Chapter 26

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Although Scarlet's thoughts were as thick as mud, her fingers

were nimble and fast, dancing through the familiar motions of 

 powering down the godship. 

 Just like all those nights she returned to the farm after finishing

 her deliveries.

 She could almost smell the musty tang of her grandmother's

 hangar,  combined with the fresh, earthy breeze coming off 

 the fields. 

 She lowered the landing gear and eased down the brakes.

 The ship settled, humming idly for a moment before she

shut down the engine, and it fell silent.

Something thumped behind her. 

 A woman began to yell shrilly, her anger made sticky and 

confusing in Scarlet's cobwebbed brain.

A headache began to throb in the front of her skull, gradually

 taking over entire head. 

 Scarlet flinched and leaned back in the pilot's seat, pressing her

palms over her eye to shout out the pain, the swamp of confusion,

 the sudden piercing light that burst through her vision.

She groaned, slumping forward. No harness caught her 

 like she'd  expected and soon she was hunched over her knees, 

taking full  gasping breaths as if she'd nearly drowned.

Her mouth was dry, her jaw aching as if she'd been

 riding her teeth for hours. 

But as she held very still, and choked on very deep 

 breaths, the  throbbing in her head began to subside. 

 Her thoughts cleared. 

 The muffled yelling sharpened and spiked.

Scarlet opened her eyes.

 A surge of nausea passed over her, but she swallowed 

hard and let it pass.

She knew instantly that not her delivery ship, and she

 was not in her grandmother's hangar. 

The smell was all wrong, the floorboards too clean....

"... want Lieutenant Hensla sent down immediately,

 along with a full team for scouting and ship identification..."

The woman's voice shot like electricity through Scarlet's 

 nerves, and  she remembered. 

The ship, the attack, the gun in her hand, the bullet hitting 

 Wolf in the chest, the sense of hollowness as the thaumaturge

 burrowed into her brain, took over her thoughts, took away

 all sense of identity 

and will.

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