Kaira stood by Tarkus, looking down at the cargo. She shivered slightly, but didn’t know why. It was something about it, something she just didn’t like, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.
“Right,” said Tarkus. “Standing around staring at it won’t answer any questions. Here goes nothing.”
He moved forward, reached out, and pressed the button.
Kaira found herself taking a step backwards. She shook her head. As if that was going to make any difference if it was a bomb!
The only reaction from the device was a whirring noise which was soon joined by faint hissing.
“Is that the bomb priming itself?” Kaira asked.
She’d meant it to be light-hearted, but it came out leaden.
“I hope not,” said Tarkus. “But I don’t…”
Then a booming machine-generated voice cut across what he was s
