Remember the Starfighter by Michael Kan Read Free Book Online

had happened. It started with her scream.
    The final energy beam had struck the ship, causing the whole vessel to shake. He remembered her hitting the ground. The command console at her finger tips had overloaded, sending fire and broken metal up to her face. He ran to her side as the Crusader’s systems were failing, the darkness enveloping the bridge.
    Julian kept calling her name, but she gave no reply, not even a moan. He turned over her body, seeing the wounds. Smoke misted from her head down to her chest. Blood began to spill out from her face. Julian could already feel it on his hands. “Nalia,” he kept repeating, frantically trying to revive her. But there was no time. He could sense the ship breaking apart, a giant seizure vibrating through the hull. Emergency alarms sounded off, warning of the hull breaches and radiation leaks. In time, a fire began breaking out on the bridge, toxic fumes filling the air. Julian grabbed her body, gathering all his strength to lift her from the ground with his two hands.
    The last memory of the dying ship was all but a haze, the hallways a near labyrinth lit only by the red emergency lights socketed into the ground. Hot gas blew pain into Julian’s face, nothing to shield him from it but his resolve. He kept crashing into the walls, explosions continuing to rock the hull. Reaching the escape pod had been their refuge, a tiny compartment from which they could flee. Julian had stepped inside, finding a spherical room, the seats attached to the walls. He then launched the pod away, and into what Julian thought might be some form of safety.
    There they would be for what seemed like days as the escape pod drifted in space.
    He held her in his arms, the red blood thickening into a stained brown that blotted Nalia’s clothes. There were no medical supplies on the vessel. Julian could only wipe away the wounds with his uniform, a gory rag it later became. He cradled her, feeling the weak heartbeat. “Nalia,” he would whisper, trying to find the words to apologize. But all he could do was wait, the escape pod’s homing beacon the only hope he could cling to.
    Julian looked at her now, Nalia’s body clean and gradually healing. The stasis tube the commander had encased her in glowed as the ultraviolet liquid immersed her body. The cryogenic technology had slowed her heart to a beat per hour. Calm she appeared, as if completely unaware of everything that had happened.
    “Thank you,” Julian said in gratitude. “We owe you our lives.”
    The specialist smiled.
    < Her condition is stable. But she will need surgery to fully repair the facial scarring. I’ve kept her in stasis until she can see more advanced medical care.>
    Julian nodded, his face still solemn.
    “Where will you be taking us?”
    < The remnants of Haven are to meet at the Bydandia base, 216 light-years from our present position. We will head there now.>
    “Bydandia. Isn’t that some kind of military outpost?”
    < Yes. For now, it’s the rendezvous point. Haven’s authorities want to eventually move all the remaining civilians to the Isen colony on the other end of the galaxy.>
    To run, he thought. That was their only option.
    
    He could tell she was referring to the war. Yes , he wanted to say. Hasn’t it always been?
    But the words were overshadowed by another raw emotion.
    “I want to fight,” he said. It was a response that surprised Julian, the words finding themselves quickly tinged in doubt. He shook his head, unsure if it was even a realistic answer.
    The specialist looked over Julian, running her crystal eyes up and down his body.
     she said.
    She smiled again, showing Julian a nod of kindness.
    “Thanks.”
    The specialist then left, wanting to give Julian some time alone. But not before, she beamed another thought into his mind.
     the commander said. < There is always hope.>

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