Page 130 of Stars in Mist

Minutes later, Riv charged into the command centre with Élisa by his side.

‘What’s the play?’ he muttered as he approached Zane.

‘Take a look, brother. This is no rehearsal.’

The viewscreen showed a fleet of ships bearing down on them. The crafts were colossal, configured like gigantic birds with spread-out wings.

Zane leaned into the view. ‘It’s the first wave. They’re armed and tracking in hard.’

Mirage interjected. ‘Hold up, they’re slowing.’

While the Riders kept their eyes on the screen, the convoy decelerated, and several smaller boats, shaped like sleek raptors, separated from the larger ones, and they flew towards them, coming to a stop before the Phantasm.

‘Élisa, any insight you can give us?’ Zane twisted around to face her.

The Katánian woman breathed, herkoyasab?rs bristling against her chest. ‘They’ll only ask once, then engage with little provocation. My people are fierce and unrelenting, and it’s rare that they indulge in small talk. So get to the heart of what they want and do it quickly.’

The sapphire-eyed Rider gave Élisa a nod. ‘Grateful.’

‘Is diplomacy on the cards?’ Xion asked with a lift of his chin.

Zane shrugged. ‘Let’s find out. Mirage, send Kainan a message. He needs to launch a surprise attack and flank us to the rear of thesekinaisonce they start firing.’

He turned to Riv and Élisa. ‘Please wait in the ready room; we don’t want the Katánians to know you are on this ship with us. You, too, Killen. We’ll enable a feed there so you can hear the conversation. But they cannot know your existence. Not yet.’

Riv ushered his family into the expansive room beside the bridge and ensured the door was secure.

He flicked on the holo screen, and the feed flickered through.

Go ahead, brother,he said to Zane via their neural network.

Zane nodded. ‘Now, let’s try the good, old talk-the-enemy-down-from-a-cliff-jump method. Open a channel, Mirage.’

‘Done.’

Zane stepped to the viewscreen, hands folded behind him, his face an expressionless visage. ‘To the incoming Katánian fleet. We are a peaceful Edenite ship on a mercy mission and mean no harm to our brothers and sisters on Devansi. What business have you here?’

The screen flickered to an incoming feed, and a Katánian appeared.

He sported a craggy, lean, brutal human face and hawk-like feathers in a stunning crest around his face.

The effect, intended to inflict fear, was startling. Their gold glowing eyes glared at Zane. ‘I speak on behalf of the Tempest of Light, theKírígaand King of Katáne. Devansi has long harbored his heir, theKintiof Katáne, and demands that they return her to him. Do you speak for the Devansi?’

‘In a manner of speaking, given they’ve no defensive fleet of their own.’

‘You know of whom we seek?’

‘We might,’ Zane hedged.

The Katánian leaned in, his eyes cold and unyielding. ‘Tell the Devansi to hand her over to us.’

‘I’ll do no such thing,’ Zane drawled, his lip curling with amusement.

The crested spokesperson sneered. ‘Should you stand in our way and stop us from retrieving her, we will engage and fire on the planet.’

Zane took his time, pursing his mouth as if mulling over a response.

The Katánian frowned. ‘Were my nibs not making a noise when I spoke?’

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