It became deathly quiet. So quiet, she could hear the ship’s low, nearly inaudible vibrating hum as it continued to circulate the air and provide warmth against the cold void of space.

“Pug, the instant she fires, ignite the engines and dive,” Archie ordered in a whisper. “Send a notification to the other two ships to also take evasive action.”

“Affirmative,” the alien responded.

“Pug, I need you to count down how many leagues they are away from us,” Justiss requested. She knew that since the alien was their navigator, he would have a greater ability to judge distance.

The Dyopian kept his eyes on the grid, using basic physics to estimate the distance since the Agnesia wasn’t able to. “Twenty. Nineteen. Closing in on eighteen. Seventeen. Sixteen. We are in range.”

“Any moment now,” Justiss whispered. She’d always trusted her instincts. She prayed they wouldn’t let her down now. Her stomach curled into a knot as she prepared herself.

“Fifteen. Fourteen.”

Archie softly voiced what she was thinking. “Why is it taking its sweet time—”

The strange vessel suddenly lurched upward, taking her by surprise. At the same instant, it dropped its shields. Justiss acted without thought, raising the ion cannons the same time she fired three times in succession.

A white iridescent glow filled the void in front of them, proof the cannons had hit their mark. In that same moment, the Agnesia’s engines erupted as Pug dropped the ship from where it had been sitting. A split second later, the other two Legionnaire ships broke away in opposite directions, leaving empty space where they’d been floating.

The entire maneuver took less than three seconds.

Justiss remained frozen to her seat. Her hands were shaking in the aftermath as she continued to stare at the now vacant area on the grid where a portion of the unknown ship could be seen floating away. It hadn’t been a direct hit, but there’d been enough damage rendered to where there wasn’t a chance of survivors. However, she knew they had to be sure.

A warm hand clutched her shoulder. “Stand down, Juss. You did good.”

She managed to nod as her hands slipped off the console and into her lap.

“I was not expecting that ship to suddenly dart away like that,” Pug commented. “Did you?”

“N-no,” she raggedly voiced.

“I wonder why they did that?” the Dyopian continued.

“Guess we’ll never know,” Archie stated and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You saved our asses. Thanks.”

“P-permission to go to my quarters now?” she murmured.

“This isn’t the military, Juss. Just tell us where we can find you and you’ll be fine.”

Swiveling around in her seat, she peered up at him. “Which cabin is it?”

“Cabin C.” His eyes raked over her. “Are you all right?”

Nodding once, she got shakily to her feet but she only was able to take a couple of steps before she fell to her knees and threw up on the floor.