Chapter 21 · Thirty Minutes to Die

"Drop the weapon, Kael." Vargas's voice came from every speaker on the ship. "Step away from the core, and I might let you keep your hands."

Kael froze with one palm pressed against the engine-room hatch. Nyx stood on the other side of it, one hand locked around the exposed power conduit. Blue light crawled beneath the synthetic skin of her wrist.

The ship had been dark when they boarded. No lights. No engines. No security grid.

That had lasted exactly four seconds.

"You said he wasn't on board," Kael muttered.

Nyx didn't look at him. "I said I didn't detect him."

"That sounds a lot like the same thing."

"Then stop asking stupid questions."

A metal door slammed behind him.

Kael spun and raised his pistol. The cargo bay entrance sealed with a heavy lock. Red strips lit along the walls. He had one exit in front of him, one armed Imperial Inquisitor somewhere inside the ship, and Nyx's hand still buried in the engine controls.

Vargas chuckled through the speakers.

"Still relying on that antique sidearm? You really have fallen far."

"Come say that to my face."

"I am.