There wasn't much of a bang, as there was almost no atmosphere inside the ship to transmit sound. But there was the feeling of an impact, albeit a slight one with the lack of gravity. Through the Jahar's forward screen, Visser Thirty-two and Elfangor both saw one of the living asteroids slowly, inevitably, growing over the ship.
Then, something much worse came into view: a stellar-mass black hole. A point of infinite density and gravitational force, was drawing the Jahar into its accretion disk. Alloran was strangely complacent about this, almost seeming to enjoy the fact that they would all soon be stretched thinner than a piece of conduit hose.
Looking through what was left of the forward screen, Visser Thirty-two saw the Navari turn and leave. His host's vision was beginning to grow dim from lack of oxygen, but he was almost sure he could see the remaining asteroids following closely behind.
***
Vasara turned away from the unknown craft, as there had been no worthy aliens aboard any of the ships. None that even came close to meeting the standards of the Radam. She knew that Nalshanda would not be altogether pleased with this development, but she also knew that Shivaru would stand with her.
The silver-haired Teknoman was someone she could trust implicitly, he was almost like a brother to her, even though they were not of the same species. The few remaining bioengineered asteroids followed Vasara as she left the destroyed ships and dying aliens behind. They coasted to a stop just outside the west airlock, while Vasara herself didn't even slow down until she was well inside the station.
Standing by the console she had activated were Shivaru, and Nalshanda himself. The powerful Tekno-Warlord had his arms crossed, and his long red wings were elegantly folded behind his back. He and Shivaru had obviously been talking, most likely Shivaru had been reporting on the status of the mission.
Nalshanda's eyes finally settled on Vasara, and he waved her over.
"I take it the mission did not go as planned?" Nalshanda said, noting the tentative way Vasara looked from him to Shivaru.
"There were-"
Nalshanda held up a hand, silencing Vasara in midsentance. Half closing his crimson eyes, he made it very clear what he wanted to do. Lowering her mental barriers, she let Nalshanda enter her mind.
"So, the Yeerks were in our territory," Nalshanda mused, speaking mostly to himself.
"Sir?" Vasara inquired, thinking she was being addressed.
"It is nothing for you to concern yourself about, Vasara. You may return to sleep if you wish," Nalshanda muttered, signaling that he wished to be left alone.
Sir, are we to keep this to ourselves? Shivaru asked, as Nalshanda started to walk away.
Turning back to his to loyal soldiers, Nalshanda simply nodded before he turned away and strode off down one of the eastern corridors.
Vasara, one last point of interest, Nalshanda stated.
Yes, sir?
That black ship you saw, did you sense anything, anyone I should say, did you sense any of our kind aboard?
Only one, sir. And it was dormant.
In hibernation?
Yes, sir.
That will be all, Vasara.
Nalshanda nodded once, gratified to know that the insolent little warrior Darkblade had at least taken his orders this time. He sensed Vasara climbing back into her teknopod, and Shivaru returning to his meditation. Nalshanda continued walking until he had reached his own teknopod, it had regenerated after bursting open to release him.
As they all did.
***
The lack of oxygen was swiftly becoming unbearable, and Elfangor knew he had to do something about it. For Loren's sake if not his own. But there was another part of his mind that disagreed, one that saw no point in prolonging his struggle for another second.
As Elfangor's conscious mind faded slowly into oblivion, a strange feeling of peace settled over him even as he stared into the gaping maw of the black hole. Why should he keep fighting? What had he ever done right?
It was pointless to ask what he had done wrong; there were too many things to name. Too many things that he did not want to remember, and too many that he would never forget. He was a failure, pure and simple.
And it was so easy to let go, to just drift along in a ship without artificial gravity and await the inevitable. No one would even have to lay him to rest, the black hole would take care of that as well. Yes, it was easy.
Elfangor remembered something then, something that one of his instructors had told him a long time ago. She had been his philosophy instructor, since all warriors were now expected to know at least some philosophy. It is not always easy to do what is right. And it is not always right to do what is easy.
Elfangor had asked her what she meant at the time, and she had said he would have to find that out for himself. Loren's body bumped softly into his, and he stared at her for a moment, thinking. It was easy to give up and just let them all die. But now Elfangor knew what Shalwen-Corrith-Darana had meant when she had said those words.
Elfangor watched as Visser Thirty-two crashed gently into the ceiling and started drifting slowly to the floor again. It was kind of funny to watch such a powerful Yeerk get tangled in his host's own tail. Both himself and the Visser were swooning from lack of oxygen, and the humans Loren and Chapman were already unconscious.
He could not let Loren die just because he was feeling sorry for himself. Kicking off the floor at just the right angle, he just managed to grab the manual release for the Jahar's emergency air supply. But the handle slipped from his nerveless fingers, and he started to drift away from the console.