From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in the Ash and Ember Series

Greetings from the Dead

Captain Ryden looks me up and down as I enter the flight deck.

"You've got to be kidding me," she says, eyeing my slip dress and heels.

"I wasn't expecting to be meeting tonight." I straighten my back, trying to look assertive despite my scantily clad appearance.

"Clearly." She looks at Sutter and nods her head to the left. Seeming to understand her wordless communication, he promptly spins on his heels and exits the room.

"We have a problem," she says, trying her best to ignore my ridiculous ensemble. "We've lost contact with your brother and while it goes against my better judgement to ask you for advice, the General seems to see something in you that I do not. And I suppose, since you are a Mod, your superior intellect couldn't hurt the situation."

"Gee, thanks," I mutter.

"Yes, well, the time for pleasantries has come and gone."

"If that was her being pleasant, I'd hate to see her when she's mad," Wyler whispers next to me as Captain Ryden turns to pull something up on the large screen behind her.

"Let's bring you up to speed," she says oblivious to, or choosing to ignore, Wyler's comment.

I nod, and try my best to look serious even though I feel like a fool in this dress. I stumble as I move towards the command center and try to continue walking as if nothing happened. In my head, I curse Constantine for insisting that I wear these ridiculous heels. If I could just get a sensible pair of shoes, I'd at least feel a little better. As if reading my mind, Sutter reappears with a pair of brown combat boots.

"Sorry, it's all I could find," he whispers as he hands me the shoes. Wyler gives him an odd look, like he doesn't appreciate Sutter's assistance. He takes off his suit jacket and wraps it around my shoulders as Sutter resumes his position next to Captain Ryden.

As I slip my arms through the sleeves of Wyler's jacket, I give him a look of irritation at his possessiveness. He shrugs his shoulders and mouths, "what?" to which I shake my head at his ridiculousness. Leaning my hand onto Wyler's arm for support, I begin unlacing my strappy heels. I'm momentarily distracted by his biceps, flexing underneath my weight. He's been working out a lot over the past few months, trying to regain his strength. He thinks I haven't noticed, but I have. It's hard not to. He looks different than the Wyler I remember: beefier, more mature. There are lines on his face that weren't there before. The events over the last six months have aged us all.

Wyler stares at me, eyeing me up and down in my ridiculous getup: brown combat boots, a green slip dress, his suit jacket, hair and make-up done. Now it's my turn to ask, "what?"

"Nothing," he tries not to smile. "You look cute, that's all."

My cheeks immediately turn bright red and I want to hit him in the shoulder for doing this right now when I'm trying to be taken seriously.

Captain Ryden clears her throat. "Contact with your brother has been limited since the planet returned to its rogue state. When we were able to pick up a signal, it was simply a set of coordinates on repeat, no doubt a recording he's put on a loop in hopes that we would hear it."

"So where will the coordinates take us?" I ask, standing upright in the combat boots. My feet immediately feel better and I feel more like myself.

"Here. Where we currently are. Yet we can't find the planet."

"May I?" I say, pointing to the screen that's projected in front of the immense viewing window, out of which I see nothing but endless space. No planet in sight.

"At first I thought that when they were dislodged from the pull of the black hole, it caused a datum shift, but it appears as if part of the coordinates are missing."