Next to me, I heard the sound of a visor opening. “I’m going to port us out,” Nilo whispered, his voice stripped of its usual charming inflection. “The first time is disorienting, so I need you to kneel down with me.”
I instinctively turned my head to him, though I couldn’t see him. “You mean teleport? Is that even possible?” I’d thought Cien’s missing explosives vest had been a trick of the light or something explainable, but teleportation?
“Yes, port is short for teleport. It’s perfectly safe.”
“For humans?”
There was a long pause before he said, “Probably? I’ve ported animals with no trouble.”
“You suck at comforting,” I growled.
His chuckle was nice, but it didn’t curl into my chest like a gift. So far, only one person had that effect, and I was about to leave him behind.
“Torran wouldn’t ask me to take you if he didn’t think it was safe,” Nilo murmured. “If you don’t trust me, then trust him.”
My nerves steadied. “Okay.”
We probably looked hilarious to the rest of the team, since with his visor open Nilo couldn’t see, either, but eventually we fumbled our way to the ground.
“Eli, take care of everyone,” I said over the comm.
“Will do, Captain.”
“Are you ready?” Nilo asked.
No, I wasn’t, but I nodded anyway, until I remembered that he couldn’t see me. “I’m ready.”
“Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and hold it.”
I did as he asked and the cool feel of Torran’s power was replaced by something colder and sharper. Not painful, but not exactly pleasant either. My stomach dropped, and it felt like my head went one way while my body went another—while upside down and spinning.
I clenched my jaw to keep my stomach contents where they belonged, and just when I thought I would lose the battle, light shined through my eyelids.
“Safe,” Nilo gasped as he slumped against me. “Open . . .”
I opened my eyes in time to catch him as he lost consciousness. I wasn’t too worried, since Torran had warned me that it would happen, but I didn’t want him to get a concussion from bashing his head into the floor.
I looked around, then blinked as if that would change the view.
We had landed on the padded sparring floor of the gym in Starlight’s Shadow. The automatic lights had turned on with our movement, but the ship remained quietly sleeping around us.
I eased Nilo to the ground, then gently removed his helmet. I wasn’t sure what he was wearing under the armor, so I didn’t go any further, but I made sure that he wouldn’t wake up with a crick in his neck.
His pulse beat strongly under my fingers and a check of his breathing confirmed that he was unconscious rather than dead. I could probably drag him to the medbay, but I risked hurting him in transit, so I left him where he was.
Torran wouldn’t have sent me to the ship if he didn’t think we’d need to leave in a hurry. I tried to raise my team on the comm but got nothing but silence in return. I knew the distance was too far, but worry pressed on me.
I’d lost my weapons at some point during the evening, so I stopped in the cargo bay to restock. I kept the Valovian armor. If I had to leave the ship, it would let me blend in better than my own armor.
I undid Kee’s lockdown protections on the ship, but I left the cargo bay door closed and locked. It would take her only a few seconds to open it, and there was no reason to let anyone watching know that someone was getting the ship ready to launch.
On the bridge, I started the process of bringing the ship out of standby. The routine was so familiar that it did nothing to distract me from my worries. Would Torran bring my team straight here? If so, I’d be forced to leave Luna behind. Pain stole my breath. The ship would be far too lonely without the little burbu, but my team’s safety came first. Maybe Torran would meet me in Bastion, once it was safe, and return her to me.
A different kind of pain rose at the thought of parting from Torran. I’d gotten used to his quiet presence. Maybe it was better that I hadn’t taken him to bed. I already felt too much. Letting him go was going to leave a scar.
With the ship as ready to go as I could make it without alerting anyone outside, there was nothing left for me to do but wait. I checked on Nilo—still out—and stalked through the ship, letting my booted footsteps echo in the empty halls.
When my comm implant finally crackled to life, I held my breath.
“We’re on our way,” Eli said. “We need to buy some time, though, so turn off the cargo bay lights. We’ll sneak aboard.”
I swallowed my relieved tears and focused on what needed to be done. “Will do. What’s your ETA?”
“Ten minutes.” He paused, then continued. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“You, too.”
I didn’t ask him all of the questions burning on my tongue. We’d worked together a long time. If he hadn’t mentioned the team, that meant they were okay—or at least okay-ish. My questions could wait.
I snagged a pair of night-vision glasses from our supply, then went about shutting down all the lights in the cargo bay, including the emergency backups. At nine minutes, I opened the cargo bay door just enough that someone could duck under it, then I crouched on the floor with my plas rifle and waited for my team.
I’d expected them to arrive in a transport, but they slipped across the spaceport grounds on foot. Eli, Kee, and Lexi were the easiest to spot, thanks to their distinctive heights. The rest were more difficult, but it looked like Varro had an arm around Havil, half carrying him. Chira carried Cien. The boy was awake, but he huddled against Chira’s chest like he wanted to crawl inside her to hide. Anja was next to Eli, bringing up the rear and watching over the others.
My eyes flickered over them again, searching for the person who was missing, but the results remained the same. Torran wasn’t in the group.
They ducked into the cargo bay, but I kept my eyes on the spaceport. Nothing moved. Kee stopped beside me. “He got held up with the imperial guards,” she said, her voice soft over the comm. “He sent us ahead. We’re to leave without him if he’s not here in twenty minutes—or earlier if someone tries to stop us. Without him, Lotkez will protect us on our way to Bastion. They are already in orbit.”
Even without being here, he protected me still.
I swept my eyes over the spaceport one last time before reluctantly turning away. “Is anyone injured?”
“No,” Kee said. “Havil overdid it with the healing, but otherwise he’s okay. The rest of us have a few bumps and bruises, but this armor is fucking unbelievable. I mean, I knew it was, logically, but having it on is a whole other experience. I took a close-range plas pulse to the chest and barely felt it. No wonder Valoffs are so damn hard to kill.” She shook her head. “I’ll never understand why the FHP didn’t steal the tech. We fought in tissue paper by comparison.”