Minmin

I stared at the Armstar and felt a strange mix of dread and hope. My mom was dead. She had died from the pain the Corruption gave her. All this time of pushing away the thought of her - of pushing away my grief - it came back now in a torrent that encased my heart. Burning tears sprang to my eyes. Though my shield regulated the area directly around me, tears in space probably were not a good idea so I blinked them away and chased away the grief for another day.

My eyes flitted to Shel. He also stared at the Armstar, but when he felt my gaze he turned to me. An understanding passed between us reminding me again that even though we weren't related - we weren't even the same species - he was my brother. In that moment, I pushed my grief away for something else. Hope. Hope that Shel and I - with a great deal of help from Vai - could save our fathers.

There was a great distance between us and the Armstar. There was a lot of black space and many ships between us. And Shel and I couldn't take on the entire Armstar by ourselves. Even if the Corruption on Brist were in hiding, the Corruption on the ships were still there and they could tear through us and our shields even if we managed to fight off everyone on board the Armstar.

Shel's deep blue eyes turned away as they searched over the battle for what I assumed was an effort to find his mother. I looked too, but I didn't see her. I wasn't even sure she was on this shift. Perhaps she was in the alternate shift.

I searched for Vai. He wasn't too far away. Warpaint stood by his side. Vai's dark brown eyes met mine. I was going to ask for his help, but in that moment I hesitated. It was selfish of me to ask him to hold off healing our people just so he could help me and Shel get our fathers back.

All of the enemy ships moved away from us and now concentrated their fire power on the warships. The fighting with those of us with the light outside the ships kind of stopped. There were a few that still attacked the Brist ships, but the rest of us waited. We couldn't compete with the warships' weapons - even with the lesser weapons that they now used to attack the Brist ships. They had stopped using their mass weapons to reserve those for the planet.

We couldn't destroy the entire Brist planet just to get at the Corruption that was hiding inside it. At least, I hoped the Gathering council wouldn't order the destruction of an entire planet. That was unfathomable.

I drew closer to Shel and Owen who had been beside me moved with me. I looked at Shel. He looked at me. Neither of us wanted to actually voice the possibility of going to save our fathers on the Armstar.

"Friends," Owen said to us after an unnaturally long pause. We both looked to him. "I know you want to return to your original home and take back your dads, but we can't take on the entire ship just by ourselves."

"I'm willing to try," Esther said as she came up beside us.

"I do not understand," Gray said.

"He's only going to be able to fit in the shuttle bay," Shel said. "Sorry, Gray, but you're really not going to be of help."

"You need to make your ships bigger," Gray muttered.

"I know what you are thinking," since when was Lieutenant Tanpo beside us, "but it's too dangerous to go into the Armstar by ourselves."

The Remembrance suddenly dropped below all the fighting before going still. It just sat there not making any sort of move.

"Is it just me, or is the Remembrance acting unusual," Owen said.

The other enemy ships continued to fire on our warships. Only the Remembrance remained alone and still. Our exploration fleet were the only other unmoving ships, but that was because we were out here in space fighting. I wondered if they would call us back onboard and then maneuver to fire on the enemy ships. Our weapons were not as strong as the warships, but we could still battle the enemy ships.

"Do you want to go onboard the Armstar and I'll heal your dads," Vai said. I didn't notice him and Warpaint come up beside us either.

"It will be difficult to board with the way the warships are firing on them," Owen said.

"And even if our small group manages to get on board, they will immediately know and attack us," Shel said.

"I can create a diversion on the shuttle bay," Gray offered. "I can draw all of the enemy to me and you can find your fathers and heal them."

"I appreciate the thought," I said, "but you won't last long by yourself."

"We can bring my brother and sister with us," Gray said.

"But even then," Lieutenant Tanpo said, "how long can you last? Especially if the Corruption decides to attack you directly? They killed Esther's Awakened One."

"But I'm sure that was after a great battle," Gray said. "The Corruption will eventually tear through our shields, but we can hold out long enough."

Our Okuli beeped all at once. It was a message from the ship. We answered and through each of our volos, the first officer's image was projected. "Everyone is to return to the ship immediately." Then the image cut. We weren't the only one to receive the message. Everyone from the exploration vessels made their way back to their respective ships.

We were some of the last ones to board. Mainly because Shel and I were hesitant to leave our dads. As soon as we were onboard, we received a message from the captain.

«Head to the labs. Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa has further instructions for you.

The five us - 7 if you included Warpaint and Lieutenant Tanpo, which I should so - the seven of us left the shuttle bay leaving behind the 3 Awakened Ones and the rest of the people who had been on our 2 hour shift. They waited there in case there was an opportunity for our fighting to resume.

When we got to the labs, we were directed by the scientists to Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa's lab. He wasn't alone. The 2 scientists that had come down to the shuttle bay with him earlier were there as well. The 3 of them stood side by side as if they had been waiting for us. Projected in the middle of his lab was the battle scene. As we entered, one of our warships destroyed a Brist ship, but there were many more to take its place.

"What's going on?" Vai asked.

"We are waiting," Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa said in that frustrating way where he answered a question without really answering it. I didn't understand how Vai could stand it.

"Waiting for what?" Vai asked.

"Opportunity," Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa said.

"Do you always have to be so frustrating," I mumbled under my breath. I thought I had said it quietly enough that no one else would be able to hear it, but from the looks people were giving me, that hadn't been the case. "Sorry," I quickly said. I didn't want to have to face Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa's wrath. He was scary. But he smiled gently.

"We have made a new device," Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa said as he indicated his 2 scientists. "It will hopefully give us an advantage in this war which frankly," he looked at the projected battle. Many of our warships were now damaged, but none were incapacitated or destroyed. The Remembrance hadn't moved from its spot of immobility, "we need an advantage. Especially since the miasmids - our real enemy - are hiding away."

"Will your device reach them underneath the planet's surface?" Vai asked hopefully.

Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa shook his head. "No, but if we find a chance to board the Armstar it should be of tremendous help."

"If it works," the Bundu-Jo scientist said.

"It will work," the human scientist said.

"We haven't had the opportunity to test it yet," the Bundu-Jo said.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. If it was something that could save my dad, I wanted to risk it. But if it hadn't been tested, how did we know it wouldn't blow up in our faces. Whatever it was.

"That's what we are waiting for?" Shel asked. "To get on the Armstar?"

Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa nodded. Shel leaned in closer to the projection. I noticed I was too, but I didn't care. Everyone was now on board their ships. The exploration ships began to move and fire on the Brist ships.

We waited and watched the battle through the projection. More Brist ships were destroyed. The Corruption that were on those ships drifted down to the planet now that we were no longer out there to destroy them and the warships were engaged in battle. More of our warships took damage as the fleet with the Armstar and the Brist ships battled them from all sides.

After at least an hour of watching, one of our warships finally lost their shields and with a few well-placed shots from several enemy ships, our ship blew up. Whatever fire there was died away quickly. Shrapnel, large and small, was sent in all directions. Much of it bounced off the shields of other ships and was sent hurtling through space in a different direction. There were bodies, but they were so tiny I could pretend they were something else even as they went drifting through space with the shrapnel.

"No, Vai," Lieutenant Tanpo said. "You can't heal them. There is nowhere for them to go and no rescue for them. Not in that battlefield. Let it go."

I hadn't noticed before, I was too engrossed in the projection, but Vai had that familiar look on his face as if it took everything he had inside him not to heal.

Time passed and the battle showed no signs of slowing down. More Brist ships were destroyed. More space shrapnel bumped into other ships or were burned as they entered the Brist atmosphere. I wondered how much destruction there would be to Brist just from the shrapnel. The small pieces wouldn't do any damage, but there were some large pieces of ships that hurtled toward the planet.

Through all of it the Remembrance didn't move. The other ships ignored it. Two more of our warships were destroyed. The enemy focused all their attention on the warships so all of the exploration ships were still intact.

Vai suddenly stiffened. "They're here," he whispered.

"Who?" Esther asked.

And Vai smiled. The first smile I had seen on him for hours. "The Awakened Ones. They are here."

Gray, Brownie and Blackie were out in space. I didn't know when they had exited the Shadow. I just noticed them so maybe just at that moment. I didn't think they were who Vai was referencing, but I didn't see any other Awakened Ones.

"There." Vai pointed to the very edge of the projection. There were the Awakened Ones. Maybe a hundred of them.

"Is that it?" Esther asked. "Is that all that is left of them?"

An entire race and that was all that was left? I understood why they had been so hesitant to join us before.

They immediately began to attack a K'thaktran ship. Gray, Blackie and Brownie disappeared and then reappeared by the other Awakened Ones.

Captain Axa's voice came on in Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa's lab. "Get ready," she said. "I think you'll find your opportunity to board the Armstar soon."