"Shouldn't we be there with the girl?" Chris asked the woman standing before him, her back turned as she faced the blazing horizon.
They had already taken their positions. This was the closest they could get to the planet's core, the very point from which the heat erupted in violent waves.
Cooling artifacts were fastened to their uniforms to keep their skin from scorching. The heat rippled visibly through the air. Every breath felt thin and suffocating. The ground beneath their boots was soft and unstable, almost molten. Yet none of that unsettled Chris as much as the sight ahead.
Iris remained composed. "No. That's not what we were instructed to do."
Chris let out a strained breath. "Commander, I don't usually question your judgment. But that girl is about my daughter's age, and you're sending her alone to her death?"
His gaze drifted forward again.
A lone figure with silver hair walked steadily toward the red zone.
