Misato’s brows raised in surprise. “Stop calling that thing ‘Mother.’” A pause. “So, she’s not infected yet?”

Edison shook his head and sighed. “Not yet. Rayan concocted some temporary vaccine that he wants her to take, but he missed her with the syringe. And she has her hazard suit. Salvager tech is made expressly to keep this kind of junk at bay. She’s well protected . . .”

She heard the implied for now in his statement and withered.

Slowly, she put out a hand to Edison and covered his knuckles with her palm. As she leaned toward him across the table, he couldn’t help but keep her gaze.

“We have to protect her, too,” Misato said softly. Seriously. She wouldn’t wish this private torment on anyone, especially some poor innocent woman that blundered into their nightmare. Something flared at the back of her mind, pain suffusing the crown of her skull. The Foxfire was furious with her. The network was a gift. Joining the cluster was an honor. The girl should be so lucky to fuse with us and . . .

“Agh!” she cried out, then quickly gulped the coffee. The hateful thoughts receded. For the moment. It was Edison’s turn to squeeze her hand.

“Breathe,” he said. “You can fight it.”

“It’s . . . I’m all right.” Misato took another quick sip from her mug. “Where is she now?”

“Cold storage lab. She’s safe from us. I gave her my code to keep the contamination shield in place. The Foxfire won’t go near that room for some reason. Rayan thinks it’s afraid of the decontam pod.”

Misato nodded, feeling more like herself. “Fools. We should have jumped in that thing the second the shipment was compromised.”

“There’s no point in dwelling on it,” Edison replied shortly. “We’re here now. We’re here, but she doesn’t have to be. I don’t care how bad Foxfire wants her, we need to fight it.”

She stood and returned to the kitchenette counter, refilling her mug and dawdling there with her back to him. “Frankly, Edison, I’m afraid to ask.”

“Coeur d’Alene Station,” she heard him say hoarsely. “With her VIT credentials we could access the coordinate log and thrusters and go back, get to CDAS and make sure whatever got us doesn’t get anyone else. The whole place might be contaminated . . . All those people. We have to be sure.”

Misato spun to face him, splashing hot coffee on her hands. She didn’t feel the burn of it, just the wetness dripping over her thumb.