The thrusters are pushing against the velocity I gained in the opposite direction, causing the forces to cancel each other out. The Arrowhead is almost at a total standstill as the three remaining drones approach. I cut the power to the thrusters as they start to fire, their aim accounting for where they expect me to be.

  Which isn’t floating completely still in space.

  Their shots are short and go past me, hitting the bottom of the commissary bulb above. I expect it must be shielded, and I’m too busy to care much anyway. I fire almost all of the missiles on board in rapid succession, saving three before punching the throttle again.

  The waves of missiles spray toward the AI drones, and they shoot at them defensively, their perfect aim and the predictable nature of the projectiles making them easy to knock out of the sky. But those weapons are only a distraction, meant to keep them busy while I close the distance. I’m almost right on top of them when I release the last three missiles, one at each drone. I’m so close to the drones the rockets go past them and have to swing around and come back around while the drones are still shooting at the first three. The missiles slam into them, blowing them to pieces.

  Because that’s how it’s done.

  I streak along the cylinder, going for Deck One-sixty. “Amelia, are you with me? Amelia!” I glance back at her.

  Her eyes flutter open. “Oh...wh...what happened?” she stammers.

  “G-LOC,” I reply. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You missed all the fun, though.”

  “The drones?”

  “Destroyed.”

  She turns her head. “I wasn’t sure I believed you before. I do now. I can’t believe I’m in a starship with Odin Longknife.”

  “It’s not that impressive.”

  “If that’s true, then everything else you told me is true.”

  “I already told you that.”

  She suddenly looks scared. “You told me there are star-sucking aliens from beyond the Disturbance inside the Sphere. At Warrick.”

  “Yes.”

  “And they may have bugged your freighter, and you may have led them here.”

  “Yes. I told you that already too.”

  “But I didn’t completely believe you!”

  “Whose fault is that? Look, we’re almost at the hangar. Looks like your brother pulled up the welcome mat and locked the door. Can you do something about that?” Amelia’s frozen, trying to come to terms with the truth. “Amelia, do you copy? We need to get the hangar open.”

  Her eyes flick over to me and she nods. The terminal is secured to her lap, and she starts tapping on it again. “It should be opening now.”

  I can see the light reappearing between the two hangar bay doors as they separate. “It is. Here we go.”

  Chapter 28

  Amelin knows we’re flying around the core in a starship, and by now he has to know I wiped the black with his drones. If he’s at all smart, he’ll have the hangar surrounded by the time we get in there and touch down, which means the only way we’re getting out of it and anywhere near Rozik is to fight and fight hard.

  Or fight smart. That’s my usual preference, and I’m working on the problem as I pull the Arrowhead in for approach. I hover there as the hangar doors slide the rest of the way open. I can see the interior of the lowest deck. It isn’t the same hangar I spied on in the control room. There are no starfighters inside. Three transports are on the deck near the back, facing the exit. They’re small, boxy and harmless—designed to carry passengers from the station to waiting starships. Otherwise, the space is nearly empty.

  I spot two exits from the hangar right away. The main exit at the rear center above two sets of stairs and a small personnel hatch lower down. They’re both closed and likely locked, with who knows how many soldiers waiting behind them.

  “That terminal has full systems override on the station?” I ask.

  “It does,” Amelia confirms. “What are you thinking?”

  “Do you think your brother knows it?”

  “That probably depends on what happened to Kratz.”

  “He got hit with a stun pulse about thirty minutes ago. He’s probably still out cold unless they juiced him.”

  “Amelin probably doesn’t think he needs him. I’m going to guess he doesn’t know I have full system control, not just control of the hangar doors.”

  “Let’s do our best to keep that a secret. We’ll go in, touch down and close the doors.” I take out my ear bud comm, which is either strangely silent or they finally guessed I might have been listening in. I hand it back to her. “Then try to get in touch with your brother with this. Tell him you want to talk.”

  “What?”

  “Tell him we’ll be waiting outside, unarmed. That the whole thing was to prove I’m who I say I am and the station is in trouble.”

  “I don’t understand. He’ll kill us.”

  “He won’t. You’re going to set a timer on the terminal. Two minutes, and then turn off the gravity inside the hangar.” I look past her, to the equipment intended for a sick Geramin Rocklin. “And the air.”

  “But Odin—”

  “Suck all the air out of the hangar. When the gravity goes out, be ready to break back here. The Arrowhead will be maglocked to the deck and won’t move. Get in here, use the oxygen tank to breathe. Lock out the hangar so they can’t escape.”

  “You’ll still suffocate.”

  “I can hold my breath long enough.” I hope.

  “No. You won’t survive.”

  “You care about me now?”

  “I don’t want to be the woman who kills Odin Longknife.”

  “You aren’t. He died a long time ago. He needs to stay dead. Maybe you get it now?”

  She nods. “You told me I wouldn’t be able to turn you in when this was over. I guess you were right. The Sphere needs you fighting more than it needs me settling a new ghost planet.”

  “Then do what I say, and maybe we’ll both survive.”

  “Okay.” She takes the comm bud and sticks it in her ear. Then she waits while I guide the Arrowhead into the hangar, extending the skids and touching down near the center. I activate the magnetic locks to keep it pinned to the deck, and Amelia closes the hangar doors. Then she taps on the ear bud to activate the comm.

  “Amelin, are you there?” she says. “Amelin, it’s Amelia. Come in.” A pause. “Colonel Trix. I need to speak with my brother. No. Only him.” Another pause. “Yes. No, he wasn’t lying.” She glances at me. “That’s something worth considering. We need to speak in person.” She waits while he speaks. “In the hangar. We’ll be waiting outside the ship. Unarmed. How do I know I can trust you? I don’t. I think you understand the situation. Yes, I believe him. He calls them banshees. Yes, I agree. It does change things; that’s why we need to talk. Yes, I’ll meet you here. Five minutes. Amelia, out.”

  She takes the bud out of her ear and looks at me.

  “Well?” I ask.

  “He’s coming. He’s going to try to take you alive. He wants the chrome. I can hear it in his voice.”

  “He won’t come to talk though.”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. He told me we should take you together and split the profit. I could go anywhere in the Sphere with that kind of credit and he has no reason to kill me if I’m not trying to get the station back.”

  “How kind. You could have taken him up on the offer.”

  “How do you know I didn’t?” She smiles slyly. “You’re in a tough position, Odin.”

  “I know,” I reply. “I think you care about the people on this station too much to leave them to your brother.”

  “You’ve got me there.”

  “Amelin doesn’t believe in the banshees?”

  “Oh, I think he does. But he’s never been good at thinking long-term.”

  “They might show up here any minute.”

  “When I say long-term, I mean beyond the next few minutes. My brother is as stupid as he is power-hungry.”

  “Do you know if they have access to the security cameras back?”

  She taps on the terminal. “Not yet. Kratz is the best engineer on the station. If he’s out, it leaves them at a severe disadvantage.”

  “The fates aren’t usually so kind to me. You’re sure your brother aims to shoot first and talk later?”

  “Positive.”

  “Then we need to be prepared. If he wants me alive, he can only shoot you.”

  “That’s not a comforting thought.”

  “Then my next thought is going to make you really uncomfortable.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “You’re going to let him.”

  Chapter 29

  Five minutes later, Amelia and me are standing next to the Arrowhead. Our hands are empty, but of course I’ve got my two pistols tucked into the holsters beneath my suit jacket. I don’t know if Amelin will think I’m armed. I’m inclined to believe he won’t, mainly because that would make it a lot harder for Amelia to betray me so they could turn me in and split the proceeds.

  The one thing I wonder is who they would sell me to. The Commune probably wants me, but I don’t know for sure they’d be the highest bidder. Plenty of interests in the AOP with extra-deep pockets wanted to lose the war, and even after all these years they would probably still love to make me pay something for messing it all up for them. I can’t imagine Amelin handing me off to anyone above board.

  It all starts happening pretty much the way I expect, and the way I told Amelia to expect. I’ve seen this kind of stuff before. Like I said, after I went into hiding the Navy still had a use for me as a small-scale tactician. Drawing up battle plans for both fighter squadrons and SPAL teams, selecting personnel for missions, that sort of thing. My training and experience kept me relevant even after I couldn’t fly.

  The inner two doors to the hangar open at the same time, two groups of Amelin’s goons pouring in through them, most of them sticking to the perimeter while Amelin himself comes toward us from straight ahead. He’s got a smirk on his face more annoying than Rozik’s, and I can’t wait to wipe it off his face and replace it with unfettered fear.

  He’s cooperating perfectly so far, approaching us with only his bodyguards plus a man I assume is Colonel Trix. Trix is dark-skinned and brawny, not as big as the behemoth from earlier, but a monster in his own right. He’s also got a nasty scar across his chin and he’s missing one of his ears.

  “Amelia,” Amelin says, ignoring me for the moment. “I’m so very sorry about Geramin.”

  There’s nothing in his tone or posture that suggests he means it.

  “We knew it was coming,” Amelia replies.

  Amelin looks at me now, staring for a moment before smiling. “Odin Longknife. The Scourge of Capricorn. I thought you’d look older, to be honest. No wonder Sasha didn’t believe it was really you.”

  “I tried to tell her,” I say. “I thought maybe we could negotiate.”

  “Negotiate? What is there to negotiate. You’re like a golden goose falling out of space.”

  “And your merry band of pirates nearly cooked me before you got a single egg.”

  He shrugs. “Who knew? In any case.” He pulls a pistol from behind his back and points it at Amelia. “Sorry, sis. You know I’ve never been one to share.”

  He shoots her, three times in the chest. She stumbles back and falls to the ground on her stomach.

  “Really?” I say, looking from Amelia to Amelin. “Are you really this stupid?”

  “I’ve got it all figured out, Odin,” Amelin responds. “Now if you don’t mind, you’re coming with me. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you nice and comfortable while I get in touch with my contacts to see who’ll bid the highest for you. I will need your Lucier needle though, to prove it’s you.”

  “My own recognizance isn’t good enough?”

  Colonel Trix takes an aggressive step toward me, ready to grab me and remove me less nicely than Amelin just promised. I notice Amelia’s finger out of the corner of my eye, tapping the deck three times.

  Two...one…

  I bend my knees and jump, reaching under my jacket at the same time the gravity goes out in the hanger. I’m ready for it. Amelia’s ready for it. Nobody else is.

  They flail as they start to rise, while I pull the pistols, turning one of them toward Trix, who grabs for my ankle. I squeeze the trigger, sending a pair of plasma bolts into his head, the force of the shot pushing me back a little faster. Blood spurts from his head, forming droplets that float toward the ceiling as his body rotates backward, spinning away.

  I take a few quick breaths, sucking in air and holding. A loud clap precedes a hum, and then the fans come on, quickly pulling the oxygen out of the hangar, the suction also drags the closest goons to the vent.

  I look down to Amelin, appreciating the look on his face, which only gets more frightening and indignant as Amelia uses the grating on the deck to climb toward the planted Arrowhead. I’m sure he’d love to chase her, but he’s got nothing to use to change his momentum except his gun.

  He chooses to shoot at her instead, swinging the weapon toward her and firing. His aim is decent, and he nearly hits her in the back. The shot is close enough to convince her to pull hard toward the ship and let go, skating just above the deck to the Arrowhead’s backside. She grabs the lip of the deck and holds on, tapping on the controls to open it.

  Amelin’s shots push him up and back, away from everything. I tuck and turn myself over, rolling like I’m a starfighter and lining up my next shot. He’s too far away from me right now to bother with—the way he’s cursing I’m sure he’ll suffocate—so I rotate and shoot at the guards, who are desperately trying to return the favor while pulling in the last gasps of air they’re going to get.

  I hit them clean, just ahead of their return fire. The plasma blasts can’t get all the way through their armor, but the impacts and the change in my momentum mess with their aim and speed up their breathing, leaving them more vulnerable.

  I float toward the ceiling, catching myself on it and stopping my velocity. A quick look around the hangar shows me Amelin’s goons are recovering from the original shock of losing gravity, but they don’t have a lot of zero-g training and they’re growing short of breath. They’re worried more about getting out of the hangar than about me, desperate to reach the exits that they haven’t already guessed are locked. Part of me feels sorry for these men and women, but only until I remember the choices they made. This was one of them.

  I push off the ceiling, dropping toward the top of the Arrowhead. The air is nearly gone from the chamber, and I can see the guards coughing and sputtering through their helmets. I look for Amelin, surprised when I can’t find him. Where the hell did he go?

  I rotate in the vacuum, still dropping. I find him near the smaller exit, holding tight to the access pad and tapping commands into it. Can Amelia’s network override be overridden locally? I’m willing to bet it can.

  I try to get a bead on him but I’m falling and spinning, and until I touch something solid it’ll be hard to correct the motion. Damn it, why didn’t Amelia tell me this could happen? If he gets that door open and the air gets back in the hangar we’re going to be surrounded by angry guards again.

  I try to take a wild shot, which hits the wall beside him, close enough he looks back, eyes wild with fear. He returns his attention to the panel, while I finally hit the top of the spacecraft, bending my legs as my feet touch down.

  Too late.

  Amelin completes the override, the door out of the hangar slides open. I shove myself toward him, airborne like a missile. He pulls himself over the threshold and his gravity returns. I hold my arm out to shoot him in the back, but I don’t.

  Then Amelin is suddenly tumbling back into the hangar, his body and blood beginning to float to the ceiling as the incoming air shoves him away. The same force stops my momentum and I grab at the floor, holding on until everything settles.

  My eyes fall on Rozik and Yari standing a few meters further down the passage.

  “You’re late.”

  Chapter 30

  “Looks to me like I’m right on time,” Rozik replies, giving me the damn smirk again. Yari laughs beside him.

  “Well, since you needed a little girl to get you out of captivity, I should probably cut you some slack,” I reply. “You just can’t keep up with me.”

  “In your dreams, Alliance.”

  I notice Rozik’s got a black eye. “Amelin did that to you?”

  He nods. “To be honest, he sucks at torture. But it still felt good to put a few holes in that son of a bitch. What’s happening in there?”

  I turn around in time to see the guards fall to the deck as the gravity returns. At least half of them are dead. The other half are trying to recover their breath, and the fall didn’t help. There’s no fight left in any of them.

  “Just finishing up,” I say. “Looks like Naraka’s back under Amelia’s control.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “Better than Amelin. She’s promised to honor our deal.”

  “I’m not a big believer in promises made by ghost operators.”

  “She’s not as bad as her first impression made her seem.” I pause, remembering Sasha. “But we still have one Rocklin loose in here.”

  “She won’t be giving us any trouble,” Yari says. “Rozzie knocked her out and put her in his cell.”

  “Rozzie?” I say. “That’s cute.”

  “Shut up,” Rozik says.

  “What? It’s cute.”

  “I think so,” Yari says.

  “Where is Miss Rocklin?” Rozik asks.

  I turn back to the hangar. The ramp into the Arrowhead is opening, and she comes down it once it does. Her eyes sweep the chaos until they land on Amelin. She walks over to him, crouching beside him. Tears fall from her eyes onto his chest, and she reaches up and pushes his eyes closed. Then she stands and looks at me. I can see the bullet holes in her blouse, her pale flesh a sharp contrast to the material. She already took out the metal plate that saved her life.