“We keep going,” said Koyich, loud enough to be heard throughout the shuttle. “Our only chance now is to find this staff before the Jellies do.” He turned his slitted cat-eyes onto Kira. “If we do, you’d better be able to use it, Navárez.”

Kira gave a sharp jerk of her chin, and even though she was far from certain, she said, “Get the staff into my hands, we’ll have a real surprise for the Jellies.”

Koyich seemed satisfied by her statement, but a message popped up in her overlays:

<You sure about that? – Falconi>

<The xeno seems to know how to use it, so … let’s hope. – Kira>

Then the thrust alert rang out, and a lead blanket settled over Kira as the Ilmorra kicked up its burn to a full 2 g’s.

“ETA to Nidus, fourteen minutes,” said the shuttle’s pseudo-intelligence.

“Nidus?” Nielsen asked before Kira could.

Lt. Hawes answered: “That’s our unofficial designation for the planet. Easier to remember than some random letter.”

Kira thought it was fitting. Closing her eyes, she switched her overlays to the shuttle’s outside cameras. The curve of the planet rose up before them, one half in shadow, the other in light, and the terminator a dusky, twilight realm dividing the two from pole to pole. Bands of swirling clouds enveloped the middle of the orb—massive storms driven by the transferred heat from the sun-locked side. Nidus.

Vertigo made Kira grab the arms of the jump seat as, for a moment, she felt as if they were hanging over an enormous precipice, about to fall.

It wasn’t needed, but the pseudo-intelligence provided continual updates, perhaps because it was calming, perhaps because of UMC protocol:

“Resumption of weightlessness in five … four … three … two…” The lead blanket vanished, and Kira swallowed as her stomach attempted to escape through her mouth. “Z-axis swap commencing.” She felt a shove against the right side of her body, and Nidus swung out of view, replaced by the spangled depths of space as the Ilmorra turned end for end, and then another shove as the spin stopped. She turned off the overlays and concentrated on controlling her rebellious stomach. “Retracting radiators.… T-minus one minute, fifteen seconds until atmospheric entry.” The time crawled by with agonizing slowness. Then: “Contact in ten … nine … eight—”

As the pseudo-intelligence continued its countdown, Kira checked on the Jellies. Four of the ships had changed course in pursuit of the shuttle. The other three were heading toward the asteroid belt, presumably to refill their tanks, same as the Darmstadt and the Wallfish. So far, none of the aliens seemed to show any interest in attacking either of the two ships, but Kira knew that would change.

“Contact.”

A tremor ran through the Ilmorra, and Kira drifted back against her seat as the tremors increased into a shuddering roar. She took a quick look outside via the rear-facing cameras. A wall of flame greeted her. She shivered and switched off the feed.