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The thought settled heavily on his shoulders. Loka sighed and twisted in his seat.

His fingers skimmed over Heather’s soft forehead. He was used to seeing the base of horns extending from a forehead. Hers was clear, other than a couple of thin lines tracing across the skin, suggesting she still felt some pain. She had nothing to protect herself with. She was so small, soft, and fragile.

The door to his quarters slid open. Hoan walked in. He stood quietly beside Loka for a second.

“How are the station repairs going?” Loka asked, his attention still on Heather.

“Not good,” Hoan said softly. “The bots are still on the loose. But, as you can see, emergency power is holding. There is also food and hot water available. Communications remain off-line. Nobody has been able to make contact outside of the station to let them know what the situation is here.”

“Nobody knows this place is being destroyed?”

“Not yet. As fast as we make a repair, the bots create another problem.”

“There must be a way to force them to go off-line,” Loka said.

“They’ve overridden a number of security protocols. A few bots have been disabled, but the majority remain at large. They’re hunting for humans and aliens.”

Loka stroked Heather’s cheek. “That is bad news.” He would not let the bots find her.

“There’s more.”

Loka’s jaw clenched. “Go on.”

“People are missing. Escape pods have gone.”

He turned in his seat. “Humans are abandoning the station?”

“We don’t think so,” Hoan said. “We think the bots are herding them into the pods. They’re deliberately making humans leave.”

Loka stroked a horn. “Why?”

“We briefly had access to the external security cameras. The pods are being sent out into space, all heading in the same direction, toward a waiting ship.”

“The bots are kidnapping humans?”

“Yes. But they don’t seem to harm them. Whoever is doing this wants to keep the humans alive.”

Loka growled under his breath. Heather was in immediate danger. If the bots caught her, they’d put her in a shuttle

“How is Heather doing?” Hoan asked.

“She hasn’t opened her eyes since the accident. When she does, I’ll move her somewhere safe. She doesn’t need to be involved with this. She can wait it out as she recovers.”

“A wise idea. If we don’t gain control of the bots, the whole station will have to be abandoned.”

“We can leave. If we do, I’m taking Heather with us. It is not safe for her to remain on Prodigy.”

“Shall I pack our experiments?” Hoan asked. “The bots have not interfered with the lab, but it will only be a matter of time. They are methodically moving through the entire station.”

Loka sat up straight. He’d barely thought about his experiments since Heather’s accident. He’d been so distracted by what was going on, the spatial mapping program seemed like a distant memory. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since his work had been his sole focus. His gaze returned to Heather. Well, almost.

“That would be wise. We should move our experiments and my mother’s DNA. There will be room for the three of us and our findings on a shuttle.”

“I’m not leaving,” Heather mumbled.

“You’re awake.” Loka leaned over Heather, his hand moving to her face.

“And listening. You don’t need to hide me anywhere. You don’t need to put me on a shuttle.” Heather blinked slowly up at Loka.