Gin was frozen over her communications station, fingers hovering a fraction of a centimetre above the panel, head quirked to one side as she waited for an answer. “Captain Matthews, I repeat: there are people on this station in urgent need of assistance. Please confirm.”

The radio was silent except for bursts of static. A horrible dead weight settled in Maren’s stomach as Gin turned to look at her, distress painted over her face. We were too late. They left.

Then a voice flooded the room, breathless, as though its owner had been running. “This is Captain Matthews,” he said. “Ginevieve, I’ve received your message. How many on your station need assistance?”

“Three,” Gin said then moved the mic away from her mouth so she could let out a string of curses as she slumped over the panel, shaking with relief.

“Copy. We have plenty of space. We’ve just come from your sister Station 491, but it’s already been overrun.”

The beasts hit the door behind Maren. She tried to brace herself, but the force threw her forward and jarred her neck.

“I’ll be honest,” Gin said. “We’ve got a couple of problems here, too. Do you have any defence technicians that can help?”

“Yes, several. Stay put. We’ll come to you. Twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes?” Maren called, hoping Matthews would hear her from across the room. “Can you get here faster?”

“Negative. When you didn’t reply to my earlier communications, we prepared to leave your planet. We’re almost at the atmosphere, and I’m just now diverting the ship to land.”

Maren looked at the red screen in the corner of the room: it read twenty-four minutes. That would be enough time—just barely enough—for her and Gin to leave the station and get on board the ship before the flare hit, but there would be no time for Matthews’s defence technicians to rescue Saul. And Saul’s getting on that ship. That’s not negotiable.

“Okay,” Maren said as the beasts hit the door. The metal screeched, and Maren thought it might break. She shoved her back against it, and, mercifully, it held... barely. “We’ll make it work. Meet you outside ASAP.”

“Confirmed,” Captain Matthews said, and the line cut off.

Gin pulled the headphones off and swivelled towards Maren, her face full of bright exaltation that died as soon as she saw the door. “Oh, shoot. Damn.”

Tendrils were creeping around the bulging doorframe and trying to grab Maren. She stomped on any that came near her feet and ducked to keep her head clear of the ones above her. “Get back,” she called to Gin over the wailing noise the monsters were emitting. “I’ll shoot through them, then we’ll make a run for it.”

The motion behind her stilled. Maren took a deep breath then leapt away from the door, twisting and aiming her gun in the same motion. She fired twice, and the first shot blasted through the warped metal. The second hit the metal wall halfway down the hallway, which was empty.