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His hand clenched into a fist. The last he’d heard of her had been her voice over the comm, screaming at him to shut the bulkheads. The air indicator blinked at the edge of his vision. Ignoring it, he leaned far enough around the housing to check the bridge again.

“What do we have here? Rann, why are you clinging to the side of that ship like a barnacle?”

Rann froze, his hand locked around a support strut as the Covak’s deep voice sounded through his comms, apparently addressing everyone within shouting distance. “Hey guys! You gotta see this! Rann is a barnacle. A Barnarann? A Rannacle?”

“Draanthing dickhead,” Rann hissed, but he couldn’t stop the grin spreading over his face. The pressure in his chest eased enough that he almost wasted air on a laugh.

Looking past the cannon, he searched the empty space beyond Joe’s ship. And saw nothing. There was no sleek hull, no familiar engine configuration. The Dream’s shroud systems must be active.

“Just draanthing get me off here, would you? I need to get into this draanthing ship. There are females in there that need rescuing.”

“Sure,” Jex’s drier voice broke over Covak’s. “Make your way to the dorsal hull directly from where you are and push off. I’m bringing the ship around and opening the secondary cargo bay.”

Rann was moving before the cyborg finished. Hooking his fingers into a seam, he pulled clear of the cannon housing and flattened himself against the hull.

“Seriously, what are you wearing?” Covak chuckled.

Rann bared his teeth at the inside of his helmet and kept crawling. Covak could have the suit when he was finished with it. Preferably shoved somewhere uncomfortable.

Each movement took more effort than it should have. He kept them small, moving one hand at a time, drawing his knees up beneath him rather than trying to cover distance quickly. The tight fabric dragged across his shoulders and he wanted to tear the thing off.

Soon.

Reaching the point Jex had directed him to, Rann planted his feet and straightened up. There was nothing above him but open space. No visible cargo bay or reassuring lights marking where he needed to go.

No sane person would push off into that on nothing more than an instruction over a comm.

But Jex didn’t make mistakes, so Rann bent his knees and pushed.

The hull slid away beneath him, and he was very aware that he had just abandoned the only solid surface available. For a moment, he had a clear view of the cannon array and the bridge beyond it, a guard turning at the far end of the transparent passage.

He held his breath. If they saw him now and fired, he was done for.

Holding his breath, he let his momentum carry him. Fighting the movement would only interfere with whatever Jex had calculated.

Then a gray mist washed over his vision, wrapping around him… except there couldn’t be mist out here. The next heartbeat, his sense of direction went sideways. The stars vanished completely, metal replacing them. A lurch, and he fell forward and down.

His boots hit the deck, and he rolled automatically, coming up to his feet to the blessed sight of the Dream’s secondary cargo bay.

Closing his eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Home. Finally.

He yanked the human helmet off as the bay sealed behind him. Cool air hit his face, and he dragged in a breath, then another, his lungs finally getting what they’d been demanding.

Across the small space, Jex stood holding Rann’s combat EVA suit. The cyborg’s dark faceplate gave nothing away. For once, Rann was grateful for that.

“Where are the others?” he demanded.

“Suiting up near the cutter.”

Jex held the combat suit out. Rann took it, dropped the helmet, and tore the human suit off his body. The sound was deeply satisfying. A few brutal pulls, and he stepped out of the remains, leaving them in a heap on the deck.

His own suit fitted.

Gods, such a simple thing. Room for his shoulders, room to bend his legs without dragging the collar halfway down his back. Breathing a sigh of relief, he snapped his armor into place, leaving his helmet retracted into the neck guard for the moment.

Jex was already heading for the door.