Let us negotiate, King said finally.

  The weapons around the corridor lowered slightly, though no one fully relaxed. This was progress, but trust would take time, if it came at all.

  “Are you familiar with the Relyeh?" Hayden asked.

  King's response came without hesitation.

  We are aware of them. The one called Iagorth attempted to corrupt one of our kind with what you call a moiety. He did not comprehend that our minds have evolved beyond such crude manipulation. We destroyed the infection and have avoided the Relyeh since. Just as we avoid the Dark.

  “Which I still think is ole Shubbie,” Hayden said. “Fact of the matter is, we're building a coalition here to hunt down and kill Iagorth and Shub'Nigu. They're threatening every timeline, every reality. If the Asura agreed to join our coalition, we'd be willing to discuss sharing this space with your people."

  We fight for survival, King replied. Nothing more. Violence for ideology or vengeance is primitive behavior. We have evolved beyond such needs.

  Gant let out another laugh, this one less bitter but still incredulous. "Right. You've evolved beyond violence. That's why you came in here blades swinging, killing everyone in sight. Because you're so peaceful and evolved."

  King's attention shifted to the furry alien, and something that might have been acknowledgment passed through those black eyes.

  Survival supersedes philosophy. When threatened, even the evolved must defend. But we do not seek war. We seek existence.

  "Maybe there's a middle ground," Hayden suggested. "We're working on technological and biological methods to end the Relyeh threat. Weapons that target them specifically, viruses that could destroy them at a fundamental level. Maybe those evolved brains of yours could help with that. Non-violent contribution to the war effort."

  King's fingers moved in subtle patterns again, perhaps the Asura equivalent of thoughtful gesture.

  Our intellect could assist in such matters. We understand resonance at levels your science has not yet achieved. Perhaps the Relyeh are vulnerable to certain frequencies, certain states of matter. This knowledge could be valuable.

  "See?" Hayden said. "Already finding common ground. That's progress."

  The negotiations continued for another hour, hammering out details. The Asura would be allowed to bring their people from the void—their entire surviving population numbered less than ten thousand. They would inhabit Yidra’s station at first, perhaps spreading to other locations like the Maze later, sharing resources but maintaining autonomy. In exchange, they would provide their expansive knowledge to help finalize the weapons of the two Ancients’ destruction.

  "Can you speak for all your kind?" Hayden asked finally. "Make this agreement binding?"

  The moment the portal opens, all Asura will know of this arrangement. We share consciousness at a level you cannot comprehend. When one knows, all know. When one agrees, all agree.

  "That's convenient," Caleb muttered.

  "How do we know that once we open that portal, your kind won't flood through and finish what you started?” Nicholas asked. “You'll have us outnumbered, and the ability to phase-shift again.”

  This form of betrayal may be common among primitives, King replied, and there might have been offense in those words. But we do not break promises. Our word, once given, is absolute. To shatter it would be to devolve, to become less than we are. This is unacceptable.

  Hayden studied the creature, looking for any sign of deception. But those black eyes revealed nothing, and reading alien body language was impossible. In the end, it came down to instinct.

  "I believe them," Hayden said finally. "And even if I'm wrong, we can close the portal again. Cut them off like before. They know that. Breaking their word would gain them nothing and cost them everything."

  He looked around at the others. Joseph nodded slowly. Caleb looked skeptical but didn't object. Queenie's expression was unreadable. Gant just shrugged.

  "Keesha," Hayden said. "Open the portal."

  "Sheriff, are you certain?" she asked.

  "Certain as I can be about anything these days. Open it."

  Keesha's projection flickered as she redirected her processing power.

  "Portal opening in ten seconds," Keesha announced.

  "King," Hayden said, "I'm going to trust you. Don't make me regret it."

  You will not, King replied simply.

  "Portal opening now."

  Hayden sensed the tension of his group ratchet up multiple levels. He remained calm, though his hand drifted toward the butt of his revolver.

  Within seconds, a dozen Asura leaders, each as grotesque and alien as King itself, surrounded them.

  Each one fixed those black eyes on Hayden and his team, but none raised a hand in threat. They simply stood, waiting.

  “Sheriff,” Keesha said. “I’m picking up hundreds of Asura appearing on Yidra Station. And growing.”

  King turned to face Hayden. The accord is struck. We will honor it.

  “In that case,” Hayden said, sweeping his gaze across the Asura leaders surrounding them. “Welcome home.”

  CHAPTER 9

  An hour later, Hayden sat on a bench along the lab's far wall, watching Natalia work with the three Asura leaders. She'd been explaining the basics of the Collective and Iagorth’s moieties, as well as their research into viruses and signal blocking to them for the past thirty minutes, equations and models flickering past so quickly on her displays that his head hurt just looking at them. King and two other Asura who had come to the lab with him—Natalia had dubbed them Einstein and Edison since they refused to name themselves—absorbed information at a rate that appeared to impress even her.

  Queenie, Gant, and Casey had left a while ago, ostensibly to grab something to eat, though Hayden was sure Queenie wanted to check in on her team. He reckoned she had to check up on them often to make sure they didn’t destroy anything while she was gone.

  Nicholas worked at a terminal in the corner, as far from the Asura as possible, his injured wrist wrapped in medical tape. Preslan and Tae occupied other workstations, occasionally chiming in with observations or questions.

  The lab doors slid open. Joseph entered with Max, whose gait had noticeably improved.

  "Observation," Max announced. "Knee joint functionality restored to seventy-three percent capacity. Gratitude. Joseph Cross is skilled in repair of synthetic systems. Max is somewhat fixed. Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha."

  Joseph moved to stand beside Preslan. "How's the progress?"

  “None so far,” she replied without looking up. “But I’m hopeful. Our new allies’ immediate understanding of the complex algorithms Natalia is showing them is impressive.”

  The lab doors opened again. The Shard Intellect glided through, approaching Hayden. "Sheriff Duke, General Haeri requests your immediate presence in his office.”

  Hayden straightened from the bench. "Since when does Haeri control you?"

  "I am a military asset. General Haeri commands the coalition military forces."

  “I thought you followed Keesha’s command?”

  “Keesha has commanded me to assist General Haeri, at his command.”

  Hayden grinned. Trying to follow that line of reasoning would give him a headache, too. He glanced at Natalia, who gave him a slight shrug. There wasn’t much he could do but go see the general.

  "Lead the way," Hayden told the Shard.

  He followed the synthetic being through unfamiliar corridors to a door marked with the CSF logo freshly etched into it, Haeri’s name and rank beneath.

  "General Haeri is inside,” the Shard said.

  “I reckoned that much,” Hayden replied. He knocked twice.

  “Enter,” Haeri called back.

  The door slid open to reveal a modest office hastily converted from storage space. Haeri sat behind a desk, his uniform crisp. Display screens occupied both the desk and the bulkheads around him, displaying graphs, lists, and other formatted data that didn’t mean much to Hayden. He was sure it was all important to the general.

  "Sheriff Duke," Haeri said, rising to his feet. "Thank you for coming. Please, sit down.”

  The tone was professional but familiar. Hayden had known Aeron Haeri long enough to recognize when the man had something on his mind. He stepped through, letting the door seal.

  "Have a seat." Haeri gestured to the chair across from him. "We need to talk about the Asura situation."

  Hayden sat, studying Haeri's face. The general's expression was controlled, but there was tension in the set of his shoulders. “I didn’t realize there was a situation with the Asura,” he replied. “Keesha filled you in on everything, didn’t she?”

  “Of course,” Haeri said. “She told me that you negotiated directly with the Asura leader, whom you’re calling King. Granted them residence in the pocket universe, specifically on Yidra Station."

  “For now. It’s a bit crowded, so they might spread out to the Maze once we can determine if the resonance there will meet their needs.”

  “Their needs, Sheriff? What about our needs?”

  “We don’t need the Maze.”

  “I’m the commanding officer on this mission, Hayden,” Haeri said, changing tack. “I should have been part of any negotiations with an outside force. Especially one that attacked us the first chance they got.”

  “Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you. But as it so happened, you weren't there."

  "I was twenty minutes away by shuttle. You could have delayed."

  “Maybe. But as you mentioned, they were hostile from the outset, and I had them ready to talk right then. Sometimes you have to seize the moment."

  Haeri leaned back in his chair. "Hayden, we've worked together before. You know how this works. If I’m in charge, then major decisions go through me.”

  "Since when is offering sanctuary to refugees a major military decision?"

  "Since those refugees are interdimensional beings with unknown capabilities occupying a strategic asset." Haeri's voice rose slightly. "Come on, you're not naive. You know exactly why this should have gone through me.”

  "Because you wanted a say in it?"

  "Because that's how military operations function. We have a chain of command for a reason."

  Hayden crossed his arms. "The chain of command is for military decisions. This was a diplomatic negotiation."

  "You're not a diplomat."

  "Neither are you."

  Haeri stood, his composure cracking slightly. "No, but I'm the ranking officer here. When decisions of this magnitude need to be made, they go through me. That's not ego talking, that's protocol."

  "Protocol." Hayden remained seated, deliberately casual. "We're in a pocket universe, fighting interdimensional aliens, trying to kill god-like beings, and you're worried about protocol?"

  "Yes!" Haeri's hand hit the desk. "Because without protocol, without structure, everything falls apart. You made a unilateral decision that affects everyone."

  "I made a necessary decision that required quick resolution.”

  “The decision was still unauthorized. You went over my head, and I called you here to tell you that I don’t appreciate it.”

  “I understand, general. But like I said, time wasn’t on our side. I made the call for the good of our mission⁠—”

  “And the good of the Asura,” Haeri interrupted.

  “Pozz. What’s wrong with that?”

  Haeri sighed. “By not letting me do my job, the job you explicitly brought me here to do, you gave them way too much for way too little. A mistake I wouldn’t have made.”

  “I know you don’t mean the Maze, so you must be talking about Yidra Station.” Hayden’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what you’re really mad about?”

  Haeri's jaw tightened. "I would have negotiated terms that more greatly benefited the coalition."

  "Benefited the coalition or benefited the CSF?"

  "They're the same thing⁠—"

  "They're not and you know it. You’ve got eyes on the two stations, don’t you?” Hayden asked, realization clicking into place. “I reckon from the moment you saw them, you’ve been thinking about after the mission. About what you could do with facilities like these."

  "That's a hell of an accusation."

  "Is it wrong?"

  Haeri was quiet for a moment, then his control snapped. "You know what? Yes, I thought about the future! Someone has to! While you're playing cowboy diplomat, I'm thinking about what happens when this mission ends. Those stations represent unprecedented opportunities⁠—"

  "That you wanted to secure."

  "That the coalition deserves access to! We're spending ships, lives, resources on this mission. Shouldn't there be some benefit beyond just survival?"

  "The benefit is stopping the Ancients."

  "That's the minimum. But those stations, like this pocket universe, are valuable resources. And you just handed one over to aliens we know nothing about!"

  Hayden felt his own temper flare as he rose to his feet. "I handed it over to beings who were suffering, who needed help, and who are now helping us in return."

  "They could have helped without you giving them something that wasn’t yours to give!”

  "You mean they could have helped while you maintained control."

  "I mean we could have negotiated a better arrangement!"

  They were both standing now, voices raised, years of professional respect allowing them to be this honest, this angry with each other.

  "You overstepped, Hayden," Haeri said, his voice hard. "You went completely outside your authority."

  "My authority comes from being the one who was there, making the hard choice. My team killed Yidra, General. That means by rights, my team owns her station, and we can do with it what we please.”

  “Caleb was still acting under orders to help you,” Haeri replied. “That puts him under my purview, which alone gives me a say in the fate of the station.”

  “Even if that’s true, you would only have a say. One vote out of five. Where's your authority to claim those stations after the mission? Who gave you the right to start planning your little pocket universe empire?"

  "I'm not planning an empire⁠—"

  "No? Then what do you call it when you want military control over stations outside normal space, beyond any real oversight?"

  "I call it securing humanity's future!"

  "You call it that. I call it expansion disguised as security. I wish you had as much regard for the Earth you left behind.”

  Haeri's face flushed. “You know I’m trying to change things for Earth.”

  “Slow as molasses, General. But you’re moving right quick on this territory, aren’t you? This is about control, isn’t it? You see an opportunity to gain some outside of the Centurion government and you want to take it."

  "And you see refugees and you give them everything without thinking about consequences."

  "I thought about consequences. I thought about what happens if we treat every new species we meet as a threat instead of as potential allies."

  "Naive, but noble."

  "Practical. They're helping us because I treated them with respect instead of suspicion."

  Haeri sat back down heavily. "You still should have consulted me. That's not negotiable, Hayden. The chain of command exists for a reason."

  "You're right," Hayden admitted, sitting as well. "I should have at least tried to bring you in. But we both know how that would have gone. You'd have wanted conditions, oversight, controls. King would have seen right through it."

  "Maybe. Or maybe I could have negotiated something that worked for everyone." Haeri rubbed his face, suddenly looking tired. "You've complicated everything, you know that? I had plans, and you blew them up in minutes.”

  “I can’t say I’m sorry about that. But I am sorry you didn’t get more of a say.”

  They sat in silence for a moment, the anger draining away, leaving just two tired soldiers who'd been fighting too long.

  “You want a drink, Sheriff?” Haeri finally asked.

  “You brought liquor here?” Hayden replied.

  Haeri grinned. “No. It’s on Caesar. But you’re welcome to stop by any time. I’ve got a nice bourbon you might enjoy.”

  “You know alcohol doesn’t affect me. The downside to perfect genetics.”

  Haeri laughed. “Sucks for you.”

  “I take it our little spat is done?”

  “I can go to another timeline, but I can’t turn back time. The damage is done. I said my peace.”

  “No hard feelings?”

  “No hard feelings.”

  Hayden moved toward the door, but Haeri stopped him.

  "Hayden. What you did—giving them sanctuary—it was the right thing. Morally. I can see that. But sometimes the right thing and the smart thing aren't the same."

  "Maybe not," Hayden agreed. "But I'd rather live with doing the right thing than profit from doing the smart thing."

  "That's why you're the Sheriff and I'm the General. Now, get out of my office before I decide to put you in the brig for insubordination."

  “We don’t have a brig.”

  “Caesar does.”

  “Would you bring me the bourbon?”

  Haeri laughed fully this time. “Let me know when that wife of yours finishes her magic bullet.”

  “Will do. Until then.”

  Hayden left, the door sealing behind him. The confrontation had been inevitable, but at least it was honest. Haeri wanted control, saw opportunity. Hayden wanted freedom, saw allies. Neither was entirely wrong, neither entirely right.

  And that was just fine with him.

  CHAPTER 10

  Nearly a month had passed since the Asura's arrival, and the coalition of allied forces had settled into something resembling a routine. General Haeri organized daily drills, shuttles ferried incoming supplies from Harmony and other places across the pocket universe, providing food, ammunition, and fuel for Keesha to continue producing Stackers. So far, everyone had managed to coexist without a major incident, including the Asura. But Caleb could feel the restlessness building beneath the surface order, like pressure in a sealed container.