Page 13 of The Brightest Night

“Then I will fix your friend.” He picked up his tools.

“What about Rex?” Kai asked.

Dareth shook his head. “I’m afraid he had no protection from the blast. But his memory module is insulated, so we can retrieve it. Maybe you can find a new body for your friend one day.”

A new body…Destiny! I pulled the case containing her data chip from my pocket, my chest tightening painfully at the blackened, charred edges. “Oh no…”

“What is it?” Dareth asked.

“Destiny?” Kai said softly.

“Destiny?” Dareth frowned.

“My ship. Her name is Destiny. This is her mind.” I showed him the chip. “The outer module, the part that controls data traffic, is fried, but it’s a mosaic design, and the memory modules seem to be intact, right?”

I needed him to confirm what I was seeing.

He studied the chip for several beats.

“I believe so.” I exhaled in a rush. “But they’ll need to be carefully extracted and implanted in a new data chip. I’m afraid I do not have the tools for that.”

I didn’t either, but I’d find someone who did. I’d figure out how to get her back. She was still with me, and that was all that mattered.

I put the chip back in the box and into my pocket. “I think I’ll have that tea now.”

Gabe opened his stunning blue eyes, and my heart squeezed, but when he stared at me unblinking, as if he didn’t quite know who I was, that squeeze morphed to panic.

“Gabe?” I lightly touched his cheek, and his eyes fluttered closed. “Gabe? Can you hear me?”

“I hear you.” His brow pinched, eyes snapping open again, wide and alert this time, gaze flicking, about to take in our surroundings and zeroing in on Dareth sitting by the campfire.

Yep. He was back with us, all right.

He sat up slowly, his body vibrating with tension. “Who is that man?” He scanned the cave. “Where is Velos?”

My heart sank. “Velos is… He’s gone. And that guy is a friend. His name is Dareth. He saved us.”

“What happened? Where did Velos go?”

“He ran. He got scared when the wards knocked you guys out. If Dareth hadn’t come along, I’d have frozen to death. We need to go now before another blizzard hits.”

“Go? Where?”

“To Dareth’s settlement. We might get answers there. I’ll explain more once we’re on our way.”

Gabe studied me for several moments. “If you trust him, then so shall I.” He looked over at Dareth. “But if you try to harm Nova, I will kill you.”

“Not if I kill him first,” Kai said.

Oh, be still my frozen little heart.

Dareth inclined his head. “I have no intention of harming anyone.” He strode to the mouth of the cave and gathered up snow, which he threw over the campfire, killing it completely and plunging us into gloom. “Time to go.”

I gathered our meager supplies and shoved them into the pack we’d stolen, then bent to scoop up Rex.

“Leave him,” Dareth said. “All you need is this.” He handed me a data module. I pocketed it and followed him outside into the silvery white landscape, deceptively tame and serene now that the storm had passed. Parked a few yards away was a monstrosity of a mobile made of rusted iron panels that were scratched and battered. The engine was exposed—thick rubber belts and oily pistons waiting for activation.

The whole thing was mechanical, which meant it was immune to any electromagnetic pulses. Neat.