The transmission came through at 0400 hours.
"We have the codes." Her voice cracked.
Jonah was at her side in seconds. He'd been pretending to sleep in the captain's chair.
"Seraph came through?" he asked.
"She came through." Vanessa brought up the data stream, watching the encryption keys scroll across her screen. "Defense grid access. Satellite command protocols. Everything we need to reach the Moon without getting turned into dust."
Behind them, Ariana limped onto the bridge. Her leg was still healing from the Apex battle. The Celestial Falcon had taken damage too, but both of them refused to stay down.
"The ground team?" she asked.
"They are alive. Wounded. But alive." Vanessa didn't mention the other part. The part where Seraph's voice on the recorded message had sounded different.
Jonah pulled up the fleet status. Thirty-nine ships. They had started with forty-three. Four lost in the battle against the Apex.
