Aptat made for the remnants of Terror’s Glaive immediately, taking with them a small squadron of drones and a giant space net filled with more nets into which they would place whatever salvage they could cut out of it. Even though it had been sliced into ten pieces, the Vortu cruiser was a larger ship than the Silent Child and would have plenty of treasure left intact.

Oush sat at the console watching a visual of the Glaive as Aptat flew around, excising cutting out various components with the magmafier. The coupling of the powerful carapace to the stringhunter’s mind and body allowed Aptat to work with exceptional efficiency and speed. Naecia watched with a mixture of awe and jealousy. What she could do with a fully functional suit like that.

She broke from the display and went back to working on the Switch. Before Aptat had crossed over to the Glaive, she’d made them break down the operation of the axon diadem. It was an exceptional piece of tech. Like a comprehensive implant, capable of parsing and cataloguing thought. With a few tweaks, it was easily modified, converting it from a transmitter into a junction. Eventually, she got the Switch talking to it, so that it would be able to receive the accumulated data and dump it into her mind while she tried to commune with the Fray. The only thing left was to connect them all together into one circuit.

“How much do you want?” called Aptat through the com.

Naecia removed the diadem and looked over Izairis’ shoulder at the console display. “What did you find?” she said.

“Old Princess Dekies was an accomplished marauder. Makes us look that much better for taking them out,” answered Aptat. “The Glaive, my merry crew of psychological anomalies, is a fecund trove brimming with treasures. Industrious little thieves, these Vortu were. Weapons, data cells, antiquities, stolen tech, food... probably. Don’t know if we want that, really. Oh, and tell HyRope there’s plenty of raw caridianite and any other precious elements she’s keen on. I’ll gather an assortment. Might keep some of it myself to wear as jewelry.”

“Just the caridianite for me,” said Naecia.

“Done and done,” said Aptat. “Naturally, I’ll bring this back to the ship myself when the rest of the salvaging is complete. Ciao.”

“Ciao?” asked Izairis.

Oush shrugged.

Naecia would have preferred to just get the stuff in hand, but Aptat obviously understood the concept of insurance. It was theoretically possible that they’d abandon the stringhunter if they got what they needed. In fact, it was probably what they should do if presented with the chance. Aptat was, after all, a self-interested, kidnapping piece of space garbage. Still, Naecia had made a deal and the thought of betrayal... she wasn’t wired for it.

“Open bay one, please, if you would, fledgling owners of the Silent Child,” said Aptat mockingly.

“Bay one opening,” answered Oush.