Peter, Sinead, Riker and the other guard appear from the shadows, moving with practiced stealth. Ivan nods to them, and they take positions behind the crates with us.
Ivan checks a strange, metallic-looking device he's pulled from his pocket. It's alien technology, something I've seen before. Some kind of watch, I think, though I don't know what's different about it from any earth one.
"Two minutes," he whispers.
We wait.
The guards at the hangar entrance don't seem to notice anything amiss. They're still chatting, still not paying attention.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rocks the complex, followed by another, and another. The guards start, their heads whipping around in confusion.
Then a siren begins to wail.
The two orange, lumpy looking aliens run faster than I've ever seen those types move. They don't even give us a glance as they bolt away from their post toward the front of the complex.
"Now," Ivan hisses.
He stands and runs for the hangar, with Sinead, Peter, and the guards right behind him.
"Come on!" Eric grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet.
We follow them, running as fast as we can across the open ground. The sirens are still wailing, and I can hear shouting in the distance.
We reach the hangar entrance without incident. Ivan is already at the control panel next to the large doors. Sinead stands beside him, watching the area around them.
Ivan gestures at the pad. "Hurry!"
She taps in a series of commands on the panel. It beeps, and the massive doors begin to open.
"Get inside!" Ivan calls out.
He gestures us forward, then returns to tapping commands on the pad. My chest is tight and I feel the adrenaline rushing through me as I look between the opening door and the opening in the fence I can see.
The others file into the hangar, with Ivan following. I glance back at the complex one more time, and that's when I see them.
Four aliens.
Four of the tall, grey ones.
They're running toward us.
"They're coming!" I yell.
"They won't get here in time," Ivan says. "Just get inside."
He gestures at me, and I follow the others into the hangar.
The ship is even bigger up close. It's sleek and silver, with strange-looking wings.
"Hurry!" Ivan calls out.
He's already at the ramp of the ship, which is lowering.
The blood is rushing in my ears so loudly I can't believe I can even hear Ivan through it. I'm focused. On running. On not tripping. Not falling behind. Holding Hestia's hand like if I let go we'll both die.
There's no one around. Just us. But I don't know how long those explosions will keep them distracted.
How long we have.
I don't think even Ivan knows, and that's why he warned us not to wait if one of us gets held back somehow.
But I won't be.
We won't be. I won't let us.
I push that into the forefront of my mind and keep my focus.
The run across the short distance of the hanger feels like it's as long as the walk from the headquarters to here. It feels endless, like my feet are moving through thick, heavy mud and my legs are burning.
It's not.
But it feels like it is.
I push forward anyway.
Hestia and I are one of the first to the ship, with Sinead just ahead of us.
Ivan races past us a moment later.
He doesn't even hesitate. He's already familiar with the controls it seems, and goes straight to them. I can hear - feel - the hum of the engines beginning to fire up even before everyone is on the ship.
I look over my shoulder out the door. Eric and Mia are the furthest back, just now making it to the ramp leading up to the ship. No one has started following us yet.
I slump over on a seat, a hand on my face.
...We've made it.
Everyone made it.
The ship is already getting ready for take off, everyone is going to get on the board, and the aliens won't get to us. Not in time to stop us.
My heart still feels like it's about to explode.
Sinead inhales. "Ivan, what the hell is this encryption?" She demands, suddenly tense.
He freezes, head turning to the side, as if confused by her tone.
"The whole damn thing's changed, Ivan. The command structure is completely rewritten. I don't have access."
Her eyes cut to the hangar opening, her voice sharp with a sudden fear. "I don't have access to the navigation systems, either."
The ship's ramp starts to close as the guards on board begin to secure the ship.
"That isn't the answer I need to hear right now, Sinead." Ivan hisses, low, firm. "I need you to work your magic."
She stares at him. For a horrible moment, I think she's going to refuse.
She shakes her head, finally. "I can do it. But it's going to cut the time close." She glances towards the hangar doors. "We won't have much time to get everyone on board."
"It's too late to turn back." He says, resolute. "Do what you have to do."
She nods, and her fingers fly across the interface, her focus absolute.
"Sarah, Mia, Eric, Hestia." Peter's voice is low, urgent. "Take position by the ramp. As soon as the doors open, wave the first group in."
Mia immediately moves to stand near the door. Eric lingers in place, eyes fixed on the front window of the ship, as if his thoughts are just like mine. I stand up to follow, but - my gaze keeps getting drawn back up front.
We're not in the air yet.
My heart is clenching. My stomach is knotting.
This isn't going to go wrong. It can't. We're so close.
I have to believe that.
The seconds drag, each one feeling like an hour. Every moment I am waiting is another moment we're still vulnerable, on the ground and not in the air, not away from here, not safe.
This is the worst part, the not knowing.
Sinead's voice cuts through the silence of the cockpit. "I can get you in, but you're going to be flying manually."
Ivan curses. "Manual?"
"Manual now or auto in a few hours, after we're all dead. Which one do you want?" Sinead's voice is tight, strained, but she's focused.
"...Manual it is."
The sounds of typing accelerate.
I'm not sure what. To do.
There's nothing I can do.
I'm here, with everyone on this dangerous mission, and I still don't have anything I can actually do.
It's a good thing I wasn't the one who ended up getting to this ship alone - since apparently the easy button pressing wouldn't have worked.
I swallow.
I should go to the door.
I should be ready to help people get in as quickly as possible. But we're not...there yet.
I'm not even sure - I don't think we're off the ground. So there's no urgency for me to be over there yet. I still have time to find the strength in my legs.
"Got it-go. Go." Sinead's voice rings out sharp.
The ship's engine screams to life, and the vessel lurches forward, throwing me off balance. I stumble, catching myself on the wall.
"Hang on!" Ivan's voice is tight with concentration. "This won't be gentle!" His hands move across unfamiliar controls with a surprising dexterity, but the ship bucks and sways beneath us like a wild animal trying to throw off its rider.
I'm - sore.
Smacking into the wall, even relatively gently, hurts.
But we're moving.
Finally. Starting to lift off, even if we're moving as if the ship is drunk. Hestia scrambles over to me and holds onto my arm. We both wobble.
"Hang on to something!" Peter yells.
"Think I've got it!" Ivan shouts.
Sinead glances back toward me, from where she's gripping the console.
She summons that smile of hers that she always has.
For just a moment, at least, looking at that smile, the roar of the engines around us fade into the din. The panic that floods my body ebbs.
An explosion of sound breaks through the ship.
Not from the engines.
Not from the turbulence.
From behind us.
Ivan lurches forward in the pilot's seat.
Then - a torrent of blood.
Spraying out across the console in front of him.
From - from a hole in his chest.
No.
No no.
No.
This.
Isn't happening.
This-
My ears are ringing.
Sinead screams, falling backward away from the console, eyes wide, looking over my shoulder. Hestia is screaming in my ear.
I can't think.
I don't-
I can't look.
And yet.
I see.
Eric standing where he's been all this time. Expression calm. Cold. Placid.
Holding a gun in his hand.