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“Take it easy now,” one of the Changelings said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Like get myself trapped?

The fall was a long one and there was no way I could survive it.

I only had one other choice.

The girder ran from the corner to the first engine. I could escape from there, but I would have to be quick.

It was the only way I had left of escaping these creatures.

And all I had to do was creep along that narrow girder.

A piece of cake…

If you didn’t suffer from vertigo.

Or have an acute fear of death.

I thought once more about being locked inside a pod. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. I mean, who didn’t like sleep?

Who looked forward to the endless sleep?

Nobody.

More than that, I couldn’t let myself be a hapless victim.

Not again.

I held onto the railing and threw my legs over it. I stood on the girder with my hands clenching the railing tight behind me.

The girder seemed to narrow to the width of a toothpick and the ground might as well have been on the nearby planet.

I shut my eyes.

I couldn’t do this. I just couldn’t—

“Yes, you can.”

I opened my eyes, surprised to hear the voice.

Dyrel.

He wasn’t there, and neither was I.

We were back on a branch, twisted and bent with age, and eclipsed by thick boughs overhead. It was far harder to negotiate than a single straight girder.

Dyrel extended his hand.

I took it willingly.

He led our dance across the branch, my feet magically finding each step.

I felt his strong muscular body against mine, his reassuring grip holding me tight.

And suddenly, the girder didn’t seem so narrow, and the fall didn’t seem so scary.

I released the railing and moved across the girder one step at a time. My fears melted away. I kept my eyes on the prize—that nodule engine tip just ahead. Get to that, and I was halfway across already.