“And long gone. The true Jewels are not. They created Aeterna for us. They’re still close, but they’ve mostly left us alone to build and grow. Our people work their asses off. We earn Aeterna every damn day of the week.”

  “I have no reason to doubt you, Michael. But I think we can safely say Valentin Bouchet did not leave there empty-handed. The rest is speculation, but we know the origin. Now we can make progress.”

  “How do you propose?”

  “I can think of many intriguing possibilities, assuming you’re willing to listen with an open mind.”

  “Might could.”

  “Excuse me, Minister. I have something to say.”

  Exeter gripped the table’s edge with both hands. He seemed to stumble, like Kara remembered when he was in Ryllen’s presence. Instead, he faced Michael with regret in his eyes.

  “Go ahead,” the Minister said.

  “I’ve been waiting for the right time to bring this up. I was about to a few minutes ago when I was describing Amayas. But Kara asked an important question and … Look, Minister. Remember this morning when you asked me if there was something I wanted to tell you? I said I wasn’t ready.”

  “Sure.”

  “I need to now. I think it might fill in a gap. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, but I was trying to process it. Ryllen Jee is not dead. He was there. At Arakaat.”

  Words of shock escaped as mutters.

  “The fuck? You should have told me. What happened?”

  “I encountered him on the ground. He knew it was me even though I was wearing my helmet. It was like he was expecting me. He told me to join him. He said we’d be together forever. I heard that same controlling tone in his voice. I fired everything I had at him.

  “He was wearing armor like I’ve never seen. It was organic and it was … moving around him. It was gold.”

  “Hold on,” Ham said. “You’re sure it was him? You saw his face?”

  “Oh, yeah. He had a beard like me and he was bald. But I know Ryllen. I was with him for five years.”

  “What happened?”

  “He jumped over the platform and disappeared. It was like the others, Minister. The ones we hit repeatedly but then they were gone.”

  Kara caught Ham’s glare. After they learned of the massacre at Ya-Li Taron’s estate on Hokkaido, he floated the insane theory that Ryllen might have killed Ya-Li.

  Michael added:

  “We don’t know how they escaped, but we’re sure they rode in with Amayas Knight. The armor was a new configuration.”

  “And Ryllen’s wasn’t like the others. I might have a theory.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Before Amayas threw me across the divide, he was anxious. It was like he was in a hurry. One minute he told me I’m immortal, and the next I’m standing in the middle of a war zone. Ryllen was there. He saved me. Of all the places I might have ended up, it was right where Ryllen’s unit was fighting. Cando, you were there, too. I didn’t know who he was at the time, so I didn’t put the pieces together. But what are the odds? If Ryllen is working with Amayas now, I think there was always a long-term plan for the two of us. I don’t know what it is, but these things aren’t coincidence.”

  Michael broke the ensuing awkward silence.

  “Well, this has turned out to be a fun fucking day. Looks like we have a full plate, and we’re just getting started. Ham, you said something before about having an open mind. I don’t know about my mind, but my eyes are wide open. What are you thinking? Oh, and before you answer, understand something. Me and the Chancellors don’t have the best backstory. So, if I’m a little slow to buy in, don’t take it personally.”

  “I won’t. For the moment, I suggest we take a break. I’d like to consult with my team, as I’m sure you would.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I think a beverage. Light snacks. Whatever you can drum up, Minister. We might be here awhile.”

  “Sure enough. Cap Oksana, why don’t you take Yusef to the galley to throw something together?”

  Kara took a moment to process. Michael Cooper was without doubt the strangest man she ever encountered. He was at turns thoughtful, vulgar, commanding, and self-indulgent. She didn’t understand many of his colloquialisms. She understood how Francois might label him a “man who seeks glory for himself.” The trust issue? For now, she’d set it on the back burner.

  The Aeternans could not afford to look away from this problem. They owed a debt to an unsuspecting Collectorate.

  Time to get to work.

  40

  Three standard days later

  In orbit above Zwahili Kingdom

  A S GOODBYES WENT, THIS ONE ranked among the most awkward. The last Zwahili transport was stocked and ready for departure, but its final occupant hesitated to leave. Francois Adobo straightened his red velvet jacket and adjusted his gold necklace. He shifted his attention between the transport and the crew who came to supervise his exit. Kara feared he would have a change of heart and make another play for Scylla.

  This ship belonged to the crew who earned it. Kara watched the moment alongside Chi, Ham, most of the Talons, and two Hokkis.

  Francois made a choice. He turned his back to the transport and approached the crew with shoulders straight, lips pursed, fingers twiddling at his sides.

  “Hamilton,” he said. “I do not wish to belabor my regrets. You do not believe them sincere. I will simply say this to all who are present. I bear no animosity toward anyone here. I admire your courage in bringing Scylla to the Kingdom with no guarantee to your safety. The matters that transpired between us were a most unfortunate series of misunderstandings. I never intended to harm any of you, despite my unfortunate choice of words. I meant only to serve the Kingdom and its best interests.”

  Francois’s tone was much more conciliatory than two days earlier, when Ham announced his decision to continue command of Scylla and move forward without Zwahili soldiers. Ham made a strong case, using evidence drawn from multiple meetings with Michael Cooper and the surveillance data captured from Arakaat before its devastation. He promised to return Scylla to the Kingdom when issues with Amayas Knight were resolved.

  “More is at stake, Francois, than you realize. We have made a pact with a new ally. Their resources combined with ours give us the best chance for success. We have no need of a militia.”

  Kara thought Ham did a masterful job of laying out enough details while skirting key ones – specifically, the Inventor’s true identity and any mention of the Aeternans – to present a case that should have given pause to anyone in the Splinter Alliance.

  Francois did not bite.

  “You have betrayed the Zwahili people, Hamilton. You have reneged on your word and revealed your true face. The Triad will not stand for this provocation, and my men will remain. You do not have the power to remove us.”

  He rambled on, developing a list of off-the-cuff bullet points to support his accusations of betrayal, only a couple of which were grounded in reality. The leadership had hoped Francois might surprise them with a gracious withdrawal. When that failed, Ham opened a holo drawn from the Arakaat data spools.

  “Chairman Aziz Hussein tapped the personal comms of every off-world diplomat in the facility. He grew suspicious of impending treachery. I found interest in this conversation between your lead observer, David Bendi, and you.”

  He played the audio.

  Francois asked David: “You will convince Hussein to bring the Inventor to Arakaat no later than launch day?”

  “It will be done,” David said. “Hussein will take great pride in showing off our accomplishment to Amayas. They are close friends.”

  “Outstanding.”

  “What will you provide in return, Francois?”

  “I will bring armed men to commandeer the ship you wish to captain. We will hold the facility and take what is ours. The Triad will see we are strong men who deserve to represent the Kingdom.”

  “And you, Francois?”

  “I will take Scylla. If the current crew refuses to surrender the ship, my people will kill them. The Persians will not interfere if we do not harm their workers.”

  Ham swiped away the holo.

  Francois appeared in need of a good hiding spot. Despite many sets of eyes bearing down, Francois recovered with poise.

  “Idle talk to satisfy an arrogant man. As I told you before, David Bendi and I are not friends. We are lifelong rivals. I told him what he needed to hear.”

  “I see. Another misunderstanding? Yes, David Bendi is an arrogant man. I spoke to Joseph and several members of the Triad before we left the Kingdom. I asked about Bendi. Everyone spoke in the abstract. He is not a well-liked man. He was sent to Euphrates on your recommendation. You were clearing out the competition.”

  “Yes. I admit it. I maneuvered his exile. He was a danger to our position in the Alliance.”

  “No. You went after him because he is Huni, and you are Lenix. I don’t want to hear excuses or claims of misunderstandings. You were stupid, Francois. You knew we were surveilling Arakaat. You wanted this ship so badly, you ignored the risk of being discovered.”

  “What now? Will you detain me like a criminal?”

  “If intent to mutiny is a crime, then you are a criminal. No, I won’t detain you. I don’t want to hold your men under armed guard, bringing their meals to their quarters until we return you home. But you will insist they turn over all remaining guns. I will forward my report to the Triad and leave the rest to them.’

  Francois showed no reaction until that last bit.

  “No, no. These steps will not be necessary, Hamilton. I am certain we can reach accommodations.”

  They did.

  Overnight, Francois evolved into a malleable creature capable of becoming whatever Scylla leadership required. He told his soldiers that not only had the Triad granted Ham Cortez a long-term lease as Captain, but they thanked each Zwahili for their service here, saying this was never intended as more than a brief training operation for the future.

  “Wish Capt. Cortez and his crew well in their endeavors. One day, they will return Scylla to our people to join our two other beautiful warships, which the Alliance will soon bestow upon us.”

  It was remarkable bullshit but also effective. Ham didn’t care why the Triad’s reaction to the report so terrified Francois.

  “Nothing interests me less than internal politics,” he told Kara. “I left that depravity behind when I abandoned the Chancellory. But for those who play the game, knives are never far away. It’s an ill-mannered affair. Francois can hear the blades as they sharpen.”

  It was a nice moment. Kara heard a lofty tone in Ham’s voice. He regained the swagger she first encountered that night in Mal’s Drop many months ago.

  On the landing bay, Francois said a few more parting words, none of consequence or with seeming sincerity. He saved his last for Kara.

  “You have stood up to me like no woman I have known. For this, I am happy to be going home. Goodbye, Kara Syung.”

  When the transport passed through the cascade barrier and disappeared from view, Kara felt a few pounds lighter. Not enough for comfort, but sufficient to consider the next stage of the journey without the burden of the most recent.

  “It feels like our ship again,” Chi said.

  “Like home, you mean?”

  Chi scanned the bay with a wistful nod.

  “Yeah. Always thought I’d hate living in space.”

  “But no more.”

  “I like it out here, Kara. It’s big. It’s clean. And there are so many opportunities. Every time we go down to a planet, there’s trouble.”

  Chi no longer doubted the action she took in Mumbassa City and seemed hardened rather than diminished by the subsequent ambush in the galley.

  “Planets are crawling with assholes and vermin,” she continued.

  “You mean humans?”

  “Them too.”

  “Is that how you think of Hokkaido?”

  “Some of it. Haansu was stacked with people like Francois. They just dressed better. I needed a few months out here to see the big picture. Space is not meant for everybody, Kara. See you at dinner?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  The entire crew planned to dine together before breaking orbit. It would mark the first time they’d done so since entering the Zwahili system seventy days ago. Kara wasn’t sure whether the tone would be celebratory or contemplative. The mission took important steps forward without losing anyone, but the challenge appeared now to be more daunting than anyone imagined.

  In Kara’s last talk with Joseph Mogandi, he said Maxwell ran away from the ranch again. This time, he did not head to the city. Others in his so-called “circle” also vanished. The search was continuing, but Joseph feared their group was undaunted in its quest to find God inside the Splinter. He dreaded the next steps they might take. He wished Kara well and hoped to see her again under better circumstances.

  The latest news from Hokkaido offered a bleak picture as well: The economy was imploding. The secret about the decades-long poisoning of the continent leaked to the public. Authorities declared martial law in Pinchon. Ya-Li Taron’s mad gambits were yielding bitter fruit.

  Kara suspected they might find strange reports emerging from every Alliance world if they jumped into those systems.

  To top it off, Standard Year 5367 arrived in ten days. Amayas relayed confirmation to Alliance leadership: He was going public on Standard Day 1. Prepare for the next phase.

  What “next phase” meant was anyone’s guess. Did the Inventor plan to shower each planet with Splinters to convert everyone who needed convincing? How public a presence would Amayas make himself in those heady days?

  The one certainty: A tipping point approached.

  Kara hoped they weren’t too late to stop whatever nightmare the Inventor was generating.

  Scylla’s next step: Journey to Aeterna.

  Negotiations with Michael Cooper were tense, and concessions were made, but an agreement reached.

  Scylla could not Worm into the system, so it would jump to the closest Nexus point and travel the Fulcrum from there to the Aeternan Nexus. A little more than a day’s journey. Michael promised to disarm the automatic defense network guarding the Nexus. Ham agreed to disable Scylla’s weapons array. It would stop at a designated Lagrange point. From there, the crew could use Scramjet Horn’s Worm drive to jump to the surface.

  Kara hoped Chi’s cynical definition of planets crawling with assholes and vermin might be tested by their next landing. Her three trips to Battlecruiser Milos suggested these Aeternans were a breed apart. And a planet with only twenty-five hundred people? Well, that seemed to allow ample room for social distancing.

  She saw hope and concern during those visits. Exeter was a new man, blossoming after years of a torturous life. The crew of Aeternans were free spirits, their energy infectious even as they showed unflinching devotion to their Minister.

  Michael, on the other hand, fluctuated between even-handed and tyrannical. He took Kara and Ham to see Angela Poussard. She cut a miserable profile in her tiny cell. She wasn’t responsive to any of their questions but saved considerable vitriol for Ham. How dare a Chancellor ally himself with a monster like Cooper? Even if that Chancellor went rogue years ago. Did he not care a wit about the legacy of his caste? Ham’s one-word answer did not go over well.

  “What do you expect to learn from her?” Kara asked Michael as they returned to the negotiating table. “The woman is lost.”

  “There’s a nugget or two I can squeeze out of her. We have the right sort of tech back home.”

  “And then?”

  “When I see she’s empty, I’ll kill her.”

  “You want her to suffer.”

  “She brought this shit on herself. I gave her fair warning.”

  “Wouldn’t it make more sense to send her back to the Chancellors with a message? No one would challenge you again.”

  He chuckled.

  “You don’t know those fuckers like I do. I know where their fleets are. Any message I send will be tacked onto a zinger. It might even be a mercy.”

  She didn’t pursue the conversation. Michael Cooper was their newest and most powerful ally, but which Michael? The charming, self-effacing man who drew smiles and laughter with strange analogies and off-color language? The rock-hard titan of a man whose past was littered with corpses and seemed willing to walk that road again?

  For now, Kara sided with hope. She didn’t want to rock the boat of what appeared to be a popular alliance among the crew. They saw the Aeternan pact as a significant upgrade. Cando and Yusef thought the Aeternan technology might benefit the Talons’ armor and weaponry. Exeter said both sides’ soldiers could learn from each other to become a stronger fighting force. Ham said this was the only way forward to uncovering Amayas and his secrets.

  No one said much of Ryllen Jee after learning of his resurrection. Cando said the Talons had mixed feelings at best, but Exeter’s description led them to a consensus: They had no desire to cross paths with him again.

  Cando offered a toast at dinner.

  “To an outstanding crew with important work still to do. May we begin the next stage of our journey with renewed vigor and excitement. To our crew! To our family!”

  Glasses clinked and smiles settled in all around.

  The meal that followed was exceptional, the best Kara could remember since she left Hokkaido.

  Or maybe it wasn’t the food at all.

  Perhaps Chi was right.

  Perhaps Scylla was starting to feel like home.

  41

  The Hold

  2,000 light-years from Collectorate space

  T HE ROCK SPUN ALONE IN THE deepest dark, hidden from all but those who knew where to look. A mile long and a third as wide, most of its surface featured jagged valleys and peaks like tendrils, upon which landing was impossible. Yet one cutaway a hundred meters long was smooth as glass. Narrow gashes ran parallel to each other and cut deep into the rock, wide enough for humans.

  The thunderous flash of a wormhole aperture opened above the rock. A cigar-shaped vessel dropped quietly and penetrated the cascade barrier. It landed on the glass and cut its running lights.