“Yeah,” I admitted. “I suppose. So why doesn’t Baron Whats-his-name want you to sell the ship?”

  “To understand that, you need to understand where it came from.”

  “A giant robot,” Matt answered.

  “Not exactly, Sherlock,” Keep replied. He picked up the big remote again, clicking on it to change the channel or something, leaving the screen blank. Tapping on his phone again, an image of thousands of stars appeared on the monitor. “This is space.”

  “Clearly,” Matt said.

  “More specifically, this is the Fertile Quadrant of the Manticore Spiral, so named because it’s the most dense cluster of planets which birthed intelligent life in the known universe.”

  “Cool,” I said, staring at all of the stars. The image was too zoomed out to see individual worlds in it. “How many planets are we talking about?”

  “Over a hundred,” Keep replied.

  “Very cool.”

  “Approximately four hundred years from now, nearly fifty thousand humans will leave Earth on board an arkship destined for the Trappist-1 system to become the first extraterrestrial human settlers. On the way there, they’ll accidentally travel into a hole in spacetime and wind up in the Manticore Spiral nearly three thousand years in the past, at a time before most of the intelligent life in the Quadrant has discovered spaceflight. Armed with their already advanced technology, they’ll spend the next two millenia expanding across the entirety of the Spiral as the predominant species, and create the seat of power from which they still rule today.”

  “Wow,” I said, mesmerized by the backstory.

  “Wait,” Matt said. “You’re saying you’re from the future? A time traveler?”

  “No, dummy,” I replied. “He said the original humans who settled the Spiral came from our future, but they ended up around twenty five hundred years in our past.”

  “Okay, but all of them originally came from the future,” Matt said, looking at Keep. “And since you’re human, that means you originated from someone who is from Earth, but who hasn’t even been born yet.”

  “That’s right,” Keep confirmed. “That doesn’t make me a time traveler. My point of telling you that is to explain how humans wound up halfway across the universe.”

  “I get it. But how did you wind up back here? Halfway across the universe is pretty damn far away.”

  “I’ll get to that. Moving on.”

  Keep tapped on his phone. The display zoomed in, flying toward the stars as though it were a spaceship itself, until some of the planets came into focus. A blue outline highlighted one of the worlds. The word Caprum appeared over it.

  “The Atlas Hegemony is quite large. As a result, it’s overseen by a governance similar to the feudal system of Earth’s middle ages. The leader of the Hegemony, Empress Li’an, is responsible for all of the higher-level operations of a massive civilization. Primarily, selecting families to raise to the nobility and introduce into the line of succession, mediating some disputes, providing security across the Spiral, and generally living a lavish lifestyle few of us can ever hope to aspire to.”

  “But you aren’t bitter,” Matt quipped.

  “When the Hegemony’s mediation processes fail, the end result is often war, the scale of which depends entirely on the nature of the dispute and the alliances forged between the ruling nobles. Caprum was my home world, Duchess Dryka, my liege. I was her advisor in all matters of state, a poor replacement for her father who was killed when she was only eight years old, poor kid. I was Baron Dryka’s man-at-arms. A trained soldier, turned statesman, turned salesman. Badabing badaboom.” He laughed sardonically, using his phone to highlight another planet, relatively close to Caprum. “This is Sarton, Duke Sedaya’s seat. It was the Duke who caused all of this. My world is rich in levitite, a mineral used in a large number of applications and as a result extremely lucrative. The Duke hoped to gain access to the mines through marriage to the Duchess, but because of the difference in age he had to request permission for the union from the Empress, which she firmly denied. Usually, these types of disagreements lead to war. The Duke’s path to power was worse. Far worse.”

  He turned to face us, his hardened expression threatening to break down.

  “He didn’t care about a quick victory. After all, Ninaya was only eight. He had time to bide. So he set about corroding us from the inside out, using his lack of morality and his powerful influence to convince trusted allies to turn their backs on Caprum while at the same time secretly putting a bounty on the Duchess’ young head. A large portion of my own soldiers participated in the coup, and they would have succeeded in slaughtering Ninaya if not for the few courageous loyalists who helped me escape the palace with her and get her off-world. I wasn’t so lucky. Duke Sedaya’s forces captured me, tortured me, and as the Duke claimed Caprum for his own, exiled me to the planet Demitrus.”

  He tapped on his phone. A third planet gained a colored outline. It sat at the far tip of the Spiral, a visibly immense distance from Caprum. The name of the world, Demitrus, appeared over it.

  “Demitrus is the home of the Acheon,” Keep said. “A race of intelligent insectoids who earn their place in the Hegemony by allowing their planet to be used as a massive dumping ground. It sounds bad, but the Acheon are expert engineers and builders, and use the scrap as both living space and to produce repurposed goods for trade, including starships.”

  “Like this one?” I asked.

  “Bingo! The Acheon don’t like humans, though they accept that allowing dumping on their planet includes discarded people. Colonies of exiles litter the landscape like the billions of kilograms of trash, scavenging what they can from the scrap the Acheon don’t use. It’s a hard life, made harder by the harsh environment on Demitrus. But I had two things to keep me going.”

  “Reuniting with the Duchess,” I said. “That’s one.”

  “Yup,” Keep agreed.

  “The Star of Caprum,” Matt added.

  Keep raised an eyebrow. “Now, there you are proving your nickname, Sherlock. How’d you guess?”

  “You gave it a proper name, which means it’s rare if not unique. And I figured the Duke has a good reason to be after you.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “If he’s after the Star, and the Star is part of the ship, then if we buy the ship he’ll be after us.”

  “Yes. But also, no,” Keep said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “That’s one of the reasons I need to sell the ship. The Star is included in the sale. As it’s property of the Duchess and I’m still her legal guardian despite our separation, it’s all legitimate in the eyes of the Hegemony. To attack or otherwise seize the Star from you without cause would put Sedaya on the wrong side of the Royal Guard”

  “So, we’d be safe,” I said.

  “As safe as anyone can be in the Fertile Quadrant,” Keep qualified. “I can’t guarantee Sedaya won’t hire mercenaries to try to take the Star from you.”

  “Ben,” Matt said, his tone of voice causing me to grimace. “Can we talk for a minute? Alone?”

  “No,” I replied. “I know what you’re thinking. You don’t want to get involved in all of this.”

  Matt sighed. “You know I love you like a brother, Bennie. But this is all too much. It seemed exciting and harmless enough until people started dying. It was a little concerning, knowing we’d have people gunning for us. But Keep’s talking about us stepping into the middle of something a lot bigger. We’re already in over our heads, and I’m not too thrilled about the idea of drowning.”

  “It sounds exciting to me,” I said. “A little scary, sure. But this is like something right out of a movie, and not Space Aces Need Love Too. This really could be the adventure of a lifetime.”

  “I hear you,” Matt said, his face falling. “And yeah the idea of going to another galaxy is mind blowing. Mister Keep, your story is interesting as hell, really. I hope you were a good soldier, because you’re definitely a lousy salesman. Learning more about what we’d be in for didn’t help at all. It’s my money, and I don’t want to get mixed up in all of this. I don’t want you mixed up in this either, Ben. You’re going to get yourself killed. I’m sorry, but it’s time to go home.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I dropped onto the couch behind me, lowering my head into my hands. I knew the final word was coming. I knew what it would be. But that didn’t help temper my disappointment.

  “Mister Keep, I think the limo that brought us here is totalled,” Matt said. “I assume you have another way to get us home.”

  “I can get you home,” Keep replied, voice tense. “But you should know, just because I’m still fighting for the Duchess and Caprum, that doesn’t mean you’re expected to do the same. As soon as the sale is completed you’re free to do whatever you want with the ship, and with the Star. You can even sell it to the Duke, if that’s your decision. Though I’d prefer you didn’t. Not only would it leave the ship without a power source, but the Star would be more dangerous in Sedaya’s hands than anywhere else in the universe.”

  “As long as we have the Star, we’ll be in danger,” Matt said.

  “Life is a risk,” Keep replied. “From the moment you wake up one day to the moment you wake up the next, any one of a billion things could end it. Truthfully, the Fertile Quadrant can be a dangerous place. But you wouldn’t be defenseless.”

  “You mean the guns? And that smaller ship in the hangar?”

  “Yes, and yes. And you’d also have Alter.”

  I perked up at that. “What do you mean?”

  “Alter comes with the ship, assuming you’re willing to keep her on. It’s her home. The only place she feels at peace. She’ll defend it, and its owners, to her last breath. And let me tell you, that’s no small benefit. Before she met me, Alter was one of the most infamous assassins in the Quadrant, though few people knew it.”

  “I don’t know whether to be impressed or scared shitless,” I said. “Assassin?”

  “A killer for hire.”

  “I know what an assassin is. I just…other than making short work of Sedaya’s minions, she seems kind of sweet and childlike.”

  “She’s many things, kid. Foremost of which is a valuable asset.”

  “And you’re sure she’d want to stay on with us?”

  “Positive. Like I said, this ship is her home.”

  “How did she wind up here?”

  “She was living in the hollowed out remains of the superstructure when I discovered it, exiled to Demitrus like I was. Even when the Acheon began repurposing the remains of the robot head into a ship, she refused to leave. When the ship was completed, I found her waiting for me on the flight deck in the co-pilot’s seat.”

  “I think we’re missing a chunk of time,” Matt said. “How did you go from being exiled to Demitrus to convincing the insect aliens who hate humans to build you a starship?”

  I smiled at the question, my hopes rising as Matt put himself back into the game. Because the idea of having Alter on board made him feel safer, or because he thought she was cute. I hoped for the former. The latter would only cause problems down the road.

  “Easy peasy,” Keep replied. “I had the Star.”

  “How did you sneak it past Sedaya?” I asked. “If the Star is that valuable, he must have known you had it?”

  “Nope. He thought the Duchess escaped with it. He had me searched, of course, and not gently. But I knew he would want the Star, so I had my body modified to create a compartment to store it beneath my skin, under an old battle scar.”

  “That’s disgusting and amazing at the same time,” I said.

  “The Acheon had to cut me open to retrieve it. I promised them use of it until they finished building the ship. I never planned to end up with a robot head, but that’s what they picked.” He smiled, revealing uneven teeth, a seemingly rare occurrence. “Or maybe they just wanted to get Alter off their planet.” The smile vanished as quickly as it arrived. “I knew Sedaya had spies on Demitrus. All of the most ambitious Barons do. I knew word of the Star would reach him, and that when it did he would come. The Acheon knew it too, which motivated them to work faster. They finished just in time. Alter and I had to make it through three squadrons of the Duke’s fighters to escape.”

  “Wow.”

  “Like I said earlier, she may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts. Badabing badaboom!” He stared at Matt. “What do you think? Does having one of the most ferocious bodyguards in the universe help change your mind?”

  “You probably should have led with that after she wiped the floor with the Duke’s mercenaries, but no. This isn’t the kind of adventure I’m looking for.”

  My face probably matched Keep’s. Frustrated, disappointed, desperate. “You haven’t seen the rest of the ship,” I said.

  “I don’t need to see it,” Matt replied.

  “There’s one more thing you should keep in mind,” Keep said.

  “No. I’m done. I can’t see how any of this is worth the risk.”

  “Just one more thing? Humor me, kid.”

  “Fine. What is it?”

  “This ship is powered by a star you can stick in your pocket. This deck shrunk you to half your original size without you knowing it. I came to Earth from the other side of the universe. And you don’t think technology exists out there to save your best friend’s life?”

  Matt had opened his mouth, ready to argue. He clamped it shut, face flushing as he looked over at me. I had read stories about people who had donated a kidney to a friend in need. How much was he willing to give? I didn’t expect anything. I didn’t deserve anything.

  But damn, I wanted it.

  Matt’s throat shifted as he swallowed a huge lump in it. I stared at him, realizing then that I was looking at something I had rarely seen before. He wanted to say yes. I could see it in his eyes. The reason why he hadn’t was simple.

  Fear.

  While Matt had always been more adventurous than me, this situation had reached the edge of his comfort zone. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand. How much of my carefree attitude came from knowing I was already living on borrowed time? Or knowing that maybe I could extend the term limit of that loan by heading to the Manticore Spiral? What kind of pressure was he under knowing he almost literally held my life in his hands?

  The silent tension shattered when Keep’s phone rang. He picked it up immediately, bringing it to his ear. His hard, flat expression shifted as his eyes shifted between Matt and me.

  “That was Alter,” he said, lowering the phone. “More of the Duke’s forces are on the way. If you want a chance to get out of here, I need a decision. Now.”

  My heart raced, hands clamming up as I quickly overloaded with anxious dread. I didn’t want to leave. Like Alter, I would rather go down with the ship.

  Matt glanced at me one more time and I saw the icy fear melt, his decision silently made. “How do we finalize the sale?” he asked. “We never even talked about the price.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I couldn’t hold back the massive grin that came with my sense of relief. I couldn’t stop the happy tears from filling my eyes, and it took all of my willpower to keep from jumping up and wrapping my arms around Matt. It didn’t matter that a second group of not-people were on their way to try to seize the ship again. I was certain Alter could handle them. It mattered that he had said yes, primarily because it could save my life.

  “Four million,” Keep said without missing a beat. Everything Matt had inherited from his mother’s passing.

  “Come on, man. I still have to pay taxes on that money,” Matt replied.

  Keep laughed out loud, joyous that Matt had decided to go for it. It was strange to hear. “Taxes? Who gives a shit about taxes where you’re going?”

  Matt’s face reddened again. “All right. Four million. How do I pay you?”

  I appreciated that he didn’t balk at the cost. What good was Earth fiat where we were going, anyway?

  “I’ll take care of the withdrawal once the contract is signed,” Keep said.

  “What do you mean? I don’t need to send a wire? Or fill anything out for the transfer?”

  “That isn’t necessary.” Keep tapped on his phone, bringing up a white screen. He turned it toward us. The text was so small I could only make out the header.

  BILL OF SALE FOR STARSHIP IDENTIFIER CUL8T3R

  “You mean you could have drained my account any time you wanted?” Matt asked. “How?”

  “I strongly recommend not clicking on hyperlinks from strangers in the future,” Keep replied. “Especially when the resulting web site contains malware that replicates to all devices in a person’s contact list without them knowing and collects credentials to every app on said device. Including their mobile banking apps. Badabing badaboom!”

  Matt’s eyes whipped back to me in a harsh glare. I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. But it all worked out in the end, right?”

  His deer-in-headlights look returned. “I hope so.”

  “I don’t think we have time for you to read the whole contract,” Keep said. “Basically, it says you’re paying me four million United States dollars, official fiat currency on Earth, in exchange for this starship. Once the document is signed, you’re responsible for all fees incurred from the point of sale forward. It also says you agree to allow Miss Alter Miyaga to reside on the ship in perpetuity, or until such a time as she chooses to disembark. That decision must be presented in the form of written notice with her signature.” He scrolled the full contract, showing how much legalese had been added until he reached the signature field. “Just sign here, I’ll transfer the cash, and we’re good to go. Badabing badaboom!”

  “How do I know you didn’t include some line in there that says ownership reverts back to you after some amount of time or something? Or that prohibits us from selling the Star of Caprum?”

  Keep shrugged and held out his phone. “You’re welcome to read the document in its entirety.”