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Keltie ran into the cockpit and fired up the corsair with tears in her eyes.
The auto-exit system started and the corsair lifted off the ground.
She rocketed upward, leaving the chaotic battle scene far, far behind.
She escaped into the upper atmosphere with no trouble, but the sky was black now. It was covered in clouds of the swarm.
“No…” she said.
She saw an opening. Outer space was so close, and stars twinkled in the tiny opening, big enough for the ship to fit through.
She steered toward it, nudging the joystick ever harder. She focused all of her being on it.
She neared it…
Closer, and closer…
And then the hole closed.
She screamed as the corsair sailed through the black mass.
It tore out of the other side, and to her surprise, the mass didn’t grab the ship.
As she re-
