Tessa’s POV:

  After several seconds went by without an impact, I cracked an eye open. “Is it over?”

  Soranto moved one arm to tap a few buttons. “The worst of it. Some smaller pieces might still hit us. The shields are below ten percent, but they should be able to handle them.”

  Another jolt made him frown and check a few more panels. I climbed onto his shoulder to let him use both hands.

  “The other shuttle also survived.”

  My eyes widened—one of the Votaks had managed to escape?

  Soranto pushed a button. “This is Soranto. My shields are low, and I have a Votak in pursuit. Immediate assistance require—” his voice cut off as another jolt threw him against the seat restraints. I nearly lost my grip from the force of the impact.

  A voice came over the radio. “Soranto, both shuttles are showing a larger lifeform and a smaller one. Please confirm you are the one in the lead.”

  My heart dropped further. A large and small lifeform? It could only be Claas and Apus. If the ringleader saw the Kymari coming to help, they could flee and continue their madness in another place, possibly even expose the dragonets for what we were.

  “Confirmed. We are the ones trying to escape.”

  The star-spangled blackness ahead of us shimmered as a small spaceship dropped its stealth cloak and whizzed past, firing blasts of bright pink energy. Another impact rocked the shuttle, this one much stronger, nearly dislodging me even though I had braced for another strike. Shrapnel and pieces of metal flew past us, with some rattling the shuttle as they struck.

  Soranto exhaled in relief. “It looks like the strikes triggered some sort of self-destruct mechanism. They won’t be able to recover anything from that wreckage.”

  The communication device activated once more. “Soranto, you never told me there was this much excitement in the backwater regions. And here I thought I’d see the most fighting when I went to the borders to clash with hostile forces.”

  Soranto blinked and reached for the transmitter button. “Ravin? Is that you?”

  Laughter came over the speakers. “Indeed, cousin! In fact, half the family is within an hour’s flight. Well, an hour if you have a decent shuttle. Where did you pick up that piece of garbage?”

  “Stowaways don’t always get to demand the best vessels. I’m sure someone will enjoy taking this thing apart.”

  “Alter your heading to match mine. I’ll escort you to the nearest battleship. Keep an eye on your scanners. We’ve had some unfriendly ships trying to take advantage of the unguarded borders.”

  “Sorry, but the scanners on this thing are almost primitive. You’ll have to be the one watching. Thankfully, this ship has a standard control board, so at least I know how to fly it. I’m an engineer, not a multi-craft pilot.”

  “I’ll keep watch. You seem to have blown up the base, so most of the armadas are splitting into groups to push whatever followed us back to where they came from. We shouldn’t encounter anything.”

  The Kymari ship flew in front of us for some time, and another ship eventually came into view. The battleship was massive; it made the one that Soranto fixed look like a toy. As we got closer, I could see dozens of smaller ships coming and going.

  A different voice came over the radio. “Soranto, the twenty-third bay door on Alpha-Crescent level is opening for you to dock in.”

  “Thank you.”

  Soranto changed his course, flying alongside the battleship until he reached an open bay door. Despite his earlier criticisms of this shuttle, he landed in the highlighted area. He powered down the shuttle while the docking area sealed and repressurized.

  He removed the seat restraints and opened the shuttle door. The air smelled almost sweet after being in a small space for so long.

  Two Kymari were already entering the room and coming over.

  Soranto inclined his head respectfully. “Father, this is a pleasant surprise.”

  I gaped at the man, unable to believe that this was Soranto’s father. The stern, composed face in the pictures didn’t match the relieved smile I currently saw.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Not as pleasantly surprised as I am to see that you and your companion are alive. The medics are already waiting. Do you need anything for your companion? I have already sent Adeline an update.”

  “A quick scan for Tessa would be appreciated, although I believe she is unharmed. Some fresh fruit from the fire lizards’ dietary list would be welcome. I’d also like a temporary wrist comm.”

  The other Kymari nodded. “I will meet you in the medical bay with fruit and a wrist comm.”

  He went through a different door as Soranto began walking beside his father, who looked at me in curiosity. “So, this is Tessa?”

  “Yes,” Soranto replied, glancing at me.

  Perking up my ear tufts, I trilled at his father. I might as well make a good first impression.

  “She looks like quite the charmer. I’m impressed at how far you went to retrieve her. Some would have let their injuries prevent them from going to the extremes that you did.” The comment confirmed that he had noticed his son’s slight limp and the handful of scratches and bruises decorating his skin.

  “Thank you, Father. I’d do it again if it let me rescue her—although I hope this won’t be a repeated experience.”

  His father chuckled. “I hope that as well. Both for your sake and mine. Your wife has a rather strong personality when she is riled up. Are you aware that she has an ion phaser?”

  “I thought I destroyed that…”

  “You might also want to talk with her about the stun-lock bracelet she was wearing.”

  “Her brother gave her that. The device is keyed so it won’t harm myself, Maria, or Tessa. How soon can I get a ride back to my family?”

  He made a face. “That may take a day or so. There are currently hundreds of small skirmishes happening in the area. Many of the lowlifes skulking along our border followed the patrollers here. The good news is that we have a lot of fighters around, so we’re pushing them back quickly, but there’s too much risk for a small shuttle to make the trip until it’s been cleared.”

  “What are the odds of me talking a dozen fighters into escorting a larger shuttle? I’m sure that other people are looking to go there, and there is a lot of room in outer space to avoid the areas with any fighting.”

  “Even if a shuttle does brave the journey, you won’t be on it.”

  Soranto looked at his father in confusion. “Why not?”

  “Because Drae will be here shortly—if he isn’t onboard this warship already—and he has orders from myself, Adeline, and Elder Dairno to prevent you from doing something so foolish. You aren’t a full fighter, and this does involve your little friend’s welfare.”

  Soranto’s shoulders immediately slumped slightly in defeat. I rubbed my head against the side of his cheek with a croon, trying to cheer him up. It was only my presence that was preventing him from going home to his wife and child at this moment.

  He reached up to stroke my wings, although I wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure me or seeking a bit of comfort. I took a step closer and leaned against his neck and chin as I began thrumming comfortingly. The sound vibrated through my entire body and was loud enough that Soranto’s father glanced over in surprise.

  The rest of the walk to the medical area was quiet. Upon entering the reception area, we were ushered into the back by a man and woman in what I assumed were medical uniforms.

  “Please step into the scanner,” the woman requested.

  Soranto walked between two posts and turned around. The posts lit up with a really bright white light, startling me into flaring my wings.

  “Easy, Tessa. It’s just a scanner.”

  I snorted and folded my wings as I chittered. How was I supposed to know?

  “Her timing was perfect,” the man said, using his finger to spin a hologram.

  I blinked and stared at the image of a skeleton lifting a set of jointed bones above its long neck, spine, and tail.

  “Her muscles appear undamaged as well,” the woman added, “although pulled muscles and strains may not show up. We don’t have any in-depth comparison files on hand—just a few old scans from some other fire lizards.”

  “You aren’t as lucky though,” the man said, now checking Soranto’s skeleton, which had a red glow in a couple of spots. “One rib is cracked and two others have a fissure. You must have taken quite a blow for there to be such injuries under armor like that.”

  “Let’s just say I’m glad I went with the higher quality armor,” Soranto said, walking over for a closer look at his scan. “I don’t want to know how well the basic types would have fared in those explosions.”

  “You’ll have to get the joints replaced in case they were weakened. Verdi, care to enlighten us as to the rest of his injuries?”

  “I’m sending the details to him electronically, but, in essence, he has a sprained ankle, numerous pulled muscles, and more bruises than I care to count. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the major organs, although he might have a bit of a concussion. Nothing that a week or so of rest shouldn’t fix.”

  “If they think I’m just going to let you rest, they are very much mistaken.”

  The corner of Soranto’s lips quirked up. Apparently, he needed more practice in keeping a straight face. The door behind us opened, and I trilled a welcome at Drae. He was limping worse than Soranto, although his keen eyes were already examining the two of us.

  Soranto gave his friend a relieved smile. “Drae, I’m glad to see you alive. How is Sipar?”

  “He’s pestering the medical team with requests for them to let him join the fighters. It’ll be at least a week before his skin heals enough to wear armor and even think about resuming his duties. The fireproof armor saved his life though.”

  I stared blankly at Drae, wondering if this was the same guard that had only uttered one sentence in the last three weeks. Did he normally talk if someone asked him a question? Or had this situation thrown him off-balance enough to break his habit of silence?

  Drae passed Soranto a container of fruit and a rather plain-looking wrist comm.

  “Thanks,” Soranto said, before glancing at the two medical staff. “Am I cleared to leave?”

  “As long as you sit and rest. Take these pills and a jar of salve. There are several empty rooms down the hallway,” the woman replied. “You can pick one for the duration of your stay.”

  “Thank you.”

  Soranto put the wrist comm on his arm and entered a bunch of information. Drae and Soranto’s father accompanied us as we left.