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“All the things I’ve seen,” Elena murmured, sounding wistful.

He could appreciate the sentiment. In his lifetime, he had witnessed great things he never would have imagined, from the end of civil war and the Toufik liberation, to alliances with great nations like the Osivoire and Anguis.

They reached the first stasis pods and the team assessing the situation.

“I think the easiest way to get the pods out is to hook up a handful in tandem and engage the levitation field. When you first emerge from the tunnel, watch the current, we don’t want it to whip the pods at the end of the line into the hull,” Thorac instructed.

The retrieval crew murmured assent and started working.

“Elena.” Thorac turned to her. “Come show me the end of the line. I want to set up a barrier so none of the pods drift deeper into the tunnel after their levitation field is switched on.”

“Definitely.” Elena nodded and led the way.

Payim smiled, filled with pride at the way Elena wasn’t daunted despite how foreign all of this was to her. Her hand gently skimmed over the stasis pods as they headed down the center aisle. She knew none of these people and yet she cared for them. Elena felt the same way for the survivors imprisoned in the Jurou Biljana outpost, fearing that some may even be part of her clan. His brow furrowed with guilt.

I promised we would help them.

Payim tapped his ear. “Scala.” He engaged the private channel.

“Is everything going smoothly?” Scala answered.

“So far. Have a moment?” he asked.

“Aye.”

“I was thinking about the other survivors. There has to be something we can do before the fleet arrives,” he broached the subject.

He knew the weapon the Osivoire would use, and it would decimate the entire outpost along with everyone in it.

“I was questioning the same thing. If we can somehow snag the Vicarious running the outpost, we’ll know for sure if any rift drives have made it off-world,” Scala agreed.

“Exactly!”

“We’ll need a way to get past the palisade around the place,” Scala mused.

“There is the reptile cruiser I parked in the hangar,” Payim suggested, as an idea started to form.

“One of their cruisers, you say,” Scala said thoughtfully.

Perhaps he’d be able to keep his promise to Elena after all.

FIFTEEN

NO MAN LEFT BEHIND

Elena

“That’s the last of the stasis pods,” Thorac commented as the team brought in the train of five units hitched together.

“You’re safe now, Megan.” Elena patted the last pod in line.

They’d filled eleven of the suites and the storage bay was stacked five high with the pods, but they had everyone. She sighed as she took it in, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. They still weren’t off the planet and nothing had been decided about the future home for her sleeping friends, but they were infinitely safer.

“You did it,” she wistfully murmured to herself.

“Thank you for your assistance.” Thorac patted her back, pulling her out of her reverie.

“My pleasure. I couldn’t resist trying on this amazing suit.” She looked down and flexed her hands, in awe of the hard shell. Even her sight was crisper somehow.