One by one, the Xathi left to investigate the noise. Though I had every reason to believe it was Axtin and the others here to rescue us, I couldn’t make myself hope that I’d see him again.

“Do you know where they are?” I asked Tu’ver.

“I could see them on my nav unit right up until they boarded the ship.” He shrugged.

“How come you were able to send a signal and I wasn’t?” Vidia asked, looking at her own completely unresponsive nav unit.

“These markings aren’t just decoration,” Tu’ver said, gesturing to the intricate pattern of circuits fused into his skin suit. “My augmentations are more resistant to whatever the Xathi are using to scramble our tech. This,” he tapped at the baton, “takes its charge from my own bio-electricity. Not as powerful as a full-sized blaster, but it gets the job done.”

“I see,” Vidia said, peering closer at Tu’ver’s implants. “When we survive this, you’ll have to tell me more. It’s fascinating.”

“Gladly.” Tu’ver nodded.

Vidia turned to me. “Let’s work on getting everyone organized so we can make a run for it,” she said.

“What?” I blurted. The idea was absurd, and no one here was in any sort of shape to run through a Xathi ship. “Axtin and the others know where we are. If we move, we could lose them completely.”

“It’s too risky to assume they’ll live long enough to make it to this room,” Vidia argued. “Besides, your friend here said their nav points aren’t going to work inside the ship. They have an idea where we are, at best.”

The thought of Axtin never making it to us, the thought of him dying horribly somewhere on this ship while trying to rescue me, was unbearable.

“Okay.” I nodded. I wasn’t comfortable with this plan by any means, but it looked like it was the best option in a terrible situation.

“I’ll go check the nearby corridors to make sure there are no surprises,” Tu’ver volunteered.

“Everyone!” Vidia shouted.

The survivors’ heads snapped to attention. There were so few of us now. Our numbers were less than half of what they were when we were herded into this torture chamber.

“We’re going to make a run for it. Grab anything that can be used as a weapon. Arm yourselves. If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting. I refuse to die like an animal in a holding pen!”

Her brief speech inspired the weary survivors. Immediately, they set to work, picking apart the sparse room for anything that could be used for defense.

Very little came to hand.

Tu’ver eased out the doorway, then waved for us to follow. I picked up Calixta, careful of her cuts. “We’re going to try to get out of here, but I need you to be quiet, okay?”

She wrapped her thin arms around my neck and clung tightly, silently nodding her agreement.

“Good girl,” I said, giving her a squeeze.

“Leena!” Vidia called my name, waiting by the doorway with a group of survivors. “ I want you and Tu’ver at the front. You’re going to lead us through the ship.”

“What?” I sputtered.

“The two of you know more about Xathi ships than we do,” Vidia reasoned.

“Not by much!” I exclaimed.

“It’s our best option,” Vidia said with a shrug. “I’m going to be the last one out. I’ll cover our tail and help anyone who’s falling behind.”

She quickly moved through the crowd, repeating her plan to each of the survivors and telling them where they should be in the group.

“Any advice?” I asked Tu’ver. I appreciated his steady mannerism, especially since I felt so frayed. I was glad he had been there for Mariella.

“The far wall of this room is curved, suggesting that we are against the hull,” Tu’ver said thoughtfully. “However, Xathi ships don’t follow any sort of traditional ship blueprint, so I can’t say for certain.”

“So we’re flying blind,” I surmised.

“Essentially.” Tu’ver nodded. “Based on the construction of more traditional ships, I would suggest going to the right.”

“Right it is then.” I sighed.

I gave a silent signal to those who had fallen in behind us. Vidia had divided the stronger, healthier survivors into two groups, one in the front with us, the rest guarding the rear with her. The injured held each other up, limping in the middle.

No one spoke as we dashed through the labyrinth of corridors. I turned without thinking. If I thought about which way to go too much, I would end up frozen with indecision.

These people, for whatever reason, believed I was their best chance of getting out of here alive. I just had to keep hoping I would run into Axtin and the others. He would be waiting for me around the next turn, or the one after that.

He was here somewhere. I would find him. Or he would find me.

I realized I was mouthing his name with every step I took. We reached another divide. I dove left, so sure that Axtin was going to be around the bend.

But we were wrong.

At the end of the hallway, shrieking and thrashing with rage as they scuttled toward us, was a Xathi sub-queen and her soldiers, energy whips crackling in the air. Beside me, Tu’ver drew his blaster, ready to fight. Those who were behind us lifted their weapons, but I could sense the hesitation in their bodies.

In front of a swarm of massive crystalized bug creatures, a handful of weakened humans with a few makeshift weapons looked like children in a play fight.

The Xathi sub-queen drew up to her full height. She appeared to be intently focused on me. In a way I couldn’t possibly explain, I felt the sheer spite in her gaze.

She knew I was the one who helped Vidia and the others escape. One of the Xathi Axtin killed must’ve seen me before it died.

My mind spun, cycling and circling, assembling data and options until only one thing stood clear.

“Take her!” I shoved Calixta into Tu’ver’s arms and grabbed for his weapon. “Get the others out of here.”

“This is insane!” Tu’ver protested as Calixta wriggled against him, trying to get back to me. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“You have to,” I said, my voice surprisingly level. “You have to tell Mariella what happened. You need to be there for her.” When I no longer am, I added silently. Tu’ver opened his mouth to protest again, but I cut him off.

“The more you stand there and argue, the more likely you won’t leave this ship at all,” I said desperately. “You can’t tell me you don’t have more surprises hidden in all of that,” I waved at his circuitry. “They need you more than me.”

But it was too late. The Xathi sub-queen and her soldiers were upon us.

I fired Tu’ver’s weapon wildly, striking one of the soldiers in the leg. Its crystalized exoskeleton chipped and cracked a little bit, but I didn’t do any real damage.

The sub-queen reared up and used her front legs to shove me to the ground. My head collided with the metal floor hard enough to make me see stars.

I could barely see anything, there was a deafening ringing in my ears. I could only hope that Tu’ver had taken the chance to run.

I did my best, I thought as the spear-like tip of the sub-queen’s leg pieced my arm. I closed my eyes. I didn’t want the last thing I saw to be her face.

I thought of Mariella, Calixta, and Axtin. Maybe my death would bring them together into a strange but good surrogate family. Yeah, that would be good for Calixta.

I believed she would like Mariella. Mariella was always good with children. She’d probably be afraid of Axtin at first, but as soon as she saw his gentle side, I think she’d adore him.

They would be okay.

I released a final breath. I was at peace with this.

Above me, I heard a terrible crack, loud enough to cancel out the ringing in my ears. I opened my eyes. The sub-queen’s head was split down the middle by a perfectly aimed blaster shot.