Chapter 34 · Dorian, answer me

He yanked free and dropped beside the control panel. His fingers vanished into the wiring.

A dead-channel receiver crackled above us.

Then Sera's voice came through, warped by static.

"Dorian, answer me."

He froze.

I stared at the receiver. "You said the communications car was gone."

"It is."

"Then why is she on your line?"

"Because Sera doesn't need a working car to break into a channel."

The receiver popped.

"Dorian," Sera said again. "If you can hear me, don't cut the beacon."

His hand stopped inside the panel.

I grabbed the microphone. "Sera, what the hell are you doing?"

Static ripped through the cab. Her answer came back faint, but clear.

"Bringing you a way out."

"We don't need a way out. We need the guns off our cab."

"You need the beacon alive."

Dorian snatched the microphone from me. "Explain. Now."

"I have one channel left. One. The next signal tower can redirect the train's command net, but it has to see the beacon first."

"That tower is six miles ahead."

"Then you have six miles to keep breathing.