Arrival

ADIRA

As we near the bridge, we pass several Vullan.

They do the same bow, their eyes flicking to me before they avert their gazes.

I get the sense that Fer’ro is glaring at them, but whenever I glance up at him, all I can see is that steady, expressionless, gaze of his.

I never thought looking into such devilish eyes would be comforting, but a warmth spreads over me whenever our gazes meet.

The door to the bridge opens and several Vullan turn to look our way.

I see the moment Sam turns and sees me.

Her mouth opens to call my name but then she is frozen in shock as she takes me in.

“Adira?” She’s suddenly rushing toward me.

She grips my arms as she looks me up and down.

“You got one of their suits?!”

I open my mouth to tell her that wasn’t the case when I hear a low click.

Fer’ro.

He’s right.

It’s too much to explain right now, especially when the Vullan don’t fully understand the details of it all.

I smile at Sam instead. “Yea, I did.”

“How?!”

“Just lucky, I guess.” My gaze meets Fer’ro’s and his ears twitch as he watches us.

“I was worried about you. I heard you went to the surface to help them and you got taken by the machine again. Oh my god, how did you manage to get out?”

My smile brightens. “Long story. I’ll tell you sometime.” My gaze averts to the front of the bridge where there’s a wide viewscreen. “Right now, we have to make plans for what’s to come.”

I take a few steps toward the viewscreen and look out.

I sense when Fer’ro moves to stand beside me. His warmth is like a comforting energy that flows around my ba’clan.

“There,” he says, gesturing with his chin ahead.

It looks like a rocky mountain.

“What am I looking at?”

“Scans indicate a series of large tu

“A cave system?”

“Correct.” Fer’ro glances at me for a second before turning his gaze back to the view. “We will open it and hide our ship there. And then…operations will begin.”

I feel a slight ball of anxiety begin to grow in my chest.

“Operations?” Sam asks.

“There is only one way we know to kill the Gryken. A weapon we managed to create in the last days of the war, but by then it was too late for Edooria.”

I glance up at him, but Fer’ro doesn’t skip a beat.

“When we reached this planet, it is how we took the first Gryken down—the one that had you imprisoned inside it.”

Sam shuffles a little on her feet and I know the same images, the same terror of having been in the belly of the machine, is coming right back to her.

“But we need materials to fuel it. Unfortunately, that material isn’t easily accessible and we only have limited stores on this ship.”

Sam glances at me and I release a breath.

“We can do it,” I say. “Whatever you need, we can do it.”

“We will do it,” Fer’ro corrects. “Together.”

A smile spreads my lips as I cross my arms and look up at him.

I don’t realize we’ve locked gazes for more than a few moments till Sam clears her throat beside me.

I pull my gaze away from Fer’ro’s and focus outside the ship once more. It is the only thing I can do other than meet Sam’s questioning gaze.

There is so much I need to tell her.

“So this will be the base then, huh.” I stare at the mountain before us. I have no idea where we are right now, but the landmass I’m looking at is about to be my home for the foreseeable future.

“Well,” I say, “if it’s going to be home, we have to give it a name.”

Fer’ro thrums a little. It is so low, I know Sam doesn’t hear it even though she is right next to us.

“It has a name,” he says. “We call it…Base Zero.”

“Base Zero,” I whisper.

My ba’clan thrum as I look at the mountain and I reach out and grasp Fer’ro’s hand.

He stiffens a little before he relaxes against me and his hand squeezes mine.

We’ve done so much already…

But this is only the begi