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She went on ahead first to make sure security had left the ship, then she had Kryxis slip into the supply room which was mostly empty now that her team had gone, transferring the artifacts to the main ship’s storage.

Only one large metal crate was left. Dani slid the lid back and peered into the empty space.

“You might have to curl up pretty tight, but it’s all we’ve got,” she told him.

Kryxis didn’t hesitate. He hopped into the crate and sank down, adjusting himself so that she could shut the lid over him.

Quickly, she attached the carrier drones, lifting the crate up then slowly moving it out of the ship and onto the service tunnel toward the storage bay.

The bay was a huge sector of the ship’s lower decks, filled with artifacts and all other supplies for the vessel. It was also well guarded by both security and their cameras. But there were vaults for personal storage or special artifacts. She and Morse brought the crate around to vault 007 and quickly led the crate inside, setting it down in the center.

“I’ll come back for you,” Dani whispered through one of the slits along the crate. “I’ll figure something out.”

Quickly, they shut Kryxis inside the vault. As it locked in place, she heard someone calling her name. She looked around and saw Nadine heading toward her.

“Go help the others,” she told Morse. As he slipped away, she went and closed the distance between her and Nadine, a tall woman with silky black curls and a sharp gaze. On her black suit, she wore the silver pin of Nexacor.

“I was looking for you,” she said as Dani approached. Her gaze drifted past Dani’s shoulder to vault 007. “Got something else?”

“Oh, just a few things Tom picked up. Machine parts mostly. You know he couldn’t help it.”

Nadine crossed her arms and shook her head. “That man. I’ll let it slide. Since he and the others…had a very upsetting experience. You all did. I’m sorry this mission was so challenging. If we had known more…but we were only given so much information from Marityne.”

“I would say there’s a lot they didn’t tell us,” Dani said almost bitterly.

“We’ll get a meeting set up. This should not have gone this way. I’m just glad everyone got out.”

“Almost everyone.” This time she did sound bitter.

“I heard about Ryatt. It is unfortunate. But he knew what this job entailed.”

He sure did. They all did. “Thankfully it wasn’t all in vain,” Dani said.

“True. Your team did well despite the circumstances. I checked the logs. You got almost everything.”

Almost everything? She was about to question her on that when she remembered. The datachip. She still had it in her pocket. And she had yet to add it to the records.

Nadine studied her, waiting for some reply. Yes, despite the circumstances, her team was still expected to finish the job, no matter how many lives were lost.

Dani clenched her hand in a fist at her side to keep herself from patting her pocket. “Is there any way you can call off the demolition team?”

Nadine gave her a disappointed look. “They’ve already been deployed. The heads have made their decision.”

“The city doesn’t have to be destroyed.”

“It’s been confirmed to be too dangerous, Dani. It’s too far gone from infestation. Saul said—”

“He doesn’t know everything,” Dani blurted.

Nadine arched a brow. “What doyouknow?”

She bit her lip, annoyed she couldn’t hold her anger. “I know Marityne isn’t so innocent.”

“If you discovered something, you have to give a report.”

“I would like to talk to the heads about it at the meeting.”

Nadine crossed her arms. “I don’t want you to get in trouble, Dani. Did you find the datachip or not?