Martinez closed his eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath before opening them again. ‘All right, fine. I guess we don’t have any choice.’ He fixed Dakota with a look. ‘As long as you understand we’re running out of time.’

Dakota nodded gravely. ‘I understand. But maybe once we’ve got enough spider-mechs out and looking for Whitecloud, we can flush him out sooner rather than later.’

Chapter Thirty-four

<Got him,> Lamoureaux sent to Dakota, just a couple of hours later. <We just picked him up making for an ancillary airlock on Deck D. That’s the good news.>

Dakota herself was standing in the entrance of a deserted engineering bay close by the main hold, watching as three spider-mechs boosted themselves through its echoing empty space on puffs of gas, their lights swinging from side to side, reflecting off bulkheads and machinery, making the shadows around them seem that much deeper by contrast.

You’re saying there’s bad news too?

<We’re picking up traces of Emissary tach-net communications that are definitely in our neighbourhood. Small, scattered but numerous.>

Shit. Scouts?

<Can’t confirm yet, but that’s my guess. Don’t know if they’ve spotted us yet, but we’re going to make the next jump before they do. I’m forwarding the video-capture of Whitecloud to you now.>

She saw Whitecloud making his way rapidly down a corridor, a heavy satchel slung over one shoulder. A sign pointing towards an airlock facility was visible behind him as he passed the hidden security lens.

Where the hell’s he going? she sent back. That’s nowhere near the main hold.

<Ask him when you see him. You’re closer to that airlock than any of the rest of us. Do you think you can handle him?>

She turned her back on the engineering bay and grabbed a rung, using it to boost herself through the air, kicking off walls until she began to pick up greater speed. I’ve come up against things a lot worse than Whitecloud. How long before our next jump?

<Twenty-five minutes.>

Got it.

<Do what you can, Dakota. And good luck.>

She made her way towards the bow, moving away from the hold until she reached the same passageway in which Whitecloud had been sighted. She barrelled her way towards the airlock complex at record speed, but it still took her a good ten minutes.

When she got there, she noticed a suit was missing from the racks. Whitecloud was already in one of the airlocks, but still cycling through.

She kicked off from a wall and landed square on the airlock door. She peered in through the glass panel and saw the back of Whitecloud’s head. He was wearing a helmet, his bag slung over the shoulder of his suit.