Mother of Stars

Reunion - Skylar

Kyrom plopped a stack of trays down on one of the bridge's walkways next to Chester and Page. They each contained multiple layers of packaged nutrient bars. "Eat this."

The Marines stared at each other incredulously. Sitting next to them, I held back a chuckle.

"You must heal, and to do so you need matter," Kyrom explained, gesturing with a claw. "Each as much as you need to regrow your limbs. I'll get more."

Chester looked at Kyrom and gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you."

The captain bowed slightly and exited the bridge.

Chester plucked a bar from the top tray and examined it as he crickled the wrapping within his hand. He shrugged. "Better than nothing."

He dangled the still-wrapped bar over his open jaws and dropped it in. He swallowed it whole, pounded his chest with his fist, then burped. "Ahh, that was good."

"Ugh," Page groaned as she grabbed a handful of bars. "You're disgusting."

"You're discovering that now?" He chuckled as he shoveled more into his mouth.

She rolled her eyes.

I turned my attention to the bridge's domed viewscreen as the two Drakes continued to bicker. We had escaped the underground storage chamber several minutes ago and were now soaring into the planet's upper atmosphere. The blue sky was turning black. We were traveling at hundreds of meters per second, yet there wasn't a whisper from the ship.

Kyrom carried more trays into the bridge and set them next to me. He took one bar for himself and shoved the rest closer to me. "This should be plenty."

No sooner than I had started eating, the Defects started pouring into the bridge. They moved with a slow, calculating walk. We all awkwardly stood and crowded near the middle of the walkway to stay clear of the Defects as they filled the four quadrants of the bridge.

"Defect," Kyrom growled through his teeth. "I request you share your plan from here. Tell us what needs to happen."

"I wait for the rest of my fighters to arrive. Then we warp to Mother's exact location. We will invade the nearest buffer fulcrum, seize control, and constrict the fabric of the universe around Mother."

Kyrom gave the crowd of Defects a perplexed look. "What is a buffer fulcrum?"

"You will see."

"Captain," Nylis spoke into my head. "The rest of the Drakes have arrived."

The four of us stared at each other with wide eyes. I sprinted through the bridge entrance. "Which hangar?"

"The same one we were in."

My shoulder slammed into the wall and sprayed sparks everywhere as I turned the corner into the hallway. The others easily kept up behind me.

The doors to the hangar slid open a split second before I smacked into them. The three dimensional array of fighters had squashed themselves to the sides of the hangar to make room for the Defect ships that had already settled in the docking bays. Several of their ramps were already descending. The drones were hanging back near the doors, stoically observing our entrance.

Armored Drakes started leaping out before the ramps touched the floor. Many of them had their plasma blades up and ready for attack, until they saw us. The closest one withdrew his head armor, revealing cherry red scales and an astonished expression.

"Lieutenant?" he sputtered.

Thayre nodded. "Ferris."

The Marine gazed in awe around the hangar at the hundreds of fighters bunched up against the walls. "I thought this was another one of their ships. It was unrecognizable from the outside."