Клаудия Грэй - Into the Dark

“They are only pods—” Cohmac began.

Reath said, “It only takes one or two agents to take down a security shield, or provide reports on defense capabilities. I’d bet anything this is how the Amaxines got intel on their targets before they struck.”

“Or carried explosive devices to detonate only after they were gone. All the more reason to stop the Nihil,” Cohmac said. “Let’s get Dez to the Vessel , if we can. And take it from there.”

The words were getting away from Dez. He couldn’t focus for more than a few moments at a time, on more than one or two things at once. He was with his friends again; he was in danger. That much he understood. The rest would be up to his fellow Jedi.

Aboard the Vessel , Geode was the lone element of calm as Leox paced around the bridge.

“There’s about eighty other ways we can stop Scover Byne from sending indentures to this station,” Leox said. His beads swayed across the bared expanse of his chest as he walked. “But no. Little Bit’s gotta perform cryptanalysis—and yeah, I know, she’s outgrown that nickname, it no longer describes her myriad complexities as an individual, so spare me, all right?”

Geode spared him, which was about the only break Leox figured he’d get all day.

“We now have only a very roundabout pathway from the center of the station to the ship, and I suspect Affie is unaware of this important fact.” Leox breathed out in frustration. By then the Nihil knew another ship had docked, but they either hadn’t found the Vessel yet or were distracted by other concerns. For the moment—for a very brief moment—this ship remained the one safe place around, and it was the one place Affie couldn’t get to. “She’s not going to be able to come back to us. Which means we’re gonna have to be the ones who get to her.”

Leox Gyasi was not a warlike man, but he was one who believed in the power of preparation. He went to the painted, carved trunk he kept on one side of the bridge, opened it up, and dug around beneath the shirts and incense for a second before he pulled out a blaster. It had been a long while since he’d shot anyone, but he remembered how it was done. If anyone got between Affie and safety, pulling that trigger wouldn’t be hard.

He turned to face Geode, who looked on in solemn silence. “Guard the ship,” Leox said. “Stay at the controls. And don’t even think about coming after us unless the situation gets a hell of a lot worse. Not sure exactly how that would even be possible—but fate has a way of showing us how, doesn’t it?”

Which was when the readings on the console began to spike in ominous ways. Solar flares—coming in hard, and soon—extreme enough that they might cause damage even to ships hidden behind the station. Which would mean penetrating the Vessel , and everyone within it, and vaporizing them instantly.

And there wasn’t a damned thing Leox could do about it.

He refused to worry about things he couldn’t change. Time to concentrate on what he could.

With a final nod of farewell, Leox headed for the airlock, toward Affie.

Reath, Dez, and Master Cohmac reached what had once been the closest entrance to the airlock ring and was now a mass of twisted metal. An abandoned Nihil weapon lay on the floor; it took Reath a moment to realize the Nihil lay there, too, half-hidden and crushed by the fallen beams. The man’s helmet had been ripped off in the collapse, revealing a human face that was utterly ordinary except in its slack paleness.

“Who are they?” Reath whispered. “Why do they want us all dead?”

“According to the limited information we have so far, the Nihil are generally more interested in capturing wealth than in slaughter.” Master Cohmac readjusted Dez against his shoulder, all the while looking around them and analyzing the scenario. “However, they won’t hesitate to kill when it serves their purposes, as it very often does. If they want to claim this station as their own, use it the way the Amaxines did, as an advance scouting point for their attacks—”

“Then killing us serves their purposes,” Reath finished. The way to the ship was all but blocked by the wreckage of what appeared to be some kind of blast doors or emergency airlock. “We’ll have to find our way through this mess.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone hoisted himself through an opening in the wreckage and landed on their side. Leox Gyasi had removed his beads and carried a blaster, which Reath found unexpectedly jarring. Apparently he’d overheard them, because Leox grinned and said, “ That’s the way through this mess. You’re welcome.” Then he brightened. “ Dez! Good to see you, my friend! Looks like you’ve got a story to tell.”

Though Dez was patently in no shape to tell his story or any other, he managed a crooked smile.

Master Cohmac was less amused. “Captain Gyasi, your courage is commendable, but your prudence is lacking. You are safest aboard the ship—”

“For one, while Affie’s in danger on this station, my own safety doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Leox said. “For two, we’ve got more solar flares coming in any second now, intense ones, so I’m not sure any of us is particularly safe anywhere in this system.”

Reath thought fast. “The station’s shields. Can we strengthen them? Then we could expand them to protect the ships.”

“Perhaps,” Master Cohmac said. “But finding the controls, much less interpreting them—”

“They’ll be in the lower levels,” Reath interjected. Had he really just interrupted a Jedi Master ? But this was too important, and they had little time. “I’ve learned my way around down there, and I think the controls are starting to make sense to me. Maybe I can boost the shields.”

Leox nodded. “Sounds like a plan, kid. Good luck down there.” With that he jogged off in search of Affie Hollow.

Master Cohmac wasn’t as easily convinced. “I should be the one to—”

“Please, master. I’m the one who has experience with Amaxine tech.” Reath’s experience primarily consisted of being shot into hyperspace against his will, but it was still more than anyone else in their party possessed. “This task should be mine. Besides, Dez needs you right now.”

His plea might not have worked, if it weren’t for Dez’s knees buckling at that very moment. Master Cohmac caught him, then shook his head. “Very well, Reath. May the Force be with you.”

Reath smiled, turned, and dashed back toward the central arboretum, and the passage that would lead him down to the lower rings.

With the 8-Ts no doubt distracted by all the other mayhem aboard the Amaxine station, reaching the lower levels was easier than it had been. At this point, Reath was grateful for any break they got. Once he reached the main controls, he was able to bring up the station schematics fairly easily—and from there, it was merely a matter of touching the screen. The low hum of power surged through the station, including the shields.

Reath hoped it included the shields, anyway. They’d find out one way or another. With any luck, it wouldn’t be the way that involved being burnt to a crisp by solar flares.

He’d done all he could do, and all that was left was to get back to the ship as fast as possible.

As he hurried back along what remained of the corridor, the scent of smoke thick in the air, he caught sight of more Nihil corpses, more abandoned Nihil weapons. A lightsaber was by far the best weapon to have in battle, but it struck Reath that a blaster could come in handy. One lay far enough away from any of the Nihil bodies for him not to feel like a grave robber, so he knelt to retrieve it. Just before his hand closed over the grip, someone said, “Don’t move.”