Even when hope fades, there must always come light after the darkness.  Believe in the light and it will come—hope finds a way.

— From the personal journal of Ryland LeSarte

 

19 Decem, 5249 PD

 

The debris above their heads moved, shifting slightly.  Dust drifted down onto them and Frederick swore, struggling to haul Brendan and Winston deeper into the cellar.  His ribs ached fiercely, pain pulsing with every heartbeat.  Brendan swore—loudly—as Frederick moved him, and the pilot’s curses found a twin in those of his lover aboveground.

“What are you doing down there?”  Kara yelled.

“Moving them in case something shifts wrong.  Haven’t kept them alive this long so they could get crushed.”

Brendan choked on a laugh at Frederick’s gallows humor.  The laugh ended in a fit of coughing and a pained moan.

“Just hang tight.”

“Would have been helpful if they’d brought her brother along,” Brendan muttered, his eyes fluttering shut.  “I’m not doing so hot.”

Frederick grimaced.  I’m thinking we both know that—they probably know it, too.

The debris grated above them.  Frederick squinted at the sliver of light that grew larger, first by inches, then a foot and another.  Lindsay slid through the gap first, landing in a crouch and scrambling toward Brendan.  His breath rasped in his throat as his eyes came open, watching her.

“You look like hell,” she said as she dropped to her knees next to him.

“I feel like hell,” he answered before his gaze drifted toward Frederick.  “But I’m still breathing.  That’s something.”

Kara came next, swearing as the ground shuddered around them.

“They’re savaging the south of the city,” she said with a shiver.  “I don’t know what kind of intelligence they’ve got, but that’s where they’re hitting.  It doesn’t look like they’ve turned the base into a crater yet.”

“It’s only a matter of time,” Frederick said quietly.  “There’s no doubt about that.”  He stared at Lindsay.  “It’s Mimir, Lindsay,” he said.  “It’s just like Mimir, all over again.”

Lindsay’s lips thinned and she shook her head hard, her fingers curling around Brendan’s hand.  “It won’t be,” she said with no small measure of conviction.  “We won’t let that happen.  It can’t happen.  It won’t.”

Kara touched her shoulder.  “How do you know?”

“Because we both know,” Lindsay whispered, glancing down at Brendan and then up toward her friend again.  “We’ve both seen too much for everything to end here.  Haven’t we?”

Brendan’s eyes slid shut again.  “She’s right.”

“We have to save your life,” Lindsay said, her eyes meeting Frederick’s.  “I’ve seen it.  You’re giving a speech and someone’s coming after you and you get knocked out of the way just in time to save your life.  It happens.  I know it happens.  There’s so much…”

Brendan’s fingers flexed.  “Enough,” he whispered.  “How’s Inspector Winston?”

“Still breathing,” Frederick said, his voice grim.  “I can’t say much  more than that.  Unless this ends soon…”

“I’ve learned a thing or two from Ezra,” Kara said, carefully moving around Brendan’s prone form to kneel alongside Winston.  “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I think it’s bad,” Frederick said.  “He hasn’t said anything in a while.”

“Talking hurts,” Winston whispered.  “But I’m still here—barely, but still here.”

“Well, let’s see if we can’t keep you with us a little longer,” Kara said with a reassuring smile and a gentle touch to the younger man’s shoulder.  “Just yell if it hurts, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask.”

 

* * *

 

“They haven’t fired on us yet,” Tomasi whispered.  “Sir, why haven’t they obliterated the base yet?”

“Could be that we have something here that they want,” Adam said quietly, staring at the video feeds.  I’ve got no idea what it could be, but maybe they think we’ve got something here that they’d want.  “Where have they hit?”

“Two locations near city center, non-military targets.”

“South of the city’s burning, too,” Tomasi added.

“Mimir,” Adam murmured, half to himself, gaze fixed on the screens.  Hate and terror.  That’s all they cared about.  Sowing terror and their hate.

Tomasi gave him a confused look.  He shook his head slightly.

The comm crackled.  “Control, new contacts, big ships, coming hard and fast.”

Adam’s heart dropped to his boots.  That’s why they haven’t opened up yet.  They were waiting for the heavy hitters.  “Get out of here,” he said quietly over the comm to the lingering fighters, the ones that had disobeyed orders and stayed behind as a final line of defense.  “Save yourselves.”

He closed his eyes and waited for the sudden barrage to begin.

“Sir!  Control, they’re opening fire on the black ships.”

Tomasi’s voice was an excited shout.  “Marshal, we’re getting a hail from the lead ship.”

Adam sucked in a breath, his eyes coming open, his heart beating at three times its normal speed.  “Put it through.”

“Better late than never, huh, Marshal Windsor?”

Adam’s eyes widened and he began to laugh.