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Back Salvaged Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. EPILOGUE
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. About the Author
  53. What’s next onyour reading list?

But not if that Norwegian bitch intervened. Not if she ratted him out before he opened the first canister.

On CDAS a mask and vaccine tab had been left with the package. The mask seemed redundant, so he skipped it, and took the vaccine. Bad choice. Big mistake.

Mistake? But now you have me. Now you have your family, your mother. My heart, they’re coming. They’re coming. The women. The betrayer machine. They’re coming.

Faster, faster. The Foxfire marked their steps, an alarm ringing from the corridor around the corner to the very core of his body. There was a delay, but only a slight one, so he stood, hands full of warm, wrapping cords, and waited, verse and song louder than the shouts, just as much words as drums pounding in the deep dark of him.

The knife in the hand goes stab, stab, stab. The blood in the veins goes spill, spill, spill, and Mother says it’s time to kill.

More verses. More drums. His head and hands pounded. He was ready.

28

Before they pushed into the starboard observation room, she took one last nip from her flask of coffee. Synthetic arabica was all she had left, and even that was running low, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she just needed the taste memory, not the real deal.

Your supplies won’t last forever. We’re coming. Mother is close now, but you know that.

“Shut. Up.”

“Sorry?” Rosalyn stared at her blankly, her little multi-tool held up like she was going in for a heist. Comical, but at least she looked ready.

Misato held up her own weapon, larger but no less ridiculous. “Nothing. JAX, you go in first. Get up some speed, charge him. You’ve got fresh batteries from Rosalyn, so you should be able to give him a good wallop. I just need him distracted.”

You just seem distracted, that’s all.

That voice. Misato blinked hard. This time it wasn’t her mother. Maybe the Foxfire had sensed that wasn’t working, that Misato had never been close to her parents. It was like being inside herself twice, a nested doll, experiencing the present but also the past. Something about that phrase had dredged up a memory that fell around her close, a tight curtain of vaporous thought. She was back in Musk Hall, prepping for a bioengineering exam she hadn’t studied for enough. That was okay, she’d wing it like she did most times. This shit just clicked for her. Systems. Patterns. The logic of the body and the machine had a symmetry that she liked.