Her comlink buzzed. “Affie?” She’d almost never been gladder to hear Leox’s voice. “We just picked up some serious shock waves—”

“I threw the thermal detonator at the Nihil,” she said. She was crawling across the floor, down low where the air was cooler and marginally clearer. Inhaling had gotten a lot easier.

“An understandable impulse, even if I might express some quibbles with its strategic value. Can you get back to the ship?”

“I don’t think so. Besides, I’m not done yet.” Affie felt her bag; while a few devices had rolled free during her tumble from the walkway, she still had the majority of what she needed to take the records she sought.

“The hell you aren’t.” It was so weird hearing Leox sound stern. “The Nihil change our whole strategy, in that our only strategy is now ‘Get the heck outta here.’ We need you on board.”

They didn’t need her. Leox was just worried because the situation had become more dangerous. Maybe Affie should’ve been concerned, as well, especially since the Jedi and the Nihil were battling furiously only meters away, the frenzy of it not entirely obscured by smoke.

But her parents would’ve been frightened, too. Frightened for their own lives, frightened about what would become of their little girl. Scover had taken their choices away. Affie intended to make sure everybody had a choice from that moment on.

“Hold down the ship,” she said. “I’ll be back soon.” And she shut off her comlink before Leox could say one more word.

Reath couldn’t center himself. If he could, maybe he’d be able to levitate Dez, ease him out of the tunnels into the station at large, and get him to the rest of the Jedi. Maybe he’d be able to levitate his own body, save them both. But he was too scattered to do it, the adrenaline in his blood at war with his better instincts.

“When you cannot achieve balance within yourself,” Master Jora had said, “simply lean toward the light and do your best. There’s no point in reacting to a lack of calm in a way that makes you even less calm.”

“Okay,” Reath muttered as he balanced Dez against him, Dez’s arm around his shoulders. “For light and life. Here we go.”

“What did you say?” Dez looked over at him groggily.

“Keep walking forward, all right? We’ll try climbing up through the roots in a few minutes. Maybe you can hang on to my neck.” Reath managed a smile. He wanted to reassure Dez, though there was very little that was reassuring about their current situation. But when he thought about what Dez must’ve endured over the past several days—delirious, in pain, surrounded by creatures who tortured him for information he wasn’t even in a state to give them—it was impossible not to want to give some comfort.