Against The Shroud Ray [III]

Elena's breath hitched in her throat as the trembling in her knuckles stopped.

The cold proud brilliant blood of a master architect rushed back into her veins and washed out the shame and the fear, leaving nothing behind but the razor-sharp geometry of the shot.

'He trusts me,' she thought, her chin lifting with fierce breathtaking defiance as she pressed her chest flat against the console. 'He gave me the gun. Now I give him the kill…'

She didn't pull the trigger.

Outside, the Ray's wings tightened with a sickening grinding lurch, and a fresh cascade of cracks spiderwebbed across the canopy.

SNAP... CRACK!

The hiss grew to a shriek, spraying white frost across the consoles!

Jin-Ah squeezed her eyes shut and braced for the glass to go.

"Elena..." Camila whimpered over the comms from the garden. "Elena, please..."

Elena didn't blink.

She watched the glowing cobalt vents on the creature's belly heave inward.

One...