As long as they were shouting at each other, they weren’t paying attention to us. If Dag moved from the door, if I could open the door, we could get away. I knew this ship. It had been ten years, but I sure as fuck knew it better than they did. There were holes in their knowledge, and I could use them. I could find a radio. Contact SPEC. Keep Baqir and the others safe. Hide until rescue came. I couldn’t do anything for the people aboard the shuttle. Another piece of debris struck the hull, metal on metal, a horrible sound. We only needed a chance.

“He fucking lied,” Henke said again. “You fucking lied!”

Panya shoved herself between them, pushing Henke back. “Stop! Henke. Stop. You are not helping. Stop.” She waited until he subsided before she went on. “Malachi, how did—how could that happen?”

“I don’t know.” There was a tightness in Malachi’s voice, as though he was trying very hard not to be sick. “The security system cleared us. The loophole was real. The drones let us through, okay? They let us through. I don’t know why they would—I don’t know what happened, and I can’t—”

He broke off abruptly: there was a low rumble in the walls.

“Oh shit,” Xiomara said, her eyes wide. “Is the hull breached?”

For just a second I wondered if she was right, then the rumble changed, dropping in tone, and I recognized the sound. It was the airlock.

After an interminable wait, the repressurization sequence ended and the inner door opened. A suited figure came into the cargo bay, moving stiffly, injured or in pain.

“Zahra!” Panya caught her in an embrace. “What happened? Why weren’t you answering?”

Zahra shook her head and pointed to her helmet.

“Wait a second,” Malachi said. He turned her around, one hand cradling her shoulder gently. “Let me look at—these fucking emergency suits, they’re garbage. The receiver is—there. Can you hear us? Are you hurt?”

“No,” Zahra said, but her voice was breathy, unconvincing. “I’m—I’m fine.”

“What happened? Why isn’t Boudicca answering?”

“It’s gone,” Zahra said. “The shuttle is gone.”

“Gone?” Malachi said, his voice high.

“Those fucking drones,” Henke said.

Zahra shook her head. “I don’t know. There was an explosion— I didn’t see the drones. Boudicca would have seen them. She was watching for them. I didn’t see anything.” She paused for a breath and pressed one hand to her side. “There was an explosion.”

“A missile?” Henke said.

“SPEC doesn’t have missiles,” Malachi replied, but he sounded unsure. “Do they? Did something hit the shuttle?”

“I don’t know,” Zahra said. “It looked like—it exploded from the inside.”

“Are you sure? It came from inside the shuttle?” Panya asked.

“It’s SPEC,” said Henke. “Who else could it be? It wasn’t an accident.”