I flailed in the air and swam down through the suspended world, weightless and desperate. My limbs moved like I was dragging myself through syrup. Cold sweat prickled my skin.
I instinctively checked my watch before realizing how stupid that was—of course it wasn't ticking. Time was frozen, Carl. Focus.
Five minutes. Maybe four. That's all the time I had left before the pause shattered and we became celestial sashimi. I could already feel the panic sharpening behind my ribs like a blade. This mission—this entire break-in—was going to end in disaster if I didn't think fast.
No backup. No plan B. No Vorta.
We were flying blind into a cosmic death trap.
And worst of all?
We'd already pulled the pin.
