“Who’s missing?” I queried before my flyer had ground to a complete halt.
“Kor.”
This could mean trouble.
“Mahz! Are you sure she confirmed…?”
“Here she is now, Commander.”
My eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness now. I could make out the shape of Kor’s swooping silently down on us from the mouth of the cave.
I was burning with questions, but held them in check. You do not distract someone with questions while they’re trying to crash-land a flyer.
Finally she touched it down, the flyer coming to a halt a few feet from the others. By this time we were all out of flyers and waiting for her.
“Kor! Explain your delay.”
I was aware my head was sinking dangerously close to the flat position of extreme anger. Apparently she noticed it, for as she rose from her flyer, her head position denoted both anger and defense.
“I encountered the Enemy, Commander. There were three-“
“Did they see you?”
“Yes, but I destroyed all three of them and swept the immediate area for any others, that’s why I was-“
“Zur!” I diverted my attention to my second-in-command, who had approached behind Kor as we spoke, his massive ten-foot height dwarfing her sixfoot stature.
“Yes, Commander?”
“Is there any evidence known of telepathic powers in the Enemy?”
“None known, but it is not beyond speculation. Many of the lower orders of insects are known to communicate telepathically.”
I turned from them abruptly.
“Ssah! Check your indicators. Is the power-source still broadcasting?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Then you and Mahz pivot your flyers around and use the hot-beams to seal the cave.”