Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

As Connor walked from the engineering area to the bridge, he couldn’t shake the image of the vertical crack in the coolant pipe. It was nothing compared to the other crazy things that had gone on in the last few weeks—starting with Dr. Litvinenko’s death—but still seemed odd.

Once through the bridge hatch, he realized the compartment was empty except for Martienne. That wasn’t shocking, since the threat was apparently resolved, and she and Yemi didn’t get along.

The consoles showed a pleasant green or at least nothing worse than amber for all systems, and it was quiet except for the pilot’s soft, off-tune humming.

Connor grabbed the backpack Toshiko had given him, caught the gentle reminder of her scent coming off of it, then leaned against the back of his seat to swap out his sneakers for the shoes he’d taken off the unconscious Splinter assassin.