Page 35

35

Rose’s heart raced but it was a fight to breathe, her ribs creaking with the effort.

The swarm descended from the ceiling, settling at eye level.

Luca pulled her close, notching her against his side. She didn’t resist, drawing comfort from his solid form. At the far end of the corridor Finn was with Liev, his face barely visible through the writhing mass. He might as well have been on the other side of the world. She swallowed against the congestion in her throat.

“Any ideas, Doc?” Luca squinted at the swarm as it coagulated and darkened.

Her skin buzzed from the proximity. Images flashed through her mind of them swathing her, forcing their way into her nose and mouth, suffocating her before invading her bloodstream?—

Stop it.

“Okay, I’m no scientist, but this is not fucking good—” Luca aimed his weapon, moving his body as a barrier between her and the swarm .

The swarm swept upward, hitting the ceiling several feet away, a boiling, seething mass.

“Luca, lower your weapon. Don’t threaten them.”

Something shifted subtly in the air as the swarm solidified, an unquantifiable number of molecular bots working as one.

No—

A dark lance formed, fired forward, hitting Luca square in the chest, and knocking him off his feet.

“Agh—” Luca slammed into the floor, his pulse rifle blasting a hole in the ceiling. The smoky-black lance flattened, spreading like hot oil across his chest, his stomach, his legs.

“Luca!” Finn closed the distance in seconds, skidding to his knees and locking his hand around Luca’s forearm.

Luca’s teeth locked, his lips drawn back in a rictus of pain. Spit flecked his mouth. “Get her the fuck out.”

Blackness engulfed his legs, devouring their shape.

The scratchy hum of the swarm raked across Rose’s eardrums like metal on glass. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the malevolent sound burrowing into her skull.

Liev grabbed her arm. “Rose?—”

Luca screamed. His spine arched impossibly, tendons bulging on his neck as the darkness consumed him.

Liev’s hold on her arm was painful as he hauled her backward, rattling off calls for help on the comms.

“We have to help…” Her mind raced. Empty of solutions.

Finn remained kneeling, unwilling to abandon his teammate. But they were all at risk.

Luca gasped, his body jerking violently as the swarm flowed over his face seeking his mouth, nose and eyes .

Rose staggered backward, breaking Liev’s hold, her hands flying to her mouth.

This can’t be happening.

Luca’s eyes flew open, his bloodshot whites stark against the hungry darkness. “Get. Her. Out. Only…one who can stop…”

Darkness engulfed his arms, moving from shoulder to elbow, inches from Finn’s hand.

Luca released his grip on Finn’s wrist, his voice strangled. “ Go .”

The swarm gloved his hand, his fingers disappearing into a buzzing restless mitten.

Rose’s back hit the wall . Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Her control teetered on a precipice as the nanobots continued to consume him.

“Rose.” Someone called her name from far away.

Breathe.

When her parents died, her breath had been the only thing that brought her back to herself. She closed her eyes. One exhale. She was a robotics engineer. Problems like this had solutions—they just needed the right sequence of actions.

When she opened her eyes, her mind was clear. “ Remy. The locks—are they electromagnetically actuated?”

“Affirmative.”

“Divert all available power to the locks. Immediately.”

The swarm shrouded Luca.Was she too late?

She met Liev’s questioning eyes. “A strong enough electromagnetic pulse through the habitat locks should disable the nanobots. Not permanently, but long enough to give us options.”

Could Luca survive it? There’s no alternative .

She rubbed her knuckles against the pain banding her chest. “ Remy , hurry?—”

“Rerouting power now. Surge duration, twenty seconds. Systems will return to normal parameters in ten seconds.”

“Execute, Remy. Now .”

“Initiating.”

The hit of copper flooded her mouth. The surrounding air crackled with static, the building electromagnetic surge raising the fine hairs on her arms. Was this what electrocution felt like in that fraction of a second before?—

The blast hit.

Air crystallized, dense and solid around her, freezing her lungs mid-breath. White sparks cascaded from the door locks, crackling through the space like lightning.

God, let this work.

Luca convulsed. His back arched violently until only his shoulders and heels touched the ground, boots hammering against the floor in a frenzied rhythm. His fingers splayed and twisted, tendons straining against the skin of his neck, veins distended and dark.

Around her, door locks exploded in a chain reaction, the sound ripping through the Io as Remy’s power surge tore through the habitat’s magnetic systems.

The force threw her to her hands and knees, driving the air from her lungs. She curled her hands against the cold floor to stop herself from reaching for Luca. Contact now could kill them both.

His jaw wrenched open in a silent scream, muscles straining against an impossible force. The swarm exploded from his throat—a writhing mass. It rocketed upward in a single dark column, slamming against the ceiling before fracturing, scattering into smaller, buzzing clouds. In seconds they dissolved into a fine metallic mist that dissipated into nothing, leaving only the sharp, bitter stench of scorched metal.

Luca’s body went slack, dropping to the floor with a heavy thud.

Holy shit, it worked.

“Rose.” Finn’s fingers dented her shoulder with pressure.

“I’m okay.”

Relief softened the tension in his face. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” Her knees felt disconnected from her body and a marching band crashed against her temples, but Luca’s body was free of the suffocating swarm.

“What the actual fuck just happened?” Liev dropped to his knees beside Luca and pressed two fingers to his throat. A long breath escaped him. “Thank fuck. We have a pulse.”

“Rose Wyndham. Bio-hybrid systems have been temporarily incapacitated. The duration of this state cannot be accurately predicted because of variable swarm parameters. Immediate containment measures are strongly recommended.”

Rose pushed to standing, determination giving her wobbly muscles strength. “First, Luca to med bay. Then we’ll deal with the swarm.”