want protected," Vyk finished, his eyes narrowing. "Possibly our target."

Torq abandoned the weapons console to secure himself in a jump seat. "Can we still make it to the planet?”

"We're losing structural integrity,” Ariana said, her voice taut. "Engine two is offline. We need to land—now."

The viewport before us revealed the dark vastness of space, punctuated by the looming gray orb of the Kronock planet we’d been studying for so long.

"Can you get us to the surface?" Vyk pressed, bracing himself as another shudder ran through the ship.

Ariana's laugh was brittle. "Oh, I can get us to the surface. The question is whether I can do it without turning us into a fireball.”

“I guess we aren’t making a stealth approach?” Torq asked.

“Oh, they’ll know we’ve arrived,” Ariana said. "I might be able to get us down in one piece, but our invisibility shielding is toast. We're looking at a crash landing in an uninhabited region, but at least there’s minimal Kronock presence."

I felt Morgan's hand slip into mine, her fingers cold against my palm. She wasn't visibly trembling, but I could sense the fear she was fighting to control. I squeezed gently, offering what comfort I could as the ship rattled around us.