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  “We're not done yet. We've still got some Beltine to deal with and a ship to help them repair.”

  “Oh, I think we'll handle both of those things just fine.” Xander smiled, his eyes briefly lighting up, and she felt herself responding in a similar manner. If it was one thing she was good at, it was dealing with the Beltine. Drew would have to help with the repairs.

  “Come play our game. No sense in us all waiting and twiddling our fingers while we look for the hive ship,” Xander said, talking a little louder. No sooner had he finished speaking than Trey and Drew appeared, the techie having the respect to at least look a little sheepish for having stayed in earshot.

  Matt shook her head, not cross. It somehow helped that they all knew what she was going through without having to voice it again. They were her team. Feeling better for her emotional outburst and the understanding her crew mates showed, Matt allowed herself to be tugged into the game.

  Almost half an hour later she jumped as the alarm sounded. Drew's coffee mug flew over, knocked by his arm as he also reacted to the sudden loud noise.

  “Tyra!” Drew yelled, despite her being too far away to hear. Her twin merely laughed and used a couple of nearby napkins to mop up the dark brown liquid that had spilled across the table.

  Xander was the first up on his feet with Matt not far behind him, pack once more in hand.

  “Found something?” he asked over the comms as he hurried to the cockpit.

  “Definitely have, boss,” she yelled back, not bothering to use the system when she could hear them coming. “Beltine hive. Still in orbit, but she's so low she's almost skimming the atmosphere. And damaged, definitely damaged.”

  “Let’s finish them off, then,” Matt replied for Xander, her eyes already looking for a visual of what Tyra had described. Right in front of them, magnified on the HUD, was a smallish Beltine hive, the hull shiny with the exception of some deep scorch marks across one side. Given what they now knew about hive ships, Matt guessed this was a young one, one only recently enslaved.

  “Trey—on guns. Drew, take the back-up chair. The main ship may be injured but there's bound to be some fighters. Tyra, do a quick fly-by from a distance and see if we draw anything out. Hopefully we can get a good measure of what we're up against without getting ourselves into too much trouble.

  Feeling for her Adamanta needles on the outer hull, Matt waited for her commands. She knew Xander was being rightly wary. They'd never taken a hive ship on solo before. If it hadn't been small and evidently in distress she knew they wouldn't even be doing so now. At some point they were going to need her.

  “Here they come,” Tyra said less than a minute later. More than a dozen fighters shot out from the far side of the hive, all of them swinging over the top of their parent ship before heading straight for the Contessa.

  “Trey and Drew, take out as many as you can. Tyra, keep it evasive and out of range of the hive.”

  Matt looked to her commander, wondering where her first order was. For a moment he merely met her gaze, his thoughts making his eyes look vacant for a brief second.

  “Matt, don't let any get too close to us, but keep your Adamanta use to a minimum,” he added, confirming her earlier thoughts. He wanted her in reserve for later.

  The cockpit fell silent as everyone waited, only Tyra moving as her fingers pressed buttons and her hand kept a tight grip on the control stick. A fraction of a second before the first fighter was in range, Trey opened fire. Drew followed suit and Matt watched as a couple of the fighters flew right into the oncoming laser fire.

  The rest quickly split off, still gaining on the Contessa, but doing so at angles, weaving back and forth and making themselves harder to hit, something they should have been doing from the beginning. Were they inexperienced young Beltine as well as the hive the commanded? It might explain what they were doing out on the edges of space so far from Beltine territory.

  Tyra dodged a salvo of returning fire as Trey and Drew took out another four of the fighters, but two of their pursuers came surging forward through the wreckage of their brethren and bore down on the Contessa's new position.

  As a salvo of bolts ripped across their side and warning alarms went off, Matt hurled a set of her needles, tearing through the small vessels. Both began to veer off course, jetting pockets of gas and pressured air into space before shooting past them.

  With seven fighters left, all of them swinging around to make another run past the Contessa, Drew jumped out of the secondary gunner’s chair, shouting something about needing to get to the engine panel in the cargo hold.

  Without waiting for the command, Matt leaped out of the co-pilot seat to take his place, but Xander was already there, his eyes focused on the small screen acting as his targeting guide. Raising her eyebrows but keeping her thoughts to herself, she slipped back into the chair and felt for her Adamanta needles with her mind again. They couldn't take another hit like that and survive this fight.

  Whether Xander liked it or not, it was time she waded into battle as well.

  Chapter 9

  Xander gritted his teeth as he aimed at yet another fighter. The craft dodged to one side, missing his laser fire by inches and once again showing him that they were far more maneuverable than the Contessa. All of a sudden the fighter exploded, never getting another chance to attack them.

  “You're welcome, sir,” Matt said, a smug sound to her voice. Despite his reservations about her going all in, he had to admit, he was grateful she knew how to make herself useful in a fire-fight in space as well as in hand-to-hand combat.

  “How's it going with those repairs,” Xander said into the comm as he missed yet another fighter. This had been one of his best elements in training, but he was out of practice. Used to giving orders and letting others take the hot seat. Making a mental note to get in some more practice on his down time, Xander aimed at another fighter as it came into range. This time he scored a direct hit, reducing the fighters’ numbers to four.

  Suddenly the remaining vessels broke off, veering back towards their hive, something very unexpected for a Beltine assault. Once they committed, they were usually all in until it was over, one way or another.

  “Still having a few problems, sir,” Drew's voice came back. “They shot us up pretty good. We've momentarily lost a lot of secondary systems, and life support is a bit wobbly.”

  “What do you mean, a bit wobbly?” Tyra replied before Xander could ask.

  “It's trying to raise the temperature on us. Seems to think it's too cold. I momentarily fooled it by yanking the temperature unit entirely.”

  Matt laughed as another fighter exploded, evidently still in range of her weaponry, even if it wasn't in range of their ship’s. Xander’s eyes went wide at the distance it was from them.

  “Woah, girl, was that you?” Tyra asked.

  “Yeah. Bringing my little needles back home now, though,” Matt replied, rubbing her head. Xander frowned, considering reprimanding her, but she'd saved their bacon and ensured the Beltine retreat didn't go entirely to plan.

  “Hang back a moment, Tyra. I want to give Drew a chance to get us stable and see what their next move is.”

  “Aren't we worried they'll retreat?” the Lentarin pilot asked. “We don't want them coming back with reinforcements.”

  “I don't think they're going anywhere,” Matt replied before he could. “They're in a decaying orbit, just like we were told. If they could fire up their engines they'd be doing so. They're crippled and an easy target.”

  Xander tapped on the comms button again, impatient to make the next move. There was nothing worse than the tension of an expected battle, or dragging one out longer than necessary.

  “Drew?” he asked, trying to keep some of the impatience he felt out of his voice. He failed.

  “Yeah, yeah, keep your hair on, sir. I'm working on it.”

  “How close are we to all-good?”

  “Well, we're not going to die, but we're either going to need to f
inish this battle quickly or you'd better give me time to really repair this.”

  Xander frowned, glancing at the hive. Matt was right, it was crippled. One salvo in the right area and it would be sent into the planet’s atmosphere, hopefully with some devastating consequences.

  “All right, just keep us going as best you can. Tyra, take us within weapons range.” He paused, noticing a grin spread across Matt's face, evidently approving of his decision. “Matt, find something to pull apart as soon as you can.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  As her eyes also lit up, he felt the first tendrils of worry filter into his stomach. It was always a concern that one day she'd push herself too hard, but they needed her. And not just his team. The entire human race did, even if they didn't realize it.

  Pushing his feelings aside, Xander exhaled and focused on the targeting screen in front of him again, pleased to note Trey had never stopped manning his. With three of them targeting the hive they stood a good chance of doing enough damage.

  Tyra soon brought them in closer, weaving their flight pattern just as the fighters had, expecting the hive to defend itself, but the volley of returning fire was sporadic at best, some of the weapons arrays evidently malfunctioning.

  Both he and Trey opened fire, peppering the outside of the hive with laser bolts, but they had little effect. The hive had a shield up, and it appeared to be at a good strength if nothing else. He stole a glance at Matt, noticing she was fixated on the hive, her expression one of intense concentration. Whatever she was doing, it was taking every ounce of power she had.

  ***

  Matt could see the readings of the Contessa Xander couldn't. Could see how the power was dropping. How they were leaking energy somewhere. Probably thanks to some kind of short-circuit. That meant two things. Trey and Xander were going to be incapacitated soon, and so were their shields. The Contessa had a back-up system that could output just enough energy to let them limp somewhere with life-support intact. That system still had green check marks against it, but it wouldn't keep them alive in a battle. Not if they took more hits.

  Several times she'd considered pointing it out to Xander. Tyra was too busy keeping them moving in some kind of random pattern to notice, and Xander and Trey didn't get this kind of information where they sat. Drew and her were literally the only ones who knew exactly what they were up against. But just like Xander hadn't wanted to burden her with information that wouldn't help her think straight, she didn't want to tell him this. It would make him worry, make him doubt.

  She had no doubt.

  This was a young hive, with new Adamanta. She'd felt it already. The whole ship called to her, ready to absorb her brain patterns. Ready to respond to her. It was almost a rush of adrenaline in and of itself, but Matt had to concentrate.

  Reaching with her mind, she felt for the Adamanta infused in the structure. Felt the newness of it all, looking for something that might be important. As Tyra brought them closer the task grew easier, more controllable. The metal responded more readily, with the exception of one part.

  Near the front of the ship down the central line there was more of the metal, and this didn't respond as quickly, didn't want to yield as much. Matt pushed at it, wondering what was so special about this bit, why someone had attempted to control this area but none of the rest.

  She could feel the tension in the metal, feel several long large spikes being both pushed and pulled at the same time, but it wouldn't respond to her mind, already full of the signals of others. It was the heart of the hive, and this hive was evidently trying to fight back, trying to push the Adamanta out of it. Matt wished she could do something to help, but she wasn't strong enough. There was simply too much for her to move.

  Moving on, Matt tried to feel for something else important. Something that would end this battle before it had really begun, before they ran out of energy and shields themselves.

  It seemed like it took forever, but eventually her mind latched onto another system of Adamanta that appeared to be more than just support beams and ways to join up systems. With her mind, she slowly pushed and tested the metal, feeling it want to respond, like it did when she had fresh, pure Adamanta. It gave way easily, letting her pull it apart and whirl it around, tearing at the depths of the hive.

  With a few flickers, the shield system went down and the weapons fire from Xander and Trey peppered the surface of the ship, adding more scorch marks and holes to the damage already done.

  At the same time, Matt noticed the underbelly of the hive slowly get brighter and redden. The hive's shields had been protecting it against the planet's atmosphere, and now there was nothing to stop the entry from hurting.

  She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, making her feel sick. The young hive was going to die, and not in a pleasant way.

  “Xander, Trey,” she said, feeling an idea pop into her head. “Can you target this part of the hive? Concentrate the fire on one point only.”

  With a few taps of her fingers, she put a marker on the area she'd felt earlier, the area where two minds were warring over control of the Adamanta, and hoped her assumption was correct and this was the hive's mind itself. If they could give it a quick death, put it out of the pain and suffering it must be feeling, it would be a form of mercy.

  Neither gunner replied, but their salvos shifted, aiming far closer to her mark, Trey more on target than Xander.

  With nothing else to do, Matt watched and waited until another alarm went off, clamoring loudly in the cockpit. The flashing indicator on the screen made it clear the continued weapons’ fire had drained the main system of power.

  “We've got a power problem,” she said, beating Drew to letting their Colonel know. A moment later he said almost the same thing over the comms, and less than a minute after that the weapons shut down, no longer enough juice left in the system to create the laser bolts. Matt watched the last salvo of bright yellow laser bolts as they torpedoed towards the vulnerable vessel, unable to look away until she knew if they'd succeeded.

  As the last few connected, driving the blast hole already created another step deeper, a fireball erupted, enveloping the center of the hive and setting of a chain reaction.

  “Yes!” Tyra yelled.

  Matt simply sighed with relief. The hive would no longer be suffering, and on top of that the stranded aliens they'd discovered would now have the opportunity to repair their ship and continue on to where they were needed. As long as the people responsible for the research post kept their side of the little agreement she'd made, it would also mean her parents’ research would continue and she'd be able to keep training soldiers, even if it would be the third home for such a task.

  “Drew, get our power problem sorted,” Xander said into the comms, not giving the techie a moment to be grateful they were out of danger.

  “I'll take us back to the research post, but on the back-up systems it's going to take a while,” Tyra said as soon as Drew had acknowledged the command. It was all any of them could do.

  Matt remained sat in the co-pilot’s seat as Trey excused himself and Tyra pressed buttons, her eyes staying transfixed on the remains of the hive as it burned up in the planet's atmosphere. The whole battle had taken place in a matter of a few short hours from start to finish, and it had felt easy. Normally when taking down a hive she ended up with blood pouring out of her nose and a headache so bad she needed to take the strongest pain killers they had and sleep for almost a decade to feel human again.

  This time she was sat in the cockpit, a mild throb behind her temples the only reminder she'd even used Adamanta at all. It felt wrong. Too easy. And when she looked at Xander to voice as much, she could see he felt the same.

  “We should just be thankful,” he said. “We could have fared so much worse. And we're still not safe. No shields.”

  She nodded, feeling a little better for being reminded of that. It had been easier than normal, but not entirely without risk. The biggest question remained, however. What, or who
had damaged the hive in the first place? They'd probably never know the answer, and Matt couldn't decide if she was okay with that.

  “Get some rest,” Xander said, not letting her drift back into thought. “It's going to be a while before we're back in the hangar, and you'll no doubt have more negotiating to do.”

  Matt nodded and did as she was bid. Her thoughts were too muddled for anything else, and she knew he was right. By the time they got back she needed to be calm and collected.

  With that aim in mind she threw herself down on her bed and lifted her Adamanta from her pack, setting it twirling above her head in the familiar intricate pattern. Instantly, she felt herself relaxing.

  Chapter 10

  A knot sat in the bottom of Matt's stomach, and she had to take several deep breaths to keep calm. For now she was alone. A transport pod was taking her to a familiar house on Netera.

  She'd been back on the planet less than a day, only allowing enough time to be debriefed, remind Livingston about their agreement to continue her parents’ research, and request information regarding the new alien race they'd made contact with, and shower. She'd spent another hour after that trying to choose what to wear, something very unlike her, but she knew what she was about to do next could be important.

  Since she'd told Simon they were over, she'd avoided him, but enough was enough. Over the last few months he'd made his feelings very clear. He was going to keep punishing her by trying to ruin her career and everything she held dear unless she did something about it.

  Xander had cautioned her about confronting the man, pointing out how petty he was already being and how she didn't want to make it worse. And he had a point, but equally, she had to see if there was something that would make him stop. She had to find out if there was anything she could do. Only then could she make a sound decision. Once she knew all her options.

  Matt strode out of the pod as soon as it pulled up outside his house, wearing slacks and a t-shirt. Comfortable clothes. Something not meant to impress but not meant to antagonize either. Something she didn't feel wrong in, most importantly.