Lorin was ecstatic to hear from Red. “Oh, thank God,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“I was until I got to Earth’s Destiny.”
“Oh, no. Don’t give me bad news.”
“I’m standing on board a ghost ship, Lorin. It looks like it got so hot inside that everything was incinerated and then sucked out into space. To look at her, Earth’s Destiny could have been out here a hundred cycles or more. You’d never know twenty kyloons ago it was a fully operational ship.”
“I’m sorry,” Lorin said. “I know you and Tam were close. Everyone aboard was a hero. Tam, Rossi Sincini, Colonel Belmoht—they’ll all be missed terribly.”
Tears welled in Red’s eyes. “I know. I miss them already.”