Panic pushed my heart rate sky high. My stomach soured, and even with the temperature regulation in the suit, sweat broke out across my forehead. Drifting in open space was one of my fears. I’d moderated my strength just so this exact thing wouldn’t happen, though the tether should’ve been unbreakable even at full strength.
“Cat, what’s going on?” Alex asked. “Your vitals are all over the board.”
The smooth baritone of his voice broke me from the panic. I wasn’t in open space, not really, I was a handful of meters from a landing bay and my ship, in a suit with full maneuvering capability. I detached the worthless tether from my belt and tossed it toward the approaching transport. The thrusters in my suit automatically corrected for the slight spin I’d caused with the throw.
“The tether broke, but I’m okay,” I said. “Artemis, return to Chaos.” The suit automatically located the ship and activated the thrusters to guide me back into the landing bay. The heads-up display calculated my travel time as thirty seconds.
I asked the suit to show what was behind me, and a small video from the camera on the back of my helmet came up in the bottom of the display. The transport was closing in fast because it didn’t have to be as careful about movement as I did with my tiny thrusters. I should clear the landing bay before they reached me, but it would be close.
I increased the power to the thrusters. The landing bay opening was a huge, impossible-to-miss target and I was already heading in the right direction. I didn’t need to be quite so cautious.
The transition from gravity to zero-g was trippy, but the transition back was a good way to end up face-first on the deck. My suit had recognized the presence of the field and had positioned me upright, but even knowing it was coming, the loss of weightlessness caused me to stumble a few steps and nearly fall.
I shook my head, as if I could shake off the dizziness, and staggered toward Chaos. Aoife, who should already have been in the ship, appeared at my side and helped me along. And by helped, I mean dragged.
“Do you want me to attack the transport?” Ying asked.
“Not unless you have to. Open the airlock door and lower the ramp, then take off as soon as we’re inside. If they don’t get out of the way, that’s their problem.”
Aoife and I climbed the short, steep airlock ramp and sealed the door behind us. I used the control panel to retract the ramp and felt the engines engage as Ying piloted Chaos out of the landing bay. I trusted Ying—or I never would’ve given her control of my ship—but I was desperate to be back in the captain’s chair.
Finally, the airlock cycled us through into the pressurized interior of the ship. I stripped off my helmet and ran for the flight deck. The rest of my suit would have to wait.
We were nearly out of the landing bay and the troop carrier had fallen back to just outside the door. Alex sat at the second station, watching the console. Ying ceded her place at the captain’s console and I slid into the seat. There were no other ships in sensor range that could pose a threat.
I looked at the three other people on deck with me. “This is your last chance to bail. I did not get any help, but I will be jumping to Earth as soon as we’re clear of the station.”
Cira was still in the medbay, but Alex, Aoife, and Ying all nodded their agreement. We were really going to do this. It was either my best idea ever, or my worst, and only time would tell.
We cleared the station and the space around us remained empty. If the station had any ships capable of stopping us, they weren’t using them. Maybe the Syndicate wasn’t paying them enough to take on a fully armed and armored House ship.
Chaos needed another half an hour before our next jump, so I plotted a course toward vacant space and brought the ship into full stealth. Luck hadn’t been on my side lately, but it owed me a quiet thirty minutes without any new surprises.
I took a deep breath and tried to let go of some of the adrenaline that had been riding me hard all morning. I acknowledged just how much I hated being outside in space with nothing but a space suit to protect me. I liked taking risks, but calculated ones, and open space had too many variables that I couldn’t control.
But I’d done it, and I was safe.
Ying had a pair of my pants cinched around her waist and rolled at the hem. That reminded me. “Ying, I bought you some clothes, but I don’t remember what happened to them. Alex did they make it onboard?”
“I dropped the bag in the mess hall.”
I dipped my head in gratitude. “We have thirty minutes until our next jump. Everyone should use it to get ready because we’ll all need to be clipped in for the jump and subsequent sprint to Earth. The compensators can only do so much and I expect I’ll have to surpass their capability before all is said and done.”
Ying left the flight deck to change and ensure that Cira was clipped in to either the diagnostic table or a seat, depending on her injury. Aoife left to change out of her space suit. I needed to do the same, but I enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet. They would be few and far between for the next couple of days.
“Are you truly okay?” Alex asked quietly.
“Yeah, but I’m nervous and second-guessing myself. Just because I’m convinced that this is the right plan doesn’t mean that it is. I wish I could talk to my siblings. Ada is the tactician. Bianca is the information specialist. Hannah is the diplomat, and Benedict is the soldier. Ferdinand is the best of all of us. I’m none of those things, but I’m the only one who can get to Earth right now, so it falls to me.”
“You’re giving yourself too little credit. I’ve seen you do all of those things in the past few days.”
I snorted. “Just because I can do them doesn’t mean I can do them well.”
“You found the information you were looking for, evaded an attack, escaped, came up with a plan, and persuaded your allies to go along with you, all despite fierce resistance.”
“Doesn’t mean it will work,” I grumbled. I wasn’t sure why I was so hung up on this, but after a lifetime of trying—and failing—to measure up to my siblings, it was a sensitive topic.
“Of course it doesn’t mean it will work. That’s why plans evolve. And you know it. You’re just arguing for the sake of arguing. But you won’t change my mind. You can hide all you want, but I’ve seen you, and you’re amazing.”
Trust Alex to drop perhaps the single nicest thing anyone had ever said about me into our conversation like it was no big deal. I blinked at him in astonishment.
His slow smile did all sorts of interesting things to me. “I wouldn’t recklessly invade a planet with nothing but five people and a tiny ship for just anyone, you know. You can do it. And you know it.”
He was right. I might not be a tactician or a diplomat or a soldier, but I had determination and a knack for succeeding against all odds. I gave him a sharp nod. “I’ll make it work.”
“And we’ll help you.”
I grinned. “They won’t know what hit them.”
AFTER CHANGING OUT OF MY SPACE SUIT, I RETURNED to the flight deck. I’d kept my blasters belted around my waist. We should have time to prep once we were on Earth, but being a little prepared now didn’t cost me anything.
Alex had gotten up to pace, but neither Aoife nor Ying had returned yet. We had fifteen minutes until we could jump again and nerves kept me on my feet. I leaned against the wall and watched Alex stalk back and forth across the small flight deck.
He paused and focused on me. “Walk me through the plan.”
“Earth is protected by an orbital array as well as ground-based laser and blast cannons. Serenity has additional protections, but we’re not aiming for the city, at least not at first. We’ll be most vulnerable while entering the atmosphere, so we’ll come in fast over whichever pole is closer.” At his inquiring look, I added, “Fewer cannons cover the poles.”
“If we’re not heading for the city, where are we heading?”
“House von Hasenberg has several supply caches hidden around the planet. Supplies will be our first objective. If we’re caught entering the atmosphere, then we’ll lose some of the element of surprise, but surprise won’t help if we don’t have enough weapons.”
“What will you do if you find that the attackers are rebels and people are celebrating the fall of your House?”
I shrugged. “Join the celebration.”
Alex arched a skeptical eyebrow. “You’d give up your power so easily?”
“I’m the youngest of six children. My ‘power’ is to marry for the good of the House, whether I want to or not. Right now, Father wants to marry me off to a man old enough to be my grandfather. Hannah’s husband is a traitor, Bianca’s marriage nearly killed her, and Ada ran away to avoid the same fate.”
“Why stay at all?”
It was a question I’d asked myself for years. My fortune was secure; I could disappear and leave the mess for someone else to fix. And I’d been tempted—so tempted—but the easiest way to implement changes was from the inside. “Optimism and loyalty, not to my House, but to my siblings. I don’t want to worry them. And we are changing things for the better, but it’s a slow process. A powerful name helps.”
“Everyone in power thinks they’re doing what’s best and nothing ever changes,” Alex said bitterly.
He wasn’t wrong. I’d had many long conversations with Ferdinand about exactly that point. Ferdinand was the most like Father of any of us because he’d borne the brunt of Father’s lessons. But, even as a child, Ferdinand had decided to follow a different path. He’d protected Hannah, and together they’d protected the twins, until it all snowballed down to everyone protecting me. It might be suffocating at times, but I’d never once doubted that I was loved.
And I’d never doubted Ferdinand’s drive to make changes that benefited everyone, not just House von Hasenberg.
“Father is an asshole, but I believe in my brother. I’m going to Earth for him, and for the billions of people who will suffer even more if the Syndicate takes over. The Consortium might be full of arrogant, self-indulgent assholes right now, but at least there are some checks and balances. A Silva dictatorship will be worse. But if we get there and things are not what I expected, I’ll reevaluate. And you are free to bail whenever you like.”
Alex stalked toward me, so mesmerizing that I almost missed his words. “You’re always trying to get rid of me. How has that worked out for you so far?”
He stopped close enough that I could reach out and touch him. He loomed, even without trying, and his broad shoulders blocked out the room.
I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “I’m giving you options. You know I desperately need your help.”
“Then why do you keep trying to get me to leave?”
“Because I don’t want you to risk your life out of obligation to Bianca!” I closed my eyes and collected myself before I revealed something I’d rather not.
I’d already skated dangerously close to a truth that was as stupid as it was selfish: I wanted him to do it for me. Not because I was Bianca’s sister or the daughter of a High House or someone who could help him in the future, but just because I was a person he found worthy of his help.
Alex touched my jaw, a feather-light caress that I thought I imagined until I opened my eyes and saw how close he was.
“I’m not here for Bianca,” he murmured. “So stop trying to get rid of me. You’re going to give me a complex.”
That pulled a reluctant grin from me. “Well, I wouldn’t want that.” I met his eyes, so he could see both the sincerity and everything I was unwilling to say aloud. “Thank you.”
He dipped his head and my breath caught. He moved slowly, giving me time to retreat, but I was perfectly happy where I was. When his lips finally covered mine, I felt like I’d been waiting an eternity.
Then it took no time at all for desire to blaze.
His lips were warm and firm and I wanted to taste them forever. I wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and tugged him closer. When that wasn’t enough, I wrapped a leg around his hip.
Clever man that he was, he knew exactly what I was doing. I felt him smile against my mouth, then he cupped my ass and lifted me so I could wrap my other leg around him. I clamped my lower body to his, and he groaned deeply. It vibrated through me, sending pleasurable tingles racing along my nerves.
I was determined to make that happen again.
Thanks to my strength, I didn’t need him to hold me up, which meant his hands were free to roam—and roam they did. After another squeeze of my ass, they slipped under the hem of my shirt and caressed the skin of my low back, before slowly moving north.
I tentatively tested our balance by rocking against him once, twice. He was rock solid—in more ways than one.
Assured that I wouldn’t hurt him, I set a quick rhythm. Squeeze my legs to lift a few centimeters, release to slide back down.
“Fuck,” Alex hissed out. He’d spread his legs and thrown his head back. The thick bulge I could feel through both sets of clothes told me just how much he was enjoying this. He pressed exactly where I needed him, and my whole focus became driving us to release.
I was close, so close, when Chaos chimed a five-minute warning. I snarled at the universe, and Alex cursed. I was trying to decide if I had time to finish anyway when the flight deck door slid open. “Ha!” Ying exclaimed. “I knew it! Don’t let me distract you; I’ll be in the mess!” The door slid closed.
I banged my head against Alex’s muscled shoulder. Unfulfilled desire pulsed through me, hot and insistent, but already the adrenaline from earlier was rising, spiking my anxiety levels.
“Sorry,” I murmured, unlatching my legs.
“Next time, I’m locking the fucking door,” he growled. He slowly withdrew his arms, his reluctance clear. I knew exactly how he felt.
I grinned ruefully. “Deal.”
We both took a moment to rearrange our clothes and let our bodies settle. By the time we were done, Alex’s expression was grim, and I knew my own matched it as I started mentally running through possible scenarios. I would have one shot at getting us on the ground safely.
I could not screw it up.
The console showed a countdown as well as our current flight plan when I slid into the captain’s chair. Alex took the secondary console where he could control the navigation and tactical systems—if I gave him access. “Can you handle the ship’s offense?” I asked.
“Yes. Aoife and I are both fully qualified pilots.”
“Okay, you’re in charge of the guns. I’m going to attempt to slip through unseen because we don’t have enough firepower to take out the orbital array or the ground cannons. However, if another ship starts firing on us, the guns are yours. Don’t get us in a fight with the RCDF.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. “No promises.”
I sent Ying a message and she returned just before the one-minute warning. She had changed into the clothes I’d bought for her. Her wide grin was completely unrepentant. She slid into a seat along the wall and clipped in. “Cira is secured but unhappy about being stuck in the medbay.”
“As long as she’s secure.” I hit the button for the ship’s intercom. “Aoife, you have ninety seconds to either get to the flight deck or secure yourself in your quarters.”
“I’m on my way,” she responded.
I checked our flight plan again. We were set to jump to Chaos’s emergency jump point, which at cruising speed was about an hour from Earth. I planned to jump fully stealthed and stay that way for the entire trip. Earth’s defenses were designed to concentrate fire on targets within twenty minutes of the planet, so we should be well outside their range, but there was no reason to risk it.
Once we got close, I would take over manually and fly us on a somewhat meandering path to the closest pole. The goal was to look like an organic piece of space debris rather than a ship. Chaos was designed to be invisible to both radar and lidar. And full stealth shut down all transmissions, including the automatic positioning messages that ships used to avoid collisions. We would be completely dark and silent.
Aoife arrived on deck thirty seconds before the jump. She clipped into the seat next to Ying.
The time ticked down in agonizing increments. It reached zero and the engine noise changed as the FTL drive ramped up. It was time to do or die.
I just hoped it wasn’t die.