I sit on a medical cot, letting Margot wrap my ribs, while Kade stands beside me, his hand resting on my knee, his thumb tracing soothing circles. Through the merge, his presence is a warm, steady hum, keeping my pain at bay.
General Croft’s face appears on the main holoscreen. She looks grim, the harsh lighting of the UN command ship casting deep shadows on her face.
"Luna Isla. Alpha Kade," Croft says, her voice crisp. "Telemetry confirms the singularity drive is offline. The gravitational shear has dissipated. The Genesis Seed is safe from the immediate crushing threat."
"And the harmonic map?" I ask, my voice raspy.
"Destroyed," Morgan confirms from her console. "The probe at the edge of the solar system has lost its telemetry lock. It’s drifting blind. We’ve bought ourselves time.
