The engine ignition was silent.
That was the first thing I noticed. I stood on the observation deck of the hangar, looking down through the reinforced glass. The vessel sat on the pad, white hull gleaming under the artificial lights. There was no roar of combustion. No shake in the floor. Just a subtle shift in the air pressure as the resonance drives spun up.
Ash was inside. Kael was in the co-pilot seat. Two visitors from Varen's command were in the back, monitoring the integration stats.
I didn't wave. He didn't look up.
The hatch sealed. The lights on the pad turned from red to green.
Yuki stood beside me at the console. Her hands were hovering over the keys, ready to intervene if the grid fluctuated during takeoff. "Grid load increasing," she said. "Compensating."
"Let it ride,"
