Welcome to stories from Among the Stars. You're listening to The Last Watch by J.S. Dewas.

Chapter 28

Adequin pulled herself up the last few rungs of the access ladder into one of the secondary

passages of the tempuses command deck.

More corpses littered the corridor and her breath caught in her throat. Fewer than half were

drudgers. A few meters away, A Randis crouched over one of the human bodies, his fingers pressed firmly under their jaw.

He shook his head, then let out a soft sigh, shifting to unhook the soldier's dog tags. A sharp prickle ran down adequate spine as her eyes drifted

over each of the twelve fallen sentinels, small holes scoured into the fronts of their

navy vests from clean, close plasma fire straight to the chest.

All but three still had their knives sheathed and pistols holstered. They'd been caught off guard. And why wouldn't

they have been? The Tempest was a scouting vessel in name only and nothing more than a flying repair kid in reality.

The crew's endless cycle of struggling to keep a 200-year-old alert system in working order

while micromanaging meager supplies, meant readiness drills weren't even a part of the regiment anymore.

In all likelihood, no one on the crew had seen combat training in years.

She'd failed them in that regard too.

Griffith grunted and she tore her gaze back down to the ladder,

offering him a hand up out of the hatch.

She hauled him up, and her imprints brought a metallic surge to her tongue, morphing into

a sulfurous bitter taste as it mixed with the acid that had risen from her stomach.

He exhaled as he straightened his back, then stood unmoving for a few long moments, eyes drifting slowly over his fallen crew.

He ran a stiff hand over his mouth, then blew out a long breath before moving forward to join

Erandus. He knelt beside the Oculus and began to quietly speak under his

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