Arlen tightened her grip, every instinct screaming to shoot first and ask later. Xavier, on the other hand, didn't move. He stood there with his hands loose at his sides, posture relaxed enough to be irritating.
She glanced at him. "Why aren't you calling your weapon?"
Xavier didn't look at her right away. His eyes stayed on the structural supports lining the chamber walls. "Because this place is holding Helior Prime up," he said. "Old load-bearing pylons, pressure-balancing columns, power conduits that feed half the lower districts. One bad strike and we don't just bury ourselves, we take a few city blocks with us."
He gestured vaguely upward. "Mag-lines, coolant channels, emergency transit shafts. I don't know what's critical and what's decorative, and I'm not interested in finding out the hard way."
Arlen tossed him her sidearm without hesitation. "Then stay alert."
He caught it, weighed it once, and tossed it right back to her. "No. You stand back."
