Chapter 39
Jess stood, outwardly calm but in turmoil inside. The Wanderer’s scans had confirmed that something explosive had been lodged in Sal’s back. It couldn’t estimate how powerful it was, but any explosion there would be fatal.
The scans indicated there was some form of energy flow between the explosive and the device in Hackett’s hand, but the communication seemed to be encrypted. The Wanderer couldn’t break that encryption without risking Sal’s life.
Jess was linked to the ship and accelerating his thoughts, of course, but that didn’t help. He could think faster but he couldn’t move faster. One of the robots was concealed in a false wall within the docking bay, but even it couldn’t move quickly enough to do anything other than avenge Sal’s death.
Jess had considered using
