“Seriously, Baz, what’s the play?”

Leo held his breath, watching as the giant Djarik ship above him crept closer and closer to Earth. Watching as every ship in the EDF patrol readied to charge.

This will be your only chance.

“We have to,” Leo whispered to himself. “It’s up to us.”

As if in response, the coms channel suddenly erupted with angry drums and growling guitars. Through the cockpit Leo saw the Icarus’s primary engines light up, a burst of blue flame that sent it blasting toward Earth.

“Baz? What are you doing?”

“Tried talking my way out of it, Kat. You’re right. Never works. Time to cut the black wire.”

“And death to those who dare to stand in our way!” Leo heard Skits shout in the background.

“Oh hell.” Kat jerked the controls and fired the transport’s own thrusters, rapidly changing course in pursuit. “Find something to hold on to,” she commanded.

Leo gripped the bottom of his armless seat as the Aykari ship shot after the Icarus. He turned to see his brother with his race face on, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. The last time Leo saw that look, Gareth was shoving him into a storage compartment, sending him away. Gareth had already admitted that was a mistake. As they broke through Earth’s atmosphere, arcing through a blanket of clouds, Leo hoped they weren’t making another one.

“Kat, Skits has locked on to the nearest location with a direct line to the planet’s primary seam of V. It’s a mining platform in the Tsangpo Canyon. But there are automated turrets all along the perimeter, and they are probably on high alert.”

“Terrific,” Kat hissed. She switched back to the open channel. “To anyone listening: This is Captain Corea. We are approaching the Tsangpo mining facility and request that any Aykari and EDF patrols not fire on us. I repeat, please deactivate those turrets. We are not the enemy.”

As if in response, the first turret in the line launched a salvo at the Icarus that it barely managed to evade.

“Guess talking doesn’t work for you either,” Baz quipped.

Following the first turret’s lead, the others now opened fire as well, filling the sky with bolts of energy determined to bring the Icarus down. Through the parting clouds and the barrage of deadly blasts, Leo could make out the long, deep canyon etched into the earth, terminating in an Aykari mining operation much like the one they’d recently left behind. Leo thought about all the ventasium lying in wait deep beneath the surface. What if this doesn’t work?

Over the coms Leo could hear Baz’s cursing against the sound of minor chords and rolling toms as the Icarus’s shields took one hit after another.

“Baz, you’re getting pummeled up there,” Kat said. “Pull back and let me draw some of their fire.”

“In that thing? Forget it.”

“Bastion—”

“I’ve got this, Kat. Trust me.”

“Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time?” With a growl the first mate slammed hard on the controls. Leo rocked in his seat, feeling the Aykari transport take on a sudden burst of speed, hoping to gain on the yellow speck diving toward the surface of the Earth, plunging headlong into the storm raging up to meet it.