Callie paused a moment to decide if her unfavorable reaction to that sight was jealousy, and decided it wasn’t, or at least, not exclusively. Elena’s affection for Sebastien had been clear in her stories, and Callie didn’t begrudge her joy at seeing an old friend she’d once (and maybe still) had feelings for… but the problem was, Sebastien struck Callie as a giant asshole, disassociation or not.

“Oh, Sebastien, your poor head.” Elena touched the side of his face. “Ashok has some ideas about how we can get these things out of you.”

“Really? Ashok is the one with the metal face? It seems like he’d approve of my implants, if only as a fashion choice.”

“My hardware was all installed by choice or necessity,” Ashok said. “Yours… not so much. Once we get to the ship’s infirmary I can take a look and see how things are hooked up in there and get you fixed up.”

“Mmm.” Sebastien looked down at Lantern, who was creeping past him, toward the control room door. He suddenly lunged and kicked the Liar, his boot hooking under her belly, sending her flying up and back, almost hard enough to flip her over. Lantern let out a yelp of alarm and scuttled away. “Stay out of my control room, vermin.”

“Sebastien!” Elena shouted. “Lantern is my friend.”

He looked at the Liar for a moment, blank-faced, then turned back to Elena and beamed. “No, I’m your friend, and I’m so pleased to see you. Come.” He grabbed Elena by the arm, pivoted, and shoved her through the opening into the control room, then stepped in after her. Callie lifted her non-lethal arm, but the door irised shut with a slam before she could even try to line up a shot.

“Elena!” she shouted, but there was no response. Their comms were cut off again. Callie turned. “The kaiju!” She ran through the warehouse, back to their only source of escape.

The hatch out of the warehouse was closed, and no amount of fiddling with Lantern’s sphere or cutting with Ashok’s torches or kicking with Callie’s boots made even the slightest bit of difference.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Let’s get that helmet off you.” Sebastien carefully unhooked the latches and lifted off Elena’s helmet, then tossed it onto the floor. The clatter made Elena wince. She needed that helmet intact to get off this station.

“There, isn’t that better?” He smoothed her hair, tucking a lock behind her ear, a gesture that would have made her liquefy inside if he’d done it during their training or voyage, but that made her shudder now.

She backed away. “What’s happening here? Why did you lock the door?”