NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43
Vera stood alone on the bridge of the control room, her purple hair spilling loosely over her shoulders, framing a face carved with a seriousness that seemed to weigh the air itself. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, her fingers digging into her sleeves as her gaze fixed on the vast holographic display before her—a map of dots and trajectories glowing faintly against the dark expanse. The day had been a brutal reckoning— some of her crew died, their blood staining her hands while laughter and celebration had masked the danger lurking overhead.
She'd let her guard down, lulled by the joy of Syn's return, and the shapeshifters had struck, a dagger through her moment of weakness. Her jaw clenched, her lips thinning into a hard line as she bit back the frustration clawing at her throat.
The door hissed open behind her, and Aster's heavy boots thudded against the metal floor, her presence a quiet storm as she entered the control room. She paused at the base of the stairs, her teal eyes lifting to Vera's rigid silhouette above, the captain lost in thought, her posture a fortress of resolve. Aster ascended the steps, her blonde hair swaying with each deliberate stride, her expression blank but her gaze sharp, reading the tension in Vera's stance like a map she'd memorized long ago.
"Our ship's up and running," Aster said, her voice steady as she reached the bridge, her hands slipping into her pockets as she stopped beside Vera, her tall frame casting a faint shadow across the console.
"Good," Vera replied, her tone clipped, her eyes never leaving the display. She didn't turn—she didn't need to. The rustle of Aster's jacket, the faint creak of her boots—she'd felt her vice-captain's presence the moment she'd crossed the threshold. That awareness, that vigilance, was what she should've held fast to always, not let slip in a haze of reunion and relief.
Syn's return had softened her edges, and the cost had been steep—crew lost, trust shaken. Worst of all, it had unfolded before Syn's eyes, his first glimpse of her as captain not the flawless leader she'd strived to be, but a flawed one, caught off-guard and reeling. She bit her lip harder, the sting grounding her as frustration simmered beneath her skin.
Aster's gaze flicked sideways, catching the twitch of Vera's mouth, the subtle furrow of her brow—a silent confession of the turmoil within. She understood, her own mind tracing the same bitter thread. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself," she said, her words laced with a consoling warmth that her blank expression belied, her voice a steady hand reaching through Vera's storm. "I'm sure he doesn't think any less of you as a captain."
Vera didn't respond, her silence a wall she built brick by brick around her shame. She'd messed up—there was no dodging that truth—and the weight of it pressed against her chest, a relentless ache she couldn't shake. She forced a deep breath, then another, her shoulders rising and falling as she wrestled her composure back, her hands unclenching from her arms to hang stiffly at her sides. Mistakes were hers to own, but the future was hers to shape—she'd claw her way forward, one calculated step at a time.
"So, are we doing it?" Aster asked, her voice dropping into a low, expectant murmur, her eyes glinting with a quiet hunger as she watched Vera's profile, waiting for the spark she knew was coming.
Vera turned at last, her purple hair swaying as she faced Aster, her eyes smoldering with a hidden rage that flickered like a flame behind a storm-lashed pane. "Yes," she said, her voice a steel blade wrapped in velvet, her resolve hardening into something lethal.
Aster's lips curved into a faint smile, a predator's gleam flashing in her gaze—that was the answer she'd craved, Vera's approval the final key to a plan long set in motion. She'd retrieved the detonator from Mia hours ago, its cold weight a promise in her pocket, and now all that remained was the press of a button. Explosives nestled within the princess's spaceship—rigged beside its reactor core—awaited their signal, primed for a nuclear blast that would ripple through the Kingdom's heart. Timing was everything; they'd wait until it docked, maximizing the chaos, turning the King's betrayal into a pyre of his own making.
"How long until it reaches the Kingdom?" Vera asked, her tone sharpening as she stepped toward the console, her boots ringing against the bridge's metal floor.
Aster moved to the holographic display, her fingers dancing across the controls with a swift, practiced grace. The screen shifted, a tracker blinking to life—a red dot pulsing against a starfield, marking the princess's vessel. "Here," she said, sliding the view to center it, the data scrolling in faint green text.
Pako had commandeered the ship during the hostage exchange, its crew—including the princess—locked in its own brig, its reactor crippled by a precise shots to its circuit board, leaving it powerless and adrift. Aster's own ship was used to towed it, while Mia and a squad of pirates had ensured the ruse held. The princess's crew, still in their captivity, had no inkling of the bomb ticking beside their core—a failsafe Vera had planted, insurance that had freed Syn from the force field and now promised retribution. Killing two Birds with one stone
The computer hummed, calculating the trajectory—thirty-eight minutes until the Kingdom's orbit. The time flashed on the display, a countdown etched in light, and Vera and Aster locked eyes, a silent nod sealing their pact. "They shouldn't have done that," Vera said, her voice low, a growl threaded with ice as she stared at the blinking dot. "They underestimated us—now they'll bear the consequences for betraying us."
Aster nodded, her gaze fixed on the beeping pointer, her smile fading into a cold, resolute line, her fingers brushing the detonator in her pocket—a weight she carried like a second heart. "We can't let Syn know," Vera added, her voice dropping into a fierce whisper, her eyes narrowing as she reaffirmed their secrecy. "This stays between us."
"I'll tell Pako to keep him busy—keep him away from here," Aster replied, her wristband flaring to life as she tapped out a coded message, a string of symbols Syn wouldn't decipher, her fingers moving with a swift, silent precision. She sent it, the screen winking off as she leaned back against the console, her posture deceptively casual, her mind a coiled spring.
Minutes ticked by, the holographic display updating in silent pulses—twenty minutes remaining. Vera's wristband buzzed, a sharp chime cutting through the tension, and she glanced at the screen—Pako's name flashing beside a single line: "Are you going to use it?" Her gut had sniffed out the plan, her intuition as sharp as ever.
Vera tapped back a thumbs-up emoji, her lips twitching faintly as she sent it, a flicker of grim satisfaction breaking through her stoic mask.
In the cafeteria, Pako sat across from Syn at a scratched metal table, milkshakes sweating in their hands—hers chocolate, his a pale vanilla that matched the unease creeping up his spine. Her wristband pinged, the message glowing briefly before she swiped it away, her dark eyes widening for a split second as Vera's reply sank in. Her fingers tightened around her glass, her knuckles paling as tension rippled through her frame, her playful mask slipping just enough for Syn to catch it.
"What happened?" Syn asked, his voice low, his brow furrowing as he leaned forward, his shake clinking against the table as he set it down, his hazel eyes searching her face for the crack he'd glimpsed.
"Uh…" Pako hesitated, her mind scrambling for a lie as her lips parted, then curled into an embarrassed half-smile, her cheeks flushing faintly. "My delivery of condoms and lube got delayed." Her voice wavered, a sheepish lilt masking the tremor beneath, but her smile widened into a cheeky grin, her dark eyes glinting with a familiar mischief as she leaned closer, her bare shoulder brushing his. "We're gonna need a lot of 'em now that you're here."
"Or do you prefer… raw?" Pako's voice dipped into a mischievous purr, her bare foot sliding up Syn's leg beneath the cafeteria table, her toes stroking his calf with a deliberate tease that sent a shiver racing up his spine. Her dark eyes glinted with wicked delight, her milkshake glass dangling loosely in her hand as she leaned forward, her shirt slipping off one shoulder to reveal the curve of her tanned skin.