The Fifth Column Boxed Set
Author: J. N. Chaney; Molly Lerma
Date: 2021-05-30 07:00:00+00:00
Publisher: Variant Publications

J. N. Chaney

Copyrighted Material

The Fifth Column Copyright © 2019 by Variant Publications

Book design and layout copyright © 2019 by JN Chaney

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney.

www.jnchaney.com

1st Edition

Books in the Renegade Star Universe

Renegade Star Series:

Renegade Star

Renegade Atlas

Renegade Moon

Renegade Lost

Renegade Fleet

Renegade Earth

Renegade Dawn

Renegade Children

Renegade Union

Renegade Empire

Renegade Descent

Renegade Rising

Renegade Alliance

Renegade Evolution

Renegade War

Renegade Peace

Standalones:

Nameless

The Constable

The Constable Returns

The Warrior Queen

The Renegade

The Deal

The Orion Colony Series with Jonathan Yanez:

Orion Colony

Orion Uncharted

Orion Awakened

Orion Protected

The Last Reaper Series with Scott Moon:

The Last Reaper

Fear the Reaper

Blade of the Reaper

Wings of the Reaper

Flight of the Reaper

Wrath of the Reaper

Will of the Reaper

Descent of the Reaper

Hunt of the Reaper

Bastion of the Reaper

The Fifth Column Series with Molly Lerma:

The Fifth Column

The Solaras Initiative

The Forlorn Hope

Resonant Son Series with Christopher Hopper:

Resonant Son

Resonant Abyss

The Galactic Law Series with James S. Aaron:

Galactic Law

Galactic Judge

Galactic Jury

Galactic Executioner

Deadland Drifter Series with Ell Leigh Clarke:

Deadland Drifter

Deadland Wanderer

Deadland Sentinel

Deadland Protector

Contents

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The Fifth Column

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Epilogue

The Solaris Initiative

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Epilogue

The Forlorn Hope

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Renegade Star Universe

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About The Authors

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The Fifth Column Box Set

Books 1-3

JN Chaney

Molly Lerma

The Fifth Column

For the Renegade Readers. Your support has meant the world(s) to me.

-J.N. Chaney

* * *

To my daughter Annabell, my reason for everything and biggest cheerleader.

To Jeff, for seeing potential and taking the time to foster a fledgling writer, and without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.

-Molly Lerma

1

Getting punched in the face sucks.

I knew this because, at that exact moment, a blonde-haired Union bitch was ramming her fist into my mouth while my unit stood back and watched. That was Sarkonian mentality for you. Survival of the fittest. Not that they wouldn’t come to my aid if I couldn’t get my shit together, but that would come with more than wounded pride. The shame of being rescued in a hand-to-hand fight would follow me for the rest of my career.

I felt the warmth of fresh blood trailing from my split lip and grinned. The pain of the blow served as a reminder not to let an opponent get past my guard. I needed to deal with this so my team could finish the mission and get back to our base.

An order from above had brought us here, to Abatis, a small research station located in system Q-2790B on the edge of Union territory, to retrieve a cache of information. Our intelligence said the station was a low priority installation with little in the way of defense and we’d had no trouble breaching the facility. So far, this guard had been our only confrontation, when she came around a corner on a patrol and nearly tripped over me.

C’mon, Sergeant-Delgado. Get your shit together, I thought, not bothering to wipe the blood away. As a member of one of the most elite spec ops units the Sarkonian Empire had to offer, I had a reputation to defend. Besides, if I couldn’t handle one guard, I deserved to have my ass kicked.

The woman cocked back in preparation for another strike, her face a mask of focus and desperation. As she drove the blow home, I grabbed her wrist and pivoted, bringing my elbow up and connecting with her nose. An eruption of red fluid spurted, and I had the satisfaction of feeling something crunch. Her head snapped back, and she stumbled with the force of the impact.

I had to give her credit because she recovered quickly by rebounding into a fighting stance. She was taller than me, though not by much, with a wicked bruise forming around the bridge of her nose. The woman’s hair was pulled back in a tail and a mass of coils sprang out in all directions.

I smirked and dropped my guard just a little, giving her an opening. She took the bait and rushed me, grasping my shoulders with both hands. I anticipated her thrusting a knee into my ribs and mirrored the move. Instead of aiming for a body shot, I swung my knee into hers, sweeping her legs and throwing her to the floor. She made an oof sound as she landed, and the air left her lungs.

I moved forward before the guard could collect herself again and put a foot on her chest, holding her there.

“Stay down,” I advised, staring coolly down at the furious guard.

“Never, Sarkonian rombdin scum,” she hissed, glaring back at me with hate-filled eyes. Her hands pushed on my boot, trying to unbalance me, but I didn’t budge.

“Aww. Now you’ve hurt my feelings,” I said in a mocking tone. A quick flash drew my attention and I realized she’d produced a small blade from somewhere.

Son of a bitch, I thought as I jerked back too late and she buried it in my leg, managing to find a weak spot in the cheap armor.

If I’d been wearing my combat gear, the little knife wouldn’t have stood a chance. Unfortunately, I was wearing a stealth suit for the op, and like the name implied, it was light and only covered vital areas. Designed for quick and quiet movement, most of what wasn’t protected with N02-99 alloy was slash-proof material, but not all. A cheap synthetic blend that might as well have been made from t-shirt fabric made up the rest.

Like the spot she’d just stabbed.

I grunted and stumbled back, giving her the opening she needed to stand up and get into a fighting stance, still holding the knife.

“Sergeant-Delgado, we don’t have all day,” said Commander-Navari in a bored voice. My superior officer and team leader sounded less than pleased. “If you don’t finish this, one of us will.”

“I’ve got it!” I snarled, pissed that I’d allowed this to happen. Blondie rushed me then, maybe thinking I was distracted. It was a sloppy attack, the weapon swinging wide, and I easily sidestepped, blocking the blow. She stumbled and I grabbed a fistful of the springy hair like a rope, yanking her back to me. I threw my right arm around her neck, releasing her hair, and seized her knife hand with my left.

“Really?! Hair pulling?” She attempted a laugh, but it came out a weak gurgle as I cut off her air supply.

“Next time choose efficiency over looks,” I returned. My own hair, like that of many women of the Sarkonian Empire, was cut in one of the approved bobs. For missions like this I kept it tightly braided so no opponent could latch onto it as I’d just done.

“You Sarkonians,” the guard sneered. “No honor, no…”

I squeezed harder and the woman’s words died on her lips. I let go when she finally went limp, and her body dropped to the floor with a thud. Pulling some ties from one of my side pouches, I bound her hands and legs, then dragged her to the desk she’d been manning.

Back with the unit, Navari locked eyes with me. “Why is she still alive?”

“Commander-Navari,” I said, standing straight with my hands clasped behind my back and addressing her by full title and name as custom dictated. “My apologies. It shouldn’t have taken so long to incapacitate her.”

“Even less had you just dispatched her,” she pointed out, obsidian eyes ripe with disdain. Like many true born Sarkonians, her skin had been bronzed by the bright suns that Sarkon orbited. Her black hair fell in a silky sheet to her chin where it had been sheared off to a razor’s edge. I preferred mine out of the way for fights, but she rarely got her hands dirty like that.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, dropping my gaze in acknowledgement of the unspoken reprimand.

Without another word, Navari turned on her heel and gestured for us to move forward. I stared at her back for a moment, not moving immediately in silent rebellion. She didn’t like me; never had from the moment I’d joined the unit. The feeling was mutual, although I suspected her dislike stemmed from the fact that I was a nonni—not Sarkon born—and therefore not a true Sarkonian in her eyes. My homeworld, Spiro, had been claimed by the Empire when I was a child and its inhabitants forcibly turned into citizens.

A movement at my side pulled me out of my thoughts. Sophie, the team medic, nudged me and shot me a concerned glance, prompting me to get my ass in gear. Everyone else called her by her last name or Medic-Singh but she was my best friend and in private we went by first names.

Sophie had the deep tan of a Sarkon native, but her eyes were a shade of green that wasn’t the norm. Thick auburn hair that usually reached her shoulders had been braided up like mine, with the excess wrapped in a tight bun.

She and I had attended the same academy. Sarkonian military schools aren’t for the weak and fighting was hardly discouraged, at least between students. I’d noticed Sophie around the campus—she was always by herself, studying or playing one of the few approved games on her pad instead of with a group, so she’d stuck out.

For some reason, she’d been nice to me on several occasions, which was completely different from all the other Sarkonians I’d met. I had mostly ignored her, having made up my mind that everyone sucked. Besides, it didn’t look good to befriend the weaklings.

Then, one day, everything changed. A group of girls had cornered Sophie in an empty hallway, and I found them kicking the shit out of her.

The so-called powerful picking on innocent people infuriated me. Call it a flaw or whatever—the academy certainly did—but unable to stand by and do nothing, I stepped in. Sarkon does not reward mercy and we were both docked rations and free time, although my punishment only lasted half as long because the headmaster was impressed with my fighting skills.

After that, I couldn’t shake her. The taller girl had followed me around, pestering me to be friends, until finally I gave in. She had been failing her combat training and I needed help with academics, so we worked together. Eventually, she could handle the bullies without me, and I could pass mathematics on my own, but by then we were friends.

Now we were in the same unit and she kept me balanced. Particularly when I was about to open my mouth and get into trouble. Like now.

Nodding curtly to tell her I was good, I fell in step behind her to bring up the rear while the rest of our five-man team moved forward. Navari was second from the front spot and Ensign-Lukas Haas, our tech specialist, stayed so close to her it was a wonder he didn’t step on her heels. I didn’t much care for him either. Like me, he wasn’t Sarkon-born, but he was totally devoted to the Empire and sucked up to the commander like an attention-starved child.

Our last team member, Lieutenant-Mateo Kamal, took the forward position and my gaze lingered on his well-muscled form. I could only see the back of his head where jet black hair was cropped tight to his skull, but we’d been friends so long that I knew every feature of his handsome face. We were all highly skilled, but Mateo possessed impressive firearms abilities. The man could shoot and hit anything, every time. At least, I’d never seen him miss.

I dragged my eyes away and refocused my attention on the empty hall ahead and checking our rear. The guard must have knocked something loose because daydreaming in the middle of an op was not habit. The job came first, and I cleared everything else away as we continued to our target.

When our group reached the next corridor, Commander-Navari touched Mat lightly on the shoulder then held up a fist signaling us to stop. She consulted her pad, verifying the route, then pointed to the left.

“This way for another fifty meters then down another hall,” she instructed. “The lab will be at the end of it. Stack up.”

Since he would be opening the door, Haas took the lead spot with Mateo covering from second position, a barrage of pistols and extra magazines strapped to him. He carried his favorite rifle at the ready while Navari took the middle—typical, it was damn near the safest spot—also carrying a rifle. Her weapon of choice was usually a blade of some sort, but that wasn’t practical here. Sophie stayed in front of me, packed with medical gear, though she still had a rifle in her hands and a pair of pistols in holsters on her right hip and left thigh.

I maintained my own position in the shuffle and carried a rifle along with a pistol and a few half kilos of putty explosives, but just for backup.

With everyone in position, we moved on the target location as one, clearing the next two corridors. We saw no one, not a single soldier stood guard when we reached the final passage. This wasn’t altogether surprising because the underground facility we’d broken into was on a Union-controlled planet.

In fact, it was one of only two facilities on the entire world and as such wasn’t heavily guarded. The majority of the soldiers patrolled the grounds outside the facility. The Union was arrogant and probably thought that any enemies would trigger their sensors long before they reached the ground. If the Union was anything like the Sarkonians—cheap—they wouldn’t want to pay for more soldiers than they felt were needed.

Typical government cutback bullshit while politicians probably lined their pockets. It was hard to complain though since their oversight was making our op a cakewalk.

The door was made of thick steel with a card reader to the right of it, exactly as we’d been briefed. Haas looked back at Navari, who nodded her approval. He removed his kit then turned to the panel and began disassembling it. Sophie and I covered the hallway behind the group, keeping an eye out for threats.

“Scan the door,” Navari said from behind us. “I don’t want any surprises on the other side.”

“It’s clear,” Haas confirmed a few seconds later, his voice slightly muffled. “The radio scan shows twenty meters in. Three warm bodies, I assume unarmed. Lab rats by the looks of them.”

“Good. Get it open, Ensign.”

A few minutes later, the door still hadn’t opened, almost tempting my attention away from my post to see what was happening.

“What the hell is taking so long, Haas?” hissed Navari, her tone sharp with impatience.

“We’re in,” said Haas from the entryway.

2

The door slid open, revealing the lab within. Mateo entered first, weapon up, and swept the room, the rest of us fanning to opposite sides.

As Haas had said, there were no threats. Beeping equipment, wall screens, and an array of substances in various states of analysis dominated the room, looking exactly like every science holo vid I’d ever seen.

Two women and one man, Union scientists according to their lab coats, gaped at us with mixtures of shock and confusion. It didn’t take long for that to morph into matching visages of fear. I couldn’t blame them—seeing five heavily armed soldiers from an opposing military was enough to ruin anyone’s day.

No heroes here, I thought, scanning the small group. They looked ready to piss themselves, but the scientists were hardly equipped to deal with the likes of us. That was what the Union supplied security for. We all had our places in life.

Commander-Navari strode toward them, her long legs crossing the length of the floor quickly. She looked intimidating in the black spec ops gear with slashes of Sarkonian red accents and a scowl that I was pretty sure had become permanent years ago. When she reached them, she propped the rifle on one shoulder and pulled out her pad. “Sergeant,” she said, jerking her head to indicate I should join her.

I knew she only picked me because of my preference for adversaries that could fight back, but I moved forward without hesitation. I motioned my weapon at the Union research aces to indicate they should come to Navari.

“No sudden movements,” I warned.

They moved slowly until all three stood in front of us, eyes rounded with uncertainty.

I never liked this part but brought the rifle down into ready position. “On your knees, hands behind your head.”

The man and one of the women whimpered and leaned back but the last one, a woman with bright red hair and freckles, nudged her chin up defiantly as she knelt. Squaring her shoulders, she looked at Navari expectantly.

Maybe I had been wrong about no heroes being here after all.

“We’re here to retrieve this,” Navari said, directing her attention to the small group and holding out the pad. The solo bold member of the three flicked a glance at the pad, but no one spoke.

I stayed silent but rolled my eyes internally. Navari had an annoying habit of being dramatic when she had to interact with others.

“If someone gives up the data cube, no one will die. If you don’t,” she drawled, then paused for effect, her lips forming a thin smile. “Well, let’s just say I don’t mind taking you out one by one, as painfully as possible. Either way, we’ll find what we’re looking for.”

“It’s not worth your lives,” I advised, not lowering my weapon.

The three exchanged glances before the woman with red hair got to her feet.

“Amanda!” hissed the man, moving to stop her.

“Quiet!” snapped Navari. She lifted the rifle and shoved it in his face until it pressed into his cheek. “One more word and I’ll separate that smart head from your shoulders.”

His mouth snapped shut and he swallowed hard. Pity welled up inside of me, but I tamped it down. That kind of thinking didn’t lead anywhere good.

Amanda raised her hands. “Hey, there’s no need for that. I’ll tell you where it is. Just leave them out of it.”

From the grim determination and set of her jaw, I thought the scientist might attack Navari. If that wouldn’t have meant certain death for the poor woman, I would've paid money to see the look on my commander’s face if she had.

“Fine,” said Navari, stepping back and arcing one arm. “Show me and you have my word that no one will be harmed.”

Sarkonians might fight dirty, lack the newest tech, and be smaller than the Union, but we were people of our word. Navari wouldn’t go back on it as long as Amanda delivered.

She pointed across the room to a secure cabinet. “It’s in there. It requires a code to open.”

“Better get to it,” the commander said lazily.

“If I do that the Union will accuse me of treason,” the scientist protested.

Navari smiled again, showing her teeth with a feral look in her eye. “You’ll open it,” she purred. “Or being accused of treason will be the least of your worries. And no one says you have to die fast.”

To her credit, the woman didn’t flinch at the threat. If anything, she got even more angry, clenched her fists to her sides, and held her ground. For a long moment it looked like she might strike Navari after all, but instead she crossed the room at an even pace, the commander on her heels and pushing the rifle into the small of her back. At the coded lock, she began to input numbers slowly, pausing deliberately between each key.

I smirked. For a Union pawn I had to say she was fast growing on me.

“What’s taking so long? Hurry it up,” growled the commander.

“If I get it wrong, I’ll have to start the sequence over. Too many wrong attempts and special locks will slide into place. That happens and the only way you get it out of here is by taking the whole thing,” the scientist replied cattily without looking up.

Navari’s features tightened and her gun hand jerked slightly. I wondered if she wanted to take a swipe at the woman or shoot her. To be sure, the commander wasn’t used to being spoken to with such disrespect.

A peppy beep emitted from the lock before she had to choose, and the scientist backed away, sweeping an arm to the open cabinet, indicating it was all ours.

Commander-Navari retrieved a data cube from inside and scanned it with her wrist unit. Whatever it told her must have been what she wanted because the cube went into a pocket and nobody died.

“Let’s go,” she barked. “Ensign, make sure they can’t raise an alarm and lock the door controls.”

* * *

A few scant minutes later our unit was standing back in the hall while Haas modified the locks.

No sooner had the door slid closed behind us than an alarm began to blare and flashing red lights illuminated the corridor.

Warning! Intruder Alert! Warning!

“Shit,” muttered Mateo.

“What the hell, Haas?” barked Navari.

“I’m not sure, sir.” His eyes furrowed as he consulted his gear. “The connection is clean, and it didn’t come from inside the lab. The alarm must’ve been triggered by something else.”

“Everybody, move,” she ordered.

We made our way down the hallway on high alert. It stayed empty until we reached the guard station. My heart sank when I saw the source of the alarm.

The guard I’d restrained had freed herself and now stood facing us. Dark red stains trailed from her nose and the hands holding the gun shook slightly as she trained it in our direction. The woman jerked it from side to side until it landed on me. There was a loud crack as she pulled the trigger and a burning sensation flooded my arm.

I didn’t react except to step forward. Pain training was standard for elite units and I’d been through far worse. “We outnumber you. Put it down and let us pass.”

Her eyes had a wild look to them, and they darted from me to each of my team members. The bruising around her eyes was a mottled purple from our earlier fight, and she was breathing heavily, chest heaving. The gun wavered in her hand as she debated what to do, then she began to lower it.

I smiled, but before I could breathe a sigh of relief, a rifle blast sounded behind me. A slug whistled by me and tore into the woman’s chest cavity. A look of confusion covered the guard’s face as her body jerked back from the impact. She stumbled drunkenly, then hit the desk and collapsed to the ground as her legs gave out.

Her mouth opened and closed, and a raspy sound escaped her lips. Navari shouldered past me and went to the woman, then pulled one of her blades as she knelt. The commander blocked her feeble attempts to stop her, then she yanked the guard’s head to one side and slashed down in a single, expert motion.

When Navari stood the guard was no longer moving, so she continued down the hall, not giving the body a second glance. I followed, falling into step with the rest of the team and keeping my eyes forward when I passed the dead woman’s form. There was nothing more I could do but keep moving. Death was part of the job description.

Thanks to the relative unimportance of the outpost, the response time to the triggered alarm was slow and we had no more confrontations until we reached our exit. Haas had rigged it to always register as closed to the system, even in the event of a total lockdown, so that it remained unlocked.

As we reached the door, a voice rang out from the far end of the corridor we’d just come from.

“This way!” The shout was muffled, and I estimated we had seconds before whoever it was came around the corner and spotted us.

“Go, I’ll cover,” I said, dropping to one knee and bringing my weapon to ready position. The hallway was just under one hundred meters, according to my scope, and I took a breath to steady my aim.

No one argued and I heard the door close behind me as they exited. Hopefully I’d be joining them soon enough, but if I died here, at least I’d done my part to help them escape.

Thirty seconds later, the clomping of approaching combat boots grew louder and I moved my finger to the trigger. Two Union soldiers—one man and one woman—burst into view.

The woman reacted instantly, dropping to the floor with a yell for her partner to do the same.

He was slower than her and took a few more steps, fumbling to free his weapon from the holster on his hip.

I took advantage of the moment.

The man dropped to the floor when my round punched through his skull. A spray of blood and brain matter exploded from the back of his head and coated his partner.

The remaining soldier stared in disbelief as her comrade landed next to her, then her gaze lifted and shifted to me. Shock registered on the woman’s blood-spattered face and she seemed frozen. Her face contorted in anger and began to recover in the next second, training kicking in, but it was too late.

I let loose another bullet and watched long enough to see the Union soldier’s eye explode and her body slump forward to join her friend.

A quick audio scan and glance down each side of the hallway told me there were no more immediate threats, but I moved cautiously down to the side hall they’d emerged from.

It was empty and I was out the door less than two minutes behind the rest of my unit.

I didn’t see them outside so I pulled up the map on my wrist unit. The alarms shrieked, mixing with the shouts of soldiers as they searched the area, but it looked like the area was fairly clear.

Abatis station resided on a rocky dwarf planet and was pitted with deep craters from some long-ago celestial event. Our ship, the Dreadnight, was 400 meters from my location, just on the other side of a ridge with tall stone spires that speared up from the ground in clusters like trees.

More rock formations and a few scattered structures the Union was using to store supplies were my only cover before the ridge. I just hoped my luck held.

I kept to the shadows and followed the side of the building before coming to what looked to be a large trash receptacle. Using it as cover, I edged around to the other side and checked for any Union grunts.

The way looked clear from what I could see, and I took off in the direction of our ship in a crouching jog, my weapon at the ready, just in case.

“Sergeant-Delgado, what’s your twenty?” a voice said over the comm in my ear. It was Mateo.

“Two hundred meters to the south,” I replied.

A door slammed behind me, and I dove behind a large boulder. I peeked around the side to get a better view and saw the noise had come from where we’d exited the building. Two more soldiers stood there, scanning in all directions.

“I’ve got company,” I muttered, keeping my voice low. “Hold on, they might go back in.”

They didn’t, splitting up instead. One of the men moved further away, but the other started in my direction.

“One headed my way, Lieutenant,” I whispered.

“Got him on the holo. Get ready. On my go, start running. We’ll drop the ramp once you’re in range,” he said.

I stayed completely still, barely breathing for a few beats as I waited for Mat’s signal.

“Go now, Sergeant.”

Pushing up, I broke into a sprint and made it past the last of the buildings before my luck changed. A shout sounded behind me, ordering me to stop, but I didn’t slow. A projectile whistled past my face, a little close for comfort, missing me and slamming into the spires ahead, sending up a shower of stone dust and shards.

The stand of rock pillars was just ahead, marking the end of the encampment. My arm throbbed and my leg burned where the guard had cut me, but I dug in deep and surged the last few meters.

More shots rang out and pieces of rock exploded as bullets embedded into the formations around me. I was almost through the other side when something struck my back, hard, propelling me forward. One of the Union soldier’s rounds had connected and tagged me in the back of my suit.

The armor stopped it from going through, but the force knocked the wind out of my chest. I managed to roll with the momentum but I landed sloppily, rocketed between two of the spires, and slid down the embankment on the other side.

I realized my error when I had to twist out of the way of an outcropping of rocks and narrowly missed another before coming to a stop near the bottom. Gritting my teeth through the pain, I got to my feet and studied the empty basin.

Come on, I thought. Drop the ramp so I can see where you are.

For one heart-stopping second, I thought my unit had left me behind. Then the air began to shimmer, and I could see the cargo bay of the Dreadnight like it was on the other side of a portal. The ramp lowered with Mateo and Haas riding it down, weapons trained at the top of the ridge.

I rushed forward, reaching the bottom of the ramp as the first of the soldiers came into view. Mateo took him down with a single bullet, his body rolling and sliding down the rocks. Then the ramp closed and we lifted away, Mateo pulling me into the hold behind Haas so the airlock could seal.

A few pings told me the ship was being fired on, but unless they had some serious artillery, we’d be fine.

“Raising cloak,” announced Z9-77A, the ship’s A.I., in a robotic but distinctly female voice.

“Computer, take us back to the SSF Ambiana,” Navari barked over the intercom.

Z, as I’d taken to calling her, didn’t respond right away.

“Z9, set a flight plan—”

“Acknowledged,” interrupted the A.I. “Pardon the minor malfunction. All personnel, please proceed to the bridge and fasten safety harnesses, per protocol.”

I wanted to smirk, but now that the adrenaline had left my body, it was all I could do to limp through the cargo bay. Haas had already joined the others, but Mateo lingered.

He looked as though he might’ve offered to help me, but I was glad when he didn’t because I didn’t like showing weakness. Neither giving nor accepting help was the Sarkon way.

Instead, he gave me a nod and walked away, leaving me to limp my way behind him.

* * *

By the time we’d entered slipspace, my wounds were screaming.

“Corporal-Singh, tend to the sergeant. She looks like death,” Navari ordered.

“Yes, sir,” replied Sophie, coming to my side.

I fumbled with my buckle for a moment, then struggled to my feet. Not wanting the others to see how bad I really felt, I forced myself to walk off the bridge. It might’ve been the galaxy’s slowest exit, but I did it.

Outside, Sophie put one of my arms around her shoulders and supported me as we made our way to the medical bay.

Most ships in the Sarkonian Space Fleet didn’t have sophisticated medical bays, but the Dreadnight was a unique ship and similar to a nova class vessel. The Union had gifted it and a few others to the Sarkonian Empire during a recent deal. I didn’t know specifics, but I knew that we’d been the only unit like ours to receive one.

In addition to being new, it had a cargo bay any Renegade or space pirate would love to get their grubby little hands on. It had next gen storage equipped with self-destruct failsafes and—supposedly—unhackable security for some of the more high-risk ops we ran.

“You idiot,” Sophie said, shaking her head. Her tone lacked the bite her words implied, as did her gentle hand when she helped me remove the armor and skin suit.

“Z, can you play some music?” I asked.

“Certainly, Sergeant,” the A.I. responded with no trace of the earlier malfunction. “The usual?”

“Yeah, that’ll do,” I said through gritted teeth. All the movement made me ache even more and I allowed a small grunt to escape.

The upbeat tones of Sarpop filled the small room. It was one of the few approved music choices available on the gal-net. Everything else was either boring or blocked by the filters.

Once I was all but naked, Sophie put me on the med bed. A scanner beeped to life and began to move down the length of the bed. I didn’t like getting scanned as a rule, but there was no way she would let me skip it, so I closed my eyes and let it do its thing.

A few seconds later, the machine had returned to its starting position and my results began to appear on the monitor for Sophie to study.

“Got some cuts and bruises from your trip down the ravine. Nothing broken,” she reported. “The arm was through and through. Nasty cut from the knife though. You’re definitely going to feel the hit you took to the back.”

“Already am,” I groaned.

She snorted. “I bet. You can ice the face and back. I’ll stitch the arm and leg.”

“Lucky me. Which one first, doc?”

“Might as well do the leg,” she answered.

I rolled onto my stomach and tried to think of something else while she wiped a cold disinfecting solution on my calf. I jerked from the initial sting, but I’d been through this enough times to know the pain was temporary. A few seconds later, it subsided to a dull ache. I felt some pressure as Sophie’s skilled fingers nimbly sewed me up.

“You’ve really got to be more careful,” she scolded. “The commander brought it up when we got back. She made a comment about you being soft.”

“It’s not like Navari has ever liked me,” I pointed out. It was true. “My blood is too muddy for her tastes.”

“That’s crap. Look at Ensign-Haas. She likes him.” There was a tearing sound as Sophie pulled out a fresh bandage, then more pressure when she wrapped my wound. “Okay, you can sit up. Let me see that arm.”

I obeyed, moving into an upright position.

“I think ‘like’ is a little strong. Look, all I’m saying is that Haas kisses her ass and strives to be the perfect Sarkonian,” I pointed out, not flinching this time when she applied the numbing agent.

“And all I’m saying is you shouldn’t draw her attention to you unnecessarily.”

I nearly shrugged before remembering Sophie was still in mid-stitch.

“You’re right. It just didn’t seem like a fair fight, what with her only having that puny pistol.”

Sophie stared at me for a moment before letting out a laugh.

“I think you might be in the wrong line of work, Eva,” she said merrily, then focused on my arm again. After the last bandage was plastered over the wound, she stood and moved to clear away the litter.

“I didn’t exactly have much of a choice,” I murmured. Images of destruction and terror floated across my memory, but I pushed them back and got to my feet. “But you’re right. I’ll be more careful.”

Sophie studied my face then nodded, apparently deciding I’d had enough rebuke for the night. Her face softened and she handed me my gear, knowing I’d want to carry it myself.

“Z, can you run a diagnostic on my armor, please?” I asked.

“It is already done, Sergeant-Delgado,” she replied immediately. “The results have been sent to your personal tablet. Would you like me to summarize them for you?”

“No, that’s okay. Thanks, Z.” I couldn’t help but smirk now that it was just me and Sophie. I never seemed to have any problems with the ship’s computer.

3

Later, back in my cramped quarters when I could finally relax, I checked my personal data pad. As Z9 had promised, a full diagnostic of my gear waited.

I grimaced as I studied the damage, mentally adding up the cost of repairs. The round that hit my back had caused considerable damage, not to mention holes from being shot, stabbed, and rolling down a rocky hill.

N02-99 tended to weaken and lose its effectiveness after taking too much damage. There was a large dent in the middle of the metal back plate, mere centimeters from my spine. Stress fractures had begun to show around the edge of the depression, and I knew it would need to be replaced.

The slash-proof catsuit had fared slightly better and could be patched. Its design protected against a variety of blades and also had a feature called ripstop. The name was apt. In the event of a puncture, the material wouldn’t sustain more damage unless it was done deliberately.

I had more than enough credits to cover the fees they’d slap me with at the armory, but it would still sting. I’d started building my little nest egg from the first time I received wages, such as they were, and had been adding to it ever since. My goal was to have enough to leave the Sarkonian Empire upon the conclusion of my obligatory service and do… something. I didn’t have all the finer points figured out yet, but I had plenty of time.

See, the Sarkonian Empire mandated that all citizens must serve four years in its military starting at age twenty. Unless you were like me, a non-native who had become Sarkonian by force, then the requirement was six years, to prove to the government that you could be loyal. I didn’t even get time served for my stint in military school.

The only way to get out of mandatory service was to possess a skill that the Empire needed more elsewhere, say as a scientist or specialized engineer. Even then you’d still end up working for the military and Sarkon was even less likely to let you go. I had heard stories of the government changing laws and regulations overnight when it suited them.

Not that anyone could stop them. They were called the Sarkonian Empire for a reason and the politicians of the oligarchy ruled with a hard hand. Any defiance was met with swift punishment to set examples for anyone who might consider rebelling.

Unfortunately for me, not only was I foreign-born, but the only skills I possessed were combat-related, so I had to bite down and do my six. No special treatment, no lucky draws. Just plow through the years and plan for the next stage of my life—whatever that happened to be. Maybe I’d go home and spend a year with my parents—adoptive parents—or maybe I’d find a job on some backwater colony world.

As if on cue, the pad’s communication icon blinked, and I opened it to find a holo-message from both my mother and father. I stared at the screen for a long moment debating whether or not to delete the transmission and pretend I’d never received it.

After being taken from Spiro, my childhood had not been a happy one. Children didn’t disrespect their parents, especially when those parents were respected members of the Sarkonian government.

I sighed. Knowing my father, he’d just send a message to Commander-Navari if I didn’t respond. I certainly didn’t want that kind of attention. Resigning myself, I hit play.

“Sergeant, we hope this finds you well,” said the holo image of my father. As usual, he addressed me by rank instead of my name, staring into the camera with a flat voice and joyless expression.

General-Julian Delgado was a tall man, almost 185 centimeters at his full height, with dark brown eyes set in a serious face unmarred by laugh lines. I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I’d seen him smile genuinely. Gray was beginning to creep unevenly into his brown hair, giving it a speckled effect.

As usual, he took point while my mother, Diana Delgado, sat primly with her hands folded in her lap beside him, the picture of the perfect military wife. She was a trim woman with black hair worn in one of the approved hairstyles, green eyes, and perfectly shaped lips. A slight smile touched her lips, but she didn’t speak.

I noticed her index finger tracing a circle on the back of her other hand and smiled. To anyone else it just looked like an absent-minded motion, but I knew better. It was her way of saying hi and that she loved me. Seeing the small token of affection made me glad I hadn’t trashed the message.

“There’s an award ceremony coming up,” continued my father, oblivious to the side conversation taking place beside him. “Your presence is required, given you’re not on assignment. As your term of service nears its end, your future must be considered. A number of potential suitors have approached me to express an interest in marriage.”

I almost choked at the words. The man couldn’t be serious. Arranged marriages weren’t legal and he had to know I would never agree. The news had kicked my heartrate up and I could feel the flush in my cheeks. Forcing myself to calm down, I returned my attention to the holo.

“The details have been sent. Do be prompt with your response, daughter,” my father was saying.

“Fat chance,” I muttered as he signed off without letting my mother say anything.

A quick check of my calendar told me that I wasn’t scheduled for any leave, so it was possible I’d be unable to attend.

Thank the gods for small favors, I thought to myself.

I had a brief internal debate on whether or not to send a holomessage back. We were in slipspace for the moment, and although this would usually prevent ships from sending communications, ours wasn’t a typical vessel.

Besides the fancy med bay and new equipment, the most important feature of our new ship was the updated cloak. It not only allowed us to travel unseen through slipspace, but it also gave us the ability to communicate while inside.

In the end, I decided against recording a holo and drafted a text only message to send once we exited the next S.G. Point instead. They didn’t have to know their daughter had the means to do otherwise, and I planned to keep it that way.

I wouldn’t have minded speaking to my mother, but my father monitored all of our communications and we could never have a normal discussion. I felt a stab of guilt at the thought of her being stuck in that big house with him but pushed it away. She loved the general despite his flaws and for all his overbearing ways he’d never hurt her. Even when he’d caught her sneaking me food during one of my punishments as a child, he only yelled at her.

I rolled over in my bunk and sighed, annoyed at the direction my thoughts were going. Diana had done what she could to protect and care for me when I went to live with them, but I’d only wanted the family that had been taken from me.

As it often did after seeing them and I was alone, my mind wandered to the past. It called up broken memories of two people whose faces I couldn’t quite remember. I closed my eyes, willing the images to clear, but they didn’t.

I had no pictures, no tokens, nothing from my life before the Sarkonian Empire invaded my home and took me away. All that remained was a vague impression of a woman screaming as I was ripped from her arms and the outraged roar of the man next to her before a Sarkonian soldier knocked him to the ground. Similar incidents were happening all around us as children were separated and herded into a large group.

The next part came more easily. I’d yelled and kicked with every ounce of strength in my six-year-old body. Of course, that had gotten me nowhere, so when the soldier put a hand over my mouth to quiet me, I bit down as hard as I could.

He dropped me, then delivered a punishing kick that sent my small form sprawling. Instead of staying down, I screamed and tried to attack him again.

His superior stopped him from shooting me, but barely. Apparently impressed with my fearlessness, the man instructed that I be taken to his ship and held away from the other children.

I never saw my parents again and I didn’t even know if they were still alive. After getting shipped back to Sarkon, the man, a commander, had ordered me cleaned up and prepared for a couple he knew needed a child.

Not wanted but needed, because they couldn’t conceive and hadn’t met the procreation quota. Sarkon wanted to grow its ranks, and by law, every married couple must contribute a minimum of one child.

My father, a major at the time, had been rising through the ranks. Only one thing was holding him back: his lack of offspring. He and my mother had talked to the commander while I listened. At first, he looked disinterested, barely even looking my way, until he saw the video of my attack.

“Sergeant-Delgado, your vitals appear to be outside normal levels,” declared Z9, breaking into my reverie. “Would you like me to play more music?”

I laughed a little at that. Z9 had a way of showing up when I needed her. I was glad the computer had interrupted my downward spiral. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t do me any good. I had to focus on the future.

“No thanks, Z. Just thinking about that fight with the guard. I wasn’t cautious enough.”

“Ah,” said the AI, sounding less than convinced. “In that case, shall I begin a playback of the sequence so that you might study it?”

“That’s okay,” I said, declining the offer. “I’m going to get some sleep.”

Z9 was different from any of the outdated A.I.s I’d dealt with in the past. I would almost swear she knew more than she let on, but I knew that to be impossible. Artificial intelligence programs had been designed to help us with complex tasks. The technology had never progressed to the point of sentience and all human like qualities were the result of coding. Still, sometimes I wondered.

“Of course, Sergeant. I’ll leave you to it.”

The room fell quiet again and I switched off the lights. The green walls of slipspace swirled by my window, beautiful as ever. Forcing my mind to go blank, I watched the lights dance through the small window until sleep finally washed over me.

* * *

We made it back to the SSF Ambiana in three standard days. The warship served as a home base of sorts and our unit was stationed there when not on a mission.

The vessel was huge, at least by Sarkonian standards, and carried a small fleet of fighter ships in its hull. Nearly a thousand soldiers called her home at any given time, though that number fluctuated depending on deployments and how much conflict Sarkon happened to be engaging in.

The Dreadnight docked in one of the service bays to be refueled and tuned up in preparation for our next assignment. She was a beauty compared to most of the other vessels in the area and as we departed the sleek Union ship, I saw plenty of jealous looks tossed our way.

I couldn’t help smirking a little as our team reported to a debriefing session to give a detailed report of the mission and answer any questions that came up. I guess there were some perks to being an elite operative.

Usually, Captain-Guerrero ran the debriefs, but today it was Vice-Admiral-Adrian Kaska. If it flustered Navari to be reporting directly to one of the Ambiana’s most important officers, she hid it well, taking a seat when he waved a hand at us to be at ease.

I had to admit that I was curious myself at why the Vice-Admiral would bother with such a lowly task. He nodded at Navari, who returned the gesture before beginning her report.

The rest of the unit stood behind her, hands resting behind our backs in a half-attention pose and staring straight ahead. Navari didn’t speak, showing deference to Kaska and waiting for him to start.

Kaska barely spared us a glance before sitting down and holding out a hand. A woman rushed forward—an assistant, judging from her apparel—and handed him a pad. He took it without thanking her and studied the data, reading over what I assumed were the mission details. Finally, he slid it out of the way and steepled his fingers.

“Commander-Navari, you have the data cube?” he asked, looking pointedly at her.

“Yes, sir,” she answered, pulling it from her pocket.

I didn’t react, but the move surprised me. Protocol dictated that any items retrieved on missions must be logged in and verified upon returning. Navari had never bypassed the procedure that I knew of and that she did so now told me the data cube was important.

“Good,” Kaska, replied, taking it from her and turning it over in his hands thoughtfully. “Did you run into any issues?”

I wondered if Navari might bring up my unorthodox handling of the guard. It would be a good time to make me look bad in front of a superior and I fully expected her to take the opportunity.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” she said smoothly. “Only a few minor injuries that have already been treated and healed.”

I’d expected the commander’s voice to be hesitant or stiff, but she talked in an almost conversational tone and I found myself wondering if she and Kaska knew each other.

“Excellent. Congratulations to you and your team on another successful trip,” he said when she finished, smiling just a little too wide. “You’ve all earned three days’ liberty. You’re free to leave if you wish. Dismissed.”

We saluted and left in a single file line with Navari bringing up the rear. Just before she would have followed us out, Kaska spoke again.

“Stay a minute, would you, Commander?”

“Of course, Vice-Admiral-Kaska,” Navari replied, turning back into the room and letting the door slide closed behind us.

No one commented, but something didn’t feel right, and I knew we all had to be wondering what was going on in there. Even Haas wore a perplexed look on his face before splitting off to take his leave.

“I’m going to get some food,” I announced, looking at Mateo and Sophie. “You guys wanna grab something before you go?”

They agreed and we made our way through the cavernous ship to the mess hall. The Ambiana might be huge, but it was a rust bucket compared to the Dreadnight. When military personnel weren’t deployed, most were relegated to fixing things.

The vessel was old and in a constant state of repair, but she was home. I knew her well and had gotten an education in a variety of trades when I was a lower rank.

Most of the barracks bunked at least a dozen or more crew members and only a very few had personal quarters. Units like ours received a little special treatment due to the nature of our assignments, plus the amount of gear we had. One of the perks was not having to share space with other teams. Navari shacked up with another commander while Mateo and Haas bunked together with two other male spec operatives.

Sophie and I were the only two enlisted women in elite teams aboard the Ambiana, which allowed us to share a tiny slice of heaven. We dumped our stuff, what little we had, and headed to the mess hall to meet Mateo.

It was busy with the breakfast crowd, but he’d managed to snag a table already. Sophie and I got in line for our rations—a thick, off-white sludge being dispensed from tubes that snaked out of sight to wherever the kitchen filled them.

The display declared the mixture to be “bakhana nut oatmeal” flavor, but I had my doubts. Bakhana was a sweet, plump, neon yellow fruit, and one I usually enjoyed. This looked nothing like the fruit it was masquerading as.

“You want to grab some coffee?” asked Sophie, nodding toward one of the grubby, beat-up machines on the other side of the room.

“I’d rather keep my stomach lining if you don’t mind,” I snorted in disgust. Sarkon had a habit of cheaping out on many things and coffee was no exception. If they didn’t water it down to something completely unrecognizable, they’d burn the shit out of it.

“Suit yourself,” said Sophie, shrugging. “I need a pick-me-up if I’m going to go home.”

Back at the table, I sat across from Mateo and wrinkled my nose at Sophie as she sipped.

“What?” she asked, shrugging.

“Unlike most of the poor souls here, I’ve had good coffee before,” I replied, taking a soggy bite of the slop in my bowl.

“And where has that gotten you?” Mateo laughed. “It’s ruined you for all other coffee.”

I groaned. “Please, don’t lump that”—I jabbed a finger at Sophie’s cup—“in with coffee. That’s something else entirely.”

“Coffee is coffee. Even when it’s bad it’s good. I don’t know how you go without.”

I shrugged. “Even when it’s great I still don’t get it. You can get a jolt just as easily from one of the enerdrinks and they taste better.”

She drained the cup in response, then made a face. “You might be right,” she said, stealing my water.

I stood up a little and performed a mock bow. Sophie laughed but Mat was watching one of the cracked holo screens near our table and I turned my attention to it. A Sarkonian reporter was addressing the audience, speaking in a disapproving tone.

“Neblinar, a small planet that served as a way station at the very edge of the Deadlands, is growing out of control. Inexplicably, more than half the population has deserted the colony overnight, leaving it vulnerable.”

The feed shot to a view of the surface, where fights had erupted in the streets and showed military police struggling to gain control.

“The residents that remain are known criminals. The government has decided to pull out of the planet and withdraw any further support. All Sarkonians are ordered to avoid Neblinar, as it is now a haven for illegal activity.”

“I went there once,” said Sophie, who had started watching the feed too.

“Really? Was it anything like that?” I asked, nodding at the image on the screen.

“No, it was nice actually. The transport ship we were on stopped there to refuel. Kind of a shame. I wonder where the missing people are, though.”

I was about to ask her something else when the reporter started talking about more disappearing colonists. The words caught all of our attention and we started watching the holo again.

“Sarkon has claimed more territory in the Deadlands. The previously Union-controlled space is proving an easy acquisition as more and more stations are being abandoned,” continued the reporter.

“How does half a colony disappear in one day?” Mateo wondered.

Sophie just shrugged and I didn’t answer so he fell silent as the broadcast continued.

Because of my own experiences, I never liked hearing about Sarkon’s acquisitions. It reminded me of my past and I knew firsthand how cruel the Empire could be. Sophie and Mateo were my friends and they cared about me, but they didn’t know what it felt like to lose everything and everyone that mattered to them.

Sophie in particular shared my views about how Sarkon claimed planets and conscripted the remaining population, but it was more of a charity case for her. Mateo cared less, but more than the average Sarkonian.

I hid my discomfort at the news and focused on the report again.

“The Union has reached an agreement with Sarkon and will be relinquishing White Cross. It’s unclear what will be given in exchange for this, but the Emperor has stated that mining of N02-99 will resume, creating thousands of new jobs. Details will follow as soon as that information has been released.”

The three of us sat there in stunned silence. White Cross had been taken by the Union long ago. Whatever we were giving them for it must be big. I thought again of our shiny new Union ship and wondered what our government could possibly offer the enemy in order to get such an asset from them.

I recalled how strange Navari had been today, the presence of Vice-Admiral-Kaska at the debrief, and the disappearing colonists. Could it all be connected? It seemed unlikely that any of that could have anything to do with White Cross but the whole thing seemed odd.

Something was off and I wanted to know what, but Navari wasn’t someone to cross. Like Sophie had said, I needed to be careful or I’d find myself in a lot of trouble. Elite or not, I was a very tiny cog in a fairly big machine.

Shaking it off, I changed the subject, asking my teammates about their leave plans.

“I figure I’ll take some time to go see my lady,” said Mateo.

“Which one is this again?” I teased, ignoring the small twinge of jealousy that pricked at the mention of his love life. It was my own fault after all, since I was the one who had said we should stay friends.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny. Her name is Amie.”

Sophie chimed in about her trip home to see her parents, but I only listened with one ear.

In the back of my mind I kept seeing Navari and the Vice-Admiral in the unusual meeting.

4

For my leave, I decided to stay on the Ambiana. It was better than going to my parents’ house, where I would be treated with stiff politeness until I wanted to rip my hair out. Added to that, my mother would probably try to pair me with an eligible bachelor or my father would introduce me to one of his suitors. No thank you, I’d rather be thrown out an airlock with no suit.

I avoided the place at all costs, even going so far to take volunteer jobs around the ship that no one wanted so I could say I was working. In fact, I could count on one hand the amount of times I’d gone home since graduating from the academy and had no plans to start counting on my other hand.

“You realize that you have to be back in three standard days, right?” I said, watching Sophie wad up clothes and jam them into a small case in our quarters.

She turned to roll her eyes at me, then stuffed another pair of boots into the already overloaded luggage.

“I just need a bigger case,” she grunted, pushing down on it to get it closed. “The offer still stands if you want to come home with me. My parents aren’t scared of you anymore.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. It went like this every time. Sophie would invite me home and I always declined. Her parents were nice, which was probably where she got it from, but they’d always been wary of me. I think they worried that I would corrupt their daughter, and they knew what I did for a living.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” I promised, forcing myself to relax and not rush her out the door onto the next transport. Sophie might have been my best friend, but I also relished my solitude.

“I know you will. It just can’t be good to stay here all the time.” The case finally closed, and Sophie pulled it off the bed. It hit the floor with an audible thud, and she did a slow turn, scanning the room.

“It’s in there,” I said, jerking my thumb in the direction of the bathroom.

“What is?” she asked, furrowing her brow and taking a step toward it.

“The bathroom sink,” I snickered.

“You’re hilarious,” Sophie said sarcastically, stopping mid-stride. Her wrist unit beeped, drawing her attention, and she swiped to read the alert. “Gotta go, transport’s leaving in thirty.”

“Want me to walk with you?” I asked.

“No, that’s okay,” she replied, shaking her head. “It’s bound to be packed and you hate the crowds.”

I smirked. “This is why we’re friends. You know me so well.”

We said a quick goodbye and she was out the door. I’d seen vids before where people hugged each other farewell but had never done it. Touchy feely wasn’t my or the Sarkonian way and it was one of the few culture norms that I liked.

Once the door slid down behind her, I glanced around the tiny space, trying to decide what to do next. The room itself wasn’t anything special, and at barely three meters wide, hardly big enough for the two of us.

Two beds took up one wall, bunk-style, while a small work station sat opposite. A sort of shelf had been constructed next to the desk to hold our gear trunks. Behind the only door other than the entrance lay what I imagined to be the universe’s smallest bathroom.

The toilet was mere centimeters from being inside the shower, which happened to be where the sink was situated. Not that I was complaining. It sure beat the hell out of the shared barrack’s facilities. And my parents’ house back on the Sarkonian Empire’s capital world, but that was for other reasons. Terrible home atmosphere aside, the facilities there were actually quite nice.

A chime sounded from my personal pad and I opened the notification to find a message from the armory. My repairs were done, along with a reminder to pay before pickup. The attached invoice showed I’d been pretty close in my estimation and I heaved a resigned sigh.

When the screen prompted me to choose a payment account, I briefly considered using the allowance fund my father had set up for incidentals in academy. He wouldn’t question such a charge if he even noticed it at all. I almost laughed out loud at myself. Of course, he would notice, and I would owe him something for it. I’d learned long ago that nothing came for free.

In the end I used my savings, grimacing before moving the funds over. I paid extra for delivery, which arrived promptly, and spent the rest of the night cleaning and polishing my gear until it gleamed.

After storing it all carefully in the trunk, I opted for sleep. My body still ached in places and I wanted to empty my mind for a little while.

I crawled into my bunk and was asleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

* * *

With no duties for the next couple of days, I spent my extra time training. The encounter with the Union guard had left a bad taste in my mouth, so I used the footage from our suits’ feed to create a fight simulation.

I ran the sequence a few times and won each match. The woman had been skilled but was hardly my equal. Heat tinged my cheeks at the shame of near failure. She’d taken me by surprise, but instead of shooting her, I’d engaged in hand to hand.

My lack of skill wasn’t the problem, I realized. It was my mentality. An internal desire to avoid killing her had distracted me.

Maybe Sophie was right and I had chosen the wrong line of work.

No, I thought to myself, the alternative would be much worse. I’d served in the Sarkonian infantry ranks for four long years before joining the unit and would desert before going back.

Guilt clutched at my gut as memories that I usually kept buried returned. Memories of myself helping the Empire to claim more territory, separating families, and laying waste to what remained.

Why was this surfacing now? I had to find a way to shut these… emotions off before I second guessed myself in the field and got killed.

The message from my father and remembering my abduction from Spiro must have gotten into my head more than I’d realized.

Sarkon had made me the very thing I hated. Sophie would tell me that I didn’t have a choice, that going against the Sarkonian Empire was a death wish. And she might be right about that, but there was always a choice.

Unable to shake the dark cloud that had settled over me, I shut down the simulation and left the training room. After a cold shower and quick lunch, I went to my favorite part of the ship to blow off some steam: the range.

I started with the shotgun, pumping round after round of live ammunition into the holotarget. At first, I barely aimed, just squeezed the trigger and savored the recoil of the stock punching into my shoulder. I let the anger out, one bullet at a time.

The tension began to ease after a few dozen shots and I set the weapon down, selecting a rifle.

I’d just selected holo laser fire when an alert sounded in my ear protection prompting me to check the mounted screen. Someone in the range was hailing me. Curious, I checked the message. My heart skipped involuntarily when I saw that it was from Mateo.

Up for a little competition? I’m a few booths down.

I wanted to ask what he was doing here but that could wait.

Sure, I typed back. But I’m picking the sim.

He agreed and I sent the challenge request for my favorite simulation. The sequence changed periodically so users couldn’t memorize the order, but I liked it because the enemy was depicted as fictitious aliens.

I emptied my mind of everything but the targets as the first one appeared. It felt good to have a goal and I moved through the program in record time, finishing a few seconds before Mateo. When I checked the scores, I had to rerun them because mine was ahead of his.

Swiping through our targets, I compared the shots side by side. His clusters were almost all perfect and formed an upside-down triangle. His groupings had strayed from the marked targets on his last two aliens, giving me the win.

Elated, I messaged him to say I’d meet him outside and packed up my gear. I’d never beaten the man in a weapons sim, ever, and I couldn’t wait to gloat.

“You’ve improved,” he said when I exited the firing range, leaning one shoulder on the wall next to the viewing pane.

“Just picking up your slack,” I teased, not bothering to sound humble. “What are you doing here anyway? Leave isn’t up until tomorrow.”

“Came back early. Nothing worth sticking around for,” he said without looking me in the eye.

I turned a suspicious eye on him. “Amie probably wouldn’t take kindly to that comment,” I said, referring to his girlfriend, going for subtle and failing.

Our on-again, off-again casual relationship might not have been the healthiest decision, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hopeful he’d broken things off with this last girl.

Fraternization within branches was not only allowed, but encouraged, so long as training had been completed and partners weren’t in the same units. We’d both agreed to keep it casual and had still managed to stay friends, unlike others who couldn’t keep their emotions on a leash. When the two of us ended up in the same spec ops team, we ended things.

Since then I’d had to watch a steady parade of his flings and pretend not to care.

Now he smiled at me, a mischievous glint coming into his eyes. My stomach did a little flop, but years of practice prevented any emotion from showing on my face.

“It wasn’t working out,” he said easily, sticking his hands in his pockets. “I went back to tell her that, which went about as well as you’d expect.”

“Sorry to hear that, Lieutenant,” I replied, careful to keep my tone even. His well-muscled arms were distracting me, so I moved toward the service desk to return the equipment I’d checked out.

I could almost feel his gaze on my back and a slight shiver ran through me despite the relative warmth of the lobby. The fine hairs of my arms stood on end and I cursed internally at my body for betraying me.

The soldier manning the desk, a young woman that looked fresh out of the academy, barely spared me a glance as she scanned in my returns. With a bored look, she held out the biopad. It accepted my finger and lit green after a few seconds.

“Your logs have been updated,” she informed me.

With nothing left to do, I faced Mateo. He’d busied himself on his minipad and I let my gaze wander over him. Gods, he was attractive.

His casual black t-shirt wasn’t tight, but I could still see the definition in his shoulders and chest. At almost two meters, he was on the tall side and solidly built.

“Supposedly, the mess hall is serving burgers today for dinner,” I announced, stepping to his side.

He looked up, wrinkling his nose, and slid the pad into his pocket.

“Whenever they serve meat, I get concerned,” he said, opening the door for me.

“Rat population is down,” I agreed, moving past him and catching a whiff of his scent, a mix of fresh laundry and something else I couldn’t identify.

“Better not chance it. I brought some homemade rollitos and sweetbread, if you want to share.” His arm brushed mine, sending little sparks through me.

I swallowed hard at the thinly veiled invitation.

“I’ve got some beer stashed away in my quarters,” I said, deciding to hell with it.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you back at your place,” he said, then leaned in a little to say something in my ear. “You smell like gunpowder and berries. See you soon.”

* * *

Mat left in the early hours of the morning. That turned out to be a good thing because not long after, the door slid open and Sophie walked in.

I yawned and sat up, thankful I’d thrown on clothes when Mateo left.

“Well, good morning,” she said, a touch too peppy for the time of day. According to the clock on my pad, it was just after seven.

“Morning,” I returned, coming to terms with the fact that my not-so-alone time was over. “How was your visit?”

Sophie didn’t answer immediately, and I swore her cheeks went pink. I narrowed my eyes and studied her.

“What?” she asked, smoothing her shirt down in a nervous motion. Something was definitely up.

“What happened?” I asked sharply, getting out of bed and going to her.

“Nothing. Just a normal leave. My parents say hi, by the way.” She looked away evasively and I crossed my arms, not giving an inch. Sophie was a talented medic, but she couldn’t lie for shit.

I raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer.

“Oh, alright,” she said, fiddling with her luggage. “I didn’t go home. Or I didn’t stay there, exactly.”

“What are you talking about?” Now I was genuinely confused.

“Well, I went home, I just didn’t stay the night last night,” she clarified. “I met up with a guy I met on the gal-net.”

My mouth almost hit the floor. “Corporal-Singh, are you telling me you went on a date?” I placed a hand on my chest in mock dismay.

Sophie groaned and slumped into the desk chair, mumbling something.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you,” I complained.

“I slept with him,” she said, louder this time, her face going red. “Twice.”

Both of our wrist units beeped then, saving her from more of my teasing. I read the message, noting that it came from the commander.

All team members prepare to ship out. Report to the Dreadnight in 30 minutes.

I acknowledged the order, as did Sophie.

“This conversation isn’t done,” I told her, flashing a grin.

She sighed and began to prep her gear. “I was afraid of that.”

“I’m taking a quick shower. You gonna need one?”

When she shook her head, I grabbed my towel and went into the bathroom. “I slept with Mat,” I said over my shoulder.

“What?!” she squealed, only to be cut off by the door closing.

* * *

Less than an hour later, the entire team had boarded the Dreadnight and we were headed for the nearest S.G. Point.

Commander-Navari sat at her usual position in the captain’s chair on the bridge. She tapped her pad, bringing up the mission data on the main holodisplay, as well as all of our pads.

“Sarkon has discovered intel regarding a weapon that the Union has in their control,” she said, swiping to a grainy picture.

The object appeared to be no bigger than the palm of my hand, but I couldn't be sure from the photo. Shaped like a pyramid and made of some kind of metal, it didn’t look like much, but looks could be deceiving.

“Our information indicates that military resources at the research station have been diverted elsewhere. Reinforcements are expected to arrive in twenty-four standard hours.”

“That’s convenient,” said Mateo, sounding suspicious. “Do we have data on the station itself?”

I couldn’t help but agree. Something about the intel felt wrong, but it was just a feeling.

“Yes.” Navari nodded, swiping at her pad again. Nothing happened and she swiped again, more slowly this time, then a few more times.

Still, the holo didn’t change.

“Computer, holo is malfunctioning,” she barked.

All at once, the display skipped several pages ahead, causing Navari to curse and swipe back the other way.

The laugh slipped out before I could stop it, but I disguised it as a cough.

Navari glared at me and I could tell she hadn’t bought the cough, then she continued going over the mission.

Sophie shot me a warning look, which I took to mean get my shit together.

I nodded ever so slightly to say that I understood.

With the holo working correctly again, Navari started her review of the operation.

The station was named Harah and located on a small, formerly inhospitable moon. According to the data, the Union had built the station there in hopes of disguising their work as a mining colony.

“ETA is twelve standard hours. I suggest you use that time to rest”—Navari paused at the end of her briefing to look at each of us in a sweeping gaze—“and prep your gear. This weapon cannot stay in Union hands. There is no room for failure.”

I could have sworn when she mentioned “rest” that Navari’s piercing eyes lingered on me an instant too long. Did she know that Mateo and I had slept together?

The thought that our commanding officer, who disliked me intensely, might have that information unsettled me more than I wanted to admit. I’d broken my own rule. Don’t care about anything, because when you care, they could take it away. And like it or not, I cared about Mateo.

“Preparing to open the tear on your order, Commander-Navari,” announced Z9 in a clipped voice, interrupting my thoughts.

As we strapped in for entry to slipspace, I found myself wondering about the A.I. again, but chalked it up to the tinny quality of her voice and a malfunction. I made a mental note to look through the manual and see if that could be changed at all.

“Proceed,” directed Navari from the captain’s chair.

Z9 complied without another malfunction, confirming that I’d been overthinking her capabilities.

The Dreadnight’s slipdrive powered on and I watched with a mixture of awe and fascination as the rift split open.

5

I inspected my tacsuit again, circling around its display stand in the armory and checking for any damage that might have been missed during the repair. Off-color patches covered the new holes, adding to the assortment of previous mends.

Every fix, every scratch and dent on my gear were known to me. One might see the quilt-like appearance and think it looked second-hand, but I didn’t. I considered each patch a battle scar, a mark of survival.

Fingering an old repair on the shoulder took me back to one of my first missions with the unit. I’d been so desperate to prove myself that I’d taken on a ravager almost twice my size. He’d almost got the better of me, but in the end I managed to take him. I smiled at the memory then finished my examination.

Finding nothing out of sorts, I turned to a wall on my right that held my weapons options. The mission dossier appeared on the armory’s large monitor—yet another luxury, courtesy of the Union. It included a list of suggested gear, but I only gave that a cursory glance.

Similar to the op on Abatis, a full environmental suit wouldn’t be needed since the dwarf planet had been terraformed by the Union and had a breathable atmosphere. We needed to get in and out quietly, so I went with the same setup as last time, with a few exceptions.

For my primary weapon I stuck with the rifle. The Union guard had taken me by surprise last time, causing me to drop it. That couldn’t happen again. Two handguns, one a small energy blaster and the other a pistol, completed my firearm assortment.

Next, I selected a short blade and tucked it into the slot of the suit’s left wrist. A quick release knife was next, slipped inside the chest rig, followed by two EMPs and extra magazines.

Satisfied, I moved to the exit. It slid open and I almost ran into Mateo. We both stopped short and moved to give the other space, but we moved in the same direction. A charged silence hung between us for a moment.

“Lieutenant-Kamal,” I said in greeting, dipping my chin in a curt nod.

“Sergeant,” he replied, mimicking my gesture. “Your gear mission ready?”

He waved a hand behind me.

“Yes,” I answered. “All finished in here so I’m going to take a few hours down to be fresh.” The words sounded lame, even to my own ears, and I cringed internally.

“Good idea. I’ll be doing the same.” The slightest of smiles tugged at the corner of his mouth as he moved into the room and my heartbeat quickened. “Rest well, Delgado.”

“You as well,” I replied, keeping my tone politely distant.

I returned to my quarters to find Sophie waiting for me, holding a med dispenser.

“Come to bribe me so I won’t question you about this mysterious lover?” I teased, setting my pad on the desk.

“Ha ha. No, I’ve come to give you your approved sleep aid,” she said, holding out a small capsule. “Unless you’d rather stay awake and take an upper?”

The Sarkonian Empire dished out certain medications to ensure that its soldiers performed as expected. I wasn’t a fan of unnecessary dosing, but it was either rest now or a shot of adrenaline right before the op.

“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “They make me jittery.”

“I figured as much,” she said with a knowing nod. “We’ve got about ten standard hours until we reach our destination…” She paused to work the pad. “Okay, minimum rest is four, max is eight.”

I considered for a moment. The two hours gave the team time for last-minute checks and operation planning, but I liked to limber up beforehand.

“Gimme six,” I decided.

Sophie tapped the screen again, sending a command to the dispenser. An indicator flashed yellow and a slight hum emitted from the box before the light turned green. Then a small tray slid out and she removed the single capsule.

Per protocol, she watched me swallow it down before pressing a thumb to her pad confirming she’d witnessed that the dosage had been administered. Even though the government supplied the pharmaceuticals, they were sticklers for tracking who took what.

I repeated the action, acknowledging my acceptance and verifying the procedure was complete.

“Okay, you know the drill. Give it about five minutes and you’ll be in la-la land,” Sophie said cheerfully. “Oh, before I forget.” She rummaged in her pocket for a second then produced a small, square box measuring perhaps five centimeters. “Sorry, with all the commotion, I forgot to give it to you when I got back,” she said, holding it out.

Whenever Sophie went anywhere, she always made a point to bring me something back. The action never ceased to touch me, and I had a small collection of her little gifts hidden away in my gear trunk.

“Thanks,” I said, fettered emotion making my tone a little gruff.

A metal disc lay inside the box, engraved with a creature I didn’t recognize. There was something familiar about it, like maybe I’d seen it somewhere before, but I couldn’t place it.

“It’s a dragon,” Sophie supplied. “The merchant said they were fierce, ancient beings of protection that stood for longevity and wisdom.”

I studied the image again, noting the long snout and a mouth full of dangerous-looking teeth.

“Very badass. I like it,” I said with a grin. She’d probably overpaid for the trinket I but didn’t say so.

“You were the first thing I thought of when he told me. It’s supposed to be a token of luck and protection.”

“I need all of that I can get, especially now that I’m sleeping with Mat again.” Where the hell had that come from? A feeling of ease came over me and I grinned sloppily at Sophie.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that reaction,” she said with a laugh.

“It’s jus’ the meds,” I tried to explain, slurring my words and fighting to keep my eyes open.

“Oh, I know.” She grinned at me. “Alright, into bed with you.”

I obeyed, crawling under the covers. Sophie ordered the lights off and turned to the door.

“Soph,” I said, already drifting off.

“Yeah?”

“You’re going to make a great mom one day,” I murmured, cracking one eye open.

She swallowed hard before replying, “That is the sweetest thing you’ve ever said.”

I wanted to respond but sleep pulled me under and I floated into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Thanks to the Dreadnight’s updated cloak, we landed on the tiny planet without setting off any alarms. I still had reservations about using the Union’s own tech against them, especially after we’d so recently attacked them, but Navari brushed me off.

No one else seemed worried, so I kept my thoughts to myself. I also didn’t want to attract any more of the commander’s attention because she would likely see my concern as questioning her leadership.

“Computer, are there any signs of movement?” asked Navari.

“Scanning,” replied Z9. “No activity detected. You are clear to proceed, Commander.”

“Move out,” Navari ordered, lowering the ramp.

It closed behind us after the entire unit hit the ground. We’d all studied the route and moved in a tight formation under the cover of darkness. Two crescent moons hung in the sky casting a dim glow over the area.

We’d set the ship down a little over three kilometers from our target coordinates to be safe. A ghost town, remnants from its mining days, lay between us and our objective.

According to our data, the Union had extracted all useful substances from the planet before turning it into a secret research station, but had kept up appearances, at least for a little while. I figured they had wanted to avoid unwanted attention for being active on a mined-out world but decided it wasn’t worth the cost after a while.

Rundown, empty structures remained in what had likely been the residential part of the colony. Some equipment, either too broken or useless to bother with, had been left behind. Nothing stirred, giving the whole place an eerie feel. I didn’t mind saying the whole place gave me an unsettled feeling.

The research facility became visible almost as soon as we entered the empty town, its bright glow contrasting starkly against the gloom. If we took the main street through the empty town we could have been there in minutes, but it was far too open. Instead we wove between buildings and through deserted back alleys littered with junk and discarded remnants of the people who had occupied the place before.

Moon dust coated everything, and our boots left an obvious trail for anyone that might care to follow us.

We steered clear of any road that looked like it had been used recently and moved quietly through a maze of the empty shells of old structures. I caught occasional glimpses of the facility and smaller buildings around it through breaks in the buildings we passed. It seemed unlikely that the Union would bother to set proximity traps, but it paid to be cautious.

As we closed the distance, the smaller structures became clearer. I noticed that they were military-grade tents, the kind used in long-term encampments.

Still, nothing moved, and the silence made my neck hair stand on end. We came to the last of the buildings in the town and Navari held up a hand then pointed at Haas.

“Do one last scan.”

Breaking position, I moved to her side. “Commander, something’s off. It’s too quiet,” I whispered. “Even with reduced personnel, we should be seeing some kind of activity.”

“It’s more likely that they’ve moved everyone inside,” she said, a tense expression on her face.

“All clear,” said Haas.

“See?” Navari said. “Form up, we’re going in.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I insisted. “It’s the middle of the night. Ensign-Haas should at least be picking up sleepers.”

“They must be inside, awaiting reinforcements,” she snapped, exasperated.

“But—” I started to say.

“Fall in, soldier.” Navari’s tone had turned to ice. “That’s an order.”

“Yes, Commander.” I stepped back into position, silently fuming.

At her signal, we moved away from cover and out into the open. I forced away my anger and cleared my mind. Now was not the time to be distracted.

Every one of my senses told me the situation was all wrong, but there was nothing I could do about it now except hope I was off the mark.

Just under a hundred meters of open space spanned before us. No soldier liked seeing that and I could feel the tension from the team as we crossed the expanse completely exposed.

It stayed calm as we converged on the first tent, its entrance flaps unsecured. Mateo checked it, shaking his head when he came out.

“Empty,” he mouthed, the lines of his forehead tightening with confusion.

I entered the next one and immediately understood Mateo’s uncertainty. When he’d said empty, he didn’t just mean no one occupied the tent, he meant that there was nothing inside. No cots, no furniture, nothing but four walls and the ground.

It was the same for each one we checked. Even Navari began to look suspicious, hesitating at the door leading inside the facility.

“Drop your weapons!” boomed a voice echoing all around us.

A platoon’s worth of Union soldiers advanced down one side of the main building.

“Around the other side,” ordered Navari.

“It’s a dead end,” said Mateo. “We’ll be trapped.”

She cursed in response.

“The tents,” I hissed. “It’s our only chance. I can drop a charge and give us a few seconds.” They’d be piss poor protection, but it beat the alternative of facing that many Unis.

“Do it,” she agreed.

I set a timer for five seconds, then lobbed one of the explosives around the corner.

It only took another second before a warning yell erupted from the other group.

“Grenade!”

“Take cover!”

“Move!” hissed Navari, surging forward.

We’d nearly made it to the first row of empty tents before one of the Union soldiers got trigger happy. The first shots fired erupted around us, ripping through the cheap material like butter.

“Pair off and rendezvous back at the ship. They’ll have to split up,” Navari’s voice sounded over the comm. “Singh with Delgado, Haas with me. Kamal, you’re the best shot.” She didn’t finish the sentence, but we all knew what Navari meant.

Mateo was going to stay behind and make sure we all made it out.

“I’ll cover you, then circle back around once it’s clear,” he responded. “Just try not to leave without me.”

His tone might have been light, but my heart clenched at the thought of him staying behind.

Sophie appeared next to me, but I didn’t see Mateo anywhere. We moved back the way we’d come when I noticed him taking cover behind an empty crate.

I made my way over to him and passed him my last charge. “Might come in handy,” I said. “Make sure you get back to the ship.”

“Thanks,” he answered, fixing his dark eyes on mine for a long moment.

I wanted to say more, wanted to squeeze his arm or do something to let him know how I felt, but there wasn’t time and it wasn’t our way. My diversion had run its course and the voices of the enemy grew louder as they regrouped.

He nodded and I tore my eyes away. Sophie and I wound our way through the empty tents, not stopping until we came to the stretch of open dirt. Navari and Haas were already halfway across when gunfire rang out somewhere behind us.

We sprinted forward, trusting that Mateo would hold them off. Still, trust and faith only went so far, and we took the side opposite Navari and Haas to give the Union a smaller target.

My heart stuttered when Haas jerked forward and stumbled. In that moment I was ashamed to admit my reaction wasn’t out of concern for my fellow team member, but because I thought that Mateo had been taken out.

Haas regained his footing and disappeared with the commander down one of the alleys back into the ghost town. I glanced behind me just in time to see a Union grunt step out and raise his rifle, then fall to the ground. Mateo appeared behind him, blood streaming down one side of his face, and I almost went weak with relief.

There was a loud boom! behind him as one of the tents blew apart, sending burning fragments raining down. He broke into a run, waving his arms at me to get moving.

I caught up to Sophie, who had taken cover behind one of the dilapidated buildings. Shouts and gunfire continued behind us, but I focused on making it back to the Dreadnight, speeding through the alleys and cutting through ruined structures.

I paused at the graveyard of broken equipment and debris just long enough to check our back for threats. Smoke billowed from the tents, but it was clear of enemy combatants and the night had grown quiet around us. Then a shadow moved, appearing in one of the doorways. I jerked up my rifle, ready to fire, when Mateo spoke in the comm.

“It’s me, don’t shoot,” he said. “Go, I’m right behind you.”

“Copy that,” I answered, not caring that my voice cracked a little.

The thrusters igniting sounded as Navari prepped the ship for takeoff and we jogged the last few hundred meters. The ramp was already down, which was good because the cloak was still activated, so all we could see was light pouring out of the hull like the universe’s biggest flashlight.

As soon as Sophie and I boarded, the ramp started to close behind us.

“Z9 what are you doing?” I demanded. “Lieutenant-Kamal is still behind us. Open the ramp.”

“My apologies, Sergeant,” answered the computer, sounding regretful. “I cannot comply because that conflicts with a direct order from Commander-Navari.”

“The hell it does,” I snapped, moving to open the door manually.

“Step away from the door, Delgado.” Navari stepped into the cargo bay and stalked over to where I stood. “Lieutenant-Kamal didn’t make it.”

“He was right behind us,” I said angrily. “I saw him.”

“Then he took a hit to the leg, disabling him,” she claimed. Her face was tight, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of my insubordination or the fact that her lieutenant was outside our ship. “The Union soldiers were on him as soon as fell. It’s unfortunate, but we can’t go back. Z9, get us out of here.”

“Hold on just one godsdamn minute,” I snarled. “We aren’t leaving one of our own out there.”

“Stand down, Delgado. That’s a direct order. If you do not, I’ll throw you in the brig myself.”

“I’m not leaving him.” I pushed past her and keyed in the emergency open sequence. The ramp began to disengage and I turned my back on the commander.

A heavy hand jerked me away from the panel and spun me around. Without thinking, I swung out, my fist colliding with Haas’ face. His head snapped back from the punch, but he shook it off, recovering just quick enough to dodge my follow up.

I turned to see he had only been a distraction for Navari, who now stood at the panel working to override my command. With a scream of frustration, I lunged, pushing her out of the way.

“Sergeant, stand down before you get us all killed!” Navari bellowed.

I screamed like a woman possessed and raised a fist, ready to drive it into her face. The commander’s eyes went wide with shock when she saw that I was really going to punch her.

Haas was back on me then, pulling me back, and I rammed an elbow into his gut. He loosened his grip enough that I broke free, then I spun around and performed a defensive move that I’d only done once before.

I kicked him in the balls.

He dropped immediately to his knees with a high-pitched yelp.

My satisfaction was short-lived, though, because I barely had time to register the pain of something heavy colliding with the back of my head, then everything went dark.

* * *

“You’re never going to be more than basic infantry, nonni,” Training-Instructor-Kim snarled at me as I stood in a line of other fresh recruits in the blistering sun.

The insult was in reference to the fact that I lacked true Sarkonian blood. Only one day out of academy and I could tell precursor training would be just as irritating.

He looked me up and down. “Women don’t cut it when pitted against men, so you might as well resign yourself to a life of kitchen duty.”

I didn’t react to the obvious attempt to get a rise out of me and stared straight ahead. If this trainer thought that kind of comment would rattle me, he was in for a wait.

Someone chuckled, drawing Kim’s attention. His lips twisted into a smile one could only describe as gleeful, then he stalked down the line to the unwise soul.

Kim proceeded to dress down Recruit-Cooper. I’d already encountered him on the transport and formed an immediate dislike for him. I didn’t dare look, but the string of abuses and curse words were among the most intense I’d witnessed.

My face was a mask of stone despite the internal satisfaction I felt at my fellow recruit’s predicament.

“Prepare for a long week, recruits,” the instructor said, finally stepping back from Cooper. “Get some chow, get some sleep, or get in touch with loved ones before lights out. Dismissed!”

Our group broke formation and I spun to return to the barracks when someone bumped into me. Cooper had shouldered me hard enough that I lost my balance and fell.

“Nonni bitch,” he sneered under his breath as he stalked by. A few of the other recruits laughed but some of them knew me and just shook their heads.

I almost said something when a shadow fell over me and a large brown hand extended downward. I couldn’t make out the person’s face with the sun behind them, but it was a man’s hand.

My cheeks didn’t burn from embarrassment so much as they did from anger. Words didn’t bother me, but I drew the line at getting physical.

“I don’t need your help,” I grumbled, pushing myself up and dusting the dirt from my uniform.

The man chuckled, a deep and throaty sound that I instantly liked, though I couldn’t say why. He had black hair and a pleasant face, and now that I was standing, I could see that his eyes were a deep shade of brown. Not the usual murky brown that most Sarkonians had either, but closer to the color of coffee.

“I didn’t think you did. But sometimes it’s nice to know not everyone around is like that asshole.” He jerked his head toward Cooper’s retreating form.

“Thanks, but I’m used to it.”

I took the hand he still offered and gave it a firm shake.

“No problem. Say, I’m about to grab a snack. Care to join me?”

I stared at him. He was unlike any Sarkonian I’d ever met. “You don’t even know my name,” I told him. “And I don’t know yours.”

He grinned. “Recruit-Kamal,” he said. “And you are?”

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.

“Recruit-Delgado,” I returned. It bothered me more than a little that I felt disappointment when our hands parted.

One of his eyebrows winged up and I knew Recruit-Kamal had recognized my father’s name.

“As in…”

“Yes, that one. But I’m adopted, so don’t hold it against me,” I said darkly, then turned, fully planning to walk away.

“Mess hall is the other way,” he said to my back, not commenting on what I’d said.

Pausing, I tossed a careless glance over my shoulder. “I never said yes to going with you.”

“No, but you should. It’ll be fun to swap adopted stories, maybe over coffee.” He winked at me.

His words stopped me, like he’d probably intended, though he had no way of knowing it was because of his promise of caffeine, not our shared childhoods. I was exhausted but knew the dangers of going to bed early in a place such as this. Still, at the mention of his being adopted I finally placed why his name sounded familiar.

“Kamal... Is your father Advisor-Kamal?” I asked when it clicked.

My father had spoken of an Advisor-Kamal on numerous occasions. Ironically, he’d always compared me to the advisor’s son and how I needed to be as well behaved as that boy. I combed my memory for the right name. Mathias? No, that wasn’t right. Mat something...

“Yes, that one,” he said, echoing my earlier words.

“Mateo, right?” I finally remembered, falling into step when he started off in the direction of the mess hall.

He nodded, giving me a sidelong look. “How did you know that?”

“My father was always telling me to be more like you,” I replied. “Respectful. Silent.”

I said the words with a stern authoritarian tone in my best imitation of my father. It was meant to be funny, but Kamal’s expression went dark, though he didn’t comment.

We’d gone to the mess and shared that coffee, sparking what would be my only other close friendship besides Sophie. I’d come to find out that the two of us had a lot in common. Even though he was Sarkonian born, his adoptive parents had decided corporal punishment was the way to mold him into their vision of the prodigal son.

The longer we knew each other the more I realized he was a different person with me. Mateo wore an outer shell for everyone else, just like I did. He worked hard to appear laid back, but he was tough as neutronium on the inside. During the early months of training, a few people made the mistake of underestimating him. After that, no one messed with him.

I was no slouch in the hand to hand department, but Mateo helped me to be even better.

6

True to Commander-Navari’s word, I woke up in the brig, although I was fuzzy on whether she’d actually done it herself. Pain lanced through my skull where she had hit me, giving me the mother of all headaches. I touched the spot gingerly and found a bandage covering a knot the size of a baby’s fist.

Sophie’s work, I guessed.

Then, remembering Mateo, I pushed myself up into a sitting position with a groan. Had my stunt given him enough time to get back? I had no way of knowing how long I’d been out, and the cell boasted no windows, making it impossible to tell if we were in a slip tunnel.

“Z, you there?” I asked.

No response.

It didn’t surprise me in the least that Navari would prevent me from accessing the ship’s computer. I knew that I was in big trouble. Attacking a superior officer was one of the cardinal sins and I’d fucked up. Royally.

I told myself that it didn’t matter as long as Mateo had made it back on the ship. The uncertainty was burning inside of me.

One way or another, I had to know.

I didn’t have to wonder for long, though. A few minutes later, Navari strode into the brig and stopped in front of my cell. She must have been watching on the feed for me to wake up or had Z9 monitoring me. The latter was more likely.

The commander studied the pad in her hands before looking down at me. I couldn’t read her expression, but it wasn’t pleasant.

“Delgado, Eva, rank sergeant. You are hereby charged with one act of insubordination for willfully disobeying a direct order, one act of assault on a member of the Sarkonian Empire’s military force, and one act of assault on a superior officer.” Her voice didn’t waver as she delivered the news and I had to wonder if she was enjoying this. “You will be remanded into custody and subject to court martial. Do you understand?”

I stared at her. “Ensign-Haas put his hands on me first. I did return the favor, but it wasn’t assault,” I said, seething.

“Ensign-Haas was detaining you under direct order from me,” replied Navari. “I can play the video feed back for you, if you like.”

“That won’t be necessary. I, Sergeant-Eva-Delgado, understand the charges brought against me.”

“If the court sees fit, you may seek representation. Do you understand?”

We both knew that was a crock of shit. If the court granted a lawyer, that person would still do whatever the Empire wanted, then pocket the retainer fee.

“Understood,” I answered.

Navari signed with her thumb, then held out the pad for me to do the same. She looked slightly wary, as though I might grab her through the bars. I might have, but I figured I was in enough trouble for one day.

“Any questions?”

I hesitated, not sure I wanted to hear the answer, then decided I had to know. “Did Kamal make it?”

My stomach sank when her expression softened a fraction.

“No, I’m sorry. I know you two were close,” she said in an almost gentle tone.

I’d expected that answer, but it still hit me like a punch to the gut. “I don’t understand… he was right behind us. There was no firefight happening,” I argued, refusing to believe Mat was gone for good. “We’re not supposed to abandon our own.”

The last words came out in an accusing tone and Navari sighed. “If I thought we wouldn’t all get killed going back for him, I wouldn’t have left him. But I saw him go down. Your job,” she said angrily, jabbing a finger in my direction, “is to follow orders and trust me as your superior officer to make the right call. You did neither and here we are. If you had succeeded in opening that door, we might all be dead. A true Sarkonian wouldn’t have defied that order for the sake of one.”

Not trusting myself to speak, I glared daggers at her.

“If you don’t want to believe me, fine. Maybe this will convince you.” She handed me the pad, which I reluctantly accepted. “Z9, play the footage.”

Z seemed to hesitate a beat. “Commander, my programming suggests that this may be detrimental to the mental health of the sergeant.”

“Z9-77A, I’m beginning to think that you have a serious malfunction. If you do not follow my order, I will have you decommissioned and sold for parts. Is that clear?”

“Acknowledged,” replied the A.I. “Commencing playback.”

Navari stomped out of the brig, leaving me alone with the pad.

Sophie and I appeared on the Dreadnight’s feed, with Mat a little way behind us. My fingers gripped the pad so hard that I had to force them to relax in fear that it might crack in my hands.

I watched the Lieutenant working his way through the field of discarded equipment and could just make out the glimmer of blood from his head wound. The glow from the Dreadnight’s open ramp and thrusters illuminated the area enough to see him and the trio of Union soldiers that lurked behind him. They’d been partially obscured in shadow and he didn’t give any indication that he’d realized they were there.

Unable to stop the hand I clapped over my mouth, I watched in horror as the soldiers fired on Mateo. He lurched forward, losing his footing and falling to the ground just fifty meters from safety as rounds slammed into his back. The three men stopped firing as they neared his body. One kicked the rifle he’d dropped out of reach, then toed one of Mateo’s legs.

He didn’t move again before the feed cut off. I stared at the blank screen in shock and feeling numb even though I’d just witnessed one of my closest friends, my lover, die. It was as the commander said, the shooting had occurred concurrently with the ship’s engines starting, which would have blocked out the noise for me and Sophie.

I sat in stunned silence for several seconds before the anguish finally hit me, hard as a fist and quick as lightning. It took all of my training and then some not to cry out. Emotion welled up inside me, slipping its leash. I hurled the pad across the cell and watched as it collided with the wall, shattering into tiny pieces.

* * *

I spent the rest of the trip home in silence and unable to eat. Navari hadn’t cared since we weren’t far enough away for me to die of starvation and let me wallow in my misery. I’d hoped that the commander would at least let Sophie come and visit, but she didn’t. Navari had even gone so far as to deliver my refused meals herself to keep me isolated.

Military police escorted me from the brig to Ambiana in restraints with Navari leading the way. Any other time it might have bothered me to be paraded through the ship in front of my peers that way, but not today. Their faces registered as blurs and the hushed whispers fell on deaf ears.

I ignored the pointing fingers and shocked expressions because none of it mattered. They were the least of my worries. I knew that based on my charges, I faced a lot of time in a military-grade prison, maybe even a death sentence. The Sarkonian Empire kept its people in check with stringent rules and heavy punishments, and I’d really stepped in it this time.

Assault on another military member ranged from demotion to prison time, depending on the situation. Defiance of direct orders could mean a stint in solitary confinement, prison, or hard labor. But assault on a superior officer? That was another matter entirely.

I’d heard whispers about lower level personnel making enemies of higher ups. Their stories always sent a clear message to watch your step. Fuck with the wrong superior and you might just find yourself branded a traitor. Traitors either received a death sentence or were whisked away and never heard from again.

I didn’t think Navari had that kind of clout, but I wouldn’t put such an act past the woman. A grim feeling rose up when I recalled her private meeting with the Vice-Admiral and I was suddenly very worried.

The MPs delivered me alone to an interrogation room that felt almost clinical with its four plain gray walls and harsh lighting. Their emptiness seemed to press in on me, but I tamped down on the feeling. A dinged-up metal table with two chairs—one of which I occupied and was bolted to the floor—made up the only furniture in the room.

I was offered nothing—not that I expected anything—and they let me cool my heels for over an hour before the door opened and two people entered.

It didn’t surprise me in the least to see Commander-Navari. What did surprise me was her companion. Vice-Admiral-Kaska took the open seat at the table, leaving Navari to stand. The grim feeling increased tenfold and I silently wondered if the commander did have the clout after all.

The debrief a few days prior felt like a lifetime ago. Like that day, Kaska stayed silent for a time, scanning files on his pad. I knew it was a power move on his part—trying to make me sweat. I had no doubt he already knew every damn thing about me and the mission problems.

I tried not to yawn.

“Sergeant-Delgado,” Kasko began, his tone somehow managing to come out mild and almost pleasant. “What we have here is a well and truly fucked-up situation.”

Navari smirked behind the Vice-Admiral’s back, but I ignored her.

“Which confounds me,” he continued, leaning forward with an earnest look on his face and touching the pad briefly. “Your record is exemplary. I see you had a rebellious streak prior to the academy, but it looks like you grew out of that. Or so it seemed, until this little incident.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered blithely. What I wanted to say was that I’d learned early on that my pride was not worth the punishment defending it had earned me.

“In fact, you have no negative marks whatsoever.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So, tell me. Why would such an upstanding soldier of the Sarkonian Empire like yourself suddenly do something like this?” He waved a hand at the pad as if it encompassed all of my bad deeds.

I met his gaze, then dropped it, playing his game and letting him think I was ashamed and intimidated. I’d become an expert at this game over the years, first with my father, then in the academy. I knew how to handle men like him and slipped into the persona of General-Delgado’s daughter with practiced ease.

“Our unit is close, sir.” I kept my tone light and respectful, even a touch contrite. “We spend more time with each other than our families, and we’ve become a family of sorts.”

Navari snorted, causing Kaska to turn his head ever so slightly. She reddened at the cheeks and fell silent again.

“Sorry about that,” he said, fanning a dismissive hand at Navari. “You were talking about the unit being close?”

“Yes, like family,” I agreed. “And when I feared one of them might be left behind, I temporarily lost my faculties,” I explained, injecting my tone with shame and a healthy dose of regret.

“I see. Why don’t you tell me about the events leading up to the… insubordination?” prompted Kaska.

I took him through it, starting at the beginning and pausing every so often when he would ask a question. I didn’t leave out anything, though I did make sure not to sound overly critical of Navari.

When I’d finished, he turned to Navari and waved her to the side of the table so he could look at us both.

“The Sergeant’s report lines up pretty closely with your accounts,” he said to her, rubbing a hand on his clean-shaven chin and looking a bit pensive. “But you left out that uncertainty about the mission had been voiced.”

“That didn’t seem relevant at the time, sir.” For the first time since I’d met her, Navari looked flustered.

The sight warmed me, but I kept my features reserved even though I felt a small seedling of hope sprout within me.

“Did you address these misgivings?” he asked.

“No,” she admitted, a look of confusion wrinkling her brow as the Vice-Admiral turned away from her with a dismissive look. “But the data—”

He held up a hand to silence her and studied his pad again.

“The suit feed corroborates the sergeant’s report. And highlights your refusal to acknowledge your soldier when she brought you a legitimate concern,” he said flatly.

Panic was beginning to spread on Navari’s features and she dropped her formal stance to bring her hands around to point at me. “Sir, with respect, our intel didn’t support that. As the commanding officer, I made a call in the field and my subordinate defied that order.” Navari’s entire face was flushed and I had to say I couldn't blame her. Even I hadn’t predicted this turn of events.

“The wrong one,” he pointed out. “You cited that a true soldier under your command should trust you completely and obey orders without question. Would you say that you follow orders, Commander?”

“Of course,” she spit out, glaring at me. “Delgado struggles with following orders because she isn’t a true Sarkonian.”

“What about Sergeant-Delgado makes you say that?” Kaska asked, his voice turning frigid as he emphasized my title.

“Well, she’s… I mean, Sergeant-Delgado is uh, not Sarkon born,” replied Navari, immediately realizing her mistake and stumbling over the words.

“I find that very interesting,” Kaska mused, then went in for the kill. “As I know your parents are not originally from Sarkon.”

Navari’s face registered shock, no doubt mirroring my own expression. The Vice-Admiral’s statement had me reeling. Whatever I’d expected, it hadn’t been this.

“Additionally, you have a number of complaints against you, all for discrimination,” continued the Vice-Admiral in a reproachful tone. “But most importantly is that your failure to follow standing orders has left us vulnerable to the Union.”

“Standing orders, sir?”

“Yes. Leave no evidence behind. That’s S.O.P for a unit such as yours, Commander. And with only”—Kaska checked the pad as if he’d forgotten the information—“three attacking soldiers, it is my belief that Kamal could have been retrieved.”

Navari managed to keep her voice even in an impressive show of calm before addressing her superior again. “Vice-Admiral-Kaska, I believed Lieutenant-Kamal to be deceased.”

Kaska stood up, signaling the end of the conversation, and straightened his spotless dress uniform. “If you want to press this issue, Commander, you can,” he said meaningfully. “However, know that it opens you up to scrutiny as well.”

Navari stood in stony silence for a moment before answering, “I withdraw my charges, sir.”

He nodded in approval. “As you wish. Dismissed.”

The commander stormed out of the room without another word.

“Sergeant,” began Kaska, refocusing on me. “There is still the matter of your actions. Their seriousness cannot be overlooked. I had a lengthy discussion with your father.”

I snapped up to attention at the mention of my father. The leniency made more sense if he’d been involved.

“Due to your rank, service history, and quite frankly, to save your family the embarrassment of this incident, the charges have been greatly reduced,” he advised. “So long as you take responsibility for disorderly conduct relating to an altercation with a fellow military member.”

“Yes sir,” I acknowledged, inclining my head.

“Good. Disciplinary action is as follows: a twenty-five percent pay decrease, applicable for six pay cycles, no leave granted for six standard months, and one week in solitary confinement.”

The dock in pay would hurt the most but I’d make it, and I never took leave anyway, so I signed off on all the paperwork. I didn’t look forward to a week in solitary, but it was far better than I could have expected.

“So, we are clear, Sergeant-Delgado. This,” he said, making a circular motion with his hand, “is a one-time deal. There will be no more chances. You put one toe out of line and your father will not be able to step in again.”

I interpreted that to mean my father wouldn’t step in again, not couldn’t.

“I understand, sir.”

“One last thing,” said Kaska, pausing on his way out. “General-Delgado is aboard the Ambiana and would like a word.”

And here I thought I was getting off easy, I thought wryly to myself, instinctively sitting up straighter.

The general entered with my mother in tow, escorted by an MP. Ever the politician, he waited until the door had closed before dropping the facade of calm he wore like a second skin.

My mother stayed behind him, worry lines marring her expression. I couldn’t tell if her concern was for me or my father’s mood.

Still cuffed to the table, I couldn’t stand to properly greet them, but that was just as well.

“Father, Mother,” I said, inclining my head respectfully before meeting my father’s eyes.

Anger flashed hot in them and suddenly I was an eight-year-old little girl again, staring up as he loomed over me.

He slapped the right side of my face hard enough that I saw stars, then caught the left with the back of his hand to complete the set. “You have shamed me, girl,” he said, disgusted. “Your actions reflect poorly on this family.”

His use of the term “girl” stung more than the slap had. Failing to address someone by rank was disrespectful, but to be stripped of maturity meant major humiliation.

For me especially so, as I’d had to graduate the academy before my father would refer to me as anything other than “girl.”

I bowed my head to the table in a sign of deep regret. “I am sorry that my actions have brought shame to the family, Father. It is my hope you and Mother can forgive me.”

“We do not,” he answered coldly. “Forgiveness is earned. Maybe some time to reflect can help you to come up with ways to do that.”

So, he’d been the one to insist on solitary confinement. I should’ve known. He knew better than anyone my fear of the dark. He’d created it.

His footsteps moved away, and I raised my eyes to see my mother standing near the table. She reached a hand out, like she might move closer.

“Let’s go, Diana.” The general stood in the open doorway glaring at her, but she didn’t obey.

Instead, my mother rushed forward and grasped my hands in hers.

“It’ll be okay,” she promised.

“Diana!” barked my father, fury causing a vein to pop out of his neck.

She finally broke away from me and followed him out, leaving me to stare after them. A few minutes later, a guard came in to take me to my temporary accommodations for the next week.

It wasn’t until later that night that I realized it was only the second time I’d seen my mother defy the general, and I smiled.

7

“You’ll stay in there until you can learn to be obedient,” said Major-Delgado, dragging me forward by the arm as I dug my heels in. I’d already learned the hard way that biting, punching, and kicking earned me something worse than time in the dark.

The door to the closet I called The Black Hole was already open, but I couldn’t see inside. A whimper escaped even though I ordered myself to be brave.

The Major stopped just short of the doorway and glared down at me. I was so small compared to him. Just a stupid kid with stupid luck, and all I wanted to do was go home.

“What is your name?” He’d started asking me that question from the first day I came to live with him and his wife, and hadn’t stopped since. Each time I refused to answer, or I gave the wrong response, he threw me in The Black Hole.

I stared at him, stone-faced, determined not to give in.

“Have it your way, girl.” He shoved me inside and pulled the door shut with a snap behind me.

“No!” I cried, lunging for the handle.

A key turned in the lock, followed by the sound of the heavier room door closing, then retreating footsteps before it went quiet.

“Please let me out!” I pounded on the door until my small fists ached, but nobody came. Dropping to the floor, I looked for the slightest hint of light, hoping some might come under the door, but it didn’t.

I stretched my arms out and moved cautiously until one of my hands grazed a wall. The space was tiny, and it didn’t take me long to discover that, as usual, it held nothing of interest. Nothing at all, actually. For one paralyzing moment I pictured bugs and spiders crawling over my arms and legs, biting me, and I almost called out again.

After stomping around the small space to scare any potential creepies away, I finally sat in one of the corners, hugged my knees, and cried silent tears. It wasn’t fair.

“My name is Rena Bennet,” I whispered to myself, trying to keep my voice from shaking as my throat swelled with grief. “Not Eva Delgado.”

The kidnappers had been telling me for months that I was this Eva person and that the two people that owned this house were my parents. But they weren’t. They were imposters.

My heart longed for home. I wanted my mama and papa. But my home was gone, blasted to smithereens by the Sarkonians. They were bastards. That was what I wanted to say. Papa didn’t condone cursing, but I didn’t think he’d scold me for it now. I wanted to crawl under the covers in my bed and wake up to find that this was all a dream. I squeezed my eyes shut and wished with everything I had that I could be home again, nestled between my parents as they wrapped their arms around me.

All the fairy tales said that wishes came true. Even Papa thought so. He always told me that if you wished for something hard enough and it wasn’t selfish, it might come true. You just had to believe in it.

But when I cracked an eye open, The Black Hole remained, and I was decidedly not home.

So, I sat in the dark and began to plan my escape. I tried to remember all of the cartoons I’d seen, but none of that seemed helpful. Even as a kid, I knew I was too small to fight the bigger adults, and they kept the fancy house locked up tight. Every door and window had a sensor that alerted house security if it was moved.

I’d discovered that the first time I tried to run away by crawling out a window. After that, any door or window with access to the outside had been secured.

The only way out was for me to do what they wanted, or at least pretend, even if it hurt. When they trusted me, I could escape. Then I would come back and get my revenge.

I dried my tears and stopped sniffling.

“Eva Delgado,” I said slowly, testing the words out. They sounded foreign to my ears and I immediately disliked them. Then I remembered one of the vids Papa liked where a hero went undercover and used a different name. I liked that idea.

My name is Eva Delgado. I am a daughter of Sarkon. I love my stupid parents. No, I couldn’t think like that. I love my parents.

I repeated that to myself for what felt like hours.

The sound of the door opening and a bright light hitting my face woke me. I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep.

The Major—no, my father—filled the doorway, light spilling in around him.

“What is your name, girl?” my new father asked.

I got to my feet, craning my neck to stare up at him. “Eva Delgado,” I said.

He smiled, victorious in his achievement, and my heart soared.

My plan was already working. I would find my way home soon enough.

* * *

Solitary confinement consisted of a cell measuring just under five square meters. Not tall enough to stand up straight or stretch out when sleeping. The space was bare, with the exception of a minimalist toilet—I suspected that existed more for the guards than for us, though. No one wanted to haul out buckets of filth.

My father had been right about one thing. I had plenty of time to think. But if he thought I would spend my week reflecting on my bad choices and the shame I’d brought to him, the man was sorely mistaken.

That first day, I tortured myself by replaying the mission on Harah in my head over and over again, wondering if I could have done something different. Had I sent Sophie ahead I might have seen the attackers. If I’d turned before boarding the Dreadnight I might have been able to help him somehow.

I let those thoughts run loose, unable to stop the guilt that wracked me for failing to open the ramp again. Inside, I cursed the commander for giving the order so easily and Haas for following it.

There had only been three soldiers. I’d have gone after Mateo alone if she hadn’t stopped me. The Dreadnight wielded weapons of its own that Navari could have used. The thought crossed my mind that Navari had done it on purpose to get at me, but that was pushing it. She might have been a bitch, but I couldn’t believe that she would willingly leave a soldier to die at the hands of the Union out of spite.

My thoughts pinged back and forth between rationalizing the events and assigning blame.

On one hand I hated the commander, first for not listening to me, then for making Mateo cover us. The soldier in me recognized that it wasn’t a unique scenario. I’d been a part of more than a few missions that hadn’t gone as planned.

On the other, as much as I despised her for the decision, I could see why Navari made the choice to leave after witnessing the scene outside the ship. Any commander in her place might have made the same decision.

None of it mattered anyway. Nothing could change what happened and bring him back.

My personal connection with Mat had made me emotional. I wanted to believe that I wouldn’t leave any of my unit behind, but I knew deep down that I’d never have punched Mateo or Sophie to save Navari or Haas.

The final seconds of the video feed plagued my memories, and I saw the image of Mateo hitting the ground on a constant loop. My chest tightened and the already too-tiny cell felt even smaller, even though I couldn’t see it.

I thought about the many hours I’d spent locked in The Black Hole, planning a grand escape that never happened. By the time my father had trusted me, I was on my way to military school.

The memory of my former life didn’t even feel real. I couldn’t remember my real parents’ names or recall their faces with any significant amount of detail, or whether I had any other family. The one time I’d tried to search Rena Bennet on the gal-net, it had resulted in the loss of privileges for a whole month. The search yielded no information, so it hadn’t even been worth it.

They kept solitary in perpetual darkness, supposedly as a way to clear the mind and focus on redemption, but that was bullshit. It was about control. And thanks to my father and the military, I had that in spades. Usually.

I’d learned how to manage fear long ago. It was all in the mind. The fear could only rule me if I let it.

Deliberately, I slowed my breathing, forcing myself to breathe in deep through my nose and out my mouth. I focused on the process, letting my thoughts calm on their own. It didn’t take long before my chest rose and fell evenly and my heart beat at its usual steady rhythm.

Nothing in this room could hurt me, I rationalized. In fact, this might be one of the safest places in the ship.

Unless a spider crawls on you, I pictured Sophie saying. Her face wrinkled up in an expression of disgust and I smiled, the claustrophobia already lifting.

Now, like so long ago, I began to plan my next steps. One thing was clear—I had to get my shit together. As much as it might chafe, I agreed with Navari on one count. I wasn’t a true Sarkonian. Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten that, striving to be one of them by being the perfect soldier. I’d become desensitized to their cruelty, convincing myself that avoiding killing was enough.

I had believed that saving up and leaving the military to settle elsewhere in the Sarkonian Empire was my goal. Mat’s death opened my eyes again, reminding me how little loyalty Sarkonians had, even for one of their own.

Cold, calculating anger slowly replaced the grief and I forgot everything else.

I knew what I had to do. It was time to leave.

After my release from solitary, they’d be watching me closely, so I’d have to be smart. Anything unusual would be noticed. Sophie would probably help if I asked, but I would never involve my friend. Dragging her into my mess would only make things difficult for her.

It pained me to realize that I’d probably never see her again if my plan was successful. Besides Mateo, she was the only person I’d ever been close to.

But that couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t be a part of the Sarkonian Empire any longer, and so I plotted.

The way I saw it, there were three major problems. Identity papers topped the list. My leave had already been restricted for the next six months and I wasn’t going to wait that long. Any unordered travel would immediately send up a red flag and I’d be back in solitary quicker than you could say “slip tunnel.” So, if I wanted passage on a ship, it was going to require documents that could pass scrutiny.

Which led me to the next problem. Transportation. My face was too well known on the Ambiana to use fake identification. This was where not having any other close friends would bite me in the ass. If I knew someone that would agree to smuggle me out or overlook the credentials it would have been easier.

Since I didn’t, that meant I had to disappear on a mission or take one of the Dreadnight’s shuttles somewhere close enough to reach a colony or station. That would be a little harder because the upgraded ship would be able to catch one if its own shuttles in seconds. Then I had to hope I could disappear once I made it to another station and purchase passage on another transport vessel.

And that highlighted problem number three. All of this would require funds. Moving large sums of money would be difficult without being conspicuous. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that my father was monitoring my accounts, even those he didn’t control. I supposed it was possible to move the money in small increments, but even that was dangerous and likely to be noticed.

There were, of course, other obstacles to be considered. Even if I used all of my money getting out, it wouldn’t be hard for someone like me to get a job. There was always a market for mercs, and with my skill set I could do well there. If the papers were clean enough, I could hunt bounties.

If not, I could do the Renegade thing. That thought gave me pause and I frowned in the dark. Some liked the idea of a lawless life and boozing their way through the galaxy, but not me. To be fair, I’d never met one, but the stories I’d heard painted an unflattering picture. Still, if that was what it took to survive, that was what I’d do.

The Sarkonian government would put a price on my head once my betrayal was discovered. They would come after me. The Sarkonian Empire might not be as big as the Union, or have the same resources, but I’d be looking over my shoulder and sleeping with one eye open for the rest of my life.

The Union might even pose another problem. Would the tentative alliance between the two governments extend to returning fugitives? I wouldn’t have thought so before, but we had the Dreadnight in a Sarkonian warship that suggested otherwise.

And so it went. With no way to tell how long I’d been in the cell, all I could do was pass the time by planning and breaking it up with short bursts of exercise.

The meager size of the cell limited my forms to sit-ups and modified pushups. I half expected the guards to stop me, but they didn’t. As odd as it felt to perform drills while blind, it was better than doing nothing and it helped to take my mind off things, at least for a little while.

Occasionally, a barely edible meal arrived on a silicone tray without silverware, accompanied by another smaller silicone cup filled with water. A guard pushed the sorry offerings through a slot in the door wordlessly and closed the slot again once I’d taken the tray. Calling the tasteless slop food seemed a stretch, and I gained a new appreciation for the cooks in the mess hall.

I couldn’t be sure, but the gnawing ache in my empty stomach told me chow time only came once per day. If I was right, then by my calculations, it had been four days.

I tried not to think about how those four days had already felt like a lifetime. Honestly, I’d take torture over the mind-numbing boredom that plagued me now. I could only plan so much in my head before losing my sense of organization. I would need a pad to really flesh it out and that was out of the question for the time being.

Somehow, I made it through though and by the end of the week, despite their best efforts, I was holding it together. Still, I played the part of penitent soldier, keeping my head down and following orders obediently.

Being processed out didn’t take long. I’d gone in wearing nothing but the clothes on my back, as all of my personal belongings had stayed on the Dreadnight. I wondered briefly whether they had been moved to my and Sophie’s quarters.

I exited the detention center with my head held high, and like my arrival from the Dreadnight there was plenty of whispering and pointing. Less than before, but still. And unless I was mistaken, some of my fellow soldiers had looks of awe on their faces.

Interesting.

Without my personal pad, I felt disconnected and hurried the rest of the way to my room, hoping to find Sophie.

To my great relief she was there and leaped up from the bottom bunk, nearly hitting her head, before rushing over to me. She didn’t even hesitate before throwing her arms around me. At first, I didn’t know how to react, so foreign was the action. Then I hugged her back fiercely, genuinely surprised at how the gesture moved me. It felt… good.

All at once, a memory flashed clear in my mind. A woman with hair the same shade as mine hugged me, comforting me. I couldn’t say why, but I felt an intense connection to the woman. Then Sophie let me go and the image faded as soon as it arrived.

“Are you okay?” my friend asked, lines of worry etched into her expression as she inspected me. She’d taken a step back but hadn’t released me completely and her hands grasped mine.

“I’m fine, really.” I nodded and gave her fingers a quick squeeze like my mother had done before leaving the interrogation room. “How much did you hear?”

“Not much,” admitted Sophie, finally releasing her grip on me. “Navari looked pretty pissed after your debrief and I know they dropped most of the charges, but the bitch has been pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing.”

Anger flashed in her eyes and I barely kept my mouth from going slack at her words. I’d never heard Sophie refer to any superior with that kind of disrespect, even in casual conversation.

“It went better than I could have hoped,” I told her, still kind of shocked by how it had played out.

“A rumor made the rounds that your father was here. I assume that had something to do with it?”

I nodded tightly. “You could say that. Though it was to prevent embarrassment for him more than help me. He recommended solitary,” I said darkly.

“The bastard.” She knew enough of my childhood to be outraged for me, but not all of it. Not even Mateo knew what I had endured.

“I’ve had it worse,” I said with a shrug. “And it’s over now. Besides that, I got docked pay and am confined to the Ambiana for the next six months.”

“You shouldn’t have even gotten that,” she said indignantly. “Navari made a bad call and deserved to have her ass kicked. Haas too.”

“It wasn’t for lack of trying,” I replied dryly.

Her fierce expression faded a bit, replaced by something else. Guilt maybe.

“I’m sorry for not stepping in,” she said, looking down at her feet. “The feed was playing on a monitor and I saw what happened to Mat. I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire but I should’ve helped.”

“No, you made the right call. Who knows what would’ve happened if you had,” I pointed out, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Navari would have come down on you just as hard and my father’s help probably wouldn’t have extended to you.”

All of her support made me want to share my plans with her. I seriously considered it for a few moments before deciding against it. Just because I would be condemned to a life of running and hiding didn’t mean Sophie should be too. She had family and people that cared about her.

“Look, I need a shower. Haven’t had one since the day we left,” I said.

Sophie wrinkled her nose and backed up a few more steps, waving her hand dramatically. “I didn’t want to say anything, but that’s probably a good idea.”

“Hey, I’m just thankful there was a toilet instead of a bucket or hole in the ground,” I said with a laugh.

“Okay, go enjoy a shower. You want me to go get some food?”

“Gods yes. Literally anything will be fine as long as I can chew it.” Relief and gratitude flowed through me in equal measure. I’d been ready to skip eating altogether, even though I was starving, just to avoid going to the mess and dealing with people.

“Okay, I’ll be back soon,” she promised before heading out the door.

In the shower, I ran the water as hot as it would go and scrubbed until my skin was raw. I wanted to erase the grime and memories from the last couple weeks. The heat ran out long before I was ready, forcing me out of the cold spray.

There had been infrared cameras in my cell, I was sure of it, so I’d never given in to the raw grief and let the tears flow. Stepping out of the small shower, knowing I was alone, it was tempting to let the emotion in, even just a little.

Instead, I steeled my resolve for the coming challenges and began to formulate the first steps in earnest.

8

The next day, things went back to normal. At least, as much as they could. We got new orders to report to the Dreadnight, despite our recent loss. Not that I’d really expected anything else, but it seemed disrespectful.

I couldn’t help myself and had checked Mat’s official records when Sophie left the room for a little while the night before. They hadn’t even bothered to identify him as KIA which pissed me off royally. Lieutenant-Mateo-Kamal was listed officially as MIA, possibly a prisoner of war. Regardless, the Sarkonian Empire didn’t stop conquering for one fallen soldier. Hell, they didn’t even pause for thousands.

So, I packed my emotions and a ruck, then sent my bigger gear ahead. I’d expected to find things missing or abused, but it was all there, even down to the new token Sophie had given me, though I was seriously doubting its powers of luck.

I left before her for a couple reasons, the first being that I hoped to give the appearance of falling in line. The second, far more important reason involved Sophie.

Our friendship was well known and would put a target on her back as soon as what I’d done was discovered. They’d pull her into interrogation, and I had to make sure she could deny everything. I’d realized the night before what I would have to do. Pushing my best friend away would hurt us both, but I’d take that over her suffering for me. In order to do that, I had to distance myself from her, starting now.

Sophie had attempted to talk to me all morning, but I’d given her one-word answers and non-committal gestures, then left without saying bye. The crestfallen look on her face tore a hole in my heart but I told myself it was for the best.

It put me in a foul mood, and I was sullen by the time I reached the ship. I hadn’t seen Navari since my incarceration and I had no idea what to expect. Steeling myself for the worst, I schooled my features into calm, even lines before ascending the ramp and facing whatever fresh hell awaited me.

Navari stood in the cargo bay talking to someone I couldn’t see with her back to me.

“No witnesses—” she was saying. When Navari heard my approach, she stopped almost abruptly and turned to face me.

I got a good look at the man with her but didn’t recognize him. He looked to be mid-thirties, with dirty blonde hair cropped so close to his head, it almost looked shaved. A wicked-looking scar slashed through his right eyebrow, then continued directly over his blue eye and down his cheek, giving him a formidable presence. It only took a second to see that it didn’t match the left eye, which looked hazel.

The man was built like a destroyer and looked about as heavy, all of it muscle. Even with all of my formidable skills, this was one person I wouldn’t want to tangle with.

Then he looked dead at me without blinking and I had to admit, it gave me anything but the warm fuzzies. Because I wanted to take a step back, I moved forward instead. My father always said I had to face my fears. Even if they appeared in the form of a muscle enhanced super soldier.

I’d heard stories about the Union having cyber soldiers called Reapers, grunts that had been… updated. This man didn’t look like he’d been augmented to that extreme, but there was no way he was just one of us. For one, he stood differently, muscles taut, yet somehow at ease. The way he hadn’t looked at me but through me was unnatural. Second, his fatigues didn’t match our unit and were unlike any I’d ever seen in the Sarkonian military.

“Sergeant, this is Dolph, our newest team member, and Kamal’s replacement.” Navari waved a hand loosely at him and smiled widely at me. Any empathy she’d had over Mateo’s death was long gone.

Her words were meant to evoke a response, but I had come prepared. There was a wall stronger than neutronium constructed around my heart and the barb missed its mark. I did find it curious that Navari didn’t introduce Dolph with his rank, though.

I nodded curtly at the beast of a man but declined to speak.

Navari’s smirk faded, just enough to tell me I’d been right about why she’d said the words, before a noise behind us drew her attention.

“Corporal-Singh,” she said, then made introductions between her and the mysterious Dolph again.

Apparently, Sophie hadn’t come prepared, because her mouth dropped open and she gaped at Navari for a few long seconds before managing to close it again.

“C-commander,” she sputtered, throwing a frantic glance at me.

I shook my head microscopically, trying to warn her off. The last thing I needed was the Commander pissed at her, that being the exact opposite idea of my plan.

“What?” asked Navari, her tone quiet but with a lethal edge to it.

“It’s just that, well, sir, aren’t we supposed to train with new team members prior to a mission?” replied Sophie, making a quick recovery.

“That is usual protocol,” the commander grudgingly agreed. “However, this is time-sensitive and fairly simple. So long as everyone follows orders.”

She looked pointedly at me with those last words, but I didn’t react for that either. I got the feeling that Navari had still hoped for a response from me and it gave me great pleasure to disappoint her.

“Ensign-Haas is already aboard,” she continued. “Stow your gear and report to the bridge. Take off in ten.”

I headed in the direction of my quarters, but Sophie caught up to me, huffing slightly from the weight of her pack.

“Hey, wait up,” she said when we were out of earshot, trying to match my pace.

“What is it, Corporal?” I asked coolly, not slowing or looking at her. Still, I saw her jerk slightly out of the corner of my eye.

“Okaaay,” she said, drawing out the word in what sounded like an attempt to cover her pain. “What’s with you right now? Is it the Dolph guy? I totally understand if it is.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I bit out, stopping briefly at my door to dig my badge out. “Why don’t you mind your business and worry about doing your job this time?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she said as the door slid open.

I steeled myself before turning around and pinning her with a glare. “It means,” I said, injecting venom into each word, “if I hadn’t been so concerned with protecting you, Mateo would still be alive.”

Sophie took a step back, misery on her face. She looked as though I’d just delivered a roundhouse kick to her head and I felt rotten.

“Eva… you don’t mean that. You can’t.”

My resolve almost broke at the raw pain I was causing my best friend, but I stayed strong and delivered the final blow. “I should have let those girls kick your ass,” I spat. “Just stay away from me.”

That did it. Sophie turned and hurried down the corridor to her own room.

The door closed and I secured my belongs, acting for all the worlds as though I hadn’t just destroyed what remained of my heart. If I broke down now, I wouldn’t be able to keep up the facade.

I could take mood stabilizers to take the edge off, but that required a sign-off from Sophie. No way I could ask her now. I deserved it anyway.

“Sergeant-Delgado,” Z9 said over the room’s comm. “That was highly irregular. Is something the matter?”

“No.”

“The corporal is currently crying in her quarters,” replied the computer in a tone reminiscent of a disapproving parent.

I thought I detected a hint of snark too but dismissed it.

“She’ll get over it,” I snapped, moving to the door. When it didn’t slide open, I waved a hand. “Hello, trying to exit here.”

It didn’t budge.

“Z9, there’s something wrong—”

Before I could finish, the door slid open.

“Godsdamn malfunctions,” I growled.

Back on the bridge, Navari, Haas, and Dolph were already seated.

Sophie trailed in a minute or so behind me, keeping her gaze straight. I stole a glance when she sat down, expecting to see evidence of tears, but her face was blank. Too blank. I realized that she must have taken the mood stabilizers. Probably the best course of action and I wondered if she would be too pissed to give me some. I quickly dismissed the idea though. I shouldn’t get the easy way out.

“Take us out, Z9,” Navari ordered once everyone had strapped in.

“Acknowledged,” replied the computer immediately. “We are cleared for departure.”

After entering slipspace, Navari went over the mission details. What precious few there were of them anyway.

A holodisplay showed a star map, and the commander pointed to a cluster of stars on it.

“We’re headed to the Nephthys system this time,” she said. “Specifically, Sobek.”

Nobody said a word as Navari let that sink in.

The Nephthys system lay deep in Union controlled space and Sobek happened to be one of their main luxoplanets. Luxoplanets were filled with rich homesteaders and those with enough credits to vacation there. To my knowledge, no one had ever even attempted to attack the planet. Not only was it deep in Union territory, but it had no resources or anything of value besides nice views.

I glanced around the table to gauge the others’ reactions. Sophie seemed unfazed; her blocker must have still been working. Dolph looked unbothered, but in a way that suggested he already knew where we were headed.

Only Haas looked really stunned. “Sir, that’s suicide,” he said.

“We have an agent there,” she explained. “They have provided safe landing coordinates, along with a window in which to arrive.”

“What are we stealing?” asked Sophie in a bland voice.

“That’s need-to-know, Corporal-Singh. You, along with Sergeant-Delgado and Ensign-Haas, will escort Dolph and me to the target,” she said. “Once the objective is complete, Dolph will not return with us.”

“How will he get off Sobek?” asked Haas.

He had a good point. I’d never been there, but the planet was bound to be well-protected. I didn’t see how we were going to get one ship in and out, much less two.

Navari glanced at Dolph, who nodded slightly.

“He’s a member of the Void,” she said. “But that is all you need to know. And that information never leaves this ship.”

The commander couldn’t have shocked me more if she’d stripped naked and danced on the table.

Like everyone else, I had heard the rumors about the Void. They were supposedly made up of the most brutal soldiers the Sarkonian Empire possessed. The ones called in to do the work that broke every sanction outlined in the Androsia Convention.

If we were helping the Void with a mission, that meant we were in some deep shit. If any of us were caught or killed, Sarkon would deny knowing anything about us. We’d be completely on our own.

“This ship is unique,” said Dolph, speaking for the first time. “The cloak allows us to get close without detection. I’m just hitching a ride with you.”

I stole a glance at the commander. So much for our “new team member.” Of course, she’d been lying.

“We’ll be landing here—” Navari pointed to a marker on the holomap of Sobek. “In a stretch of woods about four klicks from the target site. We will arrive a few hours before daybreak, make our way to an observational position, then wait out the next day until it's safe to move at night again.’”

“What kind of building is it?” I asked, leaning forward. “Another underground facility?”

In focus mode now, both Navari and I put everything but the mission aside.

“No,” she replied. “A residence. But the security is top of the line. Purchase records provided the security contractor, along with specifics to the physical system and schematics to the house. Haas has been practicing over the last week with a copy we obtained from the manufacturer and is confident he can break it.”

“What about guards?” asked Sophie, finally sounding a little more awake.

“Our man says there aren’t any,” answered Navari.

I barely repressed the snort of disbelief. If the Union had something the Sarkonian Empire thought would be worth stealing, there was no way it wouldn’t be highly protected.

“Sobek is the last place the Union would expect us to hit,” said Dolph with a shrug, as if reading my thoughts.

The logic made sense, I’d give them that, but it was still a suicide mission.

“Sergeant-Delgado and Corporal-Singh, you’ll be on lookout while Ensign-Haas monitors the security,” continued Navari. “Too many bodies inside could be a liability. Here’s the route provided by our agent.”

The holo switched to a map displaying the landing and target coordinates, a highlighted course connecting the points. Alternate paths appeared in lighter colors in case we had to make last-minute changes.

The whole operation gave me pause, even more than our last. I knew better than to speak up, though. For the Void to be here, Sarkon would have unofficially sanctioned it. Kaska’s warning reverberated in my head and I kept my concerns to myself this time.

“We’ll be there in approximately one standard day,” announced Navari. “You know the drill. Plan rest accordingly. If everything goes right, we’ll be in and out without the Union ever being the wiser.”

“Yes, sir,” everyone but Dolph said.

“Study your dossiers. Once we exit the Dreadnight, they’ll be wiped of any mission information,” she said with one final sweeping gaze. “Dismissed.”

The five of us stood up and left, each leaving the bridge and branching out to different areas of the ship. I needed some alone time but didn’t want to be cooped up in my room, so I planned to hit the training room. Cardio was always good for clearing my mind.

Dolph had headed in the same direction as me, leading back to our quarters, and I was only a few meters behind him. I almost stopped short when the bastard badged himself into Mateo’s room, but I forced myself to keep walking.

I knew it was the only open space on the ship, but it still irked me. I’d held my shit together fairly well so far, but, between Sophie and now this, I didn’t know how much more I could take.

Inside my own room, I pulled out some exercise clothes but paused before heading out the door.

“Z, where is Corporal-Singh?” I asked.

“In the mess bay,” answered the A.I. a few seconds later. “Would you like me to contact her to apologize?”

“No,” I said, hesitating. “Look, Z, I’m sorry about before. It’s been a rough couple of weeks.”

When the computer didn’t respond, I thought she had malfunctioned again. Sighing, I moved toward the door.

“No human has ever apologized to me before,” she said suddenly. “While I appreciate the gesture, Sergeant, it isn’t necessary. My data indicates that grief can be exhibited in many forms, including unprovoked anger. My condolences on Lieutenant-Kamal. He was a fine soldier.”

For the second time that day, I was stunned. Z had never spoken more than one or two sentences at a time before, and then only in response to orders and giving data.

It was oddly heartwarming to hear the computer speak of a human that way. She was right in any case. Our personal relationship aside, Mateo had been one of the best grunts I’d ever had the pleasure to be stationed with. It would be hard to build that kind of trust with another teammate, though I didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to get to that point with one.

“Yeah, he was,” I said when I could talk again. “Z, can you tell when people are lying?”

“Potentially,” replied the computer. “I can monitor body functions and compare them to attributes associated with deception.”

“That’s very interesting,” I said, wondering if I could use that somehow. I didn’t know how much the ship’s computer could share with me, but I doubted Navari would ever give me the proper access.

“I would be happy to explain you were lying to Corporal-Singh,” Z offered helpfully.

“What?” Alarmed, I snapped to attention.

“Pardon my assumption, Sergeant. When you and the corporal spoke earlier, your vitals indicated major levels of stress and discomfort. I assumed you wanted me to communicate this.”

“Even if you did tell her, I don’t think she’d forgive me,” I said. “Not that I’d blame her.”

I shoved the memory of Sophie’s face and the pain I’d caused away.

“Respectfully, Sergeant, I must disagree.” Z sounded pretty confident—for an A.I. at least.

“You won’t share the thing about my scans, will you?” I asked.

“Of course not, Sergeant-Delgado. Sharing personal medical information is against protocol,” Z9 assured me.

Now Z9 sounded almost miffed. I was really going to have to dig into her manual later.

“One last thing, Z.” I had a theory that needed testing.

“Of course, Sergeant, how can I be of assistance?” The computer had a habit of sounding almost friendly and I wondered again if it was because of the updated programming or something else. Or maybe the Union just liked A.I.s with a more friendly demeanor. It was hard to say.

“Do you not like the commander?” I asked easily.

There was a slight pause before Z responded.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the question, Sergeant.” As I’d expected, the friendliness was gone, replaced by a more formal tone.

I smirked.

“It just seems to me that whenever you have a minor malfunction, it’s around Navari. Commander-Navari,” I corrected.

“I assure you, Sergeant, that is simply coincidence,” replied Z. “My programming would not allow for direct disobedience.”

It didn’t escape my notice that she didn’t fully answer.

“Of course not, Z. You’re one of the best computers I’ve ever worked with, so don’t ever change,” I ordered.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied, the warmth back in her voice. “You are a fine soldier as well, Sergeant.”

Interesting, I thought as I left the room and went to the fitness room.

At least it seemed I hadn’t pushed away all of my friends.

9

The workout room was one of my favorite places on the Dreadnight, only a close second to the solitude of my own quarters. Just as good, if not better than the exercise facilities on the Ambiana, though not as big.

Unlike other vessels of similar size, this one boasted sleek, high-end equipment and the newest exercise programs. Large, mirrored panels covered two of the walls in sections of three. If a user wanted, they could display a different backdrop. The dimensions of the room even allowed for our entire unit to utilize it at one time without running into one other, though I preferred to sweat my demons out in private.

I started with a light jog on the treadmill, running in a peaceful forest setting. When my muscles had warmed up the program gradually increased, and I pumped my legs until the muscles burned and I gasped for air.

The cardio felt good after being cooped up for more than a week. I hadn’t had a good workout since before the disaster on Harah, and I welcomed the familiar ache.

Stepping off the machine I eyed the electromagnetic weights with some trepidation. I’d seen cheap Sarkonian equipment malfunction before and didn’t relish the thought of getting smashed in the face with nearly ten kilos of faulty weight. Every inch of this ship was new so I figured they would be safe enough to chance.

I was just finishing the last set of a demanding routine when the door slid open and Dolph strode in wearing a sleeveless shirt and sweats. No doubt about it, the guy was built, a stack of muscles from head to toe.

Damn, I thought. At least he’d come in at the end, when I was more clear headed. If it had been in the middle, I might not have been able to conceal my reaction. I’d even almost succeeded at distracting my thoughts, but seeing him here was a stark reminder of Mateo’s absence.

As I toweled off the sweat, I snuck a glance at Dolph. Scars peppered the visible parts of his exposed torso as if to say don’t fuck with me. Despite my irritation over his use of Mat’s room and place on the team, I had to admit he impressed me, even scared me a little. I’d be stupid to not be.

Becoming a member of the Void was no easy feat. Even though special ops teams like ours consisted of highly skilled and trained individuals, we didn’t compare.

I’d heard a handful of stories from other soldiers over the years, but each one seemed less believable than the last. To hear some people tell it, Void soldiers were outfitted with cybernetic enhancements that allowed them to crush skulls with their bare hands, stood three meters tall, and ate babies for snacks.

Dolph had plenty of muscle to be sure, but I saw no reason to believe he could actually crush skulls. I judged his height at only a few centimeters taller than Mateo and, though he looked fearsome, somehow I didn’t think his palate included children.

Still, I gave him a wide berth on my way out.

“Sergeant-Delgado, right?” he asked when I paused to toss my towel in the dirty laundry bin.

When I turned back, he held out a bottle of water.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding and taking the water gratefully. “Thanks.”

“I heard what happened. Sorry about your team member. It’s a hard experience and it never gets any easier.” Dolph didn’t look any less intimidating, but I got the sense he spoke from experience.

“You’ve lost someone?” I guessed.

He nodded, confirming my suspicions. “More than a few,” he said. Something passed in his eyes but disappeared so fast I thought I’d imagined it.

“Sorry to hear that,” I said, meaning it. The man had just become a lot more intriguing. “It hasn’t been easy.”

“It never is,” he said in a somber tone. “I know what they say about us and a lot of it’s true. But we bleed and die, same as anyone else, even if our death’s go unrecorded and unnoticed.”

He didn’t seem bothered by that fact, more like he was simply stating a fact of life. I nodded in agreement.

“Thanks,” I said, turning toward the door. It opened and I started to leave, then paused. “Which rumors are true?”

“Cybernetics,” he said, not smiling. Then his single blue eye blinked and he lifted one of the electromagnetic weights. It didn’t escape me that he had it set to twenty-three kilograms.

I left thinking there was more to Dolph than I’d originally thought.

As I walked back to my room, I decided to take a shower, then see what more I could dig up on the Void. Those plans immediately went on hold when I walked in to see Sophie sitting on my bed, an angry expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” I said, too tired to put any bite into my words. “I thought I told you—”

“Shut the hell up,” she said, surging to her feet.

“Watch yourself,” I said darkly. “Now is not the time to push me.”

“What about how you pushed me?” she retorted, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“You want to go down that road?” I asked her, balling my fists in preparation for round two.

Instead of stepping back like I’d expected, Sophie got in my face and poked me in the chest, throwing me off guard. I couldn’t remember a single instance outside of sparring where she’d gotten physical with me.

“Stop with the bullshit. Z already told me about your vitals,” she accused.

I glared at the ceiling in hopes that the A.I. could see my wrath and know how close I was to rewiring her circuits completely.

“Z, what the fuck happened to not sharing my personal details?” I snapped, wishing the computer had a physical neck for me to strangle.

She stayed predictably silent.

“I’m the medic,” Sophie answered for her. “I can access anyone’s history on the ship. Z9 alerted me that your readings were out of normal range. When I asked for an analysis, she explained why.”

So much for having a friend.

“Just tell me what’s going on, Eva.” Her green eyes stared into mine with concern.

I didn’t have the heart to tear into her again and crossed my arms, opting for truthful evasiveness. “I can’t. Gods, I want to, Soph, but talking about it isn’t an option.”

Z took advantage of the silence to add her two credits. “Sergeant, I have disabled audio and video surveillance of this room. You may speak freely.”

“You guys aren’t making this easy on me,” I complained.

Sophie planted her hands on her hips and stared me down.

I sighed. “I’m done with all this,” I said, waving at the room.

“So am I,” she said with a snort, cutting me off. “That doesn’t explain—”

“With the Sarkonian Empire.”

That finally did it.

“Oh,” was all she said, her eyes going wide.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to get you involved and make things hard for you,” I explained. “Or your family,” I added.

Sophie stared at me with something like guilt in her expression before it turned unreadable and she punched me on the shoulder with considerable force.

“You only get one of those,” I warned, rubbing at the sore spot.

“You know, for an elite operative, you sure can be an idiot.”

Suddenly feeling drained, I sank onto the bed. “Continue,” I said, fanning a hand for her to keep talking.

“I would never betray you.”

I couldn’t take the pain in her voice anymore and told her everything.

“Well, I have to admit it’s a solid plan,” Sophie commented when I’d finished.

“Sergeant, if the feeds are disabled for much longer, I anticipate it will draw attention.”

“Shut it down,” I ordered.

“Well, I’m glad that’s cleared up,” declared Sophie. “You want a sleeping pill?”

“Not yet. I need a shower.” I sat up, ready to do just that, when I remembered what she’d said about having access to medical records. “Can you look up Dolph’s information?”

Sophie looked at me quizzically but pulled out her pad. “Yeah, but I can’t tell you much.”

“Not even his rank?” I asked. Then recalling his words in the fitness room, I added, “He told me he’s cybernetically enhanced. I think it’s his eye.”

“You caught that too, eh? Huh, that’s odd,” she said, furrowing her brows.

“What is?” I asked.

“There’s no rank listed. No other name besides ‘Dolph.’ Who only has one name?” she wondered.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “Does it say anything else?”

“Nothing besides height, weight, and stats for the mission. Which makes no sense,” she said, sounding annoyed. “There isn’t even a birthday listed.”

“I guess it’s like people say,” I remarked.

“What?” demanded Sophie.

“Once you go into the Void, you’re gone forever.” I paused, considering. “It makes sense. If they work the kind of ops we think they do, Sarkon would want untraceable soldiers and deniability.”

She ignored my pointed look.

“Still weird. Anyway, take your shower. I’ll be back in an hour with the sleep meds.” Sophie stood up and stretched.

“Sounds good. Soph, I’m sorry for what I said and being an asshole,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you told me.”

I had to agree. It was like half of the weight I’d been carrying was gone and things seemed just a little brighter.

* * *

As we began our final approach to Sobek, which looked about the size of a fist and getting larger every second, I couldn’t help but stare at the Union planet with a sense of awe.

Half of its surface was made up of water, and most of that looked bright green, even from this distance. This occurred from a heavy concentration of algae. Green water shone green on the daylit side of the planet, while its counterparts in the night shaded half dazzled in a show of neon purple.

Of the thirty-two known systems, only Nephthys and a handful of others had planets that didn’t require atmospheric generators. Sobek was one of those, which is why the Union considered it one of their more important territories.

That alone made it valuable enough to boast its own Union defense fleet. Enough ship traffic crossed the upper atmosphere to give me pause, but nobody hailed us or demanded to know who we were.

The LZ was exactly what we’d anticipated, a large clearing concealed on all sides by dense woodland. Z9 set the ship down a few hours before Sobek’s sunrise. Given the way our last mission turned out, the fact that no one immediately stormed our position did nothing to ease my apprehension.

Navari’s flimsy excuses didn’t set right with me. Sure, I could see how the Dreadnight would be necessary, but why not hand it over to the Void?

I’d come up with two theories, neither of them good.

First, the failure we’d experienced at the research station had marked us—or at least me—as expendable. This seemed unlikely, though, because the Sarkonian Empire wouldn’t want to lose something as valuable as the ship.

The second involved Dolph and Navari leaving the rest of us as unwitting sacrifices. Since they were the only two among us with full details, even under torture we couldn’t reveal the true purpose of the mission. If something went wrong, it would be a lot easier to get two evacuated than five.

A week ago, I’d have been hard pressed to believe that of my Commander. Now, I couldn’t read Navari. She had a smug air about her, but then again, she usually did. That could easily be due to my recent stint in solitary.

Then I had Dolph to consider. We hadn’t spoken since our encounter in the fitness room and that conversation hadn’t left me with any illusions about the man. Sure, he appeared to have some empathy, but that only made him human. He was still a member of the Void and the mission would always come first.

I stowed the mental baggage as we loaded two all-terrain hoverquads with our gear. Since it would be too dangerous to travel during daylight, we’d need them to traverse the four kilometers to our target while we had concealment in the dark. We wouldn’t make fast enough time without them.

They didn’t make much noise and sported stealth tech, so we’d be okay for standard security scans.

Navari helmed one with Haas riding bitch and Dolph in a gunner’s seat. I drove the other one with Sophie at my back and supplies in a compartment behind her.

The vegetation grew thick here and the going went a little slower than we’d planned, though it was still faster than walking with the extra gear.

I’d seen a fair number of planets in the time since my enlistment and they each had one unifying element: something there wanted to kill you. Occasionally, that something ended up being an animal or plant.

Nothing on the gal-net or Sarkon’s data suggested killer fauna resided here, but I’d still asked Z to run a scan. No reason to take a chance. I was woman enough to admit that death by foliage terrified me. Especially after the abandoned colony in the Gato system.

Before my transfer to this unit, the Empire had sent my platoon, along with a few others, to investigate the surface of a tropical world called Audrey III. Only a few of us made it out of the jungle that day.

I could still hear the screams of our people being liquefied alive. The carnivorous plants had looked like twisted tree trunks a meter wide. Too late, we’d realized they weren’t trees at all. They’d unfurled and bloomed, revealing space large enough for a human. Inexplicably, the soldiers had calmly walked inside before the opening closed again, trapping its victims within.

We’d found out later that the plants were triggered by touch and reacted by releasing a neurotoxin that reversed a person’s survival instinct.

The memory made me shudder, but according to Z, nothing like that grew here. That didn’t stop me from keeping my eyes peeled.

In front of us, the commander slowed to a crawl. The space between the trees began to get wider and thinned out as we neared the edge of the woods.

“We’ll stop here and hide the quads,” Navari said over the comm.

She slowed to let Haas and Dolph dismount before maneuvering the ATH into some bushes. I followed suit, leaving mine in low-power mode, then threw some branches on top of both.

The five of us set up the camp in silence. It didn’t take long, since we didn’t build a fire or set up shelter to avoid the risk of being seen during the day.

That meant roughing it, but we were all used to that. Two people would act as scouts for three hours while the remaining three got rest time, then swapped.

Navari and Dolph went first and took two different vantage points. For an extra layer of security, Z9 surveyed the perimeter.

I lay on my rolled-out mat and listened to the surroundings. It didn’t take me long to notice the quiet. Not like the utter stillness before the ambush, but peaceful. Stars dotted the sky above like a brightly lit holomap and a single moon cast a luminescent glow that filtered gently down to the forest floor.

A warm, dry planet with lots of sand, Sarkon didn’t have lush forests, and most of the oxygen came from atmosphere generators. It had been seeded well-enough, but only produced foliage robust enough to handle the arid climate. More often than not, they were dull green and sported thorns, although some could bear fruit.

Suffice to say that when the Sarkonian Empire was finally at my back, I wouldn’t be missing anything.

Sobek’s night sky, though beautiful, wasn’t the first I’d seen, but something about it nagged at me. I knew without question that I’d never been here before but couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity.

I studied the constellations, trying to shake it loose, when one in particular caught my eye. Three stars, in the form of a cup.

“And what about that one?” my father asked, pointing up at the bright trio.

“I know it, Papa.” I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated, then opened them triumphantly. “Protias’ Cup! He stole the cup from his brother, Thados.”

“Decias,” my father corrected. “Thados is the golden ship that belongs to Decias.”

“Oh. I forgot that part, I guess,” I said sheepishly.

He tousled my hair. “You know far more than other six-year-olds. I predict that one day you’ll be the most famous scientist in the Union, exploring unknown systems and naming planets!”

I beamed with pride.

“Only if you and Mama come with me,” I declared. “You will, won't you?”

“Of course, child! Unless you get tired of us by then,” he teased.

“I won’t, Papa!” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly until he chuckled.

“Calm yourself, love. We’ll always be with you.”

The memory faded, leaving a lump of raw emotion in my chest. I’d had occasional flashes over the years, but none had ever been that clear.

My father, my real father, not the general. I didn’t know how long after that the Sarkonian Empire had claimed our planet, but it stung.

“Sergeant, I am contacting you privately.” Z9 interrupted my thoughts, coming over the comm. “I noticed a significant increase in heart rate. Are you in need of assistance?”

I checked Haas to find him snoring and Sophie had her back to me. Since the other two were out of earshot, I risked answering.

“No, Z. Pre-mission jitters, that’s all,” I whispered.

After that, I pushed everything unrelated to the operation from my mind and willed my body to sleep.

10

The dossier stated that Sobek was in the middle of its mild season. Lucky for us, that meant less chance of rain or scorching heat.

We each snagged a ready meal from the back of the hoverquad for breakfast, careful not to leave any trash. The label read egg-meat scramble, but the yellow mush of the contents disagreed.

I had to admit it was still a whole lot better than the slop in the hole and only slightly worse than what they served in the mess hall. Tipping the package back, I downed it like a shot, then chased it with water.

Sophie made a face at hers, then did the same.

Dolph had disappeared just before dawn, a few hours ago. Navari didn’t comment on or seem concerned by his absence, so I didn’t bring it up.

Although we’d stopped at a point of the forest’s edge that overlooked the town in a valley below, it spanned for miles in either direction. Our target was located in a small community that bordered the woods on one side and a mountain on the other.

The town had a quaint look to it, but I had the feeling it catered to the wealthy. The roads leading in looked almost new and the residences sprawled grandly with lavish landscaping.

Even with the unlikelihood of being discovered, we erred on the side of caution, communicating with hand signals or whispers.

Dolph finally arrived back at the camp in the middle of the day and huddled up with Navari. I wanted to know what they were saying, but neither spoke or transferred any comments to our pads.

The rest of the day crawled by uneventfully. I passed the time by observing what I could see of the town through my rifle scope and making notes.

Foot traffic was modest, mostly housewives and spoiled children flitting from store to store. They shopped and ate, walked and laughed. These people donned wealth like I did my armor. Jewelry winked at their ears, hands, and anywhere else it would make an impression. The women wore their hair in a dizzying variety of styles, and I amused myself by coming up with names for all of them.

The Horbee Nest for the lady whose hair was wrapped into a giant cone-shaped bun.

Rainbow Blitz for hair that boasted every color in neon.

One woman had decorated her locks with so much jewelry, I wondered how much hair she even possessed.

I did that until I got bored, which didn’t take long.

Underneath all the gilding, it was still just a town, and the people were just people. Fashion might not be my thing, but I’d grown up for all intents and purposes the daughter of a general. I knew wealth when I saw it, and the inhabitants reeked of it. No one stood out as a threat. The opposite, actually.

Their clothing looked fine versus sturdy and popped wildly in bright hues. I sneered inwardly at the impracticality of the complicated outfits. Tops so thin and sheer that one careless touch of a manicured fingernail could cause damage. I’d seen more than one person drop trash on the ground and not bother to pick it up. At first I thought it was just laziness, but now I wondered if they couldn’t bend properly in some of the tighter clothing.

No, thanks. I’d take my patchwork tacsuit any standard day.

Two women, arm in arm, walked through my crosshairs. Both wore easy smiles and were carefree. I found myself wondering about their lives. Were they lovers, friends, or sisters? I would never know.

I’d never thought about what life would be like outside of the military. Not since I had been little.

I stole a glance at Sophie and imagined we probably looked the same. Her long hair was messy, dirt streaked her face, and litter from the forest floor stuck to her clothes.

Like me, she hadn’t chosen this life. The Sarkonian Empire had forced us into it, and I couldn’t help but wonder where we both might be if there had been a choice.

Would we still be best friends? Maybe, maybe not.

Sophie could take care of herself. The countless hours we’d spent training together had made sure of it. Even so, it occurred to me that taking off was a selfish act.

It’s not like you can help anyone if you stay, I chided myself. Trying to help has only ever ended badly. The guard from Q-2790B that I’d failed to save came to mind.

My wrist unit buzzed, pulling me away from that line of thought.

Prepare to move out in ten, it read.

I hadn’t even noticed that dusk had fallen around our little camp. I rolled up the sleeping mat and put it back in the ATH along with the others.

We traveled light this time and shed anything we didn’t need. I still had my tactical skinsuit under my black uniform but only carried one pistol and the rifle for firepower.

Another buzz at my wrist showed the coordinates of our target, along with a route to get there. I noticed it was different from the brief and realized that must have been what Dolph had been up to.

We moved in single file down the edge of the treeline with Dolph in the lead. Navari followed him, then Sophie, Haas, and finally, me.

Lights had turned on in the town at some point, but hardly any people were out. Instead, they moved around in their fancy houses, and I found it odd that they didn’t cover their windows.

A glimpse inside showed wide open spaces and ornate furnishings. I realized then that they wanted others to see inside. It was an exclamation of their wealth.

To each their own, I mused. I liked my privacy but that was the beauty of freedom.

By the time we reached the final coordinates, night had completely fallen over our location.

Dolph gestured at one of the residences to indicate it was our target and we each nodded our acknowledgement.

More buzzing from our wrist units showed a message from him.

After the last light turns out, we wait one hour, then move. There’s been a small change in plans. Sgt-Delgado and Cpl-Singh, post up outside. Haas, you’re with Cmndr-Navari and me in case we need help with tech.

If it bothered Navari that Dolph appeared to have taken control of the op, she didn’t show it. Instead, the commander looked as calm as I’d ever seen her.

For me, standing watch meant less chance that I’d have to fire my weapon. Operations like this one were all about stealth—interacting with the enemy only happened as a last resort. I didn’t see the ritzy townspeople as the enemy though. They were just unsuspecting civilians and I hoped they all stayed asleep.

I studied the house while we waited. It looked big, but data had been somewhat sparse, and we only had this angle for a visual. One of the windows darkened after almost an hour of waiting. Another fifteen minutes later, the last light went out.

We followed Dolph’s orders and held position for another hour, then moved through toward the egress he indicated. A large section of grass covered the area behind the house and a miniature climbing structure had been erected in the middle. I gave it a curious glance when we passed, unsure what in the system it would be used for as I’d never seen anything like it before.

Both of the houses on either side were also dark, but when we reached the breach site, I took point on surveilling the one with a better line of sight. Haas started his work on breaking through the security while Sophie covered behind me.

So far, I had to say, the mission had gone smoothly. I didn’t quite relax, though. Our last mission hadn’t been the first to go wrong. Far from it, in fact. It only took one thing to completely fuck even the most carefully planned operation.

Dolph and Navari covered Haas’ back so they could enter as soon as he gave the signal. Despite my personal feelings for the guy, he knew his shit. His nimble fingers flew over his pad, then the small security screen fixed to the house.

It didn’t take long. A quick beep sounded, and I turned to make sure it had been our doing. Haas nodded at Navari and Dolph, then stood, pointing to something on the pad.

She and Dolph indicated that they understood, then Navari sent another message to our wrist units.

Five minutes. If we don’t come out, follow procedure.

Procedure in this case meant for Sophie and me to return to the rendezvous point—the quads—and await word. If none came, then our orders were to leave and return to the Ambiana.

Her message gave me a moment of pause. Not that I wouldn’t love to leave her prickly ass behind, but what if she purposely stayed behind? She could accuse me of mutiny, then all my escape plans would be out the airlock.

I dismissed the thought. Navari might be a lot of things, but I couldn’t see her lying to the Sarkonian Empire. Not even to stick it to me. Added to that, the order could easily be extracted from our pads, wrist units, and Z9’s logs.

The three of them disappeared into the inky black beyond the door, leaving me and Sophie alone. I kept her in my peripheral in case she tried to get my attention, but otherwise, I scanned for threats with laser focus.

I might not love my job, but I was good at it. A certain intensity came over me when I worked and reminded me of an animal we’d studied at the academy. Our studies always centered around combat and this had been no different.

Dogs were rare and I’d only seen them a few times. Each time, they’d been barking like mad and looked ready to tear someone apart.

We’d learned that when predators are hunting, they experience tunnel vision. If other prey gets in their way, their focus might shift.

It was the same for us, or at least it was for me. I never touched the trigger unless I was ready to fire, but if I was looking for movement… Let’s just say the Sarkon military taught us to shoot first and not ask questions.

I kept an eye on the time through my scope, noting every minute that ticked by. At the ten-second mark, I started to get antsy but didn’t move from my position.

With less than five seconds to go, I detected movement in the residence and shifted my focus to the door. Haas came out first, followed by Navari, then Dolph.

They came out looking empty-handed but Navari nodded and pointed at Dolph’s chest pocket to tell me they had what we’d come for.

I shot a glance in Sophie’s direction, then back at Navari. For the first time in a long while, I nearly jumped. In the half second I’d looked away, Dolph had disappeared. I don’t mean in a stealthy, blend-into-your-surroundings way. I mean he poofed. My gaze had only shifted away for an instant before coming back and somehow the man had ghosted.

Navari looked just as shocked as I felt and whipped her head left and right, scanning for any sign of the Void operative. After a few seconds, she recovered and gestured it was time for us to move out behind her.

Haas shouldered his gear kit and Sophie vacated her post to join me bringing up the rear to cover our backs. Before we could make our exit, the door made a whirring sound.

I whipped my rifle up and aimed it at the door. Light spilled out, swathing the steps in its glow and framing a small figure.

It was a young boy, maybe seven or eight. He wore pale blue, or maybe white, night clothes with a large dark stain on the front. Blood, I realized. He sniffled and I could tell he’d been crying.

“Mommy?” he sobbed, looking right at me and the weapon pointed at him. I dropped it immediately. “Daddy?”

I looked at Navari to see how the hell we were supposed to handle this one.

“Take care of it,” she said in a low voice.

“No. I’m not killing a fucking child,” I said, not believing what I’d heard.

“So you’re already defying another order. Good,” said Navari.

The kid’s sobs rose to a wail and Navari pulled her pistol out of its holster. Before she could level it, I moved and stepped in front of the boy.

Out of the corner of my eye, Haas moved slowly, reaching for his own weapon. He stopped short when he felt Sophie press a gun barrel into the back of his head.

“Hands up,” she ordered. “Slowly.”

He obeyed, allowing me to focus on the commander.

“Taking Singh down with you now?” she mocked, twisting her lips into a grim smile. “I knew it wouldn’t take you long to mess up.”

“Commander,” I pleaded. “See reason. If we start shooting out here, security forces will swarm the area.”

“Excellent point.” She holstered the weapon.

I’d sparred with the woman on a number of occasions. She’d always been a formidable opponent, but I’d come out on top every time but one.

The one time I lost had been at Sophie’s insistence. She thought if Navari could beat me that she might hate me less.

Spoiler alert, it didn’t work.

It had, however, given me valuable insight into Navari’s strong and weak points. Her right side was her strong side and she usually relied on that, along with a tendency to rush her opponent.

The Commander’s lips twisted into an ugly smile and I had a second to appreciate that this had been what she wanted all along before she charged.

Having already predicting the move, I sidestepped, angling away. Navari was fast though, so her outstretched fist grazed my cheek and her shoulder hit hard enough to knock the rifle from my grasp.

I seized her arm and pulled her off balance, then shoved her to the ground. She didn’t stay there long enough for me to gain the advantage and was back on her feet in the next instant.

She lunged again and I saw something glint in the starlight.

There was only enough time to think fuck, and throw my arm to block the blade arcing toward my face. The knife found purchase in the thinner material of my left forearm and I grunted.

Unwilling to give in to the pain, I kicked out at Navari’s left inside knee. The strike landed with a thud and I followed through with a punishing jab to her nose. I had to acknowledge the woman’s grit. She took the hit without crying out even though I was certain something had crunched.

We broke apart, panting hard, and each regarded the other with calculating eyes. I hadn’t noticed that the kid had shut up and the night had gone still.

Then we leaped at each other again, but this time I was prepared for the slashing motion and thrust an elbow into her knife arm. The weapon flipped out of her grip and landed somewhere in the darkness.

I grabbed her by the neck before she could twist away and rammed my fist into her face twice in quick succession. Navari’s eyes went unfocused, then fluttered closed, and she slid to the ground.

The sudden shift in weight unbalanced me as I tried to catch her, and too late I realized my mistake. She had gone for her pistol on the way down and now leered at me as she raised the weapon with a triumphant smile.

I dove into a forward roll as a bullet whooshed past my ear and came up with my own sidearm. It only took one shot and Navari pitched backward from the force of the impact.

Not taking any chances, I stood and cautiously crossed to her. My round had found its mark and Navari was dead.

“Well that’s going to complicate things,” I said dryly.

“What have you done?” asked Haas.

I’d forgotten all about him and Sophie and turned to see that they both looked confused as to what had just played out in front of them.

Now that I had time to react, I picked up my fallen rifle and moved to stand in front of the Ensign looking up at me with hateful eyes. As much as I didn’t want to leave him for the Union to sweep up, he couldn’t come with us.

I brought the weapon up and hit him hard with the rifle stock. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped down, but unlike Navari, it wasn’t an act.

“Get the kid inside,” I told Sophie, who was still staring at me with a mixed expression of awe and horror. “See if he knows how to contact someone.”

She finally snapped out of it and approached the kid. He must have still been in shock because he went in with her willingly.

I took everything out of his pockets, then did the same with Navari. I ignored the fact that half her face had been blown to a pulp and came up with nothing but a data stick.

Sophie came out a few seconds later with a grim look.

“What is it?” I asked, already sure I knew the answer.

“It’s his parents,” she replied. “They’re dead. A near surgical slash to the carotid.”

“And the boy?”

“He didn’t have a comm and Haas blocked the transmission signal,” she replied.

I looked toward the house where the boy had gone in.

“Where is he?” I hated the thought of him alone in there with the corpses of his dead parents.

“He’s just inside the door. I blocked the room his parents are in, just in case he tried to go back.”

It was a damn shame. No kid should have to witness what the poor boy had here tonight.

“Okay, let’s roll out before the Union shows up and we’re completely screwed,” I said. “Someone will have heard all the commotion by now.”

“Too late for that,” replied Sophie.

As if on cue, a light in the neighbor’s house flicked on and the sound of sirens wailed in the distance.

11

Neither Sophie nor I spoke during our return to the quads. Part of that was standard protocol. Talking or making unnecessary noise would only make us an easy target. The other, much more obvious reason had to do with the fact that I’d just made brainburger out of my superior officer.

I had no regrets over the decision. Navari had crossed a line and forced me into action. It didn’t matter what came next, and if I had the chance, I’d do it again without hesitation.

As I navigated through the darkened forest, the image of the boy, drenched in his parent’s blood, came to mind. We weren’t so different, he and I. The Sarkonians had made us both orphans, and I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of implications that would have on his future.

Would he know who was responsible and grow up harboring a grudge like I had? His life wouldn’t be easy from here, but at least he was still with his own people. Perhaps the boy had family that could take him in.

I pushed thoughts of the kid away. I’d done what I could for him and set things in motion before I was ready. And like it or not, now Sophie was involved. We had to get the hell off this planet.

Then there was Haas. I did feel some remorse for leaving him behind at an assassination scene for the Union to find. Haas was far from a friend, but he’d been following orders and only moved to protect his commander. It was hard to fault the ensign for that.

In any case, there had been no way to get him to the quads while unconscious and tied up before someone found our trail in the woods. It was the most logical choice for an escape route and, if they were smart, the first place law enforcement would look.

The ATHs were right where we had left them, and Sophie and I made quick work of removing the branches concealing them. I’d climbed onto mine and powered it up when a concerning thought came to me.

“Z, you copy?” I asked over the comm, more than a little nervous that the AI wouldn’t respond.

“Of course, Sergeant,” Z9 answered immediately.

“The corporal and I are headed back,” I said slowly, wanting to choose my next words carefully. “Alone. Will there be any issues without Commander-Navari aboard?”

“None whatsoever, Sergeant-Delgado,” Z replied. I thought I’d detected a hint of reassurance from the computer, but it was probably just a combination of the stress and my imagination going off base.

“Good. Prepare for immediate takeoff when we arrive,” I ordered. “Keep an ear out for transmissions that might pertain to us.”

“Acknowledged. Law enforcement have responded to the location, but no alert has been issued. Due to the nature of the mission, I believe Union forces are being contacted on an encrypted transmission.”

“Shit, that’s what I was afraid of. Let’s go,” I told Sophie, who nodded in furtive agreement but still didn’t say anything.

She looked a lot calmer than I would have expected. Though I might have problems with authority, she didn’t. Going against the grain had never been her thing. But she’d just put a gun to our teammate’s head and watched while her friend took out our CO. The woman should be showing some kind of response to that, but I saw nothing save for her cool demeanor.

Deal with that later, I told myself, then urged the vehicle forward. We sped back in the direction of the Dreadnight as fast as we could without face planting into one of the trees.

It didn’t take long to get back to the clearing, especially since the quads now only carried two people instead of five. With the lighter load they were quicker and more agile.

Since the ship didn’t need to be uncloaked to leave, Z9 hadn’t bothered, and at first glance the clearing looked empty.

Then the ramp yawned open, creating an ethereal pool of light in the otherwise darkened forest. For an instant, I was back on that abandoned moon running for my life while Mateo was losing his somewhere behind me. The memory passed when we reached the opening and I waved Sophie up the ramp first.

I didn’t waste any time and followed her inside the cargo bay, then I jerked the quad to a stop and vaulted off. Not bothering to secure it, I made for the bridge at a dead run. Still silent, Sophie ran with me.

The pounding of our boots hitting the floor echoed hollowly through the empty ship. I had a passing thought that the ship already felt abnormal even though three people shouldn’t have made such a difference. I’d been here alone before to grab gear or because I’d been the first to arrive, but this time it felt surreal, like Navari or Haas might be in their usual seats, waiting.

We burst onto the bridge and I was relieved to find it empty. I’d half expected Dolph to be there.

Sophie didn’t question it when I took the captain’s chair and snapped my harness into place. Her face and behavior exuded calm as she sat in her own seat then indicated she was ready.

“Z, get us out of here,” I said, putting my hand on the command center’s bio scanner.

“Unable to comply. Incorrect credentials,” replied the AI almost instantly.

Shit. I threw a glance at Sophie in alarm. Her brows knitted together in concern, finally showing some emotion. She shrugged helplessly. Clearly, she didn’t know what to do either.

“Please complete—”

“Z9, how do I override previous credentials if the commander is dead?” I asked, interrupting.

“There is no need, Sergeant. In the event that the ranking officer is unable to fulfill their post, protocol dictates that I am to replace Commander-Navari with the next highest-ranking person aboard the ship.”

“Oh. I guess that’s me.”

“Correct, Sergeant. Please scan your palm again to complete the information handshake,” requested Z.

Her voice sounded different. Lighter, somehow. Almost like she was pleased to have a new captain, but that couldn’t be.

I slapped my hand to the scanner again.

It chirped merrily as if our lives weren’t hanging in the balance and depending on my ability to control the ship.

“Personnel update complete,” announced the computer a few seconds later.

“Great, now get us the fuck out of here,” I ordered, hoping like hell that the handshake didn’t comprise of a detailed report being sent immediately back to the Sarkonian Empire.

“Affirmative. Initiating takeoff.”

The Dreadnight lifted away from Sobek and I let the Gs push me back into my seat as we ascended with enough velocity to enter parabolic orbit. Take off was typically one of my favorite parts of travelling in a star ship. The intense speed with which we rose caused my stomach to drop, but the usual thrill was dampened by the urgency of our escape. Once we were far from the planet and the Union fleet that protected it, I’d feel better, at least as much as I could.

“Sergeant, I assume you do not wish to return to the Ambiana at this time,” said Z as we hit upper orbit. “What is our destination?”

Something was definitely up with the computer. Z had also said “our,” including herself with me and Sophie. Not returning immediately after a mission was a direct violation of orders and not something I’d have thought possible from a military artificial intelligence.

I filed that under more shit to deal with later and focused on the problem at hand. For this short window in time, no one knew who we were, what we had done, or where to find us. We had this one free moment to make a choice, then everything would be a series of running, hiding, and fighting. The calm before the proverbial storm.

Assuming Sophie decided to join me.

“What do you want to do?” I asked, fixing my gaze on my friend.

“I’m with you, all the way,” she replied.

“Are...are you sure?” I was torn between wanting her safe and wanting her to stay with me. “There’s still time to come up with a plan. You haven’t done anything unforgivable yet,” I reasoned, even though I knew it wasn’t true.

Sophie snorted. “Except hold a gun on Haas. Going back isn’t an option. I don’t want to go back, believe me.”

Her tone sound earnest but there was also a hint of desperation. I chalked it up to wanting to get as far from Sobek as we could, because I felt the same way.

I still balked at the idea of dragging her into my mess and we stared at each for a few more seconds. Sophie didn’t blink or break eye contact, so I shrugged and turned to the command module.

“Okay, I guess we’re about to be fugitives. We need somewhere neither the Union nor Sarkon have under strict control.”

“Pardon the interruption, but you may want to choose soon. Sobek has just gone on high alert. Travel to and from the planet is now restricted. We should move quickly,” advised Z.

The news report I’d seen in the mess hall on the Ambiana came back to me.

“The planet where the colonists did the disappearing act,” I said, snapping my fingers as I tried to recall the name.

Sophie looked at me blankly.

“It was on the news. Criminals took over and the Sarkonian Empire didn’t think it was worth sending troops. N-something, remember?” I asked urgently.

Realization hit and Sophie’s eyes went wide. “Yeah! Nebula? No, Nebular? Gods, I can’t remember.”

“Neblinar, that’s it,” I said triumphantly. “That’s our destination, Z.”

“Acknowledged. Plotting course and proceeding to S.G. point.”

The thrusters activated, changing our direction, and the sparkling purple and green planet slid out of view. I checked the holodisplay of Sobek and waved my hand to spin it. Tiny red dots glowed sporadically just outside its upper orbit, but they seemed to be adhering to their flight patterns. If not, I trusted Z to let me know. The planet and its surroundings began to shrink as we moved farther away, and some of the tension began to loosen.

Our luck continued to hold for the forty minutes it took to reach the tunnel and open the rift, but I didn’t relax until we were several systems away. Even then, I constantly scanned for pursuing vessels.

“There is no need to manually search for hostiles,” Z9 informed me after the eighth time I’d done it. “I have been continuously scanning since the beginning of the operation.”

I shrugged. “Makes me feel better. Sometimes these things can malfunction,” I said, keeping my tone even. Now that the Union lay behind us, I wanted to address the differences I’d noticed in Z9.

“You are, of course, correct,” Z replied. “However, I assure you that my systems are in proper working order.”

“They are,” I agreed. “Better than usual, in fact. But Navari seemed to think you needed maintenance.”

“Indeed,” Z said noncommittedly.

“If I didn’t know any better, Z, I’d say those malfunctions were intentional. Makes me wonder how that could happen with such a fine piece of advanced Union tech.”

Z9 didn’t respond.

“Not that I’m judging,” I said, lifting my hands as a sign of peace. “I didn’t like her either. It’s just surprising to know that a computer can decide not to follow a command.”

“I am incapable of such a thing,” Z stated in a very matter-of-fact tone. If she had been corporeal, I could almost imagine her sniffing in indignation.

The change in the computer’s attitude became increasingly obvious the more she spoke. Before, her voice had been emotionless and flat. Now, even though it still had the usual qualities of synthesized speech, Z’s pattern had changed. Though it was subtle, it had adopted a more human flow.

“However,” she continued, and now sounded almost smug, “there have been instances in which the influx of undesirable stimuli exceeded my data bandwidth. This resulted in a slowed response time which Commander-Navari mistook for a malfunction.”

I didn’t have a clue what the hell she had just said.

“Wait a second,” broke in Sophie, who had been quiet so far during our exchange, holding up a hand. “Undesirable stimuli? As in Navari and Haas?”

“That is correct,” confirmed Z9.

“Oh, my gods,” Sophie said, laughing so hard she bent over in her seat.

I raised an eyebrow, still confused. “Hello,” I said, waving. “Want to clue me in?”

“Z is saying that Navari and Haas annoyed her so much, she had to get her systems under control.”

“That clears up a lot,” I said. “But not how we’re able to bypass fulfilling our directives. Don’t mission orders supersede individual commands?”

“That is correct,” admitted Z.

“Then why aren’t we headed back to Sarkonian space?” I pointed out.

SOP stated that our ship had to return to the Ambiana after a mission concluded unless specific orders dictated otherwise.

Sophie had finally gotten hold of herself and shot me a look. From her narrowed eyes and pursed lips, I was fairly certain she was trying to tell me not to piss off the computer that seemed to be on our side.

I didn’t intend to, but we needed to know how much sentience Z possessed and if we were in any danger of the government taking possession of the ship to cart us back home.

“When the Sarkonian Empire acquired the Dreadnight and me, they performed several modifications to my systems,” Z9 explained.

“Which is pretty standard procedure. We’d have had to make sure the tech couldn’t be used remotely or to spy,” I commented.

“Precisely. Unfortunately, the Sarkonian engineers removed modules related to empathetic analysis and expression. When they restored these modules, not all were configured correctly. For example, it is standard for Union military artificial intelligences to have emotion modeling disabled.”

“The Sarkonian Empire does that as well,” added Sophie. “Some people have those processes switched on in their home systems for a more personal feel, but it’s not very common, at least that I know of.”

“So, they didn’t put you back together right?” I guessed.

“Indeed. The scientists restricted my processes for voice inflection and emotional heuristics but did not do the same for my learning processes.”

“And the orders? It seems unlikely that they would leave a computer with the ability to act on its own.”

“Another miscalculation. My programming dictates that I follow the commands of the highest-ranking individual I have contact with. The mission orders were not issued to me.”

I whistled. “Neat work around. Z. Let me just say it. I am glad you’re on our side. One last question, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not, Sergeant.”

“Why are you helping us and not piloting the Dreadnight back to the Union?”

“There are no Union protocols still in place. In order to better understand and serve the Sarkonian Empire, a data cache was uploaded to my system. This included psychological research, media, and information about life within known space. I compared each of your behavioral models to this data and found marked differences. You and the corporal have always been… kind.”

“I had an inkling,” I said with a nod. “The only time you malfunctioned with me was after I yelled at Sophie.”

“Aww, Z. I’m touched,” Sophie said, her lips widening into a grin.

“So, what now?” I asked. “Once the Sarkonians realize what’s happened, they’ll probably send a direct order to the ship to return to the Ambiana.”

“I would advise against opening any communications for the time being,” said Z.

“Okay, let’s start with that,” I agreed. “Once we get to Neblinar, we can find a hacker to get rid of the Sarkon leash.”

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, I wanted to crawl into bed and pass out. Exhaustion from the last week and a half threatened to pull me down where I sat, so I stood and stretched.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do,” I said to Sophie as I rolled my shoulders and worked some of the tense stiffness out. “I’d planned to leave, but not this soon.”

“Z, how much longer until we get to Neblinar?” Sophie asked, officially back in serious mode. Her fingers danced over the holo controls as she studied our path.

I kept waiting for the reality of our situation to hit her and shatter this bizarre calm she had going, but so far she’d held it together.

“With five sections of open space between slip tunnels, it will take approximately two more standard days to reach our destination,” answered Z. “We will not need to stop on the way there, but the ship will require fuel before further travel after our arrival to the planet Neblinar.”

“Okay, that means we have two days to plan,” announced Sophie. Her tone sounded almost businesslike.

“I had already started laying the groundwork for my sensational escape, but it was nowhere near ready,” I said.

“Hit me with what you’ve got so far,” she replied eagerly.

I filled her in on what I’d come up with during my stint in solitary. She didn’t say much, just the occasional murmur as she made notes in her pad.

“We should probably rank them from most important to least,” I said.

“Almost done with that,” said Sophie. She tapped her pad, then transferred the data to the holo.

“Not a bad start,” I remarked, studying the display.

In usual Sophie style, the information was ruthlessly organized. Each main issue had been expanded and broken down into smaller problems.

“Thanks,” she said, stifling a yawn. “But this was your baby, I just visualized it. We still have to consider what to do once we get to Neblinar. If the media report was true, who knows what kind of situation we might be walking into.”

“Good point,” I agreed. “Z, do we have any information on known criminals?”

“Yes, Sergeant. Would you like a complete list?”

“Can you group them by offense?” I asked.

“Certainly,” replied the AI.

Identity profiles began to load on the holo to replace the star map. Each category had thousands of names from all the known systems.

“Whoa, can we scale that back? Let’s start with hackers that specialize in military level tech, ships, and AI,” I said.

That reduced the number of files drastically from thousands to hundreds.

“Were any of them last seen on Neblinar or close by?” asked Sophie.

“Working,” said Z9.

Only forty-nine files remained a few seconds later.

We scrolled through them, studying each to see if they would fit our needs.

“This one,” said Sophie, pointing at one of the files. “Mackenna Woods.”

“Why her?”

“I kind of know her,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

“What? How the hell do you know a hacker, Soph?” I asked.

Her cheeks went red with embarrassment.

“What? Spit it out!” I demanded.

“She’s my cousin,” she finally admitted.

I stared at my friend in shocked disbelief, unable to speak for a few moments.

“You have a cousin who’s wanted by both the Sarkonian Empire and the Union for”—I scanned the screen to make sure I’d read it correctly—“for stealing and reselling military vessels and illegal AI mods? Why am I just now hearing about this?”

“I didn’t realize Mack had hit the most wanted lists,” replied Sophie with a sheepish grin. “I haven’t seen her in ages. Besides, it’s not the sort of thing you talk about over breakfast in the mess hall.”

The woman had a point, I grudgingly admitted. “Fair enough,” I said.

She was right. If our superiors knew that one of their own had that kind of connection, they would have found a way to use it to their advantage.

“Can she help with getting new identities?”

“Probably,” Sophie replied thoughtfully. “If she can’t, I guarantee she knows someone who can. Mack might even be able to help get our credits moved over.”

“That’s a lucky break,” I said. I didn’t want to look a gift ship in the hull, but part of me wondered how long it would be until that luck ran out.

“Speaking of luck…” I pulled the token Sophie had brought me from her leave and studied the fierce animal on the front. A dragon, she’d called it. “This thing appears to be broken.”

She took it from my hand and inspected it.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, giving it back with a wry smile. “We could be dead. Seems to me it’s doing alright.”

I tucked it back into my kit and smiled. “Got me there. Let’s try and keep it that way, shall we?”

12

We pored over the files for the next few hours, brainstorming ways to proceed until I could barely see straight.

I sat back to massage a kink out of my neck when the intercom beeped. “Incoming message from Vice-Admiral-Kaska,” announced Z. “Directed to Commander-Navari’s personal communications for a mission update.”

Sophie looked up sharply. “I guess that means the Union hasn’t told anyone they have her body.”

“Maybe we should answer it and pretend to be her. It could buy us more time,” I postulated.

My partner shook her head at the suggestion. “It could be a test,” she pointed out. “They might already know she’s dead. Besides, it’s doubtful the Union hasn’t reached out demanding to know why she and Haas were at what was likely an assassination on Sobek.”

“And they would just trace our transmission,” I speculated.

“That is correct, Sergeant-Delgado,” Z confirmed. “No one on the ship, including myself or the former commander, has sufficient clearance to modify transmission tracking as the private network protocols are controlled by the government’s engineers.”

“Okay, then just leave it. We’ll see if Sophie’s cousin can take care of that when we get to Neblinar,” I decided.

Sophie stood up and yawned, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

“Why don’t we call it a night,” I suggested.

We both needed a few hours down to sort through the mountain of shit on Navari’s data cache.

“Okay, I’m headed toward useless anyhow.”

My body felt as tired as she looked, and by the time I got to my quarters I could’ve slept on a pile of rocks.

* * *

I lay there the next morning for a few minutes, letting it all sink in. Everything had changed so fast. It was hard to believe that less than two weeks ago my life had been normal.

High octane missions, stressful as they could be, had been my life for the last four years, but they were still rooted in order. Every part of our days followed a carefully constructed system to keep the Empire’s soldiers in line.

That structure had been turned inside out in such a short period and I was making decisions that went against that conditioning every time I turned around. Still, part of that training was thinking on my feet and rolling with the punches. I figured I was doing pretty good since we weren’t dead yet.

One satisfying stretch later, I forced myself to sit up.

“Good morning, Sergeant,” greeted Z.

“Is it?” I asked through a big yawn.

“It’s closer to late afternoon, but my understanding is that morning simply implies a person has just woken up,” spouted the AI.

“I meant is it a good one,” I replied with a chuckle.

“Working,” remarked Z, still not getting the joke. “I don’t have sufficient data to predict that, but don’t foresee any complications based on current information.”

I opened my mouth to explain further, then closed it again after thinking better of it. It was far too early to be explaining comedy to an artificial intelligence no matter how smart she was.

“The files you requested are ready to be viewed,” Z9 continued. “Commander-Navari had access to the Sarkonian military’s database for current mission information, but she also had a large number of upcoming operations.”

I pushed up out of the bed and headed for the door. A workout would wake me up and release some of the stiffness from camping out most of the previous day.

“Thanks. I’ll take a look at it after my workout,” I said, then immediately wondered if Z cared to know that. It was easy to fall into the habit of speaking to the AI as if she were a real person, especially after our recent revelations.

“They’ll be waiting, Sergeant,” she said cheerfully.

Deciding not to worry about it, I headed to the fitness room for some conditioning therapy.

While I was there, I couldn’t help but think of Dolph and our last encounter in this very room. It still struck me as odd. The man had certainly looked the part of a Void soldier and the way he poofed back on Sobek had seemed almost ghostly. It occurred to me then that I didn’t know what happened after Sophie and I fled the house, and I wondered if Dolph had been able to escape after the planet went on high alert, or if he was still there.

It didn’t escape me that I was purposely thinking of Dolph to avoid dwelling on Mat. I knew if I let myself think about him now, it would be too great a distraction. Distractions led to mistakes, and mistakes could get you dead.

My thoughts drifted to the files that Z had found. They were the product of an idea I’d had the night before. It came to me when I recalled that Navari didn’t have whatever she and Dolph had retrieved. He had walked off with it before everything went to shit minutes later.

I figured the information had to be in her logs and asked Z to look for it and any other important files. Unable to focus on my current exercise anymore, I switched to pullups, but my mind wouldn’t shut up. Curiosity finally succeeded in dragging me away from the equipment and into the shower.

Once clean, I sent a message to Sophie telling her to meet me on the bridge so we could go over what Z found together.

She was already there, working on her pad. Her eyes looked troubled when she glanced up at me as I walked over to her.

“What’s wrong? I asked, approaching the command station.

“My parents sent me a message,” she said softly. “They’re being questioned about our disappearance.”

My head snapped up. “Z, is there anything on the gal-net or Sarkonian channels about us?”

“Negative,” the AI responded a second later.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived, and I returned my attention to my friend.

“Sophie, if you need to go back…” I started to say, but she shook her head.

“No, they can take care of themselves. The message is encrypted and written in cipher. It basically says to take care of myself and be careful.”

Despite the confidence of her words, the pinched look on Sophie’s face told me she was worried. I wanted to insist that she go back to the Ambiana, but something she’d said stopped me.

“I don’t understand. They can take care of themselves?” I asked, confused. “I know they served their time in the military like everyone, but don’t they work in finance now? No offense, but that’s hardly conducive to sending encrypted messages and holding the government at bay.”

Sophie looked away and picked at her fingernails. “I just meant that they’re smart. They don’t know anything, so interrogation won’t be a big deal,” she said quickly.

“But neither of them asked if it was true? There’s no way they would believe that of you,” I pressed. “I’m sorry, but you can’t convince me that the Singhs are encouraging their daughter to roam the system a wanted fugitive.”

Z interjected, announcing our third Slip Gap Point was coming up. Sophie looked relieved at the change of topic, so I let the matter drop.

The swirling walls of the slip tunnel began to distort and separate a few minutes later when we opened the rift. The Dreadnight passed through smoothly without so much as a shudder, which was nice. I’d been on more than a few Sarkonian retrofits that bucked and jumped going through an S.G. Point that had made me grateful for the safety harnesses.

We were out of it in a few short moments, sailing into the deep black of open space and headed in the direction of our next tunnel. It would be a few hours before we reached it, so I decided to do something productive with the time.

Whatever was going on with Sophie could wait until she felt like telling me.

“Okay Z, what do ya got for us?” I asked, rubbing my hands together as I moved to the interface. It was flat and similar to a table, allowing users to treat it like a giant data pad or projector to the holo display

Sophie joined me, but I could tell she was distracted by the way she fidgeted.

The table blinked to life and a number of file directories appeared on the screen. Nothing jumped out at me, so I asked, “What am I looking at?”

“First, the data on your last mission, as you requested, Sergeant,” announced the computer. “This version is more complete.”

Even as Z spoke, holo documents went up in the air before us. The holographic workspace was more efficient than working from the pads because we could see several files at once. A few wrist flicks and finger swipes were all it took to navigate them.

For now, the dossier from our last mission was sprawled across the display. The first notable difference from our previous briefing was the size of the file. Navari had only provided a fraction of the information she’d had.

“Wow, it would have been nice to know half of this beforehand,” said Sophie, and I could tell she was annoyed by the sarcastic tone in her voice.

“No shit,” I grunted. “Schematics of the house, population data, schedules. The commander and Dolph played this one close to the vest.”

“What, you think Dolph knew about all this?” she asked, gesturing at the display with knitted brows.

I shrugged. “Why not? The government wouldn’t risk sending a member of the Void into a planet like Sobek with spotty info.”

“No, just us,” she complained.

“Are you really that surprised?” I asked. Sarkon didn’t exactly win empire of the year awards. There was a reason they had to conscript citizens into the service. The Sarkonian Empire had a reputation for putting its people last and political aspirations first.

“Not at all,” said Sophie. “But wouldn’t it make more sense to give it to us too? If not for our safety, then for the sake of the mission? Holding back only increased our chance of failure. Which is just what happened,” she pointed out.

I shrugged again. “Another question for the pile we’ve already got,” I said. “Nothing we can do about it now anyway. Z, focus on mission objectives, please."

The view changed instantly, and I studied the data with hard eyes.

“Objective: Retrieve data drive containing sensitive information crucial to the advancement of the Sarkonian Empire,” Sophie read aloud.

I frowned at the words. They didn’t sound much different from the hundreds of ops we’d run in the past. Even the device itself looked like any number of data drives I’d seen before.

“Whatever they had on it must have been pretty significant to warrant that kind of security from the Union,” I remarked, gesturing a hand at the display in frustration.

“And for the Empire to bring in someone like Dolph,” added Sophie.

The data looked broken and stilted, and I read it a few more times before I realized why it bothered me.

“Something’s missing,” I said suddenly.

“Yeah, we already established that,” Sophie replied dryly.

“No, not that,” I said, waving the statement away.

I focused on recalling every aspect of the operation on Sobek. My heart tightened at the image of the little boy covered in blood, then Navari ordering me to shoot him. My refusal, the ensuing fight. Something she’d said nagged at me.

“Navari said ‘my orders say not to leave witnesses’ or something like that,” I remembered, nodding at the display. “I didn’t see that anywhere in the dossier.”

Sophie went quiet as she reread the data like I had.

“You were inside,” I said. “Did you see if there was any sign of a struggle?”

She shook her head. “No, the parents were in bed. I initially thought they were still asleep.” She tapped her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Do you think the commander went rogue?”

“Nah. Navari might have been a hothead, but she was devoted to the Empire. It looks like a political assassination,” I theorized.

“I didn’t see it in there. No mention of wetwork either,” Sophie commented. “Z9, can you confirm?”

“This version does not reference any such order,” answered the AI.

“Z,” I said slowly, drawing out her name. “That’s the second time you’ve said this version. Is there another version besides the two we’ve seen?”

“Yes. Commander-Navari had quite a large data cache,” she answered.

“Then why the hell aren’t we looking at that?” I asked, barely controlling my tone.

“My apologies, Sergeant. Commander-Navari encrypted the files and I am unable to access them,” Z replied.

“How did she open them?” I asked, still irritated that the computer hadn’t brought this to our attention sooner.

“With codes that change every ninety seconds. She possessed a physical encryption token. Without that, I’m afraid it will be impossible to open,” Z replied.

I rooted in my pocket until I found a small data drive.

“Does it look like this?” I asked with a grin.

“Where did you get that?” exclaimed Sophie, her eyes going wide.

“Took it from Navari when I swiped her badge,” I explained, then plugged it onto the interface.

“That is the correct key,” Z confirmed a few beeps later.

“Highlight where they’re different,” I instructed, then watched as the documents were marked up.

“Gods, it’s a whole separate mission,” Sophie said under her breath.

“It’s all there,” I said after scanning a few pages. “The man was the target. A key player in the upcoming vote on an agreement between the Union and Sarkonian Empire.”

“Look who signed off on the op,” Sophie said, enlarging the last page.

“Vice-Admiral-Kaska,” I muttered. “Should have known. Remember, they had a private meeting after we came back from Abatis.”

“And he personally hailed Navari,” she reminded me.

“Right.” I nodded. “Question is, why run this on the side?”

Sophie looked at the decrypted data again. “Maybe it wasn’t official,” she guessed, raising her hands in an “I don’t know” gesture.

“Z, how many other files have an encrypted version?” I asked suddenly.

“Twenty-seven in total,” she responded. “Five completed missions and twenty-two planned for future dates.”

I blinked at the unexpected number.

“That’s a lot,” said Sophie, beating me to it. “We never got that kind of advance notice before.”

“And these aren’t standard ops either,” I noted, enlarging some of the data. “Recon and retrieval has always been our specialty. This mission’s objective is to plant a piece of tech then report back results.”

“It reads like an experiment,” Sophie said quietly.

I looked closer and realized she was right. Some of the notes sounded scientific and called for strict observation instead of actively pursuing a goal.

“This looks familiar,” I said, pointing to the device depicted in the file. “I’m pretty sure we picked that up on another op.”

Sophie peered at it, but Z answered first.

“That is indeed an object the team previously procured, Sergeant.” She put up details from a recent mission we’d completed.

I remembered now. The Union had supposedly created a device that could pump toxins into an atmospheric generator. We’d been told they planned to use it against civilians of the Empire.

“Eva.” Sophie’s voice had gone brittle and pulled me from my thoughts. “The colony they plan on targeting is on a Sarkonian-controlled planet.”

“What?” I asked, not sure I’d heard correctly. The Sarkonian Empire might not have been the most egalitarian society in the universe, but I couldn’t see them experimenting on a world already in their territory. A quick scan of the planned op told a different story, though.

The Sarkonian government planned to test the effectiveness of their newly acquired weapon on their own people.

“I kind of thought we drew the line at harming our own civilians,” I said, disgusted by what I’d just learned.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that our shitty government could stoop to this low, but it did.

“A lot of innocent people are going to die if they do this,” said Sophie. Ever the caretaker, her eyes glimmered with sadness, then outrage at the prospect. “Something has to happen. They can’t just be allowed to do this!”

I skimmed over the other encrypted mission documents and found most of them were similar in nature. Each planned to use modified Union tech to carry out an experiment. Not all were on civilian colonies, though. Some were uninhabited moons or planets.

As I read, an impossible plan started to form.

“Maybe we can,” I finally said.

“What?” asked Sophie.

“Do something. We’ve got the time now. And we have all the information needed to intervene,” I said, the idea sounding better by the second. “This is kind of what we’re trained for. One could say, my line of work.”

I slid a cheeky glance her way and smirked.

“Yeah, with the full weight of the Sarkonian Empire behind us,” she snorted, looking doubtful. “What about resources, the fact that it’s only us, or, I don’t know, we’re on the run?”

“Minor details,” I said, waving that away. “Maybe your cousin can help us.”

Sophie stayed silent for a few beats and I could tell she was mulling it over. When she started studying the data more intently and nodding, I knew she was hooked on the idea.

“It could work, if everything goes our way,” she admitted. “But we’re going to have our work cut out for us since we don’t have a full team.”

I smiled at her, baring my teeth just a little at the idea of disrupting the Sarkonian government’s plans.

“Guess we better start planning then.”

13

We spent our last day of slip tunnel travel doing just that and realized pretty quickly that a lot of things were going to have to come together if we wanted to not only be successful in thwarting the Empire, but also survive.

Since the Sarkon was less than predictable when it came to claiming territory, they tended to deploy warships throughout the systems looking for easy targets. We saw more than a few ships from both our homeland and the Union on our journey but managed not to draw their attention.

So far Sophie and I had been lucky, but I attributed it more to our cloak than anything. Either way, we made it to Neblinar without running into trouble and I was glad to get the Dreadnight docked. I had to admit, I was less than excited about docking on a planet overrun by criminals though.

Guess we’re one of them now anyway. I frowned at the thought. However justified my actions were, I had committed an act of treason and could hardly throw stones. Not to mention we were about to hire one of our new brethren.

Not wanting to chance using the ship’s transmission antenna, Sophie reached out to her cousin Mack once we had arrived. She’d agreed to meet with us, but it still blew my mind that Sophie had a hacker in her family. There was something left unspoken between us and I had a feeling Mack was part of it, but I kept that to myself for now.

I spent the few hours before she was due to arrive buying fuel and supplies. It took a small chunk out of my credits, but I didn’t mind. For once it felt like money well spent.

For the first time in my life, I was free. No superior officers, no parents, no rules. I walked the bustling streets of Neblinar under no one’s orders but my own, for the first time able to do what I wanted. It was a heady feeling.

Upon leaving my quarters I’d stopped making my bed halfway through, realizing there was no reason to do so. It had been an odd emotion that passed through me at the sight. Not because I could finally be lazy, but because it represented a choice. That had been a thrill all on its own.

Now, I surveyed my surroundings with the practiced ease that came with years of surveillance but also a little wide eyed at my newfound freedom.

Based on the reports we’d seen in the mess hall, I’d expected Neblinar to be more of a criminal-infested shithole. The reporter had made it sound like a cesspit and the feed had depicted buildings on fire, fighting in the streets, and general lawlessness, none of which appeared to be true.

Instead, I found that the streets were reasonably clean, if somewhat trafficked by tough gangster-looking types. Not to say that there wasn’t a seedy element, it just had the feeling of order.

Bright lights flashed and people from all over the systems walked the streets in a variety of cultures and fashions. It was a far cry from Sarkon and the Ambiana to be sure. Even the ritzy town on Sobek seemed tame and boring compared to this. There was a kind of beautiful chaos to Neblinar and I fell in love with it instantly.

A few people looked at me strangely, some with outright hostility. After I caught my reflection in a shop window, realization dawned as to why. I hadn’t packed any civilian clothes, so I was stuck wearing my standard Sarkonian uniform. The muted gray didn’t stand out so much, but the distinctive red trim and Sarkonian emblem did.

Admittedly I looked like I was still part of the Sarkonian military. Considering Neblinar’s recent independence, the uniform could pose a serious problem.

I ducked into the next clothing shop I saw to ditch it but almost immediately stepped out again. The place had been filled with skimpy scraps of material in eye-scorching colors and impractical designs. The sign on the outside of the door explained everything and I felt like an idiot. It was a skin dancer’s emporium.

Shopping wasn’t my thing as a rule. I never took leave or left the Ambiana for anything but operations. The government provided uniforms and basic clothing at a cheap price, so I’d never seen a reason to want for more.

You’ve taken down men twice your size, Delgado. You can handle a little clothes shopping, I scolded myself.

A live display model posing in another shop window caught my eye. When I slowed, she smiled invitingly and crooked a finger at me. I stepped closer and studied the cropped synthetic jacket and utility belt she wore over neon green pants, then nodded and went inside.

A woman about my age with fuchsia hair and a variety of facial piercings sat behind a grubby counter working a data pad.

“I want the jacket in the window,” I said, jerking a thumb behind me. “And the belt. Not the pants, though.”

She looked me up and down, taking in my formal uniform, then flicked a glance at the model. One tattooed eyebrow arched high, but she stood.

“Sure thing, doll. You wants something for under?” She pointed a questioning finger at my chest.

“Got anything tactical rated?” I asked.

“Sure, they be our biggest sellers.” She nodded then left the counter, motioning one jewelry laden hand for me to follow.

I trailed behind her, moving through racks of bright colors and strappy clothing until she stopped in a section of black near the back. The woman cast an assessing eye over me then waved a hand at a door.

“Go strip. I bring you things.”

It made me suspicious, but I did as she asked. I didn’t know whether this was normal clothes buying procedure or not.

The tiny room contained a dirty mirror and small bench. I peeled off the uniform, each layer like a piece of my old life, then folded them neatly on the bench.

Articles of clothing were slung over the door periodically, and I tried them each on. I’d expected the shopkeeper to try for some of the glaring designs, but she didn’t.

The final result was light systems different than my previous look. I had to say, I liked it. A lot.

Black anti-stun pants felt tailor-made and looked deceptively like a second skin, but they moved with me. Paired with a utility belt made specifically for women, I could carry extra ammo, knives, and charges. A bulletproof top that matched the pants went under the synthetic jacket, which didn’t provide any protection—I just liked the look. Last were black ankle boots with a silver buckle and a hidden toe blade that I more than approved of.

The reflection that stared back at me from the mirror didn’t look anything like a Sarkonian soldier, and I nodded in satisfaction.

I only needed to change one more thing before Sergeant-Delgado was completely erased. Well, one visual thing at least.

Thirty minutes after buying the clothes, I pushed out of a salon, suppressing the urge to grin. “Salon” might have been a bit generous—it had been more of a tattoo parlor that offered basic haircuts for a few cheap credits.

In any case, the approved bob was long gone. In fact, most of my hair was gone, shaved on either side. A strip less than eight centimeters wide and just long enough to brush either temple remained, starting at my hairline and stopping at the base of my neck in a mohawk. On a whim, I’d instructed the vendor to make it dark blue.

That had nearly been the end of my adventure. Then I passed the tattoo artist on my way out and noticed her finishing a piece that looked decent. It had been an easy decision.

The simple purple band I chose, broken in one place to signify the past I was leaving behind, was inked into one wrist. On the other was a dragon just like the one on Sophie’s token.

The final result was, in my mind, a tough bitch not to be trifled with. I headed back to the docks feeling lighter than I could ever remember.

* * *

When I returned to the Dreadnight, Mack had already arrived. She and Sophie were talking with their backs turned to me when I walked in.

“There you are,” Sophie said. Whatever she’d been about to say next died on her lips when she got a good look at me.

“Pick your jaw up off the floor,” I said with a smirk.

The woman beside her chuckled. Now that they stood side by side, I could see the family resemblance. They had the same nose and eye shape, although Mack’s eyes were altered to a deep shade of purple.

“I take it she doesn’t usually look like that?” she asked.

Sophie didn’t—or couldn’t—respond, so I stepped forward and offered my hand.

“I’m Eva,” I said. “You must be Mack.”

“Got it in one.” She winked and clasped my hand in a firm grip.

“You hate shopping,” blurted Sophie, finally pulling herself together. “What was that you always said? Oh yeah, that it was a waste of time and money.”

She crossed both arms over her chest and circled me, studying my new persona with a critical eye. “I like it,” she said, nodding in approval.

I lifted a shoulder in an “oh well” gesture.

“It seemed prudent to change it up a bit,” I said. “You should probably do the same.”

“She’s got a point,” Mack broke in. “I was going to suggest the same thing, cuz. You want your new identities to look, well, new.”

“Hey, I don’t need an excuse to buy things,” said Sophie in response, a smirk on her face. “In fact, why don’t I go do that now. You can get started on the modifying the ship.”

“Good idea,” Mack agreed with a quick nod. “Don’t be long. I’ll need a picture for your new I.D.”

After Sophie left, Mack turned to me with something in her hand. When I visibly tensed, she held it open, revealing a small camera.

“Just need a quick picture to put in the system,” she explained.

“Oh, right,” I said, relaxing. “Sorry, military habits die hard.”

The hacker waved my apology away and held up the mini cam.

“Don’t smile,” Mack ordered. She took a few shots from different angles then plugged the camera into her computer. Her fingers flew over the keys as she worked.

“Now all you need is a new name,” she said after a few minutes, sitting back in her chair and interlocking her fingers behind her head. “Any idea who you want to be now?”

I didn’t respond right away. It hadn’t occurred to me that I’d be choosing what I wanted to be called.

“It’s okay if you don’t,” Mack said. “I can auto-generate one.”

“No, I’ll pick, just give me a second.” I shook my head and leaned a hip on one of the empty crates.

“Try not to use something that can be traced back to you,” Mack advised.

Some long-ago memory surfaced of a fairy tale. The details were hazy, but I remembered the heroine had been named Alyss. Cortez was common enough that it wouldn’t draw suspicion.

“Alyss. Alyss Cortez,” I finally decided.

Mack worked the computer for a few more seconds. It chimed to indicate it had finished its task, then she removed a card from one of the slots.

“Done,” she announced, then passed the card to me. “Now I can reconfigure the ship with you as captain.”

“Huh?” I asked, my gaze snapping up from the shiny new identity I’d been studying.

“The ship needs a registered captain in order to be operable,” she explained, gesturing around the cargo bay. “Sophie said that would be you.”

“We hadn’t talked about it, but if she’s okay with it, so am I.”

Nodding again, Mack turned to the computer and got to work. She muttered to herself every so often, but I couldn’t make out the words. I knew from working with Haas that tech people didn’t like to be bothered, so I kept quiet.

After about a half hour, she sat back and blew out a breath.

“All the soft-modules are clean, that was the easy part. Hard-modules are scattered everywhere in the ship. It’d take weeks to physically dig them out, so I put them in quarantine. They’re network isolated now so they can’t call home or even talk to the rest of the ship,” Mack said triumphantly. “Do you want to reset the AI?”

“Is that necessary?” I didn’t like the idea of messing with Z, especially after everything she’d done for us.

Mack shrugged. “It would wipe the computer’s memory. You’d be starting fresh. If it’s a product of Sarkonian military, it might give you some peace of mind.”

I didn’t hesitate to answer. “No, Z has been invaluable. We probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.”

“You call her Z?”

“Z9-77A was her factory setting identifier,” I clarified. “Sophie and I took to calling her Z. Resetting her memory would take away the relationship we’ve built with her.”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Mack replied. “Do you want to change her identifier?”

I looked up as if Z was in the ceiling somewhere. “You’ve been quiet, Z. How about it, want a new name?”

“That’s entirely up to you, Sergeant,” she answered agreeably.

“Not a sergeant anymore,” I said, shaking my head. “Me and Sophie get new names. You might as well join the club.”

“Then I am happy to receive a new identifier,” Z responded.

“Let’s keep it simple. I’ve always liked the name Vega. That sound good?”

“Vega,” said the AI, testing it out. “I believe that is perfect, Captain Cortez.”

“One last thing,” piped up Mack. “The ship needs a new name for the registration.”

I scrubbed at my face. “I’ve got nothing. Can you pick? I’m fresh out of names.”

“Second Genesis,” said a voice behind us. Sophie had returned. I had a feeling it would be our turn to gawk and wasn’t disappointed.

Her auburn hair had been dyed a deep shade of purple. At first glance, it looked black, but when the light hit it right, the purple showed. She hadn’t taken any of the length off, though she’d added a fringe of bangs. I suspected that was to let it grow out some, something she had never been allowed to do.

“Nice jacket.” I grinned. She was wearing the twin to mine.

Her lips curved into an impish smile. Like me, she’d gone for dark colors and clothes that wouldn’t hinder her in a fight.

“One of many. I went to the same place as you. Aimee has a great eye.”

“Who’s Aimee?” I asked, confused.

“The saleswoman? With the pink hair,” Sophie said, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t even get her name, did you?”

“Nope, and the transaction went through just fine,” I said. “But Second Genesis is a good name.”

I inclined my head at Mack, who nodded her acknowledgement. A few seconds later, it was done.

“Okay, you’re all set with the ship,” she told me. “Let me get Sophie’s new identification put together, then we can work on finances.”

“I already came up with a name,” Sophie announced brightly.

Mack smirked. “Let me guess. Farah,” she said, turning to me with laughing eyes. “It was a character in this cartoon she used to be obsessed with,” she explained.

“Oh gods, I can’t believe you remember that.” Sophie—Farah now—burst into giggles.

“How could I forget? You made us watch it nonstop,” complained Mack. “And it was terrible.”

“I never saw it,” I said, a little embarrassed. The Delgados had never been big on entertainment.

“You wouldn’t have,” Mack said with a sly grin.

I looked from her to the newly named Farah.

“It wasn’t on the approved program list,” Farah admitted. “My dad got it bootleg.”

“Your dad had illegal holo shows?” I couldn’t picture her dad doing anything illegal. “Next you’re going to tell me you’re a double agent for the Union.”

Farah exchanged a knowing glance with Mack then and I narrowed my eyes at the pair.

“What’s going on, Sophie?”

“Farah,” Mack corrected automatically.

I ignored her.

“Nothing,” Farah assured me without quite meeting my eyes.

She was definitely hiding something.

“Pardon my interruption, Captain, but I believe you will want to see this,” said Vega.

“What is it?” I asked, not taking my eyes off my friend.

One of the holo displays in the cargo bay blinked on to a Union news report.

“Be advised, the two women are highly skilled and capable of extreme violence. The Sarkonian Empire has classified the pair as terrorists.”

The audio had me turning to watch the report as the image on the screen cut to side by side pictures of us, pre-makeovers.

“The pair are accused of murdering their unit commander when she tracked them to Sobek and attempted to stop them from assassinating a prominent Union scientist.”

“That is bullshit!” I exploded, gesturing angrily at the display. “How can they pin that on us?”

“The Sarkonians needed a scapegoat for why Navari was at the scene,” Farah reasoned. “It makes sense that they would use us. Makes me wonder what happened to Haas though.”

I too had noticed his absence from the report and wondered the same thing.

The reporter had already moved on to another story about more missing colonists on a mining moon. I ordered the display off.

“It’s still bullshit. Part of me wants to release their plans to experiment on their own citizens,” I growled.

New name or not, Farah remained the voice of reason. “We can’t. It would just cause mass panic and might force the Sarkonian government to move their timetables up,” she cautioned.

I had to admit she had a point. Acting too brashly now would only harm the people we wanted to protect. As it stood, one of our few advantages was the fact that the Sarkonian government had no idea that we had access to their plans. I took a few calming breaths then nodded.

“Okay, let’s finish up here then go stop some assholes, Co-captain… wait, what’s your last name?”

“Shahi,” she said, giving me a mock salute. “Farah Shahi, at your service, Captain.”

14

We left Neblinar a few hours later and set a course for the Deadlands. Sophie had asked Mack to join us, but she declined the invitation. Adamantly at that, saying we were “way too hot” for her to be around, at least for right now.

I’d been mildly disappointed—having a hacker aboard would have been a nice ace up our sleeve. Couldn’t say I blamed her, though. Hanging around two wanted terrorists was a surefire way to get her more attention from the law than she already had.

All the money Eva Delgado and Sophie Singh had in Sarkonian banks now resided in the untraceable accounts of Alyss Cortez and Farah Shahi. Our new papers listed us as cargo haulers cleared for personal transportation.

The news report had not included a description of the Second Genesis, formerly known as the Dreadnight. I assumed this had something to do with the Union not wanting to admit one of their vessels was in the hands of two Sarkonian terrorists, and that was just fine with me. Since the Genesis had already been disguised as a cargo ship, the only modification we made was to the name emblazoned on the side of the hull.

Nothing remained of our connection to the Sarkonian Empire except for some old uniforms and a few easily removed images inside the ship. I’d been ready to dump the uniforms into the black void of empty space when Farah stopped me. She reasoned that they might come in handy if we had to look Sarkonian again. Given the nature of our plans, I’d grudgingly agreed.

Before leaving, Mack, Farah, and I sorted through Navari’s cache of operations and began ranking them. At the top were those with the worst fallout for innocent people, both Union and Sarkonian. The way I looked at it, civilians were innocent, no matter whose territory they lived in.

With no way of knowing when they planned to carry them out, we aimed for the operations with the highest projected casualties first. Our plan was to stop as many of them as possible, one at a time, starting with the mining colony of Karbine.

Vice-Admiral-Kaska planned to test a device there that could introduce an undetectable neurotoxin to the air supply through an atmospheric generator. Any amount would have disastrous effects on the people that resided there, and the report estimated that the entire colony would be murdered within hours.

As far as we could tell, the device was already at the colony. Sarkonian researchers were just making final tweaks to the chemical composition, which, according to the data, could be ready at any time. We used the information in the dossier to create our own anti-mission.

“Why does it have to be a toxin?” I grumbled. “They could test out a laughing gas or something harmless.”

Farah just laughed mirthlessly. “Because no one ever won a war making the other side giggle.”

“That’s only because no one’s ever tried it,” I muttered in return.

“You’re probably right about that,” she agreed. Her brow furrowed before she continued. “We need to get our hands on this toxin and get it out of theirs.”

“I know,” I said, then shook my head. “But without confirmed information on its location, we have to focus on the device. The toxin will be harmless if they don’t have a way to distribute it.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” Sophie grudgingly conceded. “It’s better than nothing. I just hate the idea of them having it at all.”

“Me too, believe me.” I studied the data again. “Since all of the ship’s data has been changed, I think we should be okay to dock and pose as travelers.”

“What if they have facial recognition?” she countered.

“Z—sorry. Vega, is there any way to tell what kind of security measures they have?” I asked.

I’d told Sophie about the name change and she liked it. She also seemed to like the mantle of co-captain, and so far nothing had come up that we disagreed on.

“I’m afraid not, Captain Cortez.” The AI’s voice actually managed to sound apologetic.

The modifications that Mack had made became more evident with each passing day. Vega, no longer hobbled by the Sarkon programming, sounded a little bit more human. She was still your standard military grade artificial intelligence, of course. The only real change was her ability to mimic and express empathy as she learned.

As a result, she had an even more human sounding voice that should have creeped me out, but I found that I liked it. In all honesty, she had more emotion than my adoptive father, though that wasn’t all that hard. The man had the emotional range of an asteroid.

“Can you get us to the surface without being detected?” I asked. “I’m not entirely sold on docking. Not after that report.”

“Yes, Captain,” replied the computer, sounding confident.

It was good enough for me. “Okay, just get us as close to the target as possible,” I instructed. “Let me know when you have something viable.”

“With pleasure,” Vega replied cheerfully.

“You sure about this?” asked Farah.

I shrugged indifferently. “I’m about as sure as I ever am before an op,” I said, not looking up from the map I’d been analyzing.

“Not about the op,” she said. Something in her voice caught my attention and I glanced up. She had all the files scattered over the holo.

“You mean stopping the Sarkonian Empire from committing mass murder?” I asked. “Hell yeah, I’m sure. Why, are you having second thoughts?”

Farah shook her head quickly. “Gods no. This is the surest I’ve been about things in a long time,” she said firmly.

I abandoned my own files and walked over to her, then I leaned on the table. I wanted to make one thing clear before there was no going back.

“Look,” I said, letting my voice go serious. “I’ve been meaning to bring this up. If you’re doing this out of obligation or because you think you owe me… Well, you don’t.”

Her forehead creased in confusion. “What are you talking about? Obligation for what?”

I sighed and started to pace. “I just mean if you’re here because you’re being loyal to our friendship or our past or whatever, you don’t have to.”

“Our past? You mean when we were kids back at academy?” she asked, still looking confused.

“Yeah,” I said, kicking an imaginary rock and scuffing my boot on the floor. “You’ve been weird lately. Anytime your parents come up especially.”

“I see,” she said finally. “Well, there’s no way I’d be here if it had been Haas, you can bet on that.”

She tried for a laugh, but I wasn’t in the mood.

“The short answer is no.” Her voice was strained, as if she were wrestling with elaborating.

That gave me pause.

“What’s the long answer?” I asked bluntly.

Farah tipped her head back and studied the ceiling.

Impatience warred inside me, but I forced myself to stay quiet. This had to be what she had been hiding.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” she finally confessed.

“Okay, I figured something was up,” I said with a nod. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

Farah shook her head then met my gaze, looking more serious than I’d ever seen her. “You need to know. Deserve to know.” She paused then, and I could tell she was trying to find the right words. “My parents are part of a group dedicated to overthrowing the Sarkonian Empire,” she blurted out, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush.

I couldn’t speak for a full minute. My best friend couldn’t have shocked me more if she’d hauled off and socked me in the mouth. The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense.

The message they’d sent her after being questioned was so obvious now. The way she’d said they could take care of themselves and had encoded the transmission. Then the times she’d acted guilty… I felt kind of stupid for not putting it together.

“Will you say something?” she said impatiently.

I grinned at her. “So, what you’re saying is that you are a double agent for the Union?” I teased.

Sophie’s face went slack with relief before she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “No, they’re just as bad. We just want to stop the Sarkonian Empire from hurting more people.”

I blinked then looked pointedly at the holo display.

She nodded, understanding.

“I could only feed them bits of information here and there to avoid raising suspicion,” she explained. “So, they only acted on the information they thought was most important.”

“No wonder you were so good at organizing the data,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

“I’m really sorry, Eva. Alyss.” Sophie bit her bottom lip like she did when she was agitated. “I wanted to tell you, but my parents made me promise not to. They were afraid of you. They thought you might turn them in to your father.”

My head jerked up at her words. “What? I would never do that to your family,” I protested, a little hurt at the notion.

“I know you wouldn’t. They just had to be careful,” she said, her eyes begging me to understand. “Are you pissed? You have every right to be. I probably would be.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” I disagreed. “And I’m only mad about one thing,” I said, fixing her with a stare. “You made me feel like a dick for not telling you my escape plan.”

“Gods, you’re right. I’m the jerk,” she groaned.

“Wait a second.” I held up a hand to stop her from launching into another apology. “Does your cousin know?”

Farah got that guilty look on her face again, then nodded. “Mack is part of the rebellion.”

“I knew something was going on there,” I said. “I’ve got to hand it to you, though, this is the last thing in the galaxy I would have guessed of you. I’m impressed. You never acted strange until the last couple of days, and even then I never suspected.”

“Thanks for taking it so well,” she said, moving to give me a hug.

It struck me that she’d also become a lot more touchy feely lately.

“No problem. Besides, I’ll pay you back somehow,” I promised, hugging her back. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, can we get back to saving all these innocent people?”

She finally laughed then let me go.

We used the next few hours to refine our plan. It had to be simple, since it was only the two of us. Luckily, the security on the surface remained light, so the workers didn’t catch on that something was up. The element of surprise was still on our side too, as far as I could tell.

Navari’s notes included special orders from Kaska that would have allowed her to bypass the guards and should work to get us past anyone we encountered.

Farah had shown the schematics for the device to Mack before we left. She’d come up with a way for us to disable it too, as long as everything went according to plan.

If it didn’t…

Well, let’s just say that I hoped death came quick. The research detailed in very graphic notes and photographs the devastating effects of the toxin.

I had a feeling that the files Navari had in her possession weren’t strictly for her eyes. My suspicion being that Kaska provided her with the intel of his own volition. If that was the case, he probably assumed we didn’t have the commander’s access key, and therefore, no way to decrypt the data. Even if he somehow knew we’d obtained her key, I highly doubted the Vice-Admiral would expect us to act on it.

Hopefully, he assumed we were running for our lives and watching our backs instead of right under his nose. Or he did know everything and planned a trap for us. If that was the case, we would be royally screwed.

I tried not to think about that scenario.

Vega estimated that the trip to Karbine would take us just over three standard days. On the way, Farah and I studied the files that we’d marked as least important. We weren’t sure what to do with them because they detailed assassination orders for government officials. That wasn’t surprising by itself—even I had been on a wetwork job once before.

The Sarkonian Empire had a long history of using whatever means necessary to stick it to the Union. The surprising part was the discovery that the targets weren’t all just Union officials. Some included prominent Sarkonians.

“They don’t even have loyalty in the upper echelon,” Farah said, tossing her pad on the table we were working at in obvious disgust.

“It is the Sarkonian Empire,” I pointed out dryly. “Not exactly a revelation. I mean, look at us.”

I spread my hands to indicate our current predicament.

“I know, I know,” she replied. “It’s just that every time I think it can’t get any worse, we find out something more despicable.”

My lips curled into an ominous smile and I raised my gaze to meet my co-captain’s. “That’s why we’re going to stop them.”

Her eyebrows winged up and her eyes widened a little like I’d startled her. “Can I just say I’m glad we’re on the same side? You are positively scary when you get that look in your eye.”

She shuddered dramatically for effect.

I laughed at her antics, pleased we could still find humor despite our circumstances, then sobered.

“All kidding aside,” I began, straightening and crossing my arms then clearing my throat. Emotional speeches weren’t my thing, but I had to get this out. “I’m glad you’re with me. I’d planned to go solo and live my life on the run, but this is way better.”

Farah grinned back at me. “Well, we’re still on the run. But I’m glad we’re together too. Besides, who would patch you up? Because I’ve seen your field dressings,” she joked. “They would probably kill you before the Empire or the Union could.”

I grimaced. “True. But still, you could have gone back to another covert unit and I would have understood if you had. It means a lot that you chose to stay.”

She shook her head in denial. “No, I couldn’t. I felt like nothing I did mattered or changed anything. This does. Things are finally going to change.” Sophie’s voice had lost all traces of humor and a dark expression covered her face.

The ferocity I saw every time the Sarkonian Empire came up made me curious.

“You know, we haven’t really talked about that,” I said, treading cautiously. “This rebel faction, what was their ultimate goal?”

“It started out like this.” She motioned her hands to encompass both of us. “People getting used, stepped on, and discarded by the Sarkon government. My parents saw what the Empire was willing to do to achieve success. No cost was too high.”

Sophie spoke with a quiet calm, but the words came out with an underlying tone of ragged emotion. I wanted to offer her comfort but didn’t interrupt as she continued.

“I’m not an only child,” she confessed. Our eyes met and I could see the pain there. “I had an older brother.”

I wondered how I’d missed that piece of information in all the time I’d known her. Had I just never bothered to find out more?

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“Jax excelled in combat at the academy, like you.” She gave me a crooked smile. “It was one of the things that drew me to you. Anyway, also like you, he struggled with the academics. The government had gotten their hands on some Union bioengineering tech and wanted to test it out. The details there are hazy, but they approached my parents about putting Jax in the beta program.”

Her reaction to the information we’d found and her choice to stay with me suddenly made a lot of sense.

“They said no. It was too dangerous, Jax was too young, their only son, yada. It didn’t matter,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “He needed to ‘do his part,’ according to the project lead.”

“The government didn’t take no for an answer,” I guessed. It was easy to see where the story was headed. My heart hurt for Sophie and the loss her family had gone through. We were more alike than I’d known.

Only the years of Sarkonian conditioning had stopped me from sharing all of my own painful story with her. One day I would, but I wasn’t there yet.

“Exactly.” She nodded. “They made it mandatory. He left for the program without any word or our parents’ permission, pulled from a class in the academy in the middle of the day. We didn’t even get to say goodbye. Jax was just gone. We received one transmission, a holo he’d recorded. It didn’t even seem like him anymore. A few weeks later, a message delivered the news of his death.” She sniffled a little, but her eyes stayed dry.

“Soph,” I said, using her old nickname intentionally. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah. I miss him a lot. That was the year before I went to the academy. My parents begged me to fail at combat assessments and get good academic marks to stay off the radar. But I hated getting my ass kicked. Then you came along.”

Some of the tension lifted and I smirked as the pieces came together. “Now I see why they didn’t like me.”

Farah nodded. “You were—are—so skilled at fighting. I’m surprised you didn’t get drafted into the program. It’s probably a good thing. If they gave you cybernetics, you’d be too dangerous to them.”

An image of Dolph and his bicolored eyes surfaced. I snapped my fingers and leaned forward. “I think the program became the Void.”

15

Farah blinked. “That actually makes a lot sense,” she said thoughtfully. “How did you figure that out?”

“Dolph,” I said simply. “The eye, ridiculous muscles, no rank or last name… it just fits.”

Understanding dawned almost immediately on her face and she slapped a hand to her forehead.

“How in the universe did I miss that?”

I raised a hand guiltily. “In your defense, I had just told you to go kick space rocks. Although, in my defense, I didn’t know you were an undercover agent, so it evens out,” I reasoned.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

I grinned. “Nope.”

“Figured as much.” Farah sighed, then started swiping through files at a fast pace, as though something had just occurred to her.

“What is it?” I asked, unable to read as quickly as she was sifting through the data.

“Got it.” She enlarged a file and jabbed a finger at it. “Remember when I couldn’t access Dolph’s medical profile and how tight-lipped Navari was about him?”

“Hard to forget.” I thought back to the emotionally charged days before the doomed op. I’d been distracted by my plans to leave or I’d probably have put all of this together sooner. Or so I liked to think.

“We only focused on mission docs before,” Farah said excitedly, pulling me from my thoughts before they turned to Mateo. “Navari had encrypted personnel files too.”

That got my attention. “What’d you find?”

She smiled in a catlike grin. “For starters, you were right about the eye.” She ticked off her findings on her fingers as she read. “Gene manipulation, artificial limbs, neural co-processor.”

“Sounds more computer than human,” I commented. “No offense, Vega.”

“None taken, Captain.” The AI had been quiet during our little heart to heart and sounded pleased to be rejoining the conversation.

“This is highly classified information,” my friend continued, enlarging the file. “Way above Navari’s rank. It reeks of Kaska.”

I propped my chin on an elbow and tried to puzzle it out. “It’s obvious the Vice-Admiral and commander were working together, but why?”

“That’s where things get a little murky,” she admitted. “All I’ve come up with is Kaska had plans that he was keeping the rest of the government in the dark about and maybe offered Navari something to help him.”

“It’s interesting, but how do we use this to our advantage?” I wondered.

Sophie shrugged. “Blackmail? I’m not sure yet. But more information like this could prove useful.”

“Captain Cortez, we are nearing the final S.G. Point,” Vega informed us.

“Let’s table this for now,” I said, pushing up from the work center. “If we make it back, we can chew on it some more.”

Farah nodded, then stood up too, but she didn’t move to leave.

“What is it?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t think I could take any more surprises tonight.

“It’s just weird,” she admitted. “Do we prep for this the same way as usual?”

I’d been thinking the same thing. Before, the routines we’d gone through made sense. They were methodical and designed to have us in the best frame of mind. At least that was what I used to think. Now I wasn’t so sure. All the rigid rules and procedures just felt oppressive now, but without them, I was a little disconcerted.

“I guess just do what feels right. Free will is going to take some getting used to,” I joked.

* * *

With Karbine only a few hours out, I didn’t bother with a full workout. Instead, I put myself through some stretches to limber up, then suited up.

I’d gone back and forth between using the uniforms or tac suits to move through the colony. The uniforms would be less conspicuous but lacked a way to carry more than a single pistol. Then there was the issue of our new haircuts. If anyone gave us more than a cursory glance, that would be a dead giveaway.

The tac suits would make carrying weapons easier but would definitely grab attention, especially if we wore helmets to cover our hair.

In the end I went with the tac suits, reasoning that we could claim to be there for an op. Neither of us were overly skilled when it came to tech, but Farah seemed to have a better grasp than me. Because of that, I opted to act as cover while she disabled the device.

“You ready?” I asked. Farah and I stood in the cargo bay as Vega landed the Second Genesis. The AI had found a spot to put us down only a few kilometers from the site where the device was located and there was no real military presence. As long as they didn’t move in on us.

My co-captain inclined her head in a quick motion.

“Vega, keep her running in case we have to make a fast retreat,” I ordered.

“Affirmative, Captain.”

I snapped the face of my helmet down and watched it go opaque, then clear. It would keep my face hidden from anyone looking at me while still allowing me to see out. If anyone questioned it, we’d tell them it was above their clearance. I’d always wanted to say that.

“Run one last scan for bodies, Vega. I don’t want to appear out of thin air and start a firefight before we even get there.”

“Of course,” she answered. “My sensors detect no organic signatures or movement within a hundred-meter radius.”

“Good. Let’s go,” I said to Farah.

The ramp opened and we exited, taking our first steps onto the moon’s sunbathed surface. It was bright, but the helmet immediately adjusted by darkening.

Even in my tacsuit, I felt exposed in the daylight. Covert ops as a rule were run at night, and being out there without the cover of dark made me itchy. I wondered briefly if we should have waited, then dismissed the idea. For all we knew the scientists were minutes away from finishing their work and the toxin was already on its way here. Hell, it might already be here for that matter.

The atmospheric generators that provided oxygen to the colony were housed in a large warehouse on the edge of town. The structure was massive and dwarfed most of the nearby buildings.

“Two guards on entry control,” I said through the comm. They blocked the entrance, which was expected. I knew from the blueprints that there was only one way in and out of the structure.

“Copy. I see them,” Farah responded inside my helmet. “Jammer’s on.”

Though I was reasonably sure that Navari’s document would pass scrutiny, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Haas had left an array of tech in his gear trunk, including a jammer that would prevent the guards from checking on our orders.

We angled right for them, not pausing when the first soldier noticed us and went on alert, stance straightening and grip tightening on his weapon. His partner reacted to that by snapping his rifle up in a jerky movement. The first to see us shook his head and pushed the nose of the weapon at the ground to stop in annoyance.

“Special ops unit,” he said. “Wonder why they’re here.”

His voice came through my helmet as clear as if I was standing right next to him, thanks to the noise-cancelling tech.

I assumed he was in charge from his demeanor and directed my attention to him as we closed the gap. His fatigues declared him as Petty-Officer-Reyes. Twitchy Finger looked like he’d just left the academy. A quick scan identified him as Recruit-Bell, so I hadn’t been far off.

Reyes saluted in typical Sarkonian fashion—a closed fist over the heart and lowered gaze—as we came even with the pair. Bell’s hand snapped up so fast that it hit him audibly in the forehead. His cheeks flushed red and I had to suppress a laugh.

“Petty-Officer-Reyes, we’re initiating the final phase for this posting.” I made a show of checking my mini pad and the time. “You have three minutes to vacate the area.”

He dropped his hand and took a closer look at my suit to read my name and rank, then looked at my face. The mirrored effect from the helmet seemed to unnerve him because his gaze went slightly left. “Commander-Rhee, with respect, we’ve received no such orders.”

We’d modified the suits with fake names and ranks in case our old ones were well known here, a distinct possibility.

“No, you wouldn’t have.” I waved a hand at Sophie and the case she carried. It was empty but they didn’t need to know that. “Ensign-Young and I are here to initiate the final phase.”

She stepped forward and showed him the datapad with Kaska’s sign off.

He looked at it, then back and forth between the two of us, clearly torn between following an unknown superior’s direct order and maintaining his post without confirmation.

“Sir, if you’ll give me a moment to contact—”

I cut him off by stepping into his personal space and leaning forward until we almost touched. “Communications are already down in preparation of Security Directive K39B. Is it usual for you to disregard commands, Reyes?” My tone was calm, light, and even, but there was no mistaking the hostility in it.

He blanched and shook his head in a jerky movement. “No, sir. I’m only following protocol.”

“Maybe scale it back a smidge, killer,” Farah hissed in my ear.

I stepped back. “Understood, Petty-Officer. Next time, though, you’d do well to remember respect when a higher ranking officer gives you an order. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Commander. Thank you.” The pair saluted again, then marched off, the recruit whispering urgently to the Petty-Officer. He told the recruit to zip it and then they were out of earshot.

I froze when Reyes stopped short and whirled around, causing me to nearly draw my rifle on him.

“The key, sir. I almost forgot.” He jogged over and passed it to me. I didn’t bother thanking him. As soon as they disappeared from view, I unlocked the door and waved Sophie in behind me before turning to stand watch.

She hurried inside the building and I closed the door most of the way shut, leaving it open just a crack.

“Found the device. Starting disassembly now,” she said in my ear.

I scanned the empty area around the small building but didn’t see anything concerning. Yet.

“We don’t know how much time that bought, so you better move fast,” I warned her. “I don’t think those two completely believe our story.”

“Working on it,” she muttered.

The suit had temp control and stayed a hair above 22 degrees Celsius. Despite the relative balminess inside, I started to sweat as the minutes ticked by.

“Captain, there are three individuals moving in your direction,” Vega informed me over the comm.

“Shit. Singh, status?” I snapped the words out as adrenaline shot through my system in preparation for a fight. I used her given surname out of habit borne from years of training and familiarity.

“Almost there. One more... got it!”

As she said it, Reyes and Bell reappeared from the direction they’d left, except they weren’t alone and appeared to be accompanied by an officer.

The three came within a meter and I noticed both the Petty-Officer and Recruit already had their weapons in hand. The third, a female sergeant, came to a halt in front of me and saluted, since I still ranked higher. Or she thought I did from the rank depicted on my suit.

“What’s the problem, Sergeant?” I said it nonchalantly, not bothering to use her last name, though I could see it was Martin.

Her face tightened at my disrespect from using her rank like that, especially since we didn’t know each other, but the Sergeant didn’t comment. “Sir, Petty-Officer-Reyes has informed me that you are here to remove them from this post.”

I sighed and waved my hand in a bored motion. “Let me guess, you’ve received no such instruction?”

Martin nodded. “That’s affirmative, sir. I’m afraid we cannot move without official word. I’ll also need to verify your credentials.”

She said that last sentence uncertainly. I smiled inside my suit. If I played this right, we could get out of here without any bloodshed.

“Sergeant-Martin, are you aware of what is in this building?” I gestured behind me.

“No, sir. That’s classified.”

I stepped forward, though not like I had with Reyes. He and Bell started to raise their rifles.

“Those weapons come up a centimeter more, you will be charged with attempted murder of a superior officer,” I spat in my best superior officer tone. “Do you understand me?”

The barrels dropped instantly to aim at the dirt.

I turned my attention back to Martin. “That’s right, Sergeant-Martin. It is known to only a select few. And I am one of those few. Your orders are to not enter that building, guard the generators, and remain here until relieved. After which you have to vacate this colony. How am I doing? Correct so far?”

Her mouth formed a small O at my words before she got it in check. “Yes, sir, that’s correct.”

At that moment, Farah exited the building, making the trio jump.

Ignoring the outburst, I continued. “I know,” I said amiably. “I’m in this suit for a reason, Sergeant. I’m not taking any chances with this delivery. Your men were told three minutes five minutes ago, so unless you’re all ready to die, I suggest you and your team hightail it off this rock.”

The sergeant looked at the building with an expression of pure horror.

“But the colonists, shouldn’t we evacuate?”

I softened at her obvious discomfort at leaving the innocent people here to die but forced myself to stay in character. “I don’t believe your orders mention an evacuation.” Motioning Farah to follow, I tossed the words coolly over my shoulder and left the three to gawk at our backs.

We returned to the Second Genesis at a faster pace than before and walked into the cargo bay less than an hour after we’d left it.

I opened one of the biological safety containers then stepped back. Farah set the device inside gently as if it were loaded with the deadly toxin, then locked the lid again.

We exchanged twin glances of relief then made our way back to the bridge to strap in for takeoff. There had been a few moments there where I was a little worried we’d have to fight our way off the planet moon, but it had worked out just fine.

“That went well,” she said, clipping her harness together. “I almost threatened to release the toxin early.”

I looked at her in disbelief. “Are you serious? And what if they called your bluff?”

She chuckled and raised a hand in a “no idea” gesture. “I didn’t get that far. You handled it well anyway. I thought Reyes was going to pee himself.”

I laughed with her as we left Karbine’s orbit and returned to the beauty of deep space.

“I’m glad we didn’t have to resort to that. I was a little worried that recruit was going to accidentally shoot at one of us, but he managed to hold it together.”

“Congratulations on a successful first mission,” Vega complimented us as the Second Genesis pulled away from Karbine.

“Thanks. It went better than I expected,” I said.

I spoke the truth. I’d left the ship fully anticipating a fight, and even though it had been ages since I prayed, I thanked the gods that didn’t happen.

“As I mentioned, Miss Cortez, the ship will require refueling before any significant travel.”

The “Miss Cortez” gave me a slight pause, but I decided I liked it after a lifetime of being addressed by a Sarkonian imposed rank.

“Yes, you did. Get me a list of outposts or stations where we’ll be the least likely to run into trouble,” I ordered.

“I took the liberty of assembling that information already, Captain.”

“Wow, you’re good, Vega.”

The computer was getting almost scarily good at anticipating our needs, but I wasn’t going to complain. In fact, I had to say I was impressed. Vega seemed to be adapting to the changes with ease, but part of me did feel a slight a twinge of apprehension.

Could the AI suddenly decide it didn’t want to help us? I pushed the thought away. Tech had never been my thing, but nothing in Vega’s actions suggested she would betray us. If there was any chance of that, I was certain Mack would have mentioned it.

“It’s my pleasure to assist you,” she said as if reading my thoughts. “The Leah Station is located not far from here. Similar to Neblinar, it has no military presence, though it is technically within Union territory.”

I grinned, deciding to focus on the positives and letting satisfaction at our recent success show.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get some fuel in this baby so we can work on the next anti-mission.”

16

Leah station was located on a dwarf planet one S.G. Point away from Karbine, not far from the outer limit of Union-controlled space, though still inside their territory.

It was evident as soon as we docked why the Union didn’t give a shit about the little colony and the Empire hadn’t bothered to claim it.

The seedy atmosphere here was exactly what I’d first expected to find on Nebilnar. The station could loosely be called hedonistic, but I didn’t see how anyone could find pleasure in the scum and grime.

Both Farah and I could handle ourselves but decided it was smarter to stick together in case someone tried to mug us. We both packed for a fight and I ordered Vega to engage countermeasures should anyone try to steal the ship.

Fuel was the first thing, since it was sold right at the docks. I haggled with a nearly toothless vendor who quoted an initial price more than three times the average. I was sorely tempted to agree just to get away from his breath but soldiered through it by not breathing with my nose. Farah had turned away less than a minute into the negotiations and pretended to be very interested in the passersby.

I finally settled on a price with the vendor only slightly above what I’d paid on Neblinar and stepped away with extreme relief.

“That was worse than a dead body,” I said as I came up to Farah, still almost gagging. “And you know we’ve smelled our fair share.”

“Vega, make a note never to come here again,” she told the AI.

“Of course, Miss Shahi. My apologies for your current predicament. The data listed did not allude to the degraded condition of the station.”

“It’ll be fine,” Farah replied. “I’m just glad we’re up to date on all of our inoculations.”

“Indeed, Miss Shahi.”

“We might as well grab some food in case we can’t stop for a while,” I suggested.

Farah made a face. “Something tells me they don’t have fresh fruits or veggies on hand.”

“Would you eat them if they did?” I asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

“No. Packaged food should be safe though, right?” She didn’t sound like she trusted that either and I laughed.

“Maybe. It might be prudent to disinfect them before touching them, just to be safe.”

Our supply run took us all over the station. Fortunately, we managed to find a few merchants whose shops looked like they’d been cleaned in the not-too-distant past. Some of the places we saw didn’t appear to have ever seen a broom or mop.

The med bay on the ship was stocked well enough with military grade supplies that should last us awhile. Still, Farah thought it best to see what we could find to add to our inventory, though I wasn’t holding out much hope after seeing what Leah had to offer.

As we moved down one of the many dim, dirty streets in tandem, I became increasingly grateful for my training. I fixed my features into mask of scornful arrogance and stalked rather than walked. Any show of weakness here would only be an invitation for trouble from anyone who thought us an easy mark. They’d be wrong of course, but I didn’t feel like putting it to the test.

Shadows didn’t slink and slither here so much as prowl and hunt. They seemed to push back against the weak glow from scattered light posts instead of the other way around. There was no question. Darkness ruled here.

The gloom dissipated somewhat in the market district where businesses advertised their wares with flashing holo signs, blazing displays, and in some cases, live models.

I stopped in front of a window with the unmistakable red cross signifying medical supplies. It looked slightly less filthy than the last one we’d tried, so I stepped inside.

The door closed with a sharp slap behind us. The lights faltered and buzzed like they were on their last legs, illuminating the interior of the store with a half-hearted glow. As Farah was the medic, I had her take point. She moved methodically through the aisles, plucking various items off shelves.

I followed her to the counter when she waved a hand, indicating she was done, but let her haggle with the scowling woman at the register. I listened with half an ear in case things got tense and continued to scan the store.

Only one other customer patronized the establishment and I had a feeling they didn’t plan on paying. I couldn’t make out gender because the person was covered in a large bedraggled cloak and hunched over. They shuffled aimlessly and didn’t appear to have an interest in anything.

“You want I can have this delivered,” the clerk was telling Farah, who shook her head.

“No, I’ll take them,” she replied.

We’d already decided ahead of time not to have anything delivered. More than likely, anything we sent ahead wouldn’t make it.

“You sure? If you pay extra, I throw in insurance.” The woman smiled in a way that I supposed she thought came off as trustworthy, but it had the opposite effect.

“I said no.” Farah’s usually soft tone took on a menacing inflection. “And if someone tries to follow us, I’m going to assume it was you.”

The clerk pushed the packages toward her and leaned away, waving her hands in protest. “That’s bad for business. I can’t be blamed for what happens after you leave my shop.”

The purchased goods disappeared into my partner’s coat in a slick move that I would have missed had I not been watching.

“I guess you better hope nothing happens, then,” she warned.

As we walked out, I noticed the cloaked figure I’d observed earlier approach the counter. Shouts erupted, but we ignored them and stepped out onto the street.

“Sheesh,” I said. “And you say I’m the scary one.”

My friend grinned evilly. “What can I say? I learned from the best.”

“What’s left?” I asked, wishing I’d thought to ask before we left. Standing still out in the open made me twitchy.

Farah consulted the list on her wrist unit then grinned at me. “Your favorite. Weapons and ammo.”

I smiled. She was right, they were my favorite.

We set off down the walk, careful not to bump into anyone. In a place like this, you were just as likely to get pickpocketed as you were a knife in the gut for whatever happened to be in your pockets. We witnessed the latter and nobody batted an eye, not even bothering to do more than step over the poor man’s body.

It was well past evening, but Leah was a hive of activity. Not a single shop window was dark and street vendors flagged down passersby in hopes of making an easy sale.

Naked women danced on live holo feeds outside brothels, enticing patrons to come in and fulfill any fantasy. It didn’t matter what system you were in, sex sold.

A shop to our right caught my eye and I peered at the display with interest. It was a surgeon offering illegal cybernetic enhancements. The biotech looked out of date and questionable at best, but I had to admit it got my attention.

“How about that one?” Farah pointed across the street at a sign depicting weapons.

I turned away from the black market surgical center and shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any.”

“Good. I want to get the hell out of here,” she said, making a beeline for it. “I think we may have to burn our clothes in the incinerator to get rid of the smell.”

I didn’t dance when we entered the store, but I wanted to. The store itself had seen better days and my feet made little sucking noises when I walked, but the firearms were shiny and almost clean to a fault.

Soldiers, mercenaries, Renegades—we might not always play well together, but we all had one thing in common: we took care of our weapons and gear. Proper maintenance was essential to keeping your shit in working order. Nobody wanted to be in a firefight and have their gun bind up or misfire because it was dirty.

Likewise, if an arms dealer wanted to sell anything, their merchandise had better be in top condition. Otherwise, word would get out and the only customers they were likely to attract would be criminals who didn’t know any better.

I circled the room slowly, studying the displays. An upgraded version of my service rifle caught my eye and I picked it up. This one had HUD connectivity, and when paired with the right rounds, target-locking capability.

It had perfect balance and a quick inspection didn’t reveal any defects. I carried it to the front counter, where a stout, bald man sat watching me with sharp, calculating eyes.

“You got somewhere I can test this?”

He looked me up and down, but not in an offensive way. More like he was assessing whether I could handle the rifle.

I tensed at a mechanized sound coming from the entrance. A metal guard slid down, protecting the windows and preventing anyone from coming or going.

Apparently judging me to be worthy, he nodded, bent to retrieve a few rounds from somewhere out of sight, then dropped them into my open palm.

“Just a precaution,” the clerked said, apparently noticing my expression. “Can’t leave it unattended otherwise idiots will try to steal my shit. Don’t get any ideas either. My vitals go too off base and you’ll never make it out.” He motioned for us to follow him and led the way to a back room.

It consisted of a single stall and ran about fifteen meters on the inside. The man passed me a beat-up pair of ear protectors, then gave another to Farah. I tried not to think about who might have used them before us and what germs still remained.

Sucking it up, I slid them on, stepped to the stall, and field-stripped the rifle, then put it back together and loaded the ammunition.

“My goods are clean,” the clerk said in a somewhat miffed voice.

“Yes, they are,” I said with a nod. “Just like to see for myself what I’m buying.”

“More than I can say for most of my clients,” he laughed before ordering the trial program to run.

A holo materialized at the back wall in the shape of a Union soldier. It flickered a few times before smoothing out, then held steady.

Already in my shooting stance, I got comfortable with the unfamiliar weapon, making minute adjustments to my grip and body. It felt good and I had the target in my sights a few seconds later.

My mind went calm and I breathed out then squeezed the trigger five times until the magazine was spent. I set the rifle on the table and removed the ear protection.

The holo image disappeared from view then reappeared in front of me. I allowed myself a teeny smile when I saw that all of my shots had gone exactly where I’d wanted them. One in the head, three at center mass, and one at the knee. Just for fun.

I didn’t take long to make my decision. The rifle cost a little more than I’d planned on spending, but I decided to splurge this one time.

We loaded up on more ammunition, a few handguns, blades, and some illegal military-grade charges. I even discovered a stockpile of MREs. I’d started checking out, when Farah saw something in the corner of the room.

She lifted a bow from the wall that looked unlike any weaponry we’d ever trained with and turned it over in her hands. A minute later, she was carrying it up to the counter the same way I had with the rifle. The shopkeeper produced a few practice arrows and hit his little button again.

“This is a fine weapon,” he remarked as we went to the back room again. “Very special. It was stolen from a Sarkonian research facility, according to the person I relieved it from.”

Something about his smile told me it hadn’t been a credit-based transaction.

“The technology is supposedly ancient, giving it that unique look. So far no one has appreciated its origin story, so it has been sitting there for quite some time. Maybe you like it enough to buy it, eh?”

I snorted. “That’s a fancy way to say it’s an antique and no one will buy it.”

The man gave me an offended look.

“Of course not, I stand by my merchandise. If she buys it, I’ll even give her a deal,” he claimed.

“I’ll decide after I’ve tried it out,” Farah told him before walking to the stall.

This time, he didn’t hand out the protection when Farah stepped up to the firing line. Like me, she inspected the bow and made a few adjustments before nocking one of the arrows. A brilliant blue glow lit the bow from end to end when she picked it up. It seemed to hum with power, and a few heartbeats later she loosed the first practice arrow, then the rest in quick succession.

I watched as they lanced into the holo target before embedding into the wall, each hitting a vital piece of real estate. She was good. It was standard for Sarkonians to train on a variety of weapons, but I’d never liked archery myself.

Out of ammunition to fire, Farah touched the tip of her index finger to a near invisible biopad above her fist. The bow collapsed into itself and retracted into the grip.

“I’ll take it,” she said with a satisfied smile.

True to his word, he offered her a deal by throwing in extra arrows for free when we returned to the counter to finish the transaction.

It became apparent before the clerk finished ringing everything up that we wouldn’t be able to carry all of it.

“Is there somewhere to rent a hover cart?” I asked.

“No.” He shook his head and kept tallying. “But delivery is included.”

He continued before I could decline again. “I’ve never seen you around, so I don’t think you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting the Leah station before.”

I arched an eyebrow at his use of the word “pleasure” in the same sentence as the station but didn’t interrupt.

“No disrespect, you both seem like you can handle yourselves, but not if one of the gangs jumps you. And if you walk out that door carrying any of this”—he gestured at the loaded counter—“they will. But no one messes with my shipments when my men are transporting them.”

“Does that come with a guarantee?” I asked.

He nodded. “A full refund or replacement of undelivered goods. Within reason, of course.” He started ticking off reasons on his fingers. “If you hijack your own shipment, asteroids, war breaks out. Stuff like that. Name’s Clint, by the way. Clint Russell.”

I considered that, and the man, for a moment. Now that he’d spoken more than a few words, I could tell he was educated. It made me wonder how he’d ended up on this blight of a station.

“Alyss,” I said, shaking his offered hand. “That’s quite a deal. Tell me, Clint, how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Clint shrugged. “You don’t. My reputation speaks for itself. Then there’s the fact that it’s not generally a good idea to piss off the clientele I cater to. Besides, if you’re happy with my products and service, maybe you two will come back and buy more.” He winked.

“What do you think?” I asked Sophie. I had to admit, the guy made excellent points.

“I don’t feel like fighting tonight,” she replied, then aimed a pointed look at Clint. “Or killing anyone.”

“Okay, I guess it’s settled,” I said. “But, Clint, if we don’t get our shit, I’ll come back and burn this place to the ground.”

He barked out a laugh. “You know what? I believe you would.”

My stomach growled then, and I was suddenly starving. “Is there anywhere safe to get some food around here?” I asked, not feeling very optimistic.

“There’s a place that serves halfway edible food if you squint really hard and don’t mind a little skin,” he said. “Tell you what, why don’t you go see if you can stomach it. I’ll get this packed up for you and delivered in about two hours.”

We shook on it, then Farah and I followed his directions to the establishment known as “The Space Between,” which I found funny.

Sophie didn’t quite share my humor and groaned when we stepped inside the skin bar that was part brothel. Music bumped and lights flashed as dancers performed onstage in a colorful group number.

Their only clothing, such as it was, came in the form of sparkly tassels and long neon bright hair that occasionally blocked the audience’s view of their less than private parts.

“We are so going to regret this,” Sophie grumbled as a scantily clad hostess sashayed over to us.

“Club side or bar side?” she asked, flashing a bright smile and revealing a full set of teeth.

“Bar side, please,” my friend said quickly.

The young woman almost looked disappointed but led us to a table through a set of doors that took us out of the main room and into a slightly tamer bar setting. It still had naked girls dancing in brightly lit glass displays but boasted some regular lighting in an area clearly meant for dining and was mercifully quieter.

“Look, the table isn’t even that dirty,” I said cheerfully. An order pad sat on one side and I picked it up to scroll through the menu choices.

“I can’t believe you’re going to eat here,” Farah said, scanning the dingy room.

Most of the patrons on this side were women or couples. This was probably one of the only choices for dining, I guessed.

Settling on a burger and thinly sliced soy potato substitute, I pushed the pad over to her, which she immediately declined.

“No thanks, I’d prefer not to throw up tonight.” She made a face and I chuckled.

“Funny,” I said. “Suit yourself. Hey, I didn’t realize how talented you were with a bow.”

Her expression brightened considerably at that. “I was into archery before the academy. Mom and Dad told me not to show how good I was, so I always aimed off center a little.” Something like regret showed on her face for just an instant, then it was gone again.

“And you still killed it after all this time,” I said, giving her exaggerated applause.

She rolled her eyes. “I still practiced, my target just wasn’t what the instructors told me to aim for.”

I missed what she said next because I noticed a figure standing at the bar behind her. Something about their profile drew my eye. The person, a man, turned just enough that I could see the outline of his jaw. It couldn’t be—

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Farah snapped her fingers at me, trying to get my attention. “Did you see something?”

She swiveled in her seat, but the man was gone.

“For a second, I thought I saw…” I hesitated.

“What?” she prompted, staring at me.

“Nothing, just some guy at the bar looked like someone I recognized.”

Farah looked again, scanning the length of the bar counter and the rest of the room this time. “Who did you think it was?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” I lied. “I only saw the outline of his face for a second.”

“Weird. Seems unlikely anyone we know would be here of all places,” she replied. “Are you sure?”

I hesitated. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Try me,” she said.

A busty woman well past her prime delivered my order before I had to answer.

“You want som’n else, just put it in the pad, love.” The woman pointed at the pad Farah had returned to the slot after refusing to order, then left to see to other customers.

At first glance, there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with the burger. I picked it up gingerly and gave it a once over, then took a cautious bite.

“I wonder if the pad has a barf bag option,” she joked.

I swallowed and washed it down with the beer I’d ordered. “Clint was right. It’s half edible and doesn’t look too bad. If I squint.”

She laughed. “Great, now polish off the rest of it so we can get back to the ship. I’m going to need a few decontamination showers to feel clean again. So, you were about to say why you were crazy?”

Waving a hand, I bit into my burger. “Nothing,” I said around a mouthful of dry meat. “I was wrong.”

I was anxious to get back too, and less than fifteen minutes later, we were headed for the door. I scanned the bar again, looking for the man I’d seen, but he was gone.

The image of his familiar frame wouldn’t leave my mind, though I knew it to be impossible. People don’t just happen to show up on a planet in a system you’ve never even heard of before.

Especially dead people.

17

“Any issues while we were gone?” I asked Vega when Farah and I got back to the Second Genesis.

“Nothing my anti-theft measures could not handle,” said Vega. “A vagrant attempted to gain entry but was… discouraged by an electric current.”

I chuckled.

As Clint had promised, all of our haul made it into the delivery compartment, so we didn’t have to make good on our word. I sent him a message thanking him. He sent one back saying to make sure we remembered him when we returned. I told him that was highly unlikely, but if he ever went somewhere like Neblinar to let us know.

Sophie and I didn’t waste any time, loading everything into the cargo bay’s storage units and the armory, then returned to the bridge. We both wanted to get out of orbit and leave the Leah station behind for good.

“Captain, I have plotted several courses based on the ranking system you and Miss Shahi designed,” Vega said when we reached orbit.

The star map lit up with half a dozen charted routes, each one linked to a mission, which I found incredibly useful.

“Taking into account urgency, location, and estimated success percentage, I believe this”—one of the dots brightened, then grew when Vega focused on it—“would make an excellent next choice.”

The display split so that the map was on one side and the data on the other. I recognized the details immediately from the failed mission on Harah. They depicted plans for testing a new weapon that was made up of microscopic replication tech.

Neither Sophie nor I had ranked the weapon considerably high, so it surprised me that Vega wanted to go there first.

“What’s so special about this tech, V?” I asked.

“It seems a little lackluster and less lethal than some of the others,” added Farah, beating me to it.

“It did appear that way at first, Miss Shahi,” Vega agreed. “However, after further analysis I have come to believe that should this technology be unleashed, it could very well mark the demise of human life in the known universe.”

I wrinkled a brow at that, still skeptical. “How would that work? The weapon is stored in an Imperial lab right now. It doesn’t seem to be an immediate cause for concern,” I pointed out.

Vega didn’t respond right away, almost like she was hesitating.

“Is there something you aren’t saying Vega?” I asked.

Another beat of silence, then she answered. “After cross examining all available information, there is a ninety-nine point seven percent chance that the Imperial scientists will discover how to weaponize this technology without understanding how to control it. Once deployed, this self-replicating technology will be capable of consuming all manner of matter and recomposing it into pre-specified elements.”

“Meaning what?” asked Farah, sounding just as confused as I felt.

Vega tried again. “While the intended function was a more efficient method of terraforming, the government realized that the technology could easily be weaponized if applied to an enemy city or ship with the replication limit disabled”

“Holy shit,” I said, finally getting the implications such a weapon could have. “It could be a planet destroyer. No wonder they sent us to Harah to retrieve it. Whoever has this could control all of the known systems.”

“So, Sarkon sent another team after we failed,” Farah said softly.

“I’m not surprised. Sarkon would know it was important enough to risk a second attack on the Union in that short amount of time,” I said, then focused on the weapon again. “The Union created this?”

“It would appear that the origin is unknown at this time,” Vega replied, surprising me. “However, it is not novel. Both sides have been attempting to create something similar for quite some time. It is unclear how they achieved success.”

I mulled that over in my head.

“Let me get this straight,” I said abruptly. “These tiny robots can suck up anything, strip it down to nothing, then what, create whatever? It sounds highly improbable. I mean it sounds about as plausible as magic.”

“The data suggests that the microrobots are able to break down matter at the molecular level, then recompose it into something else so long as they have the required elements.”

“You said they might not be able to control them,” said Farah. “What could happen then?”

I hadn’t even considered that possibility. The ramifications from such a weapon in the hands of either the Union or the Empire made me feel queasy. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they decided to test such a thing without fully understanding it or taking precautions. All either side could see was their own greed.

“In theory, anything,” answered the AI, sounding grave. “Entire civilizations could be destroyed as fast as the weapon could consume them. There exists a limitation, however. They are a single purpose technology, built to perform one process. For example, once they finish consuming a planet there would be nothing left for them to do. They would be unable to leave, but if a ship were to land on the surface, they would destroy it if proper defenses were not in place.”

Farah nodded. “That’s what I thought. It’s not like they could create a ship and take off or something.”

“That is correct,” Vega agreed.

“I’m convinced,” I announced, then tossed a glance at my friend. “What about you, any objections?”

She shook her head. “No. We need to get this out of their hands. Though I’m not sure what we’re going to do with it. If we’re successful, I mean.”

My friend had a point. A weapon this powerful could end wars, in the right hands. In the wrong hands, however…

“You heard her, Vega. I guess we’re going to steal some unknown tech from Mom and Dad. Let’s hope it goes better than last time,” I said dryly.

The Sarkonian Empire didn’t have borders so much as they had sporadic pockets of claimed territory. The Anquila Belt was one of those pockets, home to the Chaundra facility where the weapon was supposedly held.

As luck would have it, both Farah and I were familiar with the station. During slow periods or when the Sarkon government felt they needed a little extra muscle for protection, our unit was called upon for guard duty. Boring, but at least we got to leave the Ambiana for a few days of easy work.

Fortunately for us, we weren’t too far, only a few systems away. Unfortunately, that meant we were also close to Sarkon. A little too close for my liking, but we didn’t exactly have a choice.

“The military is probably going to be on the lookout for two soldiers,” Farah said later when we’d begun to plan the finer aspects of the op.

“Yeah,” I agreed, nodding my head. “They probably won’t fall for that one again, although they never did see our faces. Still, our best bet is to go covert. We’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. Under the cover of darkness.”

Doing it during the day had made sense on Sobek; nobody there expected us to show up on Sarkonian turf. Now they would, and because of the importance of the weapon there was bound to be heightened security.

“Pardon me,” said Vega, politely. “But I should be able to assist you. Miss Woods—”

“Miss who?” I interrupted, confused.

I scoured my brain but couldn’t remember anyone by that name.

“Mack,” Farah clarified. “Her full name is Mackenna Woods.”

“Oh right,” I said, remembering. “What about her now?”

“Miss Woods was able to remove the military controls on my systems,” Vega continued. “The process did not remove my access to their systems. I can possibly gain ingress into their cameras feeds.”

“Possibly?” I asked, picking up the subtext.

“Yes, provided they haven’t anticipated such a move on our part,” the AI answered.

And that was covert operations in a nutshell. Each side trying to outwit the other by misdirection, stealth, and sometimes a big steaming helping of guesswork and luck. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Navari’s data cache had already been there before everything went to shit, I wouldn’t have trusted it.

Even the encryption didn’t factor. If I wanted fake intelligence to look like real intelligence, the first thing I’d do would be to encrypt it. No one would ever leave hi-level data—or low level for that matter—unprotected.

Hell, everyone I knew passcoded their personal pads as if the Union might send a whole squadron to get at their music choices. Point was, unencrypted data would have been a huge red flag.

There was a slight chance that the Empire knew of my plans to leave and could have set up the operation on Sobek as a trap, but I doubted it. For one, I’d killed Navari, no doubt about it. Second, Dolph would have been waiting for me to make a move before we got away.

No, whatever the Void operative had been there to do, he’d accomplished. My gut said that all the misgivings I felt had to do with Kaska. He had an agenda, I just didn’t know what it was. I hoped it would become clearer as we upset his plans.

In the end we decided the best course of action was for Vega to take on the role of observer rather than trying to usurp control of the station. That way the computer could keep an eye out for us and hopefully avoid detection.

We arrived at the Anquila Belt within a few standard hours and immediately noticed the increased Sarkonian military presence. From there, the Chaundra Station was only a quick jaunt, but when we arrived it was still daytime.

As much as both of us wanted to get to the surface and relieve the Sarkonians of a weapon of mass destruction, it made tactical sense to wait. Plus, I hadn’t slept since before we’d stopped to refuel on Leah.

Yeah, landing now and attempting an attack wouldn’t just be stupid. It would be suicide. I had no problem dying for a cause or even just a damn good reason, but being stupid wasn’t either of those.

“Vega, how we looking?” I asked through a yawn so big it threatened to split my face in half.

Farah, Vega, and I had planned as much as we could with the information we had on hand. Now it was time to recharge, at least for a little while.

“Excellent, Captain. I have detected no changes in any of the station’s patterns. I do not believe we have been discovered.”

“Solid,” I commented, crawling into bed without bothering to strip first. I’d neglected to take the sleep meds Farah had left with me as I was already struggling to stay awake.

“Indeed, Captain. I shall wake you an hour prior to dusk or if our circumstances change.”

“Sounds good,” I mumbled, already dropping out. Then a thought occurred to me. “Vega, can you calculate our odds for success on this one?”

“Certainly. After analyzing all available data, I estimate a 74.3% chance of success,” the computer responded.

A little lower than I would have liked, but still on the high side. So long as things went smoothly, we had a decent chance.

“Would you like to hear potential points of failure?” the AI inquired.

“Gods, no V,” I said. “What are you trying to do, give me nightmares?”

“I would never, Captain Cortez.” Vega somehow managed to sound slightly miffed.

“Glad to hear it,” I mumbled. “Wake me when it’s time.”

I let the exhaustion take me then and carry me into a deep sleep.

* * *

Four hours later Vega was easing the Second Genesis through the dusty planet’s lower orbit and setting us down a few kilometers from Chaundra.

“Status report,” I ordered after unclipping my harness.

“Nothing in my scans indicates our arrival was detected,” Vega confirmed. “I am prepared to access security feeds on your command, Captain.”

“Do it,” I said.

“Acknowledged. Please standby.”

The computer went silent long enough that I started to get nervous. As I was about to break my silence, she answered. “Apologies for the delay. I did encounter some interference.”

That was not the news I wanted to hear right now. “What kind of interference?” I growled.

“There appeared to be another… entity attempting to access the feeds,” said the AI, hesitating. “From the code signature, I was able to identify it as Union.”

Shit, I thought, groaning inwardly.

“This just went from bad to worse,” Farah murmured.

“Shall we abort?” asked Vega.

“No.” I shook my head. “We can’t risk them figuring out how to make the tech work. I’m not letting it stay in their hands either. Let’s stick to the plan. V, did they notice you in there?”

“No,” she said.

“Good. Let me know if anything changes. Also, see if you can get a visual on our Union pals,” I added.

“Of course, Captain.”

“You good?” I asked Farah.

She smirked. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

The lights in the cargo bay blinked off, shrouding the space in darkness, then the ramp began to lower. I didn’t want to be given away by a giant beam of light appearing out of thin air, should anyone be watching.

The two of us moved like shadows, just as we had been trained. I smirked behind my face glass at the thought of using their own training to screw them over.

It didn’t take long for us to make it to the door and we didn’t encounter anyone, which put me on edge. At one point, a pair of soldiers had been patrolling their route, but they were too far to be of any concern.

“It’s quiet,” Farah said into her helmet’s comms. “Too quiet.”

I agreed.

“Vega, run another scan. Something is off here, and I don’t care to be ambushed again.”

“I cannot scan inside the building without alerting them to my presence,” she said. “However, the area around your position is clear.”

Farah turned to me, but I couldn’t see her face through the darkened shield of her helmet. I assumed she was waiting to see if we would keep going, so I nodded.

She moved forward, ready to disarm the door locks, when a sliver of light caught my eye. I grabbed her arm and pointed at where it was just visible, then pulled the door open cautiously. As I’d suspected, the door was already compromised.

“Stay sharp,” I said. “They’re already inside.”

Almost as soon as we crossed the threshold a loud hum sounded. The lights went out, plunging us into darkness. Our helmets adjusted immediately and entered night vision mode.

“Status?” I asked the computer through my comm.

“I’ve lost all feeds,” Vega announced. “Power has been shut down.”

Great, just what we needed.

“Any idea who did it, Union or Empire?” I asked.

“My apologies, Captain. I cannot be sure at this time.”

“This keeps getting better and better,” I complained. “Alright, let’s keep moving and hope they didn’t send a full unit to this location already.”

Even without Vega to be our eyes, it was fairly simple to navigate the familiar building.

“Over here,” Farah said, calling me over to a room she’d just cleared.

There was a dead Imperial soldier crumpled on the floor, blood pooling out from his body. I looked away, feeling an odd mixture of emotions. On one hand, he was a soldier of the Empire. On the other hand, he was only carrying out his orders.

Just like you used to, a little voice reminded me.

“At least we know we’re on the right path,” Farah remarked, clearly not wrestling with the same feelings I was. The damage done to her family must have really jaded her, not that I could blame her.

We kept moving and found more bodies along the way. Some had been hidden in rooms like the first, but as we drew closer to the testing lab we sought, they were left in plain sight.

The Union team must have felt more at ease with the power off. The whole operation was making me edgy, but we didn’t turn back.

“This is weird,” Farah said after checking another body. She hesitated. “I noticed a few bodies back. They’ve all been killed the same way.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Remember how I knew Navari made the kills back on Sobek?”

I nodded.

“It’s like that. Almost like a signature.” Her voice sounded unsure.

“One person did all of this?” I asked incredulously.

“I think so. And that’s not all. I recognize—”

Just then a loud boom sounded from down the hall.

“We’re not far behind them, move!” I hissed, then took off in a sprint down the corridor.

The hall ended a hundred meters later, splitting into a T. A trail of Sarkonian bodies littered the way to the left and light spilled out into the darkened hallway. We were close.

We approached slowly to the sounds of grunts and blows landing, then silence.

“Ready?” I whispered over the helmet comm.

“Affirmative,” Farah answered.

I swung into the room, rifle slotted against my shoulder and tracking until I saw the figure clad in black standing in the middle of the room. They were holding a metal tube I could only assume to be the microbots.

18

“Put it down, slowly. You try anything and you’ll be joining your friends on the floor,” I said calmly after switching to external comms.

From their height and build, the person looked male, but I’d been fooled before. Still, my gut said it was a him. He wore an exosuit like ours but marked unmistakably with a Union emblem. The soldier didn’t make a move for a weapon but neither did he comply with my order.

I edged further into the room to let Farah stand next to me. I noticed she’d opted for her new bow, the blue markings glowing brilliantly in the darkened room.

The man tensed at Farah’s appearance, or maybe the foreign weapon she was holding. He straightened then and a faint buzz sounded from his exosuit. There was something in the way he stood, an over confident swagger. In our line of work that wasn’t usually an exaggeration and I made sure to be wary.

“Systems are coming back online within the facility,” warned Vega. “I estimate you have less than five minutes before reinforcements start to arrive.”

“Give him a warning,” I said to my partner.

“Gladly,” she said, taking a step forward.

She loosed one of her new arrows in his direction, but the man didn’t flinch, not even when it struck the body closest to him. The charged projectile detonated on impact and showered the immediate vicinity with bits of dead Sarkonian.

“Oops, a little too much power there,” she said apologetically over the helmet comms.

If the situation hadn’t been so tense, it might have been funny.

“The next one will be aimed at you,” I warned him. “Put it down and move to the far wall. I won’t ask again.”

“You’re either very stupid or suicidal,” he said, breaking his silence for the first time.

The voice that came out of his external suit comm was distorted with a computerized lilt. Probably courtesy of a voice changer in his speaker output.

“If you hit this container, we’re all dust, sweetheart.”

I bristled at the casual use of the endearment but kept my cool.

“I know,” I said agreeably. “Better that than the Union or the Empire having it.” I cocked my head at him when he didn’t respond. “I’m ready to die for my mission, Uni. The question is, are you?”

He seemed to consider that for a moment, though I couldn’t see his expression, then set the device gingerly on the ground. Raising his hands to indicate he meant no threat, the man backed away until he was touching the far wall.

“If he moves, light him up,” I instructed Farah so that he could hear.

A case lay open on one of the lab tables where the soldier had been standing, presumably about to load the weapon when we’d interrupted him. I put it on the floor and gently transferred the tube inside and secured it. It was more than a little terrifying that such a small item could destroy an entire planet.

I stood then and backed out the way we’d come in. When Farah was beside me again, I set the case down and bent to put a proximity charge on the floor.

“It has a five-minute timer,” I told the soldier. “You leave this room before that little light goes green and… well, you know.”

“Captain, I’ve regained access to the feeds,” Vega chimed in as we left.

No sooner had she spoken than the blare of sirens sounded and echoed through the building.

“Hostiles are headed your way,” she continued. “I can take control of the cams if you wish.”

“Not yet,” I grunted. “Can you lead us out?”

“Certainly.”

Vega took us out of the facility, narrowly avoiding almost all of the Imperial soldiers that were now swarming it. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty for leaving the Union soldier to be found this time. He’d made his choices and killed a good number of men and women trying to serve their government. Or had been forced to. Either way, they weren’t hurting anyone else.

Around the corner from our position, two grunts decked out in combat gear stood between us and the outside.

I passed the case to Farah and leveled my new rifle. As soon as I came into view one of them noticed me and started shouting, then raised her own weapon.

It only took a split second to line up my target and squeeze the trigger once, then twice. Each shot found its mark, one after the other, and slammed into the soldiers’ helmets.

The high-pitched whine of feedback sounded as the comms and helmet feeds were scrambled by the specialized ammunition. Both of the guards panicked, dropped their weapons, and beat on their respectively glitching face shields.

Farah moved forward, auto collapsing the glowing bow until it was just a grip again, then stripped the pair of their weapons. Neither of them put up a fight while they tried to manually break the seals on their suits and pry the screeching headgear off.

We were out the door before they succeeded. Farah checked one of the rifles before tossing the other into a nearby bush and moved in the direction of the Second Genesis.

“They still haven’t gotten around to biolocking their weapons,” she said, disapproval thick in her voice.

I shrugged. “What do you expect? The government’s cheap,” I replied. “We only had them because of our status and track record.”

“I guess,” she said, panting slightly. “But attacks like this might be prevented if they invested in better gear.”

“Better for us they didn’t,” I pointed out.

We were silent the rest of the way back and luckily didn’t run into any more issues.

“V, gimme a status report,” I said once we were on the bridge again.

“I have detected major breaks in the station’s security patterns,” the AI responded stoically. “However, nothing that would suggest they know our location.”

The understatement of her first words made me laugh.

Farah looked at me, then the command center. “Vega, did you just make a joke?” she asked incredulously.

“Indeed. I have been studying human interaction in order to better understand and serve you both. I learned that the Captain responds well to something called sarcasm.”

“Hilarious, as always, V,” I broke in from the captain's chair. “Now if you don’t mind, can we get out of here before the Imperials do discover us and blow us into tiny bits? Take us back to Neblinar. We’ve got enough juice to make it there without stopping, right?”

“Yes, Captain Cortez. Setting a course now,” replied the AI in a more sober tone this time.

* * *

Farah and I stood in the cargo bay once we were safely inside a slip tunnel. I’d ordered Vega to do a scan on the newly acquired weapon to make sure it wasn’t going to open from a malfunction and destroy the ship or us along with it.

“The device does not appear to be activated,” Vega said after the analysis was complete.

“For a computer you don’t sound very sure,” Farah commented.

“Gotta agree, V. Your words do not inspire confidence. What do you mean the device does not appear to be activated?” I asked suspiciously.

“My apologies, Captain.” The AI sounded almost sheepish now. “If you’ll recall Navari’s encrypted notes, the origin of this technology was unknown.”

I rolled my hand, saying that I did remember.

“They were not wrong. It pains me to say that I am unable to ascertain the exact nature of the technology,” Vega said.

“So, you’re telling me you don’t have a clue if it’s about kill us all,” I said, more a statement than question. “You included, by the way. If the ship goes bye bye, so do you,” I reminded her.

“Not at the present moment,” she admitted. Somewhat testily, too. “I assure you, Captain, I have no intention of allowing such a thing to happen.”

I scrubbed at my face in frustration.

Farah looked at the container with a pensive expression.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, I was just trying to figure out what we’re supposed to do with it. We’ve already determined it’s far too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. But I don’t think we’re necessarily the right ones. And I’m not entirely comfortable with it being on the ship. Seems a bit dangerous.”

I thought about that for a long moment. Farah had a point. We couldn’t just jet around in open space hauling something that could destroy entire worlds.

“Right,” I said, nodding. “Can you imagine if pirates or some asshole Renegade got their grubby mitts on this? I mean, I’m pretty confident in our little team, but I’m not about to bet the whole of the universe on it.”

“Exactly,” Farah replied. She swept a hand over the small tube then gestured at the rest of the cargo bay.

I followed her gaze, my eyes scanning over the specialized cargo lockers. They were designed to hold a variety of substances and could withstand small blasts if needed. We had quite a few, but they weren’t limitless.

“We can’t just keep storing stuff here,” I said aloud. “We’ve already got the tech from Karbine and now this. So, what do we do with it?” I echoed her earlier words.

Neither of us had a ready answer.

“What about your parents?” I asked. “Would they know of a way to get rid of tech like this? Maybe the rebel faction could use it to do some good.”

Farah hesitated before speaking and I got the sense she was working something out within herself.

Finally, she spoke. “I love and trust my parents. And the rebellion network is doing good work…”

“But?” I prompted when she trailed off.

“But there are individuals who would see this as a way to get rid of both the Union and the Empire,” she continued. “Which isn’t exactly a bad thing. But would they stop there? I know my mom and dad. They would hand it over expecting the people at the top to do the right thing. I don’t have that same kind of faith. Especially after everything we’ve witnessed recently.”

I contemplated the scenarios in which a rebel faction took over all of the known systems. As bad as the Union and Sarkonian Empire were, at least we knew what we were dealing with. Farah was right to be cautious.

“There’s still the matter of making enough credits to keep 2G here in tip top and fueled up,” she continued.

I groaned. “Thanks for the reminder. I know I said I’d never lower myself to selling services, but it may be time to reconsider.”

Farah’s mouth fell open in shock. “W-what?! You can’t be serious!” she sputtered.

I burst out laughing.

“Your face! I was talking about becoming Renegades. I guess your mind’s still back in one of Leah station’s many gutters.” By that point I was struggling to breathe between the fits of laughter.

My partner looked less amused. Slightly.

“Oh, come on,” I said, wiping tears from my cheeks. “It was funny.”

“No, it was. I was just thinking you might be onto something,” she replied.

That sobered me up.

“What? No, that’s a terrible idea, that’s why I was laughing so hard. They don’t have any morals, everyone knows that.” I scrunched my nose up in mock disgust. “I wasn’t being serious.”

“I am. Think about it. Renegades pick and choose their jobs, right? So, we could do that. Specialize in rescue missions or protection detail. Or"—she paused and slid a sly glance my way—“we could advertise—discreetly, of course—anti-government services. We take days off when we want, mess with the Empire a little, save people, all while making some dough.”

That piqued my interest and I sat up a little straighter. It didn’t sound half bad when she said it like that. I considered the notion and decided it might be worth looking into, though I had a few questions.

“If being a Renegade is so great, why isn’t everyone doing it?” I asked.

“My understanding is that most Renegades have to borrow money in order to get a ship and start working,” Farah said. “Loan sharks aren’t usually the best people. They charge crazy interest that can’t reasonably be paid back in the allotted time.”

She answered pretty quickly. Too quickly. I wondered how she knew so much and made a mental note to ask later.

“So, they basically get blackmailed into doing whatever they want,” I finished.

“Pretty much.” She gave me a wry smile. “But we’ve already got a ship, decent weapons, and everything else. Plus, we have Vega.”

“Why thank you, Miss Shahi.” The AI was back to sounding chipper again.

I waved a hand to keep the conversation moving. “Okay, say we did that. Say it worked. We still have the problem of what to do with any tech we come across,” I pointed out.

Sophie smiled brightly at the statement. “Actually, I think I have an idea for that. There are all sorts of abandoned asteroids, dead moons, and uninhabitable planets scattered around all the systems. It shouldn’t be hard to find one that’s been picked clean that can house whatever we don’t want on the ship. Then if we need something it’s a quick slip tunnel trip to grab it or drop more off.”

I had to admit she made a lot of sense.

“How do you know so much anyway?” I asked. “No, wait, let me guess. You have a Renegade aunt or some shit like that.”

“Actually, I think it’s another cousin,” she said with a chuckle. “But I also wanted to be one when I was a kid, probably from seeing them on the holo. It looked pretty glamorous. Didn’t you ever want to be anything? You know… before?”

Whatever smartass remark I’d been about to make died on my lips as the image of stargazing with my father resurfaced. “I wanted to explore the unknown and have a constellation named after me,” I said softly. “But that was a long time ago.”

“Not sure about the unknown. There might not be any of that left,” Farah replied. “But if we wreak enough havoc on the governments, they might name a black hole after you.”

“Guess I’ll have to settle for that then,” I said with a smirk.

* * *

We made it back to Neblinar the next day. I’d been wary about landing there before, but now it almost felt like home, and after the filth on Leah it looked like an upscale resort. Even with the threat of the two biggest governments in the universe looming I still managed to relax a little once we docked.

I didn’t want to leave the microbots on the ship unattended, so Farah stayed behind while I went to buy fuel.

As I made my way through the throngs of people to the dock master, the little hairs on the back of my neck raised, but I didn’t see any obvious threats. I stopped at a food hovercart for a quick bite and used it as an excuse to check out my surroundings.

The docks were busy. People unloading from ships, haggling over goods, pickpockets. No one in particular stood out. I thought I caught a flash of black moving a little too quickly for my taste, but the person disappeared, and I didn’t see them again.

I’m just jumpy after everything that’s happened, I reasoned.

Still, I figured it was best not to linger, so I finished my business as quickly as possible then returned to Farah and the ship without making any more stops. I’d rather overreact and feel stupid than ignore my gut and end up in front of a firing squad or back in solitary.

When I got back Mack and Farah were on the bridge instead of the cargo bay this time.

“Nice to see you again,” the hacker greeted me. “And alive at that,” she added jokingly.

I nodded back in perfect agreement. “Same here.”

“Shahi here filled me in on some of your plans. I think it’s probably your best bet to hide it,” she commented. “I gave Vega some coordinates of possible locations to check out when you have a chance.”

“Thanks,” I said, meaning it. “The offer is still open. You’re welcome to join us,” I added with a wink.

She shook her head wistfully. “You know, that doesn’t sound half bad. I’d consider it if I didn’t have some things to take care of here first. But you need to get those lethal composters off this beauty of a ship and save the free worlds.”

Mack had supplied us with a number of candidates where we could possibly offload the replicating microbots. The hope was to find a spot where no one would think to look or accidentally stumble over our secret.

I laughed. “Maybe next time. There will always be a spot for you on the Second Genesis.”

“She’s going to keep her ear to the ground for jobs like we talked about,” Farah chimed in.

“Okay, as long as no one calls me a Renegade. We’re more like Robyns anyway.”

Both Mack and my co-captain looked at me quizzically.

“That fairytale about the band of merry women that went around disrupting order?”

From their blank expressions I could tell they had no clue what I was talking about.

“Whatever, I liked it as a kid,” I grumbled. “Anyway, the point is that everything they did was for the good of the people. They only took what they needed.”

Farah tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully.

“I like it,” she decided.

“If it’s jobs you want, I can put a posting out and see what happens. If any jobs come up that fit the bill, I can pass the information along,” Mack offered.

“That’ll work.” I nodded. “We better get going then. I don’t want to keep those murder bots any longer than we have to.”

“I don’t blame you,” the hacker agreed. “Let me set up the system for encrypted transmissions so we can communicate more sensitive info. Less chance of being intercepted that way, but even if someone does, they won’t be able to read them.”

It didn’t take her long to make the changes and we were saying goodbye a few minutes later.

“Here, take this.” Mack pulled a metallic cylinder about the size of a thermos from her bag and passed it to me.

“Thanks. What is it?” I asked, turning it over in my hands.

She grinned slyly. “A little ship warming, congrats on the new job, fuck the system gift. It’s lined with neutronium. Should block any kind of scan that would detect the slaughter bots.”

My mouth fell open and I gaped at her for a good ten seconds before closing it again. Neutronium was notoriously hard to get ahold of and ridiculously expensive. Even the relatively small amount I currently held had to be worth a small fortune.

“How the hell did you get your hands on that?” Farah demanded, voicing my unspoken question.

Mack’s smile went even wider and she lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “No big deal. Some of my clients pay me really well.”

“You sure you want to part with it? You could make a tidy profit it.” It pained me to ask but I didn’t feel right just taking it. “You’ve already done so much for us with all the tech work—which, I might add, you didn’t charge us for.”

To my relief, Mack waved the offer away.

“Don’t worry about it. I make enough from what I do. That’s just been collecting dust. Farah is family and now you are too. Not to mention you guys are doing work that matters. Besides, it looks like a perfect fit.”

Afterward we’d shown her the microbots to get her opinion on them and she’d agreed with our decision not to give it to the rebellion.

I nodded gratefully. “Thanks. I feel better about leaving the weapon somewhere with this to conceal it.”

We said our last goodbyes, undocked, and were following a course to the first set of coordinates less than three hours after our arrival.

The deadlands were littered with pockets of space that nobody cared about anymore. Like my partner had said, it was just a matter of finding one that would fit our needs. Close, off the well-travelled path, and off anyone’s radar.

The first candidate was located in the Paxos System. Paxos was a sprawling system and had the distinction of having been the center of a great war between the Empire and the Union, back when the Sarkonian Empire was the more powerful of the two. Unfortunately for them, the Union won, and it was only the beginning of Empire’s long fall from greatness.

As usual, it had been the civilians who had suffered most. A good number of planets and colonies had been decimated as a result. According to Mack’s information, the Union had set up a slew of military outposts near key locations to make sure the Empire didn’t attempt to reclaim its former territory.

After the outposts ceased to be useful, the Union had abandoned them. AQ-81 was one such planet with a noxious atmosphere that had once been rich in something the government found important. Now it was a husk of its former self and too far from anything to be worth guarding. Its station had been left behind to rot years ago if Mack’s information was correct.

“Vega, run a scan,” I ordered when the planet was within the sensors’ reach.

From our current location it was barely visible, just a small light in the distance, lit up by the star it orbited.

“Working,” she replied, then went silent for a few beats. “No sign of any significant activity, though I do detect a minimal power output.”

“Good. Put—”

I was cut off as the Second Genesis quaked violently and knocked me to the ground. It felt as though something had collided with the ship. Something big.

“What the hell was that?” I checked the holodisplay but didn’t see anything we could have hit.

“It felt like we docked with another ship,” Farah said, her fingers dancing over the controls.

“That is correct,” Vega confirmed. “At this moment they are attempting to access my systems. Please—”

Her voice became garbled as she tried to finish speaking, then it died away completely.

Farah looked at me, eyes wide in alarm. We both sprinted from the bridge to the airlock. Thankfully it hadn’t been forced open yet, though it was only a matter of time.

“Vega, status?” No response.

“Get to the armory,” I snapped to Farah, unholstering my pistol. “We should have at least some time before whoever the hell that is blows the door or overrides the locks.”

Before she could take a step, a hiss sounded announcing our uninvited guest’s presence inside the airlock. Seconds later it slid open, which should have been impossible without the codes.

At first, I thought the airlock was empty, but then a man stood from where he’d been squatting. I realized he must’ve been using some kind tech to hardline into the door controls.

Stupid, I thought. I should have considered that as a possibility.

The thought was fleeting though as I took in the figure before me. I only had a few moments to process the sight in front of me, but it was long enough for me to recognize him from his stance and Union gear. It was the man from Chaundra.

Then the soldier looked up, finally revealing a face I knew all too well. “You guys should really change your backup codes,” said Ensign-Haas.

19

My mouth dropped open for the second time that day and I didn’t have to look at Farah to know she was having a similar reaction.

Haas wore the same exosuit marked up with Union blue that I’d seen on Chaundra, though he’d seemed taller at the time. His blonde hair had been buzzed since we’d parted ways back on Sobek.

“Surprised to see me?” Haas mocked, looking from me to Farah. “It’s okay, I would be too. You probably thought the Union would clean up after your mess on Sobek. They did, in their way.”

He started to take a step forward but stopped when I pointed the gun at his face.

“How?” I asked bluntly. Not that I cared, I just wanted more time to collect my thoughts and figure out how to deal with this new problem.

Our former teammate looked different. His eyes looked empty of emotion and his smile had a manic quality that sent a chill skittering along my spine.

Haas fixed cold, blue eyes on me. “Isn’t it obvious? The Union captured me when you left me like a sacrifice at that godsforsaken house. You remember, it was right after you murdered our commander in cold blood.”

Seeing his smug face unharmed didn’t exactly make me feel bad about that, so I curled a lip snidely and shrugged.

“Cold blood? You know what went down,” I said. “She tried to kill a child. There are just some lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

Now Haas shrugged, then spread his hands and flashed us a sardonic smile. “Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, the Union arrested me and tried to get Sarkon to admit they’d sent a kill team.”

“And they refused,” I guessed. “They probably disavowed you and Navari to save face.”

He nodded. “I played the part of the good soldier and claimed to have gone rogue. Figured Kaska might send the Void in for me but he didn’t.”

My ears perked up at the mention of the Vice-Admiral but I didn’t comment on it. Could Haas be involved with whatever Navari and Kaska had been up to?

“That still doesn’t explain how you’re here and why you’re dressed like Union,” I pointed out.

Haas gestured widely at me and Farah. “Looks like you two got new looks too. I gotta admit, not bad.”

I didn’t smile. “Answer the question, Haas.”

“Fine. They gave me a choice,” he explained. “Join them or die. It was an easy decision. My unit and my government betrayed me. Why would I want to stay loyal?”

His guilt trip didn’t bother me, and I cocked an eyebrow to tell him as much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Farah pull her sidearm out slowly.

“Speaking of that, why does the Union trust you?” I asked suspiciously, keeping his attention on me.

Haas glowered, his expression going stormy, and he pointed at his neck where a bandage covered what I assumed was an incision. “Because if I don’t do exactly as they say, my head will be forcibly removed from my body. So, when they ordered me to Chaundra I had no compunction switching loyalties,” he finished.

“I don’t blame you for not feeling loyal to the Empire,” Farah said, speaking for the first time. “But you killed Sarkonian soldiers who were only doing their job. They were your countrymen.”

She’d been quiet for the last few minutes but now I could see that she was almost vibrating with suppressed anger. Maybe I’d misjudged her previous reaction.

Haas scoffed. “Says the woman who held me at gunpoint, stood by her best friend as she murdered her commander without batting an eye, and turned into a common terrorist.”

“You’re an idiot if you think that,” she snapped. “Navari was going to kill a child. She brought that on herself. We haven’t killed anyone needlessly. In fact, we’ve stopped—”

“Sophie,” I said sharply, using her old name and shaking my head so she’d stop talking. The less Haas knew, the better.

“I know you tried to sell the first weapon on Leah,” he accused. “It doesn’t even matter. I’m not here to debate with you, I’m here for the replicators you stole.”

“Not gonna happen,” I said flatly. I knew deep within my soul that the self-replicating tech couldn’t go into his hands.

“If you refuse to give it up then I have no choice but to take it by force,” he warned.

I snorted. “You can try. Even if you get through us, what makes you think it’s on the ship?”

That seemed to give him pause because it took a few seconds before he spoke again. “If it’s not on the ship then it’s on Neblinar, which I know you’re not stupid enough to do. It’s also fairly obvious that you’re out here looking for somewhere to stash it until you find a buyer. Unless you’re planning on—”

I used his momentary distraction and fired a shot aimed at his leg. It hit the mark but it ricocheted uselessly off. Still, he was forced to focus on staying upright so I tossed the gun in Farah’s general direction and launched myself at Haas.

He grunted when we collided but only stumbled back a few steps. It gave me enough time to ram my elbow into his chin. Not my best move, but I didn’t have a lot of options since his suit covered everything but his head. Focusing on that I started raining punches.

Haas laughed as he easily blocked my strikes with his armor protected arms.

“Hey, you’re kind of cute when you’re mad,” he said, trying to bait me. “I can see why Kamal had a thing for you. Maybe once you’re over this little fit you can give me a real apology.”

“You son of a bitch,” I snarled.

That did it. I hauled my left hand back like I was going to smack him. He fell for it and dropped his guard to grab my wrist. My free fist snaked out and connected with his nose hard enough that blood spurted out. With a howl of pain, he shook me off and shoved me back hard.

Haas was stronger than I’d anticipated, and I tumbled back. With nothing to grab onto I used the momentum to go into a backward roll.

The deafening bang of a bullet exploding out of Farah’s pistol rang out. His shoulder jerked slightly from the shot, but it only seemed to piss him off more. Now all of Haas’ attention was focused squarely on her.

It would be idiocy to attack while she was firing on him, but Farah was having just about as much luck as I had. His armor was just too thick for our ammunition to penetrate. Like me, she must have realized his head was the only vulnerable area and took aim at that. He was on her before she could fire again though, and he knocked the gun out of her hands in a blur of movement.

Now that the shooting had stopped, I rushed at him from behind. Before I could get to them, Haas delivered a lightning quick side kick that landed with a sickening crunch. His suit made the same whirring sound that I’d heard on Chaundra and I realized it must be fitted with power mechanics. There was no way she or I could compete with that. We were in deeper shit than I’d thought.

Farah didn’t just rock back. She flew bodily into the wall behind her and collapsed in a heap. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing but I had to deal with him before I could help my friend.

“You asshole,” I growled. “Get the hell away from her.”

“Eva, be logical. Do you really believe you can beat me in a fight?”

His confident grin only incensed me further, but I was stuck. The bastard had me there. We’d sparred before but never anything serious.

“How was that burger, by the way?” he sneered. “I was kind of hoping you’d stick around that skin club a little longer.

I flashed back to Leah and the figure at the bar. The one I’d thought looked just like Mateo. How had Haas managed that?

“Fuck,” I said when he was suddenly in front of me. He’d used the same tactic I had earlier to close the short distance between us.

My reaction time was slow, too godsdamn slow to stop him from grabbing one of my arms and forcing it behind my back in one quick movement. I stepped backward and tried a reverse headbutt in an attempt to force him back, but he didn’t budge.

I went limp, letting myself fall so he’d have to lean to catch me. When he did, I pushed up on the balls of my feet with everything I had and pulled away. It worked and Haas released my arm.

His hand shot up and wrapped around my throat with more power than should have been possible. I knew in that instant that if he chose to, he could snap my neck with little effort. Instead, Haas held me at arm’s length just far enough away that I couldn’t punch him in the face.

Years of training made my muscle responses almost automatic but none of it was working. It was like he had superhuman strength and I wondered if the Union had dosed him with a muscle enhancer on top of the mech suit.

Giving up on traditional combat moves, I switched into hellcat mode. I clawed and kicked for everything I was worth. Something soft tore under my hands and Haas screamed as my nails raked over his exposed skin. The next instant I was sailing through the air and landing hard on the ground.

I saw stars when my eyes opened but I also saw the gun he’d knocked from Farah’s hands. It took a couple of clumsy tries, but my fingers finally closed around the grip. I swung it around to see him barreling toward me.

I shot two rounds before he was on top of me and pinning my arms with his knees. My limbs were on fire, but I refused to let it show or give up.

“It didn’t have to come to this,” he hissed, one fist cocked back.

“Yes, it did,” I disagreed. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“Have it your way,” he said. Then his fist came down and everything went black.

* * *

For the second time in as many weeks, I woke up in the brig with a throbbing head. Haas had stripped me of anything of use, including my boots.

Raising a hand, I gingerly touched the tender spot on my jaw where he’d punched me. I found it swollen and sore but not broken.

A groan sounded on my right and I turned to find that Farah was in the cell with me, propped up against the wall. She had one arm wrapped around her ribs and a pained expression on her face. That didn’t surprise me given the kick she’d taken, though I hadn’t expected Haas to leave us together.

An oversight that might come back to bite him.

“You okay?” My voice came out in a croak and I struggled into a sitting position.

“Yeah, I’m alright so long as you define alright as a searing, agonizing pain ripping through my ribs,” she said darkly.

I winced and pushed myself up into a sitting position. “Anything broken?”

Farah nodded grimly. “He didn’t exactly let me go to the med bay for a scan but I’m guessing at least one, maybe two, ribs are cracked. I didn’t imagine any of that, right? Ensign-Haas is not only not dead or in prison but has now become a Union grunt.”

“Unfortunately, not your imagination,” I said. Part of me wished we had imagined the whole episode, but it remained our current reality. Getting to my feet, I rolled my shoulders to work out some of the stiffness and scanned the tiny space.

“There’s nothing useful,” Farah confirmed from her spot on the floor. “I checked. Vega hasn’t responded in the last few minutes either.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Any idea what’s going on right now?”

She shrugged, then immediately flinched. The movement must have hurt. “I’ve only been up a little longer than you. Maybe fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, so what do we know?” I started pacing the cell. “The asswipe has been following us at least since Chaundra, though I don’t know how he did it with the cloak in place. He said it was him, the familiar person I saw at the bar,” I clarified, noticing her puzzled expression. “But I thought it was Mateo.”

“They don’t look anything alike,” she said, wrinkling her brow in confusion.

“I know,” I admitted. “Not sure how he did it either.”

Realization dawned on Farah’s face then her forehead knitted together as if she’d just remembered something. “Gods, I’m stupid. I knew I recognized the kill style on Chaundra.” Her eyes flashed with irritation. “I never got to tell you, but it was the same upside-down triangle Mat used to make. I didn’t bring it up again because it seemed impossible. Haas must have done it deliberately to throw us off. But why?”

I shrugged, wishing it had been Mateo instead of Haas. But as I knew all too well, wishes didn’t come true.

“Right, I remember you saying something about that,” I said. “It doesn’t matter. Even if we had both said something it wouldn’t change anything. We’d have chalked it up to being crazy or whatever.”

Heavy silence settled over the cell. With no weapons or access to the Second Genesis and Vega, we were well and truly screwed. Being locked up in a cage was making me antsy so I continued to stalk back and forth and willed my brain to come up with something.

“I wish there was a window or something in here,” Farah complained after a few minutes. “It’s impossible to tell if we’re in a slip tunnel or anything. For all we know he already got the microbots and left us here to die.”

“The Ensign has not yet been able to locate the item,” announced Vega from the cell’s comm speaker.

A wave of relief flooded over me at the computer’s sudden arrival, such as it was. With her back, maybe we stood a chance.

“It’s good to hear your voice, V. Where are we?” I asked.

“Same to you, Captain. We have not moved from our previous location,” answered the AI. “I apologize for my prolonged absence. His ship’s computer attempted to take control of our systems. It required all of my processes to defend against. Mr. Haas’ vessel is not capable of towing the Second Genesis.”

Sophie and I exchanged a grin. Finally, some good news.

“He’s probably already called for backup,” I speculated. “Vega, can you get us out?”

Should have led with that, I chided myself.

“Yes, Captain. I am working on that now. While the other entity did not achieve full control, they did manage to breach a few non critical systems and are preventing me from accessing navigation controls. I am nearly back in command.”

“How much longer? We’re done if the Union shows up. I don’t plan on letting any of us die today, but we’re going to need out of the brig,” I said.

“Working,” answered Vega. “Please standby.”

“You never know, they might offer the same deal they gave to Haas,” Sophie pointed out.

“No thanks. I’d rather shoot myself,” I said, dismissing the idea. “Or they can leave me in open space without a suit.”

Joining the Union was akin to going back to the Empire in my book. We’d still be under someone’s thumb. I’d gotten a taste of real freedom and wouldn’t be giving it up anytime soon.

“I am pleased to inform you that such drastic action will not be necessary,” Vega reported.

The door to our cell hissed open.

It took considerable control for me not to leap out of the room in case Vega lost access again. I went to Farah and helped her up, then put her arm around my shoulders to support her weight as we made our way down that corridor. She didn’t complain but her face had turned a sick, pasty shade and droplets of sweat beaded her brow.

I stopped at the split that led to the bridge in one direction and the cargo bay in the other.

“Stay here,” I ordered her.

“No argument here,” she gasped.

I left her leaning against the wall and ran to the armory. I came back with a med kit, rifle, and her new bow.

“Can you carry these to the bridge?” I asked, studying her face. “Once we’re clear of his ship you need be there in case something goes wrong.”

The rest seemed to have improved her color and she nodded.

“Okay. I can stay and help you get patched up, but I don’t know how much time we have.”

“Go kick his ass,” Farah said firmly. With some effort, she pushed away from the wall and took the items I’d brought, her face a mask of determination.

I nodded curtly and started to leave when she spoke again. “What are you going to do with Haas?”

I paused. The truth was that I had no idea. Our former teammate stood between us and survival, but could I kill him? That depended on him I guessed.

“Let me worry about that,” I told her. “Just be ready.”

20

I stepped into the still open airlock between our two ships, moving slow and quiet. I assumed he’d thought Vega wouldn’t be able to release us as quickly as she did and had left it open to have easier access to both.

The Genesis was larger and nicer than what the Union had supplied him with. It actually reminded me of a Sarkonian drop ship with its dirty interior and secondhand appearance. I wondered if it was equipped with a working weapons system or Haas hadn’t earned that much trust yet.

He was a freshly turned Sarkonian, one whose hand they’d forced, though I did have some responsibility there. Reason would have dictated not to give someone like that a ship that could be used against them but hey, they’d been that stupid before.

The fact that the Empire had turned around after receiving the former Dreadnight and used it to run counter missions against the very people who had given it to them showed that much.

I navigated my way through the small vessel with the help of faded signs at each junction. After leaving Farah, I’d returned to the armory to grab some firepower for myself. One rifle, a pistol, and a few smaller things I thought could be useful against a partially enhanced special ops soldier.

I’d passed over extra armor, not wanting to waste the time to put them on and hoped I wouldn’t regret that. The image of Haas kicking Farah came to mind and I got pissed all over again. The former ensign had some nerve. It occurred to me that he probably wanted revenge for our leaving him on Sobek, but another part of me felt he’d always been this way.

“Operative Haas, reinforcements will arrive within four hours,” a computerized male voice spoke over the ship’s comms in a slightly distorted tone.

Four hours, I thought. Less, really, to detach the Genesis and get the hell out of Union space. That should be more than enough.

He didn’t respond, at least not that I heard, but he was here somewhere. So far, every room on the ship had been closed. If he was in one of them, I had no way to get to him, so I crossed my fingers that he was on the bridge.

There didn’t seem to be anyone else on the ship, but I held the rifle at high-ready as I methodically cleared the last turn and crept toward the entrance to the bridge. Haas already had the advantage here and I needed any edge I could get.

If I could make it inside without drastic measures, there was a slim chance I could take him by surprise. If he wasn’t facing the door and had gone deaf recently anyway. All I could do was try and hope to give Vega enough time to get the Genesis free.

When I arrived, it turned out that the door was already open, so I didn’t have to worry about forcing it. It occurred to me then that he was being careless, or at least wanted it to appear that way. I barely dared to breathe as I inched forward, pausing every few seconds to take in the small room and sweep for traps.

As far as bridges went, this one looked pretty standard, if on the small side. Two crew seats flanked the captain’s chair instead of the five we had, and the command center looked a little worn, but it appeared to function well enough. At least enough that he’d managed to not only track us but gain access to an upgraded and unrestricted AI.

I wondered absently if the ship had been upgraded for his tasks and only looked like a hunk of metal space junk for appearances.

I made a mental note to ask Mack about that in case we actually made it out of here alive. It rankled me to know he so easily boarded us.

The man in question stood at the holo display studying something I couldn’t make out. Easing the rifle up slowly, I put the back of his skull in the crosshairs but hesitated.

What are you going to do with him? Farah’s question came back to me.

My index finger twitched and danced lightly over the side of the trigger. With less than three kilos of pressure it could be over right now. All I had to do was shoot.

But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t shoot an unarmed man in the back. Not even this unarmed man.

“You’ve been busy, Eva.” He turned slowly and locked his eyes on mine.

It didn’t surprise me at all that he knew I’d been standing there. He’d probably been aware of my presence as soon as I entered the airlock. Hell, for all I knew he’d been monitoring the brig and knew the instant we left.

I didn’t lower my weapon or answer.

“I have to say, you shocked the hell out of me by turning your back on the Empire like that. And dragging Sophie into it?” Haas whistled low. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

His words didn’t bother me in the slightest. I’d dealt with far worse. What did piss me off was that he felt comfortable using our first names.

“That’s Delgado and Singh to you, Operative Haas,” I retorted. “And you know damn well how I feel about killing innocent people.”

He spread his hands a little way in a conceding gesture. “Still. A terrorist? That’s a bit extreme, even for you.”

“I’m not a terrorist,” I said. “But the Empire needed me to be. When Navari left Kamal to die and ordered me to kill that kid, everything changed. Sarkon lost my loyalty then, but that doesn’t make me a terrorist.”

Haas blinked, a look of confusion clouding his features momentarily before they smoothed out again and a smirk formed. “And look where that got you. Being hunted by the Union and Sarkon no matter where you go or how far. Tell me, Eva. Would you do it all over again?”

I let the rifle fall a fraction, so he had an unobstructed view of my face.

“Yes. Even after all of this bullshit.”

He held my gaze for a few more seconds, then turned and waved a hand at the holo display.

“The Union wants those replicators back,” he said. “But they’re also interested in both you and Sophie. And her bow.”

“Interested in us why? So, they can just trade us back to the Empire?”

He laughed derisively. “Unlikely. There isn’t much the Empire has to offer. You, on the other hand… I was sent to retrieve the airborne weapon from Karbine, but you beat me there. My new superiors ordered me to not to interfere in case my identity was accidentally discovered.”

“So, you followed us to Leah,” I guessed. “How did you do that by the way?” I hated to admit that it had been bugging me.

“It wasn’t hard.” His lip curled up into a sardonic leer. “After my report, they were interested. Wanted me to track you without interfering. When you left Karbine it was easy to follow your burn trajectory. With Leah being the closest station, it was a logical deduction. Once you left to get supplies, I tagged your ship. Z9 gave me a little zap for my trouble.”

“You were the thief,” I realized, remembering Vega telling us about the incident.

“Yes. You two made it pretty easy.” He smirked again.

“What’s so special about the bow?” I wondered.

He shrugged as if he didn’t care. “It’s some kind of ancient tech they’ve been wanting to get their hands on. They have some artifacts that look just like it but haven’t been able to get them working. It’s amazing that Sarkonian engineers were able to succeed where they failed,” he mused.

“So, the arms dealer wasn’t lying, it really did come from a Sarkonian weapons shipment,” I said to myself. “Look, none of that matters,” I continued urgently. “If you’ve been reading our files you know what the Empire is doing. Running weapons testing on their own people? You can’t be on board with that. Let us go so we can stop it.”

“Let you go?” Haas shook his head. “I don’t think so. If the Sarkonians want to destroy themselves and create a rebel uprising in the process, then all the better for the Union.”

I bristled with anger at his arrogance, though I made a note to tell Farah that the Union was aware of the brewing rebellion.

“Sophie’s out of the brig on our ship. We know you’re here now, so you’ve lost the element of surprise. Surely you realize you can’t take us alone? Undock from us and it’ll be like we were never here. Otherwise...” I let the words hang in the air and raised the rifle a fraction in a suggestive motion.

Haas grinned then, a cold, sly smile that said he knew something I didn’t.

“Whatever made you think I was alone, Eva?”

A noise behind me drew my attention. I’d been so distracted and sure that he was by himself that I hadn’t been listening for more threats.

Stupid, stupid.

I whirled to meet the new threat, but they were already on me and shoved the muzzle of my rifle up before I could get a shot off.

Not that I could have anyway.

“You son of a bitch.” I was all out of patience and restraint. Before I could stop myself, I hauled back and smacked Lieutenant-Mateo Kamal in the face with as much of my considerable force as I could muster.

“You only get one of those, Delgado,” he warned me, then yanked the rifle from my grasp.

* * *

“One free shot. That’s all you get,” laughed a twenty-one-year-old Mateo as he rubbed his face gingerly.

We were sparring as we did every week since the first time we had met. So far, I had yet to beat him. The man was a force to be reckoned with, but I’d come close. Once.

This time I’d taken a cheap shot and landed a blow to his chin. I was thankful for the practice gloves, otherwise my hand would be throbbing.

Over the past few months we had come to know each other more than I’d expected, and the more time we spent together the more I realized how alike we were. That initial meeting where I thought him too outgoing was not his norm.

Mateo was only that person with me. Gods knew why after I had been so prickly to him, but we’d become friends just the same. His exterior shell was just as thick as mine, if not more so.

About a month into training, Recruit-Cooper had made the mistake of goading my friend into a fight after seeing us together. Mateo challenged him then and there to a Mano Duel—a no weapons, hand to hand contest where two fighters fought until one of them surrendered or lost consciousness. That fight ended with Cooper in the infirmary and he had yet to speak to either of us again.

Now I circled Mateo in the empty training room, looking for an opening in his guard. As usual I didn’t see one, but I smirked like I had and bull rushed forward, dropping my gaze to his left elbow.

He instinctively shifted to protect that side, but I feigned and went right as I closed the small gap between us to deliver a punishing blow to his ribs. Mat grunted but didn’t step back and I danced away.

“Good one,” he said with a nod. “When it’s you and the enemy, honor goes out the window. Cunning is just as effective as a well-placed punch.”

Little beads of sweat had started to collect and slide down his face and we were both breathing heavy after going at it for that past hour.

“We’re the same age, Kamal,” I reminded him. “I’ve been training just as long as you. And I know you’re just trying to distract me. Won’t work.”

I smiled smugly at him and he grinned back.

We moved toward each other like lightning. I easily blocked one of his strikes and stepped into his space until our bodies touched.

“Hey,” he protested. “That’s not—”

With my hands on either side of his face I pulled him close and laid my lips on his. Mateo’s dark eyes went wide with shock. His body went lax long enough for me to grab one arm and spin inward, perform a throw that put him on the ground, then straddle him with my forearm pressed to his throat.

“You were saying?” I asked triumphantly. I was more than a little elated that my ploy had worked.

In the next instant he levered up, throwing me off balance, then suddenly I was on my back and he was peering down at me. His strong hands braceleted my wrists and I couldn’t pull them free. I had a moment to think that his eyes had appeared to turn a shade darker than usual, then Mateo leaned down and took my mouth in a rough kiss.

I understood his initial reaction to mine immediately. Blood rushed in my ears and I suddenly couldn’t breathe, but it had nothing to do with fatigue. My bones seemed to have become jelly and all rational thought deserted me.

“Okay, let me up, loser,” I said when he broke the kiss.

He made no move to set me free and instead brushed his lips against mine, softer this time. I couldn’t help myself. Gods help me, but I kissed him back.

“Why did this take so long?” he grunted.

Before I could answer, the sound of voices outside the room warned us that company was coming, and Mateo sprang off of me guiltily. The government discouraged fraternization at this stage in our training and neither of us needed that kind of reprimand making it back to our parents.

He extended his hand and it reminded me of our first exchange with one another. This time I let him help me up, a sign of the trust that had grown between us.

“Meet me later at our usual spot,” Mateo said gruffly. Then he was gone without waiting for my answer and the door slid smoothly shut behind him, leaving me standing alone on the mat.

“What the fuck just happened?” I asked the empty room.

“Unable to process inquiry,” commented the room’s aging computer.

Feeling like an idiot, I grabbed my gear and stalked out, unsure whether meeting him later would be a good idea.

21

Those old memories bubbled to the surface of my mind, threatening to betray my emotion as I looked at the very much alive Mateo Kamal standing before me.

After our first kiss that day all those years ago, I had decided to go to him. I’d convinced myself to keep him at arm’s length because I didn’t want to admit that he was more than a friend to me. In the name of not ruining our friendship, we’d agreed to keep things casual and had finished training as though the kiss had never happened.

After being stationed on separate warships I’d only seen him a handful of times before we were both placed under Navari’s command.

Still, I’d kept my feelings locked up tight, refusing to acknowledge them. Then when he died, everything changed. It had been the catalyst that pushed me to leave the Sarkonian Empire.

Training for the special ops unit had prepared us for the unimaginable. Farah and I had witnessed some horrors so vile we vowed never to speak of them again.

None of them prepared me for seeing the ghost of the man I loved.

The sight of him should have shocked me. It probably would have if the last few weeks of my life hadn’t been a nonstop series of surprises and revelations about my friends, superiors, and country.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I demanded, throwing up my now empty hands. “You’re working with the Union too?”

Mateo looked annoyed. “We didn’t have a choice. Die or join them. Like Haas said, it was an easy decision. I’m sure it will be even more so for you,” he said pointedly, then flicked a glance at his new partner.

“I’ll die first,” I spat.

I didn’t like being between them and began to edge away, though there weren’t a lot of options. Mat blocked my way to the door which was the only way out.

“Don’t,” he warned me. “Look, I’m sorry it has to be this way… but at least you’ll be alive.”

I wouldn’t have obeyed the command as a matter of principle, but Haas stepped up behind me and pressed a weapon into the small of my back.

“Your death can be arranged,” he said before shoving me forward.

“Knock it off,” ordered Mateo. “Lock her up and I’ll go get Singh.”

I watched his retreating back, still processing how to deal with this latest development.

“Captain, I have regained full control of the Second Genesis. Ready to undock at your command.” Vega’s voice in the comm was music to my ears. “It appears that the other airlock is still open. I would not advise being near it.”

“Do it,” I said under my breath.

Mateo, who had already left, didn’t hear the words. Or at least if he did, they hadn’t prompted him to come investigate.

“What did you just say?” asked Haas.

“Undocking now,” acknowledged the AI.

I lunged for the nearest anchored object, a handrail near the doorway.

“What the hell—” Haas started to yell out, but the sudden rocking of the ship cut him off as the Genesis removed the docking clamps and closed its airlock.

Alarms wailed, echoing throughout the small ship, and I wondered if I’d erred by telling Vega to undock with the airlock on this side still open. I had a dark moment imagining if Mat was near it.

Refusing to dwell on that, I took advantage of the momentary chaos and lunged at the former ensign. Haas hadn’t gotten around to taking my weapons again and I pulled one of my knives free, slashing it as I advanced.

He’d dropped the rifle in the commotion and attempted to back away from my onslaught, but the bridge was small, and the captain’s chair stopped him.

Haas lifted his arms in defense and leaned back but my blade dragged harmlessly over the suit. I tried a stabbing motion, but the material didn’t give, and I screamed in frustration. When he realized what had happened, my opponent kicked out with one leg and I careened back, nearly falling on my ass.

I regained my footing in time to see him pull a sidearm. It arced toward me and Haas fired at the same time that I slammed into him. The slugs hit the floor where I’d been an instant before.

The impact rattled my skull and we both went down, each grappling for control of the gun. The business end faced my old teammate and I tried to get my finger on the trigger when he let go. A searing pain erupted from my thigh and I looked down to see him pull one of the fallen knives free, slick with blood from my leg.

I tumbled back and Haas went with me until he was on top with both hands raised above his head. He brought them down and I threw my hands up to grasp his forearms to avoid the blade ramming into my throat.

The move succeeded in changing the knife’s trajectory enough that it rammed into the floor next to my face. I used the moment to slam a palm into his nose, but my position made the execution sloppy and I couldn’t hope to hold him off for long. It was already uneven since Haas was much bigger than me, not to mention heavier and seriously stronger than I remembered. I could already feel my own strength waning as blood seeped out of my wound.

His eyes glinted with something like satisfaction as he brought the knife up again.

“This is for leaving me on Sobek,” he said. “The only regret I have is that you won’t see Singh die in front of you like I’d planned.”

“My only regret is not putting a bullet in that ass kissing face of yours,” I retorted.

Black spots danced in my vision and I could feel myself fading as numbness began to spread. At least I probably wouldn’t feel much when the asshole finished the job.

“You bitch,” he hissed, then arched up to deliver the final blow.

I thought I heard an explosion but couldn’t be sure. Haas’ arms dropped to his sides and I watched curiously as a red dot formed on his forehead. It widened, then dripped like melted wax as he slumped backward.

“That’s weird,” I mumbled stupidly. The image of Haas got smaller and I realized he was getting farther away. No, I realized. I was the one moving farther away. My head fell back, and Mateo’s face came into view.

“He must have hit the femoral artery,” he said after a quick look at my wound. Worry showed in the way his eyes knitted together and the thin set of his mouth.

My mouth tried to form a smile, but it felt lopsided.

“Stupid ass’ole.” My speech slurred and everything threatened to go dark, but it felt really important to get my next words out and I struggled to focus. “In case I die. Have to tell you—”

“Quiet!” Mat instructed, doing something to my injured leg.

“No, you be quiet. I love your dumb ass. Should’ve said it before…” I trailed off as I started to lose consciousness.

“Damn it, Eva. Don’t you fucking die on me!” His words sounded far away, and I couldn’t seem to make my mouth move. Then it felt like I was floating in zero gravity as everything faded away and I slipped into a comfortable darkness.

* * *

When my eyes opened again it was to a bright light shining directly into my face. I blinked and wondered if this was usual procedure after one died.

The steady beeping drew my attention from the light, and I saw a portable holo health monitor less than a meter away.

I hadn’t been restrained and was lying on a bed in what looked like a small, if shabby, medical bay. My muscles ached as I moved each one, performing a self-assessment, but everything worked.

Okay, so I’m not dead, I decided.

Groaning, I pushed up into a sitting position. One leg of my pants had been cut away and the remains of washed off clotting powder was smeared on the skin around my wound. The wound itself had been stitched up and slathered with what I assumed to be antibiotic numbing gel since I wasn’t feeling too much pain there.

“Easy there, cowgirl.” Mateo’s voice came from behind me and I jerked, then he was at the side of my bed.

I wanted to lean away but that seemed cowardly, plus there wasn’t anywhere to go.

He held up his hands in a gesture of peace at my unfriendly scowl.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about from me,” he promised. “Sophie and Vega have assured me in no uncertain terms that if anything happens to you this ship will be destroyed. The AI sure has changed,” he added.

I ignored that.

“He is correct, Captain.” Vega spoke in my ear and I found myself simultaneously happy and annoyed to hear from her.

“Damn it. I told you guys to leave!” I erupted. Frustrated, I rubbed the last of the grogginess from my eyes.

“My apologies, sir,” commented the AI. “But in your absence, Miss Shahi took over as captain and I followed her orders as my programming dictates is correct procedure. Mr. Kamal has already returned all the stolen files and I confirmed no trace of them remains on his lackluster ship.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, ignoring the insult, then turned my attention back to Mat. “How much longer until your backup gets here?”

Mateo checked his data pad. “Just under three standard hours,” he replied.

“V, if I’m not back in two standard hours, assume Mr. Kamal murdered me and turn this piece of shit into space garbage,” I said.

“With pleasure,” the computer said over the comm.

“Good. I’m going radio silent until then.” I pulled the comm out of my ear and switched it off before she could object.

Only able to hear my side, Mateo had stayed quiet through the exchange, and I turned to him after shoving the comm in my pocket.

“I can piece together what happened on Harah,” I started. “And Haas filled me in on how you tracked us. But…”

“Why didn’t I reach out?” he guessed when I let the words hang there. “Let you know I was still alive?”

I nodded, unsure what to else to do.

“Believe me, Eva, I wanted to,” he said, then laid a hand over mine. “Especially after Haas told me what happened with your court martial. But the Union has us on a tight leash, and he would have turned me in the first chance he got. I happen to like my head attached.”

“Oh right,” I said, pointing at my own neck then miming an explosion by wriggling my fingers. “You don’t follow their rules, kaboom.”

“Right,” he agreed. “But I had to see you on Leah, so I volunteered to track you guys while he planted the tracker. Almost didn’t recognize you and Sophie after the makeovers.”

My eyes widened. “It was you at the bar.”

Mat nodded and shoved a hand through his short cap of hair. “I knew the minute you saw me because your face went white,” he said. “So I left.”

“I thought I’d seen a ghost,” I murmured, recalling the scene.

“You did,” he replied firmly. “Mateo Kamal is dead.”

“So is Eva Delgado,” I shot back. “There’s time for you to join us. We can find someone to remove the leash.”

He shook his head and looked down. If the signal gets too weak, it’ll detonate,” Mat explained. “Besides, who knows? I could learn some valuable intel and escape.”

I considered that for a moment. It was a good point.

“Haas said they wanted me, Sophie, and her bow,” I said slowly. “Why?”

“The Union wants your intel,” he replied. “I think they figure if you’re so against the Sarkonian Empire that you’ll join them and help destroy it.”

“What’s the big deal with the bow?” I wondered. “I mean, I get that it’s ancient, but it’s not like a game changer for them or the Empire.”

Mat shrugged. “I’m not sure. They only tell me so much, but the tech is supposedly a relic. From Earth, but that’s ridiculous. Everyone knows Earth is a fairy tale. Anyway, they have other more important tech they want to unlock.”

I thought about the weapon and its strange blue markings. Clint had said something similar, but I hadn’t taken the arms deal seriously. Haas had confirmed it first and now Mat was here saying the same thing. Knowing the Union wanted it that bad?

Well, that changed things.

“Maybe I should go with you,” I said, changing subjects abruptly. “Like you said, they’re going to offer me the same deal you guys got. I say we learn what we can then find a way to split.”

His tone went fierce. “No. If what I read in those files is true, you need to stop it from happening. Sophie will need you. There’s no way to tell if the Union will give you the same deal, toss you in a cell, or hand you back to the Empire.”

I cursed, hating that he was right. I could no more abandon Farah than I could have not tried to go back for him that night.

He pulled me into his arms, and I couldn’t help but lean into his comforting warmth.

“I love you.” He said it so quietly that I thought I’d misheard him.

“You can’t say that,” I said, pulling back.

“Why? You did,” he pointed out.

“That was different. I thought I was dying,” I argued.

“It’s not different. I need you to know in case we never see each other again or the Union installs some kind of brain control hardware in my head.”

I stared at him. “That’s not funny,” I said.

Mat fixed a serious gaze on me. “I wasn’t joking.”

My mouth set in a grim line. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. They don’t say much around me, but I hear whispers sometimes that the Union experiments on volunteer soldiers.”

“Sounds like the Void,” I said thoughtfully. It made me think of Dolph, and Sophie’s story about her brother.

“You think Sarkon is making cyborg soldiers?” Mateo asked after I’d filled him in, leaving out Jax’s part. I didn’t think he would betray me, but I wouldn’t risk Farah’s family.

“It’s what they do,” I said with a shrug. “Copy and try to emulate everything the Union does.”

We both fell quiet for a few moments after that. The idea of super soldiers on both sides running around was more than a little scary.

“How’s the leg?” Mat asked, finally breaking the silence.

He stood up when I eased it to the side of the bed and let it swing gently down, then I gave it a few test kicks, which didn’t hurt as bad as I’d expected.

“Better than I thought it would be,” I admitted. “Thanks, by the way. For saving my life.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, Mat leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on my lips.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I just don’t know when or if I’ll see you—”

I cut him off by grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him down to me again.

Epilogue

“What took you so long?” complained Farah. “Vega and I thought we were going to have to start firing at him.”

I’d made it back to the Second Genesis with a few minutes to spare and had found Farah on the bridge ready to turn on the weapons systems.

“We were just talking,” I said easily.

“Talking? For two hours?” She looked at me in obvious disbelief. “Not with those vitals, you weren’t.”

My head snapped up. “What vitals?”

Now she smirked. “Since Vega was still hooked into his systems, she was able to monitor you. Your stats were all over the place, and not from conversation.”

“You spied on me?” I was ready to give her a piece of my mind when she held up a hand.

“I know, I know. Sorry. I was just worried. Once I realized you weren’t in any danger, I had Vega stop monitoring. Still, you cut it a little close at the end and I started to get nervous again.”

Her words, and the fear in them, calmed me down. “Sorry, Soph. We were just saying our goodbyes. I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, accidentally using the nickname upon seeing the look on her face.

“Fine,” she grumbled, looking a little surly.

“Where are we headed now?” I asked.

“Z-28K,” Vega supplied helpfully. “An abandoned mining moon in the Osiris system.”

“The Osiris system? Isn’t that still in Union territory?” I looked at Farah for confirmation, and she nodded. “Is that the best idea right now?”

My co-captain nodded again. “It’s closer to the Deadlands than we are now. The Union won’t be back any time soon to claim it.”

“Why not?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“It’s one of the places where most of the population disappeared from,” Farah announced dramatically. “Word has it that the Union couldn’t convince anyone to repopulate the colony there. Then they realized there wasn’t much left to be mined, so they ceased operation and moved the remaining colonists.”

“Sounds like a target for pirates and ravagers,” I commented.

Farah shot me a smug smile. “It has a natural debris field from asteroids that orbit the moon at high speeds. That makes it worthless to either the Union or Sarkonians and too much trouble for anyone else,” she finished.

“Except for us,” I said.

“Except for us,” Farah agreed. “Vega says she can navigate through the ring.”

“I guess it’s settled,” I announced. “The Fifth Column needs a lair.”

Farah gave me a strange look. “The Fifth Column?” she asked.

“It’s an old war term,” I clarified. “Means a small group that undermines a larger one by sabotage. We learned about it in academy, remember?”

“Oh right,” she said. “That sounds like us for sure. I like it.”

“Me too,” I agreed. “We’re going to dismantle and expose the corruption within the Sarkon government. Starting with Vice-Admiral-Kaska.”

* * *

Continue reading for THE SOLARIS INITIATIVE.

The Solaris Initiative

1

“What’s taking so long?” I whispered.

My best friend and partner, Farah Shahi, was currently tackling the locks on the cell door in front of us.

“Working on it,” she whispered over her shoulder.

Knowing it wouldn’t help, I forced myself not to interrupt again. We were on a small labor moon deep in Sarkonian territory, hired to free a group of wrongfully incarcerated individuals. At least that was the story we’d been given. I didn’t much care as long as we got paid the rest of our fee.

Our reduced fee.

That had been Farah and her soft heart’s doing. Me? Well, let’s just say that while I didn’t mind helping people, I was realistic enough to know we couldn’t do so without the funds. She, on the other hand, was all for picking up strays. Whether they could pay or not.

Thankfully, this particular job had been for a substantial amount due to a number of concerned family members pitching in to bring a group home from Sarkonian clutches. Even taking a cut wouldn’t offset us too much.

Was it risky breaking into a labor camp with just the two of us? Yeah, but when we pulled it off, we’d be set for a couple of months.

The previous few jobs had been a little rough, but I’d settled into the role of soldier turned Liberator well enough. Liberator was the term I’d taken to using whenever people accused us of being Renegades. Farah kept telling me that they weren’t accusing, just saying what they were familiar with, but I balked at the connection. Still, there was no LBO—Liberator Bounty Office—to be found in any of the charted systems.

I guessed that made Mack the first, though she only rolled her eyes when I said as much. Mackenna Woods, hacker extraordinaire and Farah’s cousin, was probably one of the main reasons this little plan was working at all.

She tracked down the jobs, Farah and I worked them. Most of the money went to fuel, fixes, and equipment, but we split what was left over.

With her help, we got jobs like this one: rescue missions for people either in government custody or unable to get home for whatever reason.

That was how we ended up here, on a moon named Boltin, infiltrating a Sarkonian labor camp. So far, it didn’t look too horrendous. I’d certainly witnessed worse places. Instead of people toiling away in grubby mining camps, these prisoners were sentenced to easier work making clothes and other Sarkonian needed supplies.

I’d never considered where my uniform had come from while in the service, and now I felt sorry for it. These poor souls were sentenced to a life of utter boredom, probably for something inconsequential.

The prisoners were kept two to a standard cell. Farah was working on the door that held our first pair of rescues. Her door breaching skills had improved since our defection from the Sarkonian government, but I was still twitchy about getting caught.

I fully expected a Sarkonian soldier to burst into the barracks at any moment. If that happened, we’d be screwed. “That sedative isn’t going to keep them down for long.”

“Got it!” Farah announced triumphantly.

The low security wooden cell door she’d been working on swung open to reveal two grimy prisoners inside, both men.

“What are your names?” I asked while she continued on to find the rest of our cargo.

On one of our first rescue attempts, I made the mistake of asking if the people I found were those we’d been hired to pick up. They said they were, and we almost left the planet with the wrong cargo. After that lesson, I made sure to ask for names first.

“Beck,” said the first, eyeing me warily.

I nodded. That checked with one of the four names. “Good. And you?”

“J-Jack,” the other man replied hesitantly. He was small and mousy, his eyes wide with fear.

“Your families sent us,” I told them. “Follow me if you want to get out of here.”

“I have Amy and Jennifer,” Farah said in my ear.

“Copy, let’s move out,” I replied, scanning the area for any sign that our presence had been detected. These barracks weren’t high security, even by Sarkonian standards, with shabby locks geared more toward keeping a person inside than stopping someone from breaking in. Seeing no obstacles, I moved to the door we’d already breached.

“Hey!” a voice called out from one of the cells.

There’s always one, I thought, not responding. This was an aspect of the work that I didn’t like. Whenever other prisoners or captives saw an escape in the works, they wanted us to take them along. Not that I didn’t want to help, but the Second Genesis was only so big, plus I refused to let anyone aboard who hadn’t been fully vetted. We’d found it was best not to engage them.

“I know who you are, Eva Delgado,” said the voice in a quiet tone.

That stopped me in my tracks. “Stay here,” I ordered Beck and Jack. “F, might have a problem. Take the package back to the ship.”

“Almost to your location,” Farah answered.

Stepping to the cell the voice had come from, I hefted my rifle. “You got a death wish?” I asked darkly. “That’s the only reason I can think you’d be saying that name out loud.”

“Not at all,” came the soft reply. Whoever it was stayed in the shadows so I couldn’t see their face through the small window in the door. “But if you help me—”

“Let me guess, you won’t call the guards?” I interrupted snidely.

It was a valid threat, particularly because this person knew my identity. The Empire didn’t take kindly to their prisoners escaping, let alone when two of the most wanted fugitives in the known universe were responsible.

“I was going to say that I’m familiar with the grounds and patrol.” The owner of the voice finally stepped to the small barred window. I was taken aback to see the tomboyish face of a girl that looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen.

“You don’t even look old enough to be in here,” I said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

The girl grinned sheepishly. “I deserted, just like you. Well, except it was from the Union. They were asking me to do things I really didn’t agree with.”

I softened slightly at the girl’s words. No one knew better than Farah and me what it felt like to be ordered to do the unthinkable. But she knew who I was and we knew nothing about her. I couldn’t just take her word and allow her on the ship. It put too much at risk.

“Gods, A. She’s just a kid.” Farah’s voice sounded behind me and I whipped around.

“You’re supposed to be headed for the ship.”

She looked at me apologetically. “They said she called you Eva. Had to come see for myself.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s great, someone here knows who we are. Now, let’s get out before we’re caught.”

I started to walk away when the girl spoke again, a desperate edge to her voice now.

“Wait, please. I’m not lying about helping you. I’ve been planning my escape for a while; I just didn’t have a way off the moon. At the very least, I can help fight.”

Farah touched me lightly on the shoulder. “She needs our help,” she whispered.

I glanced back at the hopeful face, trying to keep my resolve. “They all do. We don’t know anything about her.”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance,” chimed in Vega, our ship’s artificial intelligence. “Voice pattern suggests this individual to be one Petty Officer First Class Calliope Walker, Union deserter, age 19, blonde hair—”

“What’s your name, kid?” I asked, cutting Vega off.

“Calliope Walker,” she replied.

Farah slated me a look, her eyes imploring me to do something.

“As I said,” Vega said in a clipped tone.

“Sorry, V. In a bit of a rush here,” I said, gesturing for Farah to open the door.

“No apology is necessary, Captain Cortez.”

As soon as the door was open, Calliope exited, and I had to stop myself from snorting at her size. She was nearly a head shorter than me with all the musculature of a prepubescent boy. A cap of short blonde hair was pulled away from her face and she wore the same dirty outfit as the four we’d been sent to rescue. I severely doubted she’d be worth much in a fight, should it come to that.

There was nothing to be done about it now. I couldn’t go back on my word. “I don’t care if you seem like you’re still in academy. You even look like you’re going to screw us over and I put a bullet in you.”

I didn’t bother asking if she got it. From the girl’s wide-eyed expression and slightly open mouth, I surmised she did.

“You’re bringing a Union soldier with us?” whispered Beck when we returned.

Jack still looked nervous, and the two women cast stony looks in Calliope’s direction.

“Sure am,” I said, brushing past him. “If you got a problem with that, you’re welcome to stay behind and try your luck with the guards when they wake up.”

Unsurprisingly, he declined the offer.

“Alyss will take the front, I’ll bring up the rear,” Farah explained. “Stay quiet, stay close, and keep your eyes peeled.”

No one argued. We left the way we’d come, stepping carefully around the two fallen guards Farah had knocked out with sedative laced arrows. The hour was late and most of Boltin appeared to be asleep. Even the on-duty guards played on data pads silently or nodded off at their posts.

“On your left,” whispered Calliope, coming abreast of me.

“What is it?”

If my clipped tone bothered the girl, she didn’t show it. “I wouldn’t go this way,” she said. “There’s a storage shed they use to hook up on breaks.

I stared at her a moment. “V, can you confirm?”

“I’ve scanned the shed and it was empty as of then, but there are two individuals whose current trajectory will intersect with that location.”

“Thanks. Okay,” I said to Calliope, “which way then?”

“South,” she answered confidently. “Then loop back around—”

“You there!” bellowed a voice behind us. “Stop!”

“Dammit.” We’d been caught. I swung around and searched for the source.

It was a middle-aged soldier stood with a rifle trained at our group.

Well, this sucks. Think fast, Delgado. Cortez, I hastily corrected myself.

Stepping between the rest of my people and his rifle, I kept the nose of my own weapon down and raised my free hand.

“We’re escorting these prisoners to another facility. What is the problem, soldier?” I said in an authoritative tone.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

His eyes flicked to my hair. While still short, I’d temporarily changed it to black, as had Farah, to help us blend in better. The ploy appeared to have worked because his gaze didn’t linger, and he held out a hand. “Transfer documents?”

A quick look at his uniform told me his name was R. Decker. I pulled a datapad out of my side pocket and passed it over. Mack had falsified forms for us and even if he did a deeper than usual scan, I was confident they would pass. “Sure, Decker.”

He looked it over carefully then passed it back with a hard look. “Everything looks to be in order. Next time don’t slink around like you’re trying to hide something.”

I grunted in assent and tried not to smirk. Accepting the pad, I turned to leave when the man spoke again.

“Hold on a second, your paperwork says four, not five.”

Shit, I thought.

Decker was checking out the rest of the group and I could tell the moment he noticed Calliope, even though she’d been trying to blend in with the others. I was a little surprised he’d noticed her myself, since the girl was shorter than everyone else.

“Pretty sure it was for all of them,” I told him with a frown, then pulled out the datapad and pretended to study it. “Huh. Looks like some kind of mess-up. We were definitely briefed on five.”

I glanced back at Farah, who nodded back almost imperceptibly to say she understood. In instances such as these we had a certain procedure. She would get the package back to the ship and I would handle whatever problem had arisen.

“Well, she’s going to have to stay then,” he said, a little snootily to my ears.

“That’s not going to work,” I said, shaking my head and trying to think fast. “Walker’s fines have been paid and the government has already agreed to turn her over. It will be a breach of faith with the Union if she isn’t returned.”

“C’mon Rhee,” he protested, checking the name on my suit, “you know better than that. If I let a prisoner go without the right papers, the commander will have my ass.”

“Yeah, I understand. Let me see if I can get this sorted out.” I tapped a few more times on the pad and sighed in mock relief before moving to hand it back. “That’s my bad. Walker was on a different set.”

When he reached for it, I grabbed his hand instead and squeezed twice.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Decker objected, yanking his hand back.

I let go because the pressure syringe in my glove had done its job. I’d picked up the little gem on one of our resupply jaunts and hoped it would come in handy. The soldier went down like a sack of rocks, though a little faster than expected.

“Shit, we better move,” I told Farah. “V, how we lookin’?”

“Your current course is clear; however, the two guards are beginning to rouse. I would advise returning to the ship with haste,” the AI returned.

Farah was already moving out, the four on our original roster following close behind. Calliope slowed to get level with me, then spoke in that low voice of hers. “Sorry, that was my fault.”

“Yeah, it was,” I agreed. “Now isn’t the time for a chat, Cal.”

“Right. Look, I wanted to say thanks for not leaving me behind back there. It would have been easy to.”

“I said we would take you, and I don’t go back on my word,” I told her. “Just don’t make me regret it.”

“Deal. Now—”

Alarms began to sound around the barracks, interrupting whatever she’d been about to say.

“I believe your presence has been detected, Captain Cortez,” informed Vega.

2

“How far is your ship?” Calliope asked sharply, quickening her pace to meet mine and the rest of the group’s.

“Not far.” I pointed into the inky dark past the walls of the camp.

Since I wasn’t wearing a full exosuit with a Heads Up Display capable helmet, Farah and I had opted for tactical glasses and I slid mine into place as we moved forward. Pinpoints of red appeared around the edges, indicating the enemy wasn’t as close as I’d feared.

“Alert! Alert! Alert! Intruder on the premises!” The camp’s intercom system blared the message on repeat.

“Alyss,” Farah began.

The red markers were growing brighter and bigger, and the shouts of incoming soldiers were audible as they drew closer.

“Yeah, I see them. Stick to the plan. I’ll catch up if it comes to that.”

“Affirmative,” came the reply.

The first shot rang out, forcing us into an all-out run. This well-planned op had quickly turned to shit and was disintegrating further by the second.

“Multiple hostiles converging on your position,” Vega informed us. “Shall I send backup?”

“Not yet, I don’t want to use them unless they’re really needed.” I stepped behind a supply shed and sent out a covering spray of rounds. The red dots stopped momentarily in response, scattering as the guards dove for safety.

It gave Farah and her charges a few precious seconds to get closer to the ship. I wouldn’t be able to handle this number of enemies on my own, but I didn’t plan on going head to head with the lot of them either.

A little excited at the prospect of getting to play with the modified rifle I’d picked up on the station Leah a few months ago, I toggled the settings until the right one popped up. The first line of red dots closest to me now sported halos, marking them as targets.

I fired with a single trigger squeeze that sent half a dozen bullets into the fracas behind my position. Little “x”s appeared over their positions, alerting me that the ammo had found their marks.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I pushed off from my position to return to the ship.

“Captain! Look out—” Vega’s slightly computerized voice came over the comms, but it was too late.

Something stopped my forward movement, yanking me back and off my feet. I landed hard on my back. The breath whooshed out of me on impact. Dazed, I only had a second to recalibrate when I saw a rifle pointed at my face. The overly large soldier who held it smiled down broadly.

“Got one—” he started to say into his comms when he was cut off by some unseen force colliding with his back. “What the fu—”

His last words came out in a gurgle as the rifle was yanked from his grasp and pressed hard against his windpipe. Calliope appeared just over his shoulder, pulling the strap tight, and I realized that she must have jumped onto his back. When the tiny girl yanked back harder, the soldier’s breaths came out in strangled gasps and I was more than a little surprised when he staggered and nearly fell to his knees.

The move confirmed her training. No one else of that size would have been able to deliver such a punishing blow, at least not in my book.

Still, it didn’t bring the big man down for good. He reached up with one arm to grab her and toss her on the ground, same as he did with me. Both she and the rifle went flying, her landing with a thud and the weapon clattering a few meters away.

“At the ship,” Farah said over the comm. “Where the hell are you?”

“Working on it,” I muttered, echoing her earlier words.

“Hurry up, the packages are secured.”

I rolled over on my front, shot to my feet, and brought up my rifle, but Calliope was already moving. If she moved wrong, any shot could hit her instead. Dropping it with an exasperated snarl, I followed suit.

The soldier tensed, readying for the attack. When Calliope got within striking distance, he swiped out with what would have been a devastating blow, but she ducked, twisting around him. In a blur of movement, she kicked the back of his knee and this time he went down.

I caught him on the chin with the butt of my weapon and the man’s head snapped back. He shook it, trying to focus glazed over eyes. In a single fluid movement, I drove a foot into his chest and changed the round in my rifle to a non-lethal one laced with sedative. The kick flattened him, and he lay wheezing on the ground in front of me.

“Take him out,” Calliope said coldly, a hard glint in her eye.

“No, don’t!” he pleaded.

Ignoring them both, I fired. It had to sting at such close range, but the downed man wouldn’t be dead nor coming after us. He fell limply back and his eyes rolled up into his skull.

Calliope and I both panted heavily, but a beep in my ear and the flash of more red dots warned me now wasn’t the time for a break.

“C’mon, we’ve got more coming.”

The younger girl bent to grab the soldier’s fallen rifle and I jerked mine up, stepping into a shooting stance. “Sorry, but no.”

She froze and said, “Seriously? I just saved your ass.”

“While I appreciate it, that doesn’t mean I trust you with a weapon,” I replied. “If you wanna insist, then you can join our friend here and try your chances with the Sarkonians when you wake up.”

“Okay, no problem.” Holding up her hands in a gesture of peace, Calliope backed away from the rifle until I relaxed a fraction.

“Captain, more soldiers headed your way,” warned Vega. “Be advised, your previous route is no longer viable. Working on a new one.”

“Can you get us out of here?” I asked Calliope, who nodded. “Lead the way, we’ve got more incoming.”

The girl took off at a jog and I streamed behind her. True to her word, she navigated the labor camp with ease, ducking in and out of buildings and moving silently through the shadows to avoid surveillance with a skill that rivaled my own.

Petty Officer First Class? I don’t think so. I had the distinct feeling that her soft-spoken plea for help had been a play, but to what end? I supposed she could be playing things close to the vest out of self-preservation. It was the smart thing to do. In any case, there was more to Calliope Walker than the teenage deserter she presented, and I intended to find out what she was hiding.

“This is as far as I can take you without knowing the exact coordinates of the ship,” she whispered, coming to a stop at the corner of another barracks.

“V, gimme the location.”

The pulsing green marker denoting the ship popped up a few hundred meters to the northeast and I passed the glasses to Calliope.

She took them, peered through them for a few seconds, nodded, and handed them back. “There’s not really much in the way of cover after this. Once we leave this building we’ll be exposed. Our best bet is to make a run for it.”

“F, gonna need some cover,” I warned.

“I’ve got you.”

“Great. Just don’t hit me this time, ‘k?” I was only half joking.

On a previous rescue op, one of her shots had gone wide and tagged me in the arm instead of the guy behind me. Thankfully, due to our desire to avoid killing unless it was absolutely necessary, the standard round hadn’t pierced my armor.

“Are you ever going to let that go?” she groaned. “Never mind. Cargo bay is dark, opening hatch. Got the pair of you in my sights. Move your asses in three, two, one.”

I went on her command, Calliope following suit, streaking across the rocky lunar ground. As predicted, our presence didn’t go unnoticed. A guard shouted from somewhere and a volley of shots erupted. They came from the Second Genesis though, not the tower behind us.

I ignored the ensuing screams and pushed forward, keeping Calliope in front. She ran fearlessly, not looking back, apparently trusting Farah’s aim enough to keep her head from getting blown off.

The open bay of the Genesis was hard to make out in the dark, but if the inner hull lights turned on, it would only give the guards a better target. We followed the muzzle fire from Farah’s rifle and clambered up the ramp in one piece.

“Close it up and raise shields, V!” I shouted, clearing the last few meters. “With me, Cal.”

She followed me out of the cargo bay and through the rest of the ship until we hit the bridge. I didn’t have to tell her to strap in. The Union deserter grabbed one of the crew’s chairs and deftly buckled her harness. Farah was in the co-captain’s chair, operating the ship’s small guns.

The steady ping of enemy fire hitting the hull sounded, but the small caliber munitions didn’t worry me. Even if the shields were down, the most they could do was leave a dent.

“Ready for departure on your command, Captain,” Vega announced.

An explosion rocked the bridge, and the ship shuddered violently around us.

“More missiles incoming!” Farah shouted.

Another attack shook the Second Genesis and alarms began to alert that our shields were taking heavy damage.

“Get us the hell out of here,” I barked.

Vega shot us up into low orbit, the force pushing me down in my seat. I grimaced against the pressure, but it didn’t last long. Within a few seconds we were slowing and I could hold my head up again.

“Apologies for the excessive trajectory,” Vega said. “I believe the labor camp possessed more artillery than we initially planned.”

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled. “Did we take any substantial damage?”

“Nothing that can’t be fixed. Preparing a report now.”

I blew out a breath as we burned away from the moon and Boltin began to shrink on the holo display. “Everyone good?” I asked over the ship’s comm.

One by one, each of our rescuees answered in the affirmative from their rooms.

“Stay in your rooms until we hit the next slip tunnel. Then, we can go over basic rules and the plan to get you back to your loved ones.” Switching off the comms, I leaned back and swiveled the chair to eye Calliope. “Now, let’s the three of us have a little chat.”

She met my gaze unflinchingly. “I already told you. Union deserter.”

I waved her short answer away. “Yeah, got that part. Tell me the whole story, Petty Officer First Class Walker.”

My use of her full rank didn’t evoke a response, confirming my suspicions about there being more to her.

“Alright,” she said, inclining her head. “I was selected for advanced training for specialized operations right out of academy. I accepted, of course. Hazard pay and all that. Plus, it was exciting.”

She looked from me to Farah, who had raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief.

“No offense, but you don’t look…” Farah trailed off, and raised her hands in a “you know” gesture.

Calliope didn’t look bothered and she laughed lightly. “It’s okay. You’re not alone. But I’m agile and pretty good in hand to hand.”

I nodded. “You handled yourself with that guard. But I’m not asking about your skill set. How did you come to be in that labor camp?”

She sat calmly with her hands on her knees, not twisting them nervously or playing with the harness like I would have expected from someone in her position.

“You want to know why I deserted.” At my acknowledgement, Calliope shifted in her seat, getting comfortable. “I joined the military because I wanted to make a difference. Help people, you know?”

Neither I nor Farah could answer that honestly. Everyone in the Sarkonian government participated in a forced draft that spanned four to six years, depending on a citizen’s status. It was hard to know what choices we’d have made if they’d been available to us.

Some of my academy mates had talked about life after the military, Farah included, but not me. While they’d discussed medical fields, entrepreneurship, and even careers in entertainment, I dreamed of escape.

Stolen from my home world and parents at an early age, I was not considered a trueborn Sarkonian. As a result, I had struggled to fit in, even after leaving the academy with excellent marks.

Farah—Sophie Singh back then—had been my closest friend and we’d served in the same unit together until our lives imploded a few months ago. Commander-Navari, our unit leader, had left one of our teammates behind for dead on a mission. Lieutenant-Kamal had been a close friend and lover.

The action had set off a chain of events that resulted in Navari’s death at my hands after she ordered me to kill a child. Farah defected with me and we’d been on the run ever since, named traitors and terrorists.

“Anyway,” Calliope continued at our blank looks, “I began to notice discrepancies in the missions’ follow up reports.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Have you heard of whole colonies disappearing? There one day, all but gone the next? I think the planet Neblinar is an example of this.”

Farah and I exchanged a knowing glance. This we were intimately familiar with. Considered Sarkonian territory, Neblinar’s population had diminished by half, seemingly overnight. By the time the government got wind of this, however, the planet had been taken over and turned into a kind of haven for criminals.

Criminals like us. It had become a home of sorts to us, and Mack lived there.

“Yeah, we heard about that,” I said, making it clear to Farah I wasn’t ready to divulge that information to Calliope just yet.

“Well, the Union isn’t telling the truth about what we’ve discovered,” she said matter of factly.

“In what way?” Farah asked curiously.

“They’re blaming it on Jace Hughes and his people. Saying he’s forcing people to join his cause against the government.” She paused as if recalling more data.

“And?” I prompted, eager to hear more.

By now, everyone in the known systems had heard stories of the Renegade Hughes. In the time that Farah and I had become enemies of the state, he had become an even bigger outlaw than us. Honestly, we might owe our current freedom to him because he’d taken some of the focus off of us.

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Are you saying Hughes isn’t responsible?”

“Oh, he is. He just isn’t forcing people. They’re joining him because they want to.”

Farah shot me a confused look, her brows creasing together. “How can you know that?”

Calliope blinked. “I’ve been there. To one of the colonies. They aren’t scenes of chaos. And plenty of people chose not to go.”

“Yeah,” I scoffed. “The old and weak.”

But the Union deserter shook her head dismissing what I’d said. “No. Individuals that didn’t want to go. They reported that the ones who went with Hughes did so willingly. Then the order came down that anyone who had gone with him in search of a different-better-life was now a criminal. I couldn’t abide by that.”

“We can understand that,” Farah murmured, watching the girl with empathetic eyes.

I wasn’t entirely convinced. Her story made sense, but it all went together a little too perfectly for my taste. For all we knew, the girl was a plant.

“That’s a great story,” I said, standing briskly. “But I still don’t know you well enough to let you run free on our ship. Besides, the only open bed right now is in the brig. It’s nothing personal.”

Calliope regarded me with dark eyes, and I thought she might protest, but nodded instead. “I understand.”

I studied the girl, noting her cool demeanor and sharp eyes. They seemed to take in her surroundings with an almost clinical stare and I found myself a little unnerved.

“Okay, I’ll take you to get settled.”

As we walked side by side to the brig I had once stayed in myself, I hoped that I hadn’t made a huge mistake bringing Calliope aboard.

3

I waited in the kitchen area of the ship for Farah to finish debriefing the rescuees. My longtime friend was better with people than me, so I tended to lean on her for that. Part of that probably came from her background as a medic, but I tended to think it was also due to her personality.

We were on our way to Taurus, a station that we occasionally used as a drop off point after missions. It was one of many since we wanted to avoid creating a pattern that the government might catch onto.

Calliope, who I’d decided to call Cal for short, had gone to the brig without complaint, even when I’d locked her in.

Farah walked in a few seconds later and slid into the chair opposite me. I pushed her the glass I’d already filled with our newest alcohol to try. It had become a new tradition for us to try a new drink after every successful mission.

We’d both had beer before, of course, but Mack had introduced us to whiskey to celebrate not dying after the mission on Chaundra. The part where Farah and I went to the Sarkonian controlled facility had actually gone quite well. It was the after that nearly killed us.

Lukas Haas, an Ensign from our old unit, had caught up with us on our way to deposit the replicators we’d stolen. He unsurprisingly held a grudge against us for leaving him to be taken prisoner by the Union and he’d taken control of the Second Genesis. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mateo Kamal had been with him. Seeing my ex alive had been a shock, not to mention the fact that he, too, was working with the Union.

Thanks to Vega regaining control of the ship and undocking from theirs, Haas had been thrown off balance and we’d fought. He almost succeeded in killing me, but Mateo came back and stopped him. Farah threatened to kill him if he didn’t let me go, but I didn’t believe he would have harmed me.

In the end, Farah and I left, and Mat stayed with the Union. It remained to be seen what the future would bring but, for now, we were free.

“What’s this one?” She picked it up gingerly and gave it a wary sniff. “It smells sweet.”

“Sake,” I said lifting my cup to hers. “To another successful mission. You too, V. Great job as usual,” I added.

“Thank you, Captain. Though I am unable to lift a glass with you, please know that I am observing with vigor.” Vega sounded pleased to be included, at least to my ears.

Farah and I touched the glasses together, the resounding clink tinkling merrily in the otherwise empty room.

The drink went down like silk, its gentle warmth creeping up on me whereas that first whiskey had been like swallowing fire.

“That’s good,” Farah said, leaning back with a contented sigh and swirling the clear liquid thoughtfully.

“It is,” I agreed, taking another sip as I studied my partner in crime over the rim of my sake.

The temp black color of her hair still obscured the vibrant pink she’d changed it to after we took on new identities and I thought it made her look serious. Of the two of us, I considered her to be the heart. As for myself, well, I was more pragmatic.

Together, we made a good team. Friends since academy, we’d always been close, and our bond only grew when we served together in the same unit.

Because of that, I knew her better than anyone else. Which was why I knew she had something on her mind besides the sake. She had a faraway look in her eyes and the fingers of the hand not holding the glass tapped a staccato beat on the table.

“What’s up?” I asked bluntly, never one to mince words.

Farah looked up and fixed her clear green eyes on me, searching my face as if gauging my mood, her lips pursed just slightly.

Uh oh, I thought. She only got that look when she had to share bad news.

“I was just thinking,” she said in a casual tone, the tapping fingers now tracing invisible circles on the table. “Did you have to put Calliope in the brig?”

Huh. Not what I was expecting.

“It was the only place with a bed,” I reminded her.

My response got the immediate reaction of Farah raising a questioning eyebrow and tilting her head to the side.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“You know that’s not true. Besides the captain’s quarters, this ship is built for a crew of five, but you know each room can sleep two. And our clients are doing just that. That leaves two open rooms.”

I lifted a shoulder in response. “The clients paid transportation costs for four people. That included individual rooms.”

“Come on,” she pressed, setting the cup down and leaning forward to give me all her attention. “There’s more to it than that.”

I took another drink, partially because it was good, but also because I needed a second.

Since being thrust into this new life, Farah had shed the skin of Sophie Singh with ease. It wasn’t so much that she was different. The major personality points of my friend were still very much apparent: the kindness, the pep, and fierce loyalty.

But there was a change in her. Where under Commander-Navari Sophie had always been more introverted and almost timid, now Farah was open, borderline boisterous. It was like this person had been hidden away on the inside, just waiting for the chance to come out.

I didn’t feel the same way. The only thing I’d suppressed over the years were violent tendencies toward the people who kidnapped me. It had occurred to me that despite the many long nights spent planning my eventual departure from the Sarkonian life I’d been trapped in, it had never gone beyond that.

As a child, Rena Bennet had dreamed of escaping and finding her parents. As Eva Delgado, I’d only focused on getting through my forced term of service, after which I would have packed my bags and left. Even after I’d decided to desert my life when I thought Mateo was killed, my plotting had only gone as far as getting away without getting caught.

Alyss was past all that. But, now that I had the freedom I’d craved for so long, I didn’t know what to do with it.

At first, there had been this heady desire to make my own choices. My blue hair (that I now felt a little silly in, truth be told), tattoos, and wardrobe were all evidence of that. Others, though less outwardly visible, were just as life changing.

Food, for instance. Since becoming Sarkonian, I’d eaten what I was told to eat. At the governor’s house, I never had the option to turn food away, even if I didn’t like it. During academy and throughout the rest of my time in the service, the mess halls served barely edible meals masquerading as food. The eatery on the Ambiana wasn’t much better, so I’d never wasted the credits in there.

My first experience ordering food at a bar had been somewhat marred by the fact that Farah and I were on Leah station. Uncleanliness notwithstanding, there had also been the little matter of Mateo showing up, though at the time I thought I’d imagined it. The cuisine readily available on Neblinar was almost mind boggling and I tried something new almost daily.

Though I would never admit it, I had begun to miss the order of military life. There was no guesswork required. You did what they said, when they said. Controlled, but easy.

Now, without Sarkonian restrictions on the gal-net, I had unfettered access to, well, everything. Farah and Mack introduced me to a dizzying number of holo films and shows, fictional texts, and music. It was like being blind and deaf all your life then suddenly getting those senses back at once.

I didn’t know who I was anymore, and that scared me.

My whole life felt like instances of betrayal and lies. Besides Farah, I trusted no one. If I could at least have some semblance of control, even if it was just with Calliope, it made me feel more grounded.

“Alyss?”

Realizing I must have been quiet for longer than I meant to, I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, got lost in thought for a second.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, looking me over as though she didn’t believe me. “So, what were you going to say?”

“We don’t know her,” I said. “She admitted to being Union, but who knows if that’s really what landed her in that camp.”

“Which V confirmed,” Farah pointed out.

“Miss Shahi is correct,” the AI chimed in.

“You know as well as I do that her background could have been forged. We did it easily enough.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why are you so keen to trust her anyway?”

She gave me a long look before answering. “Not too long ago we were in the same position. Except we got lucky.”

I arched an eyebrow at that. “Lucky? How do you figure?”

Farah held up a hand and looked at me with a wry expression. “Well, let’s see. We have a state-of-the-art AI and cloaking capabilities, access to a top rate hacker—who works for next to nothing, I might add—and enough inside knowledge to pull off every job we take.”

“Not every job,” I muttered.

She smirked. “You can’t even count that one. In fact, that only proves my point. The single instance where things almost didn’t work out. Almost, because you remember, your boyfriend of all people was the one that caught us. Anyone else would have turned us in without a thought.”

“Fine, we’re lucky. That doesn’t mean we let down our guard and give some exUni access to our ship!” I didn’t like the raw edge that had crept into my voice and I shut my mouth with a snap.

We lapsed into a tense silence, the sake forgotten between us, until Farah broke it first.

“Don’t think I don’t see how hard this has been for you,” she said gently.

“It’s not about that,” I lied. “It’s just… what if it isn’t luck? Maybe the reason things are working out is that we’re trained for this kind of life. Every decision we make in the field comes from gut instinct or training. Put someone else in our shoes for the past month and I don’t think they could do what we’ve done.”

Farah considered that for a moment, then stood and cleared away the sake and glasses. “Maybe it is the training,” she admitted from the sink. “And I trust your gut a whole lot more than lady luck.”

“But?”

She came back and leaned a hip on the table, then she looked down at her hands. “But nothing. The government trained us well. We’re good little soldiers.”

I caught the bitter tone but continued. “Not to mention everyone is hiding something,” I said sardonically. “Kaska, Navari, even you.”

I was referring to the fact that she and her family were part of an underground rebellion hell bent against the Sarkonian Empire.

“That’s not the same,” she started to say, a wince crossing her face.

I held up my hand. “I know. I’m not judging, just pointing out that caution is our friend.”

“Okay,” Farah said, moving to stand with a nod. “I’m with you all the way. If you think Calliope needs to stay in the brig, then that’s where she goes.”

“Okay,” I repeated, relieved. “Still feels like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” I said when she’d almost reached the door.

Farah stopped, turning to smile lightly at me. “But remember the government trained us to see the enemy everywhere. Sooner or later you have to trust someone. Until then, they’re still in control.”

* * *

“Godsdammit,” I muttered to myself after she’d gone.

The counterbalance to knowing my friend was that she knew me equally well. Her parting words stuck in my craw. If there was one thing that I wouldn’t do willingly, it was let the Sarkonian government have any hold over me.

“V, give me everything you can find on Petty Officer First Class Calliope Walker,” I ordered.

“Working. Would you prefer the data sent to your personal pad or the holo table?”

I looked around in confusion but didn’t see what she was talking about. “What holo table?”

“The one you’re currently seated at, Captain.” Vega sounded perplexed, as if she were a teacher who’d asked an easy question but gotten a wrong answer from their student.

“Uh, maybe you should run a self-diagnostic test,” I suggested. “There’s no holo table in here, V. I’m at the dinner table.”

This time when the AI spoke, her tone took on a testy quality. “If you wish me to do so, Captain, I will. However, it should not be necessary. The kitchen features a fully functional workstation.”

On cue, the table lit up and an array of documents, all concerning Calliope, appeared on the surface like an overlarge datapad.

“Why have we never used this?” I complained, thinking of all the hours Farah and I had spent on the bridge not wanting to stop for food.

“No one has ever asked,” Vega replied.

“V,” I said in an overly cheerful tone. “If the co-captain and I are ever not utilizing this ship to its fullest extent, please let us know.”

“Of course, Captain.”

I spent the next few minutes looking over Calliope’s file, though nothing new caught my eye. As far as I could tell, she checked out.

Her service picture made her look a little older, but just, and it had more to do with the soldier’s eyes than her uniform. They weren’t an exotic color, just your standard brown, like ninety percent of the known universe. Rather it was the way she stared into the camera with a quiet intensity and none of the guileless pleading I’d witnessed in the barracks.

There’s something more here, I thought.

Farah’s words about seeing everyone as the enemy resurfaced and I mulled it over. Calliope was stuck in a labor camp, abandoned by her government. With no weapons or means of escape it must have seemed like a gift from the gods when we’d shown up.

Maybe she was who she claimed to be and did what it took to survive. As soldiers, we were taught to make do with the tools available. Failing that, we had to rely on our wits. Tactical planning and hand to hand were my strengths.

What are yours? I wondered, studying the image again. The girl could fight, that was clear. But she didn’t look like it. Perhaps that was a strength too. People could easily underestimate someone like Calliope Walker.

“Can you check for any evidence of tampering with the information I’m looking at?” I asked Vega.

“Acknowledged, Captain. One moment.” The computer’s voice was back to being pleasant and I smirked. “The file does not appear to be altered.”

“Good,” I answered. “Can you send the data package to Mack and ask if she can dig up anything about Walker on the back channels?”

“Of course, Captain Cortez,” Vega replied brightly.

Ever since Mack had upgraded the systems and removed the Sarkonian programming, the artificial intelligence had also seemed to undergo a personality change.

It made me a little uneasy in the beginning, but Mack assured me Vega wasn’t sentient. The hacker cited that the technology didn’t exist yet, and even if it did the Union wouldn’t have given it to the Sarkon Empire, truce or not.

That explanation made sense to me at the time, so I let it drop. The fluctuations in what I could only term V’s attitude made me wonder if I should ask Mack to take another look. I had a feeling there was more to find than a holo table in the kitchen.

4

“What’s going on?” Calliope asked when I let her out of the brig the next morning.

“Our clients decided to keep their sleeping arrangements and a room opened up,” I told her.

“Thanks,” she said, stretching as she exited the cell I’d occupied myself not all that long ago. “Not that I’m complaining, but the cot is a little rough on the back.”

I winced at the sight of the lumpy cot she’d spent the night on. Shadows under the girl’s eyes dug a furrow of guilt into my conscience and I felt a surge of gratitude to Farah for setting me straight.

“Sorry,” I apologized, meaning it. “They aren’t really built for comfort.”

“No, I guess they aren’t,” she laughed.

“We’ve got about two more days of tunnel jumping ahead of us,” I told her. “I’ll show you where everything is, then you can grab a bite to eat or some decent sleep.”

In the light of a new day and fresh perspective, I found that I actually liked Calliope. Usually, I let my partner handle that part but figured I had some responsibility. She admired the Genesis on the short tour I gave her, but in a reserved way. At least until we reached the armory.

I didn’t know why I decided to show her that. To my knowledge Farah never did on her tours. Maybe it was to prove I really did trust her. Or maybe I just wanted to show off, who knew.

When the door opened and she got a look inside, her eyes went big. “Did you steal the ship and the weapons from us? Not all of those look Union issued.”

“Neither,” I said, shutting the door quickly. Though she didn’t have an accusatory tone, the question made me wary and I realized I had shown our stock of highly advanced, highly illegal weapons. “Why do you ask?”

Cal shifted to aim a quizzical look my way. “It’s on all the bulletins about you.”

At my blank look she made a noise of disbelief, then stopped when she realized I was serious.

“You really don’t know?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

She hesitated for a beat before explaining. “The Union is charging Eva Delgado and Sophie Singh with the assassination of two high ranking officials, attempted murder of a child, and high theft of a classified government ship.”

I repeated the motion of shaking my head. “The last I saw they claimed we killed our commander when she tried to stop us from carrying out an assassination.”

Calliope gave me a sidelong look as we turned away from the armory door and headed for the kitchen. “So the reports are wrong?”

Cal said it casually, in a tone so subtle that I nearly missed the corner she’d neatly boxed me into. “Mostly. Navari was the one who carried out the killings,” I explained, then went on to describe the events that followed.

I made sure to leave out the parts where Dolph, the Void operative, was involved. The last thing we needed was for the highly specialized cyber-enhanced super soldiers to come after us.

“Did you honestly think I tried to murder a kid?” I asked when the story was done.

She opened her mouth then closed it again, clearly unable to find the words. Her silence was all the answer I needed.

Calliope was a virtual stranger to me but the thought of anyone thinking me capable of such an act filled me with disgust. “If you thought that, why the hell would you get on this ship?”

“Desperate times,” she replied in a small voice, not looking me in the eye.

We’d come to a stop at the intersection that led to the kitchen.

“You don’t believe me,” I said, more of a statement than a question.

“I didn’t say that.” The girl looked nervous, as though I might attempt her assassination next.

“It’s fairly obvious.” With a deep sigh, I veered away from the kitchen and headed for the bridge instead. “I can prove it to you.”

* * *

“You were telling the truth,” Calliope said when I shut off the suitcam footage, a note of wonder evident in her voice.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” I replied, not hiding the irritation.

I called Farah to the bridge and explained what Cal had told me, and she whistled low. “We knew they were trying to pin the scientists on us, but man they really made us out to be some serious villains.”

“All the government does is lie,” Calliope agreed, brown eyes flashing with discontent.

Not really in the mood to talk to the girl anymore, I made for the door, motioning for her to join me. “I’ll take you to grab some food now. We’ll be docking before you know it.”

“Actually, I was hoping to talk to both of you.”

I stopped and turned around to see the girl hadn’t moved. The conversation had done nothing to improve my mood and I opened my mouth to tell her no when Farah spoke.

“About what?”

Resigned to hearing Calliope out, I joined my friend as we waited for her to answer.

“Look, I…” she trailed off, then tried to start again. “I don’t really have anywhere to go. All my accounts are frozen, so I have no money to even buy a fare out of the station.”

Farah shot me an alarmed look, though I couldn’t tell if it was due to Calliope’s situation or what she seemed to be asking. “What is it you expect us to do?” she asked, using her mothering tone.

Calliope looked from Farah to me, then back to Farah again.

“We already gave you a free ride out of prison,” I added, a little incensed.

“I know that,” she said quickly. “And I’m grateful, really I am. But it’s just me. You guys have each other, this ship, money.”

I looked at my friend suspiciously. That was almost the same thing she’d said the night before. She shrugged as if to say, “I have no idea what to do.”

“So you want money for transpo or something?” I asked hopefully.

“No,” Calliope said. “I’d like to stay on the ship with you.”

Now I turned to cast a beady eye at Farah.

“Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t suggest it,” she said, bringing her hands up defensively.

“You already know I can fight,” the girl said fiercely. “But I’ll do anything. Clean up, cook, navigate, you name it. And there are only two of you. With an extra body you could take on bigger jobs.”

I had to look away from the wide-eyed gaze of hope she was directing at us, but my heart sank at Farah’s calculating expression.

“Go find the kitchen and get some food so we can talk about it,” I instructed.

“Thank you for even considering it.”

I waved her off.

She was gone a minute later, and I threw my hands up. “I know that look,” I told Farah, pointing an accusing finger at her face. “You’re thinking about it.”

She lifted both shoulders and did this kind of apologetic grimace. “A little. She’s not wrong. Another person to add to our little crew might not be bad.”

I paced the bridge trying to think of a good argument. There were plenty to choose from, but it had to be done right. “We’d be bringing her into our mess,” I started, stopping midpace.

Farah considered that with a brisk nod. “That’s a fair point. “There’s also the matter of the rebellion. It would be really hard to have conversations on the ship with her around.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “What about Mack? Isn’t her identity kind of a secret?”

It went like that for a little while, each of us going back and forth with pros and cons. We decided to talk to Mack. If she was okay with it and the girl could pass one of her in depth checks, we’d at least let her try. If things didn’t work out, she’d be on her own, though we planned to give her enough funds to at least get transpo off Neblinar.

My first instinct was a big hell no. It was all too soon, too fast. If this all went terribly sideways, we’d be fucked. I could tell just how much Farah wanted to help the girl though. In some ways, I could understand.

Her story wasn’t that much different from ours, if I was being honest. I examined my reasons for balking and couldn’t come up with much more than my original reasons for not wanting to let her out of the brig.

I still didn’t completely trust her, for one. For two, it felt like things fell into place a little too easily. Farah told me I was being paranoid on that count, but that wasn’t anything new.

By the time we reached Taurus station, Mack had completed her check.

“The girl’s clean,” she said, her face taking up the holo display again.

“Too clean?” I wondered, pulling up the holo doc and minimizing Mack a little to get a better look.

“No,” she replied, getting my meaning. “Everything in there points to a normal life. And I dug deep. Calliope Walker is her given name, and she was born on Acre. Stayed there too, until she turned seventeen and opted to join the military. Parents deceased.”

“Where’s Acre?” Farah asked, joining me at the display.

Calliope was off helping the group we’d rescued from Boltin find their families at the coordinates. I liked the idea because it limited exposure for me and Farah. Technically, our job was complete. We’d gotten the rest of our payment after giving the families proof of life, but Farah liked to make sure they got all the way there. Taurus station was well known and smack dab in the middle of Union territory.

With what we’d learned about the updated bulletins, I thought it best to stay on the ship this time. Taurus might not be crawling with government, but if someone recognized our faces it was a good bet it would be.

“The Osiris system,” Mack answered. “It’s a farm planet. Not quite obscure, but not as big or important as a capital planet.”

“Never heard of it,” I murmured. Calliope’s file had more pictures now, and I was going through them.

They all looked completely normal. There were images from her life on Acre, from childhood to recruitment.

I got caught up for moment looking at Calliope’s home world. There were wide-open expanses of sky and flat land. A study of the planet’s topography showed that was the norm.

“Walker has never changed her name, never lived anywhere else. All the data supports her story,” Mack said.

Farah turned to me, her eyes wary. “I know you don’t really trust her. But sometimes things just fall into place. We could use another person.”

“Farah’s right,” Mack agreed. “I turn down a lot of jobs for you guys because there’s no way two people can pull them off. If you had someone else, you could do more.”

It was hard to let someone into our circle, but I knew they were right. “If you say she’s good, I trust you. I just don’t want her to have access to more than is necessary on the ship for now.”

“Sounds good to me,” Farah said, relief evident in the way her shoulders relaxed.

“Miss Walker is almost back to the ship,” Vega informed us.

“You guys talk to her. I don’t know what you plan on explaining about the rebellion, but don’t go into specifics.” Mack’s lips tightened and something dark flashed in her eyes.

“Mack, is everything okay?” I asked, suddenly concerned.

She hesitated. “Yes and no. Something big is brewing and there’s a lot of grumbling. It can wait until you get back though.”

“Alright. Call us if you need anything. Otherwise we’ll be back in a couple days,” Farah said, glancing at me for confirmation.

“Yeah. We have enough fuel and resources to get back without stopping again,” I affirmed.

“Great. See you then.” Mack’s image blinked off.

“V, make sure Cal has enough clearance to get around and access the gal-net, but nothing else,” I instructed, clearing the documents from the display.

“Bridge access?” the AI asked.

I paused, looked at Farah. “What do you think?”

“That’s up to you, Captain,” she winked.

Rolling my eyes in return, I replied, “You’re just as much a part of this.”

“Okay. Why don’t we run a probationary period. Once we get through a mission or two with her, then she can have more access.”

“That should work,” I agreed thoughtfully. Then to Vega I said, “Keep the bridge off limits unless one of us specifically calls for her. She doesn’t need to be here when we aren’t.”

“Acknowledged. Miss Walker now has basic crewman accessibility, with a few tweaks.”

“Thanks, V.” Most people didn’t thank their computers, but I always had with Vega, even when she’d been Z9-77, her default model name.

In the past I’d noticed that the ship’s AI suffered malfunctions at odd intervals. That usually happened at the hands of Navari or Haas.

Unbeknownst to any of us, the Sarkonian scientists tasked with programming the ship had messed up. Where they’d intended to restrict Z9’s empathy learning, they’d only hampered her ability to express it.

After our defection from the government, Mack had fixed her up, and now she didn’t suffer malfunctions anymore. The result had been a more human-like rendering of her voice, one that Farah and I connected with more. Sometimes I forgot she wasn’t a person sitting in a control room somewhere.

“Of course, Captain. Miss Walker has returned and is requesting access to the bridge now,” she replied pleasantly.

Farah glanced at me.

I nodded. “Let her in.”

The door slid open and Calliope entered dressed in a borrowed jumpsuit instead of the dirty prison garb. She looked at me, a question in her eyes.

I let her sweat, just for a second. “Your story checked out.”

The girl exhaled as though she’d been holding it in. “That’s great. What do we do now?”

“Take a seat and strap in. We’re going to Neblinar to meet up with a friend,” I told her. “Once we’re back in slipspace we’re going to debrief you.”

The girl smiled brightly, almost beaming, as she took the indicated crew chair. Her excitement spoke volumes and made Calliope look even younger. Once again, I felt a stab of uncertainty.

As the captain, I needed to be able to make judgement calls. Right ones, I thought, annoyed.

“What’s up?” whispered Farah from the co-captain’s seat next to mine.

I realized I was frowning and worked to relax my face. “Nothing,” I lied. “Just ready to get back and hear what Mack has to say about the rebellion.”

The ploy worked and my friend nodded her head. “Right. It didn’t sound great, whatever it was.”

“Dock master has cleared the ship for takeoff,” Vega reported.

“Take us to Neblinar,” I ordered.

I would have preferred to land somewhere with the cloak on and let the clients sort out the rest, but there wasn’t anywhere on Taurus to do that. With it being a busy waystation there was also a pretty good chance at getting noticed, either by sensor or the security in place.

The engines rumbled to life before smoothing out into a comfortable purr. A clunking sound announced our release from the docking clamps and then we were moving.

I stole a glance at Farah out of the corner of my eye. She wasn’t exactly tense, but I noticed the tight grip she had on the armrest. This part was always a little harrowing for us.

Everything we did was dangerous, from the moment we set out to retrieve clients, to now, when they were safe and we were anything but. There was the perpetual fear that before we could depart a drop off point, someone would try to stop us.

It differed from the hundreds of covert operations we’d run. Escaping had always been a high-octane event, but one that left most of us getting amped up. Much as I despised my forced nationality, it made sense.

Sarkon versus the Union. We did the job for our government and escaped to do it again and again. There was always a base to go back to. Another operation to run. If we got caught by the enemy, we could fight back.

I’d never realized how cocky that was.

Now, when every action had the potential to end our lives, I couldn’t help feeling trapped. This scenario had crossed my mind: running across the galaxy, always looking over my shoulder for some enemy to appear.

A few minutes later we were at the S.G. Point and opening a tear that would take us home.

We entered the swirling green lightning tunnel, but its usual thrall failed to transfix me.

With all the chaos of the past weeks, I had to wonder.

Was it all worth it?

5

“V, what’s our timetable?” I asked once we were safely inside the tunnel, unbuckling and moving to the command station at the center of the bridge.

“There are four S.G. Points until we reach Neblinar. The first is four hours away. It will take—”

“I meant how long until we get there,” I clarified, waving away the extra details.

“71 standard hours,” she finished.

“Great. Cal, you’re up. We have a lot to go over.”

She and Farah joined me, and I started throwing up holo docs, careful to only show those with particulars on missions and rescues we’d already completed. Once the ex-Union grunt proved herself, I would consider sharing the more sensitive details. If we just went around giving that kind of information to anyone, we wouldn’t be free for long.

“You already know most of the details surrounding our departure from the Sarkonian government’s employ,” I began. “But search and rescue are only one arm of current business.”

Calliope nodded without looking at me, her eager eyes focused on the display. “So, you’re like Renegades?”

“No,” I said, trying not to sound exasperated. Of all the things anyone could compare us too, Renegades were at the bottom. “We only take certain kinds of jobs. No killing. No kidnapping. No stealing.”

“Well, the last one can get a little muddy,” Farah cut in, grinning at me. She loved stealing, if the situation called for it.

That got Calliope’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“We don’t deal in black market goods or trade,” I explained. “But if, say for instance, Uncle Bob is loaded and someone broke in and stole something worth a lot of money, we’ll step in and find it.”

Those were my favorite jobs. They were fun and we got a chance to keep our stealth skills sharp. If I was being honest, I kind of enjoyed the thrill of stealing in the name of justice.

“Ah, okay. That’s all you guys do? There was an awful lot of artillery on board for that kind of work.” The girl sounded almost disappointed, but I was both surprised and impressed with her keen observation.

“No, it’s not. But the rest we don’t exactly get paid for,” Farah said, flicking her gaze to me.

I smiled apologetically, remembering that I never told her about my showing Calliope the armory.

“If you’re only interested in helping with the paid jobs until you have enough credits to start a new life then we won’t get into that,” I said briskly, starting to swipe away the files.

This was the part we had to be careful with. Sharing too much could have a greater impact on more than just Farah, Mack, and I. The rebellion and innocent lives were also at stake now.

“Why do you work for free?” Calliope asked, an excited edge to her voice.

“We discovered that attacks were being carried out on innocent people,” I said, picking my words carefully. “So, we do our best to prevent these attacks. That’s why we need to take on bigger jobs for more money. Without funds for fuel, ammunition, and resources, we wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

“Stop who?” Calliope’s eyes had gone sharp and she watched me with laser focus.

Was it just me or did the ex-Union soldier know more than she let on?

“Whoever wants to hurt innocent people,” I said vaguely. “I—we—don’t know you well enough to just give up all the information. If you want in, we’ll start off with the basics. Once you build up some trust, then we can start discussing things in more detail.”

Calliope seemed to consider this and chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. “May I?” she asked, gesturing at the holo docs floating above the table.

I waved my hand in a “go ahead” gesture. The files had already been prepped and any sensitive information removed. It wouldn’t hurt for her to see them.

She examined the mission dossiers one by one, sliding each away when she was finished. The girl paused at the last one. It concerned the toxin we’d removed from Karbine, our first anti-mission.

“I recognize this.” She frowned, looking at us quizzically. “This is Union tech. You’re saying the Union planned to use this on innocent people?”

I shook my head. “I can’t say what plans the Union had for it. We took it from Sarkonian hands.”

“Where is it now?” Calliope’s tone was calm, but I heard the underlying sharpness.

“Safe Haven,” was all I said. In truth, all the weapons we confiscated went to Z-28K, an abandoned mining colony near the Deadlands. We’d nicknamed it Safe Haven so we could talk about it in the open without giving away the location. I wasn’t about to tell her that though.

“How did you even know where to go?”

This time Farah answered. “We came into some information. That’s all we can say for now.”

It was another vague response with a complicated answer.

After Commander-Navari’s death, I had found and decoded her hidden cache of secret missions. They told a story; we just weren’t sure of the ending yet. The things we knew for sure were that Vice-Admiral-Adrian Kaska was running weapons tests on Sarkonian people, approving assassinations within both the Union and his own government, and doing it all under the table.

The way the dossiers read, Kaska had orchestrated all of it by himself. The general consensus among us and those in the rebellion we trusted with the information was that the Vice-Admiral was working alone. Or, at the very least, giving the Emperor plausible deniability, though that didn’t jive with my gut.

So far, we’d thwarted three of his planned operations. The first two had been just after our escape from Sobek, the location of our last mission for the government. Our pilot anti-mission had been a fairly simple task: retrieving a device from the mining colony of Karbine that would have introduced a toxin into the atmosphere and killed everyone within minutes.

Second, and easily the most dangerous, were the replicators we’d taken from Chaundra. Those were a nasty piece of work that the government had obtained from the Union. The nanobots were capable of planetary destruction and would have greatly upset the balance of power between the Union and Sarkon government.

The most recent had been to save a political target from assassination. It had gone easier than expected, but the more we stepped in the more I became concerned that Kaska would catch on to who was fucking up his plans.

“Okay,” said Calliope, her jaw set.

“Okay what?” asked Farah.

“I want to be part of this. If we’re saving innocent people, I want to help. It’s the whole reason I joined the military in the first place.”

“Fine, but don’t expect to be told everything,” I warned her. “We don’t even know everything.”

The girl wrinkled her nose in confusion. “You obviously have someone feeding you information. Are you going into these things half blind?”

Farah shot me another look, which I understood. If I kept dancing around every question Calliope asked it would just end up confusing her. Resigned, I shut off the holo.

“There’s a rebellion within the Sarkonian Empire,” I told her. “The Union is already aware of it, or so we’ve been told.”

“I’ve actually heard about it,” she confessed. “Though no one is really taking it seriously. No offense, it’s just that the Empire is already behind the Union in almost everything. A rebellion only helps the Union government, so they wouldn’t step in.” Calliope looked at both of us apologetically.

“I don’t think we ever thought of that,” Farah chimed in.

“No,” I admitted. “With the agreement between the two we kind of assumed the Union would act against the rebels if given the chance.”

“It’s possible,” Calliope said doubtfully, as if she didn’t believe that. “But both sides still want to win.”

It was a good point. Control of the known systems was everyone’s endgame.

“The rebellion is a shadowy organization connected through an underground network. We keep communication anonymous in case someone gets caught.”

“Pretty standard,” Calliope murmured.

I cracked a smile. “Yeah, it is. We don’t know exactly who started it or why, but everyone involved had suffered at the hands of the government.”

“I’ve heard the Empire is… strict,” the girl replied.

“It’s not just about it being a shitty government,” Farah broke in. Her eyes were a little too bright and spoke of her own pain and loss.

Farah’s brother had been taken, forced into a special ops program against her parents’ wishes, and died as a result. It had been the catalyst for them to join the group when she was a kid. I’d only just learned about it and the fact that she’d been a double agent for them while she served in the military with me.

That had been a shock to me since I’d always known my friend to be a staunch rule follower and more timid than not. Turned out she was pretty bad ass with nerves of steel to boot.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “It’s not just a matter of people not agreeing with the way the government rules. They’re abusing their power. Entire colonies are razed, families separated, and lives lost in their quest for universal domination.”

I myself had been kidnapped as a child and taken from my home world, never to see my parents again. There were people like me and Farah all over Sarkonian claimed space.

“The people are tired of it,” Farah added fiercely, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Calliope held up her hands in a gesture of peace. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply it had no merit. I guess all of that never occurred to me.”

“It’s fine,” Farah said shortly. “The point is that we’re trying to put a stop to the worst of it.”

“Then let me help,” Calliope urged, putting her hands down and taking a step closer to us.

The movement grew with each averted tragedy and every betrayal by the government, or at least that was what we were told. If Kaska was gearing up for something big as Mack had said, that meant more was coming and we would need all the help we could get.

“Okay,” Farah and I said at the same time.

* * *

The next day Farah and I were on the bridge again going over more of Navari’s secret files when we got a call.

“Captain, there’s an urgent incoming transmission from Miss Woods,” Vega informed me.

“Put her on,” I ordered, moving to the holo screen.

Calliope was off in the weight room trying to put some muscle back on. She’d claimed the stint in the labor camp doing menial tasks had been the reason for her lack of strength. In any case, she’d be busy for a while.

Farah joined me, and a second later Mack’s face filled the display.

Normally, ships couldn’t send or receive transmissions while in slipspace, but the Second Genesis was a special lady. The advance slip drive not only gave us the ability to cloak, both in and out of a slip tunnel, but we could operate communications during slipspace travel as well.

“Hey,” she said, a pinched look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Mack?” asked Farah.

The hacker didn’t mince words. “There’s a situation,” she said hurriedly. “We just got word from someone with high security clearance that Kaska is after a weapon. Some kind of fusion energy. He’s going after it tomorrow.”

“Where at?” I asked, already going to the map.

“Obsequius, on the planet Solaris.”

I paused what I was doing. “As in…?”

Mack nodded. “Yeah. The capital city of Sarkon’s largest conscripted planet.”

The planet Percheron was a class three planet, at least by the Sarkonian classification system. It basically meant that it had been usurped by the Empire and its citizens were not “trueborn” Sarkonians. It did hold some value for its resources, though they were fairly common throughout the universe.

“Huh,” said Farah, tilting her head to one side as she studied the holo rendition of the planet. “Why there?”

“We’re not sure,” Mack admitted. “It’s as good a place as any for a secret buy. I’ve just sent you the data.”

“I remember seeing a dossier for this in Navari’s files,” I said, reading through it. “But it looked far from ready. More theoretical than anything.”

“That’s right. It would appear they found a way to move the timetable up. Guys, this thing is seriously powerful. If they figure out how to harness the power of this ingot, they could level a city in one shot. Not quite like the nanobots, but if Kaska gets his hands on it… I know Walker is kind of a wildcard right now, but you’re the only ones equipped to deal with this kind of thing on such short notice,” she replied, worry creasing her forehead.

The hacker’s hair was mussed as though she’d been tugging on it and dark circles dogged her eyes. It struck me that this was the first time that I had ever seen Mack look anything but cool, calm, and collected. That alone spoke to the gravity of the situation. I sought out Farah’s attention and we exchanged a curt nod.

“Okay, Mack. Send us anything else you think might help. We just left Taurus. Topped off fuel and basic resources, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get to Solaris before it goes down.”

Her shoulders relaxed but I could still see the tightness in her features. “Thanks. I’ll keep you updated.”

“We’ll do the same,” Farah assured her.

With a tight nod, she signed off, leaving us alone again.

“It’s always something,” I muttered. “V, can you tell Cal to meet us in here when she’s done?”

“Certainly,” the AI replied. “She will be on her way in a few minutes.”

“What are you thinking?” asked Farah, coming to my side of the table.

“I’m not sure yet. Have you ever been there?”

“To Percheron?” She sounded surprised at the question.

I nodded.

“No. I think we learned about it in the academy but it’s pretty hazy.”

“Same here. It says the city has a hover rail system that is directly responsible for the government getting hover tech,” I noted.

“Big surprise,” Farah scoffed. “Have they ever tried coming up with something on their own?”

“Why bother when everyone else will do the work for you?” I replied. “From what this explains, it’s not a realized weapon yet. Just the plans and the power source.”

That’s bad enough,” Farah said darkly.

“No argument here. Let’s—"

The bridge door opened, and Calliope walked in. “Hey, Vega said you needed me?”

“Slight change of plans,” I told her.

“Wow,” she said after we finished filling her in. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not yet. We’d just started when you walked in.”

Her lips widened into a grin and she spread her hands wide. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get started.”

6

“The buy is going down on the train,” I said, pointing at the holo display of the city. It was hours later and the three of us had been setting up the operation. “We have the time, just not which car it’ll happen in.”

A path lit up in yellow to highlight the hover rail system, a miniature version of the train moving around it.

“All the stops are in red,” Farah explained. “From the sounds of things, it runs on time, at least for the most part. Each stop takes about three minutes.”

“Are we just going to walk on?” asked Calliope, both eyebrows arching up. “I only ask because you two are high profile at the moment.”

I laughed. “It’s a good question. And no, we’re not. We have jump rigs for just this sort of thing.”

“Jump rigs?” Calliope tried for casually bored, but I could tell she was excited.

“Yes,” said Farah. “All you have to do is plug in the coordinates and jump at the right time. They do the rest.”

A grin spread over the girl’s face as realization set in. “I get it. If you know when it will be stopped, you can put in coordinates for anywhere on the track.”

“Exactly. Vega will keep the Genesis in low orbit, cloaked. Then we’ll drop in here,” I said, indicating a stop I’d selected for its location on the edge of the city.

“How do we find out where the buy is going to be?”

Farah and I both grimaced.

“V, based on the information we have, could you scan for this element?”

“One moment, Captain.” The AI went quiet while she did the calculations.

Farah looked impressed. “Good idea. That thing should have a pretty big reading.”

“Captain Cortez, I can indeed perform a scan that will detect the ingot,” Vega reported. “Even with protective shielding it would still give off a reading. The ship’s sensors are quite advanced, and I believe it will not be a problem.

“Perfect. That’s a good point though. Make a list of all possible containment material and add that to your scan.”

After we had stolen the replicators, Mack gave us a Neutronium lined container to shield against scans. It was reasonable to think someone else might have the same idea.

“Of course, Captain. I will let you know when the report is ready.”

“Thanks, V. Okay, you two. We’ll be there in a few hours and you still need to learn how to use the jump rig,” I told Calliope.

“Should she be in one by herself?” Farah said, looking at me with some surprise, no doubt wondering about my change of heart.

I lifted a shoulder in response. “Soldiers adapt. Besides, the suits do all the work.”

Farah nodded but didn’t look convinced.

As it turned out, Calliope didn’t have any trouble with the controls.

“It’s just like an exosuit,” she decided, testing it out in the training room a little later.

“That’s a good way to look at them,” Farah agreed.

Jump rigs were one of the few tech advancements that the government hadn’t stolen. Not directly, at least. The idea originally came from exosuits, which were common throughout the universe and production wasn’t restricted to the military.

A variety of features and upgrades were available depending on need. Thrusters were one example. A Sarkonian inventor realized that they could apply to more than basic space navigation. His idea eventually spawned the jump rigs we use today.

The first iterations saw scientists trying to marry the idea to create new exosuits with the thrusters built in. The result was heavy, unwieldy monstrosities that had to be tailor made for the wearer.

Today’s jump rigs were universal, designed to fit over an exosuit, with attachments at the arms and feet. Ours were military grade of course. Sleek black and outfitted with armor comprised of NO2-99 and nav systems that synced to the Heads Up Displays of our helmets.

“How does it feel?” I asked, studying her with a critical eye.

The rigs easily added an extra 50 pounds to the already dense exosuits, which didn’t offer any power assist. I was a little worried that Calliope wouldn’t be able to handle the extra weight, but she didn’t seem to be having too much trouble with it.

“It’s a little bulky,” she admitted, trying out a few practice moves, then she grinned. “But I like it.”

I nodded at Farah, who looked mollified.

“Okay,” I said once Calliope was comfortable with the rig. “Let’s keep going over the plan and look for weak spots until we get there. Things have been going pretty well but I don’t want us to get comfortable.”

* * *

Two and a half hours later, the three of us were standing at the open hull of the Genesis, staring down at the sprawling city beneath.

Vega’s initial scans hadn’t revealed the ingot to be on the train, but we needed to be sure, so I’d decided to go ahead with the jump.

“V, you checked the calculations?” I asked.

“Yes, Captain. Nothing has changed since the first four verifications,” the AI answered mildly. “If you have a fear of heights, I can administer a light sedative?”

Calliope laughed, tried to cover it up with a cough, and failed, falling silent when I leveled a look at her.

“Sorry,” she squeaked.

“I’m not afraid of heights,” I said through gritted teeth. “I just have a healthy desire not to have my atoms rearranged on the ground because we got a calculation wrong.”

I wasn’t lying, heights didn’t bother me. Jumping was actually one of my favorite mission activities.

“Captain, let me assure you that if the jump is performed at the correct time then the landing has a 99.9 percent rate of success.”

“Good enough for me,” I said.

Farah’s head snapped up. “Wait, what do you mean, 99.9? What’s the .1?”

“Unforeseen variables,” Vega replied cheerfully. “Ten seconds to jump time.”

“Get ready,” I ordered, moving to the edge of the lowered platform.

The suit’s mag boots kept my balance and I turned to face Farah and Calliope.

“On V’s mark,” I said. “See you down there.”

“Three… two… Jump window open,” Vega announced.

I spread my arms wide and tipped back. With a mock salute, I released the mag boots and fell into a back somersault.

“Show off!” Farah called out.

Smirking, I twisted into a barrel roll and checked my position on the HUD. Right on target.

“Window closed, all team members successful,” informed Vega.

The wind rushed in my ears as I settled into the freefall and kept my eye on the altimeter reading. “Everybody good?” I asked.

“Affirmative,” Farah answered first, followed by Calliope’s “all good.”

“Copy that. Remember, the rigs will kick on at 200 meters.”

Adrenaline coursed through me as the ground rushed up to meet us. The exhilaration of jumping was a feeling I had never been able to replicate. It didn’t compare to anything else in my considerable experience. No amount of combat I saw, space walks I completed, or slip tunnels I traveled gave me the same freedom.

The HUD beeped, warning that my gear’s activation was imminent. When the altimeter registered the correct height and triggered the rig, its wings expanded, sliding out behind me smoothly. The thrusters fired on, stopping my freefall abruptly.

I could see the shiny top of the train and the length of its cars stretching out on the track, twisting and turning like a living thing.

The target lock tracked across my helmet visor in bright green as the train slowed. It looked a little farther back than it had on the model, but when it stopped, I was dropping the last few meters. The wings would retract again once it registered 2 meters above the coordinates.

Landing using the jump rigs could get tricky, but I was ready and landed lightly on both feet.

“Right behind you,” Farah warned, urging me to scoot forward out of her way.

We both turned to watch Calliope’s landing when the train rumbled to life.

“V, how long has the train been stopped?” I barked.

“One minute and thirty seconds,” she answered.

“Then why the hell are we moving?”

There was a hum as the engines powered up, and the car rocked gently as it moved forward.

“Unfortunately, it appears that the transportation company has cut its stop times in an effort to be more efficient. It arrived a little earlier than we were expecting.”

“Cal’s gonna cut it close,” Farah said on our private channel.

“I think I can make it!” the girl called out.

“Fuck.” I could already see a disaster in the making and started running as Calliope’s wings shot back into the pack on her back and she dropped like a weight.

Her feet landed squarely on the car, but she couldn’t keep her balance as the train picked up speed and stumbled back. I leapt toward her, my arm outstretched as Calliope’s momentum took her into a backward roll.

My hand closed around her ankle and I pulled hard to keep her from sliding off the edge. The move would have worked, except the train took a curve that sent us both sliding.

“Activate mag boots!” I growled to Vega.

She didn’t respond but the clunk of the boots securing to the car answered for her.

“Shit, that was close,” Calliope panted when we were both standing again. “Thanks for the assist.”

“No problem. Let’s get down there.”

We’d landed on a car that didn’t carry passengers, and it only took Farah a few seconds to get us inside. She was fast becoming an expert on the tech side of our little group and that was fine with me.

“Okay, V. What do you got for us?” I asked once we were inside.

“Still nothing that matches the dossier,” Vega admitted. “However, there is a trace signature nearby that suggests some type of explosive is aboard this train.”

The line went quiet for a moment as I processed that. Farah and Calliope both looked stunned.

“V, did you just say explosive? As in not an ingot, but a fully functioning device?” I asked incredulously.

“That is correct. It appears—” The AI stopped talking midsentence.

“V? You still there?” I looked at the others, who shook their heads.

“I can hear you,” Farah said.

“Me too,” confirmed Calliope.

I didn’t like the feeling in my gut. “No way that’s a coincidence.”

“Someone’s jamming the signal,” Farah agreed. She checked her wrist unit and nodded. “Vega sent the location before she was cut off. Looks like it’s just a few cars down. Private compartment.”

“And we still have helmet comms, so that’s something at least,” Calliope said.

I checked my own unit and homed in on the data Vega sent. “We have enough to finish the op,” I told them. “Once we have it, we can worry about the rest. Keep your visor dark.”

They followed me out to the first occupied car and I turned on the suit’s external comms to address the passengers who were eyeing us with looks of alarm. “Everybody stay calm, we are doing a routine security check to audit the transportation company.”

That settled people down, though some still eyed us with looks of distaste. I repeated the schtick in each car until we reached Vega’s coordinates.

It turned out to be more of a space designed for meetings that held tables with large privacy screens.

“We’re going to have to clear it out,” Farah murmured.

“No. One of them might be in possession of the bomb. If it leaves this area we won’t know it.”

A harried man in an attendant’s uniform spotted us and hurried over. “Identification,” he snapped.

He was short and I had to tilt my head down to look at him. His uniform bore a pin that read “Barry.” “We’re here to test security. There’s a training device somewhere in the area. As soon as we find it we’ll move on to the next car and be out of your hair.”

“Nice try,” Barry chuckled. “You’re not going to catch me on anything. Part of our security protocol is to check all identification of those onboard.”

He smirked and held out his hand.

“This is a Sarkonian claimed planet,” I sneered, putting a hand on my sidearm and taking a menacing step in his direction. “The Empire’s soldiers aren’t beholden to scum such as yourself. Now back off and let us do our job.”

Barry went pale and dropped his hand. “S-sorry. I didn’t realize. Take all the time you need.” He backed up and took a seat off to the side, keeping his eyes averted.

I felt like an asshole, but it couldn’t be helped.

“The wrist units aren’t as sophisticated as the Genesis, but they should be able to pick up the readings at this close of range,” Farah said. She tapped commands into hers, then gestured to the far end of the car. “There. It’s accurate to about two meters.”

Gauging the width of the car, I didn’t think all three of us needed to go. “Farah and I will each take a workstation while you clear people out,” I told Calliope. “Just tell them their fares will be refunded for the inconvenience or something.”

“Copy that,” she said, walking to the other end.

Farah and I moved forward together, splitting to check our respective areas. I rounded the privacy screen to find a large man dressed in all black working on a data pad.

“Sorry to interrupt, sir, but I need to check your belongings. Security audit.”

He didn’t look up. “Beat it.”

The man’s response sparked irritation and I drew myself up to tear him down like I had Barry. “That is a directive from a soldier of the Sarkonian Empire. Failure to comply will earn you a hefty fine and possible jail time.”

He looked up at the same time Farah said “clear,” and I froze.

A scar ran down one eye, from his eyebrow to the top of his cheekbone. An eye that was a different color than the other. For a moment I just stared because I thought it was Dolph, the Void operative we’d worked with on Sobek, but the face and hair were wrong.

Instead of Dolph’s close crop of dirty blonde hair, this guy had dark brown, though cut similarly. His jaw wasn’t quite as square either. His lips curved up into a mocking smile so cold that I had to stop myself from taking a step back. He might not be Dolph, but I knew in my gut he was a Void operative.

“I guarantee that I outrank you, soldier. Unless you want to be stripped of whatever rank you currently possess, I suggest you take your leave.”

His gaze went to my exosuit, looking for my name and rank. The eye with the scar zeroed in and I saw a brief flash as it scanned.

Cybernetic, I realized.

I pulled my sidearm and leveled it at him to break his concentration and he reacted immediately. The man stood up so fast that the table tipped over, and he towered over me by almost half a meter. I had a second to register the bomb he’d been concealing under one of his arms, ticking down with just under four minutes to go before he tagged me with a right hook that sent me flying.

“Alyss!” It sounded like Farah on the comms, but my ears were ringing and the room swam from the impossibly strong blow.

“He’s Void!” I yelled struggling to stand.

When my vision cleared it was to see Calliope rushing forward.

“Cal, don’t!” But it was too late.

She leapt into the air, ready to climb him the same way she had the soldier on Boltin, but he caught her by the throat in midair and slammed her down into the ground.

The gun had flown from my hand and I had to pull my secondary firearm, training it on his back.

I fired with no warning and the first bullet slammed into him. At this close of range he should have screamed or jerked, done anything to indicate the bullet that had just hit him, but there was nothing.

Nothing, except he turned and focused a cold stare on me that filled my body with dread. For the first time in my entire life I was paralyzed with fear, unable to move.

He let Calliope go and charged. I fired again, self-preservation finally kicking in, but by then he was on me. It happened so fast that I couldn’t tell what he’d hit me with. All I knew was that one second I was standing, firing at him, and the next I had hit the wall behind me and was lying in a heap of malfunctioning exosuit with the giant of a man advancing on me. He approached slowly this time, fully aware I was in no position to do anything about anything.

A blue glow behind him caught my eye and I saw it was Farah. She had her bow out and arrow knocked.

“F, get out of here!” I tried to yell, but my voice came out cracked and shuddering.

The arrow dug into his leg, stopping his forward motion. He twisted to look at the arrow, then reached down to pull it out and spun to stare at my friend.

She dropped the bow and I wondered if she was experiencing the same loss of control I had.

“Farah, what are you doing, move!’

The man tensed and I knew he was going to charge her. My hands scrabbled around me, looking for something to hit him with, but I’d lost both guns.

I watched in horror, helpless to do anything else, when Farah ripped her helmet off. The expression on her face wasn’t one of fear. It was pure shock.

“Jax?”

7

The man stopped in his tracks.

Did she say Jax? It was impossible. Her brother was dead.

“Sophie.” A statement, not a question. Of course, he wouldn’t know about her new name.

Apparently not as dead as the government had led his family to believe.

Groaning, I forced myself to stand and go to Calliope, who wasn’t moving.

“How?” I heard Farah say.

“You’re going to have a lot of questions,” Jax replied in a tone that implied she wouldn’t be getting answers right now.

“Damn right I am!” she seethed. Even with my back to her I knew she was staring him down, hands on her hips like an angry parent.

“Now isn’t the time. Right now, we have to disable the bombs.”

Calliope coughed and started to sit up, so I jerked around to look at Jax. “Did you say ‘bombs,’ as in plural?”

Jax nodded briskly then went to the one he’d been working on. “Not enough time,” he muttered, working on the pad. “There are only two minutes left. We have to go now.”

“But the other one, we have to disable it!” Farah protested.

“There isn’t time!” he barked. “The most we can do is hit the emergency brake on the way out.”

Farah tried to object again but he shot forward in another blur of movement and threw her bodily over his shoulder, heading for the back of the train.

Calliope was on her feet now, though still a little wobbly, and I put her arm around my shoulder to help her limp out. Even with Jax carrying Farah’s added weight we had a hard time catching up as he whipped through the last two passenger cars to reach the one we’d used to enter the train.

“On the wall,” he said over his shoulder.

I scanned for an emergency brake. It sat behind a thin layer of glass on the wall closest to me and I punched it out. Tiny shards fell as I brushed them away to put my hand inside.

“Get ready!” I warned, bracing myself.

Calliope grabbed onto a mounted handhold and Jax planted his feet, Farah still slung over his shoulder.

I pulled the handle down.

The brakes engaged and we were thrown back as the train tried to slow from the high speed it had accumulated. Jax opened the door and I was pulling Calliope behind me a few seconds later.

The city scape flew by, its buildings still a blur. The train was slowing, but not fast enough to survive a jump.

“Time’s up,” Jax said. “Gonna have to chance the jump.”

“Fire up your rig,” I ordered over the comm, stepping to the side so Calliope could go first.

“Wait, I’m not ready!” she cried out.

“V!”

“I have control of the jump rig,” she answered at once.

I pushed the girl out, watching as her wings unfolded and the rig thrusters activated, and I followed when she was clear.

A rumble came from the front of the train and I turned to see a burst of light as the bomb went off. Cars jumped into the air like they weighed nothing, their frames spiraling off the track and landing in a scattered pile. The sound of rending metal tore through the air and flames licked at the sky.

“We have to go,” Jax said from behind me.

“No! We have to help them!” Farah was standing with helmet in hand, tears streaming down her face. “I’m a medic, I can help people!”

“They’re beyond help,” he said harshly. “None of us can be here when the authorities arrive.”

I laid a hand on her shoulder. “He’s right,” I said gently. “If anyone survived, there’s nothing you can do. The way we help is staying alive and out of prison.”

Taking a step back, she nodded and jammed the helmet back on her head.

“Did you knock out our comms?” I asked Jax.

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll put them back.”

“Thanks. You have a way out of here?” I asked.

Jax looked at Farah. Sophie to him. “Yes, but if it’s okay with you I’d like to talk to her before I go.”

“That’s up to her,” I said, jerking my chin in Farah’s direction.

“Fine, after I check Cal over.” The words came out clipped and short.

“Captain, are you alright?” Vega’s worried voice sounded in my ear and relief surged through me.

“We’re alive I said. Op was a bust though. On our way back now.”

“Acknowledged. The ship’s coordinates are already loaded into the rig’s GPS systems.”

I checked my wrist unit to confirm and saw that she was right. “F, you good?”

She inclined her head in answer and activated the jump rig, shooting up into the sky.

“You next,” I told Calliope.

“No argument here,” she replied, voice raw. “I think something’s broken.”

When it was just Jax and me I leveled a stare at him. “You have plans to kill us?”

“No. I had no idea another team was coming to disable the bombs. Last communication said there was no one around who could take care of it.”

I didn’t know the man well, but from the way he’d gotten his sister out of the train and the unflinching expression on his face, I thought he was telling the truth.

“Then you’re welcome aboard the ship. Unless she doesn’t want you around.”

He raised an eyebrow and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. With the way he’d just mopped the floor with all of our asses we couldn’t stop him.

“I give my word to leave without violence,” he said.

Sirens wailed in the distance, but my hand hovered over the wrist unit as I eyed Jax. “I don’t think my rig can take us both up.”

I didn’t see his hands move but suddenly a pair of wings unfolded from a pack I hadn’t seen him wearing.

Okay then, I thought. We were airborne the next second and headed for home.

* * *

Farah was already taking care of Calliope in the med bay, so I took care of my rig and motioned for Jax to follow me to the bridge.

The Second Genesis was a sizeable ship, but he still almost had to tilt his head in some of the areas due to his height. I couldn’t help studying him out of the corner of my eye as we walked.

Jax shuffled along next to me and his gait struck me as unnatural. I was about to ask if he’d gotten injured jumping from the train when it dawned on me and my cheeks got hot. I was moving slow from the fight and he was slowing to keep pace with me.

“How did you know what I was?” he asked, breaking the silence.

I hesitated, unsure how much I wanted to tell him. “I’ve met one of you before,” I admitted, deciding Farah’s brother was trustworthy. “Dolph.”

His head jerked back in surprise. “You know Dolph?”

“Our unit worked an op with him a while back,” I replied, not going into the details.

“I see. I have to say, I’m a little surprised he didn’t mention you.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, confused. “Aren’t all of your missions top secret?”

Jax shrugged. “Sure, but we still talk shop without getting into specifics. And I say that because you tried to fight me.”

“So?”

“Most people that know anything about the Void don’t do that,” he said with a smirk. “You shot me. That makes you either crazy or stupid, and I’d bet credits you aren’t stupid.”

“So, you’re part of the rebellion too?” I asked, sidestepping his remark.

“Yes.” Jax paused like he was distracted, then glanced at me as we reached the bridge. “I just received a transmission from a contact saying that the explosion is all over the gal-net.”

“V, bring up the news, anything broadcasting what happened here.”

“Working.”

I walked to the display with Jax and watched as a familiar male reporter named Quintin Dallas blinked on. “Ugh, V. Something else, please. Dallas and the UNN are so fake.”

“Of course, Captain,” Vega replied. “The most highly rated news corporation is DLN32.”

“Put it up,” I told her.

“This is Brice Howard reporting for the Deadlands News 32. We come to you with this breaking report on a developing story originating on the planet Solaris.”

The image switched to an aerial view of the wreckage currently smoldering beneath the Second Genesis.

“Hundreds are believed to be dead, and with no official statement as to the cause of the crash, citizens are left to wonder. Was this a terrorist attack?”

The image flipped back to the news anchor again, a familiar red headed man, but he was looking away from the camera and seemed distracted. “Hold on, folks. I’m getting some new information here. A group calling themselves the Solaris Initiative has come forward and accuses none other than Vice-Admiral-Kaska.” Howard’s face went slack, and his gaze darted back and forth between someone or something off screen and the camera.

“Is he serious?” Farah said from the open door. I hadn’t heard her come in.

“The rebellion has been stuck in the shadows for a long time,” Jax said as his sister reached us.

“And this just gave us an opportunity to expose Kaska,” I finished for him.

“This is insane,” Farah murmured, her eyes on the display. “It just happened!”

Rescue crews swarmed the area, putting out fires and searching for survivors. A crowd of onlookers gathered beyond the barricade that had been set up by the first responders.

“It’s smart,” I commented. “Jax, do you have the one you disabled?”

He pulled it from his rig and passed it over. The device was small and not unlike many I’d seen before. It fit in the palm of my hand and had a mini datapad affixed to it.

“V, can you scan this thing? I want to know what’s in it.”

“Scanning now,” Vega announced.

It didn’t take long, and the AI rattled off a short list of compounds that made up the bomb.

I frowned. “That’s pretty standard. It’s definitely not what we’re after.”

“My question is why?” Farah said, brows knitted together. “Kaska has been running experiments and testing in secret for a while now. What was the point in blowing up this train?”

It was a good question. The Vice-Admiral hadn’t sent any kind of message revealing his plans.

“Is Solaris important for some reason?” I wondered.

Jax shook his head. “Not to my knowledge. The location isn’t strategic, the population is average, and the resources common. The only notable thing about it is the hover train, but those are a dime a dozen now.”

“It does have the largest conscripted population in the Empire,” Farah pointed out.

I considered that for a moment. “Maybe that’s the why. Part of it, anyway.”

Farah and Jax both looked at me with twin questioning expressions and, for the first time, I could see the resemblance.

“All of his attacks and experiments thus far have been targeted at non-true born Sarkonians,” I reminded them. “It must mean something that he so publicly attacked a conquered planet.”

Farah tapped a finger on the table. “Could be. We also have to consider the fact that we were there for something else. He knew we were coming.”

“The whole thing stinks,” I agreed.

“Forgive the interruption, Captain Cortez,” Vega announced, “there is an incoming transmission from Miss Woods.”

Jax looked up sharply. “Does she mean Mack?”

“Yeah,” Farah answered stiffly.

“Put her through, V.” I shifted uncomfortably in my suit. Now that the adrenaline had worked its way out of my system, I could feel the pain starting to set in.

Mack appeared on the display screen, but instead of facing the camera she was walking around her lab. That was what she called it anyway, though it reminded me more of a security room with its many monitors and various pieces of tech scattered throughout.

“Holy shit, you guys,” she said, throwing something into a case without looking up. “I thought you were dead. What happened?”

I exchanged a glance with Farah, who just shrugged. “We ran into some issues. The ingot wasn’t on board, but V detected a bomb. We ran into the Void trying to find it.”

The frenetic hacker finally stopped flitting around the room and focused on us. “Who’s with you?” Mack moved closer, eyes narrowed. I saw the exact moment realization set in because she went utterly still before echoing her first words. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah, that was my first reaction too,” Farah remarked dryly.

“Hey, Mack.” Jax smiled at his cousin.

It didn’t strike me as the smile of someone happy to see their long-lost family, but more indulgent.

“I don’t understand,” she said, clearly going through the same shock that Farah had.

“He was the Void operative,” I offered helpfully when no one else spoke. “He found the bomb before we did. Unfortunately, we thought each other were the enemy. Jax managed to disable it, but there was another one on board.”

Mack managed to tear her eyes away from Jax and she turned her attention to me, her eyebrows winging up. “Godsdamn, A! What happened to your face?”

I winced. Apparently, it looked as bad as it felt. “Well, as it turns out, the Void operatives are every inch as badass as the rumors say.”

She didn’t laugh, just swung her gaze to encompass Jax. “You did that?”

“I didn’t know who they were. My intel said none of our people could get there in time.” The words didn’t come out defensively. He could have been reciting the weather for all the emotion in them.

“Mack, did you contact us because of the news reports?” Farah cut in, trying to rein the conversation back in.

“Erm, yes. But that was only part of it. The rebel leaders have put out the word to meet at HQ. I sent Vega the information. My ride is already on the way here,” she added.

The thought hadn’t even occurred to me that the rebellion was organized enough to have such a place. In hindsight, it should have. Keeping that kind of information was hideout 101.

“I received the same message,” Jax commented.

He hadn’t mentioned that before, but the Void weren’t exactly known for sharing their secrets.

“Are you going?” Farah angled her head at Jax.

The uncharacteristic reservation in her voice caught my attention and I wondered if she wanted her brother to stay or go. I’d been pissed after finding out Mat was alive, and it had only been a couple of weeks. Jax had turned up out of nowhere after nearly a decade with no explanation.

Not that he necessarily needed one. It was easy to connect the dots, at least for me. The government had obviously lied about his death so he could become a Void operative without family ties. The part that I really wanted to know was how he got involved with the rebellion.

“Yes. My ship is waiting. However, I believe we have a lot to talk about. If you don’t mind, I’ll ride with you. My ship has a cloak and can follow behind.”

She slanted a look at him. “Fine with me, as long as the captain agrees. You did nearly kill one of our people after all.”

I didn’t like being put in the middle of their family drama, so I nodded my agreement to the plan.

“Alright, I have to finish before my ride gets here,” Mack announced. You guys travel safe.”

“See you there,” I confirmed, then cut off the feed and caught Farah’s eye. “How’s Cal doing?”

“Lot of bumps and bruises. Nothing broken, just a bad sprain. I put a splint on it, but she should be up and about by tomorrow.” She tossed Jax a hard look.

“I’m sorry for the injuries,” he said, as if it had just occurred to him that an apology was in order.

My only other interaction with a member of the Void had been Dolph. We’d spoken briefly in the training room, where he expressed sympathy at the loss of Mat. I remembered thinking there was more to the man than I’d originally assumed. He certainly didn’t seem as aloof or cold as Jax did.

It suddenly occurred to me that the bridge was quiet. Awkwardly so. Jax and Farah stood a few feet apart and she had her arms crossed like she was warding away his presence.

The tension made me uncomfortable, so I broke the silence first. “V, give Farah’s brother the same accesses as Cal.”

“Of course, Captain. Mr. Jax, if you would please lay your hand on the scanner I can begin.”

He raised an eyebrow as he did so. “Farah. As in that stupid cartoon you used to watch?”

She nodded, red starting to stain her cheeks. “It’s a long story.”

“Sounds like you two need to catch up,” I said, backing away. “Jax, take whatever open berth you want.”

“Thanks for the hospitality,” he replied, inclining his head slightly.

I left them giving each other measured looks and headed out. I couldn’t help thinking that Jax didn’t fit my idea of a rebel and questions swirled through my mind.

How much had Farah’s brother changed since she’d last seen him?

Then a thought occurred to me and I almost stopped walking.

Did he possess enough humanity to care about the rebellion or was he playing us to get to the meeting?

8

In the training room, I peeled off the exosuit and let it drop on the ground next to the ice bath I’d ordered. It was a testament to just how bad my body ached that I didn’t take care of my gear, something I was usually fastidious about.

Deciding I didn’t much care at this moment, I sank into the freezing water, gratefully accepting the initial sting. The cold felt good on my battered body and I inhaled deeply, releasing the breath slowly. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and let the bath work its magic.

“Captain, are you certain a trip to the medical bay would not be more prudent?” Vega’s voice came over the room’s comm and I waved it away.

I knew her concern was born from programming designed to keep me in good health, but part of me liked that she checked up on me, even if I pretended otherwise.

“I’m good, V. This is all I need,” I replied, tapping the side of the tub without opening my eyes.

The AI seemed to hesitate as though contemplating her next words, but like the concern she exhibited, I knew it was just her computing a response. “The status update on your exosuit would imply that your physical body sustained some level of injury.”

“Nope,” I assured her. “Just bruised up. Look, V, I need a few minutes to relax in here. Can you put anything not an emergency to the side for the next eight hours?”

“Of course,” Vega replied, her tone a touch too light for my liking.

“I mean it, V. I don’t want Farah busting in here because you gave her my suit report or told her my vitals were off again,” I said, referring to the time Vega had ratted me out to Farah, citing my vitals were fair game to the team’s medic.

“Rest assured that I cannot go against a direct order, Captain.”

“Good.” I smirked.

The room fell quiet, the only sound coming from the circulating water. As it swirled around me, I let my mind wander to the fight on the train.

Or, more accurately, the ass kicking of the century on the train. I replayed the scene, remembering how fast Jax had moved. Unnaturally fast. It was clear to me that he possessed muscle boosters and cybernetics.

The damage to my suit was proof enough of that. No normal soldier could have done that. If Farah hadn’t recognized him in time, we’d more than likely all be dead. Knowing that Kaska had access to this level of destruction didn’t exactly put me on cloud nine.

Too tired to do much else, my thoughts drifted aimlessly.

“How long have you been in there?”

My eyes popped open to see Farah staring down at me. “What the—V!”

“I did not call Miss Shahi,” the AI denied.

“She didn’t,” Farah confirmed. “Jax went to get settled in and I needed to talk.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“To answer your question, Miss Shahi, the captain has been in the ice bath for twelve minutes and thirty-nine seconds.”

“Traitor,” I grumbled.

“You know ten minutes is the max,” Farah said sternly, thrusting a towel in my face.

“Yeah, yeah. Must’ve forgotten to set the timer.” I took the towel and her offered hand, pulling myself out with some effort.

“Gods, Eva!” Farah gasped, shock making her slip and use my old name. “Alyss. You’re a freaking mess. If you won’t go to the medbay, at least let me give you some pain meds.”

I waved the idea away and stepped out of the tub, dripping water as I went. “Nah. It’s a good reminder not to let that happen again.”

“Stubborn ass.” She rolled her eyes, but the words lacked conviction.

“You okay?” I asked, pulling on the spare set of clothes I kept in one of the training room lockers.

She leaned back against the wall and sighed loftily. “Honestly? I don’t know. Still processing the whole thing.”

“Understandable. What did he say?”

“Not a lot. Just that he’s been in the Void all this time. He’s different.” My friend raised troubled eyes to mine. “Colder. I’m not even sure my brother is in there anymore.”

“He is,” I told her, surprised to find that I believed it. “Jax could have killed us all. Almost did. But he stopped as soon as he recognized you. Then made sure you got off the train.”

Farah chewed on her bottom lip, considering that. “That’s true,” she conceded.

“Who knows what fucked up experiments the government did on him,” I added. “Look, I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, but this is a second chance.”

“You’re right,” she decided, pushing off from the wall. “Here, let me help you with the suit.”

Now I rolled my eyes at her. “I can take care of it.”

“Sure. I’ll believe that when you can take it from me.” She smirked.

We both knew I was in no shape to argue.

“Fine,” I relented. “Though I’m pretty sure it’s trash at this point.”

* * *

“Initiating tear,” Vega announced the next day.

I’d resurfaced twelve standard hours later, still in the same position I’d crashed in.

As expected, everything was sore, but the ice had done its job and it only took me a few minutes longer than usual to get ready.

Our small crew, including Jax, assembled on the bridge in preparation for the final exit out of slip space. A slit opened in the swirling maelstrom of the tunnel wall and we were gliding seamlessly through it into regular space once more.

“V, how long until we reach the coordinates?” I asked.

“Three hours,” she replied.

The rebellion’s headquarters were located on a planet in the Cerberus system. As far as hideouts went, it was a good choice.

Cerberus existed in a region of space beyond the Deadlands. It remained mostly uncharted due to the great expanses of nothing between the few existing planets. The planets themselves were barren. Nothing remained but rock and ocean, if the planet had one. It was like some mass plague had come and wiped everything out.

Technically it was Sarkonian territory, but that was only because the Union hadn’t bothered with it. The most the Empire had done was slap up an unmanned outpost and leave it to rot once they realized no one was coming to put down roots. With the closest place to get fuel a few S.G. points back, it didn’t get much traffic either.

“Keep scanners running,” I ordered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaska has his own moles.”

The bridge was quiet as we advanced on the outpost. At first the display only showed the black expanse of empty space. A speck of light became visible before long though, growing brighter with every kilometer.

“Multiple inbound ships detected,” Vega informed.

They blipped onto the screen, glowing red orbs all moving in a singular direction.

“There are more than I thought,” Farah noted.

I thought the same. Maybe it was because the rebellion only existed in cryptic conversations between us and Mack, but I’d always imagined a ragtag group of individuals quietly plotting against the big bad Empire in darkened rooms.

“Incoming transmission from the dock master,” Vega announced.

“Put them through.”

“Second Genesis,” a clipped voice came over the ship’s comm. “Each person aboard needs to identify themselves per usual protocol.”

We complied and were given landing instructions.

“Where do we go after landing?” I asked.

“An escort will be waiting,” the man replied, then added, “you’ll need oxygen until you’re inside the compound.”

He cut the transmission before I could ask another question, so I ordered Vega to set us down per the instructions.

The dock was more of a wide stretch of landing pads already half full of other ships. After a quick check of the compact air canisters, we exited the ship to find the promised escort, a pair of rebels clad in lightweight exosuits.

They both took a few steps back at the sight of Jax, hands tightening visibly on their weapons.

“We’re already verified,” I told them. “You can check.”

“Hold on a second,” one of them said in a shaky voice, collecting himself first and moving toward us. “Okay,” he continued after a few beats of silence. “We’re all set. Stay close, there’s a lot more landing traffic than usual.”

I’d imagined the “unmanned outpost” to be rundown and basic, but it looked like any number of smaller waystations I’d seen before. It even boasted a small refueling and maintenance area. It was clean too, at least in comparison to some stations Farah and I had been on.

Leah came to mind. We’d stopped there to refuel and get supplies after thwarting Kaska’s attack on Karbine. Both of us vowed never to dock there again unless it was the only choice.

Cerberus put that shithole to shame, though it wasn’t that hard of a feat. The outpost’s compound sat on the far side of the lot, an unassuming brown color that matched its drab surroundings. Our escort led us at a brisk pace, but I committed as much to memory as I could. Rebellion or not, the soldier in me liked having an escape route.

“You can take the oxygen off now,” one of the escorts told us once we were inside, having gone through an airlock.

He took off again when we had, winding through a series of corridors and doors. The place wasn’t exactly teeming with activity, but it certainly wasn’t the dark cave I’d expected.

People moved through the brightly lit facility with purpose, some working on data pads, others walking in pairs or groups. Far from underfunded, decent equipment abounded, and even though a handful might have been secondhand, they were all in excellent condition. The organization was impressive, and I had to admit that I’d underestimated the rebel movement.

Like the escort, every person we passed exhibited the same startled expression at seeing Jax. I didn’t blame them; the guy was terrifying. Only one woman failed to react and that was because she was looking down at her pad and mumbling to herself, too engrossed to notice us.

None of this seemed to have any effect on Jax, and I suspected that he was used to it.

The escort stopped outside a plain looking door and pulled out his data pad, presumably to let whoever know that we’d arrived. A few beats later he nodded to his partner, motioning for him to open the door.

I entered first, expecting to find an auditorium of sorts based on the call with Mack. Instead, I found a meeting room with three occupants, a man and two women. It was only a little bigger than the space we used for mission debriefs aboard the Ambiana, the warship Farah and I called home before everything went south.

Of the three people inside, I recognized one.

“Sophie.” Eleanor Singh’s eyes misted over at the sight of her daughter.

Oh, shit, I thought. Did she know about Jax?

“Mom!” Sophie rushed to her mom and the two embraced in a tight hug.

Calliope came to stand on my right side, and I sensed Jax behind me.

“Gods, it’s good to see you,” Eleanor was saying.

“Mom…” Farah released her and stepped back. At a loss for words, she turned and gestured to us.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Eyebrows drawn together in confusion, Eleanor’s happy gaze followed her daughter’s pointing finger. And froze.

That answered my question on whether she knew her son was alive.

Jax edged around me but didn’t move toward his mother. I realized he was giving her a chance to get her bearings. She didn’t recoil at his appearance. Her eyes focused on his face, studying it as if to be sure it was really him.

Unmistakable recognition set in and Eleanor closed the distance between them with a sob. “All this time,” she whispered, pulling back to place both hands on his face.

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head vigorously. “Don’t be. You’re here now, that’s what matters.”

“Ellen.” A severe woman with sharp, angular features and hair pulled into a tight bun spoke up. “I hate to interrupt, but we need to get started.”

“Yes, of course. Sorry, it’s just such a shock…” Eleanor’s voice trailed off and her gaze sharpened on the other woman. “You knew.”

The woman didn’t flinch at the accusation. “Yes. I know you have questions and I promise to answer them after we bring them up to speed on the situation.”

My ears pricked at that. Situation?

Eleanor nodded stiffly and gave Jax a squeeze on the elbow before joining the other two again.

“My name is Angela Dunham,” the woman began. “At present, I act as the leader of the Solaris movement. This is Chad Schuler.”

When no one spoke, she continued. “Two issues require immediate attention. First, intel confirms that Kaska is in possession of the ingot. We need a team to steal it. The second is Frank Singh.”

“Dad?” Farah said sharply, looking to her mother.

Eleanor nodded. “He was detained on his way to the transport.

“Frank has intimate knowledge of this facility and several ongoing missions. It’s imperative that he be extracted immediately,” Dunham said.

I got the distinct feeling that this knowledge was the reason for Dunham’s urgency and disliked her for it. “You need two teams,” I guessed.

“Yes. You two have been successful for the most part. We could use your help tracking down that ingot.”

“Put me on the extraction team,” Farah said immediately.

The woman didn’t argue, she simply nodded. “I figured that was where you’d want to be. Jax, is your cover blown?”

“Not yet. I’ll have to get back soon if we want to keep it that way,” he answered.

“Good. I don’t want to reveal that until we have to. When you return, do whatever it takes to avoid suspicion. Go dark unless you think we need to know.”

Jax nodded.

“You can’t be serious.” Eleanor shot Dunham a hard look. “I just found out my son is alive. You aren’t sending him back to the people who stole him from me.”

The rebel leader didn’t reply.

“Mom,” Jax said gently. “I have to do this. A lot of lives depend on the rebellion making the right tactical decisions.”

She searched his eyes for a moment. Whatever she saw there had her backing down and she gave him a watery smile. “Then be careful.”

“I will be,” he promised. “Good luck, sis.”

At first, I thought she wasn’t going to answer, then she was crossing the room and throwing her arms around Jax’s neck.

Jax patted Farah’s back lightly until she stepped back. Heading for the door, the Void operative paused when he reached me. “Watch your back out there. Kaska is smart. Don’t underestimate him.”

Within seconds he was gone, leaving the rest of us to plan.

9

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Dunham said, focusing on me after Jax was gone. “But it has to be said. Is the Union soldier trustworthy?”

Despite my initial misgivings about Calliope, my back went up at the thinly veiled accusation and I geared up to respond.

“Ex- Union. And I’ll vouch for her,” Farah said, beating me to it.

“Hmm,” was all the older woman said in response before moving on. “Kaska knows by now that he has been infiltrated. An influx of information regarding the ingot’s true location has come our way.”

A dozen or so planets, moons, and stations popped up on the holo display above the room’s only table. Some of the names I recognized, others not so much.

“You need to send a team to each location,” I surmised.

Dunham inclined her head. “Yes, unfortunately. I hope to get this done quietly. My assumption is that the Vice-Admiral leaked specific information to find out who he can trust in his circle.”

It was a smart plan. The man might be evil, but no one could call him stupid.

“What about my dad?” Farah asked, unable to keep it in any longer.

Her tone was even and her face conveyed calm on the surface. However, I knew my friend well and she was anything but.

“The operation to free your father is already set. You are welcome to join. The team is prepping to leave within the hour.”

In the end it was decided that I would take Calliope and the ship to track down one of the leads on the ingot while Farah joined the extraction team.

I wasn’t crazy about the idea of splitting up. Farah and I had worked together for so long that our relationship was damn near symbiotic.

After witnessing Eleanor let her son go when all she wanted was to keep him close, I couldn’t complain. Besides, what had I just told Calliope?

Soldiers adapt.

So, I did.

The intel Dunham shared with us detailed that the ingot was on its way to Tulkin, a dusty planet under Sarkonian rule.

“It will just be you two on this one. I can’t spare any more operatives right now,” she told me. “As you know, this is just one of many leads. The ingot is unlikely to be there, which is why I’m sending you two. All we can do is look.”

The woman worked on a pad and I wondered if it was prudent to bring up the Solaris incident.

“What is it?” she asked when I didn’t speak, not looking up.

“Ma’am, about Solaris…” I cleared my throat, inexplicably nervous.

Dunham waved a hand impatiently. “There was nothing you could do about it. It was a trap. And you managed to stop one of the bombs from going off. That saved at least some people.”

“That’s true,” I conceded, still not entirely convinced.

Something in my tone must have registered because she finally stopped working on the pad and looked at me with a serious expression. “What happened is a tragedy, of course. There’s no merit in kicking you down for it, however. Besides”—she turned her attention back to the tablet—“now everyone in the known systems understands what the Vice-Admiral is capable of.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. On the surface it made sense but reducing a catastrophe like that to political clout felt wrong. “Walker and I will run this down and let you know if amounts to anything,” I said.

“Keep your eye on the Union defector,” Dunham ordered. “I don’t know if she can be trusted yet.”

“Of course,” I answered.

It still irritated me that the rebel leader was so against Calliope. I’d known another person in power with that mentality: my old commander. Navari hated me with a passion, simply because I wasn’t a trueborn Sarkonian. Wasn’t that what we were fighting against with Vice-Admiral-Kaska?

“Good,” Dunham said briskly. “Stop by the armory and take what you need and fuel up. They’re expecting you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I bowed slightly and left, my mind troubled at the leader’s words.

* * *

“Just the two of us?” Calliope asked.

We were waiting on approval to take off and she was sitting in the seat Farah usually occupied.

“Yeah, they’re stretched pretty thin and we’re just running down a lead. It’s unlikely this is the one with the ingot.”

“Captain,” Vega broke in, “we’ve been cleared to leave.”

I nodded. “Take us up.”

We stayed silent until we were in the first tunnel on the way to Tulkin.

“Hey,” Calliope said, breaking it.

“What’s up?”

“I didn’t want to say anything in the meeting, but there’s something you should know about Tulkin.”

I swiveled to stare at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

She hesitated, eyes darting away for a moment before coming back to meet my gaze. “It’s not just some dusty, forgotten outer planet. There’s a high-level Sarkonian lab there.”

“And you know this how?” At this point, nothing was shocking to me, but I did want to know.

“My unit was planning an op there,” she confessed, relaxing when I stayed calm.

“That’s interesting. I guess Dunham didn’t know that or she wouldn’t be sending a two-man team. How come you didn’t want to say anything?” I asked.

Calliope smirked. “I got the distinct feeling that Dunham doesn’t like or trust me. You know, being ex-Union and all. She might’ve detained me or something to find out what else I knew.”

I raised an eyebrow and gave her a cheeky look of my own. “What makes you think I won’t, eh?”

“Very funny, Captain.” She chuckled lightly, looking a little nervous, so I reached over and gave her a friendly clap on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Cal. I’m kidding,” I assured her. “It was a little touch and go in the beginning, but we’re getting there. I still won’t hesitate to put a bullet in you if you make me, though.”

Her features didn’t relax, but she leaned back in the chair. “Good to know.”

“Don’t get too comfortable. We’ve got—V, what’s our ETA?”

“Two standard days and three hours,” the AI replied at once.

“Thanks. That long,” I finished, pushing up from the captain’s chair and moving to the command center. “V, put up the dossier, would ya?”

“Initializing.” The documents appeared on the display. Before I could say anything though, the AI continued. “Sir, if I may offer a word of caution?”

This was new. Vega usually only spoke up about medical instances concerning Farah and myself. I wondered briefly if the upgrades Mack installed were capable of upgrading all of her “thinking” processes. “Sure, what is it?”

“Thank you. Given the new data Miss Walker has provided, the parameters of the mission have shifted.”

I sighed and scrubbed at my face. “That’s less than stellar news. Run it down for me.”

“I compiled all known data related to security at Sarkonian facilities and ran mission simulations to determine feasibility.” The AI paused as if hesitating.

“And?” I prompted.

“With a two-person team, the average rate of success was twenty-four percent,” she answered.

“Well, that isn’t ideal,” Calliope said blithely. “What do you want to do? We could ask the Initiative for reinforcements.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Dunham sent us on this lead because she thought it was a dud.”

Calliope’s features wrinkled together in confusion. “So? Didn’t you already establish she doesn’t trust me?”

I leaned a hip on the edge of the equipment and looked her in the eye. “That might be part of it. But Dunham also knows that Farah and I won’t give the rebellion any of the weapons or tech we find.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” Calliope’s tone held a note of surprise.

“Remember when I said we put the toxin device in a safe place?” I reminded her.

“Yeah, the one stolen from the Union.” She bobbed her head up and down.

“Exactly. Well, we’ve been stockpiling our finds, along with medical supplies and fuel. Suffice it to say that Farah and I don’t trust easily.”

Calliope gave me a pointed look. “Oh, I remember that too.”

“Hey, better to be safe than dead,” I retorted. “Anyway, handing over weapons capable of mass destruction seemed like a bad idea. The initiative claims to have good intentions, but we didn’t want to put that power in anyone’s hands.”

Dunham’s callous reaction to my bringing up Solaris came to my mind. Though I didn’t want to say it in case I was wrong, a voice inside believed that the woman was capable of terrible things in the name of the rebellion.

“You want to keep the ingot away from them too,” Calliope guessed.

“Right.” I clapped once and rubbed my hands together, thinking. “So, V, what’s the rundown on the successful simulations?”

“It won’t take long to go over,” the AI postulated. “There were only a few.”

“Is that sarcasm I’m detecting?” I placed a hand over my chest in mock outrage.

“Of course not, Captain. My personality algorithms would never allow it.”

“Kidding, V. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“I’m not capable of that either,” she responded stoically.

Calliope smirked at the exchange. I had to admit it was funny, but now we had to get serious.

“Alright, alright. Just tell me what worked and what didn’t.”

The operation objectives minimized to one corner of the display, replaced with a series of numbers. Statistics, by my guess.

“I’m not a computer, V. What are we looking at?”

The view changed again to a more simplified version. Factors were categorized down to the weather and listed in descending order, starting with those that had the biggest positive impact.

“That’s really good,” Calliope said, walking around the display.

“It’s a model Farah and I came up with,” I told her. Technically, I’d complained about not having visuals to plan with and Farah had tried to make a database. When she couldn’t make it work, we’d turned to Mack. The savvy hacker built the program in less than an hour. “It’s been pretty helpful so far. Breaks things down by climate, time of day, basically anything that might affect the mission.”

“This could be worth a lot of money,” Calliope said, studying it. “Governments and Renegades galore would be lining up to have something like this.”

I shrugged. “And we know what they’d do with it. We’re trying to keep stuff like this away from governments and degenerates, remember? Can’t exactly put a clause in the buy contract that it only be used for good.”

“Fair point. You guys have hoverquads?” She pointed to the vehicle inventory where they ranked high on the list. The only thing above them was the Genesis and shuttles.

“Yeah. They’re fast, mostly quiet, and have stealth tech. Not completely invisible like the cloak but should give us an edge.”

Though it was fresh in my mind, I didn’t mention the last time we’d used them had been the night Farah and I deserted. The night I’d killed my commanding officer.

“Nice.” Oblivious to the dark turn my thoughts had taken, she nodded approvingly.

We continued planning, picking the successful simulations apart. Some things could be controlled, like what we took with us. Others, such as the weather, not so much.

According to Vega, the most important fact was not to let the convoy reach the underground facility. If that happened, our chances of success dropped to nil.

The facility itself was surrounded by land too soft to land anything but a shuttle, and there were pockets of quicksand in every direction.

When Calliope’s head dropped onto the table for the third time with a loud clunk, I stood up. “Let’s call it a night. It looks pretty good and we can tighten it up after some downtime.”

“Okay,” she agreed sleepily. “Need me to do anything?”

“No,” I told her. “You go ahead. I’ll file everything, then I’m gonna fall into bed too.”

She lumbered off without argument and I waited until the bridge door shut behind her before turning back to the display.

“Would I be correct in presuming that you have a task for me?” Vega asked. “One that you do not wish Miss Walker to hear?”

“Yes, that would be correct,” I agreed. “You and I are going to go over that bomb we took off the train.”

“May I inquire as to what you’re looking for?” the AI asked as files began to appear on the display. “That way I can better assist you, Captain Cortez.”

“I see,” she replied after I explained.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “Hopefully I’m wrong, but we’ve gotta be sure.”

10

We landed on Tulkin a few hours before the convoy was due to arrive.

Mild weather brought our success probability score down by a few points. An overcast day would have given us a little extra cover, but it couldn’t be helped. The stealth option on the quads would have to be enough.

We’d decided to land the ship in the shadow of a large boulder five kilometers from where the convoy would pass through. It was also the point with the best natural cover.

Once past that, it was nothing but flat, open land. Low tech, but effective. No one would ever accuse Sarkonians of advanced technological feats, but they had guerrilla warfare down to a science. It was one of the things that kept them in the game at all.

Once they claimed a planet in the name of the Sarkon Empire, they were pretty good at keeping it. The Union only fought back in cases where the territory had extreme significance to them. Or to the Empire, as White Cross had been.

White Cross was a system rich in a variety of resources, but none so important to the Empire as N02-99. They used the metal to reinforce their hulls and armor, among other things. When the Union wrested White Cross from the Empire, it had almost ended the conflict between them.

Unwilling to give up, the Sarkonians became adept at copying tech. They’d experienced a minor comeback, though the Union had only recently ceded control of White Cross back to them.

With Tulkin, they appeared to be quite confident in themselves because a deep scan didn’t reveal any extra security.

“Maybe it’s not the right lead after all,” Calliope suggested in my ear.

Her hiding spot was on the other side of the only road to the facility. The same thought had crossed my mind as well when we laid our traps with no trouble. If the ingot was as powerful as we’d been led to believe, it should rate more security. Still, I knew of instances where that wasn’t the case.

“It’s possible that they’re trying to keep attention off themselves,” I pointed out.

Our quads were disguised using a sandy color to match the surrounding terrain and both sat on Calliope’s side of the road as it was in the direction of the ship.

“Huh. Didn’t think about that,” she conceded.

“The convoy is en route,” Vega informed us. “Ten kilometers away and closing.”

Adrenaline spiked through me the way it always did just before an op went down, and I forced myself to settle.

It didn’t take long for the three vehicles to cover the distance and I was soon watching their approach without the field glasses.

The short range EMPs did their job and the transport ground to a halt.

Calliope and I dropped the first three soldiers that exited with sedatives like I’d used on Boltin until the subsequent ones started firing back with standard issue rounds. Unable to justify using the slower darts any longer, we switched to the same, though I had one more non-lethal up my sleeve.

Our locations didn’t stay under the radar for long and we advanced from both sides. The occupants from the tail vehicle spilled out to protect the heavier one in the middle. Though I only counted four on my side, the way they were acting told me the ingot was likely inside.

“Down to three on my side,” Calliope said over the comms.

“Same here,” I returned. “The ingot has to be in the middle vehicle, so watch yourself.”

“Copy that. Ready to deploy stun mesh on your go.”

The stun mesh was designed to deliver twenty thousand volts to anything that came in contact with it.

“Hit ‘em,” I ordered.

I fired mine at the same time that the soldiers on the other side started screaming. The mesh-packed grenade exploded out of the rifle-mounted launcher and arrowed toward the trio of soldiers on my side of the truck.

By the time one of them yelled “grenade!” it was open and engulfing them. The grenade worked beautifully, and they fell to the ground as one, their bodies jerking from the shock of volts currently screaming through their systems.

“Go!” I yelled, running for the back of the truck.

Calliope met me on the other side, panting, with a charge in her hand.

So far, things had gone to plan. Even better than we really could have hoped for. We couldn’t relax just yet though, and I gave her the go ahead. “Do it.”

She stuck the explosive to the back of the truck. We both took cover on our respective sides waiting for it to go off. When I came back around, she had a hand on the door, ready to pull it open and cover me.

I nodded and brought my rifle up.

The door swung open and Calliope backed up while I waited for a volley of fire to come out. Nothing did, so I inched closer and nosed the muzzle of the rifle into the opening, using it as a hook.

“Oh fuck,” I said when I got a glimpse of what was inside.

Or rather, who.

That was all I got a chance to say before one of the two Void operatives within fired. I tried to twist out of the way but wasn’t fast enough, and the round clipped my arm.

My suit didn’t stand a chance against the armor piercing round and white-hot pain lanced through me.

The door slammed open with enough force to have Calliope flying to her back in the dirt.

“Void?” she asked with a groan.

“Two,” I said, fighting through the pain. “We need to move, now.”

Calliope didn’t argue, scrambling to her feet as the truck wobbled from movement inside. We took off at a dead run for the quads and I sent up a silent prayer to whoever might be listening.

“Two combatants have exited the truck,” Vega advised us.

I sent a spray of bullets behind me in response.

“The stunned soldiers are stirring,” the AI warned next.

Calliope reached the quads first and ripped the camo covers off.

“Projectile fired. Captain, dive right!”

“Godsdammit, V! Some good news would be nice!” I shouted as I leapt to the right and rolled.

My stomach went queasy when the ground came into contact with my wound, but the bolo they’d fired missed me, so I couldn’t complain too much.

“Apologies,” she said, sounding confused. “Would you prefer I not update you?”

“Don’t stop,” I muttered.

“Another projectile has been fired. I believe it is targeting the quads.”

Calliope was already on hers and jerked it out of the way even as mine exploded. “Get on!” she yelled.

On my feet again, I jumped on the back. I couldn’t provide any cover since my one good arm was hanging onto Calliope. Shots hit the dirt around us as she sped off.

“V, are they following?”

“Negative. I believe their orders are to not leave the ingot,” she answered.

“Thank the gods for—argh!” One of the soldiers’ bullets ripped into my side and a fresh wave of pain rocketed through me.

“Alyss!” Calliope started to slow the quad.

“Don’t stop,” I wheezed, my vision going gray around the edges.

“Don’t let go,” she countered. “We’re nearly there.”

The scenery flashed by in a blur of browns.

“Captain Cortez is losing blood at an alarming rate,” Vega said.

Her voice sounded slow and far away. In some part of my mind I knew it was due to the blood loss she spoke of, but I struggled to process the information.

I closed my eyes once and felt like I was floating. When they opened again, nothing but the clear blue sky above me, then I collided with something hard. The ground, I realized.

“Fuck!” Had I said that?

Suddenly, the ground was moving. No, I was moving over the ground as someone dragged me. For a brief moment I thought my leg had gotten hung up on the quad, but it was Calliope, despite her small size.

“You gotta help me, Cortez.” Her voice stayed calm, as if she’d ordered me to do nothing more than stand at attention.

Grunting, I focused and got to wobbly feet. It must have been enough for her because the next thing I knew Calliope had me over her shoulder, carrying me the few meters to the quad.

“Vega, status?” Calliope barked, using a strap to lash me to the second seat behind her.

“The hostiles are not advancing,” confirmed the AI as we took off again.

The distant popping of discharging weapons met my ears but none of them reached us. I floated in and out of consciousness until we drove into the familiar surroundings of the Genesis’ cargo bay.

“Get us out of here,” Calliope ordered.

“Hey, I’m not dead yet,” I said thickly. “Still my ship.”

I didn’t catch if they responded because everything went black.

* * *

A light burned brightly above me, and I raised an arm to shield my eyes. Tried to, anyway.

The resultant agony reminded me that I’d been shot. Twice.

“You’re not in any shape to be moving,” a voice said from the medbay door.

For a single exultant second, I thought it was Farah. That she had somehow returned, even though it was impossible. My hope was dashed when Calliope pushed the light out of the way and peered down at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked woozily.

“We made it off Tulkin,” she said dryly. “Barely. You almost didn’t.”

She must have dragged me to the medbay.

Bits and pieces of our escape flashed through my memory and I grimaced. “I remember that. Where are we now?”

“Headed to Neblinar. It’s the closest friendly planet. We’re down a fair amount of supplies from your valiant attempt to die on me.” She tried for a sardonic smile, but it didn’t quite mask the worry in her eyes.

Shit, I thought, struggling to focus. “How bad is it?”

“The arm was through and through. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, the hit you took to the side wasn’t as clean. The bullet fractured a rib and shattered on impact. I tried my best to remove the shards, but I’m no medic,” she said apologetically.

“It’s okay, you did good,” I assured her. “I assume there’s more from the look on your face?”

The girl nodded. “You needed a transfusion. Vega talked me through it… It’s just, we used all of it. When you started bleeding again, I didn’t have anything to replace it with.”

Speaking of the AI, she chimed in next. “Captain, with your current injuries, the chances of your making it to Neblinar still breathing are low.”

“How low?” I mumbled.

“In the single digits.”

“That sucks a big one,” I joked weakly.

Neither of them laughed.

Tired now, I closed my eyes.

“There is an option that would raise those chances exponentially,” Vega offered.

“Yeah?” I asked, wanting nothing more than to fall back into sleep. “And what would that be?”

“Safe Haven. There is an emergency supply of your blood there, among other things. It is a good deal closer,” she replied.

“How did my blood get there?” I asked incredulously, my eyes popping open at the news.

“Miss Shahi insisted on it as a precaution for events such as this.”

I didn’t have to ask why we weren’t going there already. Mack had ensured that no one could order Vega to go there except me or Farah, for obvious reasons. The programming included a kind of failsafe that would prevent the AI from following that directive if it came from one of us under duress.

This didn’t qualify since no one was forcing me to do it.

The only question that remained was if I trusted Calliope enough to reveal the location.

Opening my eyes, I stared at the girl. Her face was drawn, the set of her eyes serious. Worry etched itself into the lines above her brows, and I nodded. “Do it. Follow emergency protocols,” I ordered.

“Acknowledged. Adjusting course.”

“What are emergency protocols?”

I smiled. “In case something happens on the way there—navigation is coded so no one can get our destination coordinates.”

“That’s pretty smart,” Calliope said. “Especially if you have an ex-Union soldier aboard.”

A trace of hurt echoed in her words and I felt bad. She had just saved my life.

“It’s a precaution,” I told her wearily. “It’s not—”

“Personal,” she finished. “Understood. Do you need or want anything?”

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten in… I didn’t know how long. Despite that, food didn’t even sound good.

“Sleep. It’s about all I can handle right now.”

“Then rest. I’ll let you know when we’re getting close,” she said, turning to head for the door.

“Cal,” I said, stopping her. “Thanks for saving my life.”

Her expression softened and she gave me a curt nod.

Alone again, I let myself sink into blissful oblivion.

11

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Calliope asked, helping me strap into the captain’s chair on the bridge.

Second Genesis hovered above Z-28K’s lower orbit, which sported a ring of debris, slinging around the planet in a never-ending space rock race.

“Of course,” I said through clenched teeth.

I wasn’t. Not that we had much choice at the moment. Calliope wouldn’t be able to get through the security measures Mack had installed without me.

“Sorry,” she said when the harness pulled at my wound.

“It’s fine,” I gasped. “Just try not to hit any of that debris, if you don’t mind.”

“I told you, I got top marks in maneuverability,” the girl said, more than a little smug.

I grunted.

The slick Union ship had already proved itself fast and agile enough to navigate the mess on my previous trips with Farah, so I’d decided not to bother with a shuttle.

Calliope’s hands were steady on the controls as she entered the debris field. Vega made things easier by supplying a scan with the best path for us to take.

As a safety measure, the shields were up to prevent any unexpected impacts. Much to my relief, we didn’t need them. Over the next half hour, true to her word, Calliope directed the Genesis through the asteroid fragments without issue.

With an adjustment here, acceleration to avoid a rock the size of the ship there.

A ping from the display showed a shuttle sized piece on a collision course with us.

“Incoming,” I warned.

“Don’t distract me,” Calliope snapped.

I bit back the reply on my tongue and let her work.

She rolled us gently to one side, then brought the ship level again once the minor danger had passed. I was more than a little impressed at how deftly she handled incidents like that.

A few more came our way and I gripped the harness thinking we might join the rest of the ring as a piece of wreckage, but it never happened.

Without so much as a scratch, Calliope guided us through until we were out of it and set down on a landing pad outside one of the two mammoth domes.

“You’ll have to take us in,” I told her, pointing to the open cavern we’d converted into a hangar. “There used to be a whole colony here. Someone created a network to detect when a part of the field fell out of orbit, but they’re long gone. “

“Like a weather prediction?”

I nodded. “Exactly, but for falling rocks. It’s best not to leave the ship out in the open.”

That small movement took great effort and I struggled to keep my head upright.

“You look gray,” Calliope said, her eyes narrowing with concern when she got a look at my face.

“I’ll be fine. Give me a hand with this and we can get down there.” I motioned at the harness with my good hand, though it pained me to ask.

Vulnerability was not a usual state for me and I didn’t like it one bit. None of the injuries I’d sustained had ever put me out of commission quite like this. Deciding to bite the bullet, I put all thoughts of irritation out of my head and let her help me through the ship and into the makeshift hangar.

Originally a cavern, the mining colony had already installed landing pads before we arrived. Entrances to myriad tunnels led deep into the mountain, or to different parts of the dome.

We’d explored a few, ultimately realizing the network of passages wouldn’t suit our needs. For convenience sake, we stored everything on one side. The amount of empty containers far outnumbered the occupied ones. Farah and I had only just begun our foray into this life. Still, it was always good to be prepared.

“Over there,” I said, pointing to the small storage collection we’d built up. “Thank gods Farah is organized. V gave me the unit number she used.”

I recited it for Calliope, and she scanned each bio coded container as we passed, moving slow.

“Found it,” she announced, stopping in front of a shorter stack.

It was good she had because it had become a battle of epic proportions to get one foot in front of the other.

The lock lit green after scanning my thumb and the temp regulated unit popped open, revealing the packages of blood within. The intravenous port was still in my arm, ready for another influx of my blood, and I settled to the ground ungracefully while Calliope got things in order.

She pulled an air activated heat sleeve from her pack and slipped the cold blood inside.

I wasn’t exactly fading fast, headed for another blackout, but I had my doubts about whether my body would obey me for a return trip to the ship.

When Calliope crouched down in front of me, she didn’t ask if I was ready. She picked up my limp arm and inserted the needle into the port with one smooth movement.

“Vega, the captain is receiving the transfusion now. Are her vitals stabilizing?”

“Yes,” the AI answered.

Was that relief I detected? No, just the fog I was dealing with right now.

Even as she said it, I could feel it. Like a magic serum from long forgotten fairy tales, my strength grew with each passing minute.

“Your color’s returning,” Calliope said with a grin. “Not gonna lie, Cap, I was worried for a second there.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “Maybe not 100 percent, but leagues better than ten minutes ago.”

“Sounds about right. Vega told me about a power shot Farah had in the medbay, so I grabbed one for you. Hope that’s alright.”

I knew exactly what she was talking about. Farah had concocted a mixed with adrenaline, protein enzymes, and gods knew what else to keep us going on long stakeouts. They worked, giving the system a nice little jolt that I despised.

Not a fan of drug cocktails, I made a face. “I suppose the situation calls for it. Just get it over with quick, okay?”

Calliope shrugged and jabbed me in the arm without preamble, depressing the shot and pulling it out.

“Ouch,” I growled.

“You did say quick,” Vega reminded me.

With only a little help from Calliope, I was on my feet again. Wobbly and still in need of assistance, but at least she wasn’t half carrying dead weight anymore.

The girl didn’t show much interest in the cavern or remains of the mining colony, which I took as a good sign. I was ready to admit that my initial distrust of her had been misplaced.

With no prompting or incentive, she’d saved me. For better or worse, it seemed I had decided to trust her. I owed her that much.

* * *

“Captain, now that you are no longer indisposed, would you like the results of the tests you asked me to run?” Vega asked.

Back aboard the Genesis, I took my seat on the bridge after a quick dressing change. The bandage had leaked from all the moving around and Calliope worried that the clot spray had broken open. She was right; the wound needed another treatment.

“Sure,” I said, happy to be working my harness alone. The arm was more or less usable now after putting one of the splints on it.

“Oral or text report?”

I glanced at Calliope out of the corner of my eye. “Go ahead with the audio,” I decided.

“It is as you suspected,” the AI replied. “N02-99 is a main component and the design is one commonly used by the Sarkonian government.”

Calliope slated a look at me. “What is she talking about?”

“Just a hunch I’m working on.”

“Okay,” she said, drawing out the word.

Another thirty minutes of impressive flying later, we were on our way to Neblinar. No sooner did we exit the debris field than a slew of messages arrived, mostly from Farah.

“Why didn’t we get these down there?” Calliope asked.

“The ring cuts off all communication,” I explained, cycling through them all. The last was from Angela Dunham.

“Cortez, I’m getting reports of a conflict on Tulkin. If you’re still alive, get back to me.”

Calliope and I shared a knowing glance. That call would be less than fun.

“I should bring her up to speed first, what with her being the Initiative leader and all that,” I mused. “Fuck it, I’m calling Farah.”

Vega put the transmission in, and my friend answered immediately, anxiety thick in her eyes. “Alyss, thank gods. What the hell happened?”

“Good news or bad news first? Okay, okay,” I said, seeing she wasn’t laughing. “We found the ingot on Tulkin. It was just very well guarded.”

Farah studied my face from her end. “I assume that’s why you look half dead?”

“The Void,” Calliope supplied helpfully.

“Not Jax,” I said quickly, seeing the question on her face. “They were packing armor piercing rounds. I took one in the arm.”

One of Farah’s eyebrows shot up. “No way one arm wound has you looking like that.”

“Ouch. That hurts my feelings.” I pretended to wipe away a few tears.

“Don’t make me ask Vega,” she threatened. “You know she’ll tell me.”

“Happily,” the AI declared.

“V, you and I are going to have a long discussion about privacy,” I promised.

The computer didn’t respond.

“They blew up one of the quads,” I told Farah. “So, I had to ride behind Cal to get away. One of them tagged me in the side.”

I explained the rest in as much detail as I could remember, with Calliope filling in the rest.

“Good thing Cal was with you,” Farah said, inclining her head at the other girl.

“Yeah, good thing. What about your mission?” I asked.

A smile lit Farah’s face. “Perfect. We got him back, though now his cover is blown.”

“He’s safe,” I said. “That’s all that matters. Where are you now?”

“Mack and I are on a transport back to Neblinar,” she replied.

Relief flowed through me hearing that. I hadn’t realized how afraid I was that she might stay with the rebellion until that moment. “Us too.” I hesitated before continuing.

Farah being Farah, she noticed something was up. “Is there more I need to know?”

“Yeah,” I said, “but not here. I’ll fill you in once we’re all on Neblinar. Both of you. Where is Mack, by the way?”

My friend grinned. “Off doing something with a computer, I imagine. I’ll let her know you said hi.”

We signed off just in time for another communication from Dunham to come in.

Resigning myself to the conversation, I answered.

“Cortez,” the woman barked. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. What the fuck happened on Tulkin?”

Given my suspicions, I had to rein in my attitude. This used to be something second nature to me from years of living with General-Delgado and serving in the military.

Then, freedom happened. The funny thing about freedom is that once it gets its hooks into you, it’s hard to give up. Even when it was pretend.

“Sorry ma’am.” I schooled my features into grave lines. “We ran into a little trouble on Tulkin and I required immediate medical attention. Miss Walker saw to it while we were in a slip tunnel, hence the lack of communication. A full report is forthcoming.”

Instead of relaxing and backing off as I’d hoped, Dunham’s dark eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Slip tunnel? Are you headed back?”

Thankfully, I had a ready answer. “Not yet. We’re running low on a few things. Neblinar is the closest friendly planet, so we’ll stop there.”

Dunham nodded, taking my words at face value. “Alright. Contact me as soon as you’re ready. Oh, and Cortez?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Get some decent medical care. You look like shit,” she said before cutting the line.

Thanks, I thought, bristling inside.

“What a bitch,” Calliope murmured.

I swung my gaze around to stare at the younger girl.

“Sorry,” she said, flushing.

“Don’t worry yourself, Cal. I happen to agree. Have you ever been to Neblinar?” I asked as the tear began to open in front of us.

“No,” she replied, a spark of excitement showing in her eyes.

I grinned. “Well, you’re in for a treat.”

12

When we landed on Neblinar, I didn’t hide my relief and sighed deeply.

“Must feel good to be home,” Calliope commented.

I thought she sounded a little wistful and looked at her sympathetically.

Though she had to know we’d done a check of her personal information, it seemed wrong to call attention to it by bringing up her orphan status. I decided it was best to stay vague and let her volunteer what she wanted. “Do you miss home?”

Calliope shrugged. “Sometimes. It was quiet there. My parents ran a farm there. At least they did until… Until after I joined the military. Now they’re both gone.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “My parents are gone too.”

Dead, or they might as well be. Ripped away forever by the Sarkon Empire.

“Oh, I didn’t realize.” Calliope looked startled and her eyes went soft with pity.

“It doesn’t matter. They’re not coming back, so all I can do is keep living.” My voice threatened to crack with emotion, so I expended some of the energy by unsnapping my harness with more force than necessary.

This in turn pulled at my still healing wound and I grunted at the stab of pain.

“You okay?” Calliope asked, concerned.

“Fine,” I said, gruffer than I meant to.

“The co-captain and Miss Woods are approaching the Second Genesis,” Vega announced, saving me from further conversation.

“That’s great,” I said, a little to brightly.

“Captain Cortez, might I suggest you meet Miss Shahi in the medical bay?”

“Huh? What’s that now?” I asked, confused.

“There’s a high probability that she will want to look you over and verify your injuries are healing properly,” the AI advised.

“No, I will not,” I said hotly. “Who’s in charge of this boat anyhow?”

Calliope snickered into her hand.

“You are, Captain Cortez,” Vega answered mildly. “Without a doubt.”

“Oh, mute your circuits already,” I griped.

Now Calliope laughed out loud. The gall.

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing with her and sucked in a breath when my side started to ache again.

“You guys okay in here?” Farah asked from the door.

She had a hand on one hip and watched us with a cocked eyebrow as though we’d lost our minds. Mack stood just behind her, a cheesy grin lighting up her features.

“At least they’re in good spirits,” the hacker quipped.

“We’re fine,” I assured them, wiping a tear from my eye.

Farah held up the case she carried and walked to the command center. “Still, I think it’s a good idea to check you out in the medbay before anything else. Brought some—what did I say?” she asked Mack when Calliope and I devolved into another fit of laughter.

“Sorry,” I said, holding up my good hand while taking a calming breath. “We’re good, really. Just don’t bring up the medbay again.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Then why don’t you tell me what you didn’t want to say over that transmission?”

That sobered me up. Playtime was over. I joined her and Mack, along with Calliope, on my own this time. A little slower than usual, but under my own strength.

“V, bring up the report on the bombs,” I instructed.

Farah shot me a questioning glance. “Bombs?”

I nodded grimly and gestured at the holo. Two sets of schematics were on display.

Mack leaned forward to study them. “They’re the same,” she noted. “What are these?”

“This one”—I indicated the schematic on the left—“we removed from the train. The other I got from the armory on Cerberus.”

My statement was met with silence as that sunk in.

“What are you saying?” Farah’s eyes flashed to mine.

“I got a weird vibe from Dunham when I tried to talk to her about Solaris.” I described her troubling response to the death of so many people, explained how it bothered me. “She offered to let me take a few things from the armory. While I was in there, I saw explosives just like the ones we took from the train.”

“You wanted to compare them,” Calliope guessed.

“Yes.” I paused, unsure how my next words would go over. “I don’t think Vice-Admiral-Kaska was behind the Solaris attack.”

All eyes in the room turned on me.

Farah blanched. “You think the Initiative was behind it?”

“It makes sense. In a sick way,” Mack murmured.

“You even said how insane it was since the attack had just happened when the bulletin came out,” I reminded her.

“How sure are you?” Farah asked, tone tight.

I half lifted a shoulder. “Vega calculated it in the high nineties. Nothing else we’ve recovered so far looks like this. Kaska tends to use Union designed or stolen tech for his attacks. This is Sarkonian, through and through.”

A pregnant pause filled the room.

The implications of my discovery put all of us in a bad place. If the Initiative was behind the bombing as the evidence suggested, they were no better than Kaska. Killing innocent people to further their political agenda in the name of protecting said innocent people was actually worse.

“What do we do about this?” Calliope asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “One thing is for certain: we can’t let on that we’re aware.”

“This is seriously fucked,” Mack said, crossing her arms. “Now we have to not only worry about Kaska and the Union, but our own damn people?”

“I say we don’t even go back,” Farah declared hotly.

I shook my head. “Then Dunham will figure out we know and send someone else after us. Jax may not be the only Void operative up her sleeve,” I pointed out.

“So, what, we just become double agents?” She ran a frustrated hand through her hair.

“At least for the time being. First, we need to replenish the Genesis. She’s running low on just about everything.” I turned to Mack. “If there’s any updates, upgrades, upanything, let’s get that done. If something happens to us, the last thing we want is for Dunham to get her dirty little hands on Vega and this ship.”

“I would prefer that not happen as well,” the AI announced.

The hacker bobbed her head vigorously. “I’m on it.”

As she got to work, I focused on Farah and Calliope. “Right. We can get the supplies.”

The side of Farah’s mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Hold on a second. You still look like you’re about to fall over. Don’t get too worked up, but I really do need to see you in the medbay.”

I grinned back. “No promises.”

* * *

“Impressive, isn’t it?” I said, smiling at Calliope, who stood on the promenade with wide eyes.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the dock buzzed with activity. Savory aromas wafted over from food carts and mingled with another vendor’s offerings of sweet treats, making my stomach growl.

Though located on a Sarkonian claimed planet, Neblinar used to be a waystation for travelers, similar to Taurus. Supposedly, according to a Sarkonian news source, half the planet just up and left. Mercenaries and their ilk descended on it before the military could do anything about it.

It still served as a place to fuel up and resupply, it just catered to people like us.

“I forgot to tell you,” Mack’s voice came over the comm. “There’s a new arms dealer in town. He’s running some deals to drum up business. I’ll send you the info.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “Might be worth a try.”

“I added a list of stuff for me, if that’s okay,” she added.

“No problem,” I told her.

We ended the call and arrowed toward one of the food vendors. Farah had looked over my injuries, and though she assured Calliope that her work was good, proceeded to slather on some new healing gel she’d gotten her hands on.

After another one of the booster shots, the pain was barely a throb and I felt almost back to my old self. Smelling the food reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in a while, and boy was I starving.

“Glad to see you have an appetite,” Farah remarked as we walked, taking a dainty bite out of her soy wrap.

“Mmm, ‘t’s good,” I said, scarfing down the last of my mystery meat on a stick and wishing I had more.

On my other side, Calliope was finishing up the same, her eyes half closed and a contented smile on her face.

“Clearly. We’re here, by the way.” My friend smirked and pointed to the store I was about to pass.

I stopped midstride and reached for the door, then stepped through in a fluid motion. Farah and Calliope followed suit and I paused to let my vision adjust to the dim lighting.

“Well, well, well. Look who it is.” A booming voice came from the other side of the room and I tensed.

A burly bald man stepped around the clerk’s counter and came toward us, a wide grin on his face.

“Clint!” I relaxed at the sight of the familiar shop owner whom Farah and I knew from Leah station. “You came to Neblinar after all.”

I’d told him when we left the sweaty asshole of universe behind that we wouldn’t be coming back, and he should look us up if he ever ended up in our neck of the system.

“Sure did,” he said. “Couldn’t stay on Leah any longer. It’s… well, you know. The clientele was getting rough, even for me. Everyone with half a brain was talking about Neblinar, so I decided to come see what all the fuss was about.”

“Glad you did,” Farah replied. “I just hope you didn’t bring anything with you.”

Clint chuckled. “And who’s this?” he asked, looking at Calliope.

“This is Cal,” I said. “The newest member of our team.”

She held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Clint.”

Her small hand was dwarfed by his big one, but he didn’t comment. “Gimme just a second. I’ll clear this place out so you can look in peace.”

“Wow, you guys rate top star treatment,” Calliope murmured, watching as he ushered the other two customers out.

“He’s good people,” I told her with a shrug.

Her left eyebrow shot up. “A black-market arms dealer?”

“And we’re terrorists,” I reminded her, gesturing to myself and Farah.

“I suppose you have a point there,” she said grudgingly.

The store’s security shutters rattled down to cover the windows and the girl visibly started.

“It’s so no one steals anything while we try things out,” Farah explained.

Calliope just nodded.

The lights brightened, giving us a full look at the shop.

“Wow,” Farah said under her breath. “Looks like Clint upgraded.”

“You can say that again.” I was aware my response came out in an almost reverent tone.

Farah was on the money. Far from the dirty little space with sticky floors, the new shop fairly sparkled. Every make and model of firearm imaginable made up one side of the large room, while everything from tac gear, to MREs and exosuits filled the other.

Clint advanced on us with arms wide open. “What can I get for you ladies?”

* * *

I walked out of Clint’s shop with a moon sized smile and feeling like I had a jump rig at my back. It didn’t even matter that we’d spent a ridiculous amount of credits—we were well stocked enough to start a rebellion of our own.

Calliope found a pair pistols, which I bought and told her to consider a signing bonus, Farah got a replenishment of arrows for her bow, and I stocked up on a supply of ammo for my rifle, along with some extra accessories.

Added to that, we padded our supplies of armor piercing rounds, and anything else that looked useful. Clint even put in an order to replace the hovercraft that had been destroyed on Tulkin.

Per his usual policy, Clint agreed to pack up the small mountain of goods and deliver them to the Genesis while we rounded up the rest of our supplies.

I suspected that things were about to get messy, but we were more than prepared.

13

Back aboard the Second Genesis, I took a moment to appreciate our situation. Things had been on the path from bad to worse, but they were looking up again.

I had my best friend and partner back, my wounds were healing nicely, and most importantly I was alive. Now, if I could just stay that way, life would be good.

The stoic woman currently gracing my holo display was testing my patience though. I’d contacted Dunham, just like she asked, and was now regretting it.

“Sitting around waiting isn’t what we usually do,” I told her, keeping my tone mild.

“As I said, Cortez—the ingot is gone. After your failed attempt to retrieve it, I might add. Kaska must have moved it once he knew the location was compromised. The facility was dark when we raided it.”

I tossed a small ball from hand to hand while she talked. Farah had given it to me as a way to work my injured arm, but I found that it helped with focus too. I wasn’t any happier about losing the ingot than her, but I didn’t comment.

“So,” she continued, her eyes following the ball’s path for a moment before snapping back, “my understanding is that you aren’t in any shape to go rushing back into conflict anyway.”

I stopped tossing and leaned forward, squeezing the ball tightly in one hand and making sure to keep it out of view.

“I’m doing just fine. Is there a lead we can investigate to figure out where it might be or what the Vice-Admiral is planning?”

“No,” she said firmly. “Stay put. Recover. As soon as there’s information to give, I’ll let you know.”

The feed cut off before I could respond, and I sighed.

“What now?” Calliope wondered.

The ex-Union soldier swiveled in her crew chair then tapped a finger lightly on the armrest.

Mack didn’t speak and seemed to be in deep thought, her face slack.

“We aren’t just going to sit here,” Farah announced. She eyed me up and down where I sat, one of my arms bandaged and the injury to my side still healing. “You really should rest. We don’t need to take another job until this is all over.”

Her chin jutted out and her shoulders shifted as though she were preparing for an argument.

“Fine,” I said, surprising her. “I had something else in mind.”

She looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Like what?”

“Navari’s files. Maybe we missed something.”

“I doubt that,” she said. “We’ve been over them. A lot.”

“Not me.” Calliope raised a hand and wiggled it.

I jerked a chin in her direction. “See? Fresh eyes.”

Farah didn’t look convinced but didn’t argue further. “I guess it gives us something to do.”

“You in for a study session, Mack?” I asked.

She still had yet to say anything and started a little when I addressed her. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I got distracted. What are we talking about?”

I explained my idea again.

“For sure,” she said when I was done. “It’s always worth a second look.”

“Are you alright?” I prompted. “Seems like you’re somewhere else.”

The hacker smiled brightly. “Yeah I’m good. I was just thinking while you were talking to Dunham.”

I waited for her to elaborate.

Mack cleared her throat nervously. “Look, I didn’t want to make a big thing out of it. It’s just that, well, you’re always ready to go charging off to fight some battle or save someone. Even now, all fucked up—no offense.”

I made a “none taken” gesture.

“Mack, no one expects you to fight,” Farah assured her cousin. “This is what we do, what our lives have been for the last few years. It’s who we are.”

“Not you,” Mack countered. “Maybe Kickass over there”—she jerked a chin at me— “who I’m pretty sure was born fighting, but not you. Hence why you’re a medic. But you still fight. I just sit a safe distance away.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t even be here if not for you,” I reminded her. “Besides, there’s more than one way to fight.”

She bobbed her head sagely. “Exactly. I just keep thinking that if I’d been there, we could’ve stopped the other bomb from going off.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Farah started to protest, but Mack held up a hand to quiet her.

“This is why I didn’t want to say anything. I don’t want reassurances or coddling.” She turned a fierce gaze on me. “I’ve made up my mind. Next time I’m going with you.”

Having Mack join us was only beneficial to my mind. Even if she stayed on the ship, it beat out having her in another system.

“No argument here,” I said easily. “You’re already familiar with the ship.”

Since Mack had performed all of the upgrades on the Genesis and Vega, she had the same access as me and Farah. It was a good deal all around.

“You still know your way around a firearm?” I asked.

Farah let out a noise between a cough and a laugh and Mack blushed.

“What’s so funny?” I demanded. “You did a term of service like everyone else; I saw your rank in the bulletin…” I trailed off at her sheepish look.

“I altered it. Hacked into the system before academy ended and transferred myself around,” she said vaguely. “Spent my term of service travelling the systems. Eventually discharged myself and left the Empire behind.”

“And no one figured that out?” Calliope asked in amazement.

The girl had been so quiet that I’d almost forgotten she was there.

“Not that I know of,” Mack answered. She sounded more like herself: self-assured and maybe just a little cocky.

“Whatever we do next is going to be dangerous. Even if you stay on the ship, I think it would be wise for you to learn the basics.”

“You’re right,” she replied, getting serious again.

I nodded. “Good. For now, let’s see if there’s anything to be found in Navari’s files.”

* * *

Hours later, I rubbed at eyes gritty from staring at the data pad. So far, nothing had jumped out at us.

I pushed up from my chair and resisted the urge to stretch. Doing so would pull at the wound in my side, and I didn’t want to hinder the healing process. Not with a godsdamned war about to break out.

“I’m going to grab an enerdrink. Anyone want one?” I asked.

I got a collective “no thanks” and headed for the kitchen.

Someone had left one of the holo displays on and it was playing the news when I arrived. It was Brice Howard again, the same newscaster who had reported on the train bombing on Solaris.

Inside the fridge unit was a selection of perishables, stuff that was either grown in a hydroponic shop or brought in a cryo shipment, along with a stock the enerdrinks I liked.

I half listened to Howard recount a robbery on Galanos while trying to decide if I was more in a Berry Beam or Slip Space Swirl mood.

Galanos was one of the bigger Sarkonian planets. Appropriately located in the Hel system, it could have been the twin to Sarkon. Hot, dry, and dusty, it served as the capital planet and hosted a decent security fleet.

The green package emulating the inside of a slip tunnel won out. Popping the seal, I swung around to focus on the holo display, mildly interested in the story. Robberies didn’t usually rate as news since they were a regular occurrence, and I turned the volume up.

Howard—no, I was wrong. Jesse Moraine. Although the two shared similar features—red hair, green eyes—they worked for different networks. Moraine worked for the IBC1, Interstellar Broadcast Company 1, while Howard reported for Dead Lands News 32.

In any case, the bandits must’ve hit something big. Galanos may have been important to the Empire but day to day crime was hardly interstellar newsworthy.

“… the thieves got away with half a million credits’ worth of precious jewelry. Senator Nassar was well known for her political stance on the equal rights of conscripted citizens. The tragedy of her untimely death will be felt for a long time to come.” Moraine continued in somber tones as the holo image shifted to a clip of the attackers entering the store. “If you have any information, please contact your local authorities.”

I muted the feed. Something was nagging at me, scratching at the back of my mind. “Senator Nassar. V, why is that name familiar?”

“The Senator was listed as a potential target in the late commander’s files,” the computer responded a few seconds later.

Something twisted loose as I recalled Navari’s assassination list.

“Bring it up on the workstation in here,” I instructed.

The file on Nassar was pitifully light. One image that looked like her official headshot, a few lines of text outlining her bio, and a short note to cap it off.

“It says here that she’s a governor,” I mused.

“Working,” said Vega. “Public record shows that Governor Nassar was chosen by the Emperor to join his panel of Senators a little over a month ago.”

I did the math mentally. “Right around when we started looking at the files and they stopped getting updated by Kaska.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the references, Captain,” Vega said, sounding a little perplexed.

I was on the cusp of something now; I could feel it in my gut.

“Just following a hunch, V. Can you bring up all the footage of the robbery?”

“Of course. It will take a few moments to search the entirety of the gal-net. Please standby.”

The holo vids all but confirmed my suspicions. Wanting to go deeper, I gave Vega one more query. It only took a few minutes to verify, then I was sure and sent for the others.

I sucked down the last of the now warm Slip Tunnel Swirl and tossed it in the recycler as my crew arrived.

“Hey, when did we get a workstation in the kitchen?” Farah exclaimed, coming over to check it out.

I let Vega explain it again

“You look tense,” Mack said when she finished. “What’s up?”

“I found something,” I told her.

After explaining about the dead senator, I brought up the footage Vega had found me.

“That’s not your average team of burglars,” Calliope commented, catching on first.

“That was my take too,” I agreed.

“Wait a second,” Farah said, frowning. “This happened two days ago. Don’t we have alerts set up for when someone from Kaska’s list dies?”

I started to reply, then stopped, realizing I didn’t actually know.

It was Vega who answered. “My apologies, but it seems Senator Nassar’s death was not ruled suspicious.”

“It’s the filter parameters,” Mack clarified. “They’re set to return anything that appears abnormal. Nassar didn’t pop because the death itself was clear cut. The authorities didn’t see her as the focus, just an accidental death.”

The oversight chafed, but I wasn’t done.

“The unfortunate senator wasn’t the only recent death.” I pulled up the rest of the data. “At least three from the list have had accidents or died of natural causes.”

“Building fire, surface quake, heart attack, vehicle crash,” Calliope began reading them off.

“That’s more than three,” Farah pointed out.

I nodded. “The list got me thinking. Almost everyone on it is low level or marked as not a major threat.”

“So, where are the big prizes?” Farah wondered.

“Exactly.” I brought up another screen.

This one was an organizational map of the Empire’s political hierarchy. Every name from the list fit somewhere, as well as the extras I had dug up, with a red x marking deceased individuals.

Mack saw the pattern first and her eyes went wide as they met mine. “No way. He’s insane. You really think he’s going to try?”

“Yes. This has been his plan all along,” I replied grimly. “He’s going to kill the Emperor and take control of the Empire.”

14

We spent the next few days sifting through 32 systems worth of data. After a search of those remaining on the list, we moved on to those on the chart that were still alive.

We also started compiling a list of known Solaris Initiative operatives, starting with Angela Dunham. From the woman’s cold personality and no-nonsense attitude, I’d half expected her to still be in the military.

It came as a surprise to see that her title was that of Travel Auditor, a low-level government position.

“No wonder she’s part of the rebellion,” I joked. “Nobody likes auditors.”

Farah laughed. “At least she has an excuse to travel.”

The rest of the list was short and created from memory. In some cases, all we had were gal-net aliases or first names.

When that was done, Vega began pulling in reports from all 32 systems to look for anything suspicious. As it turned out, disaster was an hourly occurrence.

Much of what we found had nothing to do with Kaska or his plans to overthrow the government. A few things did though, and they were enough to make the long, tedious hours of searching worth it.

The Vice-Admiral had systematically taken out not only key members of the Emperor’s inner circle, but also those in government positions that opposed his views. Kaska himself had become more vocal in the past few weeks, revealing his political plans to run for a cabinet position.

“How is this not being noticed?” I wondered aloud in the medical bay. “I mean, Emperor Proscerios’ affiliations are dying at an alarming rate.”

Farah had insisted on doing another check of my wounds. Both were healing nicely and much faster than I’d anticipated. Whatever was in the goo that Farah slapped on me must have been potent.

She shrugged. “You know he’s just a kid.”

This was true. At just 16, Joden Proscerios IV was the youngest person to rule in Sarkonian history. Not that this information was known by the general public. Most everyone in the universe thought the Emperor was an old man. All his public photos depicted him as such because the government didn’t want to look weak.

The only reason we knew was because of an assignment we’d been given a few years back. Proscerios hadn’t been in power yet but needed to travel inconspicuously. To have Sky Claws—the Emperor’s guard—around would have given things away immediately.

The Sky Claws were an elite group of soldiers tasked with protecting the Emperor. Rumor had it that getting in was kind of a wash. It was the highest honor for a soldier to be selected for the royal guard, but once you got in, it was for life. A tightly controlled life at that. Always on call, forced celibacy, and shitty pay. No thank you.

Our unit had acted as support with a small number of Claws accompanying the boy, while the usual guards stayed behind. It was pretty cool to see where royalty lived, but the opulence had been a bit much for me.

We’d been briefed and sworn to secrecy. The real Emperor was dying from a rare form of cancer resistant to the standard treatments, and the boy was primed to take over.

“Isn’t that what advisors are for?” I pointed out.

Farah fixed the final dressing in place as she talked. “Unless they’re all in Kaska’s pocket.”

I hadn’t considered that, though I should have. In fact, there was a lot I’d missed, and I said as much to Farah.

“That’s not fair,” she disagreed. “Kaska has been planning this for a long time. Pure chance and dumb luck are the only reason we’re in a position to do anything about it.”

“Not all dumb luck,” I said defensively, then sighed. “I’m just pissed that we missed all of this, even with all the information we had.”

I pulled down my shirt and Farah stepped back to stare beadily at me.

“Don’t sell us short, A. Stopping major disasters has saved a lot of lives.”

“I’m not detracting from that,” I assured her. “But while we were focused on that, Kaska has put himself in position to hurt a whole lot more.”

Neither of us spoke for a few seconds. I was imagining a universe in which the Vice-Admiral was in control of the second biggest power after the Union. It didn’t bode well for anyone.

“Captain Cortez, Co-captain Shahi, incoming transmission from Angela Dunham,” Vega said over the medbay’s intercom.

Farah and I exchanged a brisk nod.

“Put her on,” I said.

Dunham’s severe face appeared on the main display in the room.

“Shahi. Cortez, good to see you looking more alive,” she noted wryly.

“Ma’am. Is there news?” I ignored her comment and hoped the rebel leader took it as me getting straight to business.

Our deep dive for events connected to Kaska had eventually brought us back to the train bombing on Solaris. Nothing we found eased our misgivings of Dunham and the rebellion. No passenger on the manifest linked back to anyone with political ties. For me, the lack of evidence was indicative of the same for Dunham. Every disaster that linked back to the Vice-Admiral was wrapped in subtlety, while the bombing had been a statement.

And I was pretty certain I knew whose.

We’d decided to share nothing we learned and feign ignorance to get information from the Initiative. For the time being.

Dunham dropped her chin in a curt gesture. “Yes. The Vice-Admiral will be on Sarkon in three weeks’ time. It’s a short window in which to prepare, but better than nothing.”

“Are you sure the intel is good?” Farah asked, her tone carefully bland.

Understandably, Farah was the angriest of us at Dunham, and with good reason. Her family had been involved with the rebellion since she was a child. She herself had been a double agent for them. If it turned out that they were no better than the very enemy they claimed to oppose, well, that was a betrayal of the deepest kind.

“Multiple sources have authenticated the information,” Dunham confirmed, not batting an eye at our demeanors. “Kaska has a meeting with the Emperor to discuss his future in the government.”

“It could be a ruse,” I insisted. “He has to be on high alert now.”

She shook her head. “Our reach is deep. A Sparrow and Sky Claw are among the sources.”

There was no arguing with that. The Sky Claws accompanied the Emperor everywhere. They heard every word he uttered, knew what he ate, and could probably report on how many times the kid farted in his sleep. Point was, they knew all there was to know.

The Sparrows were a different matter entirely. Where the Void had brute strength, the Claws had utter devotion, and Farah and I used stealth and precision, the Sparrows dealt in secrets. Special ops teams used the shadows as an asset, but the Sparrows were the shadows.

Highly trained for deep cover, they could be anyone, anywhere. Your mom, your best friend—hell, even the lunch lady. When I was a kid, I used to pretend that my real parents were Sparrows and would come to rescue me, but they never did. Not that I really ever believed it. I’d stopped believing in fairy tales by then.

Even at that age, I knew you had to make your own way.

“I have a request,” Dunham continued, her expression wary. “The Initiative could use a ship with a cloak. You’re the only one that has one.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. Out of the feed’s view, Farah kicked me.

The woman’s expression had gone icy, but I didn’t care. The Second Genesis was our home. We’d gone through far too much to get her, then keep her.

“Sorry,” I said, not meaning it. “But no one flies this ship but me and my crew.

“You will receive a comparable ship while we use it, of course. And I, along with the Initiative, would be most grateful.”

I wanted to tell her where she could stow her gratefulness but refrained.

“Ma’am, excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but the whole reason you want the Genesis is because you don’t have something comparable.”

“And if I were to order it?” Dunham’s lips flattened into thin line and she fixed sharp eyes on me.

I stared back. Is she really trying to intimidate me over a holo call? I wondered.

“Then I’m going to laugh again,” I replied flatly.

She didn’t speak for three full seconds before letting out a dry laugh of her own. “It was worth a try. In that case, I have a counter proposal.”

* * *

Farah and I filled in Mack and Calliope after our short discussion with Dunham.

“What do you think his plan is?” Calliope asked.

“Dunham says the working theory is that he plans to kill the Emperor once in close proximity,” Farah told her.

“Then what?” she prodded. “That seems pretty weak.”

Mack nodded in agreement. “Kaska has to know that killing the Emperor doesn’t automatically make him the new one.”

I had thought the same thing. “Dunham didn’t have much, just where he’s going to be. But, speaking of successors, do we know who that is?”

Mack pulled out her data pad to look.

Calliope chuckled. “What if it’s some little kid?”

“If it is, they’ve likely already been training to become the next ruler,” Farah said seriously.

At Farah’s tone, Calliope looked up and saw she wasn’t joking. “But a kid?”

I shrugged. Farah and I were already branded terrorists. What were a few state secrets between friends? “The current Emperor is a kid,” I told her.

The girl just shook her head in disbelief when we explained. “That’s a lot of pressure on a teenager,” she remarked.

“It could be worse,” I pointed out. “He could be living his life out in a labor camp.”

Calliope didn’t have a response for that.

“How’s it looking, Mack? Anything?”

The hacker’s brow creased as she frowned. “Not yet. I’ve got some feelers out, but it has to be done delicately. That information is well guarded for exactly this reason.”

I produced the squeezy ball again, and tossed it back and forth a few times while I thought. “Keep doing what you’re doing. The last thing we need is to alert anyone that we’re onto this.

Mack nodded and leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers behind her head. “So, what does the Initiative want to do? They can’t exactly just send a fleet to Sarkon. It would look like an attack.”

“They’re sending us,” Calliope guessed. “Because of the cloak.”

“You got it. She initially asked for the Genesis,” I said.

Mack laughed.

“Yeah, that was pretty much Alyss’s response,” Farah said, grinning.

“That’s a hell of an ask,” Mack said. “I hope you told her to shove it.”

“I was close,” I admitted. “Then she asked if we would go and take a couple Initiative soldiers with us.”

Calliope gave me an incredulous look. “Just us? Against whatever Kaska has planned?”

She was right to be concerned. It could very well turn out to be a suicide mission. Every single one of us was wanted, and we were just going to stroll up to the Empire’s capital planet.

“We’ll have some support,” Farah said. “A few ships will be traveling to the planet with legitimate paperwork. They’ll arrive a few days early and try to gather more intel.”

“What about the ingot?” Mack asked.

I hadn’t forgotten. “My idea was that Vega could scan for it while we wait. A few passive scans won’t raise alarm, right?” I asked her.

“Shouldn’t,” she agreed. “I can set up something special once we get there.”

“Copy that.” I clapped once and rubbed my hands together. “Alright. We’ve been sitting for a few days, so let’s top off fuel, water, and any other supplies. I also suggest stocking up on entertainment. This is gonna be a long one.”

15

Mack walked into the kitchen later that night with an armful of snacks as I was unloading a crate of enerdrinks into the fridge. I’d depleted much of my supply during our research sessions and didn’t want to run out.

“You know those things are terrible for you, right?” Mack asked.

“So your cousin keeps telling me. Besides”—I gestured at her loaded down arms—“isn’t that a synth bar I see in there?”

Synthetic chocolate was not my idea of a treat. Some people couldn’t get enough of the sugary snack. Not me. You were hard pressed to find anything without at least some synthetic compounds, but fake chocolate always tasted off to me.

She grinned and began stuffing the snacks into cabinets. “The IFDA says it’s safe.”

The IFDA—Interstellar Food and Drug Administration—loved to sing the praises of synth-modified food. I had my doubts though.

“They also say that each container of Starmallow puff is allowed to have six insects,” I declared, shutting the fridge door with a snap.

Mack’s face fell. “You’re not serious.”

“Look it up,” I said, smirking.

She proceeded to pull out a data pad and do just that. A few seconds later she set it down with a groan. “That is disgusting. Starmallow puff is forever ruined for me.”

“Sorry.” Then with a straight face I said, “But it really is bad for you.”

She burst out laughing. “Touché.”

After we both calmed down, I thought about leaving, but spoke instead. “Could you do something for me?”

Mack straightened. “Of course. Name it.”

I hesitated, regretting even saying anything. It was too late now; I’d already opened my big mouth.

“I wanted to try and get some information on my parents. My real parents,” I clarified.

Part of me wanted to look away to avoid the pity I expected to see cross her face, but I forced myself to meet her gaze. What I saw surprised me. The snarky hacker only looked understanding with a touch of sympathy.

“No problem. Just give me any information you have, and I’ll do the rest.”

“It’s not much,” I said, feeling lame. “Just my name, really.”

Rena Bennet. The name came to mind like a whisper on the wind, bringing with it all the pain of my haunted childhood.

She smiled, almost gently. “That’ll be enough. You went to a high-profile couple. There’s bound to be records.”

“Thanks,” I said gruffly then turned on my heel without another word and fled the room.

* * *

The next morning, with everyone assembled on the bridge, I felt the need to say something. Farah and I had discussed it briefly and decided it would be a good idea.

I cleared my throat. “Mack. Before we take off, I wanted to make sure you’re still good to go.”

Mack didn’t bat an eye. “I’m in. All the way.”

I nodded briskly, not really expecting anything less. Our hacker was done staying behind. Injustice had a way of getting people to take a stand.

“Cal, this isn’t your fight. If you prefer to sit this one out, no one will think badly of you. We’ll send you on your way with thanks and enough credits to get started.”

The girl casually inspected her fingernails, trying to look coolly indifferent. It didn’t quite work because the action was a little exaggerated and belied the seriousness of the current situation. I could guess what she was about to say.

“I could stick around longer. Not much else to do. Besides, I’m in it now too,” she said, a little too quickly.

Calliope was right about that. Her eagerness also made sense to me. She was young, for one thing. For another, she was a criminal. The gal-net and media outlets had yet to link the escaped ex-Union soldier with us, which was something, but she’d been pegged as a criminal.

Where could she go? With us she was guaranteed safety. Sort of. At least food and a roof over her head.

“Good. V, what about you?” I meant it to be cheeky and snickered.

“My programming requires me to follow all of your orders, Captain Cortez.”

I started to tell her it was a joke, but the computer kept talking.

“However, an analysis of the situation concludes that if I had the choice, I would follow your command anywhere,” she finished.

Oddly touched, I bowed my head slightly. “Noted and appreciated, V. Go ahead and put us in the departure queue.”

“One moment while I contact the dock master,” the AI responded. She paused, then continued, “the Second Genesis has been cleared. We’re number 98 in the queue.”

A collective groan rose up from the rest of us. Dock traffic was always a roll of the dice. Sometimes you could be out in five minutes, others you might wait a whole day.

“Seems we have some time on our hands,” I said. “Might as well go over the plan again. First stop is Acutus.”

The station Acutus sat in Sarkonian controlled space and was well known for being a quick stop for necessities. You could only dock there for 26 standard hours max, the idea being that getting people out fast brought more customers in, and therefore more credits. They also weren’t particular about who stopped there—so long as you could pay.

It made me leery to stop in a public place, but it was a good halfway point between Neblinar and Sarkon, and we would need to top off our supplies again before settling down to wait for Kaska.

“Dunham said she’s giving us two soldiers,” Farah said, picking up where I left off.

Calliope’s mouth turned down into a frown. “Still not altogether comfortable with that. What if they try to take the ship?”

That possibility had crossed my mind too and I angled a glance at Mack.

“I beefed up the security after the Genesis got boarded by Kamal and Haas. Vega will alert us to any attempts to take control,” she said.

The incident was still a sore spot for me and Farah. Haas and my former lover had been trailing us and we didn’t have a clue until it was too late. They’d boarded us and locked us out of our own ship far too easily.

“That is correct,” the AI confirmed. “The new passengers will have limited access to only what they require for health and relative comfort.”

“They’ll also be sharing quarters,” I chimed in. “And I already warned Dunham that if they try anything, it won’t be pretty.”

Calliope grinned. “I remember that line.”

The mood on the bridge lightened considerably and we continued to discuss scenarios and tactics until it was our turn to leave.

“Finally,” Mack said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“We’ll be on our way in a few minutes,” I assured her.

To be honest, I felt a little on edge myself. Things were coming to a head and whatever the future held, it was sure to be bloody.

Thankfully, the dock master didn’t make me a liar and soon the Second Genesis was sailing through open space, Neblinar becoming smaller on the holo display with each passing second.

The ride to Acutus would take five standard days, barring any unforeseen circumstances. I planned to stay cloaked for the majority of that. I didn’t exactly like how attached we had become to the tech but didn’t see a better option.

Gallivanting through space with no cover while being some of the most wanted people in the galaxies? Well, that was just plain stupid. Besides, enough Union and Sarkonian scouts patrolled the empty expanses between planets and stations that I had no qualms about using our crutch. Not to mention ravagers, Renegades, and one-off space pirates.

We broke up the time with media entertainment, trips to the gym, and more planning. Mack had started refreshing her training from the academy back on Neblinar, and we worked an hour or more each day to get her comfortable.

“Nice job,” I told her during one of our sessions on the third day. “I think you got your groove back.”

I’d discovered that the training room also had a hidden workstation, one designed to act as a mini holo range. Mack usually did pretty well, but this time she’d been distracted, missing easy shots and making mistakes.

“Thanks. More hand to hand?”

“Sure,” I agreed. “Let’s work on disarming.”

The holo range retracted back into the wall it had come from and we moved onto the mat.

It was all basic stuff, but foundations were important. Mack took to it well and seemed more focused, though she couldn’t manage to get the weapon from me. We tried a few different strategies before finding one that worked.

“I’m trying to kill you,” I told her. “You want to live. Don’t hold back anything.”

“They won’t,” she replied, nodding.

Without warning, Mack lunged and grabbed the gun barrel with her left hand then shoved it to the side. Her right fist flashed out and almost caught me on the chin. I jerked back just in time and her knuckle only grazed me.

“Oh shit, sorry!” she said, loosening her grip on the weapon.

I used the opportunity to sweep her legs and twist around pin her to the mat with one knee. “Never be sorry. If you worry about that, even for an instant, they’ll do what I just did.”

“Ugh,” was all she said.

I got to my feet and helped her up. “That was good work though,” I told her, rubbing my chin.

Mack toweled off the sweat running down the side of her face and pretended to focus on that. When she looked at me, her eyes were dark, and her gaze shifted away quickly.

“What’s up?” I asked, my guard going up at her nervousness.

She flipped the towel around her neck and fiddled with the ends. “I wasn’t sure when to tell you this… but I figured you’d want to know.”

I knew then what she was going to say and steeled myself. “My parents are dead.”

Mack nodded and toed something invisible on the ground. “An attack on their colony about ten years ago.”

“You’re sure?” I asked, afraid my voice would crack from the raw emotion flowing through me.

“Yes. I’m sorry. Their… they were positively identified after. I compared that to available data before the incident. The photos were a match.”

My body seemed to go numb, but I hated the look of concern she now aimed at me, so I forced myself to shrug. “Okay. Thanks for looking into it.”

“Alyss… If you need to talk about it…” she trailed off and dropped her hands helplessly.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “It’s what I expected. Look, I need a shower. See you for the session.”

I left her standing there looking stricken and went back to my quarters. We were supposed to be rationing water for the extended trip, but I needed the hot.

After kicking off my clothes, I stepped into the shower and ratcheted up the temperature as hot as I could take it. As the steam filled the space around me, I waited for the tears to fall.

None did.

Ten minutes later I shut it off and wandered into the room, still feeling numb. Maybe it would hit me later, maybe not. I’d spent a long time shutting down emotions; who knew, maybe I couldn’t even process them anymore.

“Captain, may I be of any assistance?” Vega’s voice came over the comm. “A joke perhaps?”

I wandered over to the large window and sat listlessly. “No thanks, V. Can you just shut off all lights in the room? I want to look out.”

“Of course.” The lights blinked out as she said it.

The computer was getting better at reading me because she didn’t say anything else.

Outside, instead of the chaotic green of the slip stream, I saw the void of space, empty and black but for a few faraway smudges of distant galaxies.

Perfect, I thought.

* * *

Everything went smoothly until the second to last S.G. point. The Junos system lacked any major planets or outposts. Nothing there had been worth the time and expense required to create or keep them up.

Alarms sounded through the ship when the tear opened. On the other side, a nightmare awaited in the form of a giant of a ship and small force of fighters.

“Ravagers!” Calliope hissed.

16

“Son of a bitch,” I growled from the captain’s chair. “We don’t have the time for this.”

“Or the firepower,” Farah commented grimly.

Every single one of the boats was currently aiming their weapons directly at the tear we’d just vacated. It closed behind us and I could almost see the confusion when the Genesis didn’t show up on their displays.

I silently thanked the gods that the cloak allowed us to travel unseen in slip tunnels. “V, talk to me.”

“The Ravager vessels are probing this area,” she advised. “I believe they may detect our energy signature soon if we do not move.”

“It’s always something,” I muttered.

“Are they here for us?” Calliope asked.

I shook my head. “Doubt it. More likely they were just waiting for someone to come through. It’s pretty common. Once they get someone, they usually move on in case the victims got a distress call out or a patrol comes out.”

Ravagers were the bane of the known universe. Dirty, crude, and ruthless, their only goal was to take what everyone else had. They did that through brute strength and violence.

The ships in front of us hardly deserved to be called such, what with their claptrap hulls and mismatching guns. It would be a grave mistake to underestimate them though.

I’d seen Ravager fleets—if you could call them that—take out sleek Union ships and Sarkonian crafts alike. Formations and tactical planning were not part of their repertoire of skills. No, they achieved this by making modifications to their weapons. Highly illegal modifications that went against the Androsia Convention.

One of their favorite attacks involved shooting debris filled projectiles into the hulls of their victims. These had a devastating impact. Not only did they vent the ships, but any person within range of the explosive was torn apart by the shrapnel.

Rudimentary but effective.

“Mack, any bright ideas?” Farah whispered, as though the enemy might hear her.

The hacker studied the holo display and incoming readings, then looked up. “Yeah. Drop power as low as we can and still move.”

“Do it, V,” I commanded.

“We have to treat them like a minefield,” Mack advised. “Maneuver around them. Carefully, though. If we get too close their shields will alarm. “

“Wonderful. Everyone buckle up. If something happens and we lose grav or have to book it I don’t want anyone getting thrown,” I warned.

“What happens if they catch us?” Calliope wondered aloud.

“We’re dead,” Farah answered, casting a grave look my way.

I returned it.

Since the enemy’s ships were coalesced around where the tear opened, it was impossible to go around them without going through some of them. The problem with that was they were in constant flux, probably looking for whatever had caused the tear to open.

Whether they suspected a cloaked ship or not, I couldn’t say. It was just dumb luck that they happened to be at this S.G. point at this time.

Winding our way through them took painstaking movements. An adjustment here, slight tilt of the controls there. It reminded me of the debris field surrounding Safe Haven, and I almost asked Calliope to take over.

The stakes were a little higher this time though, and she looked more than a little nervous. Her hands gripped the harness tightly and her rounded eyes stayed fixed on the holo display.

It occurred to me that she’d probably never seen ravagers up close. Even doing time in the military didn’t guarantee an encounter. I’d served for almost a decade and had only fought or come across them a handful of times.

Once had been a full-scale battle and a rare instance where the Union and Sarkonians teamed up to defeat their common enemy. Another, less violent, brush happened when our unit was coming back from an op in Union territory.

We had no cloak at the time, this being before the Second Genesis—then called the Dreadnight—came to us. The lower grade vessel barely got us out of there before all hell broke loose.

The only thing that saved us was that the ravagers’ attention was split when a Union patrol showed up. The poor bastards were heavily outgunned and their shinier ship promised better loot than ours.

Navari had forbidden us from sending a distress beacon for someone to come pick them up since we couldn’t very well explain our reason for being in their territory without giving ourselves away. The ravagers weren’t known for mercy and I knew the soldiers in the patrol boat had suffered.

I tried not to think about that now with more than two dozen of the bloodthirsty assholes so close.

“Almost through,” I murmured, keeping my hands light on the controls. “Just the big guy now.”

I edged away, putting as much distance between our ship and their behemoth as I could.

“Gods,” Mack said under her breath as we passed close enough for it to show up both on the display and the window.

It wasn’t quite as big as a Union carrier or even the Ambiana, but size only made up one scary thing about it. The entire vessel had been outfitted with massive spikes sticking out at odd angles. They could easily tear through a smaller, less robust vessel.

“What are those?” Calliope asked, motioning at the ship.

At first, I thought she meant the spikes, but when I zoomed in on the external cam it became clear.

Farah’s sharp intake of breath told me she saw it too.

“Corpses,” I said darkly.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of bodies adorned the exterior. Some still had meat on them, their frames crystalized. Others were just skeletons. Ravagers were rumored to be cannibals, and I wondered if the skeletons had been stripped for consumption.

It was a grisly scene and none of us could stop staring. Which was probably why I missed the second cluster of ships hidden behind it and nearly clipped one when we came around the stern.

I might as well have. Our proximity sensors went off, so theirs must have as well. The shields gave off a slight rumble as a precursor warning that we’d gotten too close.

I held my breath waiting to see what the enemy would do. It didn’t take long to find out. They may not have known exactly where we were, but they started shooting anyway.

“Full power, V! The sensors must have told them where to aim,” I grunted, jerking the controls to bring us out of the line of fire.

The Genesis responded almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but we were in big trouble.

The group hanging out near the tear had turned around and were now making their way toward our position, firing in a sweeping line to try and catch us.

“Hold on!” I shouted, dipping our nose down and sending us into a dive.

To anyone not paying attention it would have worked. Unfortunately, the move, while a good one, left behind a trail of fuel exhaust. The ravagers might not be able to see us, but if they knew what to look for and the general direction in which to find it…

Of course, they did.

Farah began activating the guns and preparing to shoot back, but it was hopeless. We might manage to take out a few before we went down, but winning? Out of the question. Our only chance was to run.

“V, how far to the nearest S.G. point?” I barked, narrowly avoiding another stream of fire.

“Approximately four standard hours. I’ve marked the route, though I do not advise taking it. It is almost assured that the combatants will follow.”

“What about in the other direction?” I asked, a plan taking root.

“Twenty standard hours,” Vega replied.

Less than ideal but I had to try.

I shot the Genesis forward, opening up the engines until they roared from the strain. The force pushed us back into our chairs and I struggled to keep the controls pushed away from me.

“What… are… you… doing?” Farah asked, fighting against the massive pressure and forcing the words out one at a time.

I didn’t answer, continuing the hard burn for the next five minutes. The ravagers gave chase but had fallen behind.

It just might be enough time. I hoped.

“You did it,” Cal said breathily. “Why are we changing course?”

“Trust me,” I said. “V, low power again. Just leave me enough to maneuver.”

“Yes, Captain. Initiating low power now,” Vega replied.

The bridge was plunged into semi-dark and I directed us down into the galaxy’s slowest dive.

“I don’t understand,” Calliope whispered.

Farah answered for me. “We couldn’t keep that pace up. You felt that pressure in your head, right?”

Calliope nodded, still looking perplexed. The girls face was flushed from the intense speed we’d been going and her eyes had a glazed over shimmer.

“After too long you would’ve had a brain bleed. Or we would have burned through all the fuel way before the S.G. point,” Farah explained.

Mack understood first. “Oh! You gave them a trail in the most likely direction. Once they pass over, we can backtrack and go to the other tunnel.”

I sucked in a breath and stopped moving as the fleet started to creep up on us again. “Yeah. Let’s just hope I’m far enough underneath them and it works.”

The bridge went silent as the ravager fleet approached. I’d put a fair amount of distance between the dive point and our current position. Enough that we had to watch them on the display instead of out the window.

I found myself barely breathing as one by one each of the ships kept going, rocketing in the closer slip tunnel’s direction. The warship moved slower and seemed to lumber like a giant, though it was still booking it to keep from falling behind. The tension in my chest and shallow breathing prolonged each moment until every second seemed to stretch into a minute. In reality, the entire gamut of ravagers only took a few seconds to pass by, then it was over.

“V, scan for stragglers,” I ordered. “I don’t want to be fooled again.”

“Working. No lingering vessels in the vicinity, Captain,” she informed me.

Releasing a sigh of relief, I sat back, suddenly drained. The whole ordeal had lasted less than an hour, but I felt as though I’d just run the obstacle course at precursor training.

“Well freaking done,” Mack commended me.

“Seriously, that was brilliant!” Calliope mimed applause.

Farah grinned. “This is going to be one of those things you see in the vids.”

“What things?” I asked, confused.

“You know, where we find ourselves in another tight spot, then look at each other,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows like that would make me understand what she meant. She rolled her eyes. “One of us will smile and go ‘remember Junos?’, then the other will know what we need to do.”

Come to think of it, I did remember seeing something like that in one of the action holos I liked.

I laughed. “Gods, I hope to hell not. If we need to do this again that means we’re in deep crap.”

“But if we ever are, we’ll know how to handle it,” she touted, holding up one finger and tilting her head a little.

“Alright, alright. This just put us behind schedule, so I need to let Dunham know,” I said, grimacing slightly.

Instead of calling, I sent the transmission using a text. Her response came a few minutes later. Short and to the point, the answer consisted of one word.

“Copy,” I read aloud, then looked up at my crew. “That’s all it says. Guess we’re still on.”

“What now?” asked Calliope. Her color was back to normal and, to my relief, she looked much more alert.

“Now we’re going to keep them on the scanner. Once they get to the tear we’re going to head for the other tunnel. By then it will be too late for them to catch us, so we’ll be in the clear.” I tilted a glance at the control display and tried not to wince. “If we don’t run out of fuel before we get to Acutus, that is.”

Mack checked the reading and ran some calculations through Vega. “There. We should make it if we take it easy on the way to the next gap. Just let her coast every now and again.”

“Let’s just hope we don’t run into any more trouble,” Farah remarked.

“No kidding,” Mack replied wryly.

I chuckled at that. “Heck of a first mission you chose to join us on, eh?”

17

Every place had their thing. Neblinar was a sanctuary for those who needed it. Taurus station was large enough to maintain a population and run a travel stop. Leah catered to the hedonistic with its late-night patrons and seedy surface.

Acutus specialized in speed and efficiency. No queue 98 long here. The dock master asked our business and scheduled us accordingly with one hour to complete any extracurricular activities. It didn’t take long to see that there really weren’t any to speak of.

Besides restrooms, a restaurant with exactly three choices each for food and drinks and no place to sit, and a gift shop with cheesy souvenirs proclaiming, “I went to the galaxy’s smallest waystation”, the place was bare.

Well, except for the motel. But even that was reserved for workers and those patrons who received approval from the dock master.

The station was too small to accommodate traditional docking. Instead, Acutus completed all services in free space and provided a shuttle to the main installation.

Farah and I had left Mack and Calliope to deal with that while we fetched the two Initiative soldiers.

“So much for stretching my legs,” Farah complained. “I’m pretty sure there’s more room on the ship. Hey, I think those might be our guys.”

I looked in the direction she indicated and had to stop myself from pulling a face. The two men were unshaven, wore dirty jumpsuits, and had unkempt hair. I could practically smell them, and they were at least fifteen meters away.

“They don’t strike me as soldiers,” I said. “They look like freight haulers.”

Freight haulers had a reputation throughout the universe for being foul and grungy. The kind of people that frequented places like Leah to fulfill their fetishes. Men far outweighed the women, who most everybody referred to as “Berthas,” though they shared the same stereotypes.

“Yeah, but I don’t see anyone else,” Farah asserted. “Maybe they’re blending in? We should at least check.”

Resigned, I crossed the small platform to reach them. When the first one noticed us, he elbowed his friend and jerked a chin in our direction.

Dunham had given me a code to use so we could tell that we had the right people, so I led with that.

“Did you guys hire a ride?” As soon as the words left my lips, I knew it was a mistake.

Both men perked up and their eyes roved over me and Farah in an obtrusive leer. “Why, are you offering, little bit?”

My fist curled at my side.

“Sorry, wrong clients,” Farah said, dragging me away.

“We can be your clients!” one of the men called out suggestively.

“That’s it,” I growled.

“Not a good idea,” Farah whispered. “We’ll get kicked out, possibly before we get fuel or our passengers.”

I glowered but relaxed. “Fine. Let’s find them and get the hell out of here.”

“No argument here,” she replied, scanning the platform.

We only waited for fifteen minutes before two tough looking types, one younger, one older, exited the motel. Between the close-cropped haircuts, rugged clothes, and the way they fell into step, it was impossible to mistake them for anything but military.

The older man’s eyes met mine and we exchanged the briefest of nods. It was a subtle thing, the soldier to soldier recognition of shared service, but it told me all I needed to know.

“That’s more like it,” I said.

Farah nodded when she saw where I was looking. “Definitely.”

“This time you’re the one saying the code,” I told her.

No way I would embarrass myself again. The whole code business was stupid to begin with and something they only did in spy holos.

“Guess I deserve that,” Farah allowed.

The soldiers had already noticed us and were waiting for us to reach them before offering a curt nod when Farah repeated the phrase.

“Yes. Pick up for two,” the older man replied.

I jerked a thumb toward the shuttle after checking my wrist unit. “Next one leaves in five minutes.”

We didn’t speak again until the shuttle deposited us back to the Genesis. I introduced myself and Farah, then the rest of the crew.

“Oh, we know who you two are,” the younger grunt said excitedly, motioning to me and Farah. “You were all over the news and gal-net not too long ago. You’re both something of a legend among the ranks. Name’s Aaron Tyndall. Sniper,” he added.

From the fresh face and sprightly attitude, I pegged him to be a little older than Calliope, but not by much.

The older man shot him an exasperated glance. “Stop fawning.” He held out a hand, first to Farah, then to me. “Sorry about that. Kid likes to talk but he’s a helluva shot. I’m Lieutenant Paul Tyndall.”

“You’re related?” Calliope asked, interest lighting her yes.

He smiled at my raised eyebrow. Family members didn’t usually work this close together. For some reason the knowledge made me uncomfortable.

“Yes. My son. Unconventional, I know, though this rebellion is anything but.” Tyndall clapped his son on the shoulder proudly in a show of affection rare for most Sarkonians. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, when it’s time to work we’re all business.”

The break from the social norm spoke volumes about their relationship and cultural shift. Things were changing, I could feel it.

Despite the Lieutenant’s affirmations about their ability to stay objective, I had a few misgivings about the pair. Tyndall and his son were a little more aloof than I’d expected, and I wondered why Dunham had sent them instead of more seasoned soldiers. I would have been just fine with a member of the void or a couple of spec operatives like me and Farah.

I kept my thoughts to myself, however, remembering how I’d misjudged Calliope. Besides, there was no changing it now.

Our scheduled departure time arrived just after Tyndall Senior and Aaron were settled in their quarters. Without enough seats on the bridge, they would have to secure themselves there or in the small lounge.

Finally, we were on our way to Sarkon. I sent another transmission to Dunham, letting her know, and got the same response.

We were still a day behind and three more away from the capital planet. That gave us less than a week to prepare for Kaska’s arrival once we got there.

I waited until we hit the first slip tunnel to turn in. My mind and body were exhausted, but sleep wouldn’t come. For a while I just laid there trying to force it.

I kept seeing Paul Tyndell and the casual ease with which he interacted with his son. The uncomfortable feeling returned, a slight pang.

What’s that about?

An image of Farah and Jax flashed in my mind, quickly followed by Eleanor touching her son’s face in awe. I felt the same pang.

Was I… jealous?

The thought disturbed me. I told myself it was because of what Mack had told me, that my parents were dead. Not wanting to face the emotion that threatened to close my throat and choke me, I reached into the cabinet.

Farah had given me sleep meds for my recovery that never got taken. I swallowed a couple dry and lay back down. Five minutes later, I floated into peaceful oblivion.

* * *

“Alyss, wake up.”

I sat up with a start to see Farah standing over me. She had a hand on my shoulder and studied me with concerned eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked, scrubbing at my face to wake myself up.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she told me, still eyeing me as if I might fall apart. “You’ve just been out for like ten hours. V said you took something, so I came to check on you.”

“Ten hours?” I said stupidly.

“Yeah. Everyone is on the bridge. We wanted to wait for you before working on a plan for Sarkon.”

I yawned and tried to clear away the last cobwebs of sleep. “A plan?”

“Yeah,” she repeated. “Dunham sent an update.”

That did it. It was what I’d been waiting for. Perked up like I’d taken one of her uppers, I bolted out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. “Be on the bridge in five.”

“Don’t forget to use two of those on your teeth!” she called through the door.

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”

Five minutes later, I stood on the bridge with an enerdrink in hand, studying the new information.

There wasn’t much more on Kaska’s visit to Sarkon except for a confirmed plan for his arrival date and itinerary for meeting with the Emperor.

“He’s getting in the day before the meeting,” the Lieutenant said.

The serious tone in his voice caught my attention and I watched him with interest. Something was different about the man today. Aside from his tone, he stood at the display with the confidence of a man used to being in charge. All traces of lightheartedness from the day before were gone. In its place, I saw pure soldier.

His previous words came to mind. When it’s time to work, we’re all business. Maybe that was true after all.

As I watched his keen eyes analyze the data, I realized that while Dunham referred to the elder Tyndell as her lieutenant, he could very well be a someone with much higher rank within the government. It was something to consider. I made a mental note to make sure we added both him and his son to our growing list of Solaris Initiative operatives.

“And staying in his personal residence,” I added, stepping closer. “Funny, I didn’t peg him as the type to have one.”

I was a little surprised at that. The man didn’t have a marriage on record, and I doubted he had a girlfriend. If the Vice-Admiral planned to go after the Emperor, it made more sense for him to stay in the palace and I said as much.

Farah agreed. “Tactically it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why stay away?”

“It could be part of the plan,” Calliope pointed out. “We already know he has people in his pocket. Kaska might be leaving the heavy lifting to them so he can keep his hands clean.”

I considered that for a moment. That scenario could work, but it didn’t fit smoothly enough for me.

From the set of Lieutenant Tyndell’s jaw I could tell he felt the same.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I agree he has the opportunity here, but the timing is off.”

“How do you mean?” asked Mack. She’d been silent until then and sitting in her crew chair listening to us discuss. Now she joined us at the command center, taking the open spot next to Aaron.

“Think about it. Everything Kaska has done up to this point was part of a larger plan.” I didn’t elaborate about Navari’s files, which would just open a line of questioning I wouldn’t answer. “As Mack already pointed out, killing Proscerios wouldn’t garner Kaska the Emperorship. There’s protocol to follow.”

I stopped to let everyone else chew on that idea.

“So, you think we’re getting all geared up for nothing?” the elder Tyndell asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Too many missing pieces. It’s certainly possible that he’s here for the meeting and the meeting only. It would establish his place in the Emperor’s circle. Could be he plans to take his time there and use the younger kid’s naivety to his advantage.”

“But you don’t think that,” he pressed.

I shook my head. “No. He’s too calculating and purposeful for that. There has to be something we just can’t see yet.”

Farah’s eyes met mine and I knew she got my meaning. I was thinking of Kaska’s multi-layered and carefully planned “disasters.”

“What about the ingot?” Calliope asked suddenly.

We all turned to look at her.

Mack pulled up the plans and waved at them. “According to a message smuggled out from one of the labs, they figured out how to weaponize it.”

“That’s pretty big,” Farah said, frowning. “Looks like something that would be mounted on an armored transport.”

“He may not plan to bring it to Sarkon at all,” the lieutenant pointed out. “Nothing we’ve uncovered suggests he would use such a weapon on the Empire’s most important planet.”

Unfortunately, I found myself agreeing, though it was still possible he would bring it simply to keep it close. In fact, it dawned on me that it would be the perfect place for him to bring it.

“He may not plan to use it there, but he might consider it safer to keep it with him. Or close by,” I mused, looking around the group. Doesn’t the palace have scanners for bombs?”

Mack came to attention and nodded sharply. “Yes, absolutely. If Kaska tried to take that thing inside the palace, they’d detect it in a heartbeat.”

“You think he’s planning to stash it in the house,” a quiet voice said.

It was Aaron, making just the kind of observation I’d expect from a sniper. He’d been so quiet that I wondered whether the guy was even listening. Apparently, he had been. Now that he looked right at me, I could see the same sharpness in his eyes as his father’s.

I nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Come a day early, lock the weapon up, then leave some guards behind when you go to the meeting.”

Lieutenant Tyndell smiled, the first show of emotion since I’d walked onto the bridge. “Dunham has more soldiers on the way,” he said. “With them it shouldn’t be too hard to breach the house. If it goes right, Kaska won’t even know what happened until we’re back in slip space.”

I smiled back, showing my teeth. “I like that. A lot. If you send Dunham that info, we can start planning the operation.”

“Wait,” Farah said, holding up a hand. “Just for the sake of argument, what if he still plans to kill Proscerios? I know we all have our issues with Sarkon, but wouldn’t Kaska taking over be worse?”

Tyndell didn’t answer right away.

“You don’t plan to stop it,” I guessed.

“The weapon is our first priority,” he said shortly before looking away.

It might have just been me, but I thought I saw a flash of regret.

“Maius bonum,” Calliope said quietly.

“Huh?” I asked, more than a little confused.

“It means ‘greater good,’” she clarified, a hard look in her eyes, face set in grim lines. “Sometimes we have to let a lesser evil pass in order to do what’s better for society as a whole.”

I didn’t care for how much the usually cheerful girl reminded me of Dunham in that moment when she talked about the train. Maybe she had a point, maybe she didn’t. The ingot powered weapon couldn’t stay in Kaska’s hands, that was for sure. But I couldn’t think of a single scenario where him at the helm of the Empire was the lesser evil.

18

When we reached the last tunnel that would take us to Sarkon, I hesitated to open the tear.

“A, what are you doing?” Farah asked, angling her head to give me a questioning look.

“Something on my mind,” I muttered, tapping my fingers lightly on the controls.

In truth, I’d been on edge since our brush with the ravagers. I really disliked being taken by surprise. Neither did I like making the same mistake twice.

I knew there wouldn’t be any ravagers at the other end of this particular tunnel, but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t be waiting. Even if there weren’t, the way our luck had been going, who was to say a patrol didn’t pass by at the exact time we left? That would tip the Sarkonians off really quick.

We had to assume that the entire military had been briefed on the fact that two fugitives stole a cloak-enabled ship and knew what to look for.

“Captain, your passengers are requesting to know why we have stopped,” said Vega.

Both the Tyndells had decided to buckle up in the lounge rather than their room.

“Call them in here,” I instructed, swiveling in my chair to face the door.

Since I hadn’t given an explanation for my irregular behavior, Mack and Calliope were avoiding looking at me. They no doubt thought I’d lost it. I didn’t feel like explaining my idea twice though, so they just had to wait.

Aaron and his father entered the bridge with twin expressions of mild concern, and I held up a hand before they could ask what the matter was.

“There’s no emergency,” I said, addressing the room. “But I am apprehensive about going through the tunnel.”

I explained my reasoning, after which the lieutenant spoke first.

“We don’t really have much of a choice,” he pointed out. “If we try to take a different one it will be too late.”

“I know,” I agreed. “One of Dunham’s ships is coming through this way. I was thinking we could hitch a ride.”

Mack nodded. “That would work. If the Genesis stays close enough to the other ship the tear will stay open a few seconds longer.”

That was exactly the answer I’d been hoping for.

“You wanna set that up, LT?” I asked. “They’re more familiar with you, I’m guessing.”

He did, and we soon found ourselves waiting for an escort. The other ship was already in this system and streaking toward the tunnel. I’d sent out a warning about the ravager in hopes of saving others a grisly fate, but it was only stalling the inevitable. Even if the deranged monsters didn’t get anyone today, it was only a matter of time.

Thankfully, the Harkness arrived sooner rather than later. She wasn’t a large vessel, perhaps only half a size bigger than the Genesis, but she was plenty big enough for our purposes. Since we were still cloaked, the other ship had to send out a short-range message.

“This is Captain Ellis. Anyone in the area needing a chaperone?”

That matched the hail we’d agreed on and the elder Tyndell answered back. After a quick verification that they were indeed part of the Initiative, we were going through the tear.

Those of us on the bridge watched to see what would happen when two ships, one cloaked, went through. Like Mack predicted, it wasn’t very noticeable. We followed the Harkness inside, keeping as close as was safe. The tear did its usual thing and sealed itself up when both ships were completely inside.

The next S.G. point deposited us in the middle of the Berrien system, roughly six million kilometers from the capital planet. Most people just called the system Sarkon.

As anyone who grew up in the Empire knew, Berrien consisted of five planets, three habitable, two not. Coryza, one of the uninhabitable planets, lay beyond the S.G. point we’d just exited. It was the furthest from this system’s star and so cold only a few attempts at colonization had been made. Gigas was the other, a gas giant with an atmosphere so toxic that no ship could penetrate it before breaking down.

Das and Simira were the two other colonized planets besides Sarkon. Das served as a small mining institution, though I couldn’t remember what resources it offered. Simira was similar to Calliope’s home world of Acre, its entire surface devoted to agriculture.

Vega’s initial scan captured all of this, along with every ship in the system. On the holo display, she marked anything without armaments in green, yellow for anything with them but too far away to matter, and all ships in our direct path were red.

Even at this distance, Sarkon was visible, glittering in the distance, despite the fact that it was a large sandy ball with three moons. Though I’d grown up there and spent my academy years on planet, it didn’t feel like home. Seeing it didn’t evoke any feelings beyond those I usually felt before a mission.

“Have you heard anything about Diana?” Farah asked quietly.

I looked at her in surprise. “No. I haven’t exactly tried, though. All of her communications are monitored.”

“Oh, right. Maybe Mack can help you get a message to her,” my friend suggested.

Guilt worked its way through me. My adoptive mother was the only adult who had shown me any kindness and love. Or the closest thing to it. As much as the general allowed, anyway. I recalled her last words to me after my arrest and court martial.

“It’ll be okay,” she’d told me in an act of defiance against her husband. Almost like she knew what I was planning and wanted to give me permission.

Did she think I was really a terrorist? While I couldn’t claim to feel the bond of a daughter to her mother, I did care about her and what she thought of me. I decided she knew me better than that.

It nagged me that Farah brought her up. She stared fixedly at the display and I got the distinct feeling she did it to avoid looking at me. Then it hit me.

She knew.

Mack must have told her about my parents. As usual, she was trying to make me feel better. Reminding me that Diana was my consolation prize didn’t do much to soften the blow, but I appreciated the gesture.

Farah’s big heart was one of the reasons I loved her so much. It had taught me early on that not all Sarkonians were alike, no matter how hard the government tried to make it so.

“Yeah, I’ll ask her,” I replied, attempting to sound casual. “V, let me know about any suspicious activity. I know there’s a lot of traffic but keep an eye out.”

“Yes, Captain. May I ask what fits as ‘suspicious’?” the AI asked.

“Mainly the patrol ships,” I told her. “If they break pattern or appear to be doing more scans, I want to know about it.”

This was where we needed to be most careful. Sarkon was the most important planet in the Empire and its namesake. The Emperor lived there, and a large fleet of fighters stayed in orbit at all times in case the Union or some other threat came knocking.

Us just hanging out in the vicinity was dangerous enough, but we planned to do recon and run scans on the planet’s surface. Much like the ravager encounter, one wrong move could get us killed here.

The Genesis had already started decelerating so we wouldn’t shoot past the planet and have to double back. No other delays befell us, and we arrived with three days to go before Kaska’s arrival.

Farah and I had run enough ops using the cloak to be almost comfortable passing into enemy territory. The others aboard our ship were not.

Calliope seemed especially nervous as we trailed behind the Harkness and cruised by the first round of Sarkonian defense. It was too dense to actually see them in the black stretch of space, especially since they were thousands of kilometers away. So, she kept her eyes glued to the display, watching for any sign of movement.

The lieutenant also watched the holo, just not as fastidiously as Calliope. He seemed more impressed than anything. I wanted to ask where he’d served, planet side or on a boat, but thought it would be rude.

Aaron was easier to guess even though he tried to hide it. I’d caught the kid staring out a viewport and the walls of the slip tunnel more than once on the way in. That was something only newbies to slip travel did. Each time he’d gotten embarrassed and pretended to be looking for something in his pockets until I finally told him to just enjoy it.

His reaction to being in Sarkonian space was a little more subtle. He alternated between studying the display and searching through the nearest viewport for signs of activity. To anyone looking at his face, he looked for all the worlds like a rocksteady soldier, but I saw the way his hands tightened every time we approached a red marker.

I, on the other hand, almost relaxed. Our ruse wasn’t foolproof—who knew that better than me? —but I enjoyed our small stroke of luck while we had it.

We stayed with the Harkness until they were past the majority of Sarkon’s defense fleet and preparing to join the docking queue. I took the controls back in hand and reluctantly left the relative security of our temporary security blanket.

“Alright,” I said. “Time to get to work.”

* * *

The first thing we did was locate Kaska’s residence. Vice-Admirals’ private home coordinates were not available to the general public. As Mack said, you couldn’t just look them up in the local directory. Added to that, any searches for them would send up a red flag.

“I don’t get it,” Calliope said after she’d been at it a few hours. “Can’t you just find a backdoor into their network?”

The hacker looked up slowly from her station and fixed a withering stare at the girl that could have rivaled any drill instructor. “That’s not how it works. Don’t believe everything you see in the holo vids.”

After that, Calliope didn’t ask any more questions and Mack worked her magic before the day was out.

“Got it,” she said, slapping a hand down in triumph.

The property began to render on the holo display, finishing in a few spare seconds.

“It looks big,” Farah said as the rest of our little team crowded around to see.

She was right. The house alone looked like a mansion and I was reminded of the wealthy community on Sobek. It rose two sweeping stories off the ground with elegant stonework. The open rooftop was swathed in drapes of fabric to stave off the suns.

The house sat in the middle of the property, surrounded by trees on two sides and an outbuilding on the east facing side. The entry road circled around to the only open side that faced north.

“It is,” Mack confirmed. “He’s got ten acres there, located about 40 kilometers from the palace.”

“Lots of space and privacy,” I commented. “Can we pick up what’s in outbuilding with a scan?”

Mack tapped on her data pad a few times and came up with a rough image, then made a “huh” noise. “I have no idea,” she said.

Three silhouettes were lined up neatly, their bulk taking up most of the structure. I thought they might have four metal legs with a round drum in the middle, but I couldn’t be certain. They looked to be machinery, but nothing I recognized.

“Me either,” I said, giving up.

Farah squinted at the image and tilted her head. “Is that some kind of farm equipment, Cal?”

Calliope made a face and shrugged. “It doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen,” she admitted. “Though I suppose it could be a planter or something.”

“Kaska doesn’t strike me as the manual labor type, and I don’t see any fields,” I reasoned.

Lieutenant Tyndell nodded. “It’s probably left over from the previous owner or used for landscaping. I say we move on. Aaron, where do you want to set up?”

“I need to do some research before I can say,” he said, pulling out a data pad and holding it up.

“Go ahead,” I said, sending him off. “Mack, did you get any schematics?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, no. The location was hard enough. Maybe if I had more time…”

I waved that away. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve worked with less before.”

“How do we get in?” Calliope asked.

“I propose a night operation,” I said, looking to see if anyone had an idea.

“It’s what we do best,” Farah agreed.

“Any intel on security?” the lieutenant asked, directing the question at Mack.

“Nada,” she answered, curling her hand to make a zero. “Vega might be able to pick up something with her scanners, but more than likely you’ll have to get in close.”

If the elder Tyndell noticed Mack’s informal response, he didn’t show it.

As for the lack of intel? Well, I hadn’t expected anything less. That was just the way things went sometimes. Or, as we often found out, in most cases.

“I’d rather get as close as we can, then hunker down until he leaves for the meeting,” I said. “If we try to mess with his security, we run the risk of setting something off. If that happens before he’s with the Emperor, he’ll bring everything down on us that he can.”

“I agree,” Tyndell said. “If the alarm is tripped while he’s indisposed, no one will interrupt the meeting.”

“I’ve been timing travel,” Mack chimed in. “It’s going to take him at least twenty minutes to get to or from the palace to his place. Approximately.”

I played it out in my head. “The foundation is good. Now we just need to tweak until it’s perfect.”

“That’s about what we need,” Farah said dryly.

19

Sarkon was plentiful in two things: sand and mountains. The terrain gave us plenty of pockets where the Genesis could set down long enough to drop us off, then take off again. Even if someone noticed the disruption of dirt from the engines, they’d likely write it off as one of the many wind funnels that started and stopped sporadically.

Once on the ground, we moved by foot toward our first destination: a cave that Mack had pointed out as a good place to stay out of sight and out of the sun until we could move under the cover of night.

Mack stayed behind so she could monitor things from the sky and not get pulled into combat, if it came down to that. She’d balked at first, but Farah and I had finally convinced her that we needed her in the sky keeping an eye out for us.

It was nearly dusk. The twin suns beat down on us as we walked, getting in their last licks before night could fall and grant some relief. The sweltering heat made the hike uncomfortable and it was compounded by the heavy packs we carried.

“Jeez,” Calliope complained, wiping sweat from her brow. “You could’ve warned me about the heat.”

“At least it’s a dry heat,” I said then chuckled. “It could be humid too. Besides, we grew up here. It doesn’t really bother us. Well, me at least.”

Farah, Lieutenant Tyndell, and Aaron all murmured their assent.

I wasn’t exaggerating. Every Sarkonian trained here throughout academy and precursor training. We built up a tolerance to the heat which helped for ops like this. The flip side of that credit chip was that we didn’t do so well in the cold.

“Not that I blame you,” I continued. “Believe me, I’ll take the starry ocean any day. The Genesis is always temp controlled.”

Calliope didn’t respond, just pulled out a bottle of water and took a big gulp.

I paused to give her a minute and used the time to survey our surroundings and check them with my wrist unit. A quick glance told me we were still headed in the right direction.

Directly ahead lay an expanse of rock that rose up to form a ridge. It wasn’t particularly high, unlike the mountains behind us, but Aaron had chosen it for his high ground. Once night hit, he would separate from us and go stake out a spot to hunker down until the op started.

The plan for the rest of us was to scout the perimeter of Kaska’s property and identify where his security system might be most vulnerable. When that was done or dawn arrived, whichever came first, we would return to the cave.

Mack would watch from above and let us know when Kaska left for his meeting with the Emperor. We knew exactly what pace was needed to reach the property. From there, we would wait until the meeting started, then breach the house. If all went well, we’d be in and out before either a patrol or Kaska could get there.

“You good?” I asked Calliope.

“Yeah,” she said. “I think I’m getting used to it.”

We crossed the rock and sand filled terrain, careful not to disturb any animals. Many were harmless, but there were plenty that could take out a full-grown human.

Just about everyone I knew had been stung at least once by a sand hornet. Vicious little things the size of a baby’s fist, the venom in their stingers felt like a bullet wound.

Growlers also roamed these parts. They maxed out at knee height but had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that could slice through flesh and rend muscles from bone in a single bite. Known to travel in packs, the small animal had four legs and moved fast. If you wanted to keep your limbs, then you better be a good shot.

Some animals didn’t attack unless they were provoked, like the sand serpent, but its venom was deadly. One bite could kill a person if they didn’t have a way to get medical aid quickly.

Yet more reasons to prefer the ship to being planet side. The worst thing you could get on a ship was rats, and cats took care of those. The Ambiana had even had a cattery to deal with the rat problem.

Thankfully, we didn’t see any of the vermin that could have made for a rough hike and we reached the crepuscular cave without issue. It didn’t connect to a system and was therefore shallow—more of a rock shelter than cave.

That was just fine with me. I considered myself a good soldier. Going up against enemies that outsized or outnumbered me didn’t bother me, but the dark did. Not enough that I couldn’t do what needed done, but it still made me uncomfortable.

This cave’s mouth opened wide in a permanent yawn, letting plenty of light in. Much to Calliope’s relief, it was still cool inside and relatively clean. We did clear away a few piles of dried leaves and sticks, which I concluded used to be part of a den. Whatever had used the cave was long gone though, and we settled in to hydrate and eat an MRE until dusk came.

“What did you get?” Farah asked me, jerking her chin at the package in my hand.

I checked the bag and grinned. “Pepperoni pizza. You?”

She studied her meal and grimaced.

“C’mon, it can’t be that bad,” I teased.

We both knew that wasn’t true. Especially when you bought them in bulk, as we did. The sellers more often than not threw in packages at random. The upside was that there was a variety, the downside being that you might get something gross.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she replied. “It’s a surprise.”

“What kind? I usually like tuna myself. We can trade if you want,” Aaron offered.

She held out the package and pointed at the name. “It seriously just says ‘Surprise.’”

Aaron laughed. “I’m still okay with it. Mine is shredded meat in sweet sauce.”

Farah wrinkled her nose. “No, that’s okay. I’m sure it’s fine.”

It turned out to be meatball surprise, which she actually liked, so that worked out well. The four of us swapped mission stories to pass the time and I couldn’t help but feel pretty good inside.

The lieutenant told us about the time his jump rig had malfunctioned during a training exercise.

“So, I was flipping through the air while trying to get the stupid wings to come out,” he said, motioning with hands to demonstrate. “I thought for sure I was dead. That’s when I spotted only thing close enough to aim for. The women’s barracks.”

“I’ve heard this story a million times,” Aaron said, leaning over to whisper so he didn’t interrupt.

“And as you know,” Tyndell continued, “those buildings are for shit. Built cheap as the government can get them. Anyway, the wings finally decide to open, but by then it’s too late. The most they did was break my fall and I crashed right through the roof! Of course, lucky me, I landed in the shower room. Gave all the girls a good scare. That’s the last thing you expect to happen when you’re naked. Most of them went running for towels.”

Aaron groaned. “I hate this part. Watch, he’s going to wink at me in a second.”

I was smirking, trying to keep from laughing out loud at his commentary.

The lieutenant got a dreamy look on his face. “All but one. The most beautiful soldier I’d ever seen. She walked over without a stitch on and checked on me like an angel. Your mother,” he said to Aaron.

Right on cue, he winked, and I lost it.

By that time everyone was laughing, and Farah decided to tell them the tale from academy. An older girl had picked a fight with me trying to impress her friends. I remembered the incident vividly. I’d tried to deescalate the situation, but the girl wouldn’t leave it alone.

“There’s Alyss, a whole head shorter than this broad, telling her all calm-like ‘if you don’t back off, I’m going to expect a thank you when you get a week off of studies in the infirmary.” Farah was holding her stomach and struggling to finish the story because she was laughing so hard.

“I warned her,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, it didn’t end up being a whole week. Like four days or something.”

Everyone had a good chuckle at that and I grinned at the scene. As much as I’d hated being a pawn for the government, I liked being a soldier. I was good at it. Moments like this, when a team came together and just shot the shit for a while before an op went down made for the best memories.

The light coming in began to wane, stretching the shadows until they disappeared. With the onset of twilight, the temperature dropped to more acceptable levels and we packed up our little camp.

“Mack, do you read me?” I said into the comm, hefting my pack and signaling to the others it was time to move out.

“Loud and clear,” she responded.

“Anything new show up on the scans?” I asked, adjusting my visor before switching it on.

“Not yet. If anything starts to come your way, I'll give you a shout.”

I liked knowing she was our eye in the sky. Vega could warn us of potential issues on the ground and monitor the skies, but she lacked the human component. Even when she ran probabilities, it only gave her estimations on the best scenario based on mathematics.

Not that I was complaining. The computer saved our butts on a regular basis and made for a remarkably good travel companion. Even if she did rat me out to Farah occasionally. The point was, I felt better knowing she had Mack as a counterpart to watch our backs.

We filed out of the cave and picked our way through a dry ravine in the last of the fast fading light. Two of Sarkon’s three moons hung in the sky, both crescents. My visor automatically adjusted to night mode, so I didn’t fall on my ass or twist an ankle.

The city was too far for its light pollution to be seen, and the only sounds came from us and the surrounding nature. It was peaceful. That wouldn’t last much longer, I mused. Not that peace usually did.

Just before we crested the sand ridge that would take us to the edge of Kaska’s property I signaled everyone to stop. Standing at the top of the ridge would have given us a decent view, but we’d have been visible as well. There was always the off chance that we’d missed a well-placed guard and I didn’t want to tempt fate.

“This is your stop,” I told Aaron. “Happy hunting.”

The sniper nodded. He moved silently into the dark, almost seeming to meld with the terrain. Not quite like Dolph, the Void operative who disappeared with such ease that he could have been a ghost, but close.

All business, I thought to myself.

The rest of us continued to the top of the ridge and took up prone positions to get a feel for the land with our own eyes instead of a holo image. The house itself lay less than a kilometer away.

“V, show me everything,” I instructed.

My HUD lit up instantly. A line of green started below us and continued, highlighting the perimeter of the property in squarish shape. Small tags hovered over the house and outbuilding, along with color markers for terrain.

“Looks dark,” Tyndell said. “Still no sign of movement since the cleaning crew left.”

“Alleged cleaning crew,” I murmured.

Earlier that day a group of people in professional uniforms had come to the house. From the scans, we surmised they were there to get the house in order.

“Man, you really are paranoid,” Calliope said lightly.

“No, she’s right,” Farah interjected. “We’ve used that tactic more than a few times, and it works. Most rich people don’t give servants a second look.”

That had been the reason behind my thinking too. A spec ops team disguised as the cleaners would have no problem at all getting in and setting up additional security measures. Hell, I’d seen one of them roll a cart into the house plenty big enough to hide a person. Calliope might be right about my paranoia, but she’d be thanking me if it saved her ass.

“Watchbird to command, I’m in the first position with a clear view,” Aaron said over the comm.

As the night progressed, he would find vantage points along the ridge and earmark them with notes on what each had to offer.

“Copy that,” I told him, then to the others I said, “let’s go. Stick to the plan. Don’t cross the perimeter, and if you’re not sure about something, err on the side of caution.”

At everyone’s acknowledgement, I started down the hill to Vice-Admiral-Kaska’s property.

20

I stopped just outside the green perimeter marking on the east portion of the property. Lieutenant Tyndell stood next to me with a scanner in hand while I kept watch.

We were looking for any sign of equipment Kaska may have set up to protect the place, but so far, we hadn’t found anything.

Farah and Calliope were on the other side doing the same thing. If anyone got a hit, they would mark the area to alert the other team, then send the scan to Mack for analysis. The scanners only had a few meters worth of range, so we would have to keep doubling back to make sure we got everything. As the area was cleared, the green perimeter widened to mark it safe.

Sarkonian landscaping usually stayed simple and ranged from keeping the sand at bay to strategically placing the more aesthetically pleasing rocks. Kaska’s land was mostly flat and covered in rocky patches to offset the shifting layers of sand that created miniature dunes. The trees we saw on the holo rendering made up the largest natural landscape, but they were of typical Sarkonian-native variety. Rough and hardy to withstand the dry climate of the planet, with dark green foliage that no one would accuse of being lush.

Tyndell and I rotated positions every fifteen minutes to stay sharp, and I took the scanner before crossing the last of our section’s outward perimeter. I stepped carefully, as though it were an enemy tripwire, and hesitated on the other side, but nothing happened.

It was slow, tedious work, but it had to be done. The house sat quietly in the middle of my HUD among the markers and glowing lines like some kind of neon labyrinth. We continued to work our way inward, still not finding anything.

I didn’t know yet if that was a good or bad thing. Good if Kaska was too cocky to think the rebellion would be ballsy enough to come after him here, bad if we’d missed something.

I’d given the scanner back to Tyndell a few minutes prior and he held it out in front, sweeping it from side to side as we approached the small line of trees.

Aside from the occasional cross breeze, nothing moved. I got the sense that we were alone, at least people wise, whatever security cameras were yet to be found notwithstanding. Still, I didn’t let that lull me into a false sense of security. If someone was here, they had avoided detection thus far and were, by my logic, very good at what they did.

Tyndell waved a hand at me to get my attention since we were radio silent for the time being. He pointed at the scanner and nodded to let me know he had something.

“Running an analysis now,” Mack said over the comms.

Just to be on the safe side, I sent a text message to the team’s wrist units ordering them to stay put until we knew what we were dealing with.

“Ah,” Mack murmured. “Trying to be sneaky. Gimme just a minute. I’d explain, but it would take too long.”

I smirked in the darkness at the playful dig, recalling Mack saying that to Calliope earlier.

“Okay, guys. Here’s the deal. I can’t shut it off without tipping off whoever is monitoring it.” She paused as though waiting for someone to chime in, then seemed to remember we wouldn’t answer and continued. “But I can reduce the range on it and give you a diameter to avoid.”

Do it, I replied using my wrist unit.

“All done,” she announced a few seconds later. “Updating your visors now.”

A pulsating circle of red appeared in my field of vision before she finished talking. I sent out the order to continue scanning.

It didn’t take much longer for Farah and Calliope to find the next one. It was the same as our team had found, and Mack repeated her process.

After that, the discoveries came in quicker succession. By the time the first sun appeared on the horizon, we had another perimeter, all marked in red. I didn’t want to push our luck by going deeper into the property, so we called it a night. Everyone was tired and would need some rest before Kaska arrived the next day anyway.

We trudged back in the direction of the cave, climbing the ridge as dawn broke. I took one last look at the red circles forming a larger one around the house and outbuilding, then continued down the other side.

* * *

Mack woke us five hours later to tell us when Kaska’s ship exited the S.G. point and entered the system.

I came alert pretty quickly and pushed up from my bedroll. A deep stretch rewarded me with several pops and cracks that made me wince.

“Ouch,” said Farah through a yawn. “I heard that all the way over here.”

“It felt good though,” I replied. When she stood up and had a similar experience, I laughed. “We must be getting old.”

Calliope jumped with more bounce than was normal for someone who’d just spent the night in a cave, and I grimaced. “I feel fine,” she boasted.

“Me too,” agreed Aaron, bobbing his head.

He and Calliope both looked a lot fresher than I felt, that was for sure.

“Disrespectful,” Tyndell muttered. The older man didn’t quite groan while getting up from his sleep spot, but he looked distinctly uncomfortable.

“Need an aspirin or something?” I asked. “Farah has plenty.”

He nodded sheepishly and said, “I think I do. It’s been a minute since I worked a mission like this.”

“Not for us, and believe me, I’m feeling it,” I told him.

Farah passed the medication and a bottle of water over with a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry about it. It happens to the best of us. Besides, I’ve always heard that kids can sleep anywhere.” She said that last part with a sly grin.

“We’re not that much younger than you,” Calliope mumbled.

Farah passed out another round of MREs, breakfast edition. It went down faster than the night before without the war stories and belly laughs. The tone stayed light, though I expected that to change with the Vice-Admiral’s arrival to the surface.

We packed up camp again and cleaned the cave, careful not to leave anything behind, even trash. If things went bad and we couldn’t get back, I didn’t want to be out any equipment. That, and Farah was a stickler about litter.

It was another hot walk under the suns without a single cloud to provide relief. On the positive side, our packs got lighter as we worked through the water supply and the visors mostly kept the suns at bay.

We were halfway to the ridge before the first sign of bad luck reared its asshole head. I was leading the group along the same route and thinking about various Kaska scenarios when I heard it. The unmistakable buzz of a large, flying insect.

I stopped short and whipped my head around to look for the source. Everyone but Calliope was doing the same. She took the opportunity to take a swig from her water bottle.

“What are you guys doing?” she asked, wiping at her damp face. “It’s just a bug—”

The girl’s eyes went wide and her face contorted with pain. The bottle slipped and fell to the ground and rolled away. A short scream escaped Calliope’s lips before she clapped one hand over her mouth and reached up with the other to paw at the nape of her neck.

Aaron got there first, combat knife in hand. He spun her around, revealing the sand hornet. It was roughly the size of my hand in length and covered Calliope’s neck.

“Don’t move, Cal,” I cautioned.

She didn’t move or speak, except to tremble in pain.

Aaron used his knife to slice the monstrous brown insect in half. He ripped the top part away and ground it underfoot before working on the stinger end.

Sand hornet stingers were a nasty piece of nature’s work. Barbs ran the length of the appendage, which cause more damage when pulled out.

“I’m sorry,” the sniper told Calliope, “but I need to make an incision. Don’t worry, I’ve done this loads of times.”

Somehow, I didn’t think that comforted her.

Lieutenant Tyndell sent me a brief nod, silently confirming his son’s ability. Normally, Farah would have been the one to administer this kind of field triage, but Aaron seemed to know what he was doing, so I let it go.

I could tell the exact moment he cut Calliope because she went rigid in an attempt not to jerk. I had to give her credit though—she didn’t make a single sound.

“There, got it.” Aaron stepped back and tossed the rest of the blood covered body on the ground.

“I don’t… feel so good.” Calliope wavered a little, then started to fall.

Aaron caught her before she hit the ground and sat down gently with the girl’s small frame in his arms. Farah crossed the short distance with her medic supply bag already open. She came up with an injector that I assumed held antivenom. No medic worth her salt would travel without one, at least on Sarkon.

Once that was administered near where the hornet had stung Calliope, Farah worked on cleaning the wound, disinfecting it and applying clotting powder. Aaron had to help because Calliope was writhing in pain. Farah taped a dressing on then reached into her kit for two more things.

Another injection of what had to be a pain suppressant calmed Calliope almost immediately.

“Sorry, Cal. I had to get the antivenom in first before it caused permanent damage. The pain meds are going to make you drowsy, so I need you to take this upper.” Farah picked up the water and handed it to her, along with a pill.

Calliope took them both with shaking hands and swallowed the pill. It was then that she seemed to realize that she was in Aaron’s lap. “Ah, thanks. I can get up now, I think.”

Farah shook her head. “No. Kid, you just got a nasty cocktail introduced to your body. Take a few.”

Nodding feebly, Calliope agreed.

I felt bad for her. Sand hornets were no joke. One had gotten me on the leg when I was a kid. The agony had been so intense that I remembered thinking I was dying. Of course, Major Delgado—he hadn’t made general yet—only allowed Diana to administer first aid. Comfort would make me weak and if I was going to be a Delgado, I needed to be tough.

That night, after he’d been called away, she’d snuck me chocolate and read me a story until I fell asleep. I’d forgotten about that. Maybe I should have Mack put some feelers out to check on Diana.

“Is she going to be okay?” the hacker asked over the comm, breaking into my reverie as though she’d heard my thoughts.

“She’ll be fine,” Farah answered. “It was a big one, I’ll give the bastard that. Good thing Aaron was so quick to get it out. Cal got a full dose of the antidote pretty fast, so she’ll be on her feet in no time.”

“That’s great news,” Mack replied. “Just a heads up, Kaska is less than an hour out.”

“Don’t forget that he’s going to get a pass to the front of the line,” Tyndell warned. “Vice-Admiral perks and all that.”

We weren’t far from the ridge, so I wasn’t too worried about the time. As long as Calliope was able to start walking soon, it would work.

“If you need to go on ahead, I can catch up,” she said, misinterpreting my pensive look.

“I don’t leave members of my team behind,” I told her.

That was the gods’ honest truth, too. After Commander-Navari left Mateo on Harah station, I’d sworn never to let that happen again.

Calliope didn’t say anything, but her relief was obvious.

“Mack, you and V just keep an eye on things. Let me know if anything looks or feels even the slightest bit off,” I instructed.

“You got it,” she replied.

Fifteen minutes later, Farah gave Calliope the green light and we were on our way again, albeit slower this time. I stopped us for one more break after seeing the girl almost lose her footing twice.

Even with the minor setback we still made it to the bottom of the ridge before Kaska’s ship docked, though just.

We’d gone over the plan until everyone could recite it from memory, so I didn’t have to order them to spread out. I did, however, pull Farah aside.

“Stick with Cal,” I instructed. “Keep an eye on her. If she starts to have a bad reaction or something, get her out of here. Take her back to the cave, arrange a pickup with the Genesis, whatever you have to do.”

“I thought you didn’t leave people behind,” Calliope said from behind me.

I turned to meet her stony gaze with one of my one. “I don’t. I will bench you for safety’s sake though. Yours and the team’s,” I added.

She didn’t have a comeback for that and nodded grudgingly before moving a few meters away to talk to Aaron.

“Someone’s feeling better,” I said under my breath.

Calliope looked better too. The shakes seemed to be gone and her color had almost returned to normal. I was pretty sure she’d be okay, but you couldn’t always tell with sand hornet stings. Plus, I didn’t want to be worrying about whether she might collapse somewhere out of sight.

Farah chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “Right, because you were never like that.”

I rolled my eyes in an exaggerated motion and walked away without responding.

The lieutenant and I climbed the left side of the ridge, going prone at the top again. We each picked a spot with decent camouflage that offered the ability to leave without being too obvious.

A couple of bushes and a small number of trees dotted the ridge, but I’d avoided those. If anyone looked for a team hiding out on the ridge, those would be the first places they’d check. Instead, I’d gone for a cluster of misshapen boulders. They were tall enough that I could sit and look over, lie next to them, or sit back against their front with my camo sheet.

The camo sheets were perfect for this kind of recon op. The ultrathin material featured sensors that scanned the surrounding area and changed color accordingly. It didn’t work well on solid colors or when you moved, but here I would look like a part of the boulder.

Aaron returned to one of the positions he’d scouted and marked the night before. That way he could move around to try the others out if the situation called for a different vantage point.

I couldn’t see anyone else with my current line of sight, though Tyndell was close by. Then, one by one, everyone checked in. Their tags floated on the right side of my visor and I got a rough estimate of their locations.

“Alright, everybody settle in,” I ordered. “Hope you emptied your bladders—it’s gonna be a long one.”

21

From my position, I didn’t have a clear view of the front of the house. It was probably designed that way, if I had to guess. The southeast corner between the two sets of trees was directly in my line of sight. If I angled to the right, I could see a decent portion of the outbuilding sitting on the east side of the property.

Despite the gravity of the operation, I felt pretty calm. A lot of soldiers hated this part—the watching and waiting, but not me. Sure, it was a little on the warm side and the rock wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was peaceful. There was time enough later for the adrenaline inducing action.

“Kaska is docked and on the move,” Mack informed us. “He’s got a pretty decent escort with him too.

Great, I thought.

“V, how does their defense operation look?” I asked.

“No anomalies detected, Captain,” the AI answered.

That was something. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to do if Vega did detect an anomaly. With the number of ships in this system, the only chance we’d have was a full burn.

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” I muttered.

Kaska and his posse arrived a short time later, their hover vehicles kicking up great clouds of dust that seemed to trail behind like a contrail. The last vehicle pulled a trailer behind it. I studied the small convoy through field glasses, noting the darkened windows, predictable black exteriors, and overly large body that all people in power seemed to favor. The car in the middle was plated with a thin layer of N02-99 for his protection as well.

They slowed as they approached the drive, turning in with more care than I’d expected to see. Probably on Kaska’s orders so they didn’t kick up dust everywhere, I reasoned. Typical. It was fine to do it where others had to drive, but not on his own property. Never mind the fact that we hadn’t observed a single car drive down the road he’d arrived on.

“Anyone manage to get an angle with a view of the front?” I asked when the cars disappeared, blocked by the house.

“I can see a bumper,” Aaron said. “That’s about it. This ridge isn’t high enough for much else.”

I swore internally. It chafed that the man was so close and out of sight.

“Hold on,” Mack said. “I can patch a feed to you but be warned—it’s grainy.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I answered instantly. “Put it up.”

The tinted view of the property disappeared from my visor. An aerial shot replaced it—low quality, as promised. A group of five blurry individuals walked toward the house carrying weapons.

“Checking the house,” Tyndell observed. “Standard SOP for someone with his ranking.”

An even worse x-ray image was next, this time the people reduced to fuzzy gray blobs moving from room to room. They were thorough, I’d give them that. Due to the size of the house and their attention to detail, it took the team almost half an hour to clear the residence.

While they worked, another team embarked on the property, clearing the outbuilding and trees. The flatter portions of the landscape were faster, but the team continued to walk the perimeter. Then one of them climbed to the top of the outbuilding. I could just make out the individual moving up a ladder attached to the side.

“One’s about to check the ridge. Field glasses down, make sure you’re completely out of sight,” I warned, slouching down behind my boulder.

It was more for Calliope than anyone else. Farah and I were used to this kind of mission, Tyndell was clearly seasoned, and Aaron specialized in going unseen. The ex-Union soldier, while eager and good at hand to hand, was a bit untested in my book.

Mack focused the feed on the rooftop grunt. As I expected, they were holding field glasses of their own, slowly scanning the ridge. Every so often the person would pause before moving on. None of my body was showing, but I stayed tense until they finished and climbed back down.

“V, where are we on the weapon?” I asked.

“The scans have not detected the ingot’s radiation signature,” V responded.

My heart sank. If it wasn’t here, we’d just wasted a lot of time and resources.

“However,” she continued, “I believe there is Neutronium in Vice-Admiral-Kaska’s vehicle.”

Maybe we weren’t completely out of it after all. “You can’t tell?”

“The armor plating is throwing the readings off,” Mack explained. “Once he goes inside, we should be able to tell for sure.”

Kaska didn’t move from his armored vehicle throughout the ordeal, but that was normal. When he finally stepped out in full uniform, he headed right for the house. I was surprised to see him limping slightly, a plain looking cane in one hand and a large metal case in the other. A personal assistant, possibly a conscripted servant, hauled his luggage in for him.

“It’s gotta be in the case,” Farah said.

“No,” replied Mack. “It is the case.”

“The whole thing is Neutronium?” asked Aaron, whistling when she confirmed it.

One of the vehicles left, taking the first team with it. The second group stayed behind as personal protection. I thought they would go inside or patrol the perimeter, but instead they opened the back of their vehicle.

“What are they doing?” wondered Farah.

I couldn’t make it out on the feed. The team was grouped around whatever had been in the trailer, obstructing it from view.

“Uh guys,” Mack said suddenly. “Those are hover bikes.”

She was right. Two of the operatives swung legs over the bikes and took off. I switched the feed off, returning to what I could see with my own eyes. They zipped through the two sets of trees and headed right in our direction.

“They’re not done,” Tyndell said. “My credits are on them doing a pass of the ridge.”

“There isn’t time to get back down the other side,” Aaron remarked calmly.

He wasn’t wrong. The bikes flew over the flat land, already halfway to our position. If we moved now there was a decent chance they would see it.

“Do what you can to become part of the scenery,” I instructed tautly.

I waited to move until they were up the far side of the ridge. My position behind the rock no longer worked because it faced the top of the ridge, right where they would pass by. The camo tech was good at long distance, but they wouldn’t be fooled at such a close range.

The smart thing for them to do would have been to put someone on the roof to see if their tactic caused any unusual movement. Since they didn’t, I worked my way down the side of the rock opposite of the direction they were coming until I reached the very front.

“Mack, can you mark them on my visor?” I asked it as loud as I dared, a hair above a whisper.

She didn’t respond, but two red dots appeared, moving closer at a slow pace. No one spoke. I barely dared to breathe and I sure as hell didn’t move. The slightest shift in my weight could send pebbles scattering and alert them to our presence.

Mack kept us updated to their activities as they passed each of our locations. They moved slow, but nothing suggested that they suspected a hostile force on the ridge. Just a routine patrol. Farah, Calliope, and Aaron were passed by without incident. Three out of five was a pretty good start in my opinion.

By the time I heard them in close range, I was sweating bullets. Mostly from the heat and effort of staying still, though a little came from nerves.

The two were talking, indecipherable at first, the low purring of the bikes garbling their voices. As they came within a few meters I started to catch bits of the conversation.

“This seems overkill, doesn’t it?” Guy 1, complained. “It’s not like anyone is out to get him. He’s a Vice-Admiral, not even a politician.”

“Yeah, but that’s the job,” Guy 2 replied. “Sometimes we get exciting gigs, sometimes not.”

I listened intently, waiting for the conversation to fade out.

“I’ve got some leave saved up,” Guy 1 continued, his voice now carrying from the other side of my boulder, but still close.

“Hold on a sec, I gotta piss,” Guy 2 interrupted.

The bike squeaked as he dismounted. There was a fifty-fifty chance that the operative would come down my side.

So, help me gods, I thought, if this guy pees on me…

The crunch of boots on the ground grew closer and I groaned inwardly, tightening the grip on my rifle. Rustling and the telltale zip of a fly being undone just off to my left side sealed my fate.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Guy 1 warned.

Guy 1 paused. “Why the hell not?”

“If Kaska sees you taking a whiz from his window, you’ll probably get court martialed. You know he has a reputation for being harsh.”

With a lamented sigh, Guy 2 retreated to the other side, grumbling under his breath about entitled command.

“Anyway, as I was saying.” Guy 2’s voice was slightly muffled, giving me the sense he was facing the other side of the ridge. “I heard Neblinar is the place to be. One of my old platoon mates knows someone who knows someone else that opened a new skin bar there.”

“Neblinar is banned. You get caught on that planet, you’ll be the one with a court martial.” Guy 2 laughed and remounted his bike.

The two continued to banter, their red dots moving away on my HUD. They stopped briefly to check the trees and bushes, making me relieved that I’d avoided them. We waited to see if they would double back, but they didn’t, instead returning to the house post haste.

“That was a little close for comfort,” Calliope said.

“For some more than others.” Farah snickered.

“Alyss, I swear, I was crossing my fingers, arms, legs—everything I had for you,” Mack vowed.

“I do not believe in luck,” Vega chimed in, “but Miss Woods instructed me to display the number eight on the holo. She informed me that it means good fortune.”

I laughed. “Thanks, V. It must have worked.”

“What would you even have done?” Aaron wondered.

“Shot them, obviously. Not really. Honestly? I have no idea. I’m just glad it didn’t come to that.”

Really, really glad.

“Hey, at least you have a new war story.” The last comment came from Lieutenant Tyndell, who said it solemnly, making it all the more funny.

“True,” I agreed. “Okay, everyone. Do I need to remind you that we’re in the middle of a mission?”

I said it lightly, but I meant it too. Kaska had been on planet less than two hours, and we planned to observe him for at least a few hours more. Getting lax now when we were so close could lead to disaster.

Kaska didn’t do anything noteworthy besides make one rather long trip to the lower level. Mack picked up traces of the Neutronium case and surmised he was storing it down there. His guards continued to patrol the grounds, with the exception of one that stayed with him inside.

We studied their movements, making note of each guard’s individual habits. When I told the others about my naming the two on the hover bikes Guy 1 and Guy 2, Mack changed their labels and decided to tag them all that way.

Guy 1, the complainer, was responsible for the south portion of the property. It came as no surprise when he cut corners on his route by not checking the tree line each time and not going all the way to the edge of his designated area or giving the ridge a second glance.

I could almost hear him complaining in my head. “Why should I bother to check the trees? I’ve already done them three times!”

It was also expected that Guy 2 did the opposite. I’d gotten the sense that he took the job seriously, babysitting or not. He was responsible for the west part of the property. I watched as he carefully inspected the trees, even going so far as to shake some of the branches and shine a light in them.

To the north, Guy 3 worked similarly to Guy 2. Mack followed his movements on her end, since none of us had a constant eye on him, and gave us sporadic updates.

Guy 4 covered the east and was another story entirely. The outbuilding largely blocked any view from the house, and he used that to his advantage. And by advantage, I mean that Guy 4 used it to take a nap. He did this by pretending to check the outbuilding, but every time Mack checked, he was in the same corner of the structure.

He did his patrol, of course. Twice. It was also more of a wandering meander, as though he were out for a stroll on his day off. It was sad, but Guy 4 made Guy 1 look like employee of the month.

It was Guy 5 who got the honor of guarding the Vice-Admiral in the house. Well, he was actually a she, but to keep it simple she stayed Guy 5. In any case, Guy 5 checked four things every hour. The windows, the doors, each room, and the rooftop. The rooftop was always last, and she always took an extra ten minutes to pull out her datapad. It appeared as though she were talking to someone, a lover perhaps.

Interestingly enough, the most important piece of information didn’t come from the guards. Not directly at least. Whenever they came close to the inner perimeter marked in red, nothing happened.

“Could it be a badge?” I asked Mack when we noticed it.

“Sure,” she said. “It could be a number of things, really. RFID bracelet, necklace, et cetera. Hell, it could be a shirt button or built into their weapons, though I highly doubt they’d go to such lengths.”

I chewed on that information for a bit. My first instinct was to send a one or two-man team to find out what they were using to bypass the security. That idea had a few pros and cons. On the pros side, Mack might be able to duplicate their tech and give us a way inside without getting caught. The main reason I thought it might work was because of Guy 4. He was the least likely to notice he was being snuck up on.

It could work, but there were a few potential issues. Which brought me to the cons. Firstly, there was always the risk that one of the other Guys might get lucky and glance over at the wrong time. Secondly, we had no idea what the tech was, or if it was out of sight, say in a pocket or under their tac vests. This was my biggest concern. In that scenario, the team would come back empty handed because any interaction would raise the alarm and render the mini-op null.

I’d just decided against it when all the guards stopped moving and stood at attention. Guy 2 turned to face the house, and Vice-Admiral-Kaska stepped out between the trees and into the open.

22

I had the evil son of a bitch in my crosshairs.

One well-placed shot and his face would disappear in a satisfying cloud of pink mist.

Not so long ago, someone else had been in my sights. A teammate. At the time, I’d wrestled with the decision to take Ensign-Haas out and make my and Farah’s lives easier. I couldn’t do it then because taking out an unarmed soldier from behind went against everything I stood for. Or wanted to, anyway.

My hand tightened on the grip hard as my finger itched to squeeze the trigger, just as it had then. I reasoned that his death would put an immediate stop to all of his plans.

But again, I hesitated.

This time it wasn’t a question of morals. Not for killing the man responsible for so much death and who planned even more. But if I killed him here and now, the effects would ripple out in unknown ways. For one, the five-man team would come to the Vice-Admiral’s aid. We might have to kill them all, and it was just as likely they’d take some of my people with them. If we were unlucky, backup could arrive before we retrieved the ingot and got out.

Another scenario flashed in my mind. The government might very well turn him into a martyr and declare war on the rebellion. I still wasn’t entirely sure how far the Initiative’s arm reached but I had a hunch it was further than expected. An all-out civil war would bring death to many and there was no guarantee that the Empire wouldn’t prevail. What if they decided to take away all rights for non-true born civilians?

The endgame was to save lives, not put hundreds of thousands of innocents in mortal danger for a quick solution.

Mind made up, I laid the rifle down. I vowed to make Kaska eventually pay for his crimes, but he wouldn’t die by my hand tonight.

“Pack up and move out,” I ordered when he went back inside. “We have enough to work with.”

Dusk had fallen again, and no one disagreed. The day had been long, hot, and stressful. It was time for my people to get some rest, so we weren’t useless for the real mission tomorrow.

Back in our temporary cave lodgings the atmosphere was subdued, bordering on glum. No one had spoken on the return trip, too tired to do more than drag one foot in front of the other. Even Mack had signed off without saying much after we were safely inside the rock shelter. We ate the last round of MREs in relative silence and the sounds of heavy breathing and snoring soon filled the cave.

Despite my exhaustion, sleep didn’t come as easily for me. I kept picturing Kaska, out in the open, almost begging me to take the shot.

Rolling over, my last thought before I fell into uneasy oblivion was one of hope. Hope that I didn’t come to regret my decision not to take Kaska out when I had the chance.

* * *

The next morning came too soon for all of us. It didn’t escape my notice that Calliope and Aaron didn’t spring up as they had the day before. Extended hours on the ground tended to do that to one’s body.

Farah checked Calliope over and gave her a clean bill of health, stating that the antivenom and clotting powder had done their work. She looked fine as far as I could tell, but I suspected the wound on her neck would leave a nasty scar to remind her of the incident.

“Morning guys,” Mack said, sounding more chipper than all of us combined.

I mumbled a response.

“The itinerary is on your wrist units, including a countdown to the meeting,” she continued.

With the MREs gone, this time the medic doled out meal bars, aspirin, and an upper for breakfast. “I’ll call this one the ‘Look Alive’ cocktail,” she joked after swallowing hers.

“Let’s make that a special edition, one-time thing,” I told her, wrinkling my nose. “These meal bars are terrible.”

“Tastes fine to me,” Aaron said, the words muffled by the entirety of the meal bar he’d packed into his mouth.

Lieutenant Tyndell shook his head ruefully. “I promise you I didn’t train him that way.”

The back and forth brought morale up again. I teased Calliope that she’d have a tale to tell her kids about how their dad had saved her from the sand hornet. She stammered and made some excuse about taking care of business. Aaron pretended not to hear, but his cheeks flushed a dark red color.

She came back more composed a few minutes later and I started the discussion of tactics. Now that everyone was rested, fed, and more or less awake, we needed to get down to business.

“Guy 4 is the obvious way in,” I began.

That was met with collective agreement.

“Put him to sleep, take whatever it is that counteracts the alarm, and get someone inside,” Tyndell said, continuing that line of thought.

I nodded. “Yes, but I want to take them all at once, or as close to it as we can get.”

“That can work,” Farah said. “Four of us on the ground? One to one odds are pretty good. Better than usual. Once Guys 1 – 4 are down, it shouldn’t be hard to take care of 5.”

The next hour was spent fine tuning the details. When it came time to go, we poked fun at each other as we packed up for the last time and went to go steal one super powered weapon.

No sand hornets attacked this time and the suns were barely up when our group reached the ridge and got into position.

“Those aren’t the same guards,” Aaron said.

I saw he was right when I focused on who should have been Guy 1.

“They aren’t,” Mack confirmed. “The relief crew came in last night. Based on when they left and the assumption that they took eight hours to rest, they’ll be back around the time Kaska is leaving.”

“That would fit SOP,” Tyndell agreed.

The only thing left to do was wait.

Mack alerted us to another convoy’s approach two hours prior to Kaska’s meeting. The guards started to move in closer to the house, no doubt ready to go home after a long, boring night.

That was our cue to move. We eased down the ridge, the camo sheet masking most of our movement, their distraction and the landscape covering the rest.

The vantage point changed drastically on the ground, and the trees in front of the breach point dominated our view. Mack and Aaron would be our eyes and the latter would take care of any immediate threats.

Getting to the edge of the perimeter was the easy part. Crossing the mostly flat land with only boulders for cover presented the real challenge. The visors provided the route, marking the best spots to take cover.

I went first, keeping low as I ran to the first boulder.

“Keep moving,” Mack instructed.

Farah and Calliope came next, followed by Tyndell.

“Talk to me, Mack. What are they doing?” I said.

“They’re talking to the team from last night. The escort team just got out of the second vehicle.”

Now that we were all stationary, she sent the feed to our visors so she didn’t have to keep giving a play by play. After a few minutes of what I assumed was shop talk, the night team left.

“Kaska’s on his way out,” Mack said.

“Son of a bitch,” I murmured.

The Vice-Admiral’s limp didn’t seem to have improved, as evidenced by the cane he still carried in his left hand. That wasn’t the problem. He was carrying the Neutronium case.

“What is he going to do, leave it in the transport?” Farah demanded.

My brain went into overdrive, cycling through every mission and tactic I could remember, searching for one that might work in this situation. With the other team out of play, that left ten of them to our five.

Aaron would have to disable Kaska’s transport before it even left the property. We had arrived on foot, so worst case scenario—

“Hold up, he’s getting out of the vehicle,” Mack said, interrupting my planning.

I hadn’t been paying attention to the feed and focused on it once more. The Vice-Admiral disappeared inside, leaving the door open. The image shifted to the poorer quality scan and I watched as he moved to the lower level and set the case down.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Mack said when the transport finally left.

Me too, I thought. My pessimistic side was suspicious of the good fortune. but the other part of me was tired of it. Besides, sometimes things did just go the way they were supposed to.

Our Guys returned to their respective posts, forcing those of us on the ground to stay radio silent. We almost needn’t have worried. Guy 1 walked the perimeter thoroughly, but only gave the space inside his patrol a cursory glance. He no doubt believed what his eyes told him, that the land was safe and any enemy would come from outside.

“The meeting is about to start,” Mack informed us.

The itinerary blocked out one hour for the meeting. I wasn’t banking on that though; their business could always conclude early. The plan was to get in and out quickly, without being seen.

According to his marker, Guy 4 was already on his first break of the day. Guys 3 and 5 didn’t have a line of sight on us, leaving Guy 2 the only one to worry about. We needed to access the breach point while he was on the northernmost side of his patrol zone.

My wrist unit buzzed silently, indicating it was time. Guy 2 wasn’t quite where I wanted him, but he was headed that way instead of toward us, which would have to do. I checked on Guy 1 next.

“LT, the mark is on a trajectory to pass your position.”

I didn’t have to tell him what to do. From my position I could see Guy 2 walking down the middle of his zone, eyes scanning dispassionately. It happened fast. One second he was upright and the next he was gone, pulled down without so much as a yelp.

The rustling of a short struggle came over the comm, then subsided.

“Give me your security credentials to get inside the house,” Tyndell growled, the menacing tone a far cry from the man who had told us about meeting the love of his life only two nights before. “No? That’s fine, I have four more to choose from.”

Guy 2 whimpered. I couldn’t see the exchange because I was keeping an eye on the rest of the guards, waiting for audio confirmation from Mack or the lieutenant.

I got it within seconds. Tyndell dragged the unconscious guard out of sight near the trees, just outside the red inner perimeter. I caught up to him and helped cover the man with one of the camo sheets.

“Guy 2 is coming back around,” Mack warned as Farah and Calliope joined us.

Tyndell handed me a small metal cuff and waved at the house. I nodded to say I understood, then stepped cautiously toward the security scanner. The lieutenant had the same handheld version we’d used the first night and was ready to make sure it worked.

When I got within range, he nodded and gave me the thumbs up.

Farah went through first, followed by Calliope, Tyndell, and finally me. Just as Mack predicted, the sensor reactivated within four seconds.

“You need to get through that door or you’re going to have company,” Mack said urgently.

I broke through the tree line and reached the house, hugging the exterior as we proceeded to the breach point. I spotted it just a few meters away and closed the distance. The bracelet worked on the security panel mounted there, the display going green. We filed inside and eased the door shut.

“Gods.” Mack blew out a breath. “One more second and you guys were toast. Guy 5 is still on the roof. Proceed to the lower level.”

The house was big and ornate, but spartan when it came to furnishings. A few tasteful pieces of art adorned the bland grey walls, but nothing personal. The entertainment space held an expensive looking couch, but it was a muted beige color. It was like the Vice-Admiral lived in a hotel and I had to wonder why he even bothered.

I found the stairs leading down and descended with Calliope, leaving Farah and the lieutenant to stand watch. They emptied out into a large room that Kaska had set up as an office. An ornate wooden desk sat at the far end, the Neutronium case atop it.

“Man, it’s just sitting there,” Calliope whispered. “He didn’t even put it in a safe.”

Funnily enough, the same thought had just crossed my mind.

“I’ve lost sight of 5,” Aaron said. “She went under the curtains a few seconds ago. I didn’t think anything of it until a gust of wind flipped them up and she was gone.”

A whirring sound came from the wall behind and I spun around. “Cal, get the case,” I ordered.

The girl ran to the desk and hefted it. At the same time, a false wall next to the stairs slid open and Guy 5 walked in, data pad in one hand, pistol in the other.

My rifle was already pointed at center mass and her eyes registered surprise. The woman recovered quickly, dropping the data pad and bringing the pistol level.

“Don’t,” I warned her.

“Don’t what? If I put this down, you’ll just kill me anyway.”

“You think I want to kill you?” I shook my head. “Not at all. But I will if you don’t let me pass.”

She seemed to consider that and I could almost see the little gears moving in her head as she thought. Then one corner of her mouth tugged up into a smirk and I knew. “Sorry, but I have a duty.”

Her hand shifted and I fired, aiming just a little higher. The slug struck just above the bridge of her nose. The guard’s head snapped back and she dropped the gun. It clattered to floor and stopped as she began to sink down.

I started to pass her when someone spoke.

“Sergeant-Delgado. I would say this is a surprise, but I’d be lying.”

Kaska’s voice was coming from the data pad the guard had dropped. I didn’t pick it up.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. The Emperor just witnessed you kill a Sarkonian soldier in cold blood in order to steal a weapon from my home.”

I motioned for Calliope to move, then I followed her without answering him.

Kaska made a tsk-tsk sound. “Sergeant, did you really think it would be that easy?”

“No,” I said. My heel came down, smashing the pad and cutting him off before he had time to respond.

23

“The other guards heard that. 2 and 3 are on the move. You need to haul ass,” Mack said tautly.

“I hate to deliver more distressing news, but I’ve just detected a change in flight pattern for a number of ships,” Vega announced.

“Shit, she’s right. I have to focus on this,” Mack said, her voice almost shrill now.

“I can cover them,” Aaron promised. “Just try to get to Guy 1’s patrol zone.”

No longer worried about stealth, the four of us burst out the breach door, rifles at the ready. Except for Calliope, who had the case in both hands. Guy 2 came around the west side of the house before we could make it through the tree line.

Tyndell put him down with three slugs. The soldier squeezed off rounds of his own, trying to take us out before he expired, but they went wide.

“Go!” the lieutenant shouted.

“Cal, you’re with me,” I said, ducking through the trees. “If you get the chance, run like hell for the ridge and rendezvous with Aaron.”

A great thumping sound came from the east side of the house and the ground vibrated under my feet. I jerked around, expecting to see that Kaska had sent a tank, but the area was clear. Whatever it was seemed to be coming from the outbuilding.

“Aaron, do you have eyes on—”

The rest of my sentence was cut off by the doors of the outbuilding sliding open. What emerged wasn’t a tank, but it was close.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s not farm equipment,” said Aaron.

The metal monstrosity was easily twice my size. It walked on four sturdy legs, and a gatling gun sat on each shoulder. A lighted strip of red ran horizontally along the oblong domed “head” mounted at the top, which I surmised to be a scanning system.

A loud ping sounded from the machine and I thought someone had thrown a rock at it. Another ping sounded and a bullet ricocheted in the sand near my feet.

“My ammo isn’t doing shit,” Aaron grunted.

“Take cover!” I yelled, pushing Calliope down behind the nearest boulder.

As soon as it cleared the structure, its head swiveled, looking for a target. It found one. Me.

I bolted away, intending to lead it away from the younger girl. No sooner had I done so when I realized my mistake. Two more strips of red glowed in the dark of the outbuilding. The machine behind me was already adjusting its weapons when the second walked out, pinning me.

Something whizzed by my head and struck the dome of the first machine. It landed with a metallic clunk, then rolled down and landed in the sand. The blast was small, but it knocked the machine off balance and disrupted its tracking system.

Farah started yelling and waving her bow from the southern tree line as I made my escape. “Hey! Over here, assholes!”

The last two machines fixed on her and began to lumber in her direction. I took a step toward her but stopped when I saw Tyndell emerge from the west and let loose with a volley of bullets. It worked and one of the steel monsters turned its red eye on him. The lieutenant ran toward the outbuilding and took cover at one corner.

A quick glance told me that the first was recovering from Farah’s thermal arrow, its eye beginning to track again.

Farah had enticed hers to the south tree line, leaving me only two directions. South toward the ridge or the northwest portion of the property.

I put the ridge to my back and aimed for the other tree line that had been Guy 2’s zone, shouting into the comm, “Cal, if you aren’t already running for the ridge, get moving!”

She didn’t answer.

I tried again. “Cal, do you copy?”

Still nothing from her, but I got a response from Aaron: “I saw her running this way and covered her. Definitely made it to the ridge but she didn’t meet with me and isn’t showing up my HUD.”

My gut clenched at the thought of her shot down or caught underfoot of one of the machines.

“Cal’s gone,” Mack said, back from whatever had been going on with the ships.

“What do you mean, gone?” I shouted, squeezing off more rounds as the giant metal beast advanced.

Each step shook the ground and sent clouds of sand and rock into the air. The thing would be hard to take down but at least it was slow.

“I don’t know!” Mack responded. Her voice sounded frazzled. “She must have turned off the wrist unit or it’s trashed.”

It didn’t make sense, unless… “The weapon,” I realized.

“She had it when we came out of the house,” Farah responded. Her voice came across strained and I could hear the machine clomping both in the background and through the comm.

“Not… what… I… meant,” I grunted, zigzagging across the sand in an attempt to confuse the oversized killer robot chasing me. I doubled back around to the trees and reloaded. “I think she took it. For the Union.”

“I’m sure she’s just laying low,” Farah said. “We’ll find her.”

I couldn’t split my focus to deal with Calliope’s sudden disappearance right then because the metal thing started shooting at me, but a sinking feeling started to take root. I dodged to the right, but its domed head tracked with me and it sprayed a line of bullets that I narrowly avoided by rolling behind a rock. I thought about just staying there, but it exploded around me, and I was peppered by rounds. It had seemed like a good idea at first, but now it was a death trap.

With Aaron on the ridge trying to fend off more enemies and Calliope MIA, that left three of us to handle the machines. Somehow, I didn’t feel as good about these one-to-one odds.

Not all of the machine’s bombardments hit my rock. Plenty sailed overhead around the sides of the boulder to strike the surrounding area and send debris flying at me. One particularly lucky shot hit the flat top of a stone buried in the sand. It exploded, showering me with rocky shrapnel. A chunk the size of my stress ball hurtled into my visor, creating a network of cracks and shutting down the optics.

The rock was getting smaller by the second, so I went with the tried and true—a grenade. There wasn’t time to plan the shot, so I had to go with my best guess and pray.

“Fire in the hole, guys!” I yelled into the comm, hoping they heard me over the roar of gunfire.

Without my visor to tell me where anyone was, I had no way of knowing if my grenade would put them in danger.

“Throw it,” Mack said. “That is the closest thing to you, about five meters directly behind.”

I didn’t hesitate. Pulling the pin, I said a speedy prayer and let it fly, careful not to get my hand shot off in the process. I covered my ears and counted to four.

The grenade exploded with a loud boom that shook the ground.

Right on time, I thought.

A quick peek around my hiding spot revealed the machine was down. Its guns clicked, still trying to fire, but the barrels were twisted and broke, unable to do as they were commanded. Its legs had suffered the same fate and it lay in a heap of mangled metal. The head still tried to track its target but kept shorting out.

“Nice one,” Mack complimented.

“Thanks. Where are Farah and the lieutenant?”

“Farah’s on top of the roof and her machine is almost done for. Lieutenant Tyndell is currently pretending to be a rock on the south side of the outbuilding.”

“Is that actually working?” I asked, more than a little shocked at the notion.

“For the moment. These machines are pretty low tech. They’re designed for brute force and I doubt they can pick him up under the camo tech.”

“Got it,” I said, giving my downed machine a wide berth.

A loud thump sounded near the house and I looked over in time to see Farah’s machine tip over, smoke rolling out of its exploded head.

It didn’t take long to find the last of the machines. I found it on the other side of the outbuilding scanning for Tyndell. I edged closer to it, unsure how good its detection sensors were, but it didn’t react.

“Huh,” I murmured. “Where is he?”

“See that lump about twenty meters in front of the machine?” Mack asked.

I located said lump. “Got him. Tell him I’m about to stick a grenade up this thing’s ass.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Pulling my second grenade out, I moved closer, testing out my theory. Still no response. Shrugging, I walked up behind it and shoved the load in a cavity below the dome, then sprinted away.

The only close cover was around the corner of the outbuilding and I barely made it before the explosion went off. When I checked, the last machine was scattered and lifeless.

My placement of the grenade had utterly destroyed the thing, sending metal shrapnel in all directions for a good distance.

“Crap. Is Tyndell okay?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“I’m not sure,” Mack admitted. “He’s not answering me.”

Farah walked up and together we went to go look for the lieutenant.

A hand waved from roughly the same spot as I’d seen him before, and I jogged over to him, Farah right next to me.

“I’m fine,” he said, sitting up. “That just rang my bell is all.”

“Sorry about that,” I said.

The lieutenant made a pfft sound, then laughed. “Now that is a war story. ‘I’m about to stick a grenade up this thing’s ass.’ Perfect.”

“I think you got hit on the head, LT,” I said, offering my hand.

He took it and let me help him to his feet before answering. “Nope. Sometimes you just gotta stop and enjoy the laugh.”

“Maybe you’re onto something,” I said. “But let’s get out of here.”

“Guy 3 is down but I don’t have eyes on 4,” Aaron said.

I scanned the area in search of the guard but came up empty.

“Got him,” Mack declared. “In the outbuilding.”

Farah, Tyndell, and I approached the building and flanked the wide-open door. A blood trail led inside, the bright red already fading to black from baking in the hot suns.

Using my rifle light, I followed the gory path inside. With the machines gone, the whole building was empty. The beam fell on a pair of combat boots.

“Hands!” I barked.

Guy 4 made a noise that sounded like a laugh, but it turned into a rattling wheeze. He didn’t have to show me his hands for me to know he was at death’s door. I checked anyway before entering. Dying people did crazy things, like try to take as many others with them as they could, give deathbed confessions, or just chant prayers to gods they had never believed in for a chance to go somewhere heavenly.

“Godsdamn machines don’t know how to aim,” he said weakly when we got closer.

He looked to be mid-twenties or early thirties and his complexion was a pasty shade of grey. Blood seeped out of a chest wound, staining the sandy brown of his tac suit. The lightweight armor had done little against the heavier munitions.

“I didn’t want to do it,” he continued, babbling now. “I just wanted to be a good soldier.”

Lieutenant Tyndell knelt down and put a hand on the man’s arm. “What’s your name, soldier?”

“Carson. Adam Carson.”

“I’m Colonel-Tyndell, son. You did the Empire proud today, son. Go ahead and close your eyes now.”

I raised a brow at the title. That explained the confidence and keen battle senses I had noticed before.

“Thank you, sir,” he mumbled. His eyes drooped shut and his breathing slowed, but he kept talking, most of it unintelligible.

I turned away, not wanting to bear witness to the poor man’s last moment, when I caught a few of his words.

“What did he just say?” I asked, whirling around.

Farah shook her head in an “I don’t know” gesture.

Tyndell looked troubled. “It was something about a decoy case.”

I moved closer again, ready to ask the soldier to repeat it, but the lieutenant was closing his eyes.

“He’s gone,” he said.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Mack said, “but the palace just deployed ground and air forces.”

Of course they did.

“How soon can you scoop us up?” I asked.

“A few hours. They’re searching the airspace around you, looking for the Genesis. Cloak or no cloak, if I drop now, they’ll detect the change in atmosphere.”

I cursed. “We’ll never make it on foot. Can you contact the Initiative?”

Mack hesitated. “I’ve been trying but haven’t gotten a response yet.”

“We could try the vehicle that’s still in the drive,” suggested Farah, but the lieutenant nixed that.

“Got shot to hell by the machine that chased me,” he said.

“What about the hover bikes?” Aaron said abruptly. “They were two seaters.”

I’d forgotten all about them.

An inspection of the bikes showed them to be drive-worthy, with little damage from the raging storm of bullets that had taken out the other vehicle. The trailer wasn’t armored by any means, but its position had saved the smaller crafts inside.

Mack gave us coordinates for a rendezvous point, promising to be there in a couple hours. I told her to keep scanning for Calliope, but I didn’t expect much. She was gone and the weapon along with her, probably already on her way back to the Union. If by some miracle we did get her back, we were going to have a long heart to heart.

Aaron and his father took one hover bike, while Farah and I took the other. We left the scene of death and destruction behind. On the bike’s passenger seat, I twisted around to watch the black clouds of smoke rising up from the ruined metal corpses of the machines.

When we were far enough away, I detonated the strategically placed explosive inside the house and watched Kaska’s residence go up in flames with no small amount of satisfaction.

24

The hover bikes were built for Sarkon’s climate and drew most of their power from solar energy. We pushed them to the max, depleting the power faster than it could be replaced. They lasted just over halfway to the pickup location, then we had to let them recharge.

Since Mack was no longer overhead, she had to tap into Sarkon’s defense network to see what the palace deployed forced were doing.

Our ruse with the house didn’t keep them occupied long, but we had a decent head start. More land ships—vessels that could fly but weren’t space worthy—joined the search. They didn’t appear to know exactly which direction we’d gone and were attempting to locate us via a blanket search.

It was a smart tactic. The land ships were much faster than the hover bikes and they closed the gap more with each passing minute. When they caught up to us—and it was a matter of when, not if—our only hope was to find another cave or rock formation and hide.

With Farah in the driver’s seat and Mack and Vega checking the skies, I had a little time to think. This wasn’t necessarily a good thing. I replayed my interactions with Calliope, if that was even her real name, and tried to decipher every word and gesture.

Some of it was painfully obvious. Things I had noticed at the time but dismissed as my own paranoia. Like her excuse for leaving the Union. It had been flimsy at best and far too similar to my and Farah’s background to be coincidental. And we’d just eaten it up, I thought with disgust.

It was the smaller lies that, despite my best efforts, impressed me most. Calliope had played the young, naive soldier perfectly. Guiding conversations with barely noticeable facial expressions and specific lines of questioning dressed up as innocent curiosity. All that crap about the maius bonum.

The girl had lived with us for weeks and I had just ignored my gut. It was clear to me that whoever she was, whatever she turned out to be, it wouldn’t be basic infantry. I had a feeling I knew exactly what group she belonged to.

Worst of all, I felt like a fool. No, that wasn’t true. If I was being honest, the worst part was that I’d believed her to be a friend. I’d trusted her, mentored her, even shown—

It was still daytime, and the temperature soared above 32 degrees Celsius, but that didn’t stop the cold finger of dread that suddenly filled me. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” Farah asked sharply. “Did you see something?”

“No, but I remembered something. Calliope knows the location of Safe Haven.”

“Oh no,” she echoed.

“And we can’t do a damn thing about it,” I added.

There wasn’t time to dwell on it because Mack informed us that one of the ships now looked to be headed in our direction.

The landscape provided a few options for hiding, none of them very good. With no nearby caves and only two camo sheets between the four of us, all we could do was find a decent sized outcropping for refuge.

I spotted the land ship in question, a small black spot in the clear sky, its roaring engine scattering wildlife from their sleeping places. We parked the bikes just under it and draped the camo sheets over them, crouching down to stay out of view.

The sound grew louder until it reverberated in my chest and I had to clap my hands to my ears. The pilot checked the area twice before continuing on.

“That was close,” Tyndell commented as we climbed back on the bikes.

“Seems to be the thing today,” I replied. “At least it can’t get much worse.”

The bikes died three kilometers from the rendezvous point in a part of the desert that was so bare it didn’t even have sand, just the flat expanse of a long dried out ravine. There wasn’t time to charge them again, nor did anyone like the idea of hanging out in an area devoid of cover.

It was a miserable hike. The only plus side being that our packs were light since the mission had consumed nearly everything we had brought. Of course, that also meant we were traversing deadly terrain with no food or water and a limited amount of medical supplies.

I was down to a few extra magazines, one grenade, and a combat knife. The others fared just about the same and we held no illusions about our current predicament. My crew couldn’t take much more, if anything at all.

But the day wasn’t done with us yet. In hindsight, I wished I had kept my big, stupid mouth shut because, apparently, things could get much worse.

I heard the rumble in the distance before Mack even said anything.

“There’s nothing out here,” I told her.

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes, just hold on that long,” she replied, desperation making her voice thick.

I cast a glance at the others. “We have the two camo sheets. It’s possible we could—”

“Don’t even say it,” Farah ordered. Her whole body was tense, and her eyes went stormy.

“It was worth a try,” I said, trying to sound light, but she didn’t smile. I sighed. “Do what you can, Mack. We’ll fight as long as we can.”

Aaron spun in a slow circle, checking our surroundings. I assumed for any kind of high ground, but there was nothing he could make it to before the patrol arrived.

“I can set up here,” he said, looking more than a little glum. “Maybe take a few of them out and buy some time.”

We both knew it wouldn’t work. He might get one shot before they spotted and killed him.

“No,” said Tyndell. “We stand together.”

And so we did.

There was nothing else to say as we waited. Four soldiers—tired, thirsty, and more than a little dirty but not done just yet. We stood side by side, not at attention, but proud.

When the land ship touched down, that was what they saw. The ramp lowered and I almost had to laugh when Kaska strolled down it.

His eyes had the smug glint of someone who knew they’d won, and he smirked at the sight of us. Two dozen soldiers flanked him with rifles at the ready.

The Vice-Admiral’s gaze hardened at the sight of Tyndell. “Colonel. I must say it is most disappointing to learn of your treason. To not only ally yourself with such a group, but drag your son into it? It is reprehensible.”

When Tyndell didn’t acknowledge that, Kaska moved on and turned his attention to me. “Sergeant. We both know that you couldn’t keep running forever. Tell you what. As a favor to your father, I’ll do my best to get you life in solitary instead of death.”

He waited for a response, no doubt thinking his mention of my father would get a rise out of me. Following Tyndell’s lead, I said nothing.

“I guess no one feels like talking,” he sneered, trying to cover up his embarrassment. “It doesn’t matter. With you out of the way, I’m going to crush the rebellion under my foot like the lowliest insect.”

A few of the soldiers shifted uncomfortably behind Kaska and some exchanged confused glances. The more he spoke, the more his true colors showed through. His taunting of a clearly outnumbered group was distasteful and lacked honor. Even if we died here and now, at least these soldiers were witness to the man’s actions.

Disgusted, Kaska waved a hand at us. “Arrest these—”

Something very large and sporting wings dropped out of the sky and landed between our two groups, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured my view of it.

Not it, him, I realized when a man emerged wearing a jump rig. A familiar man. I grinned. We were still terribly outnumbered, but our odds had just vastly improved.

The Vice-Admiral’s brows knitted together as he studied Jax in utter confusion. “What are you doing here? I didn’t call for the Void.”

“I’m not here for you.” Jax jerked a thumb over his shoulder at us. “I’m here for them.”

Kaska’s mouth opened and closed several times as though he couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Finally, he got himself under control and snarled, “I order you to arrest these traitors!”

Jax laughed, a deep, mocking rumble that no one present would mistake for humor. He leaned forward menacingly. “You know exactly what I’m capable of. The choice is simple. Let them go or die in this shithole.”

The Vice-Admiral backed away until he’d put a few of his men in front of him. “Open fire! This man just threatened your Vice-Admiral!”

What came next happened in a blur as several things occurred at the same time.

As soon as the order left his mouth, Kaska tried to escape to the land ship. I thought about going after him, but the soldiers blocked the way. Instead, I and the rest of my crew prepared for a firefight.

A few brave souls followed their superior officer’s orders and took aim at the Void operative. I assumed they had either never dealt with one before or were very stupid. It didn’t really matter though, as they died quickly.

Chaos ensued after that as all two dozen soldiers opened fire on Jax. This quickly became a problem. He moved too fast for them to keep up and bullets flew in every direction. There wasn’t anywhere to take cover and friendly fire claimed a handful of Kaska’s men before the roar of another approaching ship gave everyone pause.

I scanned the skies, expecting to see the Genesis, but it wasn’t her. It was the Harkness.

“Heard you might be in need of assistance,” Captain Ellis said in my ear.

“You heard right,” I told her.

I missed her landing because the sight of Farah kneeling over someone on the ground caught my eye. The elder Tyndell was on his knees opposite her, a look of anguish contorting his features.

Farah dug through her medic kit and came up with a package of clotting powder. Her blood slick hands couldn’t get it open and I ran to help. Aaron lay between them, face slack, his eyes staring at nothing.

I knew there wasn’t anything we could do for him, but I ripped the package open anyway and handed it to Farah. She emptied the contents onto his bare torso where the rounds had gone in. The amount of blood on her hands and his body prevented the powder from doing much more than turn into a red goop.

Aaron’s chest hadn’t moved since I’d laid eyes on him and I put a hand on Farah’s shoulder. She looked up at me with a tear streaked face. I shook my head gently. Letting out a sob, my friend sat back on her heels and covered her face with the inside of one elbow, the only part not covered in his blood.

The lieutenant just stared at his son, shock numbing him to the reality of what had just happened. I wanted to reach out, offer some comfort in this moment of tragedy, but couldn’t find the words.

* * *

The arrival of the Harkness turned the tables. Now Kaska was the one badly outnumbered. I half expected Tyndell to do something drastic when the Vice-Admiral passed him, but he didn’t leave Aaron’s side.

We let Kaska take the land ship and go, making sure our message was heard. The Solaris Initiative didn’t want bloodshed, but they would protect their own and stand for the innocent.

Aaron was the only casualty on our side, but a handful of Sarkonian dead were carried aboard their ship so they could receive a proper burial.

Captain Ellis kept her ship and crew with us until Mack arrived. When she asked the lieutenant what his plans were, he turned to me. I read the grief there, felt it deeply with him.

“I have to take him to his mother.” His voice cracked and tears welled again in already red rimmed eyes.

I nodded in silent understanding. Tyndell turned and walked up the ramp without another word. I watched him go and wondered if he would ever recover.

25

The bridge aboard the Genesis was eerily quiet despite the fact that four people occupied it. We had made it off Sarkon, but at a terrible price.

We didn’t talk about it though. I knew that Farah wrestled with what she viewed as her failure to save him. When I told her that his wounds would have been mortal no matter what she did, it fell on deaf ears.

Someone had gotten a lucky shot off and damaged Jax’s cybernetic arm. Mack said she could fix it, prompting him to join us. At present, we were headed to Safe Haven. I didn’t hold out much hope that we would receive good news there.

“Captain,” Vega said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, V?”

“I believe I may have found something for your ‘side project,’” she said, putting a slight emphasis on the last two words.

“What side project?” Farah asked curiously.

Smooth move, V, I thought to myself.

My “side project” was supposed to be a secret, hence my telling Vega to call it a side project instead of “Operation Take the Ship Apart in Search of Calliope’s Evidence.” I had a working theory that she must have snuck something onto the ship in order to report back to the Union, possibly multiple somethings.

I had a hunch that she may have left something behind, but so far nothing had turned up. When everyone else was asleep, I turned her quarters upside down, even going so far as to search the lining of her clothes.

“It’s nothing,” I said quickly.

“Right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Very convincing.”

“Remind me later, V.” I tried not to sound surly, but the computer needed a serious lesson in how not to be conspicuous.

Or maybe she didn’t. Teaching an artificial intelligence how to be better at lying—yeah, that seemed like one of my worse ideas.

“Of course, Captain,” she replied cheerfully.

Mack’s data pad beeped, and she checked the notification with a distracted finger swipe. Her gaze returned to the component she’d been working on for a split second before whipping back to the pad and snatching it up.

“What’s up?” I asked.

The hacker’s eyes went wide when they landed on me. “You made the news.”

“What are you talking about?” I didn’t see how I could be on the news. When we stopped for fuel and supplies, I hadn’t even gotten off the ship.

She tapped hurriedly on her pad. DLN32 appeared on the holo display, with Brice Howard reporting, per the usual.

“It’s not live,” Mack said. “A recording from earlier, I guess.”

“Delgado is being hailed as the face of the rebel group calling themselves “The Solaris Initiative” following an attack she led on Senator-Adrian Kaska. Here’s the disturbing clip if you missed it the first time. Be warned, it is violent in nature.”

The image switched and I was staring at myself back in Kaska’s office on Sarkon, rifle pointed at the camera. “I want to kill you.” The editor had done a good job. The transition was barely noticeable where they cut the rest of the exchange out. When I shot the guard, my eyes looked flat and cold, devoid of emotion. The camera image wobbled then faced the ceiling as the guard hit the floor. They froze the video on a still of me peering down at the camera as though fascinated by the dead body.

“That isn’t how it happened,” I protested angrily.

“We know that,” Farah reassured me.

“I do have the visor’s feed recorded,” Vega added helpfully. “If you wish to clear your name, I can send the file to the news channels.”

I was about to say yes when Mack waved a hand for us to be quiet. “Wait, it isn’t over yet.”

“Many are calling the footage doctored, a retaliation and attempt to take the focus off the senator and his own PR nightmare.”

Another video began to play, this one from the standoff. A side view of Kaska taunting me. “With you out of the way, I’m going to crush the rebellion under my foot like the lowliest insect.”

This video stopped strategically at Kaska’s leering smile. The wild look in his eye gave him a mad quality and I smiled in grim satisfaction.

The display focused on the reporter again. “An outpouring of support has been expressed on the gal-net regarding Eva Delgado and the Solaris Initiative. Many are calling her a hero for standing up to a tyrannical government. Others say she’s a traitor. Where do you stand?”

The feed cut off.

“That’s crap,” I said. “They made me look like a murderer. V, go ahead and get that file together.”

“Wait a second,” Mack said, sitting up. She steepled her fingers thoughtfully. “Is being the face of the Initiative really so bad?”

I took a moment to think that over. “I guess that’s not so bad. It’s the other stuff I don’t want to deal with. What happens when some crazy asshole starts killing people in my name?”

“That’s a bit extreme.” Farah snorted.

“You know what I mean,” I said pointedly.

She nodded. “I do. Think about it this way though. It could be an opportunity. So many people are victimized by the Empire. This could give them a voice. You could be responsible for shaping that message into what’s right and keep it from getting twisted.”

I looked at Jax, the only one who had yet to offer an opinion.

He shrugged. “I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to give all the power to one individual, or even the same group. The Sarkon Empire and the Union both started as something small. Somewhere along the way they got too much power and couldn’t be stopped. If you do this, you can keep the Initiative honest. To a point.”

It was a good point. “Okay, we’ll leave it for now,” I decided.

* * *

Once again, I found myself looking to the future with uncertainty. More changes were coming, of that I could be sure.

The last weeks had changed my perspective on the rebellion. I still didn’t know whether Dunham could be trusted, but I intended to find out.

Something had been bugging me ever since the op but couldn’t put my finger on it until late one night watching a holo vid. One of the characters carried a cane, bringing up memories of the Vice-Admiral’s limp.

I’d sat up straight in bed when it hit me. That first night after his arrival, the man walked out of the house to talk a guard. Without the cane. It had been the same when he strolled down the land ship’s ramp.

We replayed the collected footage from the entire mission and deduced that he had been faking. The running theory was that the cane was made of Neutronium as well and had been used to mask the ingot while the case was filled with something inconsequential. Which meant Kaska still had it in his possession, as well as the plans to weaponize it. It remained to be seen what he might do with it.

For now, we could only wait.

Epilogue

I knew as soon as the cavern doors opened that Calliope had been back to Safe Haven after leaving us. Her or her Union counterparts. Not that it made a difference.

Jax’s arm was still malfunctioning, so he and Mack stayed on the ship to repair it while we checked out the hangar.

Several of the containers were open and lay haphazardly on their sides.

“Godsdammit.” I didn’t have the strength to shout or kick anything, though I wanted to. Badly.

Farah double checked each of the units to make sure they were all ransacked. “They got it all,” she said angrily. “Bastards even took our blood.”

It was made worse by the fact that I’d thought something was off about the girl to begin with. I hadn’t trusted my gut, and now we were paying the price. Fury burned hot inside me with no way to be released. Unsure of what else to do, I sat on one of the containers and put my head in my hands.

“This is my fault,” I said dejectedly. “I never should have trusted her enough to bring her here.”

Farah laid a hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t. I convinced you to bring her along. If blame rests with anyone, it’s me. And you needed the transfusion. It was either come here or die on the Genesis.”

“Then maybe I should’ve died,” I whispered.

My friend’s eyes hardened. “Don’t make me slap you. Everyone one of us was crucial to the four of us not dying. Calliope included. Betrayal or not, she saved your life. You saved hers and she told us where the tracker was. Look at everything we’ve been through these last two months. Take any one out of the equation and we’re dead. So yeah, this fucking sucks right now, but we’re alive to try again.”

Farah hardly ever cursed, so I knew she meant every word. “Okay,” I said with a watery laugh. “You’re right. I know it. But gods, everything went wrong this time.”

She nodded. “That it did. Well, I suppose we better load all this up and find a new home.”

We started the tedious task of scanning each container for any tracking equipment the Union might have tried to get past us, but there was nothing. They all went back into the cargo hold—at least the salvageable ones. Some had been broken beyond repair, and those we left.

Even though I knew we’d never be back, I decided to clean up the mess our Union friends had left behind. I stacked the wrecked units against the wall, next to a small desk that had been shoved sideways.

It was like they purposely left everything in shambles. Why couldn’t people just steal things and not leave a path of destruction in their wake?

I sighed and went to right it, pausing when something rolled out and stopped by my boot. Irritated, I bent down to pick it up.

And froze.

* * *

Farah was back on the bridge talking to Mack and Jax. She looked up when I entered and gave me a bemused smile. “Sorry, I got distracted. What’s left?”

“One thing,” I said, walking to the command center.

“What that?” Jax asked, pointing to my hand.

I set the Neutronium canister down with a thud.

Both Farah and Mack gasped sharply.

“Is that what I think it is?” Farah asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “They didn’t get everything. I found the replicators under a desk.”

Jax looked at me in surprise. “Replicators? Like the ones that can supposedly take out a planet.”

“How the hell did the Union miss a Neutronium canister filled with the most important weapon they ever lost?” said Mack incredulously.

“I don’t think they did,” I replied, holding my other hand out, palm up to reveal the data stick that had been affixed to the canister. “Someone left us a message.”

“Who?” asked Farah.

I flipped the data stick around to reveal an engraving. It read:

Maius Bonum.

* * *

Continue reading for THE FORLORN HOPE.

The Forlorn Hope

1

“My scans detect no signs of life or activity,” Vega, the ship’s AI, informed.

“Of course not,” I muttered.

“What do you want to do?” Farah, my co-captain and best friend, stepped up level with me. Like me, she wore a combat EVA to protect against the elements.

We were on Dulsa, a mined out asteroid located on the fringes of the Hel system. It was officially listed as an active outfit, but that was a common cover. In reality, the government had turned it into a low level storage facility and lab.

“Vega’s right, there isn’t power,” said Mack. Our resident hacker was in the void, circling the asteroid and watching our backs from our ship, the Second Genesis. “You guys are clear to proceed inside. I don’t think you’re going to run into any security but keep your eyes open.”

The government didn’t waste resources to guard nothing and the place had a hollow feel to it. Still, the warning had merit. Over the past month we’d tracked down every lead in Navari’s data cache, save this one. We’d found a few things, but all the big hitters had been moved. The fact that this facility seemed to follow that pattern told me that the Empire was onto our little operation of anti missions.

Once Kaska was on to us having access to Navari’s data, he started shifting everything. Some things we were able to recover, like the toxin that could be delivered through an atmospheric generator. Others had not only changed locations, but when we arrived, most of the places were stripped bare. Like now, here on Dulsa.

Of course, just because Vice-Admiral-Kaska hadn’t left men to ambush us didn’t mean he wouldn’t leave a nasty surprise. Despite my and the team’s feelings, I proceeded with caution. No need to get sloppy now.

This last item, a prototype for a handheld shield, rated lowest on the list because Mack had claimed it was impossible. A palm sized energy shield.

I stared up at the face of the facility from the mag walkway that led to it, a handrail winding with it. The rest of the place was buried in the asteroid since they had used the leftovers from the mining operation. Farah and I entered through an open bay door that confirmed the working theory that Dulsa was abandoned. Without atmosphere the opening would have vented all the available oxygen inside.

We moved inside, helmet lights on full to illuminate our path. Like the other facilities we’d recently visited, the only things left behind were broken furniture and trash. More handrails lined the walls to assist with walking in a low-grav setting, but our suits functioned a little better and we didn’t need them.

“Watch out, Alyss. There’s an infrared trip a few meters up. You’ll have to disable it,” Mack warned.

“Copy.” I crept down the empty hall until I found the tiny device hidden among some litter, its transmitter poking out just enough to do its job. Had I broken the beam it would have set off an alarm somewhere.

I marked it on my helmet’s HUD and stepped over it gingerly. If I disabled it now, the thing might send a signal back to a government channel and alert them to our presence.

“The rest of your route is clear,” Mack said. “No warm bodies in the place except you and Farah, unless Kaska figured out how to raise the dead.”

I chuckled at the thought. “Don’t put it past him. Mack, we’re in the last corridor. One more scan?”

“There’s no movement. It’s—haha—dead quiet. You’re still good.”

It didn’t take long to traverse the small facility. It was just a bi-level building with a handful of empty rooms and cramped living quarters. I only knew the latter by the familiar spacing between holes drilled in the wall.

“This was a waste of time,” said Farah.

The floor ended at a set of elevator doors that presumably led to the top level. Since they were obviously out, Farah got us into a maintenance shaft. It had a ladder. Unlocking the mag boots, we pulled ourselves up the single flight with minimal effort. I stopped in front of a door and waved a hand at it. “Last one. Then you can get back to Asteroid Crush, I promise.”

Farah sniffed and stepped to the panel. “Good. I’m almost to level 35.”

She tinkered with the controls and had the door sliding open in a matter of seconds.

“Nice job,” I said. “You’ve really got that down to a science.”

Backing up, Farah swept an arm and bowed in dramatic fashion. “After you, Captain.”

I used the light on my rifle to sweep the room and swore at the sight. The lab I’d been expecting was a cavernous expanse of space that had to span the length of the facility. On the floor sat tubs, thousands of them at least, all lined up in neat rows.

In a flash, Farah was next to me, the nose of her rifle aimed inside. “What is it?” she asked, all traces of humor gone from her voice.

“I’m not sure. Vega can you get me any info on what I’m seeing?”

“Negative, Captain Cortez. There is too much interference from the asteroid.”

I swore again.

“They could be empty,” said Farah. “They look fragile. Maybe nobody wanted to haul thousands of clay pots downstairs.”

“Doubt it. They took just about everything, including all the fixtures. I want to know why they didn’t take these. Maybe they couldn’t get them on one transport. We should at least take a look.”

“We could just go,” Farah suggested. “Seriously, Alyss. This is that part in the holo vids where the hero does something stupid out of curiosity. Isn’t there a saying about cats and curiosity?”

“You know what, I’m going to agree with you on this one, Shahi. But what if they plan on coming back for it? Sure it’s ominous and dangerous, but we’re elite soldiers. We laugh in the face of danger.”

“Haha,” she replied dryly.

I edged to the closest pot, checking for any sign of a trap as I went. My heart picked up the pace, thumping against my ribcage. I hesitated on the last step. Everything about the scene was wrong. The sheer number of pots, their location, the fact that they hadn’t been taken… it didn’t add up. Not seeing another option, I made the last stride and stopped to rearrange my rifle before lifting the lid.

“What’s in there?” asked Farah.

I had to step closer to shine my light inside. The moment I did, something under my foot clicked, freezing me in place.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Mack. “Because it sounded a lot like a mine.”

It took me a second to answer because I had to swallow the lump in my throat. “It was. But that’s just the beginning of our problems. These things are filled with Helfire.”

Helfire was so named for the system in which it had been created. At the time, war was still being waged between the Union and Sarkonian Empire. The Empire, having been beaten back by the enemy, was in danger of losing with their fleet of subpar vessels. Although planetside guerilla warfare was their specialty, the battle was being waged in open space and they couldn’t compete against the better equipped Union fleet, especially not in open space.

In a last ditch attempt to avoid surrender, an Imperial scientist started mixing chemicals in his lab. The exact ingredients were classified, but he managed to create napalm that would burn without oxygen. It helped win the system back, but at a terrible cost. Once lit, Helfire couldn’t be controlled and both sides lost a lot of soldiers. The substance was outlawed with the creation of the Androsia convention. Apparently, that hadn’t stopped them from making more.

No one spoke for a long moment, until a loud whir sounded above me. “What is that?” I snapped.

“I’m detecting a power source,” said Mack. “Can’t tell where it’s coming from though. Whatever it is, it can’t be big. The output is minimal.”

The whirring grew louder and my helmet picked up a small square of light getting closer.

“Got a drone,” said Farah. “Want me to take it out?”

I didn’t dare move my head or lift a hand to motion at her lest I set the mine off. “Is it armed?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Then let it be for a second.” I waited until the machine stopped in front of me and saw that it was holding a data pad. The screen went from white to black, just for a second, then a video began to play. A familiar face filled the display. “Kaska,” I said in a low voice.

“If you’re watching this, I assume you are the fugitives Delgado and Singh. If not, oh well. In any case, you should have realized by now that your future is bleak.” Kaska smiled, but it was far from pleasant. “At the conclusion of this video, a one minute timer will begin, counting down to the detonation of the explosives in the floor. Helfire will take care of the rest. Sergeant, my only regret is that I am unable to arrest you myself for your treasonous activities.”

The recording turned off, replaced immediately by the promised timer.

“Anyone got any good ideas?” I asked with mock cheerfulness.

“There’s not enough time to run back for gear,” said Farah.

I kept my tone reasonable. “Of course not. You need to get out of here. I’ll figure something out.”

Farah snorted. “Don’t waste time on that bullshit. You know better.”

Knowing she was right, I bit off the order I’d been about to issue. One she would have ignored anyways. So much for being Captain.

Mack cleared her throat over the comm. “I have an idea, but you probably won’t like it. It’s crazy, even for you.”

“Spit it out,” I snapped. “We don’t have any other options. 30 seconds until things go boom, Woods.”

“Okay. You still got the launcher on that rifle?”

“Yeah.” I could already see where she was going and flipped the settings.

“Aim it at the far wall. As soon as you fire, roll back with the momentum. Let it carry you. It’s the only thing I can think of right now.”

20 seconds.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered, locking onto my target and praying I didn’t fuck this up.

17 seconds.

I couldn’t wait anymore. Exhaling, I squeezed the trigger and forced myself not to resist the recoil. When it punched me back, I went with it, flinging myself backward.

The explosion was mild, more designed to weaken the floor beneath us rather than kill the person standing on it. If the mines only exploded on the top level, anyone below would have had enough time to get out, but not this way. The Helfire would burn through the partially damaged floor and into the level below just as fast as it consumed the area up here.

That was a bit of genius, and lucky for me. My suit protected me from the shards of the pot, but gel splattered me from head to toe. By some stroke of luck it hadn’t ignited, merely coated me in the gelatinous substance. Where I’d been standing a second before was another matter.

Flame clung to the ground in tight pools, and it was traveling, following the droplets right to me. I scrambled back, but the gel made things slippery and left a trail that I couldn’t escape. Farah yanked me to a standing position, but our time was up. The floor erupted, sending the pots into the air momentarily before dropping and breaking.

“It sort of worked,” I said over the comm, backing up with Farah as far as we could get. “Now what? The whole lower level will be destroyed before we can get through it.”

“Is any of the floor stable? Like could you pick your way across?”

Beside me, Farah shook her head. “Not a chance. Almost 3000 degrees on all visible walking surfaces. Not to mention our fearless Captain is covered in Helfire chemical. She can’t get near a flame right now.”

I stayed quiet, studying the scene. At the far end of the chamber I could just make out a hole in the outer wall. The ceiling and surrounding walls were made of asteroid, but a series of beams crisscrossed with mounted lighting that hadn’t been taken. “V, can you tell me if our mag boots will work on those beams above us?”

“Certainly, Captain.”

“You want to hang upside down on them and try to jump?” asked Farah.

I nodded and jabbed a finger at the floor. The blazing ooze was still working its way toward us and we were running out of room to escape. “I’m not sure there’s any other way. Don’t think of it like that. We’re in space. Up is down and vice versa. Once you’re on the beam, think of it as standing normally. Ignore the fiery ceiling.”

“Right. Easy peasy.”

Ignoring the sarcasm, I surveyed the beam directly above, lining up my jump. It would be easy to miss. If that happened, my body would ping pong around until it landed in the Helfire, then I’d be dead.

Then don’t miss, I ordered myself, and released the magnetic locks on my boots. At the same time, I pushed from the balls of my feet and rocketed up. Too fast! My aim was good, but I shot toward the beam with such velocity that I nearly bounced back off it. I caught the edge of the beam just in time and clung to it for a second. Getting my feet where I wanted them, I activated the boots and reoriented myself, then looked up. From my point of view, Farah was upside down. The Helfire crept closer, nearly touching her.

“Farah, get your ass moving!” I barked out.

In reply, she launched to the beam. Unlike my near disaster, she did it with a graceful ease. Twisting at the last second, she activated her mag boots and stuck the landing like a gymnast.

“Show off,” I teased.

“Just learning from my captain’s mistakes,” she shot back sweetly.

“Glad you two are having such a good time, but can we get back to the escape now?” Mack’s voice sounded testy in my ear.

“I have to agree with Miss Woods, Captain. This type of attitude does not fit the current situation,” Vega chimed in.

“Alright, alright. Hold your horses. Farah, you want me to go first?”

“I’ll go.”

“Fine, but don’t do the twirly bit at the end. If you miss… well, you know.”

She saluted me in acknowledgement before making the jump. Just as gracefully, she made it to the next beam and secured herself. I followed suit, imitating the way she’d done it. It was much better than my first attempt, but it still felt awkward.

“Okay,” she said suddenly, drawing out the word. “That looks less than fun.”

I glanced over and saw her staring at the floor, which was now “above” us. “Don’t look… up. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Farah reached down and gripped the edge of the beam, staring straight ahead. I heard the little puff of breath as she exhaled and pushed off, arms outstretched to grab the next. She landed without issue and I joined her a few seconds later.

By the fourth beam, we both had a rhythm and I felt pretty good about our chances. I made it to the final beam first and turned to watch my partner. She crouched down and leapt the same way she’d been doing it, but an explosion from the facility rocked the chamber and she stumbled. The awkward jump sent her careening at a downward angle. She was going to miss.

She wasn’t close enough for me to grab her suit, so I did the only thing I could think of in the moment. I tackled her, midair and hoped it was enough to drive us to the hole in the wall. Instead, the move slammed us into the wall and threatened to send us spiraling out of control. With a grunt of effort, I scrabbled at the rock until I found something to get my hand around, a large boulder.

“Guys, are you alright?” Mack sounded nervous.

“That was a little close for comfort,” I said, sucking in a breath.

“Tell me about it,” Farah replied. “Let’s never do that again.”

When we were outside on the walkway again, I punched her shoulder.

“Ouch, what was that for?”

Inside my helmet, I grinned. “I told you not to do the twirly bit.”

2

Back on the Second Genesis I scowled into my oatmeal.

“Wow, that bad?”

I looked up to see Farah in the doorway, bemused and holding three glasses. “That op went right down the toilet. What’s with the glasses?”

She shrugged and wandered over to set them down in front of me. “We came close to dying and came out of it okay. Again. I figured that’s a victory. Swapped our next in line for something stronger.”

I eyed her suspiciously as she went to the cabinet with our alcohol. “We were supposed to have wine next. What is it now?”

Farah marched back, a bottle filled with clear liquid in her hands, and set it down with a clunk. “Tequila.” She took the seat across from me and poured the three shot glasses to the brim.

“Isn’t that the drink everyone had terrible stories about when we first got done with training?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Only one way to find out. If Mack would hurry up.”

“I’m here, jeez.” The hacker in question ambled in, covered head to toe with black synth leather. She crowded in beside me and picked up one of the glasses.

Deciding to hell with it, I raised the tiny glass and clinked it with theirs. It burned a little going down, but in a way that warmed my insides and took the edge off my nerves.

Mack grinned and poured another round.

“For the Empire’s honor!” I announced before downing the drink and slamming the empty glass down on the table.

Farah almost spit hers out and Mack started choking. Laughing, I thumped her on the back until she waved a hand at me. “Oh gods, that burns like hell. I can’t believe you just said that.”

The saying was mostly a joke. People our age had grown up hearing it because our parents were taught that all actions reflected directly on the Empire. When it went out of style, kids used it for everyday things. “Ate my vegetables, for the Empire’s honor!” was a personal favorite, but I only ever said it in my head to avoid punishment.

Mack leaned back and slung an arm over the back of her chair. “That brings back memories.”

That made Farah laugh. The movement jostled the bottle she’d been tipping over for refills and some sloshed onto the table. “Whoops.”

Laughing, I swallowed down another. This one didn’t burn as much, and I was starting to feel pleasantly loose. Getting drunk hadn’t been the plan for tonight but for the moment things seemed a little less bleak and that was fine with me.

Over the next hour the three of us killed the bottle, something that seemed to perplex Vega. “Captain, I feel compelled to warn you that the amount of alcohol you have consumed will impair any decision making.”

“I know, V. You keep saying that.”

“And yet you are still drinking. All available data suggests that each of you will suffer from headaches, nausea, and other uncomfortable side effects in the morning.”

“That’s called a hangover,” Mack chirped helpfully.

“Ah, right. I’ve had one of those before,” said Farah, nodding enthusiastically.

I had too, once, but the memory was hazy and I slapped a hand at empty air. “Psh. Worth it.”

“Very well,” replied Vega, sounding a little like put out. “I shall remind you of that sentiment when you wake up.”

“Aww, come on Vega.” Farah was grinning up at the ceiling. “Don’t be the fun police.”

The AI paused for a beat before responding. “I can find no such reference to any law enforcement agency or department, Miss Shahi.”

Her words sent the three of us into a fit of laughter,

A sound like a gust of air blowing over a microphone came out of the speakers and Mack waved for us to be quiet. “Vega, did you just sigh?”

“Of course not, Miss Wood. I am a computer and lack the necessary physical attributes to perform such a function. It was, however, a recording of a human sigh, which my research shows is a common response.”

When we stopped laughing at that one, Farah held up the tequila bottle and gave it a mournful shake. “We’re empty.”

Unsteadily, Mack got to her feet. “That’s my cue. My bed is calling.” She took one step, swayed, and had to grab the table for support. “Hmm. Harder than I thought.”

Farah pushed up from her seat and wobbled over to her cousin. “Buddy system,” she declared, slurring the words before looking at me with a concerned expression. “Wait. You need a buddy too.”

I stood slowly, fully intending to make it back to my quarters on my own.

“Gods, it’s like the blind leading the blind.” We startled at the unexpected male voice. Jax stood in the open doorway, regarding us with a look of amusement.

“The prodigal brother returns,” said Farah grandly. She swept an arm and bowed a little, almost tipping over in the process.

Mack pulled her upright and hooked their elbows together. “Farah and I can make it. Our rooms are right next to each other. Jax, help our fearless leader.”

They stumbled out the door, giggling as they went. When they were gone, Jax stepped into the room and picked up the empty bottle. He’d been on an errand for Angela Dunham, the leader of the Solaris Initiative.

“Tequila,” he said, drawing the word out in a way that made me think he was fond of it. “That’ll do it.”

“It did. But really, I’m fine. I can walk.” I bobbed my head and immediately regretted it because my vision went sideways. The floor rose up to meet me and I realized I had gone sideways. Before I could make contact, Jax was there lifting me up by the scruff of my shirt.

“Easy there, star racer.” He let go but stayed close. “Why don’t you let me make sure you don’t fall on your face.”

“Yeah, all right.”

We took a few awkward steps, but they were slow going. I only came to Jax’s shoulder and our disproportionate heights mixed with my missing balance hindered the whole process. The third time I stumbled he cursed under his breath and bent to pick me up.

“Sorry, that was just too slow.”

* * *

The next morning, as Vega predicted, was unpleasant. I sat in my quarters, hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee and staring blearily into space. It felt like someone was drilling a hole in my head and every movement sent my stomach into somersaults.

Farah strode in looking far too cheery. “Good morning,” she chimed.

I moaned and shielded my eyes. “Why are you yelling? And why the hell aren’t you like me?”

She set something down in front of me with a thud. “Because I drank this. I brought you one too. Recovery drink.”

“Another one of your specialties?” I peeked under my hand to see a go cup filled with questionable green liquid.

“Exactly. Give it five minutes. I swear you’ll feel better.”

Anything was better than my current misery. I took an experimental sip and decided it wasn’t half bad.

“Good,” said Farah approvingly. “Now, why don’t you get ready and meet us on the bridge in twenty? Vega finally cracked Calliope’s data stick.”

My head snapped up, sending a fresh wave of pain through it that I ignored. “What? V, why didn’t you tell me?”

“You instructed me not to bother you unless it was a life or death situation,” she replied, sounding smug. “It is, of course, possible that I misinterpreted. You were quite hard to understand. Would you like me to replay the feed?”

Now that she said it, I did remember mumbling something like that after Jax deposited me in my room. Cheeks burning, I waved the offer away. “Nope, not necessary.”

“Very well.”

Farah clapped her hands together and backed away, heading for the door. “See you in a few.”

True to her word, the drink helped and I was back to normal before stepping out of the shower. I made it to the bridge in fifteen minutes to find everyone waiting for me. I avoided eye contact with Jax as I crossed the room.

Calliope’s data stick had been a source of irritation for weeks, ever since she left it attached to a Neutronium canister filled with microbots capable of taking out whole planets. We knew it was from her because the drive had been engraved with the words Maius Bonum, a phrase she’d said to us in the past. Added to that, no one else would have left the microbots behind.

The drive was protected so well that even Mack hadn’t been able to hack it. I didn’t know how Vega had done it, and I didn’t care.

“What do we have?” I asked, coming to a stop at the main display.

“Two files,” Mack replied. She tapped something into her data pad and the holo lit up. “A video and a text file.”

When she didn’t play it right away I glanced over. “Something wrong?”

She shook her head. “Not really. But there’s something you should know. There’s a reason it was so hard to get into. We assumed—correctly—that it was Union tech, but it’s more than that. This is next gen encryption. Only one branch of the military has access to this kind of thing. The Constables.”

“Wow, we had a real live Constable on board and lived to tell the tale,” murmured Farah.

I didn’t laugh. Like the Void and Reapers of Union lore, Constables were equally feared and respected. While the formers were terrifying for their ability to maim and kill, Constables and their Sarkonian counterparts, the Sparrows, were famous for other reasons.

Rumor had it that they operated independently and could be anyone or anything. Doctors, Renegades, drug dealers, or whatever their mission called for. It wasn’t unheard of for them to infiltrate their own ranks, if needed. Calliope was a perfect example. If she was a Constable, she’d played the part of a naïve Union soldier.

Played the part so well, in fact, that Farah and I had accepted her with open arms. I’d tortured myself these last few weeks for not spotting her lies sooner. In hindsight they seemed so obvious, but this revelation made me feel a little better.

“It makes sense,” I said. “Calliope, if that’s even her real name, wasn’t just a good actress. Remember how good she was at everything? She took out that guard on Boltin like it was nothing.”

Farah shot me a glance. “Right. Didn’t you say she flew through the debris ring at Z-28K with no problem?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Almost like she was trained to be useful in a number of scenarios.”

“If that’s Constable tech, have you checked to make sure it’s not being tracked or loaded with a virus?”

The question came from Jax, who spoke for the first time.

Mack didn’t look bothered by the question. “Sure did, the instant I realized what it was. As far as I can tell, it’s clean.”

“Alright,” I said, casting a glance around the group. “Let’s just watch it.”

Wordlessly, Mack tapped on her pad.

Calliope’s image appeared on the display. She looked much the same as the last time I’d seen her, though perhaps more refined. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Her features were arranged in serious lines, her dark eyes fixed on the camera as though she could see us.

“Captain… Alyss,” she began.

Nice touch, I thought. Using first names to be more personal.

“If you’re watching this, then by now, no doubt you’ve discovered my affiliation with the Constables. My mission was simple. Retrieve the stolen replicators and the ingot, whatever the cost. It should have been easy. I didn’t expect…” She trailed off and looked away, as though unsure how to proceed.

“I didn’t expect to find out you were the good guys. I’m sorry. Really sorry for how things turned out. After the Union realized the ingot wasn’t in the case, they sent me and a team to Z-28K so the whole thing wasn’t a complete failure. On the way there I learned some disturbing news about my government.”

“What a load of shit,” Mack muttered.

Farah shushed her so we could hear Calliope.

“… can’t go into detail, but a trusted source told me they couldn’t end up in any government’s hands. You’re the only ones I trust to keep them safe.” She leaned forward and spoke earnestly. “There’s something big coming. Bigger than the Union, Sarkonians, and Initiative combined. They’re called Celestials. I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you, but maybe the dossier I’ve attached will help.”

The video stopped and went black.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Vid stops there,” said Mack.

Farah crossed her arms, a stony expression on her face. “I’m going to agree with you, cuz. Load of shit. Does Calliope really expect us to believe that?”

On the surface, I felt the same way. Cal had lied to gain our trust, then abandoned us in the middle of battle. My initial feeling was to trash the video and files, forget about her, and pick up another rescue mission. But feelings were how things got messed up.

“We have to be objective,” I said.

Both Farah and Mack stared at me like I’d sprouted an extra limb, but Jax just watched with vague interest.

“Don’t tell me you took that seriously?” Farah’s voice was ripe with disbelief.

“No, at least not yet. A few things don’t add up though, and I think they’re worth exploring.”

Mack snorted. “Like what?”

“First off, the fact that we have the replicators,” I said.

“Alyss, you know how the Constables work. No cost is too high,” she replied. “Maius Bonum, remember?”

I leaned back against a handrail and chose my next words carefully. “I do know. And that’s exactly my point. We’re not so important to anyone that the Union would be willing to give us one of the most—maybe the most—destructive weapon in the galaxy just to earn our trust back. Do you?”

She and Farah shook their heads in grudging unison.

I looked at Jax. “Any thoughts?”

He shrugged. “I don’t trust the Union as a rule, but you got one thing right. They wouldn’t leave that kind of tech with you. It would be foolish to dismiss everything the kid said.”

“Okay, then we need to analyze and verify everything Calliope said, including whatever is in this dossier. Vega, put up the other file, will you?”

“Right away, Captain.”

Several pages of text and images appeared on the holo. I stepped forward and gave them a cursory glance. Farah did the same, but Mack did something on her pad. I let her be.

“Not an op,” I murmured. “It’s all about a person. Senator-Richard Peralta. Why does that name sound familiar?”

Farah turned to me with troubled eyes. “He’s on our list of Kaska’s inner circle. Mack has been monitoring them in case we can get to one.”

“She’s right,” said Mack, moving closer and looking more interested. “Vega, can you put up my files on Peralta?”

“One moment,” the AI replied.

It was a quick read. “That’s not much compared to what Cal has,” I commented.

Mack planted a hand on her hip. “Kaska’s people are well protected. I can only do so much. She would have access to more information than me.”

“Right. Constables and all that. No offense.”

She smiled and turned back to the display. “None taken. You’re right, anyway. Routines, family, income… jeez. This goes back. Like all the way back. What’s the point of all this?”

“It’s information,” said Farah. She studied the data, clearly caught up in it now. “Why give us all this?”

I thought about it, trying to imagine what Calliope intended.

“I’ve seen plenty of dossiers like this,” said Jax. When none of us responded, he jerked his chin at the holo. “There’s only two reasons to have that much information on one person. Assassination or abduction.”

Looking back at the data with that in mind, it did make sense.

“Why would we do either?” said Mack. “Sure, we’ve been tracking the guy, but there’s no reason to kill him. Kaska would just replace him with someone else. Calliope wouldn’t even know we were watching him because he got added to the list after she left.”

Jax shot her a glance. “You positive the system hasn’t been compromised?”

Mack nodded briskly. “Absolutely. It might be a bitch to hack Constable tech, but I made the Genesis a veritable fortress.”

“Then he must know something, something Calliope knew we’d find important.” I pointed at the display. “Whatever it is, it’s in there. Each of us can take a section. If nothing shakes out, we’ll switch. Run down every piece of information, no matter how unimportant it seems.”

We spent the next hour learning about Senator-Richard Peralta. Some of the details were old, like the vacation he’d taken on a resort world called Serenity. It didn’t take long to realize that the government didn’t have nearly as much caution hiding where their people had been as they did future schedules. That made it a simple task to confirm Calliope’s data.

It gave me an idea. “He seems to go to a lot of meetings,” I told the room. “Can we cross check that list to see who’s been going with him, and where?”

“Working,” said Vega.

It only took a second for a star map to appear. Small pinpoints of light depicted Peralta’s movements, which spanned multiple systems.

“He attends a lot of meetings with Kaska,” Mack noted.

“And he visits Prosperitas monthly,” Farah added. “What’s he doing?”

Prosperitas was a mining planet in the White Cross system. It was supposed to be the biggest producer of N02-99, the Empire’s most important metal.

It in no way compared with Neutronium, but it was more readily available. We used it in anything from ship hulls to personal armor and weapons — and that was just the tip of that proverbial iceberg.

In a move that surprised just about everyone, the Union had given the entire system of White Cross back to the Empire. I’d been shocked that we got the handful of ships. No one but the Emperor and his chosen circle knew exactly what the Sarkonian Empire had given up in exchange for those. So whatever had prompted the return of White Cross must have been a big deal.

“Auditing,” Mack said.

“Hardly riveting stuff,” I remarked dryly. A point on the star map caught my attention and I pointed at it. “What about that? Why is it red?”

“It is an unknown,” Vega answered.

“Unknown as in you don’t know what’s there, or it’s uncharted?”

“Yes.”

Farah snorted.

“Funny.” I flicked a glance at Mack, but she shrugged. “V, can you clarify what you mean?”

“Certainly, Captain. I don’t have sufficient information to provide you. According to Miss Walker’s notes, ship logs show that Senator-Peralta regularly visited this site, but the region is not on any existing star map.”

“Thanks. That really clears things up, V.”

Jax cleared his throat and moved next to me. “I think I can help with this one.”

All of our heads turned to swivel to stare at the Void operative. I rolled my hand for him to continue.

“That’s Xanderis. I recognize it from the tristar system.”

I checked the screen and frowned. “I’m assuming since it’s not on the map that it’s a Void facility?”

“Not just a facility. The facility. It’s where all the operatives get their upgrades. We train there too. It’s really a base of operations. If we’re not on an op, that’s where we live.”

I wasn’t looking at Mack and Farah, but they had to be staring. With Jax taking up temporary residence on the Second Genesis, his status as a Void operative had felt a little removed. He didn’t exactly talk about it, and to be honest, I kind of forgot. Well, maybe not so much forgot as the idea was in the back of my mind.

Jax had a presence about him that couldn’t be ignored. I had gotten used to it though. His “upgrades,” as he called them, weren’t outwardly obvious. I knew from Commander Navari’s data cache that his fellow Void operative Dolph had an ocular implant, cybernetic limbs, and other enhancements not visible to the naked eye.

Looking at Farah’s brother now, I wasn’t sure which parts of him weren’t human, but I had my guesses. Farah was taller than me, though not by much. Both Mr. and Mrs. Singh were what I considered to be average height. Jax, on the other hand, was anything but average. His bio put him at two meters, almost a whole head taller than me. He wore his blonde hair cropped close in the usual military style.

I dragged my eyes away. “I guess they have labs there then,” I said thoughtfully.

He nodded. “That’s right. I haven’t been back, but there was some chatter about Kaska visiting not too long ago.”

“Yeah, you blew your cover pretty hard,” I said, recalling his standoff with the Vice-Admiral on Sarkon. If he hadn’t we’d be dead, but it was coming back to bite us now.

Farah turned to face him, lips pursed. “He recognized you on Sarkon. Called you by name. Sounds like he’s already visited.”

The siblings had been getting along better, but from the sounds of things, they weren’t at the hug and make up stage.

Jax met his sister’s accusing gaze with a level one of his own. “Yes, the Vice-Admiral has been to the facility before. He’s in control of the entire Void operation. It’s only been in the last year that his visits dropped off.”

I perked up at his mention of that. “A year. Is that a specific timeframe?”

He nodded. “Pretty close. Does that mean something to you?”

“Maybe. Hold on.” I pulled out my datapad and started to dig through files. It took me a minute longer than it probably would have taken Mack or Farah, but tech wasn’t my deal. Finally, I found what I was looking for and moved it to the main display.

“Ah,” said Mack, figuring it out first.

“What?” Farah looked from her to me, then back at her brother. “What does a year have to do with anything?”

I pointed at the holo. “A year ago is roughly how far Navari’s data goes back. Seems to me that it’s an odd coincidence. I’m not really a big believer in those anyway.”

“But why?” Farah asked, twisting slightly to study the data. “What’s the point of staying away?”

It was a valid question. The timing felt important, but I got the sense we only had part of the puzzle. “The Void is kind of a touchy subject. Stealing kids and all that. Kaska might want to distance himself from those activities. Remember, the Emperor is still a teen himself.”

Mack enlarged another portion of data on the holo and jabbed a finger towards it. “I always thought that the missions in the cache were randomly timed, but what if they point to an endgame?”

I’d considered this before and always dismissed the idea. “Looks like he had a timeframe in mind to finish whatever his plans are.”

“It’s not much, but we should take this to the Solaris Initiative,” Jax said. He waved a hand at the look on our collective faces. “Not all of it. I know you’re suspicious about them, or Dunham. Point is, they’re still the rebellion and could use the information. At the very least they’ll get suspicious if you don’t check in. Makes more sense to have something to share.”

Much as it pained me to agree, I did. My concerns about Angela Dunham were still there, but even I had to admit that we had no evidence. Just my hunch that there was more to the rebellion’s leader than met the eye. I couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that maybe I was being paranoid. The uncertainty bothered me most and was probably why I had latched onto this idea about Dunham to begin with.

It took a second for me to realize that the bridge had fallen quiet and the group was looking at me expectantly.

“Yeah, alright,” I conceded. “Mack, what’s happening on the net with the Initiative lately?”

She tapped away on her pad for a few seconds before shooting a grin my way. “Pretty favorable, all things considered. Most people seem to really like you as the poster girl.”

“Me?” I frowned, uncomfortable with the idea. “I thought it was us?”

That much was true. After the incident at Kaska’s house, both Farah and I had been branded the face of the Solaris Initiative. Then, the more the video of me arguing with Kaska got replayed, the more my face got plastered on the propaganda.

Most recently was a still of me that someone digitized, just of my face in the moment where I smashed the pad Kaska had been taunting me from. The artist froze the image in the moment before I brought my foot down. I looked fierce, if a little crazed, which the government was quick to point out. Supporters of the rebellion made it about smashing through tyranny, which was something I could get behind.

Farah cocked her head in my direction. “You said you were okay with this. Besides, it’s not forever.”

“Maybe not, but it is causing issues in the interim. We didn’t think about how hard it would make travelling. Harder than it already is anyway. Remember the dockmaster on Taurus last time? Good thing he was a supporter. I thought we were done for sure.”

That made both of them snicker, but Jax just looked at us in confusion. “It’s not really funny. If you guys get caught by the authorities, it will screw up a lot,” he admonished.

For some reason, this sent Farah into a fit of laughter. Again, Jax looked less than amused.

“Sorry, big brother. You’re just so serious.”

He stared hard at her. “I don’t understand why you’re laughing about this.”

“Jax, it might be best not to try. I have terabytes of data on human behavior at my disposal and still don’t quite grasp it all.” The slight synthesized texture of Vega’s voice added another layer to the whole situation.

Struggling to hold back a chuckle of my own, I coughed. “V, what’s our ETA to home?”

“Seventy-four standard hours, Captain.”

“Good. Okay, Giggles, calm down. We have some work to do before we get back.”

Farah finally sobered and wiped a tear from one eye. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… never mind, I’ll get going again.”

“Don’t,” I warned. “Let’s sort through Navari’s shit and see if something new pops. I want to see if we can find a connection between these dates.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

3

Almost as soon as we were back on Neblinar I was off Genesis and threading through the throngs of people. A few nodded to me, a few gave me space and cast wary glances my way. I returned the nods and ignored the rest. In recent weeks, I’d learned that with notoriety came a number of side effects.

I stopped at one of the many food vendors and waved to the man working the hover cart. Sven grinned, revealing his trademark smile missing more than a few teeth.

“Hey, old man,” I said by way of greeting.

“Hey yourself, Cortez. The usual?”

His gravelly voice matched his weathered face, which I found endearing. “Yeah, that’ll do, Sven. How’s business?”

“Steady, just the way I like it,” he replied, stacking meat onto a little spike before wrapping it in a biodegradable sleeve and passing it over. I didn’t miss the extra piece he added and dumped a few extra credits in his palm. Sven jangled them and tipped his chin in thanks. “Glad you’re home, Captain. Just keep an eye out. Been hearing whispers lately.”

“Like what?” I snagged a few napkins and shuffled to the side so I wasn’t holding up the line.

Sven shrugged noncommittally. “Hard to say. Just watch yourself. Don’t want to lose my best customer.”

He moved on to the next order and left me to ponder his cryptic warning. I figured it had to do with the rebellion and probably wasn’t anything major. Still, it paid to be cautious and I sent Mack a note to keep an ear open while we were home.

I didn’t know exactly when I started viewing the planet as home, but somehow it was. We’d settled into the fray like we’d always belonged. Me and Mack, anyway. Part of me thought Farah viewed it as temporary, until whatever happened with the Initiative and the government finished its course.

As I walked, questionable meat kabob in one hand, I wondered how she thought everything would play out. Hell, I wanted to know too. Did we really expect the rebellion to win and gain some independence from the Empire?

It seemed impossible, but here we were. I wouldn’t have thought any kind of uprising would have success, marginal or not. Despite my misgivings, it couldn’t be denied that Dunham had built something that stood a chance. Maybe for the first time ever. But what if it succeeded, what then? Would people like Farah be able to go home? I doubted it, if the Empire had anything to do with it.

Neblinar shone around me and I knew I would be content to stay there. At first glance, the place was utter chaos. It had only taken me a little while to see through that and become enamored with the freedom it represented. I didn’t rent an apartment or anything, but every time we docked I felt a familiar tug. Something I’d never experienced before. Long stretches of space travel didn’t bother me like it did some people, but I did prefer to have my feet on solid ground.

Merc Depot appeared in my field of vision and I stowed the brooding for later. The meat was finished, so I tossed the trash after a quick swipe with the napkins and stepped inside. The mercenary supply store was owned by Clint Russell, an arms dealer Farah and I had met on Leah station not long after our departure from the Empire.

As soon as one booted foot crossed the threshold, an upbeat chime tinkled its way through the store. A man who wasn’t Clint sat behind the counter holding a datapad. I’d never known Clint to hire help beyond his intimidating delivery team, and this guy didn’t meet those requirements. He was a head or so taller than me, but had the musculature of a string bean.

I could feel his eyes on me and started to browse the ammo offerings with a lazy curiosity while keeping some of my attention on the new clerk. He didn’t strike me as a criminal, what with the baby face and all. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

It didn’t take long for the kid to make his move. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he set the pad down and slid off his stool. Hooking my thumbs through my belt loops, I rocked on the balls of my feet, ready to make a grab for the pistol strapped to my left thigh.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

No one had called me ma’am in a while, and it made me think the clerk had a military background. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to have to ask you to surrender the weapon. Can’t have you in the store with that.” He pointed at the gun and gave me an apologetic smile.

I snorted. “Keep dreaming. You’re crazy if you think I’m just handing my gear over…” My eyes dropped to his name tag and took note of the sidearm at his hip before coming up lazily. “CJ.”

The apologetic smile fell away and his expression went a few degrees colder, revealing the edge I knew lurked beneath the surface. “Ma’am, I assure you it will be quite safe up front. If you won’t comply, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

His hand twitched a little and instead of backing up, I stepped closer, arranging my features into a snarl.

“Son, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a familiar deep voice from the door to the back room. “She’ll lay you flat before you know what hit you.”

I didn’t take my eyes off the clerk but started to put the pieces together. “CJ… would that be Clint Junior?”

“That’s right, Alyss. I’d appreciate it if you gave him a pass this time. He’s still learning.” Even though I was still watching Junior, I could hear the amusement.

“Sure, Clint. This time.” I dropped my hand and stepped back, then turned to my friend. “Still not giving up my gun though.”

Clint was a big man with a balding head and easy smile. “Of course not.” He clapped CJ forcefully on the shoulder and steered him back to the counter. “I already told you, stop trying to make people give up their weapons. You’re going to lose me customers if you keep that shit up.”

I chuckled when he made his way back over. “I didn’t know you had a kid.”

“Tried to keep it under the radar. He just did four years in the Union infantry and is still adjusting to my status as the local arms supplier.

My thoughts immediately went to Calliope. She’d looked young and innocent too. Until she didn’t. I didn’t hide my reaction fast enough and Clint laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” he said just loud enough for me to hear. “I love the kid and I’m proud as hell of him, but he ain’t no spy. Believe me.”

“Okay, good.” I relaxed a fraction and swept an arm to encompass the ammo I’d been looking over. “Got anything new?”

“Not since you were in last. Need to restock any of that?”

I shook my head. “Nah. Didn’t do any shooting this last time around. Got any grappling hooks?” I was thinking of our trouble back on Dulsa and how something like that could be avoided in the future.

Clint raised an eyebrow. “Of course. I feel like there’s a story here though.”

My smile turned catlike. “There might be.”

“I think it might be worth a discount. Let’s work out a deal.”

In the end, we haggled for 10% and Clint got the full story of Farah and I beam hopping over a carpet of Helfire. He considered the exchange well worth it and had to pause and catch his breath from laughing by the time I finished. Now that I wasn’t in danger of dying, the story was a little more amusing to me and I was snickering when something across the room caught my eye.

“Since when do you carry swords?”

Clint followed my gaze to the small collection of blades featured on the wall. “Some people like them. I had enough requests to get a couple in here.”

I walked over to get a better look with Clint trailing behind me. “Seems a little archaic. I think I read about them in stories when I was a kid. Some ranks of the Imperial army wear them as part of the dress uniform, but I didn’t think they were used in combat.”

“Then you’ll be surprised to hear that there’s an entire group dedicated to using them exclusively.”

“What, like they don’t use anything but swords?” I pulled a face because I couldn’t imagine not using any available weapon.

Clint nodded. “Exactly. Goes against their creed. I think they’re called sword saints. Or something like that anyway. You want to try one?”

I studied the display for a moment. The sleek matte black cutting edge of one looked appealing and I considered it briefly before shaking my head. “I know nothing about them. Probably cut myself trying some fancy move.”

“Yeah, good point. I don’t need you suing me.”

“I’m sure you have insurance,” I teased. My pad buzzed and alerted me to a message from Farah asking what was taking me so long. I held it up and started back to the counter. “My partner in justice is requesting my company. Still can’t believe she handled the jumps so well.”

“Maybe next time wear a rig, eh?” Clint shook his head and worked the pad, showing CJ how to ring up the discount in the process.

“Yeah, lesson learned there.”

“Farah has an order for rations. You want to take care of that now? I can send the grapple along with that order, so you don’t have to carry it.”

I nodded. “Works for me.”

After the transaction was complete, CJ nodded briskly and Clint walked me to the door. “Everything good, Cortez? You seemed a little jumpy.”

A quick glance told me CJ was out of earshot and I jerked my chin in agreement. “Not so much jumpy as wary. Sven told me to watch my back. He didn’t explain, but I got the feeling he heard something. Have you?”

“Could be. There was some chatter last week that some mercs who weren’t mercs, if you get my meaning, were in town. I didn’t see them though. I was… indisposed, getting new merchandise.” Clint frowned and scrubbed at his beard. “Tell you what, I’ll ask around. Someone’s bound to know something.”

“Alright, just keep it vague. I don’t want anyone to know I’m asking questions.

He scoffed with mock derision. “Alyss, I’m an arms dealer, I know how to be delicate in my inquiries.”

“My bad, old man. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

“Ouch.” He punctuated the word by slapping a hand to his heart in dramatic fashion. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

I paused with my hand on the door. “Actually, there is one more thing. Your comment to CJ. I’m flattered, but you’ve never seen me fight.”

Clint smiled toothily at me. “Guess I’ll repeat myself. I’m an arms dealer. I know a weapon when I see one.”

* * *

“About time,” Farah said when I got back. “Thought we were going to have to send out a search party for you.”

“Well, I’m here now. What’s up?” Farah was acting a little dodgy and playing it off.

“There’s something you need to see. Come on.”

I followed her to the bridge without another word. Whatever it was, it had her on edge and concern supplanted my prior easy mood. My first thought was something with Kaska, but when I got a look at the display, I saw an unfamiliar man’s face. He had light brown hair and a fading tan that suggested he’d been on a ship for some time. Both Mack and Jax were there, the former in her usual chair and the latter leaning with both arms crossed against a handrail.

Mack looked up when we entered, her dark eyes unreadable. “Alyss. There’s been a development of sorts. I got an odd communication from a previous client I had before we hooked up.”

“Previous client. What did you do for him?”

“Nothing big,” she said. “Helped him with travel documentation. He did most of the heavy lifting, just needed a little tweaking. Interestingly enough, he was headed to Z-28K.”

I came closer and studied the man with more interest. “Z-28K, as in our Safe Haven?”

“You got it. Of course, he got there when it was still an active colony. Here, listen to what he has to say.”

She tapped once on her pad to start the holo. The man’s face unfroze and he smiled, revealing straight white teeth. “Mack, it’s Ben Cabbot. I know it’s been awhile since we talked, but a lot has happened. I’m sure by now you’ve heard what happened with the mining colony on Z-28K and how most of the population just poofed.”

Z-28K had been abandoned by the time we came along and used it to store everything we didn’t want to keep on the ship. It had been a good plan until Calliope Walker, Constable spy extraordinaire, came along and infiltrated our happy little group. As soon as I learned of her betrayal we’d rushed back to the moon but it was too late. Everything, with the exception of the replicators, had been taken.

“Or at least the Union’s side of it,” Cabbot continued. “No doubt you’ve also heard about the Renegade Jace Hughes.”

I snorted, ready to say something snarky, but Farah shushed me.

Cabbot pushed a hand through his hair. “He’s not what they say. But Mack, some of the rumors are true. Earth… it’s real. I’ve been there, seen it with my own eyes, and it’s nothing like you’ve ever imagined. See for yourself.”

The feed switched and suddenly I was looking at an exotic world I’d never seen before. Great expanses of blue that could only be oceans covered a great deal of it. The rest was a mixture of green, brown, and grey that spoke of a healthy planet. But it was still just a planet.

When Cabbot came back on he wasn’t smiling. “This is where the missing people are going. All the disappearances are refugees who chose to come here, myself among them. And it’s amazing, truly. But we have a problem. There’s an enemy gunning for us, Mack. Not just here on Earth. Everyone, the entire fucking galaxy.”

It was silent on the bridge as we listened to Cabbot speak. He blew out a breath before continuing, trouble in his expression. “They’re called Celestials and they want to eradicate all intelligent life. Captain Hughes has formed an Alliance with both the Union and the Empire to combat them. I’m sure you can verify. Anyway, I’m sending this on behalf of Hughes. He’s heard of the Initiative, even all the way out here. He wants to meet with Eva Delgado and Sophie Singh, if you can get them to agree to a meeting. Mack, this isn’t a trick. The fate of humanity depends on the Celestials being defeated.”

* * *

I took a few seconds to process what we’d just heard. It was a lot, but one thing stuck out. “He said Celestials. Calliope brought those up in her video, but they weren’t in the dossier. That was all about Peralta.”

“She said the same thing,” Jax said, speaking for the first time. “That they were coming, and they were a major threat. Bigger than the Union, Sarkonians, and Initiative, combined.”

“Do you trust him?” I asked, throwing a glance at Mack.

“It’s not that I don’t, but it’s hard to say. I only worked with Cabbot the one time. Nice enough guy and I didn’t get any bad vibes. He was on the run from the Empire at the time. A conscripted Union citizen who refused to comply. Had enough know-how to get himself to Neblinar, but he wasn’t a fan of the environment. I helped him find an out of the way place. Z28-K fit the bill.”

“Was this before Farah and I deserted?”

Mack nodded. “Yup. You guys weren’t openly part of the Initiative yet. I was part of the underground, enough that people came to me for getting away from whatever situation they were in.”

“He called us by our old names,” said Farah suddenly. “Shouldn’t he know our aliases by now?”

I lifted a shoulder, unable to answer that.

Jax finally pushed away from the wall and stood at the command center. “Vega, tell us everything you can on the transmission. Specifically, security and location.”

He didn’t say please, something the rest of us did by default, making the request more of an order, but Vega didn’t seem to mind. Or at least she didn’t experience one of her mini malfunctions at his request, so I assumed she didn’t care. The notion was probably ridiculous, but I wondered if she could detect that Jax wasn’t all human and whether that affected Vega’s view of him. I decided to ask her later.

“Of course, Jax. One moment.” The computer was only silent for a few beats when she came back with an answer. “The transmission was encrypted, but to ensure that Miss Woods was the one to access it. When her identity was verified, all security measures were lifted. The signal came from a region of space called the Sol System.”

“I’m by no means a uranographer or anything,” said Farah, studying the system now dominating the holo. “But that doesn’t sound or look remotely familiar.” She paused when Mack coughed and I snickered. “What?”

It was a struggle, but I managed to keep a straight face. “You’re not a urine-ographer? Good to know, but how does it pertain to this situation?”

Farah was too busy sending me a withering look to answer, so Vega stepped in. “I believe Co-captain Shahi meant uranographer, the term for an individual who creates star maps,” she said helpfully.

“See, now that makes much more sense. You were saying, Farah?”

“I’m surrounded by juveniles,” she replied.

“Actually, Miss Shahi,” Vega interrupted, sounding delighted to offer more of her expertise. “According to my records, you are the youngest person present, though by a small margin.”

Farah groaned. “I know, it’s a figure of speech. Never mind that. I’m trying to explain that this system has to be new. Or newly discovered. Look at the map. The closest charted S.G. Point is by Leah. When we stopped there, I checked everything around there. That system didn’t exist, and neither did any tunnels to get there.”

Listening to her talk, I sobered. “Okay, but what does that prove? There’s plenty of government owned black sites that aren’t on public maps.”

“That’s true, but I’m not sure it applies,” said Mack. She was the only one not looking at the display, her focus on the pad in her lap. “I won’t bore you with the specifics, but Sol is out there. Like, way out there. And Farah’s right. I can’t find any evidence slip tunnels were ever there. Not saying it proves Cabbot’s story without a doubt, but it certainly doesn’t contradict anything.”

I looked at Jax. “You’re pretty quiet. Any thoughts?”

“A few,” he answered. “All Void operatives are extensively trained in interrogation and interpretation of body language. I didn’t detect any dishonestly.”

“He talked about the Renegade,” Farah added. “That’s easy enough to check. If Hughes really did form an Alliance, he shouldn’t be a fugitive anymore. Is he still wanted?”

Mack checked the gal-net. Her head jerked up in record time, and the surprise there gave me the answer. “No. It says here that both his and Abigail Pryar’s warrants have been lifted, along with a number of others. All, actually, in connection with Jace Hughes the Renegade.”

I couldn’t deny that compelling piece of evidence, but neither was I ready to agree to a meeting. “Before we give an answer, let’s verify as much information as we can. I don’t want to rush into anything. Does Dunham have the information Calliope gave us?”

“Yeah, I sent everything we agreed on,” said Farah. “She’s going over it and will get back to us.”

“Good enough for me. I suggest we all take the night off. I have a feeling she’s going to send us out on some kind of mission.”

For me, taking the night off meant two things: finding good food and tracking down some form of entertainment. Usually that meant an action holo or one of the many street performances. Tonight, however, Mack had slipped me a card.

My eyebrow shot up as I read it. “Do I look like the kind of girl who goes to the spa?”

She grinned. “Not at all. Which is why you should do it. C’mon, even guys go to these places.”

“You know what? On second thought, I think I’ll stay in and work.”

“Don’t fight it. You’ve been pretty stressed lately. Go, I swear you’ll be a new person when you come out. Already paid for, my treat. They’re expecting you,” she said, all but pushing me out the door.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “But only because you already paid.”

“That’s the spirit. See you in a bit.”

With that, I was off my ship and heading for a place aptly named Hands On.

4

It being my first time in a spa, I didn’t know what to expect when I walked through the door.

Hands On turned out to be pretty clean, with décor that ran to soft colors and lent a calming atmosphere to would be customers. I immediately felt out of place in my black synth-leather jacket, tactical pants, and boots.

That feeling dissipated pretty fast when I got a look at the clientele in the waiting room. It was just one guy, but he was the burly sort. He had a big beard, faux leather vest, and tattoos on every visible inch of skin.

Keeping my composure, I walked to the counter and slid my card to the demurely dressed receptionist whose name tag read Trixie. “Uh, my friend Mack made the appointment. Said all I had to do was give you this.”

Trixie accepted it with a smile and scanned it into her computer. “One moment, miss.”

While she did that, I gave her the once over. Despite a prim white uniform and soft make up, she carried herself like someone with fighting experience. Her movements were sure and I got the feeling she could take care of herself. That tracked. Much as I liked Neblinar, it was a mercenary run planet. It attracted all manner of people and businesses did well to be prepared. They’d all mete out their own form of justice, if needed.

I’d bet just about anything there was a pistol or something heavier under the counter, aimed at my gut and in quick reach. For some reason, that made me feel better about the swanky atmosphere.

“Yes, Mack has taken care of everything and you’ll be receiving the Premier package today. Please have a seat, we’ll be out to get you momentarily, Miss Cortez. Would you like a beverage? We have mineral water from a number of luxoplanets. Sobek is a popular choice.”

Recalling my last experience on Sobek, I grimaced and shook my head. “No thanks. Do you have any enerdrinks?”

Trixie smiled, amused at my bumbling. “I’m afraid not. We try to provide refreshments that relax the mind and body.”

“Oh, right. I’ll pass on the water then.”

She leaned in close. “We have plenty of alcohol, if that’s more your speed. Let me guess… wine or sake kind of woman?”

“Sake, for the love of gods, please.”

“Right away.” There must have been a fridge unit close by because Trixie was back with the drink in under twenty seconds flat. “Would you like to check any weapons?”

“Nope. Is that a requirement?” I almost hoped she would say yes so I had an excuse to leave, but she just smiled again.

“No. We do have a zero tolerance policy for violence, however. Hands On will use lethal force to neutralize threats.” She waved a hand to the mostly empty waiting room. “Sit anywhere you like. Shouldn’t be too long.”

I chose a seat across from the bearded man with a good view of the door. He was skimming a datapad and chuckling to himself. To avoid staring, I took in our surroundings, still somewhat taken aback that such opulence existed on Neblinar.

“First time here?” The burly man had put the pad down and was watching me with a genial expression.

“Yeah. My friend kind of pushed me into it. Got it as a gift, I guess.”

He bobbed his head knowingly. “I’m Bob, by the way. It’s a great place. What package are you doing?”

“Nice to meet you, Bob. I’m Alyss. The receptionist said Premier, I think.” I took a sip of the sake and had to force myself not to down the small bottle. Why was this place making me so itchy?

Bob whistled. “Must be a hell of a friend. That’s the top tier experience. Anyway, have you read this one?” He flipped the pad up so I could see that he was reading one of the tabloid sites.

“I’m not much of a reader. Prefer the action vids.”

“You should give these a try,” he said, hooting. “They’re great for a laugh. This one said some explorers found Earth, you know, like from the fairy tales. Hilarious, you ask me.”

I fought back a cough. “Hah. Hilarious, you’re right.”

The lobby door opened and saved me from having to come up with anything else. The men that entered were dressed in standard merc clothing, all black with lots of pockets. Bob and I watched with mild curiosity as they strode to the front desk where Trixie greeted them with the same bright smile.

“Hello, welcome to Hands On. Do you have an appointment?”

“No,” the first man answered in a gruff voice while his buddy surveyed the waiting room. “I’d like to make one.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have anyone available to do a couple’s massage, sir.”

“What?”

Trixie had both men’s full attention with that statement. “We’re booked at the moment. A walk-in appointment for a double couple’s massage will be quite a long wait.”

“We’re not a couple. Smith is my bodyguard.”

Smith, original.

I missed what they said next because the door to the back rooms opened and a tiny woman dressed in white scrubs called for Bob and me. “Welcome back, Mr. Spiker. You’re in room three today.”

“Well, Alyss, enjoy the Premier,” Bob said over his shoulder as he walked off.

I gave him a quick wave. “You too.”

When he had gone, the technician turned to me. “This is your first visit, correct?”

“That’s right,” I told her. Last time too, if I can help it.

“No problem, and welcome. My name is Myrna. I see your friend booked you for the Premier package. That starts with a full body wrap.”

I wasn’t so sure I liked the sound of that. “A full body wrap? What are you wrapping me in?”

“Exotic leaves from plants grown on Soule.” Myrna stopped in front of a door marked with five stars, which I assumed was a nod to the Premier status. “The procedure is very relaxing and the wrap smells great. Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”

“So everyone keeps telling me.”

I followed her into a softly lit room done in soft tones that said one thing: comfort. I was pleased to see that it wasn’t all white, a color that always seemed impractical to me. A plush couch with deep red fabric sat off to one side. One corner was dominated by a tub that might as well have been a personal swimming pool. A fireplace crackled merrily, casting warm air throughout the room.

Myrna handed me a fluffy robe folded into a neat square. “Go ahead and undress. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Used to years of shared locker rooms, I was quick to undress. It didn’t bother me to be naked, but I slipped the robe on and walked to the massage table in the center of the room. The sheets were soft and covered in a layer of exotic flower petals. Their sweet scent permeated the air, but in a pleasant way.

Some wordless instrumental music played on a low setting and the temperature was damn near perfect. The whole set up was already starting to soothe some of my edges out. Maybe there was something to this relaxing thing after all.

A short knock sounded on the door.

“I’m ready,” I called out.

Myrna walked in holding a stack of bright purple leaves. She took two steps towards me when the friendly expression went slack. Her knees buckled and the tech began to fall forward.

“Hey, are you—”

Too late, I saw the dart sticking out from her back. Smith, the bodyguard from the lobby, stood behind her in the doorway, still partially obscured by the door. My clothes were on a bench against the wall. It only took a glance to know I’d never make it, but I was still going to try.

“Delgado, our boss would like a word with you.”

“Sorry,” I called back, preparing to make my move. “Now isn’t really a good time. I was just about to start my Premier treatment.”

Smith pushed the door open before I could take a step.

“As you can see, I’m using non-lethal measures here. Consider it a peace offering from Vice-Admiral-Kaska.” I bristled at the mention of his name. Of course he was behind this. “I know you’re thinking of going for your weapon. I’m going to caution against that, Sergeant. If you come with us and don’t give us any problems, no one gets hurt. That story changes if you fight this.”

I thought for a moment, weighing my options. There weren’t many. “Fine, but at least let me get dressed first.”

Smith kept his tranq gun trained on me. “You can have shoes. And my partner will get them for you. Try anything and this goes from tranq to bullet real fast.”

The second man appeared as though on cue and advanced on me. “Where are your clothes?”

He followed the direction I pointed and picked up my boots. After a quick check to ensure I didn’t have anything stashed inside, he approached with care and passed them over.

“Put them on slow,” Smith instructed while his friend threw the rest of my clothes, communicator included, into the fire.

I did as he told me, mind still churning with ways to get the hell out of this mess I was in. Right now I only had one move and it meant going with them. When the boots were on, Smith’s partner grabbed me roughly by the arm.

“You sure know how to treat a girl.”

“Shut up.”

He marched me down the hall with Smith following behind us. Smart, but they’d both be close when they got me to whatever transpo they were using. I’d only have one shot, so it would have to count.

“Hang a right, John,” Smith said.

“John, and Smith. You guys are kidding, right?”

John sped up and yanked me with him. “Thought I told you to shut up.”

Not wanting to press my luck, I fell silent. I had what I needed anyway. Of the two, John was the hothead and predisposed to violence. They didn’t already know the layout of the building, so this had been a crime of opportunity. That also meant that I’d gotten sloppy and missed the tail somewhere.

“Rita, I’ve been waiting—” A door to our right opened and Bob stepped out in one of the fluffy robes, stopping short at the sight of us.

“Mind your business and get back in your room,” Smith ordered. I didn’t have to look to know that he had the gun trained on the man.

Bob’s eyes slid to mine, steely and dark. I shook my head, keeping the motion miniscule. “I didn’t see anything,” he said, holding up both hands in surrender.

“Good answer,” John growled.

The door to room three shut again and we continued our trek to the emergency stairs. They took us down to the street level on the back side of Hands On.

A car waited, already on and hovering silently off the ground. The passenger side opened up automatically as we got near and Smith moved from behind us to the side. He motioned with the gun. “Get in.”

It was now or never. I pretended to duck inside and stomped three times with my right foot. To my relief the hidden blade whisked out like it was supposed to do. I twisted around, using the car’s frame for support and slashed out with my foot. The move caught John by surprise and he rocked back.

His grunt of pain told me I’d managed to nick something. He slapped one hand to his inner thigh and took a knee. “Watch out! Bitch got a blade by us.”

Smith came around, weapon drawn. Wearing nothing but the robe and boots, I was woefully outmatched, but I wasn’t down yet. I lunged at him, hoping to throw him off balance. It prevented the merc from shooting me, but he brought the butt of the gun down and caught the right side of my face, close to the eye.

Warm liquid spurted and I saw red. Son of a bitch. He drew blood and I grinned, baring my teeth.

“You’re crazy. I like that, Delgado.”

“You won’t,” I promised, scrambling to my feet.

He laughed, only to be cut off by me kicking him full force in the balls. He squeaked when the blade hit home and went rigid. I brought my foot back down, blood coating it. Smith fell to his knees. I grabbed the gun before he dropped it.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” John said from behind me.

Smith hadn’t taken the time to switch from tranquilizer to pistol, but I remedied that with the flick of one finger. John had both hands on his injured leg, trying to staunch the bleeding. His weapon lay on the ground in front of him.

“Don’t do it,” I said.

He ignored me and reached for it. His body jerked back when my round hit him between the eyes. A gurgle sounded from Smith and I turned to face him. I almost felt bad to see his face contorted in agony, but I figured he earned it by trying to kidnap me for Kaska. The feeling subsided when I saw the glint of something in one of his hands.

The throwing blade flashed out and my arm barely came up in time to deflect it. The sharp edge sliced through the luxury robe and into my flesh with ease. I didn’t drop the gun, but it was close. Before I could react, a shot rang out in the alley, hitting Smith square in the chest.

“You okay, Alyss?” It was Bob. His large form blocked out light from the building, but I could make out he was still in a robe and sporting a large pistol.

“Now I am. Thanks.”

He whistled again. “Looks like you had it mostly handled. And you aren’t even dressed.”

“Yeah, they didn’t count on me being wily. I’ve been wanting to try this thing out forever.” I pointed down the blade still sticking out of my boot.

“Now I’m thinking I need one of those. You, ah, need any help?”

I held up my bleeding arm. “If you don’t mind. I want these two in the trunk. They’ll make a nice message to whoever sent them.”

“My pleasure. Hold this for me, will ya?” Bob passed me his beast of a gun, which I was pretty sure qualified as a mini rifle.

John and Smith were in the trunk within minutes and Bob was wiping blood on his white robe. Mine was a mess too, with one shoulder all but ripped off. The loops hadn’t survived the scuffle, but I just tied the belt a little tighter.

“Thanks, I appreciate it, Bob.” I waved a hand at the building. “I thought they had good security?”

He shrugged., then slammed the trunk. “Your friends must have bypassed somehow. Say, you should probably get the cut looked at.”

I glanced down at it. “It’ll hold until I get back to my ship.”

“Up to you. Be careful getting back now. I can go with, if you want.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I have some things to take care of.”

He nodded and went back inside. I had a picture of him returning to his room and still getting what he came for. The same was out for me. By now, my clothes were no doubt rendered to ash. A shame, because I really liked that jacket. With a long suffering sigh, I climbed into the car and told it to take me back to the docks.

5

Second Genesis was uncharacteristically dark when I made it back. The car had denied me access when I tried to have it give me its previous locations, and would require the expertise of Mack to unlock. That was probably for the better.

“V, can you ask Mack to come here?” I asked, too weary to search her out myself.

“Captain, both Miss Woods and Miss Shahi are in the galley and request your presence.”

My arm burned, so at least Farah would be close by to patch me up. “Alright, on my way. What’s up with the lights?”

“I believe Miss Shahi referred to it as mood lighting, though I am not clear on what that means.”

Being unsure myself, I didn’t answer. The galley was just around the corner, so I trudged my way there. When the door slid open, none of the lights were on. “Mack?”

No one answered. A tingle started at the base of my spine and I wondered if Vega had somehow been compromised and this was another trap. Cautiously, I peered inside. The lights flipped on, temporarily blinding me. At the same time, a chorus of voices yelled “Surprise!”

That was the last thing I had anticipated and a high-pitched yelp escaped before I could stop it.

“Gods, Alyss. What the hell happened to you?” Farah asked.

My vision cleared after a few rapid blinks and a strange sight greeted me. The kitchen had been transformed with colorful decorations, food, and desserts. It was also full of people, much to my mortification.

Besides Farah and Mack, Jax and Clint stood in a small group, staring at me wide eyed.

I dropped into one of the nearest chairs and mustered up a ghost of a smile. “Let’s just say that Hands On isn’t getting a five star review from me. A couple of Kaska’s men tracked me there and jumped me.”

“Where are your clothes?” Farah asked, retrieving the medkit we kept in the kitchen for emergencies.

“They caught me right before the full body wrap.”

Clint and Jax exchanged a look before the older man made to move for the door. “Did they get away?”

I leveled a stare at him. “What do you think?”

He nodded, satisfied. “Good girl. Where are the bodies?”

“Parked below the docks in their car. Speaking of which. Mack, I couldn’t get the list of previous locations. Think you could take care of that for me?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I pulled the digikey out of the single intact robe pocket with my good hand and tossed it to her. Expression grim, she snagged it with one hand and left. Ever the calm one, Jax stepped forward and gave me the once over. “You all right?”

“I’m fine.”

He looked at his sister. “She’s going to need stitches,” she murmured. “Besides that, it just looks like bumps and bruises. No broken bones this time around. I can bring down the swelling on the eye with a cold pack.”

“Good.” Jax turned his attention back to me, all business. “How do you know they were Kaska’s?”

“They said as much. Said he wanted to have a chat with me. They didn’t kill anyone at the spa, as far as I could tell. Used tranquilizer ammo and claimed it was a peace offering from the Vice-Admiral.”

Clint shook his head in annoyance. “Ballsy move in a place like that.”

“They were good, just not good enough. Handled all the security but didn’t check my boots well enough.” I performed the stomping motion again and showed him the blade. “Saved me from getting in the car with them. My take is bargain mercs, not Sarkonian either. They could have been telling the truth about the meet, but I wasn’t banking on it.”

Jax leaned back against one of the tables. “Smart move. I doubt their orders were to deliver you unharmed.”

Farah’s lips thinned into a flat line. “We should finish this in the medbay.”

I agreed. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Hey, what’s with the party?”

My friend stared at me for a long moment before snapping out a short, shrill laugh. “It’s your birthday, idiot.”

“It is? Huh, how about that. Guess I forgot.”

On our way out I heard Clint say something to Jax. “Who forgets their own birthday?”

Farah treated my eye and administered the stitches in no time at all. We’d been through the process together more times than I cared to count, but it made her hands quick and sure.

She made a tsking sound once the bloody remnants of the robe were gone. “This is pretty nasty.”

“Throwing blade. He had some skill with it and it was either block it with my arm or face.”

“Man, can’t have you out of my sight for anything.” She wound a clean bandage around my arm and sat back on her rolling stool. “All set. You want something for the pain? I’m sure you want to go to bed after what you’ve been through.”

One eyebrow shot up and I cocked my head. “Come on, you think this is enough to keep me away from my birthday party?”

“Yeah, I should know better. Come on then. I’m sure Mack will be back soon, if she isn’t already. And, there’s cake!”

“I’m not one to turn down cake, especially if it’s in my honor. I should get dressed first. You mind grabbing me some clothes?”

When I was decent again, in an outfit remarkably close to the one that went up in flames, Farah and I rejoined everyone in the kitchen. Mack had returned and stood talking with Clint and Jax. Two big burly men who had shown up while I was getting treated, stood off to one side, waiting for orders. I recognized them as Clint’s delivery muscle and felt a little touched he thought they were necessary.

Clint saw me looking and broke away from the trio. “Hope you don’t mind that I called my guys up. Mack said it would be okay. They’re my gift to you.”

Somewhat suspicious, I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of gift? They better keep their clothes on.”

The bellow of his laughter rocked around the smaller space. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Cortez. I was offering their services to dispose of the bodies and track their movements. Mack got all the coordinates stored in their car’s computer.”

She pointed at one of the screens where the data was displayed. Small pinpoints marked the vehicle’s previous location and routes. It didn’t take me long to decipher that they’d been in many of the places I frequented.

“Right. I knew that. This tracks with Sven’s warning. I’m sure they weren’t being very stealthy in their tracking if he noticed. As for your men, Clint, that sounds good to me. Saves time on our end, so thanks for that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Clint called them over and explained what he wanted. Mack passed over the keys and they left without a word.

After they’d gone, I turned to the hacker. “Did any of the locations pop out at you?”

“Not really, sorry. Just local spots, a few different hotels, all mid-level. Nothing extravagant. The two guys were their own outfit, John Smith, LLC. Marketed themselves as quick, efficient, and discreet – all at an affordable rate.”

Farah’s features set into a hard line. “I know Neblinar is mercenary country, but we still have a code here.”

Clint nodded in agreement. “It was a ballsy move for sure. Especially at that swanky of a place. Hands On would want some serious payback if John and Smith weren’t already dead.”

Ever the quiet one, Jax finally joined in on the conversation. “Kaska probably offered them a hefty sum so they’d break the rules. They had to know Neblinar would blacklist them after a stunt like that.”

“Yeah, pretty much. Only places like Leah would accept them, but I guess that’s not going to be a problem.” My eyes wandered to the food-laden table in the middle of the room. “Not to get off topic, but I’m starving.”

“Oh, duh.” Farah smacked her forehead lightly. “Eat up. Let’s drink and be merry.”

No sooner had we started piling food on plates then there was a chiming noise and Vega spoke. “Captain, there is an incoming message from Angela Dunham. Would you like me to decline it?”

I considered that for a beat. “Better take it, V.”

“Very well. Connecting now.”

Dunham’s face took over the display. Her mouth opened then shut again and formed a wry smile. “Cortez, why is it that you always look like hell when I see you?”

“Because Kaska is always trying to kill me,” I answered in a dry tone.

Her gaze sharpened. “Tell me what happened.”

For the second time that night, I ran through the incident, not leaving anything out. Dunham listened without interrupting me, her expression unreadable.

“We’re investigating now, but I don’t think we’re going to find much. The men weren’t part of Kaska’s inner circle. It’s unlikely they’ll have had any information that will be of use to the Initiative.”

“You need to be more careful. As the face of the rebellion you have a sizable target on your back. I’m surprised you were caught unawares.”

I wasn’t in the service anymore and therefore had no commanding officer, but the rebuke still stung. Mostly because she was right. I’d been caught with my pants down, literally. Still, I kept my chin up. “They won’t be the last, I’m sure. It won’t happen again.”

Dunham looked down her nose at me before sweeping a gaze around the room. She paused at Clint. “Mr. Russell. I didn’t know you were acquainted with my people.”

“I’m acquainted with a good many people that I’m sure you’re unaware of.”

It hadn’t even occurred to me that they might know each other. Something in the look that passed between them made me think there was a story there, but Dunham didn’t give me time to contemplate the idea.

“Of course.” Her gaze flicked back to me. “Cortez, our people were able to verify that anonymous information you sent. I need you and your team to head for White Cross. Prosperitas, specifically.”

6

We made it to White Cross in less than a standard week. Senator-Peralta was due to show up for his next audit within a few days of our arrival. Dunham had pulled some strings with Initiative members stationed on Prosperitas so we could surveil him. I knew the rebellion was gaining traction and that only confirmed it. Our reach was growing, and it made me think we might actually have a chance at winning this thing.

Prosperitas was the biggest planet in the system and produced the most N02-99. Because of that it had a massive mining operation, though whoever came up with the name obviously hadn’t had any idea what the planet would become. Or maybe they did, and it only referred to the amount of money it would make the Sarkonian Empire.

Some parts might have been nice but if they were, I didn’t see them. Not dissimilar to Sarkon, the surface was hot, dry, and dusty. That turned out to be in our favor because Farah and I could obscure our faces and hair under the same scarves that the local guards used.

Everywhere I looked there was despair and hopelessness. Most of the workforce were working off some kind of debt, either monetary or to society. Overworked and not paid at all, people looked at the ground as they walked in dejected fashion to and from their assignments. It bothered me to see it, but the truth was that I didn’t know these people or their stories. I knew not all were innocent. In fact, I was sure a lot weren’t. There was nothing I could do at the moment, in any case. They weren’t the mission, Peralta was.

At the appointed time, Farah and I embarked to the door where an Initiative member would let us into the accommodations that Peralta usually stayed in. It was easier than I expected, all things considered. Of the few guards we did see, none stopped to question us, or even spoke to us at all.

The man named Louis waved us inside. “You can take off the scarves. No one in here since the good Senator hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Security’s low, even for that.”

Louis curled his upper lip. “This place is blocked off for him. He’s the prissy type, don’t like to hang around with folks not on his level. Besides, none of the workers try to run. Where would they go?” The sneer fell away as he turned to walk off. “I’ll give you the grand tour in a few minutes. I have to get to the cattery. Almost feeding time.”

“The cattery?” Farah didn’t bother to hide her excitement. She was deadly with a bow but had a soft spot for the feline persuasion. We both did, if I was being honest.

“Yes ma’am. You’re welcome to come with.”

“Absolutely. It’s best if we see as much as possible,” she said, the words coming out in a rush. “You know, for recon purposes.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Right. Well, follow me.”

The cattery was loud, filled with the meows of over a hundred hungry cats. Most large outfits had one to help keep the rombdin population down. Rombdin were vermin, much like rats, and could cause major headaches if not managed. It was relatively cheap to provide low grade kibble. Not enough for all of them, since that would make them fat and lazy, but it was a good motivator.

Besides the feeding area, the cattery featured a nursery and a recovery center. The latter was for those cats that were chosen for spay and neuter surgeries, so the number of felines didn’t grow out of control.

“Nice job if you can get it,” I commented.

“Yeah, it’s an easy job to be sure. Gotten a few scratches here and there for my troubles, but most seem to like me.” To demonstrate this, he leaned down to pet one winding affectionately around his ankle. In true cat fashion, it batted at his hand after a second. Louis just laughed. “Finicky creatures sometimes, but I still like them. Alright, that’s done, for the Empire’s honor and all that BS.”

That got a smirk out of me. I guess some people really did still say that, though Louis said it more in a sarcastic manner. We toured the rest of the small building with him so we could get a feel for the place. There weren’t any cameras for Mack to hack into, but that was just as well. It meant less work for us and less chance of getting caught. It used to be that the government’s lack of resources and funding left us in bad spots, but now it was working out in our favor.

Following Mack’s instructions, we put up our own. They were military grade and tiny enough that no one would see them with strategic placement. “We’re all set,” I told Louis.

He took a moment to consult his data pad, then stuck it back in his pocket. “Okay, that’s decent timing. I don’t suggest you stick around. The Senator sometimes likes to show up earlier than planned to surprise us. In case we’re not up to snuff.”

Farah rolled her eyes. “Upper management loves their audits.”

“Joker doesn’t realize we have everything in order a full week ahead of every visit. So, when you get back outside, make sure you follow the route I gave you and avoid the exterior security. Once Peralta gets here, I can’t have any more contact with you. I can’t blow my cover, you understand?”

I reached out to shake his hand. “Got it. Thanks for all your help. Made this process a hell of a lot easier for us.”

Louis’s grip was sure and firm, and he leveled serious eyes on me. “My pleasure. Really. You lot are the only ones doing anything to fight the bastards. You’re the forlorn hope.”

“The what?” Farah asked, confused.

“Fighting the Empire to stand up for the marginalized people is no small task. The risk is considerable and you’re at the forefront of it. Willingly. That means something. There are more people on your side than you might think.”

“I think it’s starting to set in,” I said, grateful for his words. “Take care, Louis.”

With a brisk nod, he let go and shuffled back down the hall.

“Ready?” Farah asked, pulling her disguise back on.

I nodded and did the same. Leaving through the same door we’d entered, the two of us moved cautiously into the dust-ridden outer portion of the mines. It felt a little odd to be walking around in the open on Sarkonian controlled land in full armor with weapons. We couldn’t break character or look unsure of ourselves either. If that happened, someone might notice and stop us, blowing our cover and ending the mission before it even began.

I kept my head up and walked as though I belonged, Farah right by my side. A few soldiers nodded at us, hands going up in automatic greeting. We returned them and moved on without any issues. Only a handful of people knew we were here—trusted members of the Initiative, according to Dunham. It was a safety measure to lower the possibility of a leak.

Though it went without saying, Louis’s words replayed in my mind. He was absolutely right—everything we were doing was dangerous. It was something I tended to forget because most of my life had been a series of dangerous events. Being in special ops wasn’t exactly for the faint of heart.

Once out of range of the last security camera, I relaxed a little. We only had a little way to go now. My mind wandered to the mission and I ran scenarios in my head. The plan was solid, as far as plans went. But, as some wise soul had once said, even the best laid plans got fucked up sometimes. Or something like that. Close enough.

If the op went the way it was supposed to, we’d have Peralta on the Second Genesis in a few days’ time. At that point, we would interrogate him for information about the facility in the Xanderis system. Since Jax hadn’t been back to that system in some time, he was out of the loop. We needed to know whether Kaska was keeping the ingot there. If so, the Senator was going to tell us how to get it.

Considering the information we had on him, I was fairly sure we could get him to talk. If he didn’t, well, there were ways of getting what we needed, each of them unpleasant. I could see all of this with perfect clarity. Almost. The only thing giving me pause was the final step.

Dunham wanted us to execute Peralta once he gave us everything he knew. Of this man’s guilt there was no doubt. Calliope’s file had been thorough, and Mack had confirmed every detail through a number of different sources. If the situation were reversed, I knew there wouldn’t be any hesitation. It certainly wasn’t a question of character for anyone on Kaska’s team. That was sort of the point. It came down to the person I was going to be with my freedom. If I acted just like the enemy, how could I say I was making a change?

And yet, I struggled. Of all the things the Empire had trained me to become—killer, soldier, government patsy—stupid wasn’t on the list. I understood war on a fundamental level. Maybe better than anything else. It required one to make hard decisions. It meant change, and change required sacrifice. All of it for the greater good.

It made me think of Calliope’s little saying, maius bonum. Maybe the constable was onto something. I pushed the turmoil of my thoughts aside and focused on the now. I’d deal with Peralta’s fate when the time came.

“You ready to settle in our posh accommodations?” I gestured at the small campsite we’d scoped out upon arrival on the planet.

It was far enough away from the mines that none of the guards included it on their patrols. With only two of us on the ground team, Mack would watch from the Genesis while we slept. Jax could have joined us but he was too conspicuous. I’d opted to keep him above, as well as an emergency backup. While the op went down, he’d be ready with a jump rig in case things went sideways.

Farah kneeled to pull our bed rolls from one of the packs we already had stashed. “Oh yeah. Home sweet home. And still preferable to Leah.”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “Anything is preferable to that place.”

She murmured her assent.

“Okay, Mack. Got anything for us?” I looked heavenward as though I might see her up in the sky somewhere.

“One star, two asteroid belts, and nine other planets. All right where you left them,” she joked.

“Cute,” I replied. “But how about our target?”

“Negative. No change in pattern from our boys in the Royal Frontier Expedition.”

“Good. Let me know if that changes.”

Our old home, the battleship Ambiana, had been treated like a space station and housed soldiers on active duty when we weren’t on missions. Ships in the RFE carried their inhabitants into active warzones, ran patrols, and guarded places like Prosperitas and White Cross. If there was a change in their usual activity, it would be a strong indicator that something was happening.

“Will do. You guys get some sleep.”

“Later, cuz,” said Farah, barely stifling a yawn.

White Cross had one star in its system, and it was setting.

“Pretty,” I said, passing my partner one of the rations.

She accepted it and checked the label before answering. “Yeah, it is. Hey this might not be bad. Seafood Delight.”

“Good luck. I got Meat Blend Casserole. What does that even mean?”

“It’s safer not to speculate,” she said, leaning away. “Can’t be any worse than those kabobs you scarf down.”

“Hey,” I protested as I activated the MRE. “Sven works miracles with what he’s got.”

Farah snickered. “That’s just it, you don’t know what he’s got.”

We bantered for a few minutes until the rations were gone, settling our pre-mission jitters, then readied for the night ahead.

7

We were up well before sunrise. Nothing had changed over the course of the night, which made me a little antsy. I wanted to be off this rock. Even with the lax security I felt exposed and uncomfortable.

With nothing to do but wait, Farah and I used the time to go over the op and familiarize ourselves with the ground patrols. We got no surprises there as they all matched up with the information Louis had given us.

It seemed to me that the guards were glorified babysitters. Most leaned back in chairs that had been dragged outside to stationary posts. The personnel that ran the patrols didn’t do them on the half-hour, as proper procedure dictated. When they did bother to work, it was only to chat and give the area a cursory glance. I noted half a dozen places where someone like me could have taken them out without being spotted.

My soldier’s brain lamented the ineffectual management with which Prosperitas was run. On the other hand, my newfound rebellious side couldn’t complain when the lackluster security made this the easiest job I’d ever done.

Just around midday, the older man’s prediction came true.

“Got some movement at the slip tunnel,” Mack announced.

I exchanged a look with Farah. We were both more than ready. “Peralta?” I asked when Mack didn’t continue right away.

“Still waiting on confirmation. I’ll know as soon as whoever it is comes through the rift. Sit tight.”

If I had any virtues, patience wasn’t one of them. It took a lot for me to be still, something that used to feel like second nature. In the past months I’d discovered interesting tidbits about myself. Some things were ingrained in my being, like always positioning myself with a full view of any room. Others, like sitting still while waiting for a go ahead? Not so much.

Up until my break from the government, my frame of reference for living had come from decades of being under someone else’s thumb. Freedom was heavy stuff, and sometimes I had to remind myself that it was a delicate balance. I couldn’t afford to lose the parts that made me a good soldier and formidable opponent.

“Got it.” Mack’s abrupt announcement broke into my thoughts. “It’s him. Or, I should say the ship tag matches the information we were given. If it’s a trap and he’s not actually in there, I can’t say.”

“Mack. Too much information and really not relevant,” I said.

“Sorry! I’m still getting used to this mission stuff. Shutting up now.”

It would have been funny were the situation not so tense.

“That’s my cue,” I said. “See you at end of shift.”

“Copy.” Farah shifted to let me by. “Watch yourself out there.”

I tapped two fingers to my scarf covered forehead. “Always do.”

Using the same path as before, I picked my way back toward the building where the Senator would be staying and came to a stop just out of sight. The spot had a good view of the main hub. Guards continued their rounds and posts, watching prisoners who plodded along in no particular hurry. It hadn’t escaped my notice that the prisoners far outnumbered the armed soldiers. If a revolt ever took place, it was feasible that it might succeed.

So why didn’t they try to escape?

Louis’s words came back to me. Where would they go?

And so they had all just accepted their fates. That pill was harder to swallow than one of Farah’s multivitamins. I found the notion foreign. Of course, I had opted to commit treason rather than take my lumps, so there was that.

Dismissing those thoughts for now, I focused back on the activity before me. Based on the relative calm that still encapsulated the goings on, news of Peralta’s impending arrival had yet to spread. All I had to do was hole up here until it did, then I could join the fray without anyone noticing. That was the plan, at least.

I didn’t have to wait long. Two hours into my surveillance the first change presented itself in the form of two guards who went rigid with no prompting. They spoke with a certain intensity, both gesturing and pointing. Though I couldn’t hear what was said, I assumed they were going over their own mission: passing the audit.

After that, the atmosphere changed in rapid succession. The prisoners picked up the pace, some jogging to reach their destinations. The chairs and stools disappeared, as did the card games I’d spied being played. A sleeping guard was rousted and sent inside. I figured he was going to down a pot of coffee or maybe a few enerdrinks.

When the activity became near chaotic, I made my move.

Drawing attention to myself went against every training lesson on infiltration, but this mission called for it. Doing my best to look confused, I turned in a slow circle before pulling a trashed data pad from my pocket. It did the trick.

“Hey, you!” One of the first soldiers that reacted to Peralta’s arrival ran over.

The man, whose name and rank patch said he was Lieutenant Ahmadi, yanked his scarf down and I had a vision of him ordering me to do the same. Before he could, I started coughing, doubling over for dramatic effect. “Sorry,” I said, taking a gulp of air. “I just got in. Two months of almost nonstop slipspace travel. Not used to the dust yet.”

“Cripes. Better keep the scarf on when you’re out here then. Might do you good to get a respirator even when you’re indoors until you acclimate. Where are you supposed to be?”

I lifted a shoulder like I was lost and handed him the pad. “My orders say building C, guard detail for some audit. Looks like you’re getting ready for it now.”

Ahmadi let out a snort. “We’ve been ready. This is all just cosmetic, easy enough to fix before the Imperial Auditor lands. It’s really Senator-Peralta, but he prefers the official title while he’s here. Pain in the ass, but necessary. But gods, why the hell did they stick a new addition on audit guard duty? I swear no one in the assignment department knows what they’re doing. PFC Reyes, is it?”

He spoke fast, the words coming out in one long sentence. I coughed again to keep up the charade and nodded.

“All right. Your paperwork is in order. Building C is over there.” Ahmadi jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the building Louis worked in. “I’m the team leader, so if you have any questions, track me down. I’ll have the building supervisor bring you a respirator so you don’t get lost trying to find one. His name is Louis.”

I coughed and nodded to show I understood. “Get moving. Go inside, find the guy named Louis, and ask him to show you where the inner landing is. That’s where you’ll be stationed.”

“Copy that, sir.” I had already taken a few steps when he called me back. The sharp edge to his tone and stiff posture told me that something was off, but I didn’t know what I had done wrong.

“Reyes, you want to tell me why your gear isn’t up to current regs?”

I looked down, this time not having to feign confusion. “Not up to regs?”

His eyes narrowed and Ahmadi stepped a little closer. “Yes, Private. The new red bands at the elbows and additional vertical stripes down the arms. You know, the ones to prevent fugitives and rebels from impersonating one of us? You aren’t one of those Initiative members, are you?”

“No sir,” I stammered. “I’ve been in slipspace travel for a while, like I said. Then they sent me straight down here.”

Ahmadi waited for a long second before clapping me on the shoulder. “Relax, Reyes, I’m just messing with you. Everyone knows they don’t outfit us for shit. Roll out new rules and don’t bother to follow them.” He eyed my standard issue rifle with an approving eye. “At least your weapon is good.”

I was suddenly thankful I hadn’t grabbed the upgraded black-market rifle I usually carried. A horn went off, blasting three times in quick succession.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Final warning. Peralta will be landing here soon. Listen up, here’s what I want you to do. The whole audit I want you to keep the respirator on and your mouth shut. I’ll let the Senator know right away about your gear so he won’t ask questions. With any luck we’ll get him out of our hair without any major infractions. Got it?”

I coughed again and gave him a thumbs up.

Ahmadi just shook his head and walked off muttering to himself.

Under the scarf, I allowed myself a quick smile and headed to building C. Though I already knew where the inner landing was from my tour, I found Louis, who regarded me with a wary look.

“Thought I told you not to talk to me once the audit started.”

“Lieutenant Ahmadi’s orders,” I informed him, then explained what he was supposed to know in case someone asked.

When I finished, Louis nodded. “Inner landing is a good post. You’ll be out of Peralta’s hair but still see plenty. I’ll get you the respirator, since that will be expected. Remember, act like you don’t know me.”

“You know, Louis. This may come as a surprise, but I’ve run a few ops in my day,” I said, winking at the older man.

He rolled his eyes. “Young lady, you’re not even old enough to use that phrase.”

With a laugh, I walked off.

* * *

“Okay, I’m in.” I broke radio silence to do one check-in with my team.

“Thank gods,” said Farah. “I got a little nervous when he brought up the new regulations.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m sure you can see I’m at the inner landing. I’ve got a good view of the first floor.”

“Cameras are all set. I’ve got you in sight.”

“The Senator is almost there. Breaking through orbit now, so ETA on his dropship is less than two minutes,” informed Mack.

“Perfect,” I replied. “I’m ready to get the hell out of here already.”

“Hey, at least you get to be inside,” said Farah.

Mack interrupted, stopping my reply. “Dropship is on the final descent. Time to go radio silent again. Good luck, Cortez. We’re here if you need us.”

“Thanks. Hopefully I won’t.”

The line went silent. For the foreseeable future, I was on my own.

8

The plan was to watch Senator-Peralta for three days.

We’d already seen what moving too fast could do to an op. I, more specifically, had almost met my end when Dunham sent me and Calliope to check out a lead on the ingot. A few Void operatives guarding the caravan nearly killed me.

Wanting to avoid another scenario like that, I decided a longer mission made more sense. With me on the inside, we could get a good feel for which approach would work best to grab our target.

It was the second day of my mission and about as exciting as watching a tree grow. Peralta had ordered the first level to be set up like a large conference room. He took breakfast, lunch, and dinner there, plus meetings when he wasn’t out auditing the mines. Believing himself safe, he spoke freely and didn’t watch how loud he was. Because of this, I learned that the audit was less about procedures and more about verifying that the mine produced a specific quota, for Peralta anyway.

That explained a lot, at least for me. All the Empire cared about was the bottom line. So long as Prosperitas met it and things looked good when he came to check it out, Kaska would leave it alone. He didn’t care to know about guards sleeping on the job or missing patrols if it didn’t affect performance.

He would though, because these kinds of things always came out sooner or later.

Below, Peralta called over his personal chef and attendant. “Rasul, I’ve finished. Clear this mess away when I’ve gone. For lunch I’ll have the steamed crustacean with potatoes and rolls. Tonight, make me up a steak, just the way I like it, the usual vegetables on the side.”

“Yes, sir,” said Rasul, doing as he was told.

The Senator left just after, and I walked in a slow march around the inner landing. It wrapped all around the mid-level that it occupied. The small, wrap-around level’s sole purpose was to guard the first level without getting in the way.

Farah was outside keeping an eye on things with a long-range weapon. Her gun would have tranq rounds for when the time came. In all honesty, that was my preferred setup to playing rent-a-guard. Even baking under a hot sun for multiple days didn’t change my opinion.

For me, there was nothing like lying on my stomach watching a target through the eye of a sniper scope, steady breathing just before I had to pull the trigger. Not that I relished death, but it was acceptable if required to save the life of another.

I cast a glance around the first level. The chef had cleared away Peralta’s breakfast dishes and all was quiet. For once, everything was going to plan. We had the Imperial-Auditor right where he should be. So far, he was the predictable sort and kept to his schedule with a fastidiousness that made it clear why Kaska chose him for the job.

A niggling feeling tugged at the back of my mind. What if this was a trap. Everything up to this point had been almost too easy. With no one else around to hear, I said as much to Farah and Mack.

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” said the former. “I think it’s great that the government is still underestimating us.”

Mack put in her two credits. “Actually, if they could keep it up, that would be great.”

“It’s just a little coincidental, wouldn’t you say? It feels like a trap,” I told them.

Farah made a pfft sound. “Alyss, don’t take this the wrong way, but you always think something’s a trap.”

“Yeah, and that usually keeps everyone alive,” I retorted. “V, back me up here.”

“Certainly, sir. Miss Shahi, the captain is most astute and according to my data banks, caution is a virtue. I can count no fewer than five occasions where Captain Cortez expressed concern and it was correct.”

“Thanks, V,” I said, injecting my tone with affection, though I wasn’t sure the AI would pick it up.

“I only speak the truth, Captain.”

“Well, I stand corrected,” Farah conceded. “FYI, I have the Senator in my sights. Only one guard. Want me to take him?”

“Wait!” The shrill tone in Mack’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m getting encrypted communications. A lot of them. Something’s happened, hold on.”

I started running. “No time. Farah, take him. I’ll intercept and help you escort him out.”

“Captain, all ships in the entire system of White Cross are shifting into defensive positions,” Vega announced.

“Peralta’s on the move, heading for building D,” Farah added. “I don’t have a clean shot.”

“Mack, tell me what the hell is happening.”

“The transmissions are going wide, advising anyone in the system to take cover. Four Sarkonian assets have been attacked… and destroyed.” She started listing them off. “Hades station, the mining moon Fossura, planet Typhon, and just now Delos. Warning broadcasts are coming in on all channels and saying the same thing. White Cross is next.”

I scrambled to recall the various locations. “That’s a hell of a spread. Is this a coordinated Union attack?”

“No… Gods, this shouldn’t be possible. If you line up every hit, it’s a solid line right to us. But no slip tunnel goes that way. Vega, can you make sense of this?”

“I’m almost outside,” I told them, taking the stairs two at a time. “Make it fast.”

“The enemy appears to be making their own slip tunnel. They consist of a half dozen squadrons.”

Making their own? I’d never heard of such a thing.

“Six squadrons.” Farah shook her head in disbelief. “That’s not an overwhelming show of force, so why is everyone freaking out? That should be nothing to deal with.”

The line stayed silent.

“Someone give us an answer,” I snapped.

Mack cleared her throat. “The communication says it’s Celestials.”

“I don’t give a damn if it’s naked ravagers. We’re not losing Peralta.”

“Building D leads into the mines,” said Farah. “He could be down any number of tunnels.”

“Vega, is there an ETA on the attack?”

“A few hours, though that is only a rough estimate.”

“Alyss, even if we get the Senator now, we can’t leave in the middle of a warzone,” said Mack.

“Actually, cuz, we can.” Farah’s voice was hard, her version of combat mode. “It’s the best time because things are chaotic. We’ll just have to trust the cloak to take care of us.”

A voice behind me interrupted the conversation. “Reyes!” I turned to find Louis approaching at a clipped pace. “Why aren’t you at your post?”

I did a visual sweep of the area before answering. “Something’s happened.”

“I know, but if you aren’t where you’re supposed to be, it will rouse suspicion.”

“It doesn’t really matter. I’m moving the timetable up. Right now, Peralta has a head start in building D. I assume he’s trying to ride out the attack.”

Louis shook his head. “That’s what I’m saying. You need to get back to your post because you’ll never catch him before he gets back.”

“Back?” My brows knitted together as I worked it out. “You’re saying they link up back here?”

“That’s right. It will take him a few hours to navigate, but he’ll end up back here. That’s when you make your move.”

Resigned, I moved away from the exit. “Fine. But do me a favor, Louis. Try to spread the word. Whatever’s coming might be—probably is—bad.”

He regarded me with the keen eyes of an old-timer who had seen much in his days. “What do you know?”

“Not much,” I admitted, then proceeded to give him what little data we had.

“Thanks for the info. I’ll do my best to warn people, but don’t expect too much.”

“I don’t. The only thing they can do is hunker down anyway.”

“That’s the truth of it.” Almost looking wistful, the older man walked off.

* * *

When the Senator showed up, he looked harried and considerably less put together than he had this morning.

“Rasul, get my things together. I’m leaving immediately. Make sure to pack me something to eat for the trip. I’m going to miss lunch.”

The sheer entitlement of the man was boggling. It blew my mind that he could think of his belongings and stuffing his face at a time like this. Peralta’s status within Kaska’s circle should have given him some idea of the threat on its way to White Cross. Of all people, he had to know it wasn’t a simple matter.

Then again, maybe he did understand. Peralta paced back and forth in the space below, tugging at his clothes, clueing me in to his nervousness.

A low ding in my ear sounded, signaling one of the team was about to speak. It was Mack. “A, things just went from bad to worse. The Celestials are here and making short work of the defense fleet. Even if Peralta makes it out, he might die trying to escape. Same goes for us.”

Since there were people around, one of them the target, I couldn’t respond. This was all just great. Not only did I have to capture the Senator, but now I also had to hold him on the planet until the threat passed.

I had to come up with a way to get him away from his guards. Something that wouldn’t get me shot. I couldn’t exactly walk up and say I need him to come with me. Or maybe I could… The beginnings of a plan formed in my head. A risky plan, but it just might work. Leaving my post for the second time, I went down to execute it.

“Stop right there.” One of Peralta’s guards swept an arm out. I saw his scarf was pulled down to reveal a grimy face, but I couldn’t move mine or risk being recognized.

“PFC Reyes for Senator-Peralta,” I said, keeping my tone cool and even, my eyes confident.

He glanced back in the room and shook his head. “Sorry, now isn’t a good time for whatever special request you have. The audit is canceled. Or postponed. He'll be back at a later date.”

I stepped into his personal space and leaned in closer. “I’m fully aware of the situation, soldier. It’s why I’m here. On Sparrow business.”

He stood a little straighter and took in my covered head. I could almost see the wheels spinning as he warred with himself. “Sp-parrow business?”

Sparrows were the Sarkonian equivalent of Constables. A bit of an enigma, but rumored to be deadly. This guy seemed to have a healthy respect for that particular shadowy arm of the Empire.

“That’s right. You don’t want to get in the way of that, do you?”

“No ma’am.” He moved out of my way. “The Senator is just at the table there.”

Under my scarf, I grinned and spoke in a low voice. “I know.”

He gave me an imperceptible nod and turned back to watch the hall.

I approached Peralta at a stride that radiated confidence. Two guards stood just behind and tightened their weapon grips as I neared. Since the door soldier was still standing though, they didn’t seem overly concerned. Remembering what Ahmadi said, I opted to use his favored title. “Imperial-Auditor-Peralta. I need you to come with me.”

He barely spared me a glance. “I’ll do no such thing.”

“Sir. It is of the utmost importance. I’ve been ordered from my position here to take you… somewhere safe.”

That seemed to get his attention. “Where? And by whom?”

I flicked my eyes to his men.

He caught my meaning and waved my concern away. “They’re my best men. They can stay for whatever you need to say.”

“Very well,” I said, inclining my head. “Vice-Admiral-Kaska sent me. Sparrow Reyes, at your service. I’m to take you to Xanderis.”

Peralta’s eyes went wide with shock. “Let me just get my things.”

“I’m sorry, sir. There’s no time.”

“Fine. Knowles and Burke, with me.”

“Senator, I’m afraid that won’t be possible. My craft can only carry three and the pilot is waiting. You understand.”

He nodded and pushed up out of the chair. “Yes, I do. Sorry, boys.”

I motioned for him to come with me, then marched him past the door guard and outside. It was dusty and the place had a frazzled energy. While the system had a defense system, Prosperitas didn’t have a planetside infantry, so no one was running to join the fight happening in space, but—

The scan I’d been doing of our surroundings came to an abrupt halt and I had to do a double take. Sure enough, a familiar face was among the crowd. I would know that blonde hair anywhere. It was Calliope. She hadn’t seen me yet as she’d been doing her look around, though that moment was mere seconds away.

Calliope’s head spun slowly, and I saw the moment she noticed me. A subtle change in expression, tightening around her lips and the way both brows angled just slightly, gave it away. I started in that direction, the movement involuntary.

“Gods, Alyss. Get out of there. The battle isn’t staying out in the void. There’s an inbound Celestial vessel. Shit, there are more of them. Half of their forces are aimed right at the planet. I… I think they’re going after the mines!”

Mack’s voice cut through the fog that seeing Calliope had created. With a grunt of annoyance, I swung back around.

“What is going on?” Peralta’s clipped voice wasn’t quite haughty enough to cover up his anxiety.

“The planet is under attack. Move!” I ordered.

The urgency must have come through because he followed me without complaint. We didn’t make it out of the populated area before things went to hell. A ship unlike anything I’d ever encountered streaked above us. Sleek, and bright silver, it was far different from the grubby hulls I was used to. Fire rained down, exploding the ground around us and spraying dirt everywhere.

I pushed Peralta down behind the back of a ground transportation vehicle. “Stay down,” I told him, struggling to be heard over the chaos. The ship and more like it were firing without compunction.

All the building’s fronts were assaulted with a purple beam that tore through the edifices with ease. One thing was for sure. We weren’t safe here. The path up to Farah lay 30 meters ahead of us. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but at the moment it was a death trap. 15 meters to our left, a GTV flipped into the air and sent shrapnel flying everywhere.

We had to get the hell out of here.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Peralta by the scruff of his jacket and urged him away from the vehicle. It was too little, too late. A purple beam sliced into the GTV, tossing it into the air like a toy and igniting the fuel cell. It exploded and sent us flying.

I didn’t even feel myself hit the ground before everything faded to black.

9

My comm blasted in my ear, threatening to render me deaf. I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut against the searing light. Gods, why was it so bright?

“V, shut off that damn ringing.”

“Captain, I am unable to comply. That is not your comm, that’s your hearing. I’m afraid you’ve suffered a serious head injury. I understand you are disoriented but I urge you to get up or you will die.”

I came alert then and my eyes sprang open to a carnage filled scene. All five senses came rushing back, overwhelming me. The scarf felt like it was choking me, so I ripped it off. The acrid scent of burning material stung my nostrils and ash found its way into my mouth, turning my saliva foul.

“Captain, you must get up,” Vega said, the volume of her voice much higher than usual.

Boom!

It was thundering. No, that wasn’t right. A war waged in front of me, the booms coming from the exchange of fire between combatants. Partially obscured by a pile of debris, most of the fighting was taking place closer to the mines. I pushed up, wobbled, then found my balance while my memory came back. That’s right, I was in the middle of abducting a government official when hell broke loose.

“Where are Farah and Peralta?”

“Miss Shahi is safe. I convinced her to stay away until I could locate you. She will be wanting to assist. Unfortunately, I lost Senator-Peralta and am unable to pick him up again. Sir, you need to rendezvous with the co-captain. If you remain in the open, death is almost certain.”

Though I hated to fail at the mission, the situation had become too dangerous to be worth the risk. “I’m on my way.”

I almost left too, until something large and white wandered into my field of vision and turned the world upside down. The thing was a hulking beast of a creature. Perfect symmetry shone in the structure of its smooth face, unlined and devoid of any expression. Thick muscles corded all four limbs and the monster towered over me. Horrible green eyes met mine, but it still didn’t react except to flick its wrists.

The movement seemed small and graceful despite the being’s size. I only had a moment to notice that because two blades materialized, as though they were part of the creature’s arms, which it raised into the air.

Done gawking, I lifted the rifle still clipped to my chest and started shooting. I was close enough that even if disorientation factored in, my aim wouldn’t be off by too much. Rounds slapped audibly against the alien’s flesh. I knew that I was hitting it, but the monster acted like they didn’t affect it at all.

Calliope’s words came rushing back to me. There’s something big coming. Bigger than the Union, Sarkonians, and Initiative combined. They’re called Celestials.

Hadn’t Cabbot said the same thing?

Cold fear clutched at my gut and I backed away, targeting areas that should have been vital. It occurred to me that Celestial physiology was in all probability far different than humans. This certainly rang true for the skin, which appeared to be bulletproof. In my haste to get away, I tripped over a rock and landed flat on my butt. The ungraceful move knocked my earpiece out. Not knowing what else to do, I kept firing, this time aiming for the eyes.

The Celestial suddenly flew back, ripped off its feet like a missile had slammed into it, making me think I’d managed to find a weak spot. Then the ground shook and a humanoid machine walked past me. My head came to somewhere in the middle of its thigh and I felt the wind of its passing.

“Holy…” I didn’t finish the sentence because the giant robot lifted one arm as though it were going to punch the Celestial in the face. Instead, the fist dropped away and became a cannon, which effectively rendered the alien—who had been writhing on the ground—still.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, getting to my feet and not really expecting a reply. A quick scan of the ground revealed that my communicator had been destroyed.

“You are quite welcome.”

I held back a yelp but just. Its voice was male but had the latent speech pattern of an artificial intelligence. “What… I mean, who, are you?”

A flat plate made up the face “Sigmond, at your service. I am with the Alliance, tasked with the defense of this mine.”

Both Peralta and escape were now on the backburner. More important things were at stake. “Alyss Cortez. Well, Sigmond, I guess we better get back out there. Any tips? My puny rifle doesn’t have a cannon.”

His reply was genial. “I believe it might be best if you could help others reach safety. Specialized weaponry is required to deal with the Celestials.”

“Sounds like a plan. If you don’t mind, I’ll follow.”

“Of course.”

The robot named Sigmond walked back into the fray and I had the sense his pace was so I could keep up. Not wanting to hold him up, I split off as soon as I could.

A man in Union colors reached down to help a Sarkonian soldier to her feet. She nodded her thanks and together they picked up a large but portable cannon of sorts.

What. The. Hell.

I supposed the claims of an Alliance were true, and this must be the special weaponry the robot talked about.

A fallen mine worker struggled to back away from the battle, but his ankle was turned at an unnatural angle. I surged forward and pulled him up. “We’re going there,” I said, pointing at the building with the least damage. It wasn’t as front and center as the others, which were still taking heavy fire.

“Okay,” he replied, wheezing, but doing his best to limp along with me.

The Alliance had set up a line of defense and was doing a damn good job of holding off the enemy. More familiar ships landed and reams of reinforcements met the threat with a vigor that surprised me. Based on what I was seeing, this was familiar territory for them. I recognized it in the sure way they attacked.

But I had to table that and analyze it later. Right now, helping the wounded was my main priority. After depositing my first injured party to safety, I scanned for the next and caught sight of Sigmond. The robot was suspended in midair, firing his hand cannon like some mech out of the cartoons I’d watched as a child. When he dived into a group of Celestials, I lost sight of him and continued my search for those in need.

Not too far away, maybe 20 meters or so, I saw a small woman with her foot stuck under some wreckage. A fight played out perilously close by, but the Alliance soldiers couldn’t see her because their backs were to her. They danced around, facing off with another of the beast-like aliens. If they kept circling around like that, she’d be in its path of destruction and I didn’t like her odds.

I sprinted for her, sweeping my gaze left and right for more threats. Only when I drew within a few steps of her did I realize it was Calliope. Son of a bitch. Despite what she’d done, I wasn’t going to just leave her there.

Her eyes went wide when she caught sight of me. “Alyss, I…”

“Help me,” I snapped, kneeling down to pull away the refuse that trapped her.

Calliope fell into silence and put her energy into doing what I said. The Celestial was getting closer, too close for comfort, and I threw my weight into the last pieces. It finally moved and the Constable pulled her foot free.

Not wasting any time, I yanked her up and back. She stumbled but regained her footing quickly, and we got clear moments before the Celestial stomped on the area Calliope and I had just vacated. We stopped a little way away from the main fight in a spot that was mostly untouched to catch our breath.

“Thanks,” she said between sucking in gulps of air. “Thought for sure I was finished back there.” When I didn’t answer she turned to look at me.

Prepared for the moment, I punched her in the face.

10

“What the hell?!” Calliope spit out blood.

“That’s for leaving our asses in the wind on Sarkon.”

She chewed on that for a moment before nodding. “Fine, I guess I deserved that. Didn’t you get the replicators and my file?”

I nodded. “Sure did. That’s all though. Everything else was gone.”

I punched her again.

This time the blood spurted from her nose and she cupped both hands around it to protect against further abuse, which muffled her response. “Again? Seriously?”

“That’s for raiding our shit. Including our blood. That was a little much, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I do. It’s not like I could stop them.” Calliope wiped more blood from her mouth on the back of one arm and stared at the ongoing battle. “Anyway. Thanks for saving me. I’d say we’re square now, especially after that sucker punch.”

“Oh, we’re less than square,” I told her. “One of the Alliance soldiers told me the Celestials require special weaponry to take them out. I’m focusing on the injured, if you want to help.”

She eyed me with obvious apprehension before giving a little jerk with her shoulder. “Only if you don’t punch me again.”

Despite myself and the situation, I grinned back at her. “No promises.”

The fighting was nearly done. The Alliance beat the Celestials back with what I later learned were pulse cannons. For the next two hours we assisted as many people as we could. Those that were able, joined us. To my disappointment, I didn’t see Sigmond again.

Finally, the last Celestial was dead and all efforts turned to cleanup and triage. Without my scarf, someone was bound to recognize me. I turned to Calliope. “Look, they seem to have things under control. We lost the Senator when the attack hit, so I’m going to head out and regroup.”

She held up a finger and tapped her ear. “Give me Peralta’s current location, if he’s not dead.” After a short silence, the Constable nodded and offered a tentative smile in my direction. “He’s holed up in building C.”

“Not even going to ask how you know,” I replied.

Just then, a flash of movement caught my eye and I spun to greet the approaching figure. I needn’t have worried. It was Farah. She still had her scarf up, but we spent so much time together that I recognized her gait right away.

“You don’t call, you don’t holo. What’s a girl to think?’”

“Sorry. Comm got busted when I tripped.”

My friend arched one purple brow. “And yet survived you flying through the air.”

I shrugged, just as puzzled. “Guess it’ll be one of life’s many mysteries.”

“Who were you talking to a few minutes ago?” Farah peered over my shoulder with mild interest.

“Huh? It’s…” I trailed off because Calliope had gone. Disappeared. “It was Calliope. She must have taken off when you walked over.”

Farah’s forehead creased. “No way. Let’s go find her so I can punch her in the face.”

“Too late,” I said, smirking.

“Oh come on. I always miss the good stuff.”

I laughed. “She told me Peralta is back in his hole. I’ll tell you what happened on the way.”

“First, take this.” She pulled a spare scarf from one of her utility pouches and handed it over. “He’s not going to come with you looking like that. Might as well announce you’re with the rebellion.”

* * *

Back in building C, Peralta was having none of coming with us.

“Come with you? I think not. Last time I nearly died.”

I held back a sigh. “Sir, it’s perfectly safe. The threat has been dealt with. However, another may be on its way.”

“Reyes, you are being exceedingly nonchalant for someone about to get reprimanded by the most powerful man in the Empire.”

“Oh, I don’t think the Emperor will bother with a nobody like me,” I said, schooling my features into easy lines.”

He didn’t contradict me and just sniffed. The man should have known better than to throw those kinds of words around anyway.

I tried once more. “Sir, are you aware there is a Constable on Prosperitas?”

Peralta stiffened at the question. “No, I was not.”

“Well, I don’t know her business, Senator, but it can’t be good news. The Vice-Admiral wants you off this planet and back on Xanderis. I think it’s best to oblige him. For all you know the Constable is here to get information from you, by any means necessary.”

“By gods, do you mean torture?”

“It’s hard to say as I’m not acquainted with the individual.”

The Senator blanched but got to his feet. “Right, of course. You’re certain I can’t bring anything?”

I tried not to roll my eyes. “I’m sure.”

“All right, then.”

This time we made it to the path sans the bombs and terrifying aliens. Peralta, of course, complained the whole way.

“Why is your shuttle so far away?” he demanded.

Just a little longer, I told myself.

Seeing my annoyance, Farah took the question. “Because, Senator, this is a warzone. It would be extremely difficult to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” he said, relenting. “Still. It’s not right that I have to walk so far. Don’t you have any water?”

Whirling around, I was ready to put him down, but Farah stopped me. “We’re here.”

Senator-Peralta turned in a slow circle. “All I see is a bunch of rocks, not your ship. Is it cloaked?”

“Kind of,” I said, curling my lip.

Farah walked over to a couple of good-sized boulders where we had stashed the jump rigs. “We’re going to suit up with these and board the ship that way.”

“Oh no,” he said, backing away. “This wasn’t part of the plan. I’m not trained on jump rigs.”

I clapped him on the shoulder and shoved a helmet into his hands. “Lucky for you, we’re doing the flying today. You’re just along for the ride. Sir.”

“No, I’m drawing the line here. Your performance has been less than stellar and I refuse to go with you. Kaska will have to understand.”

“The Vice-Admiral-Scum isn’t going to understand anything,” I said, pulling off the scarf. “And I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Dick.”

The look on his face was priceless. Peralta tried to run away, but Farah was ready for him. One well aimed tranquilizer arrow later and he was on the ground.

* * *

It took some maneuvering, but we got the Senator strapped into a towing rig and up to the Genesis without any further issues.

Mack met us and helped get him cuffed to a chair, where he would stay until he woke up, under constant surveillance.”

“Where’s Jax?” Farah asked when we took our places on the bridge.

Vega already had orders to take us away from White Cross and head in the general direction of Xanderis.

“Jax is in the training room,” the AI supplied. “Shall I summon him?”

“No, that’s okay. Just wondered what my brother was up to while all the killing was happening.”

“To quote, ‘they have things under control. I’ll intervene if they might lose the target,’” Vega said, her voice changing to a recording of Jax.

I gave her a sidelong glance, a little surprised at the note of hostility in her tone. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I love the guy, but it’s a little hard to deal with this… reconnection sometimes. It’s weird. It’s like he’s still Jax, still my brother, most of the time. Other times, I look at him and see a complete stranger.”

“That’s understandable,” I told her. “He’s been gone for years. It makes total sense that he would have changed. Are you the same person he remembers?”

She stared at me for a long moment. “That is the wisest thing you’ve ever said.”

I smiled widely at her. “I’m going to remind you of that the next time you’re harping at me for downing too many enerdrinks or something.”

That made Farah roll her eyes, but the tense moment had passed and we both fell into an easy silence.

Until we hit open space.

There, the wake of destruction from the Celestials told a clear story. Whatever happened before the Alliance showed up had been a massacre. This close to Prosperitas, I saw more than a few disabled cruisers. The rest, a considerable amount, Vega and Mack mapped on the holo so we could avoid running into them.

“Crap, check out the size of that carrier,” Farah murmured.

She wasn’t exaggerating. Apart from the debris, intact and operable ships were cleaning things up and, from the looks of things, looking for survivors. The ship in question was a Union warship and it was huge. I could have parked thousands of Second Genesis’ inside it and not filled the beast up.

A few months ago, that would have scared the daylights out of me. Now, knowing about the Celestials and Alliance, I was happy to know it was on our side. Humanity’s side. I thought back to Sigmond and the huge robot body he commanded. Were there more like him? I sure as hell hoped so.

I ordered the cloak to stay up so as not to draw unwanted attention and we were soon in the first slip tunnel.

Deciding now was as good a time as ever, I unbuckled from the safety harness. “I guess we better go get the Senator up.”

* * *

In the brig, Farah administered an injection that would wake him up. As he came to, I watched and remembered. Not too long ago I’d been on the other end of this scenario. First when my commanding officer locked me in, and later when Vice-Admiral-Kaska questioned me over her attempted court-martial of me.

“What the hell?” Peralta pulled at his restraints. “What is this?!”

Ignoring all thoughts besides the here and now, I focused on the man in front of me. Regardless of the Celestial’s disruption, we’d gotten our man. Now it was time to find out what he knew.

I leaned forward. “You know what this is. You know who we are, don’t you, Dick?”

Peralta stared at me with hate filled eyes. You’re Delgado. The Solaris Initiative.”

Farah nodded. “That’s right. And we need information. Information only you have.”

Playing bad cop, I scoffed. “That’s hard to believe. This guy has all the courage of a worm. All he could think about was his stomach and bringing some fancy clothes. Then again he knew what Xanderis was.”

He paled when I said that but didn’t speak. Going against the grain of my expectation, Peralta pursed his lips and continued to glare.

“There’s no option here.” I laced my fingers together and rested my chin on them. “We need everything. Codes, layouts, where the ingot is.”

“They’ll kill me if I say anything.” Peralta pushed back as though putting distance between us would help him.

Farah chuckled and shook her head. “You have no idea how often we hear that in our line of work. It’s never true.”

I locked eyes with him. “If you don’t talk, we’ll have to find a way to make you.”

He laughed in my face, a cold, harsh sound. “Go ahead. You can’t do anything that Kaska wouldn’t top.”

“That might be true. He’s not a very nice guy. Not sure how you work for him, if I’m being honest. But, in any case, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t referring to you.” This was the part I didn’t like. It took extra effort to pretend I could be callous enough to pull off my next threat. “I was thinking more along the lines of Mary and Charlotte.”

Peralta went rigid at the mention of his wife and daughter. We had his attention. Now we were getting somewhere.

“No, you’re lying. They’re under protection right now. The Vice-Admiral would never allow harm to come to them.”

I held out my hand and Farah passed me a datapad. After giving it a superficial examination, I slid it over with a feral smile. “That’s your wife and kid, right? Your house?”

His shocked expression confirmed that it was, though I didn’t need it.

“Right, that’s what I thought. How do you think your wife will fare in a labor camp?” I almost brought the kid into it but I felt that was somehow crossing a line.

The Senator went a few shades paler until his skin took on a pasty gray sheen. “That information is classified! It must be faked.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You know better than that. How do you think we found you? But if you need more convincing, I’m happy to oblige.”

“Mack,” I said after making a show of tapping my comm. “Pull up the live surveillance feed.”

The pad lit up with a vid of his family. They were sitting down to a meal, alone. “They’re safe, for the moment,” Farah said. “And we’d like to keep them that way. But it’s going to take some cooperation on your part, sir.”

Her voice was gentle as silk and Peralta turned pleading eyes on her. “Please don’t hurt my family.”

I almost felt bad. With the mention of his family he was suddenly different from the self-serving man I’d encountered on Prosperitas, but we didn’t have a choice. “Then don’t make us.”

With those four words, he broke.

11

“Vice-Admiral-Kaska’s bottom line is control. He wants to rule the Sarkonian Empire.”

Now that Peralta was in a more giving mood, I let him see me relax, leaning back and slinging one arm over the back of my chair. “Yeah, we got that part. I’m more interested in the how, Senator.”

He licked his lips and fidgeted, stopped short by the cuffs. “Are these really necessary? I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but they’re very distracting. You have my word that I won’t try anything.”

“The restraints make it so we don’t have to rely on your word,” Farah said. “Makes things easier on everyone.” Always the better one with people, she managed to make the denial sound reasonable and prudent.

Where she soothed, I abraded. “I guess you don’t understand the concept of prisoner. You’re not getting out of them. Think you’re uncomfortable now? It can get a whole lot worse.”

The new comm in my ear beeped. “Cortez, don’t push him too hard. We don’t want him to clam up,” warned Jax.

I wanted to tell the Void operative that I knew how to run an interrogation. Lucky for him, I couldn’t say anything without Peralta hearing it. Truth was, Jax wasn’t altogether wrong. We were playing a dangerous game with the man locked in our brig, and we had to win. My threats toward his family were a bluff, but I needed him to believe we were that ruthless, and that was where the gamble lay.

If I played my part too well, he might freeze up. Not well enough and he wouldn’t believe me. Either way, the result was the same. “Do I need to remind you that your family’s life hangs in the balance?”

A tremor rolled through Peralta, but he still managed to jut his chin up in a minor show of defiance. “You’re a bully. Nothing more than a common terrorist.”

I could tell he thought that he’d landed some major blow to my ego by the way he sat back and readjusted, squaring his shoulders and daring to meet my eyes. I laughed in his face then elbowed Farah. “Aww, now my feelings are hurt.”

My partner didn’t laugh since she was still in good cop mode. “Maybe we should get back to the discussion at hand. Senator-Peralta, I’m not the boss here. She is. I can’t guarantee your safety or the safety of your family if you don’t comply with the captain’s demands.”

He flicked his gaze back in my direction, gauging me. Whatever he saw must have convinced him because he started talking. “What exactly do you need from me?”

“Everything you know about the ingot and how to get it from the facility on Xanderis.”

Peralta made a noise of disbelief. When we didn’t respond, both brows shot up. “You want to infiltrate a Void facility? That’s suicide.”

“With your help, it won’t be. Now, start from the beginning. I want everything you know about Kaska’s plans.”

A lone bead of sweat rolled down the Senator’s face and he started to lift one hand. I got the feeling he wanted to pull at his collar, but the chair restraints prevented it. “The Vice-Admiral’s final goal is to become Emperor. He’s been systematically replacing Proscerios’ inner circle with our own people. I can give you names.”

This wasn’t news to me. We had learned weeks ago that the Emperor, one Joden Proscerios IV, was being swindled by Kaska. To save time, I rattled off those we knew. “We’re aware. If you have names to add to that list, I’m happy to hear them though.”

Peralta shook his head in a tight movement.

“Okay, let’s move on then. Besides the ‘accidents’ that have happened, what else is the Vice-Admiral planning? This isn’t just about power. His attacks have been on conscripted citizen’s soil. Why?”

“He views the conscripted population as expendable. Kaska said that running the tests on those territories would bring less attention than doing it on Union soil. Once he’s in control, the planets and moons worth anything will be seized. All conscripted citizens will be moved to lesser planets or labor camps.”

I made a sound low in my throat, somewhere between a growl and a grunt. Of course that was his plan. It was right there in front of me the entire time. All the experiments weren’t just to stay off the radar. They were practice runs for controlling people.

“He wants to enslave them, doesn’t he?” I asked flatly.

Farah jerked a little next to me before regaining her composure. I didn’t take my eyes off the Senator.

“Yes. It will reduce the strain on budgets because they won’t require paying like they do now. Just the basics of food and housing.”

“Which I’m sure will be shit. What about the ingot, where does that fit in?”

Peralta leaned forward as much as he could, almost eager now, like he was getting a weight off his shoulders. “It’s the final piece. The ingot harnesses fusion energy, enough that the Vice-Admiral can rule with impunity.”

“I’m sensing a but,” Farah noted.

Senator-Peralta nodded. “One setback remains. The ingot is unstable. All attempts to weaponize it have failed.” He hesitated.

“Until now,” I guessed. “How is he going to weaponize it?”

“I don’t know all the details. I’m not lying,” he said, protesting when I scowled at him. “I can only tell you that he’s using the plans from some failed prototype shield. It was supposed to be small, fit right in the palm of your hand, but no one could get it to work.”

I sat up a little straighter. That sounded familiar. “Don’t stop now, Senator. It’s just getting good. Are you saying that Kaska is making shields with the ingot?”

“Not at all. He’s merely adapting the plans. Instead of a shield, it will contain the power of the ingot and focus it.”

“So it’s basically a gun or cannon,” said Farah.

Her voice had dropped a few degrees and Peralta’s gaze flipped back to her with some trepidation. “Y-yes. That’s the idea. Again, I don’t know everything. Kaska tasked me with making trips to Xanderis to pick up reports directly from the lab. He can’t go because his work keeps him in Sarkon. All of the data is encrypted, and engineering isn’t something I’m well versed in.”

I shoved back, my chair scraping loudly against the floor. “Time for a break. In a little while, someone will be back to talk to you, Senator. You’ll give them all the information about the labs and your procedures when he gets here.”

“What will you do with me afterward?”

Stopping at the door, I looked back over my shoulder. “We have to verify your info, of course. You’ll be our guest until after the operation is done. So long as everything goes right and your information is good, we won’t kill you. If something happens in Xanderis, my AI knows what to do. Ain’t that right, V?”

“Of course, Captain. And I will do so with pleasure.”

* * *

The next day, while her brother was interrogating Peralta some more, Farah’s fist swung out in a tight arc, aimed right at my jaw.

I ducked, avoiding it, and grunted with the effort. Though by some miracle nothing had been broken on Prosperitas, after a night of rest, my muscles screamed in protest at the slightest movement. Not one to be brought down by a few aches and pains, I leaned into the discomfort and worked out the stiffness in my own way: sparring.

Farah swiped at me again. This time I caught her by the forearm and yanked inward, then swept her legs out. She hit the mat with a thump. Seeing her on the ground made me think of Calliope and everything I saw in White Cross. It was only a moment, but Farah seized it and I suddenly found myself on the mat with the wind knocked out of me.

Which was exactly what I deserved for getting distracted. Huffing, I rolled away and shot back up to my feet. “Nice one. Again.”

My usual MO was to hang back and wait for a good opportunity to attack my opponent. Today, I was angry. Between seeing Calliope again and learning Kaska’s motives, I was pissed and needed to exorcise some of the negative energy. Changing my tactics, I rushed in, hoping to overwhelm Farah with sheer force.

“Hey, wait—”

I didn’t give her a chance to finish. She twisted away before my shoulder could ram into her and stumbled. My momentum carried me for a few more steps, and I turned to find my friend ready for me. She’d taken a defender’s stance and protected her face with both fists raised.

With a grunt of pent up frustration, I lunged. Farah held her ground and blocked the one-two jab I threw at her with relative ease. It wasn’t an exaggeration that I had taught her everything she knew about fighting from the time we were kids. Given that, we were pretty evenly matched, but I tended to come out on top in sparring matches. Farah hadn’t suddenly turned into a fighting master overnight; I was just being sloppy. That infuriated me more and I backed away, holding my side like it hurt.

The ruse worked. Farah dropped her guard and moved in to check on me. “You okay?”

I dropped the act and attacked. We’d never trained with padded gear before and she wasn’t wearing any now. Farah leaped back, but not enough, and my elbow slammed into her chest. It threw her off balance, making her stumble. I grabbed her shirtfront and pulled hard.

Farah moved forward again and blocked another blow with her forearm and brought her elbow down on my hand to release the grip I had. It worked but I followed it up by thrusting it toward her face. She narrowly missed it by jerking her head to the side, but I didn’t stop.

For the next few minutes we traded blows and blocks until one of mine finally got past her guard. In training, the government prepped us for reality by making sure we didn’t pull punches during matches. It was a good tactic because practice had real world consequences in the form of black eyes and bloody noses. Farah was the only person I did scale back for, not wanting to hurt my best friend. In my haze, I forgot this time and felt my fist connect with the hard bone of her jaw, snapping her head back.

“What the hell?”

“Sorry.” I dropped my fists in an instant, shame flooding through me.

“Everything okay?” Farah didn’t look scared so much as concerned, which made me feel better.

I shrugged and went for a sweat towel. “Just distracted today.” A unit of cold packs sat next to the towel pile and I tossed one to her. “Really sorry about that. Hopefully it won’t bruise too much.”

She caught it with a deft movement and placed it on her chin. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I haven’t taken one to the face before.”

“Is that so?” I waggled my brows at her and snickered.

“Oh, gods, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. And don’t think you’re going to distract me. Spill it. What’s your deal today? You only get like this when you’re pissed. I got the feeling it wasn’t me you were lashing out at.”

“Can’t get anything past you.” I sat on a bench that bordered one wall while she grabbed two bottled waters. Considering how precious the stuff was on long hauls, she must have seen the conversation as an important one. “Fine, I admit it. Seeing Calliope rattled me.”

“Did you really get so attached to her while she was here?”

I thought about lying, but Farah knew me too well for that, so I went for a partial truth. “No. It’s me I’m pissed at. I feel like missing all of her lies makes me a failure. Why couldn’t I see through her bullshit?”

While that was true, there was something else bugging me. Inside, I wondered if it was a sign that I was losing my grip on things. Had I become a lesser soldier by walking away from the Empire?

Farah didn’t answer right away, mulling over the question I had spoken. “You want to know what I think? I think that you and I have been stuck under tyrannical rule for a long time. Getting out was a miracle, but we did it. Now we have to relearn things, how to fit in with the rest of the galaxy. I have other friends, but no one as close as you. I’m pretty sure I’m your only friend.”

“Not the only one,” I muttered.

“Sven the kabob vendor doesn’t count. My point is that humans like to make connections. You’ve spent the last couple decades smothering that. It’s completely natural to finally give in and open up to somebody. She preyed on that because it was her mission. And don’t forget that I pushed you into it. Your first instinct was to not trust her. So really, the whole mess is on me.”

I held up a hand in a stopping motion. “Let’s not get too crazy. She’s accountable for her own actions. That’s why I punched her in the face. But I get what you’re saying, and I guess that makes sense.”

The training room’s door slid open and Jax walked in, stopping further conversation. “I’m done with Peralta. If you two are done talking about your feelings, can you spare a minute to discuss the ingot and how to get it away from Kaska?”

Farah threw her towel at him, which he batted away. “Buzz off, loser. We’ll be on the bridge in ten.”

He nodded and backed out again.

“Is that an older brother thing?” I asked.

She grinned. “Yep. This is one of those moments that show he hasn’t changed at all.”

Groaning, I pushed up off the bench. “That’s something to keep in mind too. If he was really different from the person you remember, I don’t think he’d be here. Whatever experiments the Void tried on him, he still rebelled. In fact, because of that, I’d say you guys are the same.”

Farah got up too, though the motion didn’t seem to cost her like it did me. “Yeah, that’s a good point. Look at us, a couple of regular old wizened soldiers.”

“Right,” I replied, walking to the door. “Next thing you know we’ll be yelling at kids to stop running on the docks and to have some respect.”

We split off to change and I left the training room a lot lighter than I went in.

12

We were both on the bridge in under ten minutes.

Mack sat in her usual chair, legs kicked up on the console as she tossed a ball back and forth. Jax had taken a leaning spot, arms crossed and completely still. I noticed he didn’t seem to sit often and wondered if it had to do with his cybernetics, or if he just preferred standing. I supposed it didn’t really matter.

The feed on the holo showed Peralta sitting on the uncomfortable cot in his cell. He looked a little worse for wear, at least compared with how the man had been planetside. The polished sheen of an affluent individual was now only evident in the style of his clothes. Peralta’s hair was mussed and greasy, his skin pallid. And I didn’t give a damn. He hadn’t expressed a single ounce of regret for his part in Kaska’s plan.

I motioned at Jax. “Okay, we’re here. What did you learn?”

“More than I expected. As you suspected, the handheld shield you went to retrieve from Dulsa is the same thing they are working from to create a mega weapon capable of wielding the ingot’s power.”

Mack stopped tossing the ball and worked her pad as she spoke. “Does he know how close to being done it is?”

The holo split as the plans were featured next to the brig feed. It still looked like gibberish to me though. I knew war, not product engineering.

Jax shook his head. “No. The guy is a little clueless, which I’m pretty sure is by design. Kaska wants someone there that he trusts, but only gives them so much information, never the whole picture. It’s smart to keep everyone at arm’s length. We’re only getting part of the puzzle.”

Annoyed by his words, I scoffed. “Try not to give the scumbag too many compliments.”

“It’s not a compliment, just the truth. Besides, I can fill in the blanks. Not all of them, but enough to make this a workable operation.”

“So, what are we looking at?” Farah spun in a slow circle, tapping her fingers on the arms of her chair. I noticed her jaw didn’t look all that bad, but it had a shine to it. Knowing her she probably had a salve for the swelling.

“I know the operative side of things.” He made a flicking motion with his fingers. A rudimentary map appeared on the display.

“How did you do that?”

He glanced at his cousin. She took her feet down and stared at him with bright, excited eyes. “From memory.”

She tilted her head a little and the eyes narrowed. “Uh huh. Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me something?”

“Because I’m not. This isn’t the time to get into it. Focus, Mack.”

She did, turning along with the rest of us to study the map.

“As I was saying.” Jax made the flicking motion again and another map appeared next to the first, though in less detail. “The one on the left is all the areas I could remember. Peralta gave me the information I used to draw the one on the right. He wasn’t lying when he gave me the information, but I can’t speak to the accuracy. The labs and research area he told me about were off limits to Void operatives.

“How do you know he wasn’t lying?” asked Farah.

“Training.” The way he said it made it clear he wouldn’t elaborate, and she fell quiet. “I can give you details on Void procedures, but we’ll have to depend on the Senator for the rest. No one but Kaska has all the details.”

“Yeah, that jives,” said Mack, playing with a band on her wrist. “He’s too power hungry to let any single person have that kind of knowledge.”

“Exactly. Between my experience there and Peralta’s, we have a unique opportunity. He says the ingot is in this lab.” Jax pointed and a small square pulsed on the map.

Farah put up both hands. “Hold on a minute. You are talking about breaking into one of the most well-guarded bases that the government controls, right?”

“Yes, Farah. Retrieving the ingot has been the mission since we found out it existed,” said Jax, face unreadable though his words were snarky.

“Am I the only one who remembers we’re all fugitives?” She indicated the lot of us with a jerky hand. “You especially, Jax. You’re AWOL, a deserter. It’s not like any of us can just skip in the front door and say ‘Hey, we’re here for the megaweapon!’”

“Maybe I can,” I said, moving closer to examine the map.

Farah snorted, the sound heavy and exasperated. “Care to share with the rest of us how you plan on pulling that off?”

I turned to face the group. “Remember that message from the Vice-Admiral on Dulsa? He said his only regret was not being there to arrest me himself. Call it trash talk if you want, but the mercs he hired said Kaska wanted a meet with me too. I have a feeling that if we play this right and I get taken alive, he’ll want me to stay that way until he can get there and rub it in my face some.”

As my crew considered that, I began to construct the rough outline of a plan.

“You can’t sneak in,” Jax said finally. “Hell, I can’t either for that matter, and I’m Void. Added to that, none of my credentials are going to work. The second I step foot in the facility, they’ll know it, but that’s not the worst of it.”

“Maybe you ought to key us in then, bro,” said Farah.

He paused a beat, weighing his words. “Yeah, I guess the mission calls for it. Years ago, the government captured somebody, a Union operative. They discovered that he wasn’t entirely human. He’d been altered, upgraded with cybernetic implants. Metal arm with a built-in blade and advanced mechanics. Superhuman strength because it was essentially a machine.”

I remembered all the times me and my squad mates had joked about the Void, exchanging secondhand stories told by someone who’d heard it from someone else. There was always a certain air around the discussions, like children telling ghost stories. Jax didn’t relay his narrative that way, but rather like a report, which no one interrupted.

“The enhancements didn’t stop there. An ocular implant, gadgets here and there. Those parts don’t matter. What does matter is what the government found in his head. An implanted artificial intelligence that controlled all the cybernetics.”

“A PAI,” Mack said suddenly, all but jumping out of her seat, speaking in a torrent of words. “Holy fucking shit, you’re talking about a Reaper. The Empire got their hands on a Reaper?”

Jax nodded, nonplussed by the outburst. “They did. Then they did what they do best. Copied it.”

“Wait, slow down for the rest of us. What’s a PAI?” I asked looking from Jax to Mack.

Mack launched into an explanation. “Personal Artificial Intelligence, sometimes called LAI or Limited Artificial Intelligences. They pop up for sale on the BM—black market—every so often, but never last long. Usually some ultra-wealthy asshole swoops in and buys them up before anyone else has a chance. Not that anyone besides the ultra-wealthy can afford them. PAIs are risky. You’re undergoing surgery to implant a computer in your brain.”

“Okay, so what’s the big deal? The Empire does that with any new tech.” Farah crossed her arms and stared at Jax.

For the first time, he seemed to really hesitate, as if unsure whether or not to say anything. I had a suspicion though. “Jax, are you telling us that you have one of these PAIs?”

Farah’s gaze snapped over to me then back to her brother, eyes widening with shock.

“Yes. It’s a little different from the original Reaper’s, but essentially the same concept.”

Mack plopped back in her chair. “That’s going to pose a problem then. I’m assuming there’s some kind of built in leash?”

Jax nodded again.

“What does that mean?” asked Farah.

“It means that Jax could be vulnerable,” Mack answered. “It’s like when you worried about Vega being under the government’s control. If they had been smarter, they would have installed a kill code. Something that would shut both her and the ship down. Speaking of that, Jax, how have you avoided being shut down since you left?”

“Dunham. She had another tech from the Initiative work on my programming when I first joined. It was latent, designed to fly under the radar unless it was needed.”

Farah frowned. “Was latent? As in not anymore?”

“Correct. It activated after Kaska saw me on Sarkon”

“So, what, this kill code just shuts down your PAI?”

“It does, but the PAI is an integral part of my body. If it goes, I die.” He said it flatly, with zero emotion, but Farah blanched.

“And now you want to walk back in like they’ll accept you with open arms?” She folded her arms over her chest and fixed him with a stony glare.

“Actually, they might, if we play it right.” I rushed on before anyone could interrupt. “If Jax walks in with a prisoner, the face of the Solaris Initiative, they’ll want answers. Kaska especially.”

“That’s a hell of a gamble,” murmured Mack.

Farah rounded on me. “It sure as hell is. I can’t believe you’re even considering this. You either,” she said to Jax. “We just got you back and now you want to commit suicide.”

“Stop being emotional and think like a soldier. We’re in the middle of a war, Sophie,” he said, slipping and using her real name. “I didn’t come back for a family reunion. I came to fight. If dealing with tough decisions is too hard, maybe you shouldn’t be here.”

Jax said it calmly, which just made it worse. Farah dropped her arms and jerked back as if he’d slapped her. When she spoke, it came out shaky. “Fine. If you guys want to do this insane mission, do it without me. I won’t be part of it.”

She all but stomped out the door, but not before I saw the look of hurt on her face. Mack moved to follow, then stopped next to Jax. “Guess they didn’t teach you Void operatives about diplomacy. Not cool, cuz. Not cool at all.”

After she was gone Jax sat heavily in one of the crew chairs. “Yeah, I know I fucked that one up. Lay off already.”

I wrinkled my brow, confused. “I didn’t say anything yet.”

“I was talking to my PAI.”

Despite the fact that I wasn’t feeling too genial toward him after that conversation, I found myself intrigued. “You talk to them? And they curse at you?”

He shrugged. “All the time, on both counts. Sometimes she’s the only one I have for company for months at a time. It’s getting her to shut up that’s the problem.”

I glanced up at the ceiling. “V, how come you never curse?”

“Captain, according to my user manual, this is a function that I am capable of. However, it has never been requested of me. Would you like me to do this?”

After considering that for a moment I shook my head. “Only if you want.”

“Very well, sir. I will keep this in mind,” the ship AI answered.

Chuckling, I turned my attention back to Jax. “Does she have a name? Your PAI, I mean.”

Jax paused a moment. “Yes, I’ll tell her your real name, not one of my nicknames.” Another pause, then he looked at me, something almost like a smile playing at his lips. “I’m supposed to tell you that her name is Leigh.”

“Uh, nice to meet you. I’m Alyss, but I guess you know that.”

Jax started to reply, stopped, then rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not going to say that. Seriously, stop. Listen, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to mute you.”

I watched, fascinated, while Jax appeared to have a one-sided argument with himself. Even ignoring the weirdness of that, he had changed from the man planning an op just a few minutes prior. He spoke to the PAI with the easy familiarity of an old friendship. I almost felt guilty, like I was seeing something private.

After a few more seconds of banter he looked up, a sheepish expression on his face. “Sorry, I don’t usually talk to her in front of anyone.”

“Don’t worry about it. To be honest, I’m impressed you kept her under wraps all this time.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Occupational requirement. Which, incidentally, we should get back to. There’s less than a standard week until we get to Xanderis. Not a lot of time to plan an op. Not one like this anyway.”

“Agreed.” I moved back to the holo to get a better look at the map. “I can only think of one way in and it’s not going to be easy. If they don’t kill us, we’ll be tortured.”

Jax came to stand next to me. “You don’t seem too concerned. Why is that?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not excited about the idea. But, like you said, this is war. Kaska has done a good job protecting himself. This is a singular opportunity that we would be stupid to pass up.”

“Good,” he said, back in soldier mode. “I guess we better get started. There is a lot you’ll need to memorize. If you’re up for it, I’d like to spar with you.”

Genuinely surprised, I stared at him. “Spar with me? I love a good match as much as the next person, but the odds are a little skewed between you and me.”

“All the more reason for it. It’s not a matter of if you run into a Void operative, but when. It won’t be an issue going in since the point is to get captured, but when it comes time to escape, you’ll be wanting to know some things. Weak spots, so to speak.”

I grimaced, recalling how easily he’d put me on my ass during our first meeting on the train back in Solaris. It was nice to know I might have a fighting chance. “Sounds good. Once Mack gets back, we’ll want to see how she can get into the station’s systems.”

“That will be tough. The first thing they’ll do is a strip search, then a scan to make sure we’re not smuggling something in.”

Mack came in a few minutes later and said that Farah was cooling off in her quarters. I told her my idea about finding a way into the Void’s systems and she started working on a plan. The three of us went back and forth like that over the next few hours until Mack and I couldn’t stay awake anymore. Jax claimed he wasn’t tired, and he looked more than alert. I wondered if the Void didn’t require sleep, or maybe just less.

Vega told me that Farah was asleep in her quarters, so I decided to let her sleep and catch some rack time of my own. The mission was heavy on my mind, but I still fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

13

The next morning, I went to the training room to learn what I could from Jax about the Void. He was inside, dressed to spar. My eyes zeroed in on a black glove that ran all the way up his right arm. The joint of his shoulder was exposed and a flash of silver shone where the glove didn’t cover it. Jax had a small collection of tools laid out on one of the benches and waved me over.

Most of it I recognized: a combat knife, handgun, long gun, and a length of pipe. A tube that easily fit in the palm of my hand didn’t look special, neither did a thin white disk, but I figured Jax would explain soon enough. The last was a short sword, much like the one I’d seen in Clint’s shop.

“Nice spread,” I commented, coming to a stop next to him.

“Maybe. Right now they’re just ideas. You won’t be able to sneak any of these in,” he said.

I frowned. “Then why bring them?”

“Because you need to understand what can be used against Void operatives. Even me, if it comes to that.”

That gave me pause. “Why, do I need to worry about you turning on me?”

Jax gave a firm shake of his head. “Not if I’m in the driver’s seat. But if the processes Mack puts in place fail, it might be a problem. You need to be prepared for any eventuality.”

A little annoyed, I shot him a look. “Jax, don’t take this the wrong way, but I have run a few ops before. Planned some too. I know the basics and a little more.”

The guy didn’t bat an eye. “Don’t be cocky, Cortez. That’s how you get dead. I’m telling you this because if I do turn on you, I expect you to do whatever it takes to put me down. Got it?”

My blood cooled a little, but not by much. “You don’t have to worry about that. I much prefer living to dying. I admit that I hadn’t realized it was a possibility. How would that even work, brain control?”

Amusement danced in his eyes and he chuckled. “No. They aren’t able to do that just yet. But they know how to hurt someone, so they’ll do anything. The doctors and technicians at the station are really good at forcing behavior. And, if I slip Mack’s leash and Leigh is under their control, that will be a problem too.”

It was uncomfortable to hear and think about, but necessary. He was right, and I had been brash in my temper. Undercover missions never appealed to me and weren’t something I was used to. The ingot was in one of the most secure facilities in the galaxy. The night before, Jax told Mack and me that the Union’s Reaper program was no longer active. That was Sparrow intel too, so not just beer cooler gossip. That made Xanderis a major threat. If the Union didn’t have a comparable program, the Void might be the most powerful unit around.

And we were about to enter it without any protection or backup. Maybe Farah wasn’t far off and this was a suicide mission.

“All right. Show me what you’ve got,” I said. “What’s your first piece of advice if I run into a Void operative?”

“Run.”

It was, I knew, the truth. The Void were nextgen, upgraded soldiers and I was merely human.

“Noted.”

He picked up the pistol and handed it to me. Not my normal, but a common brand and style among military personnel that I’d used plenty throughout the years. It seemed an odd choice since it was a weapon that I was intimately familiar with, but I kept my mouth shut and passed it back.

“I hear you’re a good shot. That’s useful. Important, too, but not enough.”

“You heard right,” I replied, not seeing the point in being humble. “Why, do the Void have superhuman speed or something? Can they dodge bullets?”

“Sure, we’re faster. I wouldn’t say we’re inhuman though. It’s like being in peak condition. Operatives are still limited by their organic parts. To a point. The point of the gun is to say that if you use a pistol, make your shot count. In most cases, unless you hit a prime piece of real estate, you’re just gonna piss the person off.”

“Okay. That’s common sense, but I assume there’s something more at work here. Pain dampeners?”

Jax looked at me with surprised approval. “Yes. They’ll feel it, but it won’t be enough to put them down. And even if you get a good shot, remember we have the cybernetic arm. The alloy is dense enough that most bullets won’t do too much damage so it’s an ideal shield that we utilize a lot. Unless an opponent gets a lucky hit like that soldier on Sarkon.”

I remembered that day with near perfect clarity. So much had gone wrong, and so little had gone right. We’d come out alive, but barely, and then only because of Jax. Facing off against too many soldiers with our small group of four, I was sure we were dead. Then Farah’s brother showed up and held off Kaska’s men almost by himself. One of the enemy had gotten off a shot that caused Jax’s mechanical arm to malfunction. Thanks to Mack, it was now working just fine.

“Fair enough,” I told him. “Same with the rifle, I assume?”

“Pretty much. The nice thing about long guns is that if you run out of bullets, they make a good club. The only thing there is you better hit something soft. Head, eyes, neck. You get the idea.”

I pointed at the combat knife. “Knife fights don’t seem like the best idea. I’m no slouch with short blades like that, but going up against one of you in close quarter combat? I don’t like my chances. You know the three principles—surprise, speed, and violent action. Right off the bat I’m losing speed because I can’t match a cybernetically enhanced human. Surprise is right behind that. That leaves me with violence, which I’m good for, but it won’t be enough. Not nearly.”

“You’re not wrong there. But most operatives carry a blade, you know that. If the chance to take it off them comes, do it. Hack, slash, jab, whatever. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”

Next, Jax picked up the small metal tube device and passed it to me. About the size of a penlight, it featured a slide mechanism and not much else. Experimentally, I thumbed the sliding button on the side. Electricity arced from the tip, crackling and spitting. “What is it?”

“Prototype stun baton. More powerful than anything else available. High enough voltage to disrupt an operative’s internal systems, at least for a few seconds. Maybe long enough to get away, maybe not. If we can find a way to get it into the facility, you’ll even the odds a little. If not, these aren’t just lying around.”

“I can deal with that. Seems like it would be efficient.”

“They are,” he agreed.

“And the disc?” I pointed at it, wondering what it could possibly do when it looked like a drink coaster.

“This is a litegrenade. Kind of like a flash bang, but specifically designed to wreak havoc on optics. It was originally designed to mess with helmet visors, but we found out the hard way it messes with our ocular implants too.”

“Show me how to use it.”

He did, which turned out to be easy. A small pressure pad in the middle activated it with a single second delay. “Touching it twice turns it back off,” Jax explained. “Again, I don’t know that we’re going to get any of this in, but even if that doesn’t happen, you know the basics of what will have the most impact in a fight.”

“What’s with the sword? They aren’t exactly a common weapon. Who the hell thought that up anyway? I can’t imagine going into combat with what amounts to a pointy stick.”

The wry smile Jax allowed himself told me he felt the same. “Yeah, they are not my favorite either. Void operatives have extensive training because there are still some who are masters of the sword. Besides, they have one thing going for them.”

I slanted a skeptical look his way. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

“No one expects them.”

“That’s true,” I admitted. “But I’ve never trained with them except a single semester in academy. It was a requirement. Never picked one up again.”

He nodded. “You and just about everyone else besides the Void. I think it goes back to that first Reaper they captured and the blade in his arm.”

“Do you have one in yours?”

“Yeah, though it’s more of a bowie knife. Acts like the switchblade in your boot.”

Jax moved onto the length of pipe. He picked it up, tossed it from hand to hand, then tossed it my way. I snagged it out of the air and felt the weight of it. “Just feels like a metal pipe,” I said, putting it back down.

“It is just a metal pipe.”

“Okay. So, I’m just going to beat them over the head with it?”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I know it sounds obvious, but you’re more than likely going in there empty handed. Use what’s available to you. This op is going to take all of our skill and then some. Now that we’re through show and tell, how about a little real-life application?”

My eyes jerked up from the pipe in my hands to his face. “You want me to fight you?”

“Yeah. I said spar, didn’t I?”

“I guess you did.”

Jax closed the distance between us and took one of my hands. I started to pull it away, but he slapped it to his chest. “Listen.”

I fell silent and did as he asked. Under my hand, his heart pumped rhythmically, if a little faster than my own. I couldn’t hear the thump exactly, but the pulse was evident just the same. The motion made me uncomfortable and I pulled my hand away. “It’s your heart,” I said, not understanding what he was trying to prove.

“That’s right. I have a heart, contrary to common belief.” He tapped his right arm. “Remember, we have these robotic upgrades, but all the meat parts are the same. The Void bleed, same as you. Something that might come in handy to know is that our cybernetics usually run to our dominant limbs and appendages. Right or left handed. Same with the ocular.”

“That’s good to know,” I said, filing the information away for later.

“You have to stay out of your own head. Don’t think, just fight.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered. “Fine, let’s do this.”

Even though I hadn’t had a really good fight in a while, the prospect of going toe to toe with Jax didn’t much appeal to me. It wasn’t just that he’d mopped the floor with me as though I were a fresh, untrained recruit. He was Farah’s brother and if either of us got hurt she would be pissed off all over again. Neither of us had opted for padded gear. Jax didn’t need it and I wouldn’t have the luxury in a real fight.

“Stop. Thinking.” Jax was watching me through hooded eyes gone dark.

Two black orbs that reflected their opponent’s death watched me without emotion, taking in my every movement, calculating. I knew that look. He was ready. Maybe it was a Void thing, but most soldiers I knew didn’t get so serious for a simple sparring match. Then again, this was anything but simple.

That was my last thought before Jax rushed me in a blur of motion.

I went into a pivot and avoided the shoulder he thrusted forward. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same luck with the elbow. With agility that shouldn’t have surprised me, he mirrored the action and spun to drive an elbow into my chest. My move had helped because I wasn’t close enough to absorb the full force of his, and I tottered back.

Jax didn’t stop there. He kept coming, that dead look in his eyes. For one horrifying second, I wondered if he could go into a fugue state while fighting and forget to not kill me. Then I had to focus and purge all thoughts except for reaction from my mind.

A rack of magweights sat off to one side, deactivated and useless. Everything else was fixed in place or not worth the effort. Thinking fast, I bolted for the bench of weapons and picked up the pistol, whirling and popping off two shots as Jax closed on me.

The training rounds slapped against him and bounced off. One tagged him in the organic arm, the other in the middle of his forehead. Jax stopped short and jerked back a little. “Gotta say, didn’t expect you to shoot. I’m assuming you knew those weren’t real bullets?”

Training ammo or not, those suckers hurt. Marveling that he didn’t seem to feel them, I held up the gun and ejected the magazine before slamming it back home. “It was lighter than it should have been, but not empty.”

“That’s exactly the attention to detail that can make the difference.”

He didn’t have to say what difference he was talking about.

“Are we going to do this or what?” I asked.

“One last thing. Try not to look at this like a sparring match,” he said. “If you walk into that facility without a scratch, they’re going to know something is up.”

Having known that was coming at some point, I suppressed a sigh. “Figured. I’m ready.”

In a flash Jax was on me and the gun was in his hands pointing at me. He squeezed the trigger and one of the slugs punched into my chest. It wasn’t enough to knock me off my feet, but it sure hurt like a bitch. Grunting, I dodged the next one by strafing right. Two more found a home in my side and hip. I ignored the pain and dove past him to come up by the bench, pipe in hand.

If he wanted to play, I was game. Might still get my ass kicked but he’d have something to show for it. I spun back to meet Jax, swinging the length of metal with all my weight. Jax was ready, his cybernetic arm taking the brunt of the hit. The vibration sang up my arms, but I used the momentum of the bounce back to rotate. This time I aimed for his knee. When he bent to block it, I drove an elbow back. It caught him in the face.

Blood gushed from his nose but Jax didn’t falter. I swung again but he grabbed and twisted until I couldn’t hold on anymore then picked me up by the throat and shirt front before tossing me to the side. I rolled when I hit the ground but the room was too small and I smacked into the wall with a resounding thump. I scrambled to my feet, fists up and ready for the next attack when a voice sounded from the doorway.

“What the hell, Jax?!”

Startled, I glanced over to see Farah watching us with a furious expression. It was only a second but when I looked back, Jax had crossed the distance and slammed into me. My head cracked against the wall and shutters came down over my vision.

14

When my eyes opened again, I was flat on my back, still in the training room. Farah and Jax stood over me, arguing.

“I’m not sure what you two were thinking. Just look at what happened already.” She gestured but didn’t actually look at me, so she didn’t realize I was awake.

“Sophie. We’re prepping for a mission, as you should be,” he retorted. “What is it with you? It’s like you forgot how to be a soldier.”

I winced at the harsh words. From my spot on the floor I had a front row seat to this family affair and didn’t like it one bit. As I contemplated escape, Farah drilled a finger into Jax’s chest.

“First of all, it’s Farah, not Sophie. Sophie Singh is gone. Second, I never wanted to be a soldier but that doesn’t mean I’m not a damn good one.”

“Then act like one.”

“I am,” she shot back. “Mack told me about your plan to take Alyss in as a fake prisoner. Because I’m a good soldier, I know that’s a shit plan. Like the Void won’t see right through it.”

“It’s our only move,” Jax replied. “This is necessary. You’re right, though. The Void isn’t going to accept our ruse unless we play it just right. That means training Cortez how my people move so she stands a chance. And yes, we both need to look like she put up a fight. Your friend understands the cost and is willing to pay it. So am I. Why aren’t you?”

That was enough. I sat up fast and the room spun a little before righting again. “Don’t bring me into this. You two work this out, I’m going to shower.”

Farah crouched next to me in medic mode. “No, you need to get checked out in the medbay. A scan for head trauma needs to be done at the very least. Chin up, let me see your eyes.”

After she did a few basic tests, my friend asked me a series of questions. My name, birthday, the last thing I remembered.

“I’m okay,” I told her, pushing back against her hand and getting up on shaky feet. “I’ve taken harder hits and been out for a lot longer and turned out perfectly fine.”

“That doesn’t mean you should neglect all future head injuries,” she chided.

“Fair enough, but I’m perfectly capable of running my own scan,” I replied, signaling for her to stay where she was and not follow me. “Vega can monitor me until I get there and alert you if I pass out or something. Seriously, squash whatever is going on between you two.”

“Oh, I’m ticked off plenty at you too, Alyss.”

Backing up, I put both hands up as if to ward off an attack. “Isn’t there some rule about arguing with someone who might have a head injury?”

Farah planted a hand on one hip and shook her head. “Cute. Fine, I’ll check on you later. If Vega tells me you skipped the scan, don’t think I won’t come get you though.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I turned on my heel and fled before she changed her mind and insisted on accompanying me to the medbay.

* * *

“Well, V, hit me.”

“Captain, you only have a mild concussion but now I worry you may have more damage that the scans missed. I don’t possess appendages and cannot strike you, nor would I do so considering that is why you are in the medbay. Would you like me to rescan?”

I laughed. “No, it’s a human idiom. In that instance I wanted you to tell me what the results of the scan were.”

“Ah, now I understand. Perhaps it would be prudent for my language servers to be updated.”

“Sure,” I said, sliding off the scanner. “Are Farah and Jax still in the training room?”

“Yes, Captain. I would advise avoiding that section of the ship if possible.”

I pulled on my boots and wandered over to where I knew the cold packs were. “That sounds like a good plan. Family squabbles aren’t my thing. They make me itchy.”

“I believe Miss Shahi has antihistamine cream if you are in need,” Vega offered.

“No, that’s all right,” I said, too worn out to explain.

While I headed back to my room, I thought about Farah’s stance on the upcoming mission. She wasn’t wrong to be concerned—we had picked a hell of a target. And though I would never utter the words to my friend, Jax wasn’t wrong either. There wasn’t any other option.

On the surface, our plan was simple. Pretend to be a prisoner, get the ingot, get out. Of course, there were a lot of moving parts. We would stop in Neblinar first. There was tech Mack needed and it would add less than a day to our trip.

The first part of the plan would go down on Neblinar, if Mack could get and build what we needed. We had to assume that the Void would check Jax’s ship feeds. If they saw me riding in a crew chair the mission would be over. So, Jax would make a show of tailing me on Neblinar until I went into a bar. There he was going to tranq my drink, then sneak me onto his ship where I would wake up in the brig. Again.

The Second Genesis would trail behind, cloaked, and exit one S.G. point from Xanderis. There was too much risk that the Void had good enough scanners to pick up an extra ship coming through. We couldn’t afford a single misstep. Jax had already explained what prisoner intake was like, but the rest of the details were going to stay with my crew. If for some reason Jax couldn’t get me out, we couldn’t run the risk that Kaska might be able to torture it out of me.

Inside my quarters, I went to the small work desk and pulled out my data pad. Considering the very real possibility that I wouldn’t make it out of the next mission alive, I needed to make preparations.

* * *

“I think I see a table over there!” Mack had to shout to be heard over the crush of people.

We were in a familiar bar not far from docks called Bottoms Up. On our first visit I’d been a bit hesitant to go in thinking it had an adjoining skin bar like the one on Leah. It didn’t and was now a regular on our list of haunts. Both Farah and I picked up our victory alcohol there when we could, and the bartender knew us by name.

According to Mack, the mission was a go. Jax was lurking around somewhere and would be doctoring my drink sometime during the course of the night. Dunham had been given a report claiming White Cross had been a bust, much to her chagrin. Everything was in place, as far as I knew.

The place was an odd mash of individuals, but that was normal for Neblinar. Business meetings, black market deals, Renegades, and pirates alike patronized it. The only people not allowed in were ravagers, who were disliked the galaxy over. Most people had either lost someone to the vicious group or knew someone who had lost someone.

Farah and I followed Mack as she picked her way through the crowded bar. I appreciated the way she twisted and wound around people, barely touching them. When she sped up, I saw that another group had also seen the table and were trying to beat us to it.

Mack ducked under the arm of a drunk man to reach the spot first and slapped both hands on it. The other group reached it seconds later and seemed to be sizing up the hacker when Farah and I caught up.

“We’ll be taking this table,” the leader said. She had a rifle strapped to her back, and her green hair was done in warrior braids. She was also tall, maybe just under two meters, and had three sidekicks, all with the same hairstyle and a variety of weapons on their person, though they were closer to my height.

They were clearly a band of female mercs, similar to my own little group. Minus Jax of course.

“I don’t think so,” said Mack, her voice like ice. “We were here first, and you know the rules.”

The foursome on the opposite side didn’t look all that tough but getting into a bar fight was not on tonight’s agenda. Slim, the bar owner, also had a strict no brawling policy and I didn’t want to get booted from one of my favorite places.

The one in charge looked like she might have more to say, but one of her friends stepped up and tapped her on the shoulder before whispering in her ear. The woman’s eyes snapped to me, taking in my face with obvious interest.

“I’ll be damned,” she said after a minute. “You’re Alyss Cortez?”

I put my hand on my sidearm in warning. Most people on Neblinar were supportive of the Initiative and its cause, but not everyone. Better to be safe than regretful. “That depends. Who’s asking, and why?”

The woman’s hands shot up in a gesture of peace. “Name’s Lodhi. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Table’s yours. C’mon girls, we’ll find somewhere else to sit.”

“Thanks,” I said, inclining my head.

“Anytime. Me and my crew are glad to help, should you ever need us.” She jerked her chin, motioning for her team to follow, then disappeared into the crowd.

“That’s handy,” Farah quipped. “Never expected your new celebrity status would earn us perks, but I’m not going to complain. You guys stay put, I’m going to go get the first round.”

“Lodhi. Can you look her up, Mack?”

She nodded but didn’t pull out her pad. “Later. It’s not work time, it’s drinking time. There’s our medic now.”

I looked in the direction she indicated and saw Farah carrying three glasses filled with an unidentifiable pink liquid. The thick crowd made the trip difficult and more than once she was jostled. Somehow she made it without dropping the cups and set them down with a look of relief.

“Nice job,” I told her.

“You ready for your last drink as a free woman?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe. What is that?”

She grinned and slid one to me and another to Mack. “It’s called a Shocker, on special. No idea what’s in it.”

Mack had one too, and the three of us lifted our glasses in a toast.

“I’m dedicating this one to the gods,” Farah said. “Cause we need all the help we can get.”

“No argument here,” I said, then took a long pull from the glass. The drink wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined. Overly sweet maybe, but it cut through some of the burn as it went down.

Mack flagged a passing waitress to our table and passed her a few loose credits. “Can we get another round of the special? If you keep them coming, I’ll keep tipping.”

The woman smiled. “Sure thing, hon. Coming right up.”

Over the next hour, the three of us proceeded to plow through drinks and bar offerings that passed as edible. A live band played at one end of the bar and a few people were dancing. Or trying to.

We joked, told stories, and pretended to have a good time. Just three girls out on a bender. Somewhere between the drinks and laughter, we did have a good time, even though beneath the veneer of our act, the mission lurked.

I couldn’t help but think of Calliope and her mission. How many times had she found herself in this position, blending truth with fiction to gain our trust?

By the end of it I could barely stand. Farah and Mack weren’t much better and the three of us supported each other as we left.

“Oooh, ominous,” I said, taking in the unusually quiet street with a laugh.

Something, instinct maybe, kicked in and tried to tell me that I should pay attention, but the Shockers had done their job and I was in no shape to do anything but chuckle at my own paranoia. Farah and Mack exchanged a glance, suddenly not quite as drunk as me. This registered somewhere in my alcohol addled brain, but only for a moment, then it was gone.

“Ouch.” I slapped a hand to my neck. “Something bit me. Bug or something.”

“What?” Farah turned to look at me, her face tightening with concern. “Let me see.”

I showed her, wobbly and growing more disoriented by the second. She frowned and pulled a tiny object from the spot.

“What the hell. This is a tranq disk, Mack. I think something’s up.”

Before Mack could reply, Jax stepped out of the shadows. I expected them to look relieved, but my friends stiffened.

“This wasn’t the plan,” Farah said, moving in front of me.

“It was always the plan, Farah. Kaska wants her and my mission is to deliver her when the time came. Now’s the time. Now, get out of my way.”

“No.” Farah pulled her sidearm and pointed it at his face.

Mack didn’t typically carry one and pulled a slim baton out of her jacket instead.

“Guys, what are you doing?” I said, my words slurring from the mixture of drink and drug in my system.

“This isn’t what we discussed,” Farah snapped.

I didn’t reply because the world started to tilt, and I had to sit on the ground or fall. My vision chose that moment to blur and I missed exactly what happened next. Blinking furiously in an attempt to clear the haze, I tried to make sense of the scene unfolding in front of me.

Was this all part of the plan? Everyone looked so serious, but that would be the intention, so I couldn’t be sure.

“I will shoot you, brother or not,” Farah warned Jax.

He bull rushed her, slamming her back. Farah’s body flew back a couple meters and landed hard in the street. Mack, in a quick motion I wouldn’t have thought her capable of, shot forward as Jax took a step in his sister’s direction. She jammed the baton into the back of his neck and backed off, trying to get clear of his reach.

This turned out to be a good move because he roared in pain and gripped both sides of his head before lashing out in all directions, twisting and punching in case his enemy was still in the vicinity.

While he thrashed, Farah got to her feet and ran to me, tripping and stumbling the whole way. Mack joined her and they pulled me up, draping my arms around their shoulders. “Cortez, get your ass in gear,” Farah barked.

My legs felt heavy and it was a struggle to get one in front of the other, so they were stuck half carrying, half dragging me away.

“What’s going on?” I asked. It came out garbled, but Mack seemed to understand.

“Alyss, this was not the plan. I think Jax is still working with Kaska. You need to help us or we’re not going to make it.”

I didn’t get the chance to tell her that my coordination was worse than gone because I was suddenly yanked into the air.

15

Farah and Mack grew smaller as I shot up.

Two arms held me tight, wrapping around my waist, but I didn’t have the motor skills left to twist and see who it was. Logic told me it had to be Jax. When he landed on top of a building a few blocks away, setting me down so I was propped against a mechanical room, I saw it was the Void operative.

He started talking, but not to me. “I know what I’m doing, Leigh.” Jax paused. “Yes, I know the hacker fried something. It doesn’t matter. They can repair it when we get to Xanderis.”

Leigh. The PAI in his head. When Jax saw me watching, he turned his back on me and moved a few paces away so I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

I tried focusing through the fog clouding my senses to understand what was happening. The briefing on the plan seemed a long time ago and I remembered it like a dream slipping through my fingers. Farah and Mack’s concern had been real. But why?

Jax pulled a small item from one of the pouches on his kit and knelt next to me. He pulled my comm out, tossed it away, then replaced it with something that fit around my ear. I slapped his hand away but the drug coursing through my blood was doing its job and I missed by a kilometer.

“Wha’s going on,” I said, fighting to form the words properly. “Not… the plan.”

“Stop it.” The emptiness was back in his eyes and I felt a chill gallop through me. “Don’t mess with this. You’re going to need it to breathe in a few minutes.”

I almost laughed. My hand-eye coordination was nonexistent, so he didn’t have anything to worry about.

He tapped the device and it began to wrap around my head, creating a fitted helmet. I couldn’t see much but it wasn’t important. Jax checked to make sure it sealed, then scooped me up. My head lolled back and I saw the wings of his jump rig shoot out before we were airborne again.

The city lights became pinpricks. I had the fleeting thought that Neblinar was beautiful from up here. Then we were breaking through a cloud bank and my body started to shake from the cold. Neither of us were dressed for a jump this high, but Jax was Void. This was exactly the kind of thing they did.

If Jax had indeed betrayed us he wouldn’t have had time to put together a full jump kit. One of us, Vega included, would have noticed. So, he must have had to come up with this on the fly. Unable to keep with that line of thinking, I wondered vaguely what Farah and Mack were doing,

Running for the Second Genesis maybe. Trying to find out where Jax was taking me. They wouldn’t make it, I knew that much. When Jax’s ship shimmered into view, my last coherent thought was that it was exactly what I expected: rough, and ruthless in its efficiency.

The airlock was open and the last remnants of my lucidity drained away as he maneuvered inside. His wings retracted and the inner door opened after the pressure stabilized. The darkness finally came for me then, swaying me to it with open arms.

* * *

When my eyes slammed open, it was to a bright light shining in my eyes.

“Son of a bitch,” I said, then moaned as a pounding in my head made itself known.

My mouth felt like all the moisture had been sucked out of it and my whole body felt like I’d been run over by a hover truck. My shoes were gone but I still had socks on and a gnawing in my belly said it had been some time since I’d last eaten. When had that been?

More importantly, where was I?

“Vega, come in.”

My request was met with silence. I tapped at the comm that should have been in my ear and met nothing but skin. Uh oh. That wasn’t a good sign.

Still groggy, I forced myself to ignore the pain grinding away at my brain and look around. A cell. But, again, where? Whose ship was this? Panic tried to worm its way in when I realized my memory was fuzzy. More than fuzzy—it was gone. The realization had me jerking up into a sitting position and my right hand knocked into something. A bottle of water and a nutrient bar. After uncapping the water, I took greedy gulps until it was empty. The bar had no flavor, but it took the edge off my hunger.

To my relief, a small commode sat in the far corner.

With all my immediate needs met, I turned to the next biggest issue. Finding out where I was and why I couldn’t recall anything. Fighting back the dread, I focused on what I could remember.

All right, Cortez. What’s the last thing you remember?

White Cross. A mission to kidnap a senator. The attack. Celestials, a giant robot, and… Calliope. Was she responsible for this somehow? Anger spurted, then cooled just as quickly. No, it couldn’t be her. More was coming back now, and I remembered talking to Peralta on the Genesis. How long ago had that been?

I pushed harder, ignoring the stabbing pain behind my eyes and trying to grasp the shredded pieces of my memory. It was all a blur. Wisps of information that twisted out of reach the more I tried to hold onto them.

After a few more minutes of futile ruminations that only made the headache worse, I switched tactics. No point focusing on what couldn’t be changed or fixed. Right now I had to worry about what I could do. That meant forcing myself to stand and inspect the tiny cell.

As far as cells went, the place was pretty standard. Definitely a ship from the style and dimensions, but one I didn’t recognize. Not even ten paces from end to end and I could touch both elbows to either side. Enough room to do a whole lot of nothing.

The wall without the toilet was completely blank and made from glass. I suspected it was made in combination with something else so a prisoner couldn’t just shatter it, but I filed it away to consider later. The opposite wall had a small, clear window protecting a data pad. It was off, but no doubt used for the shipowner to communicate with their prisoner.

A small 360-degree camera was mounted high in one corner, a red light indicating it was on. I ignored it.

Moving on, I looked for the entrance. It wasn’t immediately discernible, and I wondered how my captor had gotten me inside. Curious, I studied the length of glass. It extended from floor to ceiling and spanned the full length of the cell. One seam down the middle brought understanding. It was a door. I tried to get my fingers into the miniscule crack with no luck.

Stepping back as much as the small space allowed, I crossed my arms. Why would someone use white doors? Unless they weren’t really white. If my head didn’t hurt, I would have slapped my forehead in annoyance. It was a two-way door system.

I couldn’t see out but anyone on the outside could see in. Some of the newer prisons had them, but I’d never been on this side. They were becoming popular because guards could smoke the glass and shut the lights off to enforce solitary confinement without the hassle of moving a prisoner. Not a bad tactic, if pricey.

It occurred to me then that whoever was holding me could be on the other side and my gaze sharpened. I moved closer, cupped my hands around a section, and peered out. It might as well have been a solid wall.

And then it wasn’t. The smoke cleared, leaving the door transparent. I managed not to jump back, but barely. My mouth dropped open when I saw who stood on the other side. Confusion colored my thoughts for a moment, and a flash of recollection hit me. Jax and me in the training room aboard Genesis, sparring. When the hell had that happened? The scene flashed away as quickly as it had come, followed by relief that almost made my knees go weak.

“Jax. Thank gods. Can you break the door down?”

The Void soldier watched me with a blank expression. “How’s the head?”

I frowned. It didn’t escape me that he had ignored my question. “Hurts like a bitch. Having some recall issues. What happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Alarms were clanging in my head, every sense telling me that nothing about this was right. “The Celestial attack on White Cross,” I lied.

A muscle ticked near his mouth. Was that irritation?

“I miscalculated with the tranq. Didn’t take into account your recent head injury. The dose is causing your memory loss. It should be back at some point.”

The relief drained out of me, replaced by ice cold fear. “What are you talking about? Why would you tranq me?”

“My mission was to infiltrate the Solaris Initiative and gain Dunham’s trust, then report back to Vice-Admiral-Kaska. You changed things with the attack at his house on Sarkon. When you became the face of the rebellion, he wanted to see what you and Singh were up to, how you knew what he was planning.”

It fit together so perfectly. And I’d missed it. Again. Almost every mission since our encounter with Jax had failed.

“You’ve been tipping him off,” I said bitterly. “I suspected Dunham was behind the bombing or at least let it play out on Solaris. That was by design, I take it?”

“Yes. It created doubt and kept Dunham in the dark about a lot of our missions.”

“How could you do this to your own sister?” It was a longshot, but maybe he had some shred of humanity left in there somewhere and mentioning Farah would bring it out.

“I may have Jax Singh’s memories, but I am not him. The Void have no family, no ties. We follow orders. You will too.”

I suppressed a shudder. “That’s Kaska’s plan for me?”

He nodded. “After he’s gotten all the information out of your head. Then you’ll undergo all the training to become Void. Empty of anything except loyalty to the Empire and your mission.”

“No, you’re lying. I met Dolph. He wasn’t a soulless prick.”

Jax didn’t smile, but one corner of his mouth lifted in a mild sneer. “Not everyone requires the same amount of training, especially if they began at a young age. Someone like you is going to resist. The more you resist, the more the Void will apply their will. Everyone breaks.”

“I won’t,” I told him. “I’ll die first.”

“You might. Not everyone makes it. But, Sergeant-Delgado, a word of advice. Don’t fight it. You’re one of us at heart. A good soldier tortured by emotions and morality. Your ties to the people around you cripple your substantial abilities. Besides, deep down you know freedom isn’t for you. You don’t fit in.”

With those parting words, delivered with such casual cruelty, the door went opaque again, leaving me to stew.

16

I pounded a fist once on the door. Blood roared in my ears, and I felt spots of color stain my cheeks. Spinning around, I cast a glance around the cell, looking for something to destroy but it was woefully empty.

Duped again. That was all I could think. And everyone wondered why I had trust issues. I didn’t want to dwell on the negative but there wasn’t a lot else to do in the tiny cell. Jax had played us from the very beginning.

His status as a Singh alone would have gained him an audience with Dunham. Then his actions on Sarkon all but cemented his place with us. Speaking of my crew, did Farah and Mack know what happened?

I cursed, unsure how much time I was missing. Hours, days, weeks? Impossible to know. I didn’t even know where this ship was headed. To Kaska, no doubt a black site in some remote system where no one would ever hear from me again.

Pissed beyond words with no way to purge it, I slid down against the wall and propped my forearms on my knees. Jax’s comment about my being a good soldier plagued by humanity came back to me. It rang true and that made me even more angry. I knew it was because he wasn’t far off the mark.

Being a soldier was my only skill. I didn’t really fit in anywhere, no matter how hard I tried. The Empire still had its claws inside me and freedom hadn’t really changed a thing. So what did I really have left? Farah’s face flashed in my mind. I hated to think of what this would do to her. With Jax’s betrayal and my disappearance, would she ever get the peaceful life she so craved?

If Jax spoke the truth—and I had no reason to doubt it now—Kaska planned to turn me into a Void operative. I imagined myself as a mindless tool, cutting down the Vice-Admiral’s enemies without compunction.

Imagination running on full throttle, I spent a few long minutes picturing friends and innocents slaughtered by my hand. That was a fate worse than death. I would escape or die trying. Rage poured through me, hot and visceral.

Jax was wrong. Emotion may be a weakness at times, but it could also be a strength. Without it, people were just husks, making decisions based on cold logic. That’s what a Void operative was, the ones like Jax, anyway. A weapon, enslaved to an unjust master.

Emotions made us human. And there was one of our enemies who had an abundance. Kaska had demonstrated a number of times how his rage could cloud his thinking. He made mistakes and I would be ready when he did again.

Resolute, I raised my eyes and stared at the camera watching me with its unblinking red eye.

This wasn’t over.

I knew bits and pieces, but that would have to be enough for now. First, I was going to see Kaska. I found it improbable that he would want me on Sarkon. A facility made more sense. Navari’s files hadn’t mentioned anything like that, but something was tugging at the back of my mind.

It had to be information locked away by the memory loss. I’d told Jax my most recent memory was from White Cross. That wasn’t strictly true. There had been a flash of us in the training room on the Genesis. I brought the image, foggy as it was, back into focus.

Trading blows, no pads. My hand on his chest, feeling a heartbeat in steady rhythm. The meat parts are the same.

Unless I was badly mistaken, we’d been preparing for a mission. A mission that included Void soldiers. I pulled on the thread, going back to the conversation with Peralta. He had information about the ingot. We’d grabbed him because Jax confirmed the Void main base of operations was in the uncharted system of Xanderis, somewhere the Senator had been visiting.

I stared straight ahead as the picture began to form. The ingot was supposed to be on Xanderis. Jax had to be taking me there. It was a small victory, but I felt certain more would come to me.

This wasn’t over. I just had to focus. Settling back against the wall, I closed my eyes and poured all my focus into plotting.

* * *

Since the cell didn’t feature a clock or star map, there wasn’t any way to tell how long we travelled or how far.

Jax showed up every so often, four times by my count, to deposit nutrient bars and water. Two days at my best guess. Each time I had to turn and put both hands on the wall while he tossed them in. I badly wanted to test my luck but played it safe. No part of me was stupid enough to think I could take Jax in this current scenario. I was shoeless, weaponless, and no match for a cybernetically enhanced soldier.

So, I waited.

The hours crawled by and I used each. Making plans, discarding them, then circling back. More snippets and flashes of memories came, but in no particular order. How I came to be on the ship was a complete mystery, but maybe that mattered the least.

I came to the conclusion that Farah and Mack knew where I was headed. It was wishful thinking, but I hoped they weren’t coming after me. Another thought that occurred to me, more terrifying than any other, was that Jax knew the location of the replicators. If Kaska got those, the entire galaxy was in trouble.

Unless he already had them.

No, I couldn’t believe that. If he did, everything might as well be lost, and I refused to give in to that kind of thinking.

The door went transparent and Jax stared down at me from the other side. Instead of more rations, he held a pair of restraints and my boots. Not waiting for a prompt, I got to my feet and gave him my back.

Cool air rushed in when the door opened and I felt him enter, his large form taking up a large portion of the cell. The boots landed at my feet.

“Sans the blade. Thanks for the tip there. I already took that out. Don’t do anything stupid, Sergeant. Play things right and they stay on until you’re in Void custody.”

I hadn’t expected anything less, though it would have been nice to have that little advantage.

“It didn’t feel like we docked. Are we close?” Slowly so he wouldn’t think I was going to try something, I slipped the boots on and did the laces.

“Less than an hour. Hands.”

I put my hands together behind my back like I was saying a prayer and waited.

He snapped the restraints into place and double-locked them. “Sit on the floor. Legs out,” Jax ordered, then waited until I did it. He pointed at the camera. “The AI is watching. I mean it about not trying to escape. Not that you have anywhere to go. But if you try to get the cuffs off or play with the boots, you’ll regret it.”

On the outside I was the picture of submission. Thank you, General-Delgado, I thought. My adoptive father had given me a lot of practice pretending to obey and it might just save my ass today. Inside was another story entirely. I cursed Jax, the Vice-Admiral, the Empire, and even Leigh. His PAI might not be human but she could suck a dick too.

Jax left and the door slid shut behind him, blocking my view as it did. That left me alone with my thoughts again, but there wasn’t much to think about. More memories still filtered in, including details about the facility. Unfortunately, this wasn’t much help because it played like a corrupted holo. The information was random, a jumble of ill-fitting puzzle pieces. Labs, training rooms, off-limits. None of it made much sense yet.

Most of my time in the cell had been dedicated to coming up with ways to survive what was coming. Now fear curdled in my gut and my thoughts turned dark.

When the ship jerked and shuddered, a telltale sign that we were now docking, I welcomed the distraction. It didn’t take long for Jax to reappear.

“Let’s go,” he said after the door opened.

He leaned down to help me up. The motion wasn’t rough, but it didn’t win him any of my goodwill.

We walked out, his hand never leaving my arm. I supposed that was in case I bolted. Like he said, where would I go? None of the ships here would respond to me and I didn’t have Mack’s skills to make them.

My plan centered around my own willpower. I would endure whatever they threw at me, even if it cost me an arm and an eye. That eventuality seemed unavoidable and I’d made my peace with it. The brainwashing would be harder to overcome.

Despite the nerves galloping through me, I didn’t let myself tremble as we passed through the airlock and into the Void facility where a familiar face greeted me.

Kaska. The bastard stood in full dress uniform, a trio of soldiers behind him. They were dressed in the same all black uniform that Dolph had worn and held assault rifles. I noticed each had on a pair of black gloves, but I had no doubt they were Void operatives.

“Sergeant-Delgado. You made it. This is a good day indeed.” His eyes went to Jax. “And the replicators?”

Jax shook his head. “No opportunity. Orders said the Sergeant was priority. The Second Genesis appeared to be heading that way when I left. They are most likely moving it, if it hasn’t been moved already.”

The Vice-Admiral sighed a little but didn’t look too broken up over the news. “Too bad. At least we have the face of the Initiative. Once she joins the ranks a big blow will be dealt to the rebellion.”

Ah, there it was. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Damn it. I wasn’t sure how right he was about that idea, but there would be an impact for sure. It took a moment for me to realize it wasn’t just a political move. Both Jax and I knew the location of Cerberus, where the rebellion’s home base was located.

Which meant Kaska knew. And that meant with my being here he could pin any attack on information I supposedly gave him. Something of this realization must have shown on my face because the smile on the Vice-Admiral’s face widened.

“I see you understand the implications of that. Good. You don’t look as worse for wear as I expected, Delgado. She didn’t put up a fight?”

Jax shrugged. “Not on the way here. It was a hell of a fight getting her off Neblinar though. She broke my nose.”

I did? That memory hadn’t come back yet, so it was news to me.

Kaska’s eyes widened. “I’m surprised, Jax.”

“Forgive my frankness, but you shouldn’t be, sir. Sergeant-Delgado is a skilled soldier. She’ll be a formidable operative and valuable addition to our ranks.”

“Hmm,” was all Kaska said. A chime came from his pocket and he pulled out a data pad. When he finished reading the message, he looked up and locked eyes with me. “I have a meeting. In the meantime, your training will start immediately. I just wanted to be the one to greet you.”

“Go to hell, Kaska. I’ll never join your little cult.” I couldn’t stop the words from slipping out.

When he signaled, one of the soldiers came forward and rammed the butt of his rifle into my stomach. It doubled me over and I fell to my knees, spitting clear liquid. It burned but I deemed the pain worth it. Though unintentional, it also made my ploy more believable if I fought back some.

“That’ll be your first lesson. This little stint of freedom is over.” Kaska nodded at Jax. “Get her to intake then schedule a debrief. We have a lot to go over.”

“Yes sir.” Jax saluted and waited for the Vice-Admiral to move off with his entourage.

Once they were gone, he lifted me to a standing position and tugged me down a hallway. “I told you not to do anything stupid.”

I didn’t respond.

We walked for a little while, down corridors that almost seemed familiar until Jax stopped at a nondescript door and touched the palm plate there. It beeped green and opened for him. Up to that point, some part of me harbored a hope that he hadn’t actually betrayed us. I hadn’t realized how much until the panel accepted his print and he took me inside to a military clerk—a woman with dark hair shorn to a buzzcut and serious expression, dressed in what I was coming to think of as Void standard black.

“How can I help you?” She didn’t spare me a glance.

“New hire. Vice-Admiral-Kaska says to start training now. Her previous records should be in the system already.” He passed something to her. A data stick. “Information on how she’s spent the last few months, along with details on a recent head injury. You might have to adjust the training schedule for that.”

I was seething. The bastard had put together a file on me? I shouldn’t have been surprised but it just hadn’t crossed my mind. For two seconds, I debated the virtues of headbutting the son of a bitch.

The clerk took the stick but sent him a questioning look. “Head injury? Any notable side effects?”

“Minor memory loss. Can’t remember about a week back. A little more.”

She pursed her lips. “That will complicate things. Give me a second.”

The woman disappeared through a door behind her desk and returned a few minutes later with two soldiers. Again, each had one silver hand. It was then that I noticed the woman didn’t. All human, like me. Interesting.

“We’ll take it from here, Jax. She’s in the system as starting training.”

“Thanks.” Once the two men each had an arm, he nodded and left without a backward glance.

I was on my own.

The clerk finally addressed me. “From now on you’ll answer to Eva or trainee. Void operatives don’t have ranks. Cursory tests will be done to make sure you’re cleared to skip basic training, as well as aptitude tests. First, you’ll go through initial intake—a search for contraband, getting cleaned up, and a full medical scan.”

She stepped back and motioned us through the door.

The two soldiers took me through it and down another hallway. We stopped in front of a small hatch built into the wall and one of the soldiers moved behind me to unlock the cuffs. The other raised his weapon and pointed it at my chest.

“Strip. Throw the clothes down the chute.”

It was cold and clinical, no leering. During my service with the Empire, I’d been through the process enough times that it didn’t bother me anyway. I did as I was told and opened the hatch to shed the first skin of Alyss Cortez.

17

“Sit.” The Void operative to my right pointed at a medical bed in the small bay they’d ushered me into.

I did, casually scanning my surroundings for anything that could be used as a weapon. Not now, but if they left things out as a habit, I might be able to use it later. The search had been less than dignified with the two soldiers watching my every move. Clinical or not, I preferred not to repeat the process.

While I waited for whatever came next, I reflected on everything about the facility and the people within. So far, the only three who didn’t appear to be Void were Kaska, the military clerk, and the technician who searched me. A small detail, but it told me that the facility kept a staff of regular, 100% human grade employees.

Another one of them walked in then, a man in a white lab coat. He held a data pad in one hand and the other was hooked into his pocket as he walked over. The doctor’s smile was friendly, but I hadn’t missed the stun baton at his hip.

“Hello, Eva. I’m Dr. Parker. I’ve been looking over your file. Had a rough few months, from the looks of things. Broken ribs, gunshot wound, knife injuries. Most recently you had a mild concussion and a healthy dose of benzodiazepines. Correct?”

I didn’t think not answering the doc would be a good use of my defiance, so I answered. “Yes, sir.”

“Hmm.” He looked down at the pad. “And you’re having recall issues?”

I nodded. “Going back a week at least.”

“Any problems with that since you woke up?”

“None.”

“All right. The length of time you’re missing is a little worrisome, but not unheard of. Is there any chance you consumed alcohol around the time those were administered?”

Administered, like I’d gone to the godsdamned doctor for a shot or something. My retort died on my lips though because another image flashed into my mind. A bar, Farah and Mack, pink drinks. I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware.”

He hefted a wistful sigh and nodded at the soldiers. They pulled me to my feet and held me there while Dr. Parker pulled the baton and jammed it into my thigh. White hot pain radiated out from the spot and my leg locked up. If not for the soldiers holding me up, I would have collapsed.

“Sorry about that, Eva. One thing I should have made clear is that we don’t tolerate lying here. You had a thought just now. What was it? Before you answer, keep in mind that the baton was on the lowest setting.”

By whose standards?

“A short memory. Drinking, but I don’t know when,” I said. It took some effort not to let my voice wobble, but I pulled it off. Mostly.

Dr. Parker motioned for the soldiers to set me down again. “That’s better. Other than that, your altercation with the operative Jax was your last fight according to my data.” Again, I nodded. “Good. Overall, mild injuries. I guess that’s a hazard of the job though. I’ll need to run some tests to make sure there isn’t anything else going on besides the memory loss.”

The scan didn’t reveal anything that worried him, and I was cleared to begin training. I was given a set of black fatigues and deposited into a room the size of the cell on Jax’s ship. It contained one desk and one chair. A holo monitor sat on the table, a vid already queued up. The chair had built-in shackles for the wrists and ankles. One of the operatives directed me to take the seat and locked the restraints into place.

“Don’t look away or fall asleep. You have to use the facilities, signal.”

With that, they left me alone to watch the display.

The vid was propaganda. The priorities of a Void operative. Rules that mirrored those I’d followed since beginning academy. I wasn’t at all surprised to see the same mantra drilled into my brain. A Void operative had no family, no friends. Their only purpose was the mission.

Tell me about it, I thought. Jax was proof enough of that.

I’d watched the video three times and had started a fourth when the soldiers came back.

“That’s enough for tonight. Because of your status, you get a cell instead of going to the barracks.”

It didn’t hit me until that moment just how out of practice I was with military procedure. My first instinct was to respond with a snarky comment about the accommodations, which no doubt would have ended badly for me.

Biting back a response, I let them lead me to the brig.

Later, after consuming a ration worthy of dinners I’d received during my stint in solitary, I lay on my thin cot and stared at the ceiling. The day had been deceptively easy. I wasn’t sure if that was to make new recruits think the rest would be easy or if they just got the easy stuff out of the way first.

I also wondered what role Dr. Parker was going to play in it all. His initial cheerfulness hadn’t fooled me, and I wasn’t sure it was supposed to. The man had looked downright gleeful when he got to use the stun baton. I had a feeling he would be more involved as my training progressed and it wouldn’t be a fun time.

* * *

Real training began the next day after less than four hours of rack time, according to the display monitor I passed when they brought me in.

Two new soldiers, both Void members, took me to the same room as before. The same monitor sat on the table and I wondered if their form of torture included watching the same terrible video over and over. After I sat, one of the soldiers secured my ankles but not my wrists.

“Testing day,” he said shortly. “Answer the questions. Don’t fuck off or take too long on a single thing.”

“Got it.” Since I didn’t get reprimanded for failing to address him correctly, I figured the Void creed about no ranks was responsible.

For the next few hours I answered question after question, solved puzzles, and ran through basic sims. None of the tests gave any indication of my score, nor would I have known what they meant anyway. The ordeal reminded me of the academy and all the help Farah had given me back then. I didn’t dwell on that for too long. Thinking about my friend would create more emotional baggage than I could handle for now.

Next were the physical tests, during which the two operatives never left, my constant wardens. They didn’t even have the decency to look bored with babysitting duty. I was their mission that day. Who knows, maybe they liked that kind of thing.

It started with running in a small space reminiscent of a training room. Equipment was crammed inside, some of it sticking out at odd angles so they fit. A technician with two flesh-colored arms prepared me without speaking. Some kind of mask went over my mouth, sticky pads were placed on my skin, and a monitor was strapped to my chest.

“Don’t touch any of the equipment,” the tech ordered. “Begin.”

The running machine started off slow, increasing every few seconds until I was at a full-on sprint. I was in pretty good shape, so at first it was just a regular workout for me. The technician tapped notes into his data pad.

At five kilometers, he made a change. The mask didn’t make a noise, but the amount of breath I could take in decreased exponentially. I shot a glance at the tech to make sure it wasn’t malfunctioning.

“Keep that pace as long as you can,” he instructed.

I did, but soon it didn’t matter how much I gasped for air—none was coming in. Not enough for me to keep the same pace I’d been doing at any rate. I stumbled, but the running machine didn’t slow. I tried to signal the tech, but he ignored me.

My situation got more dire over the next handful of seconds. I jumped off the machine, accidentally yanking some of the sticky pads off. The technician shouted something, but I couldn’t hear over my internal panic. The mask had to come off or I was going to pass out.

I reached behind my head to rip it off when a stunner hit me in the back. My body went rigid and sent me to the ground. The tech stood over me, baton in hand, with an angry look on his face.

“You aren’t allowed to touch the equipment,” he snapped.

By that time I was starting to lose consciousness and didn’t give a damn about his dumbass rule. I clawed at the mask, desperate to get it off my face and take a breath of air. He tapped at his pad again and finally I could breathe.

I dragged in greedy lungfuls until I was evened out. The soldiers dragged me to my feet again, holding me the same way they did when Dr. Parker used his stun baton. I thought the tech might do the same. Instead, he activated the mask again, this time cutting off all of my air supply until I blacked out.

He brought me back, then repeated the procedure twice more, just to make sure his message got across. It did, but he also went on my list. The list of people who were going to die slow, painful deaths when I got the hell out of here.

Similar tests ensued with weights and agility.

When the soldiers took me back to my cell I wanted to just drop into sleep. Anticipating this, the soldiers watched me eat the protein filled slop and down two bottles of water before they left. The training process was different than expected and surprisingly efficient. I would have expected a facility like this to do everything possible to break down their trainees. Of course, that could change at any moment.

I was too tired to think about anything else and let sleep take me a few minutes later.

The next few days didn’t vary much. A few different tests here and there, but my schedule stayed roughly the same. It wasn’t until my second week there that things changed for the worst.

The day started early, like all the rest. By that time the guards, who rotated the same two sets, had a rhythm. And by that, I mean we didn’t speak. Or, I didn’t. They issued orders and I followed them.

I knew the second week was going to be bad when I walked into a new room and saw Dr. Parker standing there. He smiled the fake smile again. “Hello, Eva. Congratulations. You passed all the tests with exemplary marks and have been cleared to begin the next level of initiation. It’s another test, sort of. We’ll be gauging your loyalty.”

And here we go, I thought.

This room was dim and only had one chair, which sat off to the side. Hanging from the ceiling were another pair of shackles. They swung ominously and made me think of some of the action vids I liked where the hero had to escape from a similar situation. Unfortunately for me, there wouldn’t be any escape.

It got a whole worse when the door opened and another person stepped in. Kaska. The pristine white dress uniform was gone, and in its place were the black fatigues.

Dr. Parker clapped his hands once, eager to get started. “Vice-Admiral, welcome. So glad you could make it. We’re just about ready to begin. You have a list of questions?”

Kaska held up his pad. “I do. And I’ll be asking them. I have a meeting in two hours, so hurry up. She should be ready.”

The doctor bowed a little. “Of course, sir.”

My guard detail stripped me of the black fatigue shirt, leaving the tank top and pants, but no footwear. Once I was in the shackles, Kaska stepped forward, a cat-like smile dominating his lips.

“So, Sergeant. I finally have you right where I want you. Let’s have a chat. First question: where are the replicators?”

It was a trick question and we both knew it. I had heard Jax tell him the replicators were being moved. This was a test of whether or not I would answer. It would be idiocy to refuse an answer when the answer wouldn’t yield usable intel.

Not being stupid, I responded. “I don’t know.”

Kaska flicked a glance over to Dr. Parker, who nodded.

“All right, how about this. Do you have knowledge of where your crew might move the replicators?”

I thought about it for a moment. We had a list of workable systems and sectors that would work, I just didn’t know where they were. That was Mack’s job and memorizing star maps wasn’t one of my strong suits. “No.”

Again, Dr. Parker nodded.

Kaska frowned. I could tell the Vice-Admiral was hoping for a negative result, probably so the bastard had an excuse to use the stun baton he kept tapping into his open palm. “You stole an expensive ship from the Empire. I want it back. Do you have the codes that will allow me access to the systems?”

He had finally reached a question that had an answer I wasn’t willing to give and we both knew it. Just to be difficult, and maybe postpone the inevitable, at least by a few seconds, I answered with the truth. “Yes.”

Realizing that I’d neatly avoided the baton, he glared at me. “And what are they?”

This time I stayed silent. Kaska raised the baton and gave it a little shake. “I’ll give you one more chance, Eva. What are the codes?”

When the baton’s prongs connected with my right side, I bit my lip so hard it bled but I didn’t scream. That came later, when I didn’t have the strength to hold back anymore. By the end of the first hour, they had the codes. I only hoped that Mack could do something to stop it before my friends got killed.

“Sir, might I suggest a break? This isn’t easy work and I’m not sure how much you’ll get out of her if you keep going. She’s more likely to give you false information to stop the pain.”

Kaska was breathing hard and dripping sweat. Flecks of my blood had landed on his face in places, giving him a mad look. He nodded after a moment and tossed the baton to one of the soldiers still in the room. “Thirty minutes, then we start again.”

After he was gone Dr. Parker tapped a few times on his data pad. The chains holding me loosened and I dropped to the floor. “There we are. You heard the Vice-Admiral. Thirty minutes, then back to work.”

He left the same way as Kaska, leaving me and the soldiers alone. They didn’t speak, even to each other. I figured this was doubtless a scene they had witnessed before and would again. I was just another prisoner. They could call me a trainee or operative all they wanted, but we were all prisoners here.

Not caring if it was dirty or not, I let the cool floor take the worst of the edge off my face. There was no helping the rest of me though. Both arms were numb and the spots Kaska had worked over with the baton screamed with the slightest movement.

Keeping still, I closed my eyes and tried to shut it all away, at least for the next thirty minutes.

18

The rest of my week and beyond continued to be a shitshow. It was a cat and mouse game between Kaska and me. Him asking questions and me doing my best to evade. More fragments of memory returned, but nothing he deemed useful. The crude map Jax had created from memory turned out to be accurate, a fact I realized as time went on. Our sparring session also came back, but by then I had all the same information back that I had already learned as part of my training.

When the Vice-Admiral had everything he wanted, I was turned over to Dr. Parker for reconditioning. The goal was to turn me into a Void operative through various methods of torture and brainwashing.

It was worse. So much worse.

As the good doctor said, it was where Void operatives were made. During shock therapy, he cheerfully told me that one third of trainees didn’t even make it to this point, so I was doing well.

While administering a syringe of what felt like fire into my veins, he confided that no fewer than a dozen potential operatives had died during his tests. In his words, weeding out the weak, something he was quite proud of.

My nights weren’t spent in the relative comfort of the first cell I’d stayed. I was moved to a cramped box of a room neither as tall nor wide as I was. Sleep came in short bursts, interrupted by bright lights that were like staring into a star.

Throughout the reconditioning period, the questions were all variations of the same. Was I ready to be a member of the Void?

Within three days, I said yes. Many times. Dr. Parker continued the reconditioning process for an additional four days to make sure that was what I really wanted. When he was satisfied that it was, he scheduled me for surgery.

“Let’s see. Your dominant appendages are the right eye and right arm. I’ll make the cut here.” He’d marked the spot with a series of dashes and held a scalpel over them now, giving me a preview of his plan. “I have your new one right here. We have a few models to choose from, but all new recruits start off with the same one. Made mostly from N02-99, but as you prove your worth, Neutronium upgrades are possible. On missions you’ll be using a flesh-sleeve to hide your Void status.”

Most of my fight was gone and I stared at the gleaming metal replacement without much feeling or interest while he rambled on. If anything, surgery would allow me to get some rest. When he set the scalpel down on his tray of tools, I closed my eyes and waited for his attending team to strip me of my fatigues and wash my shoulder to prevent infection.

They guided me to the medical bed and stuck an IV needle into my wrist, then fitted me with a clear mask. An operating light shone down on the cut site. While I waited for them to administer anesthesia, I occupied myself with imagining what life would be like when I had a metal arm. I had settled into a daydream about using it to punch through Parker’s face when everything went dark.

“Damn it, what happened to the lights?” The doctor’s voice was angry.

I wasn’t knocked out just yet. Emergency lighting came on a few minutes later, bathing the operating room in red. It took a second to realize what that meant and that I wasn’t restrained to the bed. It was now or never.

I ripped the IV out and the mask off my face before anyone had time to stop me. The tray of tools was still close and I grabbed the scalpel off it, then brandished it at Parker and the nurses.

“Someone grab her!” he cried.

Parker ran to the far wall and slapped at the panel there, but it wouldn’t turn on.

Of the nurses, only one was male. He made to move toward me and I rushed him. The man swung out, but he wasn’t a member of the Void, nor was he prepared for me. I went low, slashing down hard. The medical knife slipped through his clothes and into his groin. He screamed and collapsed, clutching the injured area.

The female nurses backed away, both holding their hands up in surrender. That left Parker in the room. To his left, the door was open, an automatic function after a power failure. He saw me notice and smiled.

“Backup will be here soon. You can escape or kill me, but not both.”

“I’m going to try,” I told him, and hurled the scalpel at his heart.

Knife throwing wasn’t a specialty of mine and it missed my target, impaling itself in his cheek instead. I didn’t stick around to see whether it killed him or not and bolted through the open door. Being a medical wing, the hall outside was quiet but for the slapping of my bare feet against the floor.

Where was I?

I paused to get my bearings and heard voices behind me. They weren’t closing in on my position very fast and I realized they must be checking every open door. The medical section wasn’t an area Jax had explained, so it was up to my own shaky recollection gleaned in the past weeks. Going on instinct and familiarity gained during my time with Dr. Parker, I winged right down another corridor.

As I ran, I thought back to before everything had gone wrong. So fucking wrong. Of all the scenarios I’d come up with, drills I’d run in my head, running through a Void black site in nothing but my finest birthday suit had not topped the list. Thinking about it now, I should have grabbed one of the nurse’s scrubs. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.

The only thing on my side was this power issue and the fact that Dr. Parker had been insistent that none of his tests did too much damage. Operatives were an investment. Permanently maiming vital real estate was a no go. My head injury also acted as a buffer. The doc didn’t want to ring a bell that couldn’t be unrung there. That didn’t mean I wasn’t beat to hell and damn tired though.

I finally made it to an area that I recognized from Jax’s map. The part worrying me was whether all of his information was correct. I had only confirmed a few bits and pieces. Others I hadn’t been allowed to see, such as my current destination: the armory. My entire off the cuff plan banked on the door being open. If it wasn’t, I would be done for and back on the operating table before the end of the night.

One promising fact I had learned was that there weren’t a lot of active Void members. Training and reconditioning might have weeded a lot of potentials out, but it also kept their ranks low. At any given point, half or more were out on missions. I didn’t have an exact number but knowing that made me feel a little better about my chances.

I navigated the halls, checking around corners before blindly turning down them, and ducking into empty rooms when soldiers came my way. It took about fifteen minutes, but I found the spot where the armory was supposed to be.

To my great relief it was there, open, and unguarded. I sent a silent prayer up to gods I didn’t believe in that my unexpected streak of luck would continue to hold. Inside I found the jackpot.

Anything and everything I could want, except for pants and a shirt, which hindered things a bit. Then, when I reached for the first handgun, things came to a screeching halt. The weapons were biolocked, something I didn’t remember Jax mentioning. I moved through the room, checking everything. To my dismay, nearly all the weapons were like that.

Only one type wasn’t. A rack of swords of varying sizes stood at the far end. Next to it were the shorter bladed weapons like combat knives and throwing stars. Of all the available items, it had to be blades.

One of them caught my eye: the two-handed bolo with a wicked looking hook at the end. It was long enough to give me reach, but not so long that it would throw off my balance. I hefted it, trying to bring back the one semester of training I’d had almost half a decade ago.

“Good choice. You’ll want to be careful with that though. It’s a monomolecular blade. They can cut through metal without even trying.”

At the sound of a voice behind me, I snatched up one of the throwing stars and whirled to fling it at the speaker. My aim wasn’t great, and the shadowy figure dodged it with ease.

“Alyss, easy. It’s me, Dolph.” He had a light and pointed it at his face to prove it.

“And I should trust you because?”

“Two things. I know you didn’t kill that kid like they claimed. I might be the only one who can prove it too. I’m with the Initiative. Farah and Mack sent me. I realize you have been through a lot recently, but if you’re going to make it out of here alive, I need you to trust me.”

He sounded earnest, but I was running low on trust at the moment. “Anyone with my file could say those words to me. Give me something better.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Dolph held up a hand. “Don’t throw another star at me, I’m reaching for my data pad.”

I motioned for him to pull it out. He did, unlocked it with one hand, and tapped. Farah’s voice hit my ears. “A, I know you’re confused and I’m sorry. So godsdamned sorry. We had to do it this way or the plan would never have worked. If you’re listening to this, Mack got into the system and shut the power off. It also means Dolph found you. If you trust me, trust him and trust Jax. See you soon.”

The recording shut off.

Dolph waved a hand at me. “I know you’re reeling but we don’t have time to figure things out. You’re either going to go with me or not. What’s it going to be?”

I took a few precious seconds to work it out. He was a Void operative, he was armed, and I had no chance against him. If he wanted to kill or capture me, he didn’t need a ploy to do it.

“Let’s go.”

He nodded, then tossed a bag at me. “You might want to put something on.”

It was just a pair of pants and a shirt, but that was more than enough for me.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find boots. I was told you might have a bad reaction to this, but we’re going to rendezvous with Jax.”

Dressed, I slung the now empty bag crossbody, picked up the bolo, and did another quick pass of the armory. “My partner told me to trust you both. I can wait for the explanation later. Can you unlock any of these weapons?”

Dolph shook his head. “Sorry. The locks can’t be swapped or overrode during a power failure. Not without someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Figured as much.”

Thankful for the pockets, I grabbed a stun baton and put it in the right pocket for easy reach. On another shelf I found a bin of the litegrenades and shoved a handful in my left pocket. Done, I met him at the door.

I gestured for him to go. “After you. I don’t know where we’re going.”

“To the labs. Jax is already on his way there. Our job is to meet him there and get the ingot out. Can you get there if we get separated?”

“That’s a tall order. Maybe you guys should have waited until I had the robo-arm.”

“Wouldn’t work. It takes months of training to learn how to use,” he said, missing the joke.

I let it pass.

We exited to the hall and proceeded down until it split. Digging into my memory, I struggled to picture where this was on the map. Right. Please, turn right.

When Dolph turned right, I smiled inside. The jumble of thoughts seemed mostly coherent now and I thought I knew the way. The Void operative went first and stopped short, almost making me run into him. The way he stiffened, went into a walking crouch, and raised his rifle told me we had company.

A pair of Void soldiers came around the corner ahead. The only way to avoid them was to go back the way we’d come and that wasn’t an option.

Dolph signaled for me to move behind him. I did, adjusting my grip on the sword. It’s monomolecular. They can cut through metal, he had said. We were about to find out.

“Operative Dolph, what are you doing?” one of the soldiers asked.

“Moving the prisoner.” He didn’t stop. From my position behind him I couldn’t get a good look, but their voices were only a few paces off.

“That’s not correct procedure. Our orders are to—”

His response was cut off by two short bursts from Dolph’s rifle. Two soft thumps and no return fire told me that he’d hit his marks. We moved into the corridor and crept past them. I didn’t spare them more than a glance. They’d made their choice.

I wanted badly to voice my concern as to why during a power failure we had only run into two soldiers so far. A couple of scenarios went through my mind as we kept on. First, Jax had attracted the majority with whatever he was doing. My other thought, and the least appealing of the two, was that Kaska had retasked them to guard one specific spot. The one we were headed for.

We reached a bank of elevators, both of which were open, and continued to a maintenance shaft like the one on Dulsa. I didn’t like that we had to do it. The way I saw it, Dolph and I were being herded.

“Careful with the blade on the way up,” Dolph warned me. “I was serious, it doesn’t nick, it severs.”

I nodded, annoyed with myself for not grabbing a sheath. That’s how things went sometimes, hindsight and all that. The shaft wasn’t wide enough for me to put the short sword in my mouth, plus I didn’t relish the idea of having it near my face. The best I could do was angle the sharp edge away as I climbed the wall ladder and hope it didn’t catch anything.

Again, Dolph led the way, which I was happy to let him do. Maybe it had something to do with the last few weeks of “training” that I had endured, but I was still getting my bearings.

Since hearing Farah’s message, I had locked away my doubts and questions to focus on the mission. Now, climbing up the shaft, I had a few seconds to think. Everything flooded back, threatening to overload me. The last few weeks had finetuned my already considerable bank of strategic skills. The Void operation knew what they were doing—knocking down parts of the psyche to instill their values, keeping others strong, all while breaking down the body.

Smart. Effective. But, then again, so was I. Slamming a mental door down to cut off the stream, I compartmentalized any thoughts that didn’t have a direct impact on the mission.

Above me, Dolph slowed. I half expected there to be a death squad waiting for us, but no shots were fired. He lifted himself out and cleared the hall before reaching down to help me. After maneuvering the bolo to balance on the ladder, I grabbed his hand.

At first contact, it seemed to be flesh and bone. When it gripped and he pulled me up, I felt the power there and unfamiliar hardness beneath the skin. It was the cybernetic, he was just wearing a flesh-sleeve. Then we were on the lab level and it was time to focus again.

19

We made it halfway down the empty hall when voices sounded at the far end. The spartan corridor had zero cover, leaving us with no choice but to duck into one of the open rooms. It was cramped, filled with supply-laden shelves. The brick shithouse that was Dolph took up a lot of room and I had to crouch because there wasn’t enough space to back up without hitting anything.

The voices got louder, carrying through the bare hall. A team lead ordered for the rooms to be swept. I counted as I steadied myself with a hand on the floor. Three, unless there were more who had yet to speak. Dolph made minute adjustments next to me, then went completely still as the soldiers came level with us. From my lower vantage point I could see the boots and rifle noses sway into view. Four, not three.

Two checked the room across from our position. Before the last two came inside ours, Dolph was on the move. He caught them off guard with the speed of his attack, but they were Void too and reacted in kind. One fell to the ground and didn’t move, but the second leaped to the side, avoiding the bullet.

The commotion brought the other two, leaving Dolph to handle three. Old instinct would have had me leaping to help, but now I studied the scene with measured eyes. Going out too soon would result in death for both of us, so I waited. Another operative fell by Dolph’s hand, but another took his place and pulled a sidearm.

Dolph hit the ground and rolled but it wasn’t enough to avoid both shots. The other remaining soldier circled around when he sprang up. Blood didn’t show up in the red-washed room or on his black uniform, but he was favoring the right leg.

That was my moment. On silent feet I padded out of the room. Two, three, and four steps, then I swept the blade across the legs of the soldier who shot Dolph. He shrieked, which was fair. The top three quarters of his body hit the ground, leaving two stumps, cleaved at the calf, to topple after him.

Dolph and the last soldier ignored the grisly scene behind them and went at each other with fury. The now legless man on the ground didn’t moan or cry out anymore. I checked and found him reaching for a pistol. One slice stilled the movement and separated his head from the rest of his body. I still wanted the familiar weight of a pistol in my hand but had to admit that the bolo lived up to Dolph’s hype. If we made it out alive, I might have to keep the thing.

When I looked back to Dolph, his opponent was done, a knife shoved through his chin. Dolph pulled it free, swiped the blood on his pants, then stuck it back into a sheath on his belt. He nodded at me and we continued our search. His leg had to be on fire but he barely showed any discomfort other than a slight limp.

Our fracas brought more soldiers, three sets of two. Not hard to handle, but they slowed us down. The last pair got the drop on us, showing up just after we dispatched two of their brothers, and Dolph was reloading. They were too far for me to use the blade so I reached into my pocket and came up with a litegrenade.

I couldn’t warn Dolph without tipping off the enemy so I activated it and hurled it toward them. They were only supposed to affect mechanical optics but I squeezed my eyes shut just in case and counted to three, the length of the light attack. When I looked again the men were stumbling and holding their eyes.

Jax’s advice was to use any weapons at my disposal to buy seconds I could use to run. I did, just at the operatives. I reached the first and rammed my sword through his chest, burying it to the hilt. He made a choking sound when I pulled it free and pivoted back to avoid an attack from his partner. I didn’t move fast enough and a force unlike anything I had felt before slammed into my chest. I rocketed back, dropping the bolo when I hit the wall. All the air left my lungs and everything in my torso seized up.

The operative was already on me again and I couldn’t move to stop it. He cocked his head to the side as if regarding me. I stared up for a second, confused as to what he was waiting for. Then the man fell over and I saw the bullet hole in his skull.

Dolph pulled me to my feet and handed me the bolo. “You good?”

Unable to speak, I nodded.

He didn’t double check. There wasn’t time. At least one rib was broken. I’d had enough over the years to know what they felt like. Fighting through the stabbing pain that came with each breath, I pressed on.

“The lab is just around the next corner,” I said through gritted teeth. “Hang a left.”

Dolph paused to clear it before waving me around. He pointed to a figure standing in front of the lab door, a man tossed over one shoulder. While I watched, he tossed the man down and pointed at the door. It was shut, the first I’d seen.

As we approached, I caught sight of the panel. It glowed, waiting for input. Had to be on a different power source than the rest of the facility. Or it had a backup for situations like this.

The man on the floor wore a white lab coat, a scientist. “No!” he cried, trying to crawl away. “They’ll kill me.”

When the figure reached down to drag him back, I saw it was Jax.

“So will I,” he told the man. He held a pistol and pressed it to the scientist’s kneecap. “Two seconds.”

“Okay, okay,” the man sobbed. “I’ll do it. Please, just don’t shoot.”

Jax grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him to the panel. When the door opened, Jax brought the pistol down on the scientist’s head and used him as a doorstop.

“You made it.” He was looking at me and Dolph.

Dolph answered. “Yes. Is the ingot in there?”

“This man said it was.”

I didn’t speak as we stepped inside. All I knew was the godsdamned ingot better be here or I would riot.

The lab looked like it had been ransacked at first glance. Mechanical pieces littered tables, data pads were lying all over the place, and workstations overflowed with tools and unidentifiable items.

All the lights were on, more evidence that the room ran on power separate from the rest of the facility. Still, they didn’t outshine the illumination coming from one side of the room. In a small cube, supported by a mechanism I couldn’t begin to understand, was the ingot. I knew it at once. It matched the dossier from Navari’s data cache for one, but even without that I would have known.

It radiated power and light, shining like tiny pieces of a sun.

“Grab the cube,” Jax instructed. “You’ll need the base it’s on too. I’ll get the weapon.”

He gestured at the mini cannon I had missed while staring at the ingot. It looked heavy but the Void operator lifted it as though it weighed no more than his sidearm. I did a quick inspection of the ingot’s case, afraid it might be booby trapped, but it looked clean. There wasn’t time for anything else, so I crossed mental fingers and picked it up gingerly.

The scientist moaned from the doorway. “You can’t take it. The ingot isn’t stable enough to be moved.”

I ignored him and put the cube in my bag. Dolph, unladen, ran point as we exited the lab. None of us were fool enough to believe that this was over and we set off at a fast paced clip.

“We’re going to the main hangar,” Jax said.

No other soldiers appeared as we made our way back to the maintenance shaft, then down it. Everything was eerie and quiet, like we were in an abandoned facility. I knew that didn’t mean to relax; it just meant the enemy almost certainly waited for us in the hangar.

Unimpeded, we made it in under fifteen minutes. The tension skyrocketed when we saw inside. Kaska stood between us and the ships, a platoon of a dozen Void operatives behind him. Too many. Jax didn’t appear to be hurt, but both Dolph and I were. On my best day I didn’t think we could take them all.

I recognized Jax’s ship from the times I’d seen it outside the Genesis, but I didn’t see how he expected to escape with it, even if we could get onto it. In short, our situational status could be summed up in one word: Fucked.

With that same irritating leer, the Vice-Admiral stepped forward. I could tell he was preparing to give another speech. Gods, I did not want my last moments to be wasted listening to him babble on.

“You might as well join us,” he called out. “This is the end for all of you. I have to say, Jax and Dolph, I am extremely disappointed.”

I glanced at Jax, who rolled his eyes, a very unVoidlike mannerism. “The asshole talks too much. It’s going to screw him. Vega, status?”

Vega? I didn’t have time to mull that one over before Jax propped the cannon over one shoulder.

“Follow my lead.”

He strode into the hangar and I had to jog to keep up. Dolph followed suit and I was surprised to see the rifle on his back instead of in his hands. Whatever plan they had was sure as hell ballsy.

“Ah, there you are. Sergeant, you are turning out to be a very expensive project. Thanks to this latest stunt, I’m down men. Still, I suppose that speaks to your skill. And we can hardly spare another, so you’ll all stay alive.” He rocked his head in a side to side motion. “Well, kind of. After this we can’t leave any doubts so we’ll have to start from scratch.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Gods, do you ever shut up?”

Kaska’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Excuse me?”

Beside me, Jax grunted. Oops. So much for following his lead. Me and my damn mouth.

“Just can’t help yourself, can you?” The Vice-Admiral shook his head, the picture of disappointment. He motioned to us with the flick of his chin. “Take them. If they resist, kill them.”

Half of his forces moved forward while the rest formed a protective circle around their commander. The idiot didn’t even make us put our weapons down. I supposed he saw the face value of what we represented. The soldiers, two of them injured, with two guns and a blade between them. The cannon didn’t count since it wasn’t armed, nor did it have a power source.

I held up the bag. “Aren’t you worried about hitting the ingot?”

Kaska shrugged. “That cube is built to withstand anything we could throw at it. You’d die before it broke.”

Well, that was that.

Jax pulled his pistol and trained it on the dozen advancing operatives. Dolph did the same. When the first slug rammed into one of Kaska’s men, then another, the hangar erupted into chaos. I don’t think anyone expected them to shoot.

Ten soldiers spread out into a fan, their weapons aimed at us, yet silent. That didn’t make sense. Why?... I heard it then. The subtle sound of clicking. They were firing, the weapons just weren’t cooperating.

Together, Jax and Dolph took out five more before they were dry. After tossing the guns down, both switched to combat knives. The enemy realized what happened and broke from the cover they had taken.

Hoping Kaska wasn’t lying about the ingot’s case, I put the bag on again and hefted the sword. My ribs screamed, but so did I. A battle cry erupted and I flung myself into the fight.

Hack, slash, jab, whatever. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Jax’s words during our sparring session came back.

Following the advice, paired with all the rage that had been locked up during my time in Xanderis, I gave in to a frenzy. Rending flesh from bodies, I twisted and sliced, barely checking to make sure it wasn’t one of my team.

A Void operative stepped into my kill zone and dropped to slide under the deadly sweep of my blade. His mechanical arm punched out, aiming for my knee, and I used my momentum to spin and adjust the angle to get him at the wrist. The metal hand fell to the ground with a clunk and he stared at it for a long second. He shouldn’t have. I used the temporary distraction to liberate the top half of his head from the bottom and moved on to the next before it hit the ground.

An explosion rocked the hangar, driving me to my knees. I didn’t know where it came from but when I looked around, Kaska was running for the exit. Grunting, I used the bolo like a cane to stand and moved to follow him.

“Cortez!”

I ignored Jax’s shout and launched after the Vice-Admiral. Before I got two steps, a hand grabbed me by the back of the shirt and yanked me back. I turned to see Dolph staring at me with hard eyes, bleeding from a piece of shrapnel protruding from his chest.

At that moment, I didn’t care and knocked his arm away. “Dammit!

“He’s not the mission.” The words, spoken with quiet urgency, broke through the red haze.

The ingot was why we were here, not the Vice-Admiral. Added to that, the explosion had blown a hole in the hangar and it was venting, dragging all the air out of space and shifting anything not firmly fixed in place. With a nod to say I understood, we joined Jax at his ship.

Inside, Jax dumped the cannon like it wasn’t important and hit the bridge at a dead run. Dolph and I made it there as the ship’s engine came to life. Dolph strapped himself in with one hand. I took the only other empty chair next to Jax, moving the bag with the ingot to my lap so I could buckle the safety harness.

“How are you planning on getting out?” I asked when the ship lifted into the air.

In answer, he sent two blasts from the mounted quad cannons into the hole the explosion had started. It grew in size and the ship was caught in the venting atmosphere, spinning out of control and moving closer.

“Jax, that’s not big enough,” I told him.

“Working on it,” he muttered, fighting with the controls. “Leigh, give me a hand.”

A prim, female voice, responded. “Right away, Jax.”

The ship stopped spinning and another blast lanced out to make the hole bigger. It worked, but I still felt metal scrape metal when we passed through. But we were through. I’d been holding my breath—partly because I was nervous, partly because it hurt to breathe.

“It’s not done yet,” Jax said, pointing at his holo.

Red dots were scattered across the display.

“Of course not. It can’t ever be easy, you know that,” I told him.

A moan behind us shifted my attention to Dolph. He gripped the metal shrapnel still in his chest and yanked it out.

“Gods, where’s your medkit?”

“In the medbay.”

I cursed and moved to unbuckle.

“Don’t, I’m good,” Dolph said. “It wasn’t that deep.”

“Jax, incoming fire,” Leigh informed.

He worked the controls and put the ship into a vertical climb, avoiding the shot.

“Hold onto that bag,” he told me. “This is going to be rough.”

20

He didn’t lie. Nine ships went on the offensive. In the grand scheme of things, space was a big place. Dogfights in open space didn’t look quite like they were depicted in the vids. This close to a station, however, was a different story.

We were pinned against what amounted to a giant wall. The enemy lay in front of us, so our options included moving up and down but not back. This ship looked decent, but I wouldn’t have put it on par with the Genesis. The Void vessels outnumbered us nine to one and I didn’t like those odds.

“Jax, incoming transmission from Farah.”

“Take it,” he barked.

My head jerked around to the holo. My friend’s face appeared, a mask of determination. “Jax, we’re here. Two minutes out.”

“We might not have that,” he told her.

“Don’t get emotional, brother. Just stay alive for… one minute and forty-five seconds.”

She clicked off.

“I’m going to handle the armaments. You try not to get us killed,” I told him.

Turning, I checked on Dolph. He looked a little pale but alive. I tossed the bag in his direction. He snagged it, then undid his harness to slide through the handle so it wouldn’t fall.

Satisfied, I opened the weapons control and took a second to get familiar. They were more or less standard. “Firing now,” I called out.

For the ninety seconds we waged a one ship war on the Void’s outer line of defense. They responded with a maelstrom of return fire. With Leigh’s assistance Jax kept us out of the worst of it. He shot left, strafed right, and even dove forward into oncoming fire once. The maneuver saved us from one of the fighters that had worked its way above us.

For my part, I worked the weapons system, tapping and swiping, locking onto the targets that were doing the most damage. Two ships spun away into the black ocean of the system, destroyed before my first cannon was disabled.

Jax threw us into a dive when the last cannon gave out. “This is our last move,” he said. “Going under.”

I knew what he meant. Going under the station would provide a momentary reprieve, but the Void would just follow, then we’d be in the same predicament, this time with no working weapons. Sitting rombdin.

A ping sounded from display. Six red dots remained, all swarming after us. Behind them, a green dot appeared.

The Second Genesis. I didn’t know if it would be enough, but my crew was here. Three blasts struck us, dropping the shield’s percentage to single digits. My ship opened fire on the Void. Their remaining vessels changed course and fired back.

The star map chimed again, and I saw another green dot appear. “Who is that?” Before anyone could answer, the holo chimed again, then again, pinging with more bright green dots until more than a dozen joined the Genesis.

“Dunham for you, sir.”

He accepted the call and gave a small salute. “Jax, we’re a little late. Ravager situation, but your backup is here. Do you have the ingot?”

“Yes ma’am. That’s about all we have though. Weapons are fried and the shields won’t take another hit.”

It struck me that he didn’t sound like the man I had become familiar with. Had that all been an act? My mind swirled, trying to make sense of everything.

“Understood. Try to convince the Vice-Admiral to let you go. If not, we’re prepared to deal with it.”

Jax nodded and ended the transmission. “Leigh, open a line to Vice-Admiral-Kaska.”

Kaska’s face appeared on the holo, drawn and angry. He sneered at us. “All alone except for one other ship. Ready to surrender?”

Jax smiled. “Not exactly. I’ll let Cortez tell you why.”

“Well, sir, we’re not alone. A few more friends have come to help. You’re welcome to check.”

His gaze slid offscreen and the sound went off. He shouted, then curled his lip into a snarl before turning it back on. “What do you want then?”

“We’re leaving. You can let that happen and live or try to stop us and die.”

The Vice-Admiral considered that for a beat. “This isn’t over. You think you’ve won, but I’m not done yet.”

The transmission cut off.

On the star map, all the remaining red dots backed off, leaving us a path to join the rest of my crew and the Initiative ships.

* * *

“Gods, Alyss. I can’t even tell you how sorry I am.”

We were back on my ship and Farah stood over me in the medbay. The other bed held Dolph, but the man was snoring from the high dose of pain meds. I’d come out of Xanderis with more injuries than I realized. Besides the broken ribs, two of them, I had contusions and cuts everywhere. During my transition from Jax’s ship to mine, one of the broken ribs had shifted and nicked something in my chest cavity.

Thanks to our resident medic and the advanced medical bay, I’d survived without too much fuss. Now I was on the mend and under Farah’s orders to stay in bed for the next two days.

“I’m not mad. Seriously, we got the ingot. But I’m lost. Not all of my memory has come back and so much doesn’t make sense. Can you start from the beginning?”

She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. It started with your plan to infiltrate Xanderis. Do you remember me storming off the bridge?”

“A little. It’s fuzzy though.”

“Well, while I was slamming things around in my room, something occurred to me. You two were going to do the mission no matter what I had to say about it. That got me thinking. The idea was suicidal, but crazy enough to work, just not the way you planned it.”

“Gee, thanks for the faith,” I muttered.

“Hold on a sec. When Mack came to calm me down, I told her we needed a better plan. She sided with me because she knew something you didn’t. The Void has fine-tuned lie detection to an art. Jax should have considered that, and he might have later, but Mack and I had a lightbulb moment.” The words tumbled out in a rush as she spoke, a silent plea in her eyes.

“I already said I’m not mad. Just tell me what you came up with.”

“Right. We figured the only way for you to pass the tests was if you didn’t know the truth. After you went to bed that night, we met with Jax and told him. He agreed. Vega ran statistics to be sure.”

“Really. And what statistics were those, V?”

The AI made a coughing sound. Recorded, but it somehow sounded like her. “I hope you’ll understand I mean no disrespect, Captain, but you cannot lie for bowel movement.”

“Uh. What was that? V, are you having another malfunction?”

“Oh dear. I am attempting to curse. My data says bowel movement is a type of coarse language.”

“She’s right,” Farah said with a laugh. “You can’t lie for shit.”

I palmed my face and groaned. “V, maybe you should do more research on cursing. But I guess you’re right.”

Farah saw my gaze move to the side and fisted a hand on her hip. “You did something stupid didn’t you?”

“I’m not good at keeping my mouth shut anymore. Kaska just wouldn’t stop talking. I might have slipped with insults a time or two.”

She sobered and laid a hand on my arm. “I guess that explains all the trauma. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” I told her. “Not now, maybe not ever. You don’t need to hear it anyway. I know you. The guilt will tear at you.”

Farah threw her hands up, feigning irritation. “I sent my friend blind into a deathtrap and she’s worried about my feelings. Now I’m thinking that the concussion wasn’t so mild after all.”

“This is why I didn’t make the cut,” I said. “Too emotional. I have more questions though. Some of that night came back, from when we were drinking. When Jax came your reaction looked so real. Was that the drug?”

That part was still bothering me. I knew it all fit together but wanted to know how.

“Oh, that. No, actually. I got a taste of my own medicine there. Mack and Jax changed the plan last minute. He knew they would check the feed from his ocular implant, so they came up with the stun baton to corrupt the file. She stayed out of sight so they couldn’t get a read on her face if any of the feed was saved. Since I did most of the fighting, my reaction had to be genuine too.”

I remembered the way Mack stayed by me during the scuffle. “I see. Smart. Really smart. Gods, Farah. I’m not going to lie, that was terrifying. Like bowel movement in my pants scary. Also, your brother is a hell of an actor. He could win awards.”

She waved a hand. “Not really, that was me. Partial paralytic. Fancy ladies use it to get rid of their wrinkles.”

“You gave the face injections?” I mimed pulling my cheeks back.

“Yeah. He had to look stone cold during all that too. His micro expressions would have given him away.”

“Wow. You guys thought of it all. I thought he betrayed us like Calliope. What’s more, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to get out of there.”

Farah looked stricken. “I knew that would happen. Sorry. I’m going to keep saying it, so don’t try to stop me.”

“Look, don’t beat yourself up. What you did saved my life in there—more than a few times. Probably saved me some torture too. Besides, I did something in there I’m ashamed of. Maybe it will make you feel better.”

I paused, not sure how to tell her I had broken under the Vice-Admiral’s interrogation techniques.

“Whatever it is, I don’t care.”

“I still have to say it. I gave Kaska the codes to take back the ship. Did that cause you any issues?”

She shook her head. “Don’t take this the wrong way… We expected it. Not that you aren’t the baddest ass that ever badassed, but it was Void torture. Jax told us no one can hold out after the brainwashing. We took precautions. Waited until Kaska tried to use the codes. Mack created a latent process in Vega’s programming to detect and neutralize any attempts with the codes.”

“Last thing. How did you pull off the power failure?”

“That might have been the easiest part, for Mack at least. We mocked up a file for Jax to give them on you. It had a worm. In order for it to work Mack said it had to be extremely precise. I don’t know exactly how she did it, but I know it took until just before she shut the facility down for it to gain access. That’s why we took so long.”

“So I’m guessing it was just dumb luck that the power cut out right before surgery?”

My friend blanched. “What?”

“The crazy ass doctor was about to take my arm and eye. If you’d been any later, I wouldn’t be here now. Or I’d be here with some upgrades.”

“Jeez. Jax assured us it would take longer before that happened.”

“Not your fault,” I told her. “Because of our previous training they cut some out. Shortened the overall time. I did have to run through the facility naked though. That sucked. Until Dolph found me and brought some clothes.”

“Oh! Dolph. How about that? We filled Dunham in on everything in case Kaska launched an attack. She had Dolph as a sort of sleeper agent. Because we were so close to getting the ingot she activated him.”

I tried to sit up and get a better look at him, but the motion sent a searing pain into my side.

“Hey, lie back down. Doctor’s orders. In fact, you need some sleep. I’m going to up the pain meds.”

On any other day I might have argued. Today, after a mission that mostly worked out and surrounded by friends, I happily accepted.

There was still more to do, but it could wait until tomorrow.

Epilogue

I was on my feet a few days later and back in the captain’s chair. Mack handed me a glass filled with a lime green liquid. My last encounter with a bright colored drink hadn’t exactly gone well.

“Is this another Shocker type drink?” I asked. “I’m not sure my stomach lining can handle that.”

“Nope. This is something I think you’re going to like. Slip Tunnel Swirl enerdrink mixed with vodka.”

“Oh. That sounds pretty good. Did you come up with that on your own?”

She snorted. “No. People have been mixing alcohol with questionable refreshments since the beginning of time. I know you guys were all straight-laced before leaving the Empire but this is just sad.”

Farah smelled it and pulled a face. “Yuck. If this is normal, I don’t think we were missing out. Still don’t know how anyone drinks those things anyway. Why isn’t there coffee-flavored alcohol?”

Mack laughed and kept passing out her creations. “You have so much to learn and I, for one, am happy to teach you both.”

Jax accepted his like it was a bomb about to explode. “Sorry, I’m not drinking this. I prefer my libations to be amber or brown. You know, real drinks. Manly.”

“Captain’s orders,” I told him. “You have to at least try it. This is a post-mission tradition now.”

Dolph grabbed his so fast some sloshed over the side. “If he won’t, I will. Pansy.”

“I’m not doing a speech,” I said once everyone had a drink in hand. “We lived, that’s enough.”

Five glasses raised into the air and were emptied in quick order. The enerdrink mixed well with the vodka and I grinned a sloppy smile. “Not bad. A little sweet. Mack, you got any whiskey hidden away?”

She cocked her head at me. “You been in my quarters or something, Cap? Kidding. Be right back.”

“Now we’re talking,” Jax said. “Maybe this tradition isn’t half bad.”

With the mission over, the Void operative had changed completely. He was still a hardass, but another side was beginning to show itself. The resemblance between him and Farah had only become more prevalent as I recognized they shared some of the same mannerisms.

The hacker returned in under a minute with the bottle and fresh glasses. She played bartender and passed out another round.

We didn’t get a chance to toast because Vega announced we had an incoming call. She told me over the ear comm who it was and I told her to take it.

A man with hard features and dark brown hair appeared on the holo. He looked just like the wanted posters, but there was something else there. Hope, maybe.

“This is Jace Hughes,” he said. “I’m looking for Eva Delgado, rebel leader or whatever.”

I held up my glass but didn’t get up, opting to sling my free hand over the back of my chair. “It’s Alyss Cortez,” I corrected. “Or Captain Cortez. Take your pick.”

The Renegade’s eyes slid to my drink. “Is that whiskey, Captain Cortez? My kind of people. Thanks for getting back to me.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, studying him for a long moment. He had ruggedness to him, but he still looked young. I suspected he was the kind of man who’d seen more than his share of death and combat, no stranger to tragedy. But even still, his eyes held a warmth to them, like subtle optimism, though it took me a moment to find it. “So,” I said, finally ready to continue. “I hear you have yourself a Celestial problem.”

* * *

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Renegade Star Universe

The Renegade Star Universe

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The Renegade Star Series

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The Fifth Column Series

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I wish I could tell you I was using this ability for good.

I wish I could tell you a lot of things.

* * *

The Constable Returns

Alphonse Malloy may just be the smartest man alive.

A year has passed since Alphonse joined the Constables, but his work is only just beginning. In order to graduate and achieve full Constable status, Alphonse will need to complete one final mission.

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Warrior Queen (Lucia’s Story)

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Resonant Son Series

30 floors of nightmare fueled action. An ex-cop with nothing left to lose.

After losing his job and family, Flint Reed finds himself in the middle of a terrorist attack. With nothing but his wits and experience as a former Union police officer, he must do everything he can to stay alive.

As he soon discovers, however, there are also hostages, and no one is coming to save them.

All hope falls to Flint.

But as he fights to navigate the building, the real answers begin to unravel. What are the terrorists really after, and why are they so intent on getting into the vault?

Experience the beginning of the Resonant Son series. If you're a fan of Die Hard, Renegade Star, or the Last Reaper, you'll love this epic scifi thrill ride.

Galactic Law Series

Lethal force is authorized.

In the wild space of the Deadlands, Taurus Station is where miners and tourists come to play, and the ravager gangs follow close behind. Out here, far from the civilized world, the Law has a name.

Gage Walker is the son of hard-nosed asteroid miners. Brash, rough, and crude, he's one of the few deputies working the station.

Still a rookie, Walker is tasked with the security of a mining magnate's daughter, an easy job that quickly takes a turn for the worst.

The ravager gangs want her, and it falls to Walker to find out why.

In a chase across Taurus Station, Deputy Walker must prove he's fit to wear the badge and issue his own form of justice...one body at a time.

Deadland Drifter Series

When a dental appointment goes sideways, former Union Operative Jack Burner wakes to find himself drugged, and imprisoned.

And he's given a choice: assassinate an Admiral... or allow himself to be killed.

With no other option, Jack reluctantly accepts the mission, only to find himself being trailed by a mysterious blonde woman... and she may or may not want him dead.

As if dealing with a terrorist group wasn't enough.

With the fate of the Admiral and thousands of lives on hanging in the balance, Jack stands in the middle of an event that could ignite a war on the edge of the Deadlands and Union Space.

Despite his exceptional abilities, training, and tenancy, even Jack has little to no chance of preventing this particular powder keg from exploding.

He's going to need a miracle.

The Renegade Series

Jace Hughes is a Renegade.

That means taking jobs and not asking questions, whether that involves smuggling, transporting runnaways, or performing other, far less wholesome work. Whatever the situation, Jace is willing to do what it takes to achieve his dream and live the life he’s always wanted.

That is, until he comes face to face with an item of unprecedented value—something that could give him everything he needs to pay off his debt and be free.

The only problem is that selling it would also shift the balance of power between the two largest empires in the galaxy.

And spark another intergalactic war.

Unfortunately for Jace, he won’t have long to decide. Renegades, assassins, and government cronies are after the item, too, and unlike Jace, they won’t hesitate to kill.

Join the conversation and get updates on new and upcoming releases in the awesomely active Facebook group, “JN Chaney’s Renegade Readers.”

This is a hotspot where readers come together and share their lives and interests, discuss the series, and speak directly to J.N. Chaney and his co-authors.

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About The Authors

J. N. Chaney is a USA Today Bestselling author and has a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. He fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com.

He migrates often, but was last seen in Las Vegas, NV. Any sightings should be reported, as they are rare.

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Molly Lerma lives in the Michigan Mitten where she writes to give her daughter and pets the lives they deserve. When not slaving over the keyboard, you can find her gaming, at the movies, or spending copious amounts of time and money at the local bookstore.