The mist parted to allow us through. I could hear boids skittering and Scythin moving just beyond my view. Here and there, the dark edges of their bodies emerged only to disappear a second later.

We came out the other side at a convergence between the big center rotunda and a series of connected spherical chambers that ringed it. These rooms were large and empty, with only the curving walls having any distinctive character. As with the rest of the ship they were strangely organic. Long black fibers like those that had secured me and Patton to the walls of the voidscull were the default construction material. In some places they provided structure. In others, they assumed darkly beautiful patterns and macabre filigree.

Eyes turned into the fourth or fifth sphere chamber and led me down a labyrinthine series of passages. My feet were freezing. My stomach grumbled. My hands shook. All I could think about was the tube food. I craved it. “How about some more food, eh?”

Eyes gave me a look. I think.

We stopped outside of a large door, scrawled with all sorts of Scythin ornamentation. Eyes pressed their hand to it and fibers of material slithered over the back, swaddling it in glossy black.

“What is this?” I asked.

The door began to come apart and Eyes spoke the answer. Jecca’s room.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Naecia rested on the inner hull. She’d burned through her oxygen stores like an unchecked flare and was still undergoing the dual effort of both catching her breath and processing what had just happened.

It wasn’t until perhaps the ninth or tenth time that Aptat com’d her that she even realized she was being hailed. “–seriously you need to respond,” they said. “I held up my end and your friends are getting antsy.”

“Hello?” she croaked.

“Oh, there you are,” said Aptat. “Hear that, guys? She’s fine.”

“Are there any more Vortu?” she asked.

“No. Looks like this was a two-ship job. Once you get down here, I’ll throw on the suit and run over to the Terror’s Glaive parked nearby. See if there’s anything I can... borrow.”

Naecia grunted.

Aptat asked, “Are you injured?”

“It feels like every bone in my body is broken.”

Aptat chuckled some. “That’s the carapace. It’s indestructible, but it’ll make you feel it. Can you bring yourself down?”

“I think so,” she groaned.

“Good because we don’t have any more suits. I’ll stay connected so you have augmented power. I’ve already coded the hull portal open. All you have to do is get there and let yourself out. Somehow you burnt through most of the air supply. So, take your time, but also speed up so you don’t suffocate.”

“Have to bypass the open valve.”

“Make it quick.”