"Yes, ma'am!" Noodar had obviously learned about human military manners. I would have smiled had he not been on his way to find out if he could penetrate the forcefield or not.
My stomach sank when I watched Noodar and Luph embrace as if it were their last time. Tears stung my eyes, not just because that could be Xyrek and me, but because the love between the two was so obvious and beautiful. It hurt watching their pain.
Zoe walked over and took Luph into her arms after Noodar freed himself. Hannah moved forward and supported Luph's other side, nodding at Noodar to move out through the hatch where Xyrek, Zaarek, and Tharaax stood. They had brought the prisoners aboard Vraax’s ship since one of the requirements was that the ship had to belong to the Ohrurs—another hitch in the plan. Technically, the ship had been stolen from the Ohrurs, but we were operating on the assumption that any Ohrur-owned and made ship would be okay. We had to. We didn't have another choice.
"You three," Sloane pointed at Xyrek, Zaarek, and Tharaax, "be ready. Noodar is going to make a test run down to the surface and then come pick you up."
The men looked surprised; Xyrek's eyes met mine, and I felt his excitement for goinghomeand forced a smile on my lips to match his enthusiasm. At least he wouldn't be on board for thetest run, as Sloane called the suicide mission so diplomatically. I didn't even try to imagine Luph's emotions right then. The thought of Xyrek boarding the ship after it was deemed safe was enough to make me hyperventilate.
"Everything ready?" Sloane asked Tucker as he exited the other ship.
"All good." He nodded.
I hadn't talked much to him yet, but he seemed easygoing. His charismatic smile reminded me of the actorMatthew McConaughey; it was the kind that could sell a beekeeper honey. But there was also darkness surrounding him, the same darkness I had seen on the face of the dealers who sold meth to my parents and siblings.
It still amazed me, the way fate had twisted things—Sloane knowing him on Earth, and him turning out to be Nova’s long-lost brother... No, I corrected myself. That sure wasn't a coincidence. My logical mind was taking a huge hit here, but this was fate—all of it.
"It will be alright," I told Luph as the hatch closed behind Noodar.
She looked at me questioningly. The pain in her eyes hurt my heart.
"How do you know?" She asked.
"I feel it in here," I said, thumbing my heart. "We were all brought here for a reason, and trust me when I tell you that the reason is not watching Noodar get blown up on a spaceship."
She sniffed and hugged me. "Thank you."
I had no right to make this kind of promise to her, none, but deep down, I felt that everything would be alright.
XYREK
My gut churned with anticipation.In a few moments, I would set foot on Darlam. Me, Noodar, Zaarek and Tharaax. Impatiently, my fingers drummed against the chair I was leaning against while I stared through the three triangular windows of the bridge.
Noodar's trip had been almost anticlimactic. His ship made its way through the atmosphere like on any other planet. He landed and took right back off to get the rest of us, well, the rest of us Space Guardians. Not the females, Nock, or Tucker. We weren't willing to take that risk until we figured out how to shut the forcefield down, which was our number one priority.
While waiting for Alice and me to arrive, the others had interrogated Possedion and Moddekdum, but either they didn’t know where the forcefield was run from, or they were able to withstand the waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and various other tortures Sloane and Tucker came up with.
"Where do you want me to drop you off?" Noodar asked.
We had a lot to accomplish, so we decided to split up. Zaarek and I would work on finding Shade's Vale. I had an idea that it would be located around the Borrog Mountains, but that was more a hunch than anything. It was all I had to go on, though.
In the meantime, Noodar and Tharaax would scout the rest of Darlam to see if they could find any trace of the forcefield's source.
"Take us to the top of the Borrog Mountains," I told Noodar. From there, I would have a good view of the entire valley and the gorge between the mountains. It would have made sense for the Darlam outcasts to find refuge there. It was a hard-to-reach place, filled with water and plenty of game.
Darlam was a one-continent planet. Several uninhabited, tiny islands dotted the ocean surrounding the continent, but it was on the main landmass where the Darlams thrived.
Noodar kept the ship low, low enough that we could see the ruins of several towns we passed over. I had no idea what the towns' names were; from the air, they were unrecognizable. Cobblestone roadways had long ago been overgrown by vegetation, and most of the buildings had crumbled from plants growing through their walls. The elements had since taken their toll, and nobody was here to fix them.
"Stop, can you go back?" I asked, tensing.
Below us was another set of ruins. I wasn't sure what made me ask Noodar to stop; from above, they didn't look any different than the others we had flown over. Still, there was something… something pulled me to this place.
"Do you want to go out?" Noodar asked.
I did, but I also didn't want to make the others wait for me.
"It's alright. We can take a look," Tharaax agreed.
