“Yep,” Eli said. “It’s quite the party we’ve crashed.”

“You ready?” Jed said, flipping his mic back to VOX.

Eli nodded.

“Here we go,” Jed whispered to Eli and everyone else on the circuit.

He mounted the short ladder and a few steps later was hunched below the hatch. He glanced down at Eli, who crowded close at Jed’s legs, but there was no way around the fact that Jed was popping out first and alone. Geometry dictated this was a single-file entry.

At least they’re forward and distracted.

He pushed the flat, round detent beside the locking handle, which was flush with the panel, and it popped out with an annoyingly loud clunk.

He paused. Did he hear me, Corbin?

No. We didn’t hear anything.

Can you keep your guy looking forward?

A silent pause.

I’m not sure how to do that. But you’re good now. We’re watching the commotion at the cockpit door.

Jed felt a chill at her use of the word we.

Eli, not privy to their private, in-head conversation, tapped Jed’s hip. “We’re running out of time,” he whispered.

Jed nodded and spun the handle and felt the locking bolts disengage. He had to choose between exploding up through the hatch—which would be limited by the speed with which he could breach the narrow space—and easing the hatch open and sneaking into the cabin.

He chose the latter.

He felt more than heard a gentle click as the hatch snapped open. He pushed it a few inches, then a few inches more, depending on Corbin to let him know if at least the nearest bad guy heard something. He eased his head up into the gap and scanned the main cabin. The layout was just as Corbin described, with four men at the front of the wide-open cabin, shouting and pounding on the cockpit door with their hands. To his left, midway up, a man stood beside a machine straight out of a sci-fi movie. Corbin’s tango was sitting on the bench seat at the forward starboard side.

Jed lifted the hatch slowly, mouthing a prayer that it didn’t creak on corroded hinges. Once open, he gently eased it to the floor. Waist even with the floor, he brought his rifle up into a scan. As he took the next step on the ladder rung, rising out of the floor, the guard standing by the energy weapon turned and caught sight of him. Before the man could shout, Jed squeezed the trigger and dropped him with a single suppressed round to the head.