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She didn’t even have time to curse as she plummeted into the core of the rock-strewn sector seeking refuge.

It was no use. From each angle, angular black darts began phasing into view.

She counted twenty quadcopters giving chase, weapons hot. They resembled the drones that chased her and the Signet crew from theEternabefore.

‘Shit.’

She yanked the throttle, trying to break away. They tracked her, matching her every evasive move.

The comm channel burst to life with static, followed by a voice that sent a frisson of dread through her.

‘I wondered how long you’d last without a racer ride, how quickly you’d seek the adrenaline of speed and the freedom of vacuum as you often have in the past,’ came the smooth, preened tone of Eugene, the synth bot. ‘I was patient, and now here you are. All alone. How convenient.’

Before she could respond, there was a movement and a flash of light in her peripheral vision.

He appeared behind her, glimmering into thefokkin’ craft.

Her heart drummed so hard that her ears rushed with thunder.

Eugene hovered towards the controls, his form coalescing in inhuman, silvery folds, though the face before her still resembled her kin.

His eyes glowed, dead and predatory. His mouth curled with amusement.

‘Savvine,’ he purred. ‘Always a pleasure.’

She reached for her sidearm.

Too slow.

With a flick of his fingers, he threw her back against the cockpit wall, cuffs slamming around her wrists and ankles. Pain flared bright throughout her nerves as she gasped, her spine arching.

Her breath came fast and tight, her muscles coiled to strike, but the synth was already in motion. With an elegant twist of his hand, he reached for the console.

‘Nah, ah.’

As he crooned, he tapped his long, silver digits across the nav array. ‘Let’s not make this messy, shall we?’

At once, her access to controls flickered and died.

The racer’s throttle slid to neutral.

Tendrils of shimmering mini-bots flew from his hands and over the console, and in seconds, the interface glowed with unfamiliar symbols, alien glyphs overlaid it with an override sigil.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ Savvine snapped, jerking against her restraints as the speedster veered to starboard.

Eugene didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he began to hum, a lilting, off-kilter tune, sweet and syrupy, like an old nursery rhyme dragged through broken glass.

It was the kind of sound that wormed its way into your skull and refused to leave.

He tapped to the rhythm, fingers dancing over her console. With every beat, the stars outside shifted.

The racer banked and accelerated under his command, a sleek, obedient shadow in his control.

‘Where are you taking me?’ she hissed.

‘To my home,’ he purred, gaze never leaving the astral scape. ‘Somewhere we can chat with no interruptions.’