This is it, then. That’s as much of a plan as we have time to make. We’re all going to have to believe that Lyre can follow through on her part, and that I can follow through on mine, and that Drom and Corvus can handle all the rest.

We’re just going to have to trust in ourselves and each other.

“Strap in and brace for impact,” Corvus says, and I run for the cockpit.

We may not have any weapons, but we’ve always been the faster ship. With Fortuna heading straight for them in a collision course, the Red Baron has no chance to dodge us. Their only options are to let us ram into them and likely kill us all, or—

Or the option they decide on. At the last second, they launch their grappling hooks.

I let out a triumphant whoop as they start to drag us in. They took the bait.

But once they have us in their clutches, even with Fortuna’s engine working at full speed to pull us in the opposite direction, we are both dragged slowly, inevitably toward the planet ahead. It’s just a matter of time before we hit Nibiru, or at least get close enough that it will be impossible to escape from the pull of the planet’s gravity.

The clock is ticking.

As we breach the Red Baron—using our never-before-used, “just-in-case” adjustable bridge, and a couple of rarely utilized space suits—it’s impossible not to think about our previous encounter with the pirates. Last time there was so much smoke and confusion, blasters blazing on both sides, Momma’s pulse rifle punching through enemy ranks. Now, the ship is silent and eerily still. The only sound is the steady hum of the engine. Corvus was right: The pirates will wait for us to come to them. They have all the time in the world, after all, and just about every advantage imaginable.

While the others split off to do their own jobs, I go deeper into the ship, heading away from the cargo bay and straight toward the cockpit. If most of the pirates are off defending their haul, I should have a clear path to find Orion. My unlikely friend may be a pirate, and not exactly morally scrupulous, but I can’t bring myself to believe he’d support wiping out an entire planet. And as long as I can get to him, I’m confident I can talk some sense into him. He might be a little pissed off after I embarrassed him in front of his father and nearly got him shot last time, but surely I can make him see reason.

But when I round the corner to the cockpit, it’s not Orion I find waiting outside. Izra peels herself away from the wall she was leaning against, a cruel grin cutting across her face.