“We don’t have a damn clue what the Drengir can do now that they’ve been set free.” Leox folded his arms across his chest. “Looks like the vines are working their way through the entire station as they grow. Not promising.”

He had a gift for understatement. Grimacing at the twisted vines, Affie said, “Let’s just get to the ship before the vines do.”

“We might be too late.”

She thought Leox was being fatalistic until they made their way toward the airlock, vines underfoot the whole way—and then rising along the walls of the airlock itself, stems poking through every vent and crevice. Affie dashed onto the Vessel and sighed with relief to see the plants hadn’t grown on board. That relief lasted only as long as it took her to reach the cockpit, where she saw thick vines reaching across the entire front of the ship.

Leox sat in the pilot’s seat and began checking sensors. “Dammit, I told Geode to stick around.”

“What could he have done about this?” Affie gestured toward the vines.

“Not a thing. I just wish he were here instead of mixing it up on the station—he never does know when to walk away from a fight.” Leox slumped in his chair. “We’ve got ’em all over us. The Drengir have tied us tight.”

Affie tried to imagine how the vines could possibly live in the cold of space. Probably they didn’t have to survive for long. Dead vines could bind the Vessel in place nearly as strongly as living ones.

“Signal the Jedi,” Leox said. “Let them know we have yet another complicating factor to deal with.”

Quietly she asked, “How do we get away from here?”

Leox replied in the same tone of voice. “Blast our way out or die tryin’.”

As softly as they spoke, they were still audible to Cohmac, who stood not far from the cockpit entrance. He’d meant to talk with them about Dez, to get more information on the scene inside the station, before returning to fight alongside Orla and Reath. Instead, he turned and dashed out of the ship, back into the docking ring.

What happens between the Nihil and the Drengir at this point is no longer our most immediate concern, he reasoned as he leapt over the snarl of vines along the deck. We are responsible for the lives of the Vessel’s crew, and that of Dez Rydan. Any other complications can be dealt with later.

Now, we must escape.

His pathway through the debris scattered across the station led him closer to the arboretum, where a battle was raging. Before he could even seek Orla and Reath through the Force, they burst from one of the passageways, smelling faintly of toxic chemicals. Their comlinks were blinking at their belts, no doubt with Affie’s warning about the vines.