Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Once Connor felt sure that the lizard-things banging against outer airlock hatch wasn’t a problem, he backed out of the airlock to join the others in the cargo bay. They were spread throughout the space closest to the airlock, slumped and many of them still gasping.

For a second, memories of the last days of the Nyango Revolt filled Connor’s head. People were starving, dehydrating, and growing sick from exposure. They stank after weeks without water to shower.

His team had fallen into this condition after little more than a day.

But where Wentz’s rebels had never been broken, the team looked beaten and battered. It wasn’t just the difference between the resilience of someone wed to ideology and hired mercenaries, either.

The problem was a literally inhuman enemy.

He took his Asp from the pile of gear someone had dropped near the inner airlock hatch, checked the magazine, then propped it against the bulkhead.

The clanging against the outer hatch continued.