Page 108 of Enthraller

Five, four, three, two, one. . . her nanos counted down for her.

There was a moment of nothing, and then the sudden, heart-jerking boom as blue and purple light erupted from the Caruson ship.

The sound of pounding boots pulled her focus from the sky and she turned to see Ed sprinting into the narrow laneway.

“Wren, I swear.” He grabbed her. “I’ve already told you I’m easily stressed.”

She grinned against his throat. “I won’t do it again.”

“I’ll keep you to it.” He shuddered, and his grip tightened even more.

“It was close,” she admitted, tilting her head up to watch the flaming pieces of the ship fall down all over the hover port. The emergency sirens were screaming into the night in response. “That Caruson saw me dissipate.”

“He won’t be doing anything about it now,” Ed said, turning with his arm still around her to look up.

“No. But Vim and Opek are still there. Or hightailing it back to their headquarters.”

“No.” Ed shook his head. “They’re lying on the ground, hit by my laz fire. I sent Bartam a message to let her know where to find them.”

“It feels like every time we think we know who they all are, another few pop up.”

“They have to be getting to the bottom of the pile by now,” Ed said. “And they’ve lost the Caruso. You made sure of it. The trust between them is broken and their ore is gone.”

“Do you think we saved the planet?” she asked, feeling a little loopy with fatigue and euphoria.

“Yeah, I think we saved it.” Ed tugged a flower from a vine and stuck it in her hair. “And I think we need to celebrate.”

She sighed as he kissed her. “Let’s go home.”

41

Lieutenant Bartamand Captain Darnell looked across the table at them. They were seated stiffly, uniforms neatly pressed.

Violet Fann leaned against the wall, her uniform dirty and stinking of smoke, her face smudged, with a thin cut along her cheek.

It was late morning, as she and Ed had slept in, and everyone here seemed annoyed with them.

“You want to tell us about the Caruso?” Bartam asked.

“We already explained.” Ed pushed his chair back to stretch out his legs.

“You found information about the ore. You loaded it with explosives and delivered it, and when the Caruso took off, you activated the triggers.” Darnell sounded both angry and admiring.

“And it never occurred to you once to contact me? Or any of us?” Bartam asked.

“You were all dealing with the fall out from the attack, and at least one of Darnell’s people was a traitor, and certainly two of yours were,” Wren said. “We also suspected a memberof the Protection Unit. So it was safer for us to do it without mentioning it to anyone.”

There was a beat of silence.

“That’s . . . not unreasonable.” Violet Fann rubbed at her forehead. “And it worked. We’ve got a burning hulk instead of a Razor, at least ten dead Caruso, and if Ed and Wren are right, the partnership between the Cores and the Caruso is dead, or at the least very much weakened.”

“We noticed the battleships were nowhere to be seen.” Ed didn’t make it a question, but he looked over at Darnell and then Bartam.

“There was an incident.” Darnell’s face looked like it would crack, it was so stiff, and Bartam’s eyes narrowed.

“The Caruso lured them away?” Wren guessed.

Violet Fann pushed away from the wall. Shot her a wry grin. “Something like that. I’m sure the full details will come out in time.” She flicked a smile at Darnell, but he was staring at his clenched fists.

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