It did not take long for Drex to orient himself to their location. He looked at the sun’s position turned his back to it and immediately the whole group saw the smoke coming from the plaza. “That way. Shouldn’t take us too much longer.” He looked at Lillian. “How are you doing?” “I’ve been better,”…
Several harrowing seconds later, Katherine landed in chest-high water. She quickly found her footing and scrambled to her feet. Drex’s light found Lillian quickly, and pulled her up, too. Katherine heard Evan’s slide approaching the tunnel’s mouth and stepped away just before he landed hard on his backside. They had made it, soaked to the…
Katherine revived to the sensation of Evan’s hand on her cheek, his arm around her shoulder and the warmth of his body pressed against her side. She opened her eyes and saw that she was sitting on the floor next to her husband. The room where she sat looked like her greatest decorating fears: cabinetry…
The transport glided through the empty streets. Out of the back, Katherine saw the progress they had made toward the plaza run in reverse. She watched as facade after facade drifted further and further away. Daring a glance at the two soldiers positioned at the exit, she saw their machine-like focus and found it difficult…
Several blocks later, and the Merlian sun was blaring down in the escapees. The weight of Lillian was increasing and Katherine urged them to stop. She’d requested to stop several other times, but the sounds of the approaching military had spurred them on. But they had to stop. The princess would not last the distance…
The air in the safe house had grown stale, and Drex refused to open the windows. Two days had passed since he and Evan had first ventured out into the neighborhoods to see what the ground conflict might look like and how, if at all, the four of them might get Lillian to the Coellum…
“They’ve gone?” Adrenaline surged through Katherine as she whipped her head around to find Lillian, pale and gaunt, leaning against a doorpost. Katherine closed her eyes and calmed her breathing before speaking to the Princess. “What are you doing out of bed?” she asked, leaning against a counter to keep from passing out from fright….
Drex rose from his vigil at the monitors. It had been two days since the arrival of the Coellum and it remained unclear how safe it might be to make any moves. Katherine had learned a new name, Commander Tavon Voss, who seemed to be the leader of the landing force. His addresses over the…
The dust and debris continued to swirl and fall after Amnon’s grenade exploded. For a long time, all Saw Yatha knew was the high whine of a siren in his ears. He lay still amid chunks of wall and ceiling motivating his mind to remember how he ended up in such a state. The ground…
Katherine paced the floor of the safe house. Drex raked his hair and stretched as he eyed the surveillance monitors. “Any word from Amnon?” Katherine muttered. “No.” Katherine continued to pace. It had been a long day and she felt it in her in every bend of her joints. Katherine’s mind retraced the moments of…
