28

The Nightmare appeared larger and more ominous than I remembered on the holo view.

“Reaper,” Nebs growled without showing himself, broadcasting his ship’s icon instead of his own image. “Where the hell did you lead us this time? This is an unauthorized colony.”

“It’s not a colony,” I said, pointing to the navigation panel and making several hand motions that neither Elise nor anyone else understood—which was annoying because we should all be on the same page by now. It was time to get the hell out of here.

“Are you leading me away from your new friends?” Nebs asked sarcastically. “You’ve got to know the Union won’t stand for this. When I’m done with you, I’ll mop them up, or call in someone else to do it.”

“You’re bluffing,” I argued. “As big and powerful as the Union thinks it is, we are a very long way from Union space, and I doubt they have the resources for something like this. It would probably take two years of arguing in the Congress to even publicly admit this place exists.”

“You do remember how the Union works,” he said, then he appeared on the holo view at last. “Don’t piss me off, Reaper.”

“What is it with everyone calling me Reaper? I have a name,” I said.

“I still call you Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Would you like me to join them in this method of address for consistency?”

I ignored X, not wanting to look distracted or weak in front of Nebs.

“My intelligence specialists…” he began.

“Using the term lightly,” I interrupted.

“…are telling me you went to the surface for some reason and got a hero’s welcome, so I guess you’re friends with these people. If you value them, and I know you think you’re some kind of hero, then surrender immediately. I’ll go easy on them if you do,” Nebs said.

“You haven’t met their president,” I said. “She won’t go for that. My advice to you, asswipe, is to be respectful when you try to contact her or her people. Or better yet, just go someplace far away and die.”

His laugh rattled the communications link. “So, I have to teach them a lesson. That’s what you’re telling me.”

“Good luck with that. They are tough fighters,” I said. A knot of dread twisted my insides.

Elise whispered to me privately, “We can’t find one of the ships.”

“Are you telling me we have cracked their stealth cloaks? That’s great news,” I said, careful to mute my link to the holo comm.

“Basically, but we can’t find one of them!” Elise hissed like this was terrible news.

I thought seeing even one of the Union stealth carriers was a huge improvement. “X, can you teach Elise how to look on the bright side?”

“Bright side of what, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “I am attempting humor. Did I get you?”

“Sure, X. You’re brilliant,” I said, turning my attention back to Nebs.

“I don’t like that shitty look on your face, Reaper,” Nebs growled. “What the hell are you up to now?”

“Maybe I’m stalling,” I said.

“That is a dangerous game,” X-37 advised. “He knows our escape window is rapidly closing.”

“What are we doing, Reaper?” Elise demanded. “You know what I want to do, but I’ll back whatever you decide as long as you decide soon.”

Holding up an unlit cigar, I considered it as though no one else existed.

“You’re not even ready to give the order,” Elise hissed at me privately. “Are you trying to make me crazy? If we’re not going after Henshaw, we need to get out of this system five minutes ago!”

“Patience, my young apprentice,” I said. “Never rush a Reaper. And for the record, I’m always ready.”

“You’re always a jerk,” Elise commented, as though I hadn’t heard her express her feelings hundreds of time since we’d met.

With the flick of my hand, I pulled up a view only I could see. It was small and I had divided it into view blocks for each of Jelly’s system scans. It didn’t take long for me to find what I was looking for.

The UFS Nightmare was significantly nearer to Wallach than when we started the conversation. I might have been stalling, but Nebs was definitely stalling with sleight of hand worthy of a street magician. 

Dropships left the Nightmare and headed for the planet.

“That is quite alarming,” X-37 admitted. “How did you know he would make a planetary assault?”

I didn’t answer immediately, glad that X-37 wasn’t able to read my mind after all. “I was hoping he didn’t attack Coronas’s people. Unfortunately, he knows me. Damned psych profile.”

“Ah, I see. The vice admiral understands you can’t watch innocent civilians die. Just like the way you lost your arm on Carson’s World,” X-37 said. “Your quasi-heroic vigilantism will be the death of you, Reaper Cain.”

“I see what you’re doing, Nebs,” I warned.

“What are you going to do about it, Reaper?” he snarled, then laughed under his breath. “You’re so easy. It’s like playing galaxy boards with a kid.”

“Leave them alone,” I demanded, standing from my captain’s chair and making a decision.

“Why would I waste my nukes to end this rebellion when I can cause their primitive fission reactor to do it for me?” he asked.

“They’re not rebels,” I insisted.

“Impossible,” he said, as though the existence of anything outside of Union control personally offended him. “But if you’re telling the truth, that is all the more reason to eliminate them. Surrender now and I will be lenient on your new friends. Defy me, and everything that happens afterward is your fault.”

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