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the air pumps kicking in, but the sound slowly faded as the pumps did their job.

Triz couldnā€™t see the outer lock open, but when the ship maneuvered away from the Hab, the lip of the opening couldnā€™t have been more than inches away from the plastiglass shell over her head. ā€œShitting stars!ā€ she yelped, but the deepening hum of the engine covered her voice. She cursed and fumbled with her gloves to direct the cannula for manual injection. As she watched, the fat, fluted cylinder of Vivik Hab shrank away. Just behind the Hab, the local star flared like a jewel, eclipsed by the crown of the Arcade. At the Habā€™s midsection, the pair of whaleships on their umbilici dwindled to marbles, then to nothing at all. Triz swallowed. The Hab was still there, she made herself remember, and it still would be when the Tiresh turned homeward.

ā€œKeep us together back there,ā€ Kalo said. She could barely hear him over the engines; had he said us or it? ā€œIā€™ve got visual on that Skimmer. No sign of other ships yet, but weā€™ll see what turns up.ā€

Trizā€™s eyes flicked upward. Or what she thought of as upward, at least, not that such a thing mattered out here. That thought made the stars spin sickeningly. She stuck her sore tongue between her teeth and bit gently to distract herself as she hand-pumped the siphon. The engineā€™s noise receded to a dull groaning.

ā€œThatā€™s doing it,ā€ Casne called out. ā€œThatā€™s great, Triz.ā€

Trizā€™s brain couldnā€™t process a response, so she just nodded, unseen, in the rear couch. Too much work to keep an eye on her jury-rigged bypassā€”and to remember to breathe with that bottomless black painting the paper-thin plastiglass. She inhaled deeply through her nose until heated air scorched her nostrils. She opened the shunt for another injection just as Kalo shouted, ā€œComing up on him fast!ā€

Triz risked a peek over her shoulder and his at the view out in front of the Tiresh. She could see the Scooper now too, dull-battered steel light against the dark background. Even as she watched, it grew in size; the Tiresh was gulping down the space between them. The Scooperā€™s engines barely glowed. Of course, Triz hadnā€™t refueled it yet. No acceleration for Rocan.

But as she stared, a glimmer sparked at the front of the Skimmer, near the cockpit. Something bigger than the far-off stars just beyond, though she couldnā€™t have said what exactly. ā€œWhat was that?ā€ she said.

Kalo didnā€™t jump at her voice in his ear. ā€œThat light? Donā€™t know. Looked almost like he was firing something, but Scoopers arenā€™t equipped withā€”what is that?ā€

All three of them leaned toward the front plastiglass. Far in front of the Skimmer, no bigger than Trizā€™s thumbnail, a patch of space suddenly shone golden-white. ā€œSon of a Golrosk,ā€ said Casne softly. ā€œHeā€™s got a tunneler.ā€

Triz frowned. ā€œA tunnelgun?ā€

ā€œNo,ā€ said Kalo, just as Casne said, ā€œSort of.ā€ Casne went on: ā€œThe tech is related, but the tunneler is more complicated. Itā€™s a big, temporary stable tunnel to somewhere else. A more predictable somewhere-else than what comes out of a tunnelgun.ā€ She cursed. ā€œHe was blind in his left eye during that fight. I thought his tech was just on the fritz. If the Ceebees have miniaturized tunneltech that small . . .ā€

ā€œSo heā€™s going to get away?ā€ The Tiresh couldnā€™t intercept in time, even with the Scooperā€™s lazy drift. Triz let herself fall back against her seat. Through the dorsal plastiglass, Vivik hung, familiar but far. Still in sight. At least they could still go back safely . . .

ā€œNot a chance.ā€ Kalo reached across his body for a set of controls down on his left side. ā€œTriz, back in position. Iā€™m going to need you to time a double injection. And for all godsā€™ sake, make sure your harness is tight.ā€

She gave the restraints a testing tug even as a scowl crimped her face. ā€œA double shot will just slow us down. I donā€™t see how thatā€™s going to help.ā€

ā€œJust buckle up, Triz, before I turn you into a smear on the rear ā€˜glass.ā€

Triz buckled. She also opened her mouth to tell him where to shoot his attitude, just as the Tiresh shuddered hard. Her teeth clacked together, and the shunt jumped out of her hand. She snatched it out of its dead float just before the Tiresh coughed angrily and screamed forward into space. Triz opened the shunt just in time and let the engines guzzle deeply. ā€œYou shorted the butterfly valve,ā€ she shouted. ā€œAre you crazy? They arenā€™t built for that!ā€

ā€œDonā€™t. Tell me. How to do. My job.ā€

Triz craned her neck. The Tiresh was closing the distance to the Scooper at an alarming rate now. Kalo was angling to put the gunship between the tunnel and Rocan. Triz hissed and clutched at her restraints as if they would protect her from a mid-space collision.

ā€œPrepare to fire,ā€ said Kalo.

ā€œNo, Lieutenant.ā€ Casneā€™s voice was steel-hard. Strange to hear her sound like a Fleet captain and not an old friend. ā€œRocanā€™s getting a trial so he can testify in front of all of the Confederated Worlds what he did. To Hedgehome, to the Golrosk. To me.ā€

Silence from Kalo. They were almost to the Scooper now. Triz wanted to say something and didnā€™t dare interrupt now. ā€œOkay,ā€ Kalo said finally. ā€œProposals?ā€

ā€œThereā€™s a hole in his plastiglass where the tunneler went through.ā€ Grim satisfaction from Casne. ā€œThe Tiresh has a boarding hook. Vent the cockpit.ā€

Triz squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Kalo to countermand that insane idea. No pilot alive could hit an angle that precisely, and no one at all could aim their own body at a flying starship at eight hundred klicks an hour. But instead, Kalo said, ā€œTriz, when I tell you, I want you to exhale as hard as you can. Do you understand?ā€

Her own voice sounded very far away when she heard herself say, ā€œYes.ā€ Casne reached over the couch in front to squeeze her shoulder. Triz clenched

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