Free Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice by Robynn Sheahan

this room her
whole shift. She only had to be available if something happened.
She decided to check her Interceptor from top to bottom. She turned
to the tech at the same time she stood up from her seat. “I’ll be
in the hangar if you need me.”
    He nodded and returned his attention to the
monitors.
    Her boot steps echoed down the stairs,
ringing in the massive cavern of the hangar.
    Even with the bay doors closed, the space was
cold. Her breath fogged out as she went over the schematics of the
fighter’s new weapons system, tracing each wire, making sure they
were intact.
    The woman on duty for maintenance worked
alongside Erynn, tightening fittings and smoothing blemishes in the
fighter’s body. The snarl of the sander muffled the scrape of the
doors activating on the far side of the large hangar.
    Jaer strode up, took her arm, and spun her
around. “You will listen to me.”
    She jerked out of his grasp. “It’s not
necessary. You don’t owe me an explanation. I’m not
the one you’re committed to.” Erynn turned away and faced the
stairs to the COM. She took two steps and froze. Her vision
blurred. The grinding screech of metal against metal faded to
silence. She swayed.
    Jaer’s form moved to stand in front of her.
“Erynn, what?” His voice was distant, slow.
    Erynn felt as though she floated, her body no
longer heavy enough to stay connected to the stone floor. She
drifted above the transport bay, watching Kira move through the
half-light, in the shadows far beyond the on-duty crew of two. Deep
in a recess behind the backmost transports, a man laughed with
quiet seduction. He beckoned to Kira. He was tall and lean, but
indistinct past a basic shape.
    Erynn sucked in a rasping inhalation. Her
vision returned to a sharp clarity. She ran.
    “Erynn. Wait. What is it?” Jaer rushed after
her.
    In her mind, she could hear Kira
screaming.
    Or is it in my mind ?
    Jaer raced past her. He must have heard the
screaming also. He tapped the side of his head behind his ear.
“Code red, transport bay!” he yelled. He turned the corner leading
to the massive space, bright lights bursting over the scene.
“Where, Erynn?”
    She pointed to the back.
    Jaer sprinted ahead.
    Kira lay curled in a ball. Blood poured from
a large gash on her forehead.
    Erynn’s stomach lurched, and she gasped.
    No ! Was I too slow ? Is Kira
dead ?
    Jaer knelt next to Kira and checked her
pulse. “She is alive.” He tapped the spot behind his ear. “Medical
team, transport bay, STAT.”
     
     
    Erynn stood in front of Cale’s desk in his
office. “There was no warning this time,” she said in a shaky
voice.
    Because I was too wrapped up in my own
feelings .
    Cale held up his hand. “Erynn, stop. This is
not your responsibility. It’s my job, and Jaer’s, to keep
the base safe. Just tell me what you saw.”
    Jaer stood back by the door like he had that
day in Glaskra in Leathan’s office, before she knew of the children
in hiding, kept safe in the city there. Children like her, with
mixed parentage. That was before she and Jaer had shared that first
kiss, revealing their feelings for each other.
    Jaer’s pain sliced at her, bombarded her,
left her soul torn and bloody.
    From his not stopping another attack? Or
because —
    “Erynn,” Cale called, jerking her from her
reverie. “What did you see?”
    Erynn started, pulling air into her aching
lungs. “A tall man. His build was lean. His face was hidden in
shadows.” She blinked, squinted, and rubbed a hand over her
forehead. “He laughed, urged Kira to come with him. That’s all I
saw before I ran.”
    Cale’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know it
was happening in real time?”
    “I don’t know. It just felt…now. Maybe I
didn’t know. I just needed to see if the attack was or wasn’t
happening.”
    Cale stood up and stepped around his desk.
“Kira is alive because of you. We have a killer among us, or like I
said, an alien agent trying to do more damage.”
    She