Janwar kept his expression neutral, revealing no hint of the worry that soured his stomach. Usually, three of them would carry out an operation like this, with the rest on standby and T’s army of androids ready to jump in if necessary. There had even been times when five of them had infiltrated a ship with only one left behind on the Tangata to monitor their progress and send in androids if an emergency arose.
But this time, Kova would be on his own with only T-4 to aid him because the Tangata would carry the rest of them to the moon base.
Kova emerged from the C-23 and joined them. “We’re ready.”
Janwar nodded. “To victory.”
“To victory,” Kova repeated.
Simone stepped forward, her pretty face sober. “I’ve lost too many friends, Kova. I can’t lose any more.”
His friend nodded. “Understood. I’ll protect any Earthlings I find with my life.”
Janwar could practically hear Srok’a grinding his teeth.
“I wasn’t talking about Earthlings,” she said softly, holding his gaze. “I was talking about you.”
Kova went very still as he stared at her, clearly caught off guard.
“I don’t know why you might need to be told this, but in case you do… You are not expendable. You’re my friend. And I need you.” She glanced at the others. “We all do. So please be careful and return safely.”
Swallowing hard, Kova nodded. “I will.”
Closing the remaining distance between them, she hugged him.
For a moment, the gruff warrior didn’t move. Then he wrapped his arms around her and tentatively returned the embrace.
Releasing him, Simone turned away.
“Simone?” Kova said.
Halting, she glanced over her shoulder.
“I don’t have many friends.”
Tilting her head to one side, she turned to face him.
His gaze piercing, the Rakessian said, “I don’t want to lose the few I do. You be careful, too.”
“I will.” Her lips turned up in a wicked grin. “But I intend to kick a lot of ass while I do.”
He chuckled. “I look forward to hearing about it when I see you again.”
As the warrior headed for the C-23, Simone moved to stand at Janwar’s side.
Giving in to the urge, he wrapped an arm around her and—despite his concern—sighed with contentment when she leaned into him.
Kova boarded the stealth craft without another word.
“Thank you,” Srok’a murmured. A muscle worked in his jaw as the clamps holding his brother’s craft in place released it with a clunk.
“Thank you.” Simone’s gaze touched upon each one of them. “Thank all of you. You don’t have to do this… risk your lives on what amounts to little more than a hunch that these guys might be holding one or more of my friends captive.”
Soval snorted. “If your friends are anything like you, they’ll probably end up rescuing us.”
She smiled.
The stealth craft rose and rotated toward the exit. Its surface shimmered for a moment before the ship seemed to disappear.
“Wow,” Simone breathed. “That’s one of those cool things you have to see with your own eyes to believe. I knew the craft would be shielded from radar but forgot it would be hidden visually.”
Janwar smiled at the awe in her tone. “All of our craft are imbued with the most sophisticated cloaking technology on the market.”
Krigara snorted. “And some that isn’t on the market. It cost us a fortune.”
“And was worth every credit,” Janwar professed. “Most cloaking arrays only hide ships from radar. But as you just saw with the C-23—
“And with the Tangata the day we met?” she asked, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement.
He laughed, recalling her reaction to the Tangata miraculously appearing beside her. “Yes. Our cloaking arrays also allow our craft to blend seamlessly into our surroundings from every viewpoint, concealing us from anyone who might search for us the old-fashioned way.”
“With their peepers?” she asked.
He nodded, entertained as ever by Earth terms.
Now that the craft had left their sight, Srok’a turned to stalk away.
Janwar shot a hand out and caught his arm. “Wait.”
When Srok’a glared at him, he didn’t take it personally. As commander, Janwar could’ve forbidden Kova from embarking upon this mission and spared his older brother the fear currently gnawing at his gut. But this was the best plan they’d been able to concoct under the circumstances. They all knew the horrors Ava, one of the Earthlings rescued by the Segonians, had been subjected to aboard a Gathendien ship and didn’t want to bypass the one flanking them and risk leaving other females to suffer the same fate. So every one of them had agreed to this.
Unfortunately, that didn’t diminish the fury that always consumed Srok’a when his brother insisted on being the one who risked everything.
Janwar met his glare evenly. “Wait,” he repeated: a command, not a request.
His friend drew a long breath in and let it out slowly before nodding.
Giving his shoulder a pat, Janwar released him.
The door behind them that led to the rest of the ship rose, and T-7 entered.
Was it Janwar’s imagination, or was there also an extra bounce in T-7’s steps today?
He studied the android.
T’s red eyes even seemed to glow brighter.
Simone and the others watched the android advance toward them.
“Ready?” Janwar asked.
“Yes, commander.” Without breaking stride, T-7 crossed to a small but heavily armed fighter craft.
No one made a sound when the hatch opened at his approach. As soon as the ramp lowered, T-7 tromped up it and disappeared inside. A minute later, the ramp closed. The clamps holding the fighter in place clunked as they released it. Then the engine started with barely a hum. T-7 activated the cloaking array as the vessel flew out of the hangar.
When everyone cast Janwar puzzled looks, he shrugged. “A little extra backup for Kova. I’d feel better about it if I’d had more time to gauge T’s competency as a fighter pilot—”
“I am an exceptional fighter pilot,” T announced over the ship-wide speakers.
“—but something is better than nothing,” Janwar finished.
“Does Kova know?” Simone asked.
“No.” Janwar usually only brought T into things if an operation figuratively—or literally—blew up in their faces and they ended up backed into a corner, furiously fighting for their lives. He nodded after the craft. “Keep looking.”
As one, they returned their attention to the view beyond the bay’s massive entrance. Had they not paid attention, they would’ve missed the faint flickering of the stars beyond.
“What was that?” Simone asked, her brow puckering. “It looked like…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought I saw the stars move a tiny bit.”
“The stars didn’t move,” he told her. “Ten cloaked drones just flew past.”
Her face lit with a combination of relief and excitement. “You sent drones, too?”
He nodded and addressed them all. “T is operating them and—”