The two of them reached the corridor that encircled the arboretum. In the far distance, she could hear rumblings and marching feet that had to be the Nihil. She tensed as she heard footsteps much closer.

“What the—” Leox stopped, then put his hands on his hips. “Didn’t expect to find any friends here.”

Affie peered ahead and sighted two of the Jedi coming toward them through the shadows: Orla Jareni in her white robes, which somehow remained spotless, and a rumpled Reath Silas. Probably Affie didn’t look so great herself.

Orla ignored Leox’s friendly words. “You two need to get back to the Vessel immediately. Prepare to leave within ten minutes. If we haven’t made it back by then, you’re to leave without us.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Leox held up both hands. “What’s this about? I don’t intend to leave anybody behind. It’s the kind of thing that reflects poorly on a commercial pilot.”

That won him half a smile from Orla. “The only way to distract the Nihil long enough for us to escape the station is to release the Drengir.”

Reath gestured toward those trees that had changed location. “That’s what was held in place by the idols. But we have to set them free again, to distract the Nihil.”

“If you set these Drengir free, we’ll have two groups trying to kill us instead of just one.” Affie said.

“The hope,” Reath said, “is that they’ll be too busy trying to kill each other.”

“How do you know they won’t join forces to turn against us?” she demanded. Nobody had an immediate answer for that, which confirmed Affie’s worst suspicions: the Jedi were making this up as they went along.

Look at the bright side, she told herself. If you die, you don’t have to confront Scover.

Orla managed to send Leox and Affie back to the ship before the girl asked any more uncomfortable questions. Maintaining focus was easier when she didn’t think of all the many things that could go wrong.

Many, many things.

She and Reath headed back into the arboretum. The shadows of the petrified Drengir chilled her, but more unnerving by far was the sheer power pulsing around the room, cross-angled through the idols, a power that reverberated in her body. Even though Orla had helped put the barrier in place, the enormity of what they’d done struck her anew.

“It’s not going to be like dropping a curtain, or opening a gate,” Orla murmured to Reath. “It won’t be a gentle impact, like before. The re-created barrier is new. More vital. When the barrier drops, the reaction will be intense.”

“I sense it, too.” Reath braced himself.

She nodded. “Just follow my lead.”