Carys fired back. Three shots. The third caught the craft’s engine. It spun out. Crashed into a canyon wall.
“That’s the last one,” she said.
Flinx’s eyes suddenly glowed, a dim blue. He was back.
“Flinx, find me somewhere to land,” I said. “We’re losing power.”
His voice was weak in Carys’s comm.
“Guide me in.”
We dropped into the canyon system. The speeder’s damaged stabilizer made handling difficult. The engines were failing. Temperature critical.
“We’re not going to make another flight,” I said. “This is it. Once we land, we’re grounded.”
“Then make it count.”
The cave entrance appeared ahead. Natural formation. Wide enough for the speeder but barely. I adjusted the approach angle.
The speeder scraped through. Hull grinding against stone. More warnings. More damage indicators.
We were inside. The cave opened into a larger chamber. I brought us down. Not gently. The landing gear deployed but the damaged stabilizer made us lurch sideways. Metal screeched. The speeder tilted. Then settled.
Engines powered down. Systems failing. Red indicators across every console.
We were down. Safe. Grounded.
I checked the sensors. No pursuit.
Tarsus’s voice came through the open comm. Broadcasting on all frequencies. Raw fury. “You can’t hide forever. This planet is mine. Every kilometer. Every cave. Every rock. I will find you. And when I do, I will make you beg for death.”
I switched off the comm.
Carys was breathing hard. Not panic. Just adrenaline wearing off. She looked at me. Her hand went to her throat, to the platinum collar.
“Get this off me,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but it was an order.
“I will.” I moved to her. I’d seen the bracelet on her arm, the one I’d given her. “The slicer spike.”
She unclasped it and handed it to me. I took it and examined the collar’s locking mechanism. A biometric seal. High-grade.
“Flinx. I need a schematic for this lock. Now.”
Flinx jumped onto her shoulder, his eyes glowing brighter. He projected a tiny, complex schematic onto the speeder’s dark console. “Biometric lock. Encrypted. But the power cell is exposed. Right... there.”
I positioned the bracelet. “This will be loud.”
I activated it. The spike whined. Carys didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. If it had been anyone else’s work, the spike wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Good thing this was a device designed by the Sovereign’s Hand.
The lock sparked, sizzled, and died.
I pulled the two halves of the collar apart. They fell from her neck, clattering to the metal floor.
She stared at it. Then she bent down, picked it up, and looked at me.
“How long do we have?” she asked.
