Cavalon grinned. “What’s his plan?”
“He’s going to buy a ton of ammo and plasma charges, then take his Evorsor and follow the trail. But first, you gotta fix his stupid Hermes so he can make the trade.”
“Well, if it’s for revenge, I’m all-in.” He confirmed the stability of the last connection, and the coil held securely in place. “Optio?” he called tentatively.
“Go for North.”
“What’re your sensors telling you in there?”
“Hull breach warnings are up, but our original malfunction is clear.”
“Fixed?” Rake asked.
“Fixed,” Cavalon confirmed.
“Nice work. Let’s wrap it up.”
Bolt by bolt, he secured both crumpled panels tightly into place while Rake detailed the old explorer’s plan for avenging his family.
“We’re all green in here,” Jackin said finally. “See you guys back inside.”
Cavalon let out a deep breath. “Thank you, sir.” He craned his neck to look at Rake. “I mean, for distracting me. My brain works better when it doesn’t realize it’s in mortal danger.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Cavalon turned to hand her the impact driver, but the bit scraped against the side of the hull and it fell from his grip. On instinct, he dropped his hand down to catch it, but the stupid thing stayed floating.
The damage had been done, however. His elbow hit hard against the hull with an innocent thunk, and he bounced away at a speed slightly faster than he felt comfortable with.
He cursed at himself. He’d gone so long without any sudden movements.
“Shit,” Rake said, quickly releasing the tension on the winch, presumably so he wouldn’t boomerang and come crashing back into the ship too fast. “What was that?”
“I dropped the drill!” he called out, as if he needed to accommodate for the distance stretching between them.
“You can’t drop anything!” she yelled back. “There’s no gravity!”
Dammit. She was right.
Rake took a deep breath, crackling through the comms with forced patience. “I’m going to rein you back in.”
Heart hammering against his ribs, Cavalon twisted and grunted, struggling to reach behind him to grab at the tether hooked to his back.
Any hint of calm in Rake’s tone dropped away. “Don’t even fucking touch that!”
But it was too late. His reckless, grasping fingers had managed to trigger one of the manual thruster switches on his MMU, and he learned the practical definition of careening as he rocketed away from the ship.
The air drained from his lungs and vertigo overtook his vision. It appeared only one side had been triggered, as he spun in one direction, faster and faster. The SGL flashed by once every few seconds, then once a second, then faster until it almost seemed like it stood still again. The tether twisted around his torso, tightening as the length expended from Rake’s winch.
“Turn it off!” Rake yelled.
He grasped at the switch again and the thruster ceased, but he continued to spin. Moments later a hollow poof sounded, then something clamped down hard on his shoulders. His body stopped, though his vision continued to reel. His stomach lurched, and he swallowed bile back down.
He must have been facing outward, because he could see nothing ahead of him, nothing in his periphery, just black, starless, galaxy-less, nebula-less nothing.
“Fucking void, Mercer,” Rake cursed. “Are you trying to die?”