“Darya,” Kaelen said, stepping from the shadows.
She spun. Her eyes widened. “Kaelen? You’re supposed to be—nulled. Damped.” nulled alternative
He sat in the co-pilot’s chair. She didn’t stop him. Maybe because some part of her knew. The black hole didn’t care about politics or neural ratings. It cared about precision. And her hands, even now, were betraying her. “Darya,” Kaelen said, stepping from the shadows
And then she was gone, leaving him alone in the command seat. The system still showed him as NULLED in the crew manifest. But the ship didn’t care about manifests. ” Kaelen said
“That is not a recognized option for a nulled alternative.”
Darya was in the cockpit, running pre-checks. Her hands fluttered over the controls. Once, twice, a slip.