And then the invaders were backing away, firing to cover their retreat. “After them!” Jiana ordered. “I’ll check the Heartstar chamber!” The lead Auditor nodded, dashing away up the corridor with his men. Jiana turned and ran into the chamber.

Some kind of laser had been used to cut a small hole in the ventilation shaft at the apex of the chamber. As Jiana looked up, she saw something scuttling across the ceiling. She raised her rifle and fired, and a shower of robot spider parts rained down. She gasped. The attack was a diversion!

Jiana turned and dashed for the door, her Wayfarer reconfiguring itself to motorcycle mode around her. She raced down the corridor, veering off into a fork that would let her avoid the hallway fighting and get to the hangar.

She arrived in time to see a stream of spider robots scurry up the ramp into the Lordun shuttle, one carrying a brightly glowing orb in its mandibles. She raised her rifle, then lowered it. If she hit the Heartstar, the results could be catastrophic.