“Yes, it’s me. Please come. Also, the Timelance has taken an angle for orbit. We don’t have much time.

“I have the Chime! Everything we thought is true. It’s really, really, bad. Hello?”

Nothing. Then:

“Hey dude, it’s Patton,” said Patton.

“Is everyone there?”

“Uh, not really.”

“Where’s Naecia?” I started awkwardly down the ladder with one hand holding the Note, which had to weigh about thirty pounds.

“Uh, she’s adjusting her armor,” Patton said.

“Armor? What?”

Patton responded, “Long story but I’ll try: Aptat stole the Switch Drive and tried to kidnap Naecia, but Izairis was able to trace them to this other ship because Aptat still had their hotel key. I just went where she said they would be and sort of shot Aptat in the face with a blunderbuss. So, we’re not really doing the team thing anymore.”

“I... what?” Maybe my head was still foggy from being inside Jecca’s for so long. “Aptat’s dead?”

“Yeah,” said Patton, “turns out you can’t trust kidnappers.”

Izairis came in, “Ben: Aptat moved the drive to a new ship – the Odiat, bay seventeen – it’s already been wired for power. Naecia’s working to get it free, but we need more time than we have.”

“We’ll just take that ship.”

“It’s registered to Aptat. We can’t fly it.”

“The Silent Child?” I asked.

“Power connections sabotaged.”

“How close is the Timelance?”

“Entered orbit. They’ll be at the docks soon. I don’t see how we avoid them at this point.”

I tilted my head back and stared up at the door to Jecca’s resting place high above, wondering just how we would avoid certain slaughter now that we – that I – was no longer needed by the Scythin. They’d rip Aszerat to pieces. I felt the Note, heavy in my hand, warm where I held it. I let it tip forward, until the corner of one prong tapped the wall of the column. The result was a tone pure and clear, like a swallow of cold water down a parched throat.

“What was that?” Izairis asked once the sound had faded.

“That was... the Chime,” I said, still marveling at the beauty of the sound. The Scythin would surely recognize it. “Hey – can you record?”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

Standing precariously on the ladder, I lifted the Note up again, higher. “I found the Chime,” I declared, then struck the prong against the wall. This time, it rang like cathedral bells, with resonance enough to shake a star’s iron core.

“Ouch,” said Izairis.

“You get all that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Find a way to get that recording deep into the city so you can broadcast it. Maybe they’ll follow it – give us the time we need to get out of here. Grab whatever you need from the Child. I got a feeling that’s where they’re headed first.”