as closing

sphere narrowed, the black walls flowing like liquid, forming a corridor wher

rying to

n her helmet. "The Revenant has locked tractor bea

stone fused to her palm, humming against her skin. Her scars - those three perfect lines on her forearm - were sti

was now a floor. Gravity shifted. The h

it. The shriek of Im

ting through

ped at the ship, at the

you are home, you are safe, I have waited so long that almost buckled her knees. An

ere

" Lyra snapped. "I'm a

in a dead end. A

open, open,

for one person. A human cockpit. The seat was shaped for a human spine. The controls

cape

you fly t

ology is 183 years more a

ehind her, down the corridor that was no longer a corrid

y source is moving! Co

yal Guard.

he seat and slammed her h

scream

the Imperial soldiers in her belly, cutting. She could feel the Revenant above her like a huge, cold knife pressed to her thro

e pod e

ra was inside the human ship, the next she was outside on the dusty surface of Obsidian Moon, the hu

d around her the second her feet touched ground. The Heart

r her skif

make it t

n place. Tractor beam. Not the shaky, industrial kind the depot used.

d, tried to pry the l

n's beak, detached and descended, impossibly fast, landing without kicking

perial white. Black, with a silver crest on the ches

them, not

ma

d armor to lo

erywhere on the outer moons: LOYALTY IS ORDER. ORDER IS PEACE. In the posters, he looked like

e he was not a statue. He was a

ike smoke despite no wind. His hair was longer than in the posters, silver, almost white. His skin was pale grey-blue, faintly lum

tractor beam like it wasn't the

To the black stone. To the

ond, something flickere

, replaced by th

pure tone of Caelum Prime. Not shouting. He didn't ne

That was her superpower. When sh

on it," she spat, dangling from the

a choked noise. No one tal

ugh now that she could see the faint scars on his knuc

ut my warship. My father's entire communications

flicker. Sorry your nigh

stop antagonizing the ma

ent. Then, slowly, he reached out

, expecting a

ear with two fingers. His gloves were blac

to himself. "Female. Aureli reso

nd, a man with a scarred face wh

. Scan

ing a scanner. The scanner was Imperial tec

s chest, the scanner screame

d dropped the

y looked. At her dark wavy hair, at her stubborn jaw, at the way she hu

time, there was something other than cold in his vo

said. "Scavenger.

ted, tasting the name

or the stone

fingers touched it,

the Heart -

ix Royal Guards ten feet back, slammed them into the dust. It threw Ry

p, but he hadn't fallen. His coat was smoking where he'd touched it

ssion had completely changed. The c

e sky, projecting text in a language Rylan couldn't read, but Kael

out loud, his

NITY CONFIRMED. P

he black sand of Obsidian Moon was vibrating

n, pointing it at Lyra. "Your Highness!

t order an hour ago: Find the last human roya

d went to

eath in his pale eyes. She

ew the

ted it a

aid, his voice ice again, but differen

ieving. "My Prince?

Lyra, at the light in her arm, at the floating text that called her Queen. "

ill cloaked, was powering up underne

elt in the dust in front of her, his expensive c

his says?" he asked her, g

ing, shook

el said softly, so only she could hear. "It says y

s own dreadnought, where his f

re galaxy for 183 years. And he just ordered

black coat and draped it around Lyra's shoulders. It w

o were staring, weapons hal

oice carrying across the bone-yard, making the dust tremble.

wrapped in his coat, g

to protective custody. An

er back - as if she weighed nothing, as the Heart of Eart

a's eyes fluttered shut from exhaustion, and Ka

tbeat, syncin

nd had jus