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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?

Something about the salvager was achingly familiar. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t explain it at all, but somehow he had seen her eyes before, hazel, big, filled with tears, filled with laughter . . . A memory, like a building fever, burned across his brain. How could I possibly know her? If he knew her, then maybe he ought to trust her . . . But no, no, that wasn’t right either. She wasn’t part of the cluster; she wasn’t one of them.

Rayan gave her a furtive glance, then nodded toward the mangled door to their left.

“He’s right, Rosalyn. I’m sorry,” he sighed. “But you have to come with us. You can bring the fire extinguisher if that makes you feel better.”

Something sparkled to Piero’s left, down the corridor, past the destroyed door and in the shadows of the halls covered in the thickness of Foxfire nodules that glowed like blue flame. Their leader. Mother’s favorite, he thought sneeringly. His presence was so strong it made the fringes of Piero’s vision stutter, his bones almost vibrate.

“That won’t be necessary,” their captain said. In the cavernous dark of the hall, Piero could only see two glowing blue eyes. “She’ll be coming with me.”

12

Outnumbered. Trapped. Friendless.

Her one gambit had not paid off—Rayan had caved, and now she was being escorted down the narrow, tubular corridor toward more of the unknown . . . Rosalyn hugged the fire extinguisher to her chest. She felt almost dizzy with fear and the drums in her head, the withdrawal symptoms. Never before had she craved a drink that way. Almost like oxygen. It would just take the edges of this sharp terror away, sand it down to something manageable. Or something she could forget.

At her side, JAX clipped along, energized by the fresh battery she had put in his chassis. Piero and Rayan followed behind her. They didn’t need to say a word; the threat simply existed. Hemmed in on all sides. Bloody trapped.

Maybe the woman aboard, Misato, would be more amenable to helping her. She couldn’t understand it—if this Foxfire thing was trying to control them and they had some shred of self-determination left, why wouldn’t they try to work with her? And what had happened to the other woman, Tuva? They didn’t even speak about her, and JAX had described her as deceased. Maybe she had passed before the Foxfire had a chance to spread.