“No, you don’t,” she replied. “If you were an Aleal in charge of a starship, and you had the most dangerous threat to your kind’s ability to propagate throughout the galaxy trapped on said ship, what would you do with it?”

  “I’ll be pretty damn happy if we’re on our way to Blorb,” I said. “As long as I can get my guitar back before we arrive.”

  “I don’t think we’re on our way back to Blorb. He’s not a cookie-cutter Galaxy Man villain trying to capture you so he can bore you with exposition about his master plan.”

  I stared at her, considering the scenario. My blood ran cold when the answer hit me.

  If Kritchek was an Aleal, and if I were Kritchek, I would send Prestige hurtling into the closest object large enough to obliterate the ship and destroy everything and everyone on it. Including me, the one person who presented the greatest threat to everything he was fighting for.

  If I was Kritchek, I would consider that a fair trade.

  CHAPTER 8

  “Now you get it,” Quasar said, watching my reaction to the idea that Kritchek was an Aleal imposter bent on destroying Prestige and everyone on it.

  Most importantly…me.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But how can it be possible to guide the ship headlong into a planet? Doesn’t the nav system have failsafes to prevent that sort of thing?”

  “It should, but we both know code can be altered and failsafes overridden.”

  “So you agree with me about Kritchek now?”

  “No, but I think it’s safer to assume the worst and hope for the best.”

  “Can you estimate how much time we might have before we crash into something?”

  “I’m already working on it.”

  We started forward again. It took a lot of effort to march at an even, unhurried pace, following Shaq as he ran ahead. The poor fit of Tsu’s helmet had already made the aura of that headache I’d felt coming turn into a pounding between my eyes, and with it so hard to breathe, the idea of smashing into a planet or burning up in a star’s corona nearly left me gasping for air.

  Shaq slowed to wait for me as we approached a bank of elevators. I heard voices up ahead, just out of sight. Unlike Shaq, I couldn’t stop along the bulkhead without looking suspicious, so I continued forward to the lifts. A pair of techs waiting at the smaller passenger elevator in the corner fell silent, stiffening noticeably when they saw me. Apparently intimidated by Royal Marines.

  I stopped close to them, standing at attention until the elevator arrived. When the doors opened, one of them turned to me. “We’ll get the next one,” he said. “I’m sure you’re in a hurry to be somewhere.”

  I hesitated, concerned about leaving Shaq and Zar behind. I couldn’t turn around without the techs thinking it strange, and the last thing I wanted to do was stand out. I nodded and stepped forward. As I passed between them, one of them suddenly lurched into me. I turned and grabbed him by the shoulder, squeezing hard as I stepped threateningly into his space, my helmet visor just millimeters from his terrified face.

  “S…sorry,” he mumbled. “I don’t know what happened. I must have lost my balance or something.”

  I was glad he couldn’t see my smirk. He didn’t lose his balance. Dryka had used the sigibellum to pull him into me, the diversion allowing Shaq to race behind him, into the elevator. Pushing him back with a rough shove, I stepped into the cab and turned around. Zar followed me in, not leaving any space for the two techs to change their minds about waiting for the cab’s return. The doors closed centimeters in front of my face.

  “Deck Eighteen,” Quasar said. “It’s going to get busier up there. I’m not sure we’ll be able to stay out of sight.”

  “You should get back on Head Case,” I replied, leaning to the side to hit the control pad for Deck Eighteen. “You too, bud.”

  “How me?” Shaq asked. “Too big.”

  “You’ll fit in the hangar. It’s temporary.”

  The ship flew off my helmet, zipping into the corner where it scaled back to one tenth its normal size.

  “Ben,” Quasar said, “based on our position at the time we entered hyperspace and estimated velocity, we have between forty-one and forty-eight minutes until a potential collision.”

  “That’s not a lot of time. How long to reach the armory?”

  “Not long. But I told you, I’m not completely sure I can use my neural to open the door. The lock is tied to a requisition system based on duty schedules, so that only Marines can get in and only with advanced approval.”

  “Understood. That’s okay. I have a better idea.” I gently patted the top of Head Case. “We’ll open the door from inside. That should be easier anyway, right?”

  “Yes and no. I’m not sure if Head Case can fly in through a vent without being seen. Matt will have to scale up to operate the door controls, and there’s always at least one armorer on duty.”

  “Are they wearing full combat armor in there?” I asked.

  “Of course not.”

  “Meg and Leo went to a lot of trouble to recalibrate the ion cannons. It would be a shame not to use them.” I leaned slightly over, peering through Head Case’s transparency. Emerald had replaced Dryka in the command seat. She waved emphatically at me when she saw me looking. “And I know Dryka’s controlling the sigibellum, although she needs to be careful with it until we upgrade the reactor.” I winked at Em and straightened up again. “Anyway, once I have my guitar, I don’t care if our cover is blown. We don’t have a lot of time to be subtle.”

  “Understood,” Quasar said. “The armory is inside the Marine barracks near the end of this passageway. Go through the marked hatch, it’s the first door on your left. I have a Sentry schematic on my neural. I’ll pick a suitable vent and we’ll do our best to have the door open by the time you get there.”

  “Copy that. Thanks, Zar.” The elevator slowed as we neared our stop. “All aboard.”

  “Anytime, Cap. Good luck.” She ran up the ramp into Head Case. Shaq followed behind her, squeezing himself into the hangar. His tail dangled out of the bay door until he reached back with a paw to tuck it in before the door closed. I amused myself with the thought of his tail remaining full-size on the outside, its bulk holding the hangar door open, while the rest of him shrank on the inside.

  The elevator doors opened. I stood in the opening, again obscuring the view of Head Case while it shrank back down. As Quasar had warned, the upper decks were much more active than down below. Four crew members were in the corridor just outside the elevators, while a tram pulled into the adjacent elevator with a few Marines on board. The good news—the activity level made my presence on the deck much more natural. Nobody spared a second look at a Royal Marine walking back toward the barracks. Even when I passed other Blues, we shared a nearly imperceptible nod and kept going.

  I was halfway there when a break in the traffic gave Matt the opportunity he needed. Head Case was barely half an inch in height when it shot past overhead, a dark fly spitting ions as he vectored for an overhead vent. He had nearly reached it when the hatch beside the vent slid open and a crewman stepped out. His eyes immediately darted to the miniature starship as it zipped through the vent.

  “What the—” I bumped into him and knocked him sideways, forcing him to catch himself with a hand to the bulkhead. “Watch where you’re…oh…” He trailed off, his eyes widening when they landed on me. “Uh. Sorry, Marine. My fault,” he said, his face flushing as he shoved himself upright. “I didn’t see you there.” I stood rock still, ominously silent, staring at him. “Right. Well, have a good day,” he mumbled. Only my head moved, my gaze following him as he slunk past me, quickly glancing warily back at me before disappearing through the hatch on the opposite side of the corridor, Head Case forgotten.

  I kept going, spotting the entrance to the barracks up ahead. Quasar had said it might be tricky to get to the armory without confrontation, but it had been super easy so far. All I’d needed to do was act the part.

  I slowed my pace, aiming to give Head Case more time to traverse the ventilation system. We had less than forty minutes until possible doom, but I didn’t feel rushed. Not yet, anyway.

  The barrack doors parted as I approached, but not because of my proximity to them. I came to a sudden stop, my heart immediately racing as I nearly collided with Sergeant Batten.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Corporal Tsu?” Batten barked as I hastily shot to attention. My eyes darted to the armory door on my left, marked by a copper-plate label above the security panel beside the hatch. It wasn’t open yet. Matt and the others needed more time to navigate the ventilation system. “What in the hell are you doing up here, Corporal? You’re supposed to be down in the brig, keeping an eye on Murdock.”

  I stared at him, knowing my goose would be cooked as soon as I honked out a reply.

  “Well?” Batten continued. “Don’t tell me you sweet-talked Walker into taking over for you again. I know watching that little twerp is a shit assignment, but that’s why you became a Marine. You love being shit deep in the trenches, just like the rest of us.”

  I knew he was looking for a sharply snapped “Yes, Sergeant!” I offered him a nod instead, which he definitely didn’t like. Not that I cared. He called me a twerp.

  His shouting had gotten the attention of a few other Marines in the corridor, probably on their way from the barracks to the mess, judging by the hungry looks on their faces. They stopped to watch the exchange as Batten went off on me. Or rather, on Tsu.

  “I’ve just about had enough of your attitude, Corporal Tsu,” he roared, getting up in my helmeted face. Thankfully, he was so pissed he didn’t really look through the reflective visor to see I wasn’t her. “You’ve been itching for extra PT since the last time I caught you breaking regulations. I don’t know how the hell you wound up in this detachment instead of mopping floors in the Imperium, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you make a fool out of me or Major Nori. Now, you will remove your helmet. You will apologize. You will get your skinny little ass back down to the brig, and you will tell Walker I want to see him immediately. I’ve had enough of this bullshit, too. Is that understood?”

  I stared at him, counting down from five in my head. When I reached zero, I nodded again, but didn’t move to take off my helmet. His face turned so red I was sure he might stroke out.

  “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Corporal,” he hissed, so angry he couldn’t even yell anymore. “But I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to figure out your major malfunction down in the brig, in the cell next to Murdock for dereliction of duty.” He glanced at the five Marines observing the proceedings. “Marines, escort Corporal Tsu downstairs, and stay there with her and our other guest until I arrive.”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” they snapped, approaching me from behind him. They weren’t armed or armored like I was, but they were all, even the female in the group, built like refrigerators.

  They were still a few steps away when the door to the armory clanked, indicating it had just been unlocked. I didn’t hesitate, lunging forward to shove Batten into the five Marines. The two in the center caught the sergeant, preventing him from landing on his ass, as I broke to the left, throwing myself at the door. The Marine closest to me dove to grab me, slamming me in the side as I carried him through the hatch into the armory.

  The Blue landed on me, freezing when he saw one of the armorers laying there, out cold. It gave me the opening I needed to throw an elbow squarely into his jaw. The blow dazed him long enough for me to shove him off me and clamber back to my feet. A quick glance showed Batten was back on his feet as well and reaching for his sidearm. I ignored the other Marines as they closed on me. Vaulting the counter at the front of the armory, I cast a look down the first row of weaponry, searching for both Head Case and my guitar.

  One of the Marines dove over the counter and tackled me. On our way down, he punched my face shield, his knuckles cracking hard enough to fracture it. I hit back, knocking him in the side of the head before bucking him up and over my head. He landed hard on the deck just as the next Marine climbed onto the counter and jumped off.

  An ion blast flashed from one of the aisles farther down, catching him in mid-jump before he could stomp solidly down on my cracked visor. The shot knocked him backward across the counter into the next Marine set to vault it. The two Marines slammed into Sergeant Batten, who stood in the doorway, taking aim at me with his blaster. All three tumbled out through the open hatch.

  The last Marine, blaster in hand, leaped over them as I scrambled down the next aisle, taking blaster rounds off the back of Tsu’s armor as I put some distance between me and the Marines. No doubt the Blues would multiply twice over within the next two minutes.

  Under fire from Batten, who’d hunkered down on the other side of the counter, I spotted Head Case holding the remaining Marines back with ion fire from the fourth row over. I ran full tilt toward them, only to be suddenly blinded by a blaster round that hit me squarely in the cracked visor, melting away a jagged chunk of it. Without breaking stride, I ripped the helmet off before the slagged glass could fly into my eyes and blind me.

  Did the son of a bitch know he was firing lethal rounds?

  Batten broke around the end of the counter, trying to get a bead on me as he headed straight for me. I jerked up Tsu’s helmet, his next round hitting it and bouncing off. Like an enraged bull, he roared as he barrelled toward me, blaster raised. But he didn’t fire again. Instead, it looked like he wanted to shove his blaster down my throat. I swung the helmet around, knocking it out of his hand.

  “Murdock, you wily son of a—” My fist connected with his jaw, the hard armor of my glove enough to knock out a couple of his teeth and drop him to his knees.

  He barely had time to look up at me, baring his blood-covered teeth as the thunder of boots near the entrance stole my attention. I ducked away just in time to avoid a volley of stunner charges fired from the incoming reinforcements. I heard Batten laughing as I sprinted to where Head Case continued floating, giving and receiving fire.

  My guitar hung from the rack right behind the ship. I ripped off my armored gloves and skidded to a stop. Wrapping one hand around the neck, I jerked it off its hook and spun around. By the time the strap settled on my shoulder, Head Case had stopped firing and descended to the deck. I didn’t move, my fingers static on the strings.

  The rifles of nearly a dozen Marines, including the refrigerator Blues, were pinned on us. If I could just tap into chaos energy in one note, I could still get out of this. But I wasn’t a one-note kind of guy. At least, not up until now.

  A scowling Batten approached from my left, using the sleeve of his utilities to wipe his bloody mouth. “I gotta hand it to you, Murdock.” I knew I had to have broken his jaw with the helmet. He shouldn’t be able to talk, but he acted completely unhurt. “You really do look like a woman in that armor.” He laughed at his attempt to be funny. “But I should have known you weren’t Tsu. She’s stupid, but not this stupid. Drop that thing and come quietly.”

  “Not gonna happen,” I replied.

  His brow wrinkled. “What’s that? I’m not sure I heard you right.”

  “I said, no,” I repeated. “I broke your jaw, not your ears.”

  “I guess we’re just going to have to shoot you then.” He glanced at the Marines around us. “Which one of you would like to do the honors?”

  ”I’d like to, Sergeant,” the Marine I’d elbowed said. “But I don’t have stun rounds.”

  Batten laughed. “I need to think about that for a second, Corporal Sevra.”

  “Sergeant, I know this is going to sound crazy to you,” I said. “But considering you’re looking at a guy who can kick your ass using a guitar and a starship the size of one of my cajones for even trying this, maybe you’ll at least keep an open mind.”

  “You’re deplorable, Murdock. A criminal, no matter how you try to dress it up. I know the company you keep. The itty bitty murderers hanging out in that flying robot head of yours. I saw your ass on Kill Spree. You impressed me, but not in a good way. And the way you ignored Privilege when she was crying out for help? I’m more than a little tempted to let Raveed here shoot you with a live round and call it an accidental discharge, like the one that nearly ripped off your face. But you want me to have an open mind? Okay, shitbag. Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

  “The Regent never ordered Commander Kritchek to have me arrested. Kritchek made the whole thing up. He’s with the enemy.”

  “Seriously?” Grinning, Batten stared at me before glancing at his Marines. They all started laughing. “Are you on drugs, Murdock? Because that is one ridiculous scenario.”

  “We’re hurtling toward a star right now. He’s going to crash this ship into it and kill us all,” I continued.

  “And kill himself, too? That’s kind of dumb, don’t you think?” He smirked. “I’ll give you one thing, Murdock. You’re a damned riot.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. Did you hear Keep give the order to detain me?”

  “I didn’t need to. I understand the chain of command, unlike you.”

  “Kritchek isn’t human, damn it,” I snapped. “Take me to him, and I’ll prove it to you.”

  “You’re deplorable and delusional. The only place you’re going is back to the brig.” He turned to the nearest Marine with a stunner rifle. “Give me your weapon, Private.”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” he replied, passing his gun to Batten, who aimed it at me.

  Before he could fire, Head Case’s hangar bay doors slammed open and Shaq leaped out, landing on Batten’s hand and biting him hard. The effort threw off Batten’s aim, and his shot hit the bulkhead behind me.

  Batten didn’t die. He cursed and flung a surprised Shaq into one of the other Marines, who froze in terror, staring wide-eyed down at the jagger clinging to his chest. Shaq didn’t stay there for long, leaping to the top of Head Case.