Romy focused on a panel above her head so she wouldn’t get sick. Elara’s insane laughter screeched through her earpiece. The combination was unsettling.

“Launching missile one,” Thrym said. “That should scare them off.”

There was a brief pause as Thrym fired. None of their ammunition was explosive. Explosions and spacecraft didn’t mix well. Instead, the battler missiles were actually the debris they collected, shot at rapid speed. Romy heard the whir of the stabilising engines behind her as they strained to counteract the force of the missile. She was surprised they even worked on this battler.

“Nope, they’re still coming.”

“Very helpful, Pho. Thank you,” Thrym shot back.

“No probs.”

“Guys,” Elara squeaked. “I have six Critamal ships up my butt.”

A white flash seared past Romy’s window as their battler looped backwards in stomach-lurching suddenness. It continued for a few minutes, battering and rattling them until they didn’t know which way was up. Elara was trying to shake their six tails.

The craft stabilised.

After the disorienting flight, Romy had no idea where they were. “Current position?” she gasped. She was determined not to lose last night’s chocolate cake.

“Uh . . . K4,” Elara said quietly.

K4 was the part of the battle grid directly at the heart of enemy territory!

“K4?!” Deimos shouted.

Romy lifted her head. Her eyes grew wide as she stared through the window at a hundred or more Critamal crafts. Most were rotating in waves to meet the rest of the Orbito force, oblivious to the enemy ship in their midst. However, no sooner had Romy made this observation than the Critamal noticed Knot 27’s presence. She threw off her safeties as five Critamal crafts swung towards her.

“I’ve got five,” Romy said.

“Three,” Deimos spoke.

“One,” Phobos finished. “Oh, wait. Make that six.”

Elara slammed them into evasive manoeuvres as a wave of Critamal fire shot towards them.

They weren’t supposed to feel fear. But fear wasn’t just a single gene you could just delete, no matter the advancements in genetics. And Romy knew, as her palms grew slick with sweat, that her body was feeling fear despite her mind remaining unresponsive to it.

“What the hell are we doing in K4?” Thrym demanded.

“I got turned around,” Elara said, as though it was the most obvious answer in the galaxy.

“Opening fire,” Romy said, helmet rattling with the zipping motion. She heard her words echoed by Thrym, Deimos, and Phobos. None of their comrades would be this deep in poacher territory. Knot 27 were on their own.

Perspiration ran down Romy’s face as she fired on everything within sight. The Critamal swooped and angled their crafts to evade her fire, well seasoned in space battle.

“Shoulda let Thrym drive,” Deimos muttered.

Romy’s breath caught as her fire connected with the underbelly of one of the evil-looking crafts.