MARS

 

Earth was burning.

The coastline the Etrallia were fighting for was alight with fire from battle. Ships whizzed through the air below, firing upon human aircraft.

The pod was dropping at a dizzying rate, headed straight for the melee below.

"Can you even steer this thing?" I had to shout over the roar of the engine.

Rhine didn't respond. His forehead creased in concentration as he tightened his fingers on the controls.

"Good god, man. We're going to be shot down." I gripped the back of his seat as I struggled to see what he was doing.

It was ironic, really. To survive an Etrallian coup only to be shot down by our own men. This was all going to be for nothing and it was only because I'd been stupid enough to follow Rhine on his mad-dash rescue mission.

At least, we'd rescued her. Well, Rhine and Henry, that is. And it wasn't as if we could have done it without Henry.

The Etrallian in question was slumped against the back of the pod, head resting in Lena's lap as she kept pressure on his wound.

I had a sick sense of dread. If the pod survived this, Henry might die all the same. Even if he'd come close to crossing us, he was the only friend we had left right now.

And there was Lena. God, what would Lena do if he didn't make it? Could she heal an Etrallian shot in the chest?