Here, she could only hold on and hope for the best as the ship swung out of the Vault and rushed toward the shimmering blue shield at terrifying speed. If we don’t pass through—

Qalu refused to look away, steeling her nerves. Part of her expected crushing impact, but instead, the little ship popped through and out the other side, into the dark and murky waters, now teeming with tiny Cril. The sensible course would be to speed toward the surface and get airborne, escape this danger, but no, she’d suggested playing bait instead, and they listened. While this ship was designed to be multifunctional, it hardly had the same aquatic speed as the monster that would be chasing it, as it wasn’t optimally streamlined for its current environment.

Aevi petted Qalu through her swator, doubtless sensing her unease. The water around them lit up with the pulsing lights Maglan and Bojak had rigged in a hurry. At first, she couldn’t see more than the shifting colors and then an immense shape moved at the edges of the viewscreen, a massive beast with tentacles that slithered away from them, frustrated by the Vault’s shield. The ship was big enough, bright enough to attract its attention.

Maybe we even look like prey.

“It’s engaged,” Carow reported.

“Everything to engines and shields,” Praxys ordered.

Maglan said, “Confirmed.”

“Let’s do this,” the Barathi said.

The massive monster rushed at them with a speed that left Qalu clutching Aevi in abject terror, wishing she could contribute more than ideas. Anything at all. Before fear could overwhelm her, Helix appeared beside her, and she started to chide him, when he tucked himself into the spot next to her and strapped in. He kept one limb on her, the other on Aevi, and the contact reassured her.

“You’re finished?”

“I played my part. Praxys wasn’t interested in relinquishing control of the ship to Nita or me. A curious choice since his reflexes are significantly slower.”

Before she could respond, the ship lurched and tumbled, slapped by the giant sea creature. One of the tentacles wrapped around the hull. And oh, that was a horrifying thing to see pressed against the screen. Only the shields kept the thing from crushing them to bits, and they couldn’t hold out forever.

“Ideas, now!” Praxys bellowed. “We can’t outrun it. Not even close.”

They had drawn it away from the facility at least, maybe far enough for the Vault to survive. The ship, however… Qalu tried to stop shivering and to think. Fear, like anger, would make her brain less effective. Calm. Be calm. Since her mind offered her main strength in this situation, she needed to be collected and sharp.

Maybe…