Several things happened at once.

A servant looked up into a blinking light fixture as it went dead.

The security guard monitoring the estate's cameras scowled as they winked out.

With a nod from Mariah, Mona flipped on the radio. "It's done. Go!"

Rachel nodded, hooked the line on the harness to the edge of the shuttle's airlock, and shoved the door open.

And Dex blinked.

"Oh, no." Saul's eyes narrowed as he came up behind the mechanic. ""No, no, no nononono…"

"What, what's the—"

Dex's device exploded with a blinding flash, sending him flying as Saul dove for the catwalk.

Mariah practically jumped out of the copilot's seat as the blast flared to life on her monitors. "Whoa! What was that?"

Mona strained to make out the edge of the platform through the top of Artemis' cockpit. "Dex, Saul, what just happened up there?"

Rachel spun herself around in the harness until she could look, upside-down, through the panoramic window of Hamer's parlor; the blood was starting to rush to her head, but she could make out that the room was empty. With a satisfied nod, she twisted back around and began her descent.

Dex tried to tighten his grip, but he could feel himself slipping, both hands trying to find purchase on Saul's straining arm. "Saul! Gorrammit, Saul, I need your other hand!"

But Saul was pressed up against the catwalk plating, eyes squeezed shut. "I can't!"

For a moment, Dex almost forgot his predicament; he had never heard the bounty hunter's voice sound anything like that. But then, his hand began to slip again. "Saul! Wo bu yao qi shi!"

The cook's eyes snapped open and, with a roar, he extended his other arm over the platform to be met by Dex's grasping hand. As soon as he did, his breathing began to quicken, the vast expanse of ocean and the distant hull of Artemis spiraling away beneath him. He swore he could already hear the overwhelming roar of the water echoing in his ears—Dex's desperate pleas to pull him up barely even registered. "Bu neng xi…bu neng xi…"

"Saul!" Dex tightened his grip. "Saul,