Ellie ducked beneath the outcropping. She balanced her blast stick while she dried her hands on her vest.

The orb appeared. Ellie shoved the stick at it and pulled the trigger. The stick fired a crystal but it shattered ineffectually against the surface of the orb a centimeter from the seam she had been aiming for.

“Shit,” she said and ducked below the orb’s electrical arc.

“Get away from her!” she heard Hutch yell and then the bang, bang, bang of his pistol. The orb left Ellie and chased Hutch.

She swore and bolted for the safety of the hatch.

Chapter 68

Chapter 70