Having been born after the end of the Elemental War, Xander had never experienced the appalling destruction caused by the hydrogues and the faeros. But seeing what the Shana Rei and the black robots had done at Ulio Station made him understand what those horrific days must have been like. As they wobbled down through Earth’s atmosphere, Terry had to bypass several control systems that failed. The Verne shuddered, barely holding itself together, and Xander knew the ship was going to be in the hangar for months of repairs. They had not wanted to stop anywhere en route, convinced that they had to inform his parents and Rlinda Kett what had happened. Ulio Station was one of Kett Shipping’s important distribution points, and Xander was certain that several company traders had been killed in the black robot attack. When they came to a rough landing in the main repair hangar, a dozen astonished maintenance techs came forward to stare at the burn scars, the misaligned hull plates. One man whistled loudly.
