Waymakers (Champions of the Crystal Book 9)

Chapter 10.2

The smoke was so dense she could barely see, and she was forced to feel her away along the corridor. She hoped the fire would not spread; she did not feel heat or sense flames nearby, so perhaps the burning Wayship had managed to bring down his bulkheads and contain the damage. She was sure that her father would have tried to give his passengers a chance to escape, even though he had been unable to save his Tirqwin.

Tugging the anti-grav lift along behind her, she reached an escape capsule. She opened the hatch and saw with dismay that this side of the Ship was buried in soil. No escape this way. She was surprised the floor felt level, but then perhaps the artificial gravity was still operational. It would not remain so for long, she suspected.

She hoped Koran would be successful in his errand. Surely if they could retrieve her father's brain, housed in the most secure part of the Wayship, they could find a way to keep him alive.

She hurried to the other side of the Ship and saw sky through the small porthole on the capsule. Frowning, she thought for a moment, though her heart was beating fast and she was choking on the smoke. Koran always told her to think before acting, so that her actions would be optimal.

As always, she was grateful for his advice. She would not be able to carry her crystal off the ship if she had to climb, but she could use the capsule to convey it. She carefully strapped it in, then went back into the corridor, closed the airlock, and pressed the series of buttons to jettison the pod. After the five-second delay, it launched itself away from the ship, though with this planet's gravity, it would not go far, she guessed. It was meant for use in space, of course.

She overrode the safety protocols on the airlock and climbed out of the Ship, grateful for the first lungful of clean air. She slid out of the hatch and down the gentle curve of the Ship's exterior, then dropped to the ground without injury, though it left her breathless and aggravated the bruises she had suffered in the impact.

She looked around for the capsule and spotted it nearby. It had indeed not gotten far, not least because they were in a clearing surrounded by massive trees. The capsule had wedged itself into the trunk of one, though it looked like it might fall at any moment.

What now? she asked herself. Her instinct was to wait for Koran, but he had told her not to. It was vital that she and her crystal escape. They had made it to the correct solar system but the wrong planet, and she might have a long way ahead of her to reach her longed-for sanctuary on Deltarr.

And yet what good was safety if none of the ones she loved survived to share it with her? She had not seen her mother in many long years, and she could only guess that she had returned home to Deltarr. They had been too long apart to feel like family. She wanted her father and Koran with her. She needed them with her.

Her heart leapt with joy as Koran's head appeared at the hatch she had climbed out of. She cried out his name as she ran forward, sobbing with relief as he turned to haul a bundle covered in cloth out behind him.

"You got him!" she shouted. "Oh, thank you, Koran! Thank you!"

He paused to look down at her, his face dark with soot and his expression somber. "Do not thank me, dear one. I saved what I could, but...I am sorry."

She realized with a sickening feeling of dread that his bundle was too large to be the brain globe of a Wayship. "But—"

"He was already gone. The globe was smashed. But the matrix may yet be of some use to us." Koran held out the bundle. "Can you catch it?"

Her vision was blurred with hot tears, and she was hiccuping slightly with the effort not to wail. But she nodded, reaching up her arms, and he dropped the swaddled matrix into them.