Chapter 28 · They Want Senna

The alarm started screaming three seconds after we ducked into the maintenance bay.

Not the normal station alert. This was the lockdown shriek, the one that meant every bulkhead from here to the docks was about to slam shut and trap us like rats in a maze.

Senna slammed her fist against the wall panel. The lights flickered red. "Shit."

"How long?" I was already moving toward the back of the bay, looking for another way out. My ribs still ached from the last time Victor's people got close.

"Two minutes. Maybe less." She wasn't looking at me. Her eyes were locked on the maintenance shaft overhead, the kind of cramped vertical tunnel that led up through three decks of service conduits. "You can fit."

"We can both fit."

"No." She turned. Her face was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made my stomach drop. "They don't want you, Kira. They want me."

I stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"Victor's been playing a long game." Her hand went to her jacket pocket. She pulled out a data chip, small and black, the kind you could swallow if you had to. "He doesn't care about the black box.