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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?

The AI swiveled away from the door and regarded her, one eye flashing as it attempted to do what she said. The light dimmed a little and its head drooped. “Command failed, override in place. Portal Two unsealed. Portal Two unsealed . . .”

Rosalyn’s eyes bugged. Portal Two? The doors were numbered clockwise from the air lock, which meant . . .

She gasped and spun, the ship creaking around and under her, all the air, all the focus rushing out of her as she turned and stared directly into the big, bright glowing blue eyes of a human. Blue. Glowing. Her mind raced as she went suddenly deaf to the Servitor and Walters’s hyperventilating panic on the headset. She knew this face, but not with those eyes.

The dossier. The crew.

Rosalyn searched helplessly for words but nothing came out. Her eyes roamed over him desperately, from his face—tinged a deathly, unhealthy robin’s-egg color—to his hair, black and ruffled, part of it missing, his skull gleaming and exposed, and over that, a pulsing web of the glowing blue growth. Oh God, where was his helmet? How could he breathe?

“Hello,” Rayan Yasin said with a curious half smile and a squint. “Have you come to join us?”

8

“Join . . . you?” Rosalyn’s gaze slid back and forth between Rayan’s huge doe eyes and the open wound on his head. She hadn’t trained for this, but had anybody?

“Devar? Devar! Hey, tell me what’s going on over there!” Walters shrieked at her over the comms, but in between the words she could hear frantic scrambling. “Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

There was a solution here if she just kept calm and prevented the situation from spinning further out of control. Her heart wanted to fly out through her mouth, but fainting in fright wouldn’t save anybody, least of all her.

So the crew was alive, or maybe that was too big of an assumption. Join us. So there was more than one person left alive on the ship, and that would have to be dealt with. Rayan Yasin looked at her steadily, his smile hopeful, like a kid on his first day of school hoping to make best friends.

She thought of the training emergency vids they had showed her on the station, and one in particular sprang to mind. A salvaging vessel had been boarded, and the quick-thinking woman piloting the ship managed to record a hail right in front of the pirates. She kept it vague. She didn’t give her attackers any reason to retaliate. Communicate the situation. Remain concise.

Avoid escalation at all costs.