Ahiga’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and I knew that he was afraid of the same thing. It could be weeks or months before Declan got here. Sel’Ani was a lot farther away than Earth. If he was heading there, then he’d been in cryo for a while.

“You could be right,” Ahiga said finally. “So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, but I need another plan. Something other than putting on a suit. And I’m assuming stealing a ship and running is a bad idea.”

Ahiga snorted a laugh. “Epically terrible.”

“Would’ve been too easy and where’s the fun in that?” Since transferring my work detail to something else wasn’t working, it had to be something that SpaceTech couldn’t turn down. Something that would buy Declan enough time to wake up from cryo.

What did SpaceTech want?

Money.

Power.

Lucole.

The miner that was supposed to come on the ship with me and Ahiga chickened out. Which meant they were down one miner on duty right now. Jason Murtagh was messed up enough to find a sick kind of joy in me risking my life to mine lucole—a dangerous job that gave SpaceTech huge profits and could potentially be used in weapons against the Aunare.

I’d already thought of this once before, but my mind kept coming back to it. It seemed crazy, but going back out to the surface of Abaddon in a suit was even crazier.

“What are you planning?” Ahiga stared down at me. “I’ve trained enough people to know that look. You’ve thought of something.”

“Yeah.” But I wasn’t even sure if it was possible. “What if I signed up for the mining runs? Do they give the test here?”

“You’re nuttier than squirrel shit.” Tyler’s voice was deep and fierce. “You can’t do that. Mining will kill you faster than a faulty suit.”

“I don’t know about that. Maybe I didn’t die today, but I came close.” I blew out a breath. “Thoughts?” I asked Ahiga.

Ahiga considered me for a moment. “Can you fly?”

“Yes. Got my Class Y when I was fourteen. Now have an R, T, and L. I was working on my Q. I’ve spent nearly every dime I’ve earned on training.” I worked hard to be prepared for any eventuality. Any chance I had to get off the third rock from the sun, I wanted to be able to take it. I just never pictured it’d be like this. “I can pass any flight test—practical or simulation or written—but is it an option?”