Several spider drones sit silently along the runway, dark and unmanned. Large, black orbs sit farther down. “Sky Ships,” I whisper.
I can feel Bastien nod beside me, but he pulls us away. Sky Ships weren’t made for space travel. They’re only short distance transports, meant for use only on Earth. What we need must bend through time and space.
Kyan had informed me that the ship we need will be held in a locked hangar. We’ll know it by its sleek design, larger than a house and shaped like a bullet with two wings on either side.
Bastien leads us toward the main hangar. He peers in through the door and instantly ducks as a guard passes by. “You’re invisible,” I remind him as he tugs me toward a smaller building. This structure only has one hangar door. We press against the wall, struggling to regulate our breathing. Once the breath leaves our bodies, it can be seen. One of the few downsides to invisibility.
“How do we get inside?” I rise onto my toes to whisper in his ear.
“Through that door.” Even though I can’t see where his hand points, I spy a door halfway down the building that has been left slightly ajar.
I don’t have time to point out this detail as Bastien yanks me forward and pauses only long enough to check for a guard inside before we’re through and I feel warmth upon my cheeks. The hangar doesn’t appear to be heated, but the lack of wind makes the air feel at least ten degrees warmer.
Bastien clamps his hand over my mouth as I cry out. An explosion from outside rattles the walls, surprising me. I turn and peer out the door and see a mushroom cloud rising into the air. “What was that?”
“Must have gone for a fuel truck.”
Gunshots and the hum of laser fire piece the night air. I stiffen, silently counting the seconds between return fire. “That sounds too close—”
Bastien’s radio bursts to life. Amid the white noise of static, I recognize Dorian’s voice. “We are… ambush… abort…” The radio falls silent in Bastien’s hand.
“Did he say ambush? How did they know we were coming?”
“I don’t know.” Bastien looks grim. A scream breaks through the rapid fire and he closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“We have to go help them.” I turn to head toward the door, but Bastien pulls me back.
“We stick with the plan.”
“But—”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Men die in war. You know this, Illyria. You would make the same call.” Another explosion ricochets through the base. I duck instinctively, although we are well out of harm’s way. “That’s the oil field. There’s nothing we can do.”
Anger wells up in my chest. I know he is right. I’ve made this same call dozens of times. “Fine. Let’s just get this stupid transport and get the heck out of here.”
I remind myself that Gorgan wasn’t with that group. Maybe he can still make it out alive.
As I turn to sweep my gaze across the room, sirens blare around the base. Engines roar to life, tires squealing as they speed away from us. The scent of burnt rubber hangs in the air as Bastien pulls away from the door. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds us, invisible or not.
“This way,” Bastien whispers, leading me through a maze of small aircraft. I spy planes with hulking engines, streamlined jets, and an oddly shaped machine with a propeller perched atop it instead of on the wings. “There it is.”
I round the back end of an odd triangle-shaped aircraft to find a sleek black alien warship that, now that I’m up close, resembles an arrow instead of a bullet. It looks deadly, its design perfected to fly under enemy radar and spiral through the stars.
The nose is pointed, fanning out in a V before narrowing into a long shaft. It is the latest in a long line of lethal ships Aloysius has designed over the past year. “Can you really fly one of those?”
“Sure.” Bastien doesn’t look so sure as I release his hand and he reappears. He reaches up and slowly trails his fingers over the hull. It ripples, almost as if he’d touched the surface of a pond instead of a metallic ship. “Can you really make this thing invisible?”
I eye the massive ship with apprehension. “Let’s hope so.”
Sliding my own hand across the hull, I realize it is cold as ice, yet the feel of the alien technology fuels are fire deep within my soul. As if some part of me has just awoken. “Can you feel that?” I whisper.
“Yeah.” I turn to find him staring at the ship in awe.
I can sense its purpose through my fingertips, the sheer power and brutality this ship could unleash if given the chance. The urge to set the entire base on fire consumes me as I press my hand flat against the hull.