“Karral, you look nervous,” Rixie said, as she stood by the airlock of the White Shaar. “Don’t be.”

“Don’t be nervous. Sure. Easy for you to say,” Karral said, with a tight grin. “If I’ve screwed this up, the next Dronung gets killed. No big deal.”

“First off, you ran it by me, and I didn’t see any red flags,” Rixie said.

“’Red Flags?’”

“I’ve been married to Alex for too long, I’m dropping his metaphors into Jotnar.”

“We’ve only been married for like two-thirds of a year!” Alex protested from Rixie’s front pocket.

“Anyhow,” Rixie continued, “there was nothing to raise concern in your plan, and besides, you already saved my life twice on Laxen; if I die this time it’s only because of that.”

“Eh, didn’t save your life. You woulda been fine,” Karral said. “Just helped a bit.”

“I was a lot younger then, but I don’t think I could have taken out all five of them on my own,” Rixie said.

“This is a story you haven’t told me,” Alex said.

“It’s not the only one,” Rixie said.

“Am I going to have to tell you not to try to get yourself killed again? Because I keep having to do that, and I’m tired of it,” Alex complained.

“No, no, Pryvani’s given me orders, I’m officially not to try to get myself killed anymore.”

“Well, if Pryvani told you not to die, that means you’re immortal now,” Alex said, feeling better.

“Indeed,” Rixie said. As she said this, the first of her four guards entered. He was a tall man with purple hair and a matching beard, wearing a loose vest over a bare chest and arms.

“Erod, I thought I told you to put on clothes,” Karral said.

“I did put on clothes! I’m even wearing pants! Frak, Karral, you didn’t say I’d need to wear a full body suit!”

“So where on Seretana are you from?” Rixie asked.

“I actually live on Navoseretana,” Erod said. “And I know what you’re thinking, but Dochora is not too cold for Seretanan wear.”

Rixie smirked. “I live on Avalon, you know, I get to Seretana a lot. And you folks refuse to wear much more than a smile even in Siageus.”

“And during the Summer Festival, anything more than a smile is frowned upon,” Alex added.

“See Karral? They get it,” Erod said.

A second one of the guards entered, and Rixie said to Karral, “I’ve been meaning to ask, is there a reason you’re selecting people with artificial arms and eyes? I’m not complaining, not with this voice box. Just an odd coincidence.”

“Yeah, I was talking to Sebb about his,” the woman said. “I recommended an upgrade to him, I know a guy.”

Rixie chuckled, and said, “I’m assuming you figure that my appreciation for your service will override my duty as an Imperator?”

The young woman started, and followed Rixie’s gaze to her own artificial arm. “Wow, nice catch,” she said, and it was clear from her tone that she meant it. “Not many people would recognize a Heusero at first glance.”

“When did you get it?” Rixie asked.

“When I was eleven. Same as the eyes. But I wouldn’t trade it for real, not at this point. It’s part of me, you know?”

“I do,” Rixie said. “So…you grow up on Kaol?”

“Sakar,” the woman said. “Would’ve stayed there, but my parents wanted to marry me off to an older partnership when I was 16, and I wasn’t having it. The guys were okay, but the woman…anyhow, hopped an ore vessel, got out of there.”

Rixie nodded. “Well, you’re talking to a flag Imperator right now,” she said. “If you want….”

“Xele took care of it,” Karral said.

“Still appreciate that,” the woman replied. “I still feel like I owe you something.”

“Trora, trust me, Xele enjoyed it enough that I probably owe you,” Karral said with a grin.

Rixie didn’t ask any further questions; any further discussion was tabled as Sebb and Iđka entered the hallway.

“All right,” Karral said, taking center stage. “You four are my best of the best. And you will need to be. You’ve all had a chance to meet Rixie Carey. Her husband is the guy poking his head out of her pocket and waving to you.

“Now, you know that Rixie’s a princess. But that’s not why she’s important. All of you have been doing business with me and with Liss – hey, Liss, we clear?”

Liss, who had just entered the hallway herself, nodded. “Five minutes,” she said. “Nest will give us the signal.”

“Right,” Karral said. “Liss and I have been working with Rixie for a long time, and she’s a good friend. Alex is too. I joke about getting the next Dronung hurt, but if something happened to Rixie on my watch…well, I’m not much for emotional displays, but you don’t want to test me and see what my response to that would be.

“Now, before she was important, Rixie was like you – she was a guard. And a vwofas good one. Lady Tarsuss hired her to be her chief of security.” Karral smiled as the four guards shifted a bit. “Yeah, that’s right. You frak up and she will catch it. She’ll catch things I wouldn’t. But.”

He took a step forward, and nodded. “You do a good job? You do what I know you’re capable of doing? She’ll notice that, too.”

“Karral,” Rixie said, “you say these four are your best of your best. I know your standards.” She turned to the guards. “If Karral thinks you’re that good, I look forward to being impressed.”

Karral smiled, and nodded. “Above all else, Rixie is a really nice person. As long as you’re on her good side, that is.”

Liss cocked her head, and nodded. “Transfer shuttle’s in place, and we’re clear to disembark.”

“Ishaytan formation. Leave the pack, Rixie. Principal doesn’t need to carry it. Sebb?”

“Got it, Chief,” Sebb said, hefting Rixie’s pack with his left arm.

There was a sharp tone, and the hallway sealed. It began to alter its pressure; a few moments later, there was another tone, and the hatchway light lit green.

“All right,” Karral said, moving to the hatch and putting on sunglasses, “let’s move out.”

* * *

Margu had come up empty so far on locating the ship that Rixie was on. She’d been smart enough not to take one of Tarsuss’s yachts, not that it surprised him. He had checked for the Akelois out of habit, but didn’t see it on the upcoming incoming list. He didn’t want to go dock to dock in the labyrinthine private concourse, but he’d been about to, when he overheard some chatter.

“…so it’ll be landing in an hour or two. Bit of a surprise, but only a bit, they’ve got the money to clear a dock. And it’s gonna be nice to get a look at a Jeju Astar with my own eyes,” said a dark-skinned woman with short, silver hair.

“Are you actually thinking of trading in the Skyntoro?” asked another woman, who was shorter, with a voluptuous figure and slightly-graying blonde hair.

“Not unless I want to go into cargo! Jeju Astars can be set up for a few passengers, but they’re mainly for hauling freight.”

“Good,” the woman’s other companion, a pale, tall brunette said. “I don’t want you calling us up and asking us to help out with unloading loglup or something.”

“Which reminds me,” the dark-skinned woman said, “thanks, both of you, for helping out. When Trenlu and Loory told me they were getting married, I got nervous; when they told me they were marrying each other, and needed a month vacation to do it, right before this charter, well….”

“We cleaned enough cabins back in the day, it’s like riding a power scooter, it comes right back,” the pale brunette said.

“And it was a free trip to Jutuneim. I always liked Naesavarna, but it’s not easy saving up for a shuttle,” the short blonde said.

“You two! You know I’ll always find room for you if you want a trip somewhere.”

“Uyli, that’s credits out of your account. You might be okay with that, but Zakon….”

The dark-skinned woman grinned. “Nice thing about marrying a human. He barely costs anything. And he’s a better pilot than me, which means I can worry about the other stuff, which means I don’t have to hire an events coordinator, which saves me enough that you can always get a cabin if you want one!”

“Fine, but if you give us one, you can put us to work,” the brunette said. “Well, put me to work. Still not sure you can classify what Lita does as ‘work.’”

“Oh ha ha, very funny Nonik. So what’s the ship’s name?”

“Uh…just saw it in Jotnar,” Uyli said. “Um, what was it, Vilges Buzjaar, that’s, uh….”

“’White Shaar,’” Margu said, catching up to them. “The White Shaar. A Jeju Astar, you say? I’ve wanted to see one since they announced the Model Three. When did you say it was landing?”

A few hours later, he watched from the concourse as seven people disembarked from the White Shaar. One turned toward the main hangar entrance, while the other six walked a short distance to a waiting shuttlecraft. The lead entered the shuttle, while the other for turned and kept eyes out, scanning for any potential threat. The lead stepped out and nodded, and they moved as a unit, all of them entering.

“They’re en route,” he typed into his pad. “Black unmarked luxury shuttle.”

He was surprised to find that he was nervous. He had expected to see at least one of them, the second he heard the ship’s name. And it made sense; she would never have farmed this out to an underling. But still, after all these years….

He didn’t hate Liss. She had done what she had to do. Had he been in her shoes, he would have made the same call. There is honor among thieves, but that honor doesn’t extend to taking a bullet for someone.

That didn’t mean that he had warm, fuzzy feelings toward her. But he doubted she had any toward him.

He decided to go to the bar, get a drink to steady his nerves. His part of the mission was done anyhow. If it went well, he’d give them a ride back to Sector Six, and if it didn’t, he was quite prepared to cut and run. Those were the terms he negotiated, and he was only risking a quarter of his fee if he wasn’t there for the return trip.

So he’d grab a glass of kapskrasi, and then he’d decide whether it was better for him if the Retchenu departed ahead of schedule.

* * *

“The heir has departed the spaceport, High-born,” Azhborn said, poking her head into Rajenlif’s office.

“Thank you, Azhborn,” Rajenlif said, as she looked out her window onto the palace grounds.

There was a pause, and Azhborn added, “I will let you know once she reaches Hotel Rikhat.”

Rajenlif was silent for a moment longer, enough that Azhborn said, “Will there be anything else, High-born?”

Rajenlif turned her chair to face her Chief of Staff, and sighed. “Azhborn…I fear that I have failed Jotnarherath.”

“Your fear is misplaced, Dronung,” Azhborn said. “You are defending our people from a threat. The House of Aljansen has failed Jotnarherath, perhaps, but not you.”

Rajenlif smiled, and said, “Do you remember what I told you, when Juvhan retired, and you took over for him?”

“Of course,” Azhborn said, with a curt nod. “You told me never to lie to you, not even on trivial matters. That you would accept rudeness from me before you would accept a half-truth.”

“That is correct,” Rajenlif said. “Know that this directive has not changed. I say again, I fear that I have failed Jotnarherath.”

“And I say again that you have not,” Azhborn replied. She gestured to the chair across from Rajenlif, and the Dronung nodded to her. Azhborn sat. So did Rajenlif, after a moment.

“Dronung,” Azhborn said, “I have heard you say that you were not present enough on Jutuneim. I will confess, I don’t know what the proper amount for you to have been here would be. Selfishly, Jotnarherath would be better off with you in it all the time, at least in the short term. But you have never viewed your role as governing in the short term. No worthy Dronung does. And so you have devoted significant time to your other role – that of consort to the Emperor.”

“Of my two roles, it is the less important. I should have spent more time here.”

Azhborn shook her head, and leaned forward. “Oh, I disagree, Dronung; you have structured your time correctly. Jotnarherath is not a nation; it is a province. There are many who do not like to admit it, but it is so. We are an important province, a unique province, but our uniqueness is like that of the Ler Lands or Dunnermac Space. We are a unique part of a larger whole.

“You know, they say that during the Drazari Conflict, when the Eleventh Rajenlif was facing the choice of whether to surrender to the Aemet or the Drazari, she said perhaps someday, the royal line of Savarna would finally cross with the royal line of Aement. And that when that day came, and the ruler of the Empire was a Jotnar – that all the Empire would be Jutuneim.”

“Historians agree that she did say that,” Rajenlif said. “Though they disagree on whether she meant it in earnest, or whether she merely meant it to ease the bitter sting of surrender.”

“I do not know, Dronung, if she meant it. But I do know this – whether she meant it or not, it was true. Vallero wears a braid, High-born. So does Rhionne, and so did Brave Antero. All your children have honored their Jotnar heritage; Rhionne or Vallero would be clear that they would take the throne of the Aemet as both Aementi and Savarnans. And if they rule far from this palace most of the time, both would rule as Jotnar. I know them well; they are of our land.”

Azhborn looked down, and said, “Rajenlif…you undertook the most important mission in the history of our people. You have united the Aementi throne with ours. And you did so without sacrificing the heritage of the Jotnar. You entrusted us to ensure that while you were doing this, we would ensure that things would run smoothly. It is we who failed you.”

Rajenlif was quiet for a moment, before she said, “Azhborn, you have met my niece, the new first heir. What do you think of her?”

Azhborn paused a moment, and Rajenlif added, “Full truth.”

Azhborn nodded. “I do not know her well enough to speak about her directly, but I have studied her; she has led a unique and interesting life.”

“That,” Rajenlif said, “is an understatement.”

“I worry about her ties to Senator Tarsuss. Lady Tarsuss is quite powerful enough; if she were to have the Dronung at her beck and call….”

Rajenlif nodded. “Do not tell our new heir this, because I do not want her to think that I doubted her. But I spoke to Pryvani privately, after I broke the news. Lady Tarsuss has given me her word that should the heir succeed to the office of Dronung, she will sever all official ties with her. She did state that she intended to reinstate them the second that the new heir gave up the throne, but she understands that it is not reasonable for her to serve two masters.”

“It is not that,” Azhborn said. “From what I have seen, the Magister-Imperator is an honorable woman, if not always one with a strict adherence to Imperial law. This is not a problem; she is Jotnar, and that is her birthright. But the ties that bind her to Tarsuss…I suspect that if Rixie Carey knew she would never receive so much as a credit from Pryvani Tarsuss again, she would still stand beside her, come what may.”

Rajenlif smiled. “Oh, Azhborn. Of course she would. What you don’t understand is that it goes both ways.”

Azhborn snorted. “Come now. I like Tarsuss, but you and I have talked of her enough; she is your friend, but she will look out for her own interests. That is not a bad thing, but….”

“Pryvani would go against me if she needed to,” Rajenlif said. “She has. She has been honest about it, but she has done so. But I mean it when I say that Pryvani would do whatever she had to do to protect and assist Rixie. Rixie is a part of Pryvani’s family; in some ways, she is closer.”

Azhborn thought about that for a moment, and said, “High-born…I know that the plan is for us to find a way for the new heir not to have to take the throne. But I will admit…it would not be a bad thing for the Dronung to be able to count on the steady and unwavering support of Lady Tarsuss.”

Rajenlif smiled, and nodded. “There are many reasons why I am not worried about my potential successor. But that may be the most important one.”

* * *

At the Hotel Rikhat, security guards were engaged in constructive-but-combative discussion with members of the Royal Jotnar Guard, with both trying to one-up the other in the kind of power struggle that is inevitable with this sort of thing.

“We aren’t asking you to down weapons,” Karral was saying; he had taken the lead in negotiations, and frankly, it was wise that he’d been charged with it. “The whole point of this is to provide the highest level of security possible for Magister-Imperator and Senator Carey. But we need to be involved in this; Magister-Imperator Carey hired me, personally, to handle her security. I can’t simply assume that you have it covered, no matter how good you are – and I know that you are very good.”

Thurl Niebal snorted. “Look, I get it, you don’t think plebes like us can handle things. Just because I’m not the son of a millionaire, that doesn’t mean that I can’t put two and two together and make four.”

Karral blinked, and was genuinely nonplussed; after a few seconds, he said, “Believe me, that is not at all the case. I know enough children of rich people that I’d trust you more.”

“Still, I know how you lot think, you can hire the best security money can buy. Your mommy probably….”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Karral said. “I really don’t want to have to punch you.”

Thurl smiled; he actually liked this guard. “I mean no offense, just saying that when you grow up with the kind of security Serrakah Vilum can hire, well…you get used to that, and you tend to think that local guards are sitting around with their thumbs up their arses.”

Karral nodded. “You’ve done your homework on me, obviously, so if you did, you know that I fell out hard with my family; haven’t spoken to them in a couple of decades. I was a soldier when I was younger. I know how hard you work. But…well, let me be blunt: your group is guarding Princess Rixie from the people outside this hotel. I trust them to do that. My job is different; I’m protecting her from a different group.”

Thurl paused, looked at Karral carefully, and nodded. “And who’s protecting her from your group?”

“Rixie and I have a history,” Karral said. “We’ve worked together. Saved each other’s arses a few times, doing security work for Lady Tarsuss. She knows she can trust me because I’ve proven it. She wants to trust you, but given the stakes, she has to be paranoid. You understand.”

Thurl nodded, and sighed. “Yeah, I guess…given the last week, probably a few people would be happy to drop a load of credits to make her go away. Won’t be anyone in the fourth – if anyone did, I’d take their heads off myself – but…she’s a guard. Good guards are paranoid.”

“Yup. And she’s good. I like to think I’m good. And I think you’re good,” Karral said. “Between all of us, hopefully we’re good enough.”

Niebal sighed, and smiled, and offered his wrist. “All right, I think I get you. I can’t have your group integrated into ours, but I can have you set up and linked with our comms team, and we’ll station two of your guards on the floor along with four of ours. Rotate at twelve hours. That work?”

Karral sighed. That was about what he expected, and honestly, he was okay with it. “All right,” he said, “I’ll have Sebb work with the comms team to get integration. The room sweep your team did looks good; I know Rixie will do her own, so if there’s any sensor drones in there, they’re non-functional.”

“My team would have caught drones,” Thurl said. Karral chuckled.

“Not a shot at you; Rixie catches things you wouldn’t believe. There’s a reason Tarsuss trusts her.”

“Suppose Lady Tarsuss really can hire the best security money can buy,” Thurl said.

“She can. And Rixie is it.”

* * *

The best security that money could buy was pacing in her suite; she had twice reverified her security scans, but she had to admit that it appeared the team had done its job. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing even slightly menacing. She was safe, and more important, Alex was safe. At least for now.

Of course, neither of them could really walk out the door, not right now. Not without risking that safety. Rixie was not imprisoned, but it didn’t exactly feel as if she was free.

Alex poked his head out from the small habitat on the nightstand; it was one of the modular Hiaru types, adapted from the old days when Hiaru manufactured habitats for humans…along with tuppskemah and other small animals. Alex wasn’t complaining; they’d at least been high-quality habitats, and Hiaru, unlike a lot of pet supply companies, had recognizedthe potentially lucrative market in homes for newly-free humans even before emancipation. So while the outside architecture was still the modular spheres of a classic Hiraru habitat, the interiors were pleasant and up-to-date, perfectly appropriate for a sentient being.

“Can’t believe it,” he said. “Avalon’s gonna bid on the 2188 Olympics. I tried to suggest setting our holographic intro to ‘Space Olympics,’ and Teddy told me that Darren already had warned him I’d try, and that it was a joke song. The nerve of him! I mean, yes, it was a joke song, but…still, that would have been hilarious.”

Rixie looked at him blankly, and said, “So are you trying to be whimsical to entertain me, or just out of habit?”

Alex sighed, and said, “So, I see that you are in a mood.”

“Can’t imagine why!” Rixie retorted. “I….”

After giving her a moment, Alex said, “You were really gonna let me have it there, Rix. And you’ll probably feel better if you do, so go for it.”

“Oh, it’s no fun yelling at you if you’re just going to take it,” Rixie said, flopping onto the bed with enough force that the shockwave moved Alex slightly.

Rixie lay there for a few seconds, and said, “I’m wrecking all of our lives.”

“No you aren’t,” Alex said. “When we get back home, you’re still gonna be Lexie’s grandma and Starry’s mom; nobody on the mountain is gonna treat you different, except maybe to tease you. And that’s not different, it’s just a different way to tease you.”

“We won’t be able to stay there, though,” Rixie said. “I’m going to have duties. Responsibilities. I’ll have to spend time in Jotnarherath, at least until they figure out how to lift this. We will have to spend time in Jotnarherath.”

“So we have to see your mom more,” Alex said. “That’s fine.”

“Won’t just be that. We won’t be able to have a normal life. We’ll have to go to events, make appearances….”

“We have to do that now,” Alex said. “I’m a senator, Rixie. You’re Iron Maiden. You work for Pryvani. The Empress is your aunt. Our son is Lord Carey. We both can call up the Floor Leader if we want to, because we know her from when she was a reporter. We stopped having normal lives a long time ago.” Alex paused, and leaned up against the door of the habitat. “Honestly, I stopped around 2013.”

Rixie turned to face Alex, and he raised his hand to stop her apology. “Don’t you dare start feeling bad about that. We went through this on Titan, and we’re done. It was the best thing that I could imagine happening to me. Wasn’t perfect, and yeah, there are more than a few things I wish had gone different, but I wouldn’t change you rescuing me for anything. And the rest of it…if that’s the price, it’s more than even. Except for Ryan being a hero, could’ve skipped that.”

“Me too,” Rixie said. “And I am sorry, Alex. Not just for kidnapping you. No, I….I just…realized I was complaining about something that you’ve been going through for decades. I must sound like a spoiled brat.”

Alex chuckled. “I mean, you would if that was the real reason you were upset. But it isn’t what you’re actually scared of, because you know gorram well that while things will get a bit less convenient, it’s not gonna change our lives that much. No, you’re afraid of the same thing you were when you first found out who your parents were. You’re afraid that you aren’t going to measure up, that you’re gonna be a bad princess.”

“I am gonna be a bad princess,” Rixie said. “My Jotnar isn’t perfect, and while I’ve studied a lot of Jotnar culture…I haven’t lived here. I’m gonna look…aemet, they’d say. Like an Aementi, only it’s kind of a slur…the Jotnar retort to ‘blueface.’”

“So like ‘cracker,’ then?”

“Hm?”

“Never mind. Long story. And Rix, maybe you will,” Alex said. “In some ways you probably will. That’s not your fault, though. You didn’t choose to go to the Hoplites. And yeah some Jotunn will probably look down on you for that. They’ll discount you, and think you aren’t good enough, just because of your accent, or because you accidentally do a shocker instead of a reverse shocker when you’re flipping someone off. And you know what? Frak them. Because you are as good as they are, if not better, and if they won’t take you seriously, the important people will.”

He leaped to the bed, and walked up to sit by her face. “Rix, when Renna told me that she thought we could develop Rixie’s for the Empire, I thought she was cracked. But mostly, I thought…what happens when they find out that a human built the first one? Won’t we be laughed out of the room? What if it backfires on me, but good? And I knew that it could, and even if it didn’t…that there would be those who would never take me seriously. And that if it really blew up, it might even affect you. But then, I realized that I was mostly afraid that we’d fail. That we’d try this thing and it would go bad and I’d feel…well, like a pet, and not a person.”

Rixie wiped a tear away. “You know, I knew you worried…you should have told me this.”

“Yes, I should have. You’re telling me this now because you’re the smart one, which we established a hundred years ago. There is no guarantee that this goes well, just like there wasn’t for Rixie’s. And maybe it won’t. But…look, it was tempting to stay on Avalon, where it was safe, and not risk blowing it.”

“I’ve never worried about being safe, Alex,” Rixie said.

“You’ve never worried about putting your face in front of a fist,” Alex countered. “You’ve been willing to die. But dying’s easy. Failing’s hard. Maybe this ends with everyone hating Princess Hyrikken. I doubt it, because you’re you, and you’re lovable as you are big, and you’re damn big. But there are no guarantees. But you know, if everyone hates Princess Hyrikken…you will still have the people who love Rixie behind you. And we’ll be behind you no matter what.”

“I just don’t want it to hurt the people who love me,” Rixie said. “Because I love them.”

“I know,” Alex said. “But it won’t. And if it does…well, it was your name on the restaurant. If we’d failed, your reputation would have taken a hit. Okay, not a big one, but…we’re in this together, just like always. And if you’re hurt, I’m gonna be hurt. I’d be a terrible husband if I wasn’t. But we’ll hurt together.”

Rixie sighed, and smiled. “Okay,” she said, “I guess I can live with that.”

She kissed him gently, and said, “All right, I should try to get to sleep. Morning comes very soon. Will you signal Karral and the guard, let them know I’m getting ready for bed?”

“Will do,” Alex said, letting her set him back by the habitat. “And that thing has two-way and I’m gonna be listening, so say good night when you get back; I’m going to try to sign off on some paperwork for a while, and I’ll join you about halfway through.”

Rixie smiled, and gave him one more peck on the head. “I will, Alex. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Alex said. “And I know you’re gonna take that sleep aid, take one. I can never wake you up when you take two.”

“That’s why I take two, you know,” Rixie said, with a wink.

* * *

Liss returned to the concourse, and headed for the bar; she’d filed the initial paperwork, ordered fuel, and returned to the White Shaar to see if Nest wanted to grab dinner. He’d been a bit unsure, and she couldn’t blame him – brave as he was, there was still an element of danger when you decided to have a drink in a bar made for giants.

She ordered a kapskrasi, and headed for a table, when she caught a vision of a ghost out of the corner of her eye.

Despite her experience and general acting ability, her head involuntarily turned toward it; she was too shocked not to. And as she turned, he grinned at her, and jerked his head.

This couldn’t possibly be.

She walked over to the table he sat at, and said, “Margu?”

“Liss. Fancy seeing you here. What a coincidence.”

Liss swallowed, and said. “Well, you aren’t dead. I need to get back to my ship, so if you’ll excuse me….”

“Oh, now that’s rude. You condemn me to death, and you just walk away without even sharing a drink? I suppose you’re going to go warn Vilum that I’m here, and that your security plan may be compromised?”

He delivered this with a disarming grin, and gestured with his artificial right hand. Liss saw that the power pack on it had a small bump on top. Not something you’d notice if you weren’t looking, but Liss was looking, and Margu wanted her to. It was a targeting viewfinder for a concealed blaster.

She had no doubt it was locked on her.

“So, would you like to see the White Shaar?”

“I’ve taken enough tours of your ship,” Margu said, downing his drink and standing up. “Let me show you mine.”

* * *

Nonull listened to Rixie talk to Alex one more time, then heard him go back into his habitat. He had been worried; if Carey had been going to sleep with her, that might have presented a problem. But he would be in the hab, and that would be partially noise-controlled; if Nonull was his usual careful self, Alex wouldn’t know anything had happened until it was too late.

His stomach knotted up as she laid down on the bed; she had praised him, when he’d been a buck cadet.

“You’ve got potential, Bekchi Agaser,” she’d said. “You’re the kind of Jack who ends up taking down a Titan someday.”

He leaned back in his hiding place, and waited for her breathing to slow. It wasn’t fair to her. But it was his job. And he would take her down. No matter how wrong it felt.