CHAPTER 13

When Dr. Fishawk returned for Raena, he brought Haoun along with him. Raena reached out for Haoun’s hand, held it to her cheek.

“Your color’s better,” the doctor observed.

“I’m going to live,” Raena assured. “Are we good to go?”

“Yes. I’ve cleared you. The Business Council accepted your bill. I’m going to show you out the back way, rather than have you go out through the ER waiting area.”

“Perfect,” Corvas said. “We don’t want to start any more trouble on Kai.”

Raena hopped down from the bed to follow the man and the two lizards out into the corridor. Haoun pulled her close against him and nuzzled her hair.

“Thank you for keeping them from smothering me in the waiting room,” she said.

“I’ve never been around a celebrity before,” he teased. “Will you need security everywhere you go now?”

“Could be,” the doctor replied. He opened an unmarked door to a stairway. “Your case has been a topic of much discussion on Kai, Ms. Zacari.”

“Oh?”

“We think there is a reason you were targeted.” He held his tongue while two other medics passed them on the stairs. The Shtrell looked twice at Raena, but neither she nor the furred one stopped.

Fishawk waited until the door banged shut behind them. “The android from your Messiah documentary—”

“Outrider?” Raena asked.

Fishawk nodded. “He was seen in the service district in Kai City before your trial began. People didn’t know who he was until Mellix’s documentary ran. By then, he was gone.”

“Outrider on Kai?” Haoun echoed.

“Yes. He was stirring up trouble among the human workers.”

“That explains a lot of things,” Raena said. They reached the bottom of the stairs. Raena shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for all you’ve done.”

“My pleasure.” He opened the door, which let out into a loading zone. “Just, please, keep your head down and get off Kai safely. You have come to mean a lot to people here. There will be more trouble, if anything more happens to you.”

*   *   *

Ariel met the three of them at the Veracity’s hatch. “Come to Eilif’s cabin.”

Raena nodded.

Ariel let her past, then stepped in front of Corvas and Haoun. “Just Raena for now, gentlemen.”

The lizards exchanged a glance. Haoun asked, “Where’s Mykah? We should get stocked and start making ready to get out of here.”

“In the galley,” Ariel answered. “Corvas, do you mind hanging out for a bit? I’m ready to make a deal with the Business Council. We need to have a plan in place.”

“Do you want me to make you an appointment tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is good. Damn the cost.”

“I’ll make it happen.”

All her errands assigned, Ariel showed Raena to the little cabin where Eilif’s body lay. She’d cleaned the clone up and bound her body in a tarp. Only her face remained visible, an unnatural bloodless color beneath her bone white hair.

Raena sat on the edge of the bunk, one hand on Eilif’s shoulder. “This is what they were doing last night while Kai was rioting?”

“Yes,” Ariel answered. “They came here to get Jim. Eilif and Gisela were extraneous.”

Raena looked up at Ariel, but before she could ask, Ariel said, “Gisela’s injured, but not badly. She’ll survive.”

Raena looked back at Eilif’s corpse. “She may have been mine,” Raena confessed. “I didn’t want to say anything to her, because we’ll never know for sure. But Thallian had my ovaries removed while I served on the Arbiter. She could have been cloned from those eggs.”

Ariel sank down beside Raena and took her hand. “I—”

Raena shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It would only make what Thallian did to her seem worse. It couldn’t have been any worse. At least she was free of him when she died.”

“One of the grays here last night used Revan’s likeness to persuade Jim into letting them onto the ship. The Veracity recognized him, but Eilif tested him and made sure he wasn’t Revan. It’s possible he was an android like Outrider. Maybe all the grays are androids.”

“Any indication where they took the boy?”

Raena’s tightly controlled voice betrayed no anger or emotion at all. Ariel had heard her use that tone years ago, while they were running from Thallian. It was the voice Raena used to deal with Imperial officers, the voice of command she’d learned from her master. Goose flesh shivered over Ariel’s skin at the sound of it.

“Home,” Ariel answered. “The Revan soldier said they were taking Jim home.”

Raena nodded.

“He ordered his men to scuttle the Veracity. Mykah has been waiting to talk to Haoun about hiring some engineers to repair it. I don’t expect the damage will be too bad, though. This whole thing is a trap for you. They won’t want to slow you down too much, just enough that they can get to Drusingyi before you do.”

“I want to get out of here as soon as I can,” Raena said.

“I know. I set Corvas on the Business Council. As soon as the ship is ready to go, you’ll be ready, too.”

Raena looked down at Eilif again. “What do we do about her body?”

“Coni’s forged a death certificate to look like she was killed in the rioting last night. I am having her cremated here on Kai. I’ll take her ashes back to Callixtos.”

“I’m sorry for the loss of your friend,” Raena said. She opened her arms to Ariel, gathered her close. Ariel finally let her tears fall, knowing Raena would understand them. Raena herself remained too infuriated to cry.

*   *   *

A short while later, Mykah tapped on the door to Eilif’s cabin. “We have a message from Kavanaugh.”

Raena stood up as Ariel wiped her face. They moved toward the door together, holding hands.

“In the lounge,” Mykah said.

The gathering struck Raena as strange. Coni and Haoun were a minority now, outnumbered by the humans.

Kavanaugh’s craggy face filled the screen. “Vezali hasn’t come back up yet, but she got some video of the cloning labs.” He reached offscreen to set it to play.

The seam on the cloning dome was ugly and brown, compared to the elegant surviving structure of the transparent dome. Many figures swarmed around inside. Several were recognizable as Outriders. Raena saw the antique medical robot that had served as the Thallian family doctor. Towering over them all was an insectile figure with a shiny black carapace and far too many legs.

“Are you seeing that?” Kavanaugh asked.

“Yes,” Raena answered. “Looks like a Templar Master.”

“Now we know for certain what they’re cloning,” Kavanaugh said.

“We’ll be there in a couple of days,” Raena said. “Don’t wait for us. As soon as Vezali comes back to you, get off the planet. We’ll meet you on Callixtos afterward.”

“Understood,” Kavanaugh said. “See you there.”

The screen went blank and no one spoke. The Master was chief commander of the Templars’ military forces. There was only ever one at a time, as far as Raena knew. This one could be cloning himself an army.

Seeing the shocked expressions around the lounge, Raena asked, “Mykah, what have we got to drink on this boat?”

*   *   *

The next morning, Kai’s Business Council agreed to hear Raena’s final plea. Raena dreaded to think what setting up the meeting had cost Ariel: one more thing to be grateful for. She realized that she’d lost count.

The Business Council’s chambers were opulent, swathed in rich dark fabrics that played up the austerity of the plain wooden chairs in which Raena sat with Ariel and the remaining crew of the Veracity.

Corvas bent close to whisper to Ariel. Raena wasn’t sure what their game plan was, but she hoped this was the endgame. She was good and ready to blast off this rock.

“Let’s call this meeting to order,” one of the councilors said. Her baggy fur was an odd shade of orange, but she wore an elaborate robe covered in dangling copper disks. She had the tallest hat, so Raena supposed she must be the boss.

Corvas said, “My client has been charged with several crimes by the Business Council of Kai. In each case, the charges have been dropped for lack of evidence. She has volunteered to pay fines for minor misdeeds she was not initially charged with. We are asking that she be released from Kai’s legal system and that her bail be repaid to Ms. Shaad.”

“Your client has been broadcast murdering four people,” another councilor said. The profusion of feathers on his hat bobbed as he spoke.

“I’m sure Kai could have claimed the bounty for Revan Thallian, if only the dockmaster had detained him before he attacked my client in your souk. As it is, Ms. Zacari is already being hailed across the galaxy as a hero.” Corvas added, “As I am sure you are aware.”

Raena wondered if she was due another bounty. Maybe that’s what this hearing was about: the Business Council trying to shake her down for some of her reward.

“Yes. Well. The other three soldiers she murdered have not been identified . . .”

Corvas swiped across his handheld and put six photographs up on the council room’s screen. The first row of images came from Kai’s booking records. The corresponding photographs beneath were Imperial ID photos. “As you can see, we have confirmed the dead men were crewmembers of the Arbiter, as identified by Jain Thallian in court. It wouldn’t have been difficult to name them, if your coroner had done a basic genetic trace, but we merely compared their booking photos with the Arbiter’s crew roster.” Corvas looked up. “We invite you to press the murder charge—and we will detail your coroner’s failure publicly.”

“Are you threatening us, Mr. Corvas?” the head councilor asked.

“Stating a fact only. Do you find it threatening?”

“I’m not sure I like your tone,” another of the councilors said. This one’s blue skin was dotted with orange to match her hair.

Corvas swiveled both his eyes toward her. “It seems to me that Kai lit a fuse without considering where the explosion was going to take place. By leveling trumped-up charges at my client—then broadcasting the depth of Kai’s ineptitude across the galaxy—it appears that you’ve dug yourselves a very deep crater. At this point, the best way out of it might be to hire my client as your new head of Planetary Security, have her fire every incompetent you have toiling on this rock, and then train the rest to be a respectable force capable of protecting the wealthy clientele who come to Kai to escape their fears of extortion and kidnapping.”

Stunned silence greeted that proposal.

“Do you want a job heading up Kai’s Planetary Security?” Haoun asked Raena.

“No.”

Ariel leaned forward. “Corvas, if you’ll permit me?”

“Please.” He made a sweeping gesture and stepped back out of her way.

“I have a theory.” Ariel didn’t bother to stand up to address the council, merely lounged back in her uncomfortable wooden chair. “I think Kai was presented with a can’t-lose money-making strategy. I think the Business Council was aimed at an easy target, one little human who appeared to be a ticking time bomb. It shouldn’t have been difficult to provoke her into doing something catastrophic. Her associates were young, but they had pulled in good money from the Council of Worlds. Surely, they would part with some of it, rather than face a court broadcast that would discredit them and end their careers in front of the whole galaxy. But after the match had been struck, the Messiah documentary aired. The kids were linked to Mellix, which was exactly the kind of attention that the Business Council would prefer not to face. Too late to backtrack, though, wasn’t it? Whoever had suggested the brilliant scheme in the first place revealed his conditions. It looked less like a can’t-fail proposition for Kai and more like blackmail. But by then, Lautan had arrested her. They demanded their cut. The bounty hunters got hold of her and they expected to be paid. Once she disappeared into the desert, you must have breathed easier, but Raena didn’t stay lost. The only way out you could see was to have her killed by an unstable human-hating cellmate. Unfortunately, once that cellmate started crowing about the impending murder, you had to either bribe or eliminate everyone on the cellblock. That included some tourists made famous by the court broadcasts. So the jailers rescued Raena at the last minute. Officially, the murder attempt was labeled a bureaucratic error. Cheaper than trying to buy that much silence.”

“This is an amazing delusion, Ms. Shaad . . .”

Corvas made another swipe across his handheld and put an image of Outrider up on the screen. He stood in this same council chamber.

“How did you get that?” one of the councilors demanded.

Ariel ignored the question. “Once you saw the Messiah documentary and learned what he was, you had the sense to be afraid of him. But he told you that the drug was already on Kai. He’d already been in contact with Kai’s human service workers, some of whom were eager to spend their youth to buy some payback for how they’d been treated here. And Outrider threatened to unleash them on the Business Council, if you didn’t do exactly as he told you.”

One lone voice asked, “What can we do?”

“You can’t stop him,” Raena said. “He undoubtedly learned all he needed to know about his targets while you were busy harassing me. He’s a sociopath. You are doomed.”

The silence that greeted that pronouncement was even grimmer.

Coni looked at Raena. “You’ve survived a Messiah attack. Help them. Please.”

Raena gazed back at her, calculating, then faced the Business Council. “Oh, let me count the reasons I won’t risk my life to help you,” she said. “First off, if not for dumb luck and sheer incompetence, you would have already sold my corpse back to Ariel. Secondly, I am not magic. Those Messiah addicts could be anywhere in the galaxy by now, although odds are they haven’t gone too far. After your government collapses and they are dead, Outrider will want to reveal them, to spread fear to the rest of the galaxy. However, because my friend pleads for you, I’ll give you some advice for free. When it becomes clear which of you are under attack, get those council members into restraints or under sedation, where they cannot harm themselves or become a danger to anyone else. The Messiah addicts cannot kill them, but they will do everything they can to drive them mad. There is no bargaining with Outrider and, now that you’ve given him time to flee Kai, you have nothing that he wants.”

“We thought he wanted you dead,” one of them told her.

“You’re welcome to give that another try,” Raena said. “See if my death really does stave off what we all know is coming. Be careful how you do it, though. You wouldn’t want to spark another riot. And you might consider this: what if this whole fiasco was only a distraction? Outrider played on your greed and now he’s ruined your reputation. Why shouldn’t he go ahead and destroy the Business Council altogether? What’s to stop him? Where would be the fun in letting you go?”

“But why is he doing this?”

“For the pure love of chaos.”

Mykah spoke up. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to return Ariel’s bail money. You’re going to pay Raena restitution for dragging her into this debacle. You’re going to release an official statement absolving her of guilt. And then you’re going to talk to Mellix about how you were played by one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy. You’ll detail how he contacted you, what he offered you, and what you’re afraid of now—so that what has happened on Kai will serve as an object lesson to the rest of the galaxy.”

“Absolutely not,” the head councilor said.

Mykah smiled. “You don’t have any choice about being investigated by Mellix,” he pointed out. “He can either tell the story that makes you look gullible and greedy—or the one that makes the Council of Worlds put you on trial.”

Raena asked him, “You don’t want to stay to do the interviews yourself?”

“We have business on Drusingyi,” Mykah answered.

Raena smiled at him. Her first inclination was to argue, to tell Mykah it was too dangerous, to try to protect him. But just as the Veracity had not abandoned her to face this trial alone, they would back her up on Drusingyi. Her kids were growing up.

She didn’t really care what Kai had to say at this point, but she grudgingly focused her attention back on the sputtering head of the Business Council, who demanded time to consider the Veracity’s threats. Raena let her get a good head of steam going, then stood up.

“You’ll excuse us, Councilor. We have more pressing things to attend to.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Your little drama on Kai has been a distraction from the Templar cloning themselves back into the galaxy,” she said.

The councilor’s mouth closed with an audible clack.

“I am going to meet with the new Templar Master to see if there is anything I can do to prevent him from wiping out humanity. I can think of nothing more terrifying for you to threaten me with. I’ll leave it to Ariel and Corvas to work out the particulars of how you’re going to clear my name, but you have wasted the last of my time.”

When Mykah, Haoun, and Coni joined her on their feet, the Planetary Security guards moved hesitantly to block the exit. Raena darted toward the first of them. As he thrust his stun staff at her, she spun inside his reach and plucked the staff from his hands. She tossed it to Mykah.

He covered her as the next two guards charged to attack. Mykah tangled his staff into one of the attacker’s, but it was clear from the lack of spark that the guard had actually forgotten to switch the stun staff on. Mykah swept it from his grasp. Haoun caught it from the air.

Raena was pleased to see the other agent had both switched his staff on and used the lanyard to loop it to his wrist. Still, it didn’t seem as if he’d ever sparred against an unarmed opponent intent on fighting back. She yanked his staff over far enough to stun his remaining comrade, then rammed the staff’s heavy base back into his chest. He sat down hard.

Raena wiped her hand down across the top of her boot, palmed the knife there, and used it to slice the safety strap.

Coni retrieved the staff from the agent who’d been stunned. Now, each armed with a stun staff, the crew of the Veracity turned to face the Business Council of Kai.

“Ms. Shaad,” the head councilor squeaked, “can’t you control her?”

Ariel laughed. “Raena’s in control now, Councilor.” When the Business Council had no response to that, Ariel asked, “What would you like, Raena?”

“All this captivity has left me with a whole lot of energy that I’m eager to burn off before we get back into space. However, I would prefer not to fight my way across Kai City, because—despite your best efforts—I am not your enemy. I would like to leave Kai with some shreds of its dignity intact. The choice is up to you, Councilors. Either you can allow me and my crew to walk out of here, or I can show you all the remaining flaws in your Planetary Security. What’s your preference?”

“Just go,” one of the councilors said. “Don’t hurt anyone.”

“Thank you.”

Raena came over to kiss Ariel goodbye. She wrapped her hand in Ariel’s braid and pulled her head back, kissing her long and deeply. Sometimes a kiss has to say everything that words cannot express.

“I will call you as soon as this is over,” she promised.

“Be careful.”

“As careful as I can be.”

“I love you,” Ariel said.

Raena smiled at that and let her get the last word. Then she walked up in front of the cringing high hat Councilor and lay the stun staff at her feet. The Veracity crew stacked their staves beside Raena’s and followed her toward the door.

“Now,” Corvas said behind them, “I’ve prepared an accounting . . .”

*   *   *

When they got back to the ship, Mykah’s crew of engineers met them in the Veracity’s lounge. Two were Dagat like Vezali, one was Na’ash like Haoun, and the last was human. Mykah introduced him as Orfeo Wachek.

“It’s good as new,” Orfeo said. “We repaired everything you noted and tested the fuel lines and power connections. Vezali will want to restock her backup parts—we raided them pretty much down to zero—but you are ready to fly.”

“Thank you,” Mykah said with a grin. “Coni’s authorized the payments to the accounts you gave me. We really appreciate you helping us out at the last moment like this.”

“It’s been a pleasure,” Orfeo said. “This is a sweet old ship.”

“It is that,” Mykah agreed.

*   *   *

Raena followed Haoun up to the cockpit. He settled back into his pilot’s chair with a sigh and started flipping switches.

“You don’t have to come,” Raena pointed out. “We can drop you off somewhere safe. You have your kids to think about.”

“Not really,” he argued, resigned. “You’ve been thinking about them like a human family: two parents and their offspring, bonded for life. I’ve let you think that, because that’s what I want. But the Na’ash—for most of us—the father leaves as soon as the eggs hatch. The mother raises the young alone. My mate thought it was weird when I stuck around after our boys hatched. When Jexxie was born . . .” Haoun’s voice choked up, but he forced himself to continue. “Serese thought it was perverse that I wanted anything to do with our kids. After seeing me in the court broadcasts, she claims she’s never going to let me near them again.” He swallowed hard. “There is nothing holding me back anymore. The Veracity is—look, I like you a lot, Raena, but it’s not just you. Coni’s been like a sister to me. Mykah’s my brother. I feel the same about Vezali. I can’t let you all go face the Templars alone. I mean, I’m terrified, and I don’t want to die, but I also don’t want to survive and know that I let you go to your deaths because I was too much of a coward to stand with you. I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t live with myself.”

Raena perched on the arm of his chair. “I learned a long time ago that courage isn’t going into a fight when you’re certain you’ll win. I have to go to Drusingyi, because I have to try to save what’s left of my people. None of the rest of you are obligated to come die at my side. So I respect and honor your courage. I’m grateful to have you as a friend.”

“Good. Promise you won’t try to erode my fragile bravery by telling me what you expect we’re getting into?”

“I promise.” Raena slipped down into his lap and hugged him as tightly as she could. “I’ll post a sparring schedule once we’re underway. I’ve got three days to whip you three into a fighting team.”

Haoun started to protest, but Raena laid a finger across his mouth.

“Mandatory,” she said. “I saw how you bobbled that stun staff.”

He laughed.

“But I’ll make it up to you afterward,” Raena promised. She hopped out of his lap. “I’ll leave you to the preflight check.”

“Send Gisela up, will you?” he asked. “I’m going to train her to copilot.”

“Is she coming along with us?”

“She is your biggest fan,” Haoun said. “She wouldn’t let us leave her behind.”

“She goes on the sparring schedule too, then.”

*   *   *

Raena found Gisela lying on the banquette in the lounge. “Which one of Ariel’s daughters are you?”

Gisela opened eyes that were a strange blue so dark that it almost looked black. “My uncle sold me after my parents died. I was working as a maid in a brothel on Tacauque when the Shaad Foundation bought me.”

“How old were you?”

“Almost eight.”

“How old are you now?”

“Sixteen.”

“Still living at home?”

Gisela looked at Raena skeptically. “Is this an interview?”

“In a way. I’m trying to figure out how you fit in here.”

“You’re not the captain,” Gisela pointed out.

Raena’s smile was tight. “I’m the evil mastermind. That means I outrank Captain Chen.”

“My apologies, then.” The girl pushed herself into sitting up. “Ariel trained me to be a bodyguard to Madame Shaad.”

Raena tossed a Stinger at her. “Field strip that.”

The girl took the Stinger apart in seconds, stacking the pieces neatly, then reassembled it in half the time. Clearly, her mother’s daughter.

“You a good shot?”

“Not as good as Ariel. Better than everyone else.”

“I don’t know if we’re going to need sharpshooting on this trip. I don’t know what we’re going to need. What I’ve got are games players and hackers, but maybe what I need are diplomats. Real diplomats who know how to make peace. And I’ve never known anyone like that. All I’ve ever known were soldiers following the orders of crazy people.”

Gisela didn’t dispute any of that. Instead, she said, “Eilif was the gentlest person I ever met. She mended a bird’s wing after the poor creature flew into a window at the villa. She could make anyone feel better. She could tame the most broken child . . . She had a gift. And that thing killed her because it didn’t need her. She bled to death on the floor of the Veracity because I was knocked out and couldn’t help her.”

“Concussion?” Raena guessed.

“Yeah,” Gisela said. She didn’t nod. “It’s getting better.”

“We’re not a hospital ship,” Raena said. “You’re going to have to take care of yourself. If your head gets knocked around again, even if we just have a rough landing, you could be looking at permanent damage.”

“I’m used to taking care of myself,” Gisela promised.

“Good. I’m not used to taking care of anyone else.” After she said it, Raena realized that was a lie. She had taken care of Ariel for years. She relented and said, “Haoun wants you in the cockpit. He says he’s going to train you to copilot.”

The girl’s smile lit her strange-colored eyes. “Thank you, Raena. You won’t regret letting me come along.”

Raena wondered about that, but she let it pass.

*   *   *

The training began as soon as the Veracity was back into space. Raena supervised as Mykah and Coni grappled. She noted that they held back, gentle with each other, so she separated the two of them. Her surprise attack on Mykah was full-speed and all-out. He had mass and reach on Raena, but she let him know she wasn’t playing this time.

Coni watched, puzzled, waiting for Mykah to complain or ask for help. When she heard Raena break his arm—the groan that escaped him left no doubt—Coni leapt back into the fray.

Raena slapped her hard enough that Coni’s head rang. The little woman landed a few more blows on Mykah before Coni succeeded in peeling Raena off of him. She threw Raena back with surprising strength, but the little woman landed on her toes and launched herself back at Coni.

“Are you crazy?” Coni protested. “Stop. Wait. What are you doing?”

Raena backhanded her. As Coni blinked tears away, Raena threw herself into a backflip and went after Mykah, who lay panting on the deck. She kicked him hard enough to roll him over. He doubled up, trying to protect his organs.

Coni sprang after Raena. She pulled the woman off of Mykah, pitched her hard at the deck at an angle so she couldn’t pop back up, then pinned her down with one foot.

Her claws were unsheathed and her hand had drawn back, when Mykah grabbed her arm. “Stop, Coni!”

Shaking, Coni stepped back and let him hold her.

Mykah reached his uninjured hand down to Raena. She let him tug her to her feet.

“I’m going to be ill,” Coni warned.

Mykah petted her back. “It’s just the aftermath of the fight,” he said. “Stand up and take a deep breath. It will pass.”

Coni looked at him, shaking her head. “I thought she was going to kill you.”

“That’s what she wanted you to think.” He turned to Raena. “Did you see what you wanted?”

She nodded. Blood bloomed on her chest, where Coni’s claws had torn her shirt. Raena pressed on the wounds, to slow the bleeding.

“I’m sorry, Coni. I wanted to see what you were capable of. Now I want you to think about whether you can unleash that fury before Mykah gets hurt. Because if you can’t, if you restrain yourself, it may be too late.”

Coni sank to the floor, still panting. “I wanted to kill you.”

“I know. But we don’t have time to be polite about this. I need to know that you can defend yourself, that you will defend all of us. I need to know that you can get angry enough to kill, if you have to—and that you won’t freeze up afterward. Because if we get to Drusingyi and there are Outriders there—if there are gray soldiers there—I want to know that you won’t go down without a fight.”

Raena sat down in front of Coni and reached out to take her hands, before noticing that her own were bloody. “This is going to be hard,” Raena promised. “It’s going to be awful. If you don’t want to come down to the planet, I won’t think any less of you and I don’t want you to think any less of yourself. You need to decide that if you do come, you will be all in. Otherwise, you or Mykah are going to get killed. If I have to fight alone, I’d rather go alone to do it.”

*   *   *

Haoun came into the gym hesitantly, unsure what he would find. He’d seen Raena stitching up her chest before she hauled the Thallians’ old bone regenerator out to mend Mykah’s arm. Coni had retreated to her cabin. Haoun knew Coni and Mykah had been sparring with Raena. Clearly, something drastic had happened.

“I won’t bite,” Raena promised him.

“I’m not sure a human bone-mender will fix me,” he answered.

“Your lesson is different than Mykah or Coni’s,” Raena said. “I want to see how fast you can move and for how long. We’re going to run.”

She made him run on the treadmill. And run. And run. Haoun had probably never run so long in his life. He found himself dragging slower and slower. Raena jogged alongside him without getting winded or slackening her pace.

“Jump off,” she told him. When he did, she said, “Freeze.”

He locked his muscles up so hard that he nearly tipped himself over.

“Good. Very good. If we need to run and then hide, I don’t want them to hear you gasping. You’re doing great.”

He laughed. “What if they hear my heart pounding out of my body?”

“I can’t hear it,” she said. “Can you ignore it?”

He nodded.

“Okay. Now I want you to attack me.”

He’d known it would come to this. He looked down at his claws. He couldn’t retract them like Coni could hers. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want you to hurt me, either.”

“I know.”

“I—I don’t think I can do this. I’m sorry, Raena. I want to protect you. I want . . .”

She leaned up against him and looked up into his face. “It’s all right. I didn’t want to set a limit for you. How do you feel about shooting?”

“I’m okay at shooter games. Better at spraying around cover than at sharpshooting.”

“Good. I’ll train you on the ship’s external guns.”

He realized, “You’re going to leave me behind.”

“It’s safer for us both,” she said. “You are a natural pilot. We need you to get us onto Drusingyi—and we’re not getting away unless you survive to fly us out again.”

“Why are you going gentle on me after you were so hard on Coni and Mykah?”

“I told you their lessons were different. I wanted to see if Mykah would follow me even when he was in danger. If he would trust I had a plan, even if he got hurt. I’d never gone off-leash on him before. I wanted to see if he’d panic, if fear or pain would defeat him. He made me very proud.”

“Did you mean to break Coni?”

“She isn’t broken. She’s upset and angry and it may take her time to forgive me. But she stopped to watch when she should have stepped up. It may be just the way her people are, or it may be individual to her, but I’ve faced those guys in gray four times. They don’t freeze. If I ever waited to see what they were going to do next, I would be dead. There isn’t time to think in a fight. I can train her to overcome that tendency, but she has to decide if she wants to. If she doesn’t, that’s fine. I’m not going to beat it into her the way it was beaten into me. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time, so I pushed her—both of them—hard.”

“You should go tell her that,” Haoun said. “She’s going to tear herself up over this. She’ll feel like she let you both down. She didn’t protect Mykah and she disappointed you.”

“I’m not disappointed,” Raena said. “I will definitely tell her that.”