Dagon frowned. There were several large pieces of wreckage—twisted chunks of the Lasaran ship scorched black—that had been nearly invisible from a distance. Eliana had seen no such pieces when they had spoken. Had they blended too well with the dark backdrop of space?
“Dispatch the fighters,” he ordered.
Three sleek black fighter craft shot forth from the ship. A gray retrieval vessel moved forward more slowly.
The fighters hovered in a triangular formation, facing outward, ready to defend the retrieval unit from any surprise attack Gathendiens might launch.
Barus returned to the bridge and stood beside Dagon, arms crossed, brow furrowed.
The retrieval vessel stopped amid the wreckage. A portal opened, emitting two men in protective suits. Both used the mini jets on their suits to maneuver around the objects.
“One body spotted,” Maarev announced grimly over the comm as he slipped behind a jagged slab of ship. “A male, wearing no suit.”
“Any sign of Eliana?” Dagon asked.
The two soldiers tracked back and forth through the debris field.
“No,” Maarev said at length.
Dagon sat back in his seat. “Bring the man in for identification.”
“Yes, Commander.”
He clenched his teeth. If Eliana wasn’t there…
“Do you think the Gathendiens reached her first?” Barus asked.
“I don’t know.” He hoped not but could find no other explanation.
Janek shook his head. “She’s here somewhere. I know it.”
Though Dagon wanted to believe that, his men would’ve found her. “The Lasaran suits are bright white. Maarev and Liden wouldn’t miss her.”
“Then why am I still receiving her comm signal?” Janek countered. “She’s here. I’m certain of it. She has to be located within three kells from us.”
Dagon leaned forward, watching Liden maneuver the dead man inside the retrieval vessel. “Efren.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Escort Maarev and Liden back, then execute a search of the surrounding area. We’re still receiving a comm signal from Eliana and believe she may be nearby.”
“Yes, Commander.”
As soon as Maarev, Liden, and the deceased male were safely aboard the retrieval vessel, the three fighter ships peeled away and shot off in different directions, disappearing into the darkness.
Long moments ticked past. At least, they seemed long to Dagon. He didn’t know why the Earthling… Earth woman, he corrected himself… had come to feel so important to him, but she had.
“I see her!” Efren suddenly shouted. “Or rather, I see someone in a Lasaran spacesuit.”
“Coordinates?”
As soon as Efren relayed Eliana’s coordinates, both the Ranasura and the retrieval vessel raced forward.
Had Dagon not been so worried, he would’ve smiled. His men were as eager to rescue her as he was.
“There!” Galen pointed.
A tiny white dot guarded by three black fighters grew in front of them.
The figure in white didn’t move at their approach, didn’t wave or react in any way to the craft around her. Nor did Eliana’s voice greet them.
Heavy silence settled upon them all as Maarev left the retrieval vessel and jetted toward the figure.
“It’s a woman,” Maarev confirmed.
Dagon released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Alive or dead?”
“I can’t tell. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be injured.”
“Bring her aboard,” Dagon ordered. Rising, he strode past Barus. “You have the bridge.”
Once in the hallway, he ducked into the ladder well and skimmed down to the bottom deck. Less than a minute later, he entered a room separated from Hangar 1 by the same clear, unbreakable crystal that formed the bridge’s large window.
Maarev flew inside the bay, a bulky white figure clutched to his chest. The fighters followed, careful not to hit the duo.
The bay doors closed. Maarev’s boots lowered to the floor.
As soon as gravity and environment was restored to the hangar, Dagon hit the control that opened the large door. Too impatient to wait for it to rise fully, he ducked under it and strode forward.
Maarev retracted his helmet and adjusted his hold on Eliana. “I did a quick scan and found no signs of life.”
Dagon’s heart clenched. “Give her to me.” He slipped an arm beneath her knees and wrapped the other around her back. Her helmeted head rolled, coming to rest against his chest… and Dagon looked upon her for the first time.
Her face was pale, her features gaunt. The eyelashes that rested against her hollow cheeks were long and dark, the hair he could barely glimpse black.
She weighed so little, even in the bulky suit, and was so small.
Swiveling around, he left the bay. “Adaos.”
“Yes, Commander,” the chief medical officer answered in his earpiece.
“Meet me in Med Bay.”
“I’m already there.”
Dagon stepped into the nearest lift. The door slipped closed, leaving him alone with the Earth woman.
“Eliana,” he murmured, jostling her a bit. “Eliana? Can you hear me?”
She remained still and quiet in his arms.
As soon as the doors opened, he headed for Med Bay.
Adaos waited inside as promised and motioned to the nearest treatment bed.
Dagon gently placed Eliana on it, absently noting a body covered with a sheet on another bed. Finding the manual latches for the helmet, he flipped them to detach it from her too-big suit, then slipped a hand inside and cupped the back of her head to elevate it enough to ease the protective barrier off.
She had long hair. It poured out of the helmet like water, trailing over his hand and falling off the edges of the bed. Over one ear, the dark tresses were matted with blood. The same side of her face was scraped raw and spattered with crimson streaks and splotches.
Dagon withdrew his touch and stared down at her.
She was not butt-ugly as she had claimed. Even gaunt and wounded, she was pretty, her features delicate.
Adaos ran a small handheld scanner across her chest. Meeting Dagon’s gaze, he shook his head. “No heartbeat detected.”
“She said she could slow it.” Dagon could not yet bring himself to admit defeat.
Adaos held up the device he kept with him at all times. “Enough to confound my scanner?” Sorrow filled his features. “I don’t believe so, my friend.”
Dagon stared down at her. “We were too late.”
Adaos nodded. “We all knew we would be. It was simply difficult for us to admit it when she gave us such hope.”
Shortly after his last communication with her, Dagon had caught two of his men wagering over whether the Earthling would be alive or dead when they found her. Infuriated by their callous disregard, he had ordered Janek to replay every communication he had shared with Eliana… except for the seven minutes he had restricted to himself after she requested those odd moments of privacy in which it sounded as though she had hurt herself.
After listening to her conversations with Dagon and the other crewmen on the bridge, every man on the ship had—from that point on—adopted his hope that they would find her in time. Some had even suggested he divert power from shields so they could reach her faster even though they knew they would be placing themselves in danger.