The varied sounds of laser cannons, missiles, and railguns filled our ears as Borag unleashed her full arsenal upon the pirate cruiser. The Iron Serpent retaliated, and the two ships engaged in a fierce exchange of fire, flying dangerously close to each other.

  Suddenly, Borag was hit by another blast from the Iron Serpent’s plasma cannon. The impact was stronger than before, and we could feel the ship’s integrity starting to weaken.

  “We’re venting on Deck Seven,” the officer on ops said. “Should we run, Captain?”

  “There’s no running now, Lieutenant!” Captain Hansen barked back at him. “Focus all remaining firepower on their main weapon!”

  With a final, concentrated barrage of fire, Borag managed to destroy the pirate ship’s plasma cannon. Iron Serpent, crippled and unable to retaliate, was finally defeated.

  However, it wasn’t just her big gun we’d knocked out. The mortally wounded ship sank down into the atmosphere, her engines unable to lift her nosecone to the proper angle for reentry. The big ship turned into a fireball that left a trail of smoke all the way down to its final impact point in the dark, alien ocean.

  We all breathed a collective sigh of relief as the threat was neutralized. But we knew that the victory had come at a cost, and our damaged ship would need time and resources to recover.

  Worse, there were still two other hostile cruisers out there, undoubtedly burning for revenge. It was unlikely they’d allow us time for the rest we needed.

  Chapter 24: Crossing the Line

  The next day, I found myself dragging my body out of my bunk and placing my feet on the deck even before I knew why I was doing it. The reason dawned on me when I saw who was calling—it was Captain Hansen.

  “What the fuck, Corporal?” Ledbetter asked with sleep in his voice. “Did you just get a four-a.m. booty call?”

  “Get your beauty rest, Ledbetter—you need it,” I told him.

  A few of the other guys laughed. For the most part, they rolled over and went back to sleep. The general rule of all soldiers on active duty had always been the same: sleep, eat, and take a shit whenever you could—because sometimes there wouldn’t be time.

  Pulling together my kit on the way, I raced to the upper decks. I’d been summoned to Captain Hansen’s conference chamber. I was really hoping not to find her with another knife sticking out of her side.

  When I arrived, she was there alone, preparing for a meeting with her officers. I stood at attention as she looked up from her notes.

  “Corporal Starn,” she began, her voice steady but haggard. I wondered if she’d slept at all last night. “As you know, Borag has taken significant damage. We can’t face more pirate cruisers in this state. We need to land or dock somewhere to perform repairs. Therefore, I have some hard choices to make.”

  “Yes, Captain,” I responded, understanding the gravity of the situation—but not why I was here playing watchdog for her again.

  “There’s going to be some level of disagreement among my staff members,” she said, giving me an unblinking stare. “Sometimes… when a ship is isolated and in trouble… people take drastic steps.”

  Right about then, I got it. She wanted me here when she delivered the bad news. I thought to myself that Borag’s crew wasn’t all that different from the pirates we often tangled with.

  Captain Hansen leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. “We can’t risk another encounter like the one we had with the Iron Serpent. It’s a miracle we survived that.”

  I nodded in agreement. “If I may ask… What are our options, Captain?”

  She looked at her notes and sighed. “I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities. There’s that alien space station not far from here. We scanned it when you were aboard—it has repair facilities, but obviously, there will be equipment incompatibilities. The other option is to land back on Proxima b again.”

  I considered the options and made an unhappy face. “Captain, permission to speak?”

  “Why not?” she said. “Your ass is on the line, too.”

  “Ma’am, both options have their risks. The space station may be dangerous, but at least we’d have access to repair facilities. On the other hand, one of the pirate cruisers just followed us to the planet with clear plans to destroy us. The other two might decide to do the same.”

  Captain Hansen nodded, her eyes narrowing in thought. “I appreciate your input, Corporal. You have a good head on your shoulders. The decision won’t be an easy one, and I need to make it quickly.”

  “Whatever you decide, it will be the right choice. It always is.” After that kiss-ass comment, I shut up, as I’d said too much already.

  She looked at me, and for a moment, and I thought I saw a rare hint of a smile. “Thank you, Starn. Your faith in me means a lot.”

  I suddenly thought of something else I wanted to say. I fought with myself internally for a few moments, then went with my gut. After all, she was already smiling at me… sort of. “Uh… Captain? Before your staff gets here… there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s about Ana, ma’am.”

  Captain Hansen raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

  “The pirate girl we captured on Proxima b. Remember her?”

  “Oh yes—what about her?”

  “Well…” I began, trying to choose my words carefully, “I was wondering if there might be a way for her to become a permanent member of Borag’s crew. She helped us get out of that pyramid-thing—without her, Dr. Sharaf and the rest of us would have been toast.”

  Her expression became skeptical. “Corporal Starn, are you suggesting this because you have a personal interest in the girl?”

  I felt a surge of heat coming up my neck. I was embarrassed, but I kept going for Ana’s sake. I hated asking for favors. No one had ever given me one when I was on the streets of Earth, or playing jockey on a drill-bot—but I needed one today. “No, Captain, it’s not like that. I mean… I do care about her well-being, but I’m not trying to... uh…”

  Captain Hansen held up a hand to stop me. “I understand, Starn. It’s only natural for a young, inexperienced male to feel protective instincts. But… a woman like this… I can tell you from experience she’s not worth it. Don’t endanger your career over a treacherous enemy prisoner.”

  “I… but sir, I just think that Ana could have a future—”

  Before I could get another word out, the officers filed in for the meeting. They glanced at me with disdain, as if I was a turd stuck to a boot heel.

  I transformed into a statue and put my back up against a wall behind the captain.

  Once they’d all taken a seat, Captain Hansen cleared her throat and addressed the room. “As some of you may already know, Borag has sustained significant damage. We must find a port for repairs.”

  The officers exchanged uneasy glances. The navigator, the executive officer, and Blackwood all began to voice their concerns and opinions simultaneously.

  Blackwood, looking agitated, spoke up first. “We should head down to the planet. There might be resources we can use, and our odds there would be optimal.”

  The executive officer shook his head in disagreement. “No, that’s too risky. We don’t know what kind of danger awaits us there. Our best option is to make our way to the nearest space station.”

  The navigator spoke up next. “But that could take us too far off course, and we don’t have the luxury of time.”

  “Here’s my two-bits,” Lt. Quinn said. “I’m just a marine, but you invited me to this meeting, so I’ll put in my vote: fly to the asteroid where the portal home is. We’re never going to find any other way out of this star system. The enemy is down to two cruisers—we can take them. Hell, they’ve probably run off after we destroyed Iron Serpent. That was their heaviest ship, and pirates are chickens.”

  “That’s insane!” Blackwood exclaimed, and the argument ratcheted up a few notches.

  As the officers continued to bicker, I felt increasingly out of place. Captain Hansen tried to guide the conversation in a more constructive direction, but it was clear emotions were running high. Reaching a consensus would be no easy task.

  Captain Hansen listened to the differing opinions cooly before making her decision. “Our path is clear,” she said at last. “Our best option is to head back to the space station where we encountered those mantis-like cyborgs. We need a secure location for repairs, and that’s our best bet.”

  Blackwood scowled, clearly unhappy with her decision. The other officers grunted their agreement or discontent, depending on their stance.

  Captain Hansen raised her hand, palm out, signaling for quiet. “That’s my decision, and we’ll have to make it work. This meeting is adjourned.”

  Just as the officers began to stand up and file out, Blackwood spoke up, his voice filled with a sense of urgency. “Before we end this meeting, Captain, I have an announcement to make. I’ve discovered the identity of the assassin who tried to kill you with a knife.”

  The room went silent. All eyes turned toward Blackwood as he paused for dramatic effect.

  Captain Hansen’s gaze sharpened. “Well, who is it, Blackwood?”

  Blackwood smirked, obviously enjoying the attention. “Do you want me to reveal the name here, ma’am?”

  Captain Hansen clenched her jaw, irritation evident on her face. “Yes.”

  The room became noisy with speculation. Captain Hansen motioned for me to lean close. “Starn, you’re staying put—and I’ll consider what you said regarding Ana. We’ll discuss her situation later, after we’ve dealt with the more pressing concerns. For now, I want you to be on your guard.”

  I nodded gravely. “You can count on me, Captain.”

  Thinking her change of heart over… I found it both sudden and alarming. Was the captain buying my loyalty? With a personal favor? That hadn’t been my intention…

  Captain Hansen looked at the accountant expectantly, but he glanced at me.

  “Aren’t you needed downstairs somewhere, Corporal? This is a serious matter for the ears of officers only.”

  Hansen eyed him flatly. “He’s under my orders, Blackwood. Starn stays.”

  “Paranoid, hmm? Well, I guess I can understand that, given the circumstances…”

  “Just tell us what you’ve found out.”

  Blackwood began to manipulate the controls that operated the table in the midst of the chamber. He caused a hologram to flicker into existence above the central console. The officers gathered around, staring intently at the scene before them. It showed our female navigator, Commander Nichols, in the worst possible light. She was the one who had consistently pushed the hardest for the ending of our mission. We all watched in stunned silence as Nichols attempted to assassinate our captain.

  As the hologram played out, the accused navigator stared in disbelief, her eyes wide.

  “This is a fabrication!” she protested vehemently. “I would never do such a thing. I don’t know how this video was created, but it’s not real. I swear it!”

  Captain Hansen studied the navigator with a cold, calculating gaze. “You’ve made it clear that you want this mission to end,” she said, her tone devoid of emotion. “It’s not difficult to imagine that you might take extreme measures to ensure its failure.”

  Commander Nichols looked around the room, searching for support among her fellow officers. She found only suspicion and distrust in their eyes.

  Desperate, she turned to Lt. Quinn. “You know me, Quinn. We’ve worked together for years. Do you really believe I could do something like this?”

  Quinn hesitated, seemingly torn between his loyalty to a fellow crew member and the damning evidence before him. He looked at the hologram, then back at the navigator.

  “I want to believe you, Commander,” he admitted, “but this evidence is hard to ignore. We need to make sure order is maintained aboard this ship.”

  “That’s enough for me,” Captain Hansen said. “Corporal Starn, arrest Commander Nichols.”

  I stepped forward and laid a hand on the commander’s small back. She was a slight woman, and I felt like a bully doing it.

  “You’re all making a huge mistake! I didn’t do anything!” she squawked, but the others wouldn’t even look her in the eye. Someone had to be guilty, and they were all willing to believe it was her.

  Reluctantly, I slung my carbine on my back and put a hand on each of her shoulders. I was hoping she wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss and force me to carry her ass out of the room. That was going to be awkward.

  Suddenly, Commander Kaine held up a hand. “Starn isn’t trained for this. He’s liable to rip an arm off her.” He gestured toward the entrance. The door opened and a squad of Green Company security personnel filed into the room.

  There were a lot of shocked looks at this development—mine among them. Where had these guys come from? They’d obviously been waiting out in the passage for Kaine’s signal.

  Was all of this a setup? I figured it had to be. Kaine and Blackwood were in on it, at the very least. They’d cooked up this surprise for Nichols. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been Green Company men standing right outside ready to jump her.

  The shore patrol boys had faces that were set and grim. I hesitated, feeling a twinge of annoyance at Kaine’s interference. As our top-level security officer, he was in charge of both Red Company and Green Company—but he often seemed to prefer the Greens.

  Ignoring me, Commander Kaine barked orders at his Green Company thugs. “Take her into custody. Make sure she’s secured in the brig.”

  The security team jostled me aside and grabbed Commander Nichols. They hustled her out of the room, with her feet dangling in the air. Her squalls and complaints echoed down the passageway as she continued to insist on her innocence.

  The remaining officers in the room exchanged suspicious looks. Maybe some of them were suspecting a trick, as I was. Trust was thin in the room at this point.

  I felt kind of pissed as I watched the scene unfold. Kaine’s powerplay had been masterful, and I felt like the situation was spiraling out of the captain’s control. With the crew’s unity shaken, Borag’s might be in as much trouble as Commander Nichols herself.

  The meeting broke up after that. Everyone else left the room, and then Captain Hansen turned to me. “Starn? That was odd, wasn’t it? What do you think? Is Nichols guilty?”

  I hesitated before answering. “I don’t know, Captain. But I do know that Blackwood isn’t always honest.”

  Captain Hansen raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, in the past, I’ve known him to create evidence,” I began, but before I could elaborate, an alert sounded throughout the ship.

  “Attention all hands, unauthorized airlock opening detected. Security personnel, please report to airlock 7B immediately.”

  Captain Hansen and I gaped at one another.

  “An airlock…?” she said. “7B is very close. Follow me.”

  She marched out of the place with me right behind her. We hurried toward the airlock in question, and I couldn’t help but feel a sick sensation in my guts.

  With the recent attack, then the navigator’s arrest—and now this bullshit? It seemed to me that Borag was facing more than just external threats. What the hell was going on aboard this ship? It hadn’t seemed too chaotic when I’d been a lowly rock-rat. It was almost enough to make me yearn for the days of a simple quota and being overcharged for breathing. Those were the kind of problems a man could understand.

  When we arrived at the airlock, we found it sealed shut. The alarms were being silenced, one by one.

  Blackwood, Kaine, and his Green Company goons were there, and they were doing the silencing. They smirked at one another, and I wondered who had just told the rest a dirty joke.

  The joke wasn’t funny. They’d just thrown the navigator out into space.

  Outraged, I rushed to the airlock door and attempted to open it. I slammed my helmet closed and prepared for an emergency retrieval. Watching this, the Green Company boys laughed at me.

  “Give it up, Starn!” one of them jeered. “She’s already dead!”

  Captain Hansen’s face wasn’t fun to look at. “What the hell is going on here, Blackwood? You had no right to execute her without a trial!”

  The accountant splayed his overly long fingers wide. “She attempted to escape, sir. She was a danger to the ship, so I took care of the problem. You should be thanking me.”

  I slammed my fat left fist against the airlock in frustration. The steel door rang like a bell, causing the others to look at me in surprise. Anyone who understood anything knew that if I’d hammered one of them, they’d have been laid out cold. That’s what I wanted to do right then, too.

  Then the captain spoke again. They swung their attention back to her. “This isn’t over, Blackwood. You’ve crossed a line, and I’ll be requesting your resignation when we reach Mars.”

  “If we ever see Mars Spaceport again, ma’am, I’ll be glad to give it to you.”

  They kept talking, but I didn’t listen. Nichols was out there, floating, a popsicle in space. Bitching about it now wasn’t going to do anything for her.

  I felt guilty. I’d been ordered to arrest Nichols, and that meant she’d been my problem at that moment. Then, I’d let them take her from me without a fight. I just… I hadn’t realized…

  Captain Hansen and the others went on yapping about the incident. Hansen struggled to regain control of the situation. But the divisions among Borag’s crewmembers had reached a breaking point. There was no damned way to tell what would happen next.

  I ignored their squabbling. My face was glued to the freezing pane of glass that gave me a limited view of space outside the ship.

  I stared out into the cold, dark vacuum that was forever dusted with stars. My breath fogged the glass, but I wiped it away with my fist.

  There she was. Commander Nichols was spinning slowly in the void. She was wearing just a uniform—no spacesuit or helmet.