Chapter 30 · The Collectors Show

The proximity alarm screams before anyone can answer the star.

Sable's still staring at the vault interface when the bridge floods red. Three warp signatures. Close. Too close for a clean exit if this goes bad.

"Contact." Ivo's voice cracks. "Three vessels. Dropping in at four thousand klicks. They're not broadcasting charter idents."

Oren's already moving. "Get me a visual. Briar, arm the rail battery. Sable, kill that vault feed right now."

Sable's hands shake over the controls. The star's still pulsing out there. Still waiting. Still asking who holds the other half of its termination key. She closes the vault interface but the question doesn't go away. It's in her implants now. A whisper she can't unhook.

"Visual up." Ivo throws it to the main screen.

Three ships. Lean hulls. Predator profiles. No charter marks but Sable recognizes the build. Recovery contractors. The kind that collect debts the Lattice won't enforce.

Briar's already at the gunnery console. "They're painting us. Active targeting sweep."

"Hail them." Oren's voice is tight. "Standard salvage greeting. Maybe they're just passing through."

"They're not passing through." Briar doesn't look away from her screen. "They just locked the whole fleet. We're boxed.