A hideous face appeared. It was a pirate known to us as Captain Redgrave. His oversized head flickered into life above the command console.

  Once he was aware of us, as we were of him, the metallic visage twisted into a scowl of anger and suspicion. The devilish blue light of his mechanical eye shone like a searchlight. He appeared to be looking for something hidden in the shadows of the command deck.

  “You must have known,” Redgrave snarled. “Earth-Gov stealth ships were shadowing you like wolves in the dark. You must have known!”

  Captain Hansen stepped forward. She lifted her chin and gave no sign of fear. “I assure you, Redgrave, we had no knowledge of any stealth ships. I didn’t even know Earth had developed such technology.”

  Redgrave’s mechanical eye narrowed, the blue light of his gaze intensifying as he scanned the faces on the bridge. “You expect me to believe that? You expect me to trust you after all the deceptions we’ve uncovered? No, you’re working with them. This is all a ruse to get close to Ganymede.”

  Captain Hansen ignored the freak’s attempted intimidation. “We had no reason to deceive you, Redgrave. We were just as surprised by the presence of those stealth ships as you were. I can’t explain their actions, but I can assure you that we had no knowledge of them.”

  Redgrave considered the captain’s words. His mechanical eye continued to scan the room as if searching for any sign of deceit. Finally, he let out a frustrated growl.

  “Very well,” he said, his voice still seething with badly contained anger. “But be warned, Captain. We will be watching you closely. If there is any further deception, the consequences will be dire.”

  “You invited us here, Redgrave,” Captain Hansen reminded the pirate. “Are you going to honor your pledge for our safe conduct?”

  The blue glow of his mechanical eye seemed to bore into Captain Hansen.

  “Okay,” Redgrave said finally, “I won’t destroy you... for now. But mark my words, Captain, you’re either a fool or a liar. I’m not yet sure which.”

  With a final glare, the hologram of Redgrave flickered and vanished. We were left wondering if the pirate could reach across space and snuff out our lives at any moment he chose. To me, it seemed that he could.

  Chapter 20: Ganymede

  While I stood guard, doing my best to imitate a doorknob, Captain Hansen and her bridge officers discussed our situation. We knew we were being watched by the enigmatic Redgrave and his ship, Shadow’s Whisper. She was a pirate vessel we’d tangled with in the past.

  But today, Redgrave seemed to have new capabilities. He’d detected and shot down two ships we didn’t even know were there.

  “We know Shadow’s Whisper is a stealth ship, too,” Freya reported. “That suggests Redgrave can see through stealth. That’s how he spotted those Earth ships.”

  Captain Hansen frowned. “If that’s true, then there might be more Earth ships lurking nearby. Who knows how many they’ve sent to follow us to Ganymede?”

  Commander Kaine considered these thoughts. “It’s possible that the colonel’s plan all along was to use Borag as bait. He’s going to get us killed!”

  Inwardly, I was worried about the dangerous game we seemed to be playing. Were we merely pawns in a larger struggle?

  I tightened my grip on my weapon. My powerful left arm tightened, seemingly by itself. The weird thing was the stock of my weapon flexed a little. I had to remind myself not to squeeze too hard. I could warp the polymers and even damage my rifle if I overdid it.

  Freya, my ex-girlfriend, was still analyzing the data on the destroyed ships. I hoped she was on the ball.

  Her fingers flew across her control panel. Her eyes darted between the data she was gathering and the crewmembers anxiously awaiting her findings.

  “It’s the same weapon,” she finally said. “It’s got to be. The same long-range weapon that destroyed the Teklution ship Sarasvati. The initial energy release, the pattern of debris… the signatures are nearly identical.”

  “So,” Captain Hansen said, “we’re not only are we dealing with stealth ships, we’re also facing a weapon capable of obliterating vessels within seconds—stealthed or not.”

  The crew continued strategizing, but my mind was on other things. I was daydreaming about Freya. She had once held my heart. Now we were united again in our fight for survival.

  Occasionally, despite all the intensity on the bridge, I thought I caught her stealing a glance in my direction. That had to be my imagination—but no! There! She’d just done it again.

  Was she thinking about why I was there, or thinking about us? It was a life-or-death situation, so I guess it could have been either.

  “Redgrave’s no fool,” one woman muttered. “He’ll figure this out. If we’re being used as bait to reach Ganymede, he’ll uncover the truth sooner or later.”

  “And when he does,” another crewman added, “he’ll turn that space cannon of his against us. We’ve witnessed its destructive power. There won’t be anything left of Borag!”

  “We should find a way to flush out any other stealthed ships and let him destroy them, instead!”

  Captain Hansen slammed a fist down on a nearby console, commanding silence. “Enough!” she snapped. “We don’t have time for pants-pissing speculation. Give me some actionable facts, people.”

  “But, Captain,” Freya said quietly, “we can’t disregard such scenarios. If Redgrave is convinced we’re against him, he’ll strike first and ask questions later.”

  Commander Kaine had been listening to all this, the same way I had. He stepped forward, his presence casting a shadow over the room.

  “We knew this trip carried risks from the outset,” he said. “We can’t identify stealthed ships, and Redgrave won’t respect any apologies or attempts to run. We’re committed now. We have to drive right up there, in the open, and land on his freezing rock under his guns. There’s no escape at this point.”

  Captain Hansen nodded thoughtfully. “Kaine… you’re right. We can’t control Redgrave’s actions, but we can control our responses. We can’t allow fear to dictate our course of action.”

  The crew muttered in discontent, but the moment passed, and we didn’t deviate from our flight path—we didn’t dare.

  Another long day passed. During that time, Borag approached Ganymede, and I traded guard duty with other Red Company guys. It did seem to me, and others, that I spent more time up there than anyone else. It was obvious even to me that the captain was favoring my presence as much as she could.

  Our target, the largest of Jupiter’s moons, loomed closer. It was a colossal sphere of ice and rock. The moon’s harsh, frigid surface stood out against the swirling bands of color that surrounded Jupiter just beyond.

  Ganymede’s rugged, cratered landscape had been marked by billions of years of impacts and geological activity. Deep fissures crisscrossed the moon’s surface. It was a world of frozen beauty.

  As we got closer still, we could make out the thin atmosphere that hung over the icy surface. It was a barely perceptible envelope of gas that clung to the moon like a ghostly shroud. It offered little protection from radiation or the harsh vacuum of space.

  Borag settled into orbit around Ganymede on the second evening after Redgrave had struck down the ships that trailed us. I found the moon to be ugly. It seemed lifeless and drab. It was hard to believe that anyone had built a base here—much less something so powerful it could reach out and destroy ships halfway across the Solar System.

  “Captain,” Ensign Thompson said. She was the sensor op on the night shift crew. “We’ve pinpointed the source of the energy emissions. They’re coming from a mountain range in the southern hemisphere—right here on this globe.” She pointed to a spot on the moon’s holographic projection that hovered above the console.

  Captain Hansen stepped closer to the hologram and studied it. “What’s firing these deadly beams across space?”

  Thompson shrugged. “We’re not sure yet, Captain. It’s like nothing we’ve ever encountered before. But the readings are consistent, and the source is definitely in those mountains.”

  I wanted to get off the bridge. I wanted to talk to Ana—or Freya—about what I’d seen up here. But instead, I stood silent.

  Sometimes, it was difficult to be a guard. I was a fixture, a man who would only be called upon to act if everything went to shit. No one wanted to hear my opinions about anything—but usually, I was okay with that.

  Eventually, Borag scudded into the thin air and maneuvered to land on a plateau outside the mountains we’d identified. Redgrave hadn’t given us any traffic-control instructions—he’d ignored our approach entirely. Since he hadn’t shot us down, we figured we’d just play it safe and land first. We could ask questions later.

  The big ship touched down with a gentle shudder. The mountains in question partially blocked the glare from Jupiter’s vast disk. The planet took up a huge proportion of the sky. It was utterly unlike having a moon overhead. It was something like fifteen times the diameter of a full moon, as seen from Earth.

  Once we were down, and the jets were cooling, I was ordered out onto the surface. I was posted near the exit ramp—fortunately, in the shade. The sun and the disk of Jupiter didn’t provide much heat—but they did pepper you with radiation.

  My suit heaters were running full blast, but I still felt cold spots at my fingertips and toes. I didn’t care. This was still way better than working outside as a rock-rat.

  After things looked secure, Captain Hansen and Commander Kaine came down the ramp to where Red Company had taken cover among the plentiful boulders in the area.

  I had to wonder where the pirates were. How many of them were on this rock? Did they plan to attack us on sight, despite all their easy words?

  “All right,” Captain Hansen said over the comms. “We’re on the ground. We’ve got a lot of unknowns here, people. Stay behind cover. Kaine, if just one mutant gets up that ramp and into my ship, it’s your ass.”

  Kaine’s lip curled in what could have been a grin or a grimace, it was hard to tell. “Roger that, Captain.”

  The desolate landscape of Ganymede’s surface was cold and rocky. The rough terrain seemed to stretch on forever, an endless expanse of barren ground and towering mountains.

  Captain Hansen reached the bottom of the ramp and, together with Kaine, she inspected the undercarriage of the great ship. It was a ritual the officers often engaged in, like the pilots of airliners in the distant past.

  Catching sight of a crooked finger from Captain Hansen, I fell into step behind the two officers. I followed closely behind, my gaze scanning the surroundings for potential threats.

  As we made our way through the rocky terrain in a big circle, the wind howled around us, whipping up clouds of dust that obscured our vision. At least there was enough air pressure to carry sound on this rock.

  Finally, Captain Hansen and Kaine made it around the ship, full circle. They went back up the ramp and disappeared.

  That’s when Sergeant Cox showed up, shaking his head inside his helmet. “I thought they’d never finish that bullshit. At least you don’t have to worry about getting blamed for some officer getting her ass shot off now, huh, Starn?”

  “Yeah… there’s that.”

  My gaze swept over the stark landscape of Ganymede. The rugged mountain range loomed in the distance, its jagged peaks cutting through the sky like knives. Below, craters and ice fields stretched out as far as the eye could see.

  “Can’t say I ever thought I’d set foot on Ganymede,” Cox muttered. Somehow, Jupiter’s glare transformed his face into a roadmap of scars and wrinkles. “It’s a frigging desolate place, isn’t it? I’d kind of thought there might be a weed or something. A single goddamned weed would be nice.”

  I grunted in agreement, my eyes never leaving the horizon. “It’s got its own kind of beauty—if you squint just right.”

  The sergeant snorted, shaking his head. “You’ve got a funny idea of beauty, Starn.”

  “Call it a side effect of growing up in a giga-slum on Earth,” I said. “You learn to appreciate the little things.”

  Another marine joined our conversation. It was Corporal Ledbetter. “I can see why Redgrave chose this place. It’s the perfect hideout. Remote, inhospitable, and well-protected by those mountains.”

  I nodded, my gaze fixed on the distant peaks. “I guess it’s a nice spot for a man-machine hybrid. Let’s just hope he didn’t invite us out here for laughs.”

  “Or a nice dissection party,” Ledbetter said.

  We stood around with our thumbs up our butts for about two hours after that. Eventually, the wind picked up and a weird, howling gale began. It seemed to chill my skin, despite the insulated suit.

  A warning sounded. “Approaching infantry. Intent unknown.” The voice was from our AI. It was kind of feminine in pitch, but neutral in tone.

  We dove for cover. Overhead, a dozen turrets emerged all along the flanks of the massive ship. Guns poked out of these turrets. They were auto-fire anti-personnel cannons. They twitched and tracked things we couldn’t even see yet.

  Soon, we spotted an approaching horde. It was a motley crew of pirates and cyborgs, an unsettling mix of flesh and metal that made my skin crawl. Mutants and half-machine hybrids staggered forward, their mismatched limbs clanking and whirring in a discordant symphony.

  “Holy shit…” a soldier near me whispered. He sounded shaky. “It’s like staring into the face of Hell, and it ain’t pretty. They must outnumber us four to one.”

  “More like ten to one,” Ledbetter said unhelpfully. He’d never caught onto the idea of raising troop morale, yet—and I didn’t know if he ever would get that one.

  I grunted, my rifle held up to my faceplate. “Let’s just hope we can talk some sense into them before it comes down to shooting.”

  The mutant army spread out and came closer. Their leader scuttled forward on his four spider-like stilts. It was Redgrave. I knew him in an instant. His gruesome face was hard to forget.

  The cyborg pirate’s mechanical eye was roving. It scanned us, and the blue light that shone from its core was cold.

  “I see the servants,” he broadcast, “but not the mistress. Where’s Captain Hansen?”

  There was a delay, but she finally showed herself. She stood at the top of the ramp and slowly walked down.

  A hundred guns or more were pointed at her, and we pointed our weapons at the mutants in return. Captain Hansen walked as if she didn’t care, her chin raised defiantly.

  “I’m here, Redgrave. You can stop being afraid of me. We didn’t come all this way to kill you.”

  “A boast! A threat!” Redgrave’s metal lips curled into a sinister smile. “I hope you didn’t bring all these lovely people out here just to die, Captain.”

  “We’re here to talk.”

  The cyborg pirate’s mechanical eye flickered over the scene. He seemed to be counting our men. “Talk, you say? What is it you think we have to talk about?”

  “Your alien long-range weapon, for one thing. We know what it can do, and we know it’s here on Ganymede. We need to cut a deal between your people and mine. You can’t just go around blowing up our ships. That will lead to war.”

  The air crackled with Redgrave’s laughter. The pirates and marines shuffled impatiently behind their respective leaders. Redgrave’s laughter continued to ring out, bitter and harsh.

  “And what would you call the state we’re all in now?” he asked scornfully. “You raid our settlements, steal our resources, and generally do as you please. Today, that abuse comes to an end!”

  Hansen didn’t flinch. I had to give her that. “You’re wrong. We’re not at war—not yet. Earth has, perhaps, been too dismissive of independent operators. But we haven’t ever attempted to wipe you out. If you keep blowing up our ships, however…”

  “Another threat?” Redgrave demanded. “You traveled four hundred and thirty million miles to deliver impotent warnings?”

  “No,” Hansen said. “I came all this way to stop things from getting out of hand. To open up a channel for negotiations. Because if you don’t stop taking potshots with this new toy of yours, it’s not just Earth that’ll suffer. It’ll be the end of us all.”

  Chapter 21: Redgrave’s Offer

  I watched as Redgrave talked to the captain. I stood a dozen yards away in the shadows of jagged rocks.

  “I don’t like this,” Lt. Quinn said. “Starn, get out there. Stand just behind the captain. If that monster does something—blow his face off.”

  “Sir?”

  “You heard me, Sergeant. Get out there.”

  The frozen ground crunched beneath my feet as I closed the distance between myself and the pirate leader. I didn’t charge or trot—but I strode forward with purpose.

  Redgrave noticed my approach immediately. His cold metal features glinted in the dim light of Ganymede’s surface. He was a menacing figure, and I couldn’t help but feel a crawling sensation of disgust in my guts when I looked at him. Captain Hansen remained as stoic as ever, but I could sense she was uncomfortable as well.

  Redgrave sneered as I came to stand just behind Hansen. His gaze swept over me, sizing me up. His metal teeth glistened oddly.

  “And who might this be?” he asked.

  Captain Hansen glanced at me. She didn’t seem surprised or upset—but that might be an act. Her usual approach in every situation was to pretend she knew everything—whether she did or not. That attitude seemed to keep her opponents guessing.

  “This is Sergeant Devin Starn,” she said, “my personal bodyguard.”

  “Ah, so you fear me! That is good. That is appropriate.”

  “We fear nothing other than pointless conflict,” Captain Hansen answered. She squared her shoulders, addressing Redgrave with authority. “We’ve come to negotiate. We don’t want any more bloodshed.”

  Redgrave laughed, the sound grating and unpleasant. “Negotiate? So, Earth suddenly wants to talk to pirates? This must be some kind of base trick. What do you take me for, Captain?”