Chapter 23 · There's Another Me Aboard

The transfer log sat there on the cracked screen like a live grenade.

First build. Already aboard.

I couldn't breathe. The file locker was still half open, spilling its guts of corrupted data and redacted mission stamps, but all I could see was that one line. Someone who looked like me. Someone who moved like me. Already on this ship.

Senna's hand landed on my shoulder. Her grip was tight enough to hurt.

"We're leaving," she said. Her voice had gone flat. That command tone she used when things were about to go bad. "Right now."

I shook her off. "Wait. We need to know where—"

"Kira." She yanked me around to face her. We were still in zero-g, so the movement sent us both drifting toward the bulkhead. She caught a handhold and steadied us. Her eyes were hard. "You don't get it. If there's another Starfire clone on this station and it's active, we don't have time to play detective. These things were built to hunt."

"These things." I heard the edge in my own voice. "You mean me."

"That's not what I—"

"Yeah. It is." I pushed off the wall, floated back toward the terminal.