Prologue Part Two

In the corridors, loud, heavy footsteps pounded like war drums as he sprinted toward the Flame Heart Chamber. His foot halted when the lights went out, and Solara was cut off.

"Solara, what the fuck is going on?" Rheon, the captain of the Emberion, barked into his wispcomm attached to the back of his ear. Just as Kean, his science officer, responded.

"Captain, the intruder hacked into Solara, shutting her and a few of the deck operations. But we have everything under control. What is the status, Captain?"

"I'm almost to the chamber," Rheon told him. "Seal the hangers. Lock him in."

"Roger that, Captain," Vellan said.

Instead of heading to the chamber, Rheon reversed course and headed for the nearest shuttle port, not forgetting to issue a few orders. He had been on the bridge when the alarm went off and had trusted Vellan to take care of the trouble, but he couldn't sit still.

Because of the toxic quadrant, they never had intruders onboard, so he was surprised but not worried and knew his people could take care of things. But when one minute became too long for his liking, Rheon handed the command over to his second, Kean, and headed to Flame Heart Chamber. He could feel that something was wrong. As the leader of his kin, he had a closer connection to the eternal flame than the rest.