JAS SURVEYED HER TWO human companions and fifteen defense units, deep within the labyrinthine maintenance tunnels of the Galathea’s engine, taking stock of the situation. Lee and Lingiari were slumped on the metal gridwork, while the defense units sat on their haunches, too tall to stand.
Of the three officers, she was the only one trained in combat, but they had the units, and they were fully armed. They also apparently had some kind of weird alien creature that Lingiari had smuggled aboard. Trust him. The animal—what did he call it? Flux?—was hanging upside down from the tunnel roof, the claws of its feet clinging to the metalwork, its wings folded over its head. Beneath the transparent wings, its eyes and little sharp-toothed mouth were closed.
“I can’t believe we did it,” said Lee.
