“I say that,” Leox replied, “because we’ve got a full Nihil Storm on the other side of that station, and it’s carrying enough firepower to turn us back to stardust.”

Affie had heard of the Nihil. Had seen holos and on-screen images of their warships, their poison gas attacks, and the horrific damage they left behind. They’d destroyed Guild ships—not many, but enough for her to be aware of the devastating losses of life.

None of it had prepared her for the sheer terror of seeing one of their massive warships with her own eyes.

Like Nan and Hague’s ship, it was a patchwork of other ship sections and parts, different metals and shapes and aesthetics all savagely jammed together. But the Nihil warship wasn’t simply bigger; it was infinitely more dangerous. Weaponry ports riddled the hull from every crevice and angle. There was no safe approach to one of these ships, and no outgunning it. Combine that with the knowledge that the warship could split apart into component ships and suddenly surround them—

Affie didn’t want to think about that anymore.

Leox reacted instantly, slapping the controls that would take the engines down to their lowest active setting and turn off all unnecessary systems. Even the running lights went dark. The interior of the Vessel might as well have been illuminated by candles.

“They’ll still see us,” Affie said. Her hands remained frozen on the console.

“But it’ll take ’em longer, and that gives us time to do this.”

Leox used the smallest bit of thrust to tilt their course down and sideways—just behind a bit of random space detritus, an asteroid so tiny it was barely bigger than the Vessel. “Let’s tether that.”

Already Affie had realized what he was aiming at. “Got it.”

She activated a magnetic tether towline, hoping the asteroid’s makeup contained enough metal for it to work. A small vibration signaled that it had. Affie exhaled in relief as they floated along, shielded by an asteroid that would obscure them from the Nihil’s view. If they scanned the area, they’d just think the asteroid was a little bit bigger and a whole lot more metallic. Any life signs would probably be written off as mynocks.

By this point, the Jedi had crowded around the door of the bridge. Cohmac spoke first: “Well done.”

“But we can’t stay here forever,” added Orla. “Do we wait until they’ve left to go to the station?”

“We can’t.” Reath’s eyes were wide at the size of the Nihil ship, but he sounded determined. “When the Nihil leave, they’ll take Nan and Hague with them, and we’ll learn nothing.”

Cohmac folded his hands together. “The repercussions could be yet worse. Whatever darkness is aboard that station—depending on the form it takes, the Nihil could potentially claim it for their own.”