Every single one of the people in that bunker is going to die. I don’t know how big it is, and I don’t completely know where it is. But I know that Tromeo’s flight away from it will be back tracked on our imaging to the very best of our abilities. And while I had continued to argue for allowing the humans to think their base is secure, I am not the one making the strategic decisions tonight.

Trooaris is thinking with his pride. That is the only explanation I can imagine for why he would spend the energy resources on committing to use of the orbital strike instead of using his own counter artillery. He is making a statement and he is showing off.

I wonder how he manages to justify any of his choices these days. I know that July was supposed to fake her death and pin it on him, but I don’t know if she went through with it at all. I don’t know anything that went down in there. I don’t even know if we are going to survive the next hour.

The further we can get the better our chances.

But the motors are not intended to work this hard for this long. I can feel the heat from the nearest one at my back. There is a very real chance that we could lose one or more and then be completely stranded.

I wish this copter were faster. I don’t think it’s possible for us to get far enough away at this rate. I’m terrified, and I can’t stop talking. Words just fall from my mouth in a constant stream. And I know that it’s bothering the soldier in my arms but I can’t stop. It’s the panic driving my movements and I cannot stop it.

The whine of the motors overhead increases in pitch. I do not know what is coming next, but there is definitely more to come. We are losing altitude. I don’t know what will happen if we land. There is no way we are far enough away from any of the places that might be targets for retaliation. We have to keep going. We have to keep going.

“We’re overheating.”

The simple statement comes from Troothasar. I snake my head in his direction and shake it dramatically. I hope he sees. I hope he realizes that we cannot stop. We cannot.

He ignores me.

“I’m taking her down.” I hear a tremble of fear in his voice. He knows. “If we let the engines cool off a little we’ll be able to get further.”

If we’re still here when the retaliation strikes hit we’ll be dead. I don’t give voice to the statement. I clamp my jaws shut and just cling to the human strapped beneath me. She does not protest.

The little copter lands in a small patch of a clearing. Steam streams from the motors as they puncture a dense bank of fog. I unlatch the passenger and hurry to the other side of the craft to help Dirk. He climbs loose of the straps with a haunted expression.

“Thirty minutes,” the pilot implores, “Thirty minutes and we’ll take off again. If we keep making short fast hops we’ll get a lot farther than if we burn out our engines all in one go.”

I haven’t asked where we’re going. I don’t think he knows or cares. The only thing that matters is that is is not here. Staying here is a death sentence.

Dirk grabs a hold of my elbow and pulls me to him. We sit on the frame arm of the copter and wait, listening grimly to the empty sky.

“She shot herself.” Dirk places his hand on my claw. I stare at their differences and then marvel at the similarities. He has more fingers, but the same orientation of fingers to thumb. We are not so unalike, and we never have been. “She shot herself when she found him dead. I’m told it was immediate.”

“Had she not, there would be no revenge attacks. We would not be so far doomed.” I shake my head, feathers ruffling nervously. “They were selfish.”

“Aren’t we being selfish?”

“We’re trying not to die. That’s hardly the same thing as putting others at risk of that.” I wave my free arm in the general direction of the two massive strikes.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Weren’t we selfish to have helped them escape to be together in the first place?” Dirk has me there. “You wanted to see if it was possible. And yes, it was possible, but no, it did not go as desired.”

“Then we’ll have to make it possible for ourselves.” I look him in the eyes and take a deep breath.

“I vow,” he says before I even get the chance to start, “to keep your name in my heart and your memories in my mind as long as we both do live.”

I take both his hands in mine.

“I vow to cherish, trust, and honor you until we are both turned to dust.” It’s not the right format, not the right cadence, and absolutely not the conditions I would have wanted to make this promise in, but it is what feels necessary right now.

I love this man. On the other side of this shared trauma, there’s a good life as honest people ahead of us. I know I can make it come true if we just survive the next few hours.

He kisses me in the human custom. There is no spinal ridge for me to caress on a human, but my claws on the back of his neck encourage him to further press his muscular body against mine. His fingers press against my back and he holds me close.

Unfortunately, our required two witnesses were paying attention to something else. Troothasar and the forcibly recruited soldier rip every non-essential item from the frame of the copter and toss them onto the ground. When the thirty minutes have expired, they have removed every piece of plastic paneling and left the whole thing skeletal and bare.

“It’s weight.” Troothasar is not feeling wordy.

I reach up and touch the exposed motor support. It is still hot to the touch.

“The airflow will help cool it down faster.” Our captive soldier contributes an idea that actually makes a fair bit of sense.

I nod encouragingly and help her climb back into the safety harness. Maybe we are less doomed than I had thought. We will survive. We will make it out of this alive.

The thought passes briefly through my mind that our chances would be better if we dropped the weight of this extra human. But I quickly realize that if we do, we’ll never forgive ourselves. That would be immediately failing to honor the commitments made by my life partner, who I have just vowed to uphold. That would be a terrible mistake.

So I do not speak of it aloud. But the thought was there. We cannot leave behind Troothasar. Neither of us can fly this thing with any adequate skill. If anything, I should be afraid that the two of them would abandon the two of us.

The copter leaps into the air at our skilled pilot’s command. It breaks over the canopy of the treetops and rotates slowly in place while the pilot adjusts to the changes in weight distribution. As we hover in place so very briefly, I hazard a glance in the direction from which we have fled.

And I see a terrible glow in the sky. Thick clouds of soot and ash tower over the remains of the estate. It is far enough away that I cannot see the buildings for the distance, but the plume of smoke from its fires towers into the sky. There is not enough wind to disperse it.

But the glow comes not from the fires. It flickers to life in the sky some distance from that disaster. And I realize what is to come just in time to look away and shout for the others to close their eyes. Our pilot has not this luxury, as we are still dangerously close to the treetops.

Then the sky breaks apart and the world disappears in the bright flash of white light. It lasts barely seconds, but it sears my vision even though my eyes are closed and my head turned.

Someone is screaming, and this time it is not me. There is no loud noise that comes with this chaotic orbital bombardment. This weapon of ours is one of pure energy. And I know that its output is more focused than any explosion and more deadly than a mere bomb.

The screaming comes from our pilot.

“I can’t see! I can’t see!” The copter lurches horribly and I feel the human strapped below me retch again. I don’t know what more she can remove from her body anymore. There can’t be any food left. I blink away the terrible after images in my vision.

“I’ll guide you,” Dirk’s voice is calm and confident. He sounds so professional, so much like the one in control of the situation. “Here.” I look over, and he has stopped holding himself above the other Troo and has his arms wrapped around his shoulders. Dirk leans over and helps guide the pilot into resuming our course away from the carnage.

It isn’t as fast. We do not dare go so fast again.

It cannot be fast enough either. I realize what that must have been. It could not have been anything else. The rebel base has been entirely obliterated. There would be nothing left at all. All that it was will now be turned to glass.

I look up to the clouds again, hoping that the terrible red light would be gone and there would be no additional follow-up discharges of the massive space laser.

Instead, I see the flash of something small and fast speed past far overhead in a descending arc. And then we hear the sound.

The sonic boom disrupts our flight path once more, and we wobble terribly close to hitting the trees.

The flash of light from the nuclear explosion that hits Trooaris’s manor blinds me.

There are only seconds between that flash and the spreading blast wave hurling us to the ground. In those brief seconds, I hear two immortal words:

“Well shit.”