T-9 whistled worriedly as Rhil pulled out a handful of cables and spliced together a connector that would allow her to hook up the relay unit to the implant on her face.

“Don’t worry, Tee,” she told the droid as she plugged herself into the transmitter and attempted to establish an interface. “I know what I’m doing.”

She didn’t, of course, which became abundantly clear as raw data washed over her, accompanied by a wave of searing pain. Her implant’s receptors tried their best to shut down the rogue signals, but she switched off the safety protocols and gritted her teeth.

None of what she was doing should have been possible, not according to the manufacturer’s original specs, but Rhil had spent the last few years customizing and just plain meddling to the point that, if she prodded the right inputs, she could see sound waves as clearly as if they were physical objects. And there it was, the echo, on the very edge of her perception. She shut everything else down, effectively cutting herself off from the physical world—another modification that probably invalidated her warranty—and boosted the frequency. The echo swam into focus, solidifying until she was rewarded by the faint hiss of words that she felt rather than heard.

“Main Strike, prepare for third run. Ride the storm.”

Ride the storm. She had found a Nihil frequency, one that bypassed their jammers. It made sense. Why would raiders handicap themselves if there was a way around it? She heard commands bounce between ships and marauders, as well as out into deep space. And if they could get a message out to the stars, so could she.

She would have to be careful. She couldn’t just broadcast on the Nihil frequency—the pirates would hear that—but if she could piggyback a signal, she might be able to get a distress call to Starlight or the nearest outpost. There would be no way to direct the call, but at least she would be heard.

Something bashed into her head. Rhil flicked her head, switching back to her organic senses, and was shocked to see T-9 lying on the relay terminal in front of her, smoke rising from his broken chassis. What in star’s name had done that?

The answer came as the Lamproid loomed over her, her own terrified expression reflected in its visor.