His ship exploded. One more second’s delay and he’d have gone up with it.
He staggered to his feet and found the torpedo a few meters away. Once again, he balanced it on his shoulder and took off at a jog for the third burning craft.
When he arrived, he found Cambry and Lily dragging a torpedo between the two of them, away from the burning ship. Clever, capable females. Why had humans ever become a subjugated species? Clearly they were equal to his own.
“Well done,” he praised.
The females let it drop to the ground between them, panting. “What are we going to do with these?”
“I’m going to walk to that mine and drop them down the vecking hole.”
Lily giggled, a sort of hysterical sound.
A slow smile spread across Cambry’s face. “All right. Let’s do it.”
“I’ll go,” he said. “Alone. It’s a suicide mission.”
“Veck that,” Cambry said. “You can’t carry two bombs. We all go.”
He rubbed the soot from his forehead. “Fine. Let’s move.”
They wouldn’t hold through the night.
Zander’s pilots were exhausted. They’d been fighting all planet rotation against impossible odds. He still had no contact from Seke or any being from the other troop.
He’d been inching—literally inching—the galactacarrier toward Zandia during the battle. If Seke’s pilots were out there fighting, they might use the carrier as a resource if he could get close enough. That, and he wanted to be within the atmosphere if they went down.
Because yes, it looked as if they’d eventually be shot out of the sky.
Rok’s urgent commands to his pilots came through his comms unit.
He changed the frequency to their other channels, hoping to pick up something—anything—from the troops fighting on Zandia.
He stopped when he heard the idle chatter of females.
His female, to be exact.
Every nerve ending in his body went to full alert. What was this? They were telling stories. Or were they acting out a holo-play? He attempted to get a hologram of them, but it wasn’t available. Just the sound.
They were offering a signal. For him? Were they in trouble? He started to trace the signal to a location.
“But I like my male to know there’s always a place for him to come home to,” one of the females purred.
Ah.
Not a distress signal. A beacon. Leading their pilots home.
Which must mean Seke’s troop was still fighting but needed help. Their base ship must’ve gone down.
Well, he’d have to get the galactacarrier over the damn planet to unite their efforts.
He armed the galactacarrier with all the firepower left. He’d have to use it up now, saving none for when he arrived.
It was a risk he’d have to take. He’d rather die on Zandia than out here in unclaimed airspace.
“Battle fleet, return to mothership,” he ordered. “I repeat, battlefleet, return to mothership immediately.”
Rok’s fighter pilots swooped and turned, zooming back to the galactacarrier.