KRISHNAMURTI TOWER RIPPED apart. No movement, no flash of plasma or laser light, no streaking torch of missile fire presaged its destruction. Krishnamurti Tower was whole. Then it was not. Bodies spilled into the vacuum, tiny specs lost in the cloud of glittering debris.
The tower’s transmissions screamed. “—Emergency alert! Catastrophic hull breach. Request immediate resc—” Noisy feedback spiked and the transmission silenced.
Jiddu fell to his knees, his big dark eyes bulging and wet with terror.
“I can hear them,” Aquila sobbed, covering her trembling lips with a trembling hand. “Through the emergency link. I hear them dying. Make it stop. Make it stop.”
Ed squeezed her arms, trying to soothe her.
Hellfire ignited the void. The Unity pyramid and Vleez warship bellowed plasma bolts and warheads. The Egalitaire spat sweeping arcs of return fire. A barrage of missiles issued from the Republic cruiser, followed by a squadron of small, tactical gunships. Godsfall grabbed one-half of the broken tower in its colossal hands and threw it like a stick at the wave of gunships. The Legacatic forces swerved and opened fire on the incoming tower. A visual cacophony of colors slashed through black space until mute explosions reduced the broken tower to shrapnel.
Not long ago, Sabira had dreamed of such sights. Yearned for them. Now it horrified her. Every instinct screamed for her to flee, get as far from the battle and the Holy Unity as possible. But she knew this was not the time to run and hide. If she was ever going to be free, she needed to go straight to the heart of that furious destruction.
A quick series of explosions obliterated the other half of Krishnamurti Tower, casting the converging warships into sleek black silhouettes. Before Sabira could see what happened next, the oil-sheen colors of a slicer field blanketed the monitor. As abruptly as the slicer field formed around the Safehold, it scattered away. They hadn’t traveled far from the battle and were likely still in weapons range.
“What happened?” Gabriel asked.
“That’s not possible.” Persia stood between Aquila and Jiddu, a reassuring hand on each of their shoulders. “The Safehold was snatched back into normal space. Slicer engines are offline.”
Steadily, their view of the battle grew larger and larger.
“Are you zooming in again?” Cal asked.
“No,” Persia said. “Somehow . . . we’re being pulled back.”
“No more running away,” Sabira said. “Not this time.”
“The kid’s right,” said Orion’s voice from one of Persia’s floating nodes. After jittering in the air for a second, the node stilled and projected a holo of the Adept. In the monitor behind him, three more CDF vessels emerged from slicing void, wrapped themselves in blue energy shields, and sped toward the battle. Bursts of weaponry and detonations strobed, erratically splashing light and shadow over those gathered to watch.
Orion pointed to Sabira. “She and I have unfinished business to attend to.”
“You can’t be serious,” Gabriel said.
“That’s my father in there. Sabira was right. No more running away.”
Cal grabbed Sabira’s wrist. “Tell me you’re not going. No, no, no.”
“The only way I can keep you all safe”—Sabira pried Cal’s fingers from her wrist—“is to stop Daggeira.”
“But that wasn’t Daggeira’s voice. You heard it. That was a godseer.”
“Then I have to stop the godseer, too.”
“Sabira.” Gabriel’s voice was soft, yet still deep and commanding. “Think about if this is truly the path you want to follow.”
“She’s a warrior,” Spear interjected. “Not a diplomat weaving snares with her words. You disrespect her by keeping her from her true path.”
“Time’s running short,” Orion said. “Our ships are good and glitched. Once the Theocrats are done with them, you can bet they’ll come for Nu’esef or Little Tiger next.”
“I know I can’t bring Zonte back.” Sabira rested her hand on Gabriel’s wide, firm chest. His steady heartbeat thumped against her palm. “But I can stop Daggeira. She’ll let me get close, I know it. She’ll want to gloat. For me to see her victorious. That’s my chance. And if I can avenge Zonte as well, you’re godsdamned right I’m going to. Now help me get to the Shishiguchi or get out of my way.”
Gabriel’s golden eyes looked into her own, glinting with the reflections of war. “Persia Moradi va Babylonia, we are Emissaries, not jailers, isn’t that so? Can you get this young woman where she wants to go?”
Persia took in the scene, angry smears of light and color lashing across her long thin features. “Follow me.”
“Orion?” Gabriel’s tone said everything in that one word.
“As best I can,” Orion said. “Which is pretty much the best around. You coming?”
“The Freebrood needs me here more than you need me there.”
“See you on the other side, buddy. Stay crunchy.” The hologram winked out.
While Gabriel and Orion said their goodbyes, Sabira said hers with Grandfather Spear. Not with words, but with the look of knowing acceptance and resolve that warriors shared only between themselves.
Sabira turned from Spear’s mismatched eyes to meet the deep brown of Persia’s. The Emissary nodded. “I’ll meet you at the lift.” In a blur of motion, she was gone.
“Cal, stay with Gabriel and do exactly what he says,” Sabira called out, running to catch up with Persia.
She darted around the east hill and into the central plain of their sanctuary. The other Freebrood had gathered together, the confusion and panic on their faces clear even from a distance. Playa held hands with Dawn, who sheltered within Derev’s thick arm. Torque stood trembling near Persia and the control stand.
With a mechanical whisper, the lift slowly raised from the ground. Every centimeter seemed to take an hour. Torque watched from the side of her eyes, squeezing her arms around herself.
“We just got back from the medics. Coraz is still with them,” Derev said. “What’s happening? Where is everybody?”
“We’re under attack,” Sabira answered.
Persia gestured toward the hill. “The others are over there.”
“He’s with them, isn’t he?” Playa said.
Persia turned to her. “I know that you’re suffering. Now’s the time to call on that suffering to pull your family together, not tear them apart. You’ll need each other’s strength.”
“Then why is she leaving us, again?” Playa cast a hard gaze toward Sabira. “You make promises and speeches about being part of our brood, about protecting us. But every chance you get, you run off to go kill someone.”
That’s no lie. Under Playa’s accusatory glare, she could never say what she needed to say. The guilt over Zonte’s death clamped down all ability to express herself. Though she couldn’t find the words, someone else did.
“Playa, stop it!” Derev boomed, much louder than Sabira had ever heard him. “Sabira’s not the one who killed Zonte. Servant Daggeira did that. Sabira gave her the chance to become one of us, and she killed Zonte instead. Sabira’s leaving because she is trying to protect us. She’s been trying to protect us ever since Dlamakuuz.”
“She’s not our protector.”
“The one responsible for your beloved’s death is behind this attack.” The golden threads knotted around Persia’s brow glinted in the light. “Sabira and Orion might be the only ones who can get close enough to her to stop this madness. And it is total madness out there. It would take a miracle for them not to be vaporized in moments, yet they still want to go.”
The lift finally arrived. Sabira went to step inside, but Torque blocked her path.
“Not unless I come, too.” Torque darted her eyes up at Sabira’s for a heartbeat before looking away. “I helped before. I can help again.”
Torque disliked being touched, butSabira couldn’t help herself and pulled her into a hug.
“I’m sorry about what I said. You’re so brave.” She lifted Torque off her feet and put her down out of the way. “But Orion and I need to do this on our own.”
Sabira stepped into the lift with Persia beside her. It immediately began its descent.
“Derev, look after everyone while I’m gone.”
“I will,” he said, standing tall and straight.
The lift sunk into the ground so that the four others looked as if they rose up and away from her.
“Make sure you come back to us,” Dawn said through swelling tears.
Before Sabira could answer, the lift dropped below ground, sealing her away from sanctuary and family, lowering her closer to the chaos of war.