The crushing weight suddenly vanished.
One moment, Jonah felt like the universe was trying smash him flat. Next thing he knew, he felt nothing at all. There was a sudden, silence and a feeling of being unbelievably light.
He was lightly floating against the belts of his seat. Beside him, Vanessa also was the same way, her hair moving slowly around her face.
Nobody said a word. For a second, it was just them, taking it all in, silent like someone hit the mute button.
Through the main viewer of the cockpit, their planet floated in darkness of space. It was a spinning marble of blue, white, and green, glowing against an endless sea of stars.
Dang," Vanessa whispered. "All those numbers and theories... none of that even comes close, huh?"
"No," Jonah agreed, his own voice barely audible. "It really doesn’t."
The peaceful moment was broken by an urgent chime from Vanessa’s console. Her relaxed face instantly changed to one of sharp, focused attention. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the data streams.
"Jonah," she said, her tone was all business now. "He knew we were coming." The source of this content ɪs novel fire.net
Jonah instantly felt a chill of fear. He turned his attention from the beautiful world outside to the harsh reality inside their tiny cockpit.
A 3D map of their surrounding showed up on Vanessa’s screen. It was mostly empty, just showing stars. But then, dozens of small, red dots started to appear out of nowhere. They formed a loose, scattered circle all around them.
"What are those?" Jonah asked, his hands tightening on his controls.
"Hidden Space Mines," Vanessa said, her fingers moving fast across her console as she was trying to analyze the threat. "They’re invisible. My runic sensors are barely picking them up. The entire orbital path is one big, invisible trap."
Jonah started to feel a knot tightening in him. They were floating in a minefield. One wrong move, one burst of power from Nomad’s main thrusters, and they would trigger an explosion.
"Can we go around?" he asked, his voice tight.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "They’re everywhere. We have to go through. Slowly."
This was a new kind of battle entirely. It wasn’t about who was stronger or faster. It was a challenge where even the tiniest error meant they would be instantly destroyed.
Vanessa looked totally focused and serious.
"Okay, Jonah," she said, her voice a low. " Listen closely. Do exactly what I tell you. Don’t make any quick movements. We only need very tiny moves. Just gentle pulses of energy."
Jonah took a deep breath, pushing his fear away. He focused his will, connecting with Nomad, feeling the huge, cosmic power of the Progeny waiting for him to tell it what to do.
"Move three degrees to the left," Vanessa ordered, her eyes fixed on the sensor screen. "Remember, gentle push of power... Hit it now."
Jonah pushed the control stick with his thumb. Fssshhh. A tiny stream of starlight pulsed from Nomad’s side, gently pushing them to the left. The movement was so small he could barely feel it.
"Cut power," she ordered. "Drift for five seconds... Four... Three..."
He could see one of the red dots on the map pass just below them. It was so close.
"Two... One... Okay. New heading. Two degrees up. Small burst... now."
They moved in a slowly through the invisible net of explosives. Jonah focused only on Vanessa’s voice and the feeling of Nomad responding to his commands. He stopped looking at the stars. He only watched the red dots on her screen, holding his breath every time they drifted past a mine.
"Sharp right, one degree," she said. "Pulse."
"Hold on still. We’re passing between two of them. Don’t breathe."
He wasn’t breathing anyway. He felt one drop of sweat roll down his face and float away in the zero-gravity environment. This was scarier than facing a hundred monsters. This was a battle against things he could not even see.
"Almost there," Vanessa murmured, gripping the edge of her console tightly. "Just a few more. Jonah, get ready. This is the tightest one yet."
He saw it on the map. A tiny gap between three of the mines. It looked impossible.
"Ten degrees down," she ordered, speaking faster now. "A little more power this time. Wait for my signal... Go!"
The cockpit shook as they dipped down and went a little faster.
"Now sharp up! Five degrees! And kill the power!"
He pulled back hard on the controls. The sudden change in direction made him feel dizzy. He watched the three red dots drift past their viewer, close enough to touch.
Then, the screen was clear. All the red dots were behind them.
Jonah breathed out, realizing how much tension had built up in his body. "Did we... Did we make it?"
Vanessa was slumped in her chair, her own face pale, but a smile was appearing on her face. "We made it," she confirmed.
The relief was so sudden that Jonah almost laughed. They had survived.
And then, he felt a sudden fear hit him.
While they floated in the silence, a shadow started to move. It was unbelievably large, slowly blocking the stars in front of them. It was the shadow cast by the moon. Then, as they continued to watch, something huge appeared from behind it.
It was Project Damocles.
This wasn’t a satellite. It was a giant space station, shaped like a spiky star.
As they watched in silence, hatches all over the station’s surface began to open. From those dark openings, a swarm of smaller objects came out. They were metallic drones, shaped like killer insects. These were the combat Progeny made by the Syndicate.
First there were dozens. Then there were hundreds of them.
On Vanessa’s console, the calm green color of their status screen immediately changed to a flashing, angry red. Hundreds of new red dots were suddenly speeding toward them on the map.
She turned to him, her face looking serious.
"Hostiles engaged," she said, her voice calm and clear. "Welcome to the war, Jonah."