"Ah!" Something wet and wrong slapped my face. Its legs hooked into my sleeve like a curse. "Get it off me!" I hiss, fingers scrabbling for talismans that are not there. My hands hit smooth metal. No cord, no incense pouch, no mountain rope. Just cold ship flooring and the taste of oil and alien sand. The creature opened a mouth full of needle teeth. It moved with too many joints. It smelled of rot and iron. A silver line split the air. "Stand down!" a voice ordered. It was low and wrapped in mask metal. The silver blade sang through the creature and cleaved it clean. The back half went sliding across the deck and tossed sparks. The front part tried to crawl and failed. I put my palms over my ears because of the sound. My breath left in a ragged squeak. "Are you hurt?" the voice asked. Close now, but still far enough to be a stranger's space. "No," I lied. My voice was thin and pinched. "I— I was searching for—" "Don't move." The masked man scanned me with a light-brain ping. The ship's emergency lights painted his armor in white stripes. The mask was plain except for an insignia like a closed eye. An Alpha's silhouette. Broad shoulders. Silent like a statue. The mask tilted. I heard metal whisper. "Your sigil matches what I thought. Tang Tang?" My name. The sound unhooked something inside me. Cold flooded the place where