Reath, Dez, and Master Cohmac reached what had once been the closest entrance to the airlock ring and was now a mass of twisted metal. An abandoned Nihil weapon lay on the floor; it took Reath a moment to realize the Nihil lay there, too, half-hidden and crushed by the fallen beams. The man’s helmet had been ripped off in the collapse, revealing a human face that was utterly ordinary except in its slack paleness.

“Who are they?” Reath whispered. “Why do they want us all dead?”

“According to the limited information we have so far, the Nihil are generally more interested in capturing wealth than in slaughter.” Master Cohmac readjusted Dez against his shoulder, all the while looking around them and analyzing the scenario. “However, they won’t hesitate to kill when it serves their purposes, as it very often does. If they want to claim this station as their own, use it the way the Amaxines did, as an advance scouting point for their attacks—”

“Then killing us serves their purposes,” Reath finished. The way to the ship was all but blocked by the wreckage of what appeared to be some kind of blast doors or emergency airlock. “We’ll have to find our way through this mess.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone hoisted himself through an opening in the wreckage and landed on their side. Leox Gyasi had removed his beads and carried a blaster, which Reath found unexpectedly jarring. Apparently he’d overheard them, because Leox grinned and said, “That’s the way through this mess. You’re welcome.” Then he brightened. “Dez! Good to see you, my friend! Looks like you’ve got a story to tell.”

Though Dez was patently in no shape to tell his story or any other, he managed a crooked smile.

Master Cohmac was less amused. “Captain Gyasi, your courage is commendable, but your prudence is lacking. You are safest aboard the ship—”

“For one, while Affie’s in danger on this station, my own safety doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Leox said. “For two, we’ve got more solar flares coming in any second now, intense ones, so I’m not sure any of us is particularly safe anywhere in this system.”

Reath thought fast. “The station’s shields. Can we strengthen them? Then we could expand them to protect the ships.”

“Perhaps,” Master Cohmac said. “But finding the controls, much less interpreting them—”

“They’ll be in the lower levels,” Reath interjected. Had he really just interrupted a Jedi Master? But this was too important, and they had little time. “I’ve learned my way around down there, and I think the controls are starting to make sense to me. Maybe I can boost the shields.”

Leox nodded. “Sounds like a plan, kid. Good luck down there.” With that he jogged off in search of Affie Hollow.

Master Cohmac wasn’t as easily convinced. “I should be the one to—”