The sound came back before the light.

A soft, irregular clicking — debris shifting, energy discharging, Gray’s rasping breath cutting through the dark.

Hale opened his eyes. The world above him pulsed in slow motion — strobing red from emergency diodes embedded in the walls. The crater had collapsed further, now a pit of smoke and scorched circuitry. His neural relay was fried, cables sparking faintly at his side.

He rolled onto his elbow, head spinning.

> “Gray—”

A groan from ...