Of Smoke and Stardust [[COMPLETE]]]

CHAPTER 22- PARKER

Parker had to stop himself from running onto the bridge, and force his feet to walk at a normal pace to where Zion and Jorrit were standing in deep discussion. Their heads were hung over Jorrit's smart tab, Jorrit nodded when Zion pointed to something on the screen. Kaz was in his pilot's seat, lounging as if this were a cruise ship and not hounded by the government.

Parker's heart wouldn't stop its insane drumming. The beating thing in his chest was like a bat trapped in a cage. He wasn't sure if it had been from his heated interaction with Alya, or that he was finally-FINALLY-moving forward with finding his brother.

Every night in Mallowmont, after every fight, after every meal, all he had thought about how to get to Jayden-where he was-how he could save him. And now it was actually happening. Like a spark that ignited his life-he'd get his brother back, and their lives back.

"You have a plan?" Parker asked, reigning in the excitement that tinged his voice.

Zion glanced up at him from the screen him and Jorrit were hunched over. Jorrit shifted beside him, not meeting Parker's eyes. Something was amiss...

"Mostly," Zion started. "There's still a bit of planning to do with everyone, but Jorrit managed to get into their mainframe."

Parker raised a brow, and when Zion didn't give any more information, asked, "Then what's the problem?"

The hawks exchanged a quick side-eyed glance. "We need to plan for the worst case scenario," The captain answered, his face somber.

"Okay." Parker nodded. "So, again, what's the problem?"

Jorrit shifted from one foot to the other, and adjusted his glasses as he looked down, away from Parker. After clasping and unclasping his hands, he finally shoved them in his pockets. The kid was naturally awkward-but not that bad. Something was wrong.

Parker's stomach curdled with dread. Had they found something out about his brother during their search?

With a sigh, Zion scrubbed his hand through his hair and looked out towards the window where the galaxy loomed. "Jorrit found back door access into a security self-destruct mechanism..."

Whatever warmth he'd felt before, was now completely gone as ice crept up his body. "That would kill everyone." That would kill his brother.

Zion nodded slowly-deliberately. "It would be a last resort." It wasn't a reassurance.

Parker tried to swallow the lump in his throat. If they failed, Jayden would die-Parker would die-the HAWKS would die. Was Jayden worth it? Of course he was-for Parker-in exchange for his own life. He ran his hand over his face, and rubbed at his eyes. Why did everything have to have a catch? His life without his brother would be pointless. He'd hate himself for however long he lived if he didn't try whatever it took to get Jayden out. There was really no choice for Parker.

He nodded. "I understand." Parker hoped Zion got the meaning in his words; he understood the cost to him, but he wouldn't force the HAWKS to take the same risk.

Zion nodded his head in return. "We still have to figure out what to do about their security. They have orbiting satellites monitoring the atmosphere. We can't just knock one out of orbit without them knowing something's going on. If we don't get passed their radar, we can't even begin the mission."

"R-Right." Jorrit finally spoke up. "If I can just get into the central mainframe, I can override the few minutes it would take us to get through the atmosphere and land without them knowing. But it could be tricky with their firewalls in place, and if they have added security, they could be alerted to an intrusion..." His words turned to mumbled gibberish as a paragraph of text popped up on the lenses of his glasses and he tried to read and speak at the same time.