Tori was still gaping at the control console when Gabe emerged from the alcove where he’d been working.

“Did the ship just warn us off?”

Tori snapped her mouth shut and nodded.

“Because of the mold?”

Tori shook her head. “Mold wouldn’t hurt all of Hope. We know how to mitigate.”

“Right. I wasn’t thinking. It has to be the energy, doesn’t it?”

Tori thought through what she’d seen on board. “Unless there’s some kind of pathogen set to be released if this ship reaches Hope.”

“Our quarantines wouldn’t let anything like that onboard,” Gabe said. “Anyone who sent it would have to know that. But an explosion…”

“Yeah. But the ener...

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