"ₘᴵₙᵀₕᴱ." The word was distorted in the uplink, like a record skipping over a deep groove. It made Minthe's brain itch as she felt her consciousness slowly returning. There was a persistent red blink that was irritating her and something stung badly in her stomach.

"Mᴵₙᵀₕᴱ. ₘᴵₙᵀₕE. MᴵNᵀₕE." The pilot tried to wave her hand in front of her face as if trying to scatter Atticus' call in her mind away. But she felt that her arm was too heavy to pick up, then the fog of sleep began to give way to the fog of pain. Minthe coughed and could taste the iron in her mouth, her eyes stung as they opened to an acrid smelling smoke. The red flashing lights all of her monitors telling her that she was about to die.

"-THE. WAKE UP." The urgent cry was in her mind and the computer generated voice in her cockpit, milliseconds apart but enough to be disorienting as she coughed again and felt something warm pass over her lips.