The shuttle hangs at the edge of the graveyard, half-built and trembling. Behind them, the derelict vessel's light swells through the wreckfield like a beacon searching for a lock.
Nahuli
That signal is still chasing us. Cut it loose, now.
Serafina
I have a clean bearing on open dark. If this works, we do not look back.
Nahuli's final splice bites into the manifold. The rig shows steady green, then the nearest wrecks begin to drift apart as the shuttle's engines answer.
Nahuli
The manifold is stable.
A pulse from the derelict flares one last time, bright enough to wash the cockpit in gold. Then the comms crackle, the lure weakens, and the line to the wreck snaps clean.
Nahuli
It's losing us. Keep the heading.
Serafina
There, the marker is fading behind us. Unknown sector ahead, empty and dark.
The shuttle clears the last hulks of the graveyard and flies on, leaving the signal behind. Ahead lies only uncharted space, and the next choice is Nahuli's.