“I can’t put him through. I’m afraid—I’m sorry, Bell. We have lost Burryaga.” Bell stared down at the comlink, as though that could somehow change the words he’d heard. “You mean…Burryaga’s dead?” “Believed dead,” Stellan replied. “Apparently he gave his life protecting Elzar Mann from the rathtars, so that the ships from the cargo bay could escape in time.” Believed dead. That meant they didn’t have a body. After what had happened to Loden Greatstorm, Bell would never give up on anyone who was missing again.
