The scent of smoke clung to Affie. It seemed to have embedded itself in her clothes, her hair, even her skin. She longed for that incredible bathtub in Scover’s fancy Coruscant hotel room.…

But that was too close to longing for Scover for Affie’s approval. She couldn’t think about that as she crawled back into the guts of the Amaxine station. Her loyalty to Scover couldn’t coexist with her desire to erase the illegal practices that apparently formed such a large part of the Byne Guild’s prosperity. Her love for her adoptive mother was at war with her love for the biological mother she’d lost so long before.

She’ll see how much better it is to do without it, Affie reasoned as she crawled. She’ll be happier knowing her pilots are safe. I won’t have to turn anything in, just show my proof to her, and she’ll back down. It’ll teach her a lesson in the best possible way.

Next up on Affie’s list of places to search was the station’s gravitational matrix. It was located up high—near the very top of the sphere. Instead of crawling, it was time to climb.

When she found the access tube that led upward, her heart sank. It was narrow and showed more signs of age than most other areas of the station; just with the beam of her glow rod, she could make out several places where panels were missing, exposing wires. There was no other illumination in the tube, meaning she’d have to make her way upward in the dark. And vines had grown through holes and slits in the walls, curling all around the tube ladder’s rungs. That would make it slippery, but Affie told herself the tube was almost too narrow for her to fall. At least the 8-Ts were busy.

She began working her way upward, glow rod tied to her utility belt so the beam would point up; instead of clarifying her path, it swayed back and forth, casting eerie wobbling shadows. The vines on the ladder were even trickier to work around than she’d thought, because the slightest pressure sent sap running down the rungs and across her palms.

And by then she understood that no matter how narrow the tunnel was, she could still plummet all the way down. She’d just be more likely to break a limb along the way.

Keep going, she told herself, ignoring the trembling in her muscles as she pulled herself even higher up. You have to keep going—

“Affie!”

The echoing voice startled her so badly she nearly lost her grip. Swearing under her breath, Affie steadied herself and pointed the glow rod’s beam downward. “Leox, what are you doing here?”

He’d stuck his head through the access hatch, which showed her just how dangerously high up she was. “Getting you off this station immediately.”

“I’m not done.”