“Sounds like he got away, then,” said Skritka. There was certainly disappointment in his voice, but Jasken wasn’t sure if he was imagining the edge of the accusal in it. “Are we sure it was really Grim? I thought he died over Hittania.”

“The Scouts are still hunting him, though they have very little to go on,” answered Jasken. “And no, we’re not one hundred percent certain of his identity.”

“Are you sure he was working alone, and the threat has been eliminated?” asked the Prime Minister.

“Reasonably so,” replied Jasken. “We’ll continue to monitor for outgoing comms.”

Skritka looked unsure. "I suppose it's the best we can do for now." He paused and looked away for a moment. "I do have an update on our other suspected murderer, Darvik. He's traveling with a cult that appears to be heading towards the Cluster."

"What?" asked Jasken incredulously.

Skritka shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you. RIS has an ongoing investigation into the Koomites, a cult that worships Koo L'Koom. They tracked them to Kirakna, but there was an incident and the cult leader slipped away, evidently with Darvik in tow."

"Hmm," pondered Jasken. "Sounds like things are going to get crowded out here soon."

Skritka sighed and adjusted his spectacles. "It was always going to happen sooner or later, though of course we hoped for later."

Jasken nodded. "The investigators, what does their fleet look like?"

"Just a single ship, but it's the Gladius," said Skritka. "They have a Marine squad with them."

"Good to know," said Jasken, "Grepk's crew is the best there is and we might need the muscle."

"A sailor complimenting a Marine," said Skritka with a wry smile. "I thought you were natural enemies."

Jasken's expression grew grim. "Only during peacetime."

Skritka nodded thoughtfully.

Jasken smoothed his mustache. "It would be unwise to give away our location, even to an ally, but I would like Admiral Crush to know Grim is alive. Can you hail her, see if she answers?"

"Of course, oh! In fact, she’s requesting to join our conversation now. I’ll hand it over to her. Providence shine on you, Admiral," said Skritka.

"On you as well," replied Jasken.

Skritka pressed a few buttons, and soon Admiral Crush took his place on Jasken's screen, her face inscrutable as ever.

"Hello, Admiral Jasken," she said.

“Hello, Admiral Crush,” replied Jasken. “How did things turn out with the PIC?”

“Very well,” said Crush. “I was able to work out a deal to free the workers.”

“That’s good news,” said Jasken, raising his eyebrows. “How did you manage that?”

Crush wagged a finger. “Trade secrets, I’m afraid.”

Jasken allowed himself a chuckle. “Alright, what’d you want to speak about, then?”

“I had just wanted to let you know about our success, actually,” lied Crush. It was a lame excuse, but it was the best she’d been able to come up with.

"Very well,” said Jasken, nodding to himself. “Unfortunately, I have troubling news. We believe Admiral Grim is alive."

Crush's face locked onto the screen with an intensity Jasken found hard to describe.

"It's… possible," she said at length. "His cabin was a bunker all to itself. If the cabin fell to Hittania it's possible he survived re-entry."

"That checks out," said Jasken. "Then he'd just have to stowaway to Kirakna, where he snuck aboard the Wingspan. That's where we found him."

"And you have him in custody?" asked Crush eagerly.

Jasken shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He escaped into the wilds of the world we're currently on. I doubt he can survive here long, there are territorial EM beings with a habit of frying electronics."

"I don't suppose you can give me the location?" said Crush, her eyes narrowing.

Jasken sighed. "I'm afraid not."

"Alright, Admiral," said Crush curtly. "Thank you for letting me know."

"Very well. Providence shine on you," said Jasken.

Crush nodded and ended the call. She turned to Hacksaw. "Tell me you got that location."

***

Talon Squad remained busy over the next week, helping repair the badly damaged Wingspan and taking their turns on watch. Grim was likely long gone, but they'd be ready for him if he dared to show his face again.

Vanbrook sighed as he and Reclan walked around a corner to see Raivyn coming the other way. He'd been avoiding her ever since the two-by-two order had been lifted. She stopped short when she saw him then moved past abruptly.

"See you two at dinner," she said as she walked away.

"What's up with you two?" Reclan asked.

Vanbrook shrugged. "Long week."

"Yeah," said Reclan. "But that's not why you and Raivyn have been avoiding each other."

"Hey, look," said Vanbrook defensively. "I tried to look out for her after the whole squid thing and you know what it got me?"

Reclan put her hand on her hip and looked Vanbrook in the eye. "What?"

"Trouble," he answered. "Trembi has hardly talked to me since we landed, and Raivyn's been giving me the cold shoulder."

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yeah, idiot. You told Trembi you valued your relationship with Raivyn more than your relationship with her."

Vanbrook looked at his friend, offended. "Wha-" his face fell as he thought through what he'd said as they were installing the pump. "I guess I did, huh?"

"Yeah," said Reclan. "The question you gotta figure out is, is it?"

"Vanbrook," said Captain Hunt's voice over his comm. "Admiral wants to see you in his office, soon as possible."

"Oh, thank goodness," said Vanbrook, looking at Reclan. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"What?" asked Hunt.

"Said I'll be right there," replied Vanbrook.

***

"What?!" demanded Vanbrook incredulously. He was sitting across from Jasken in the Admiral's office.

"Darvik was spotted on Kirakna," said Jasken, repeating himself. "He's traveling with a cult that worships Koo L'Koom, which is currently being investigated by the RIS and a group of Marines including Krum-Bahk. He made the identification."

Vanbrook huffed his unbelief. "And they're heading this way?"

Jasken frowned as he watched Vanbrook mull over the information.

"We're not pursuing them," said Jasken firmly. "The Gladius is seeing to that."

"Of course not," said Vanbrook absently. "Is that all, Admiral?"

Jasken nodded and Vanbrook rose and left the room.

The Admiral sighed. He wondered if it was wise to let the hotheaded swashbuckler know his nemesis was so close by. It felt as though the Cornucopia Cluster was magnetic in some way, and the closer they got, the more enemies it seemed to draw near.

***

Grim sloshed through a deep cavern, stepping directly on a snail-like creature and deliberately crushing it out of an aimless sort of spite. The hoverbike was parked towards the entrance of the cave system, turned off to avoid giving off an EM signature.

The strange cloud beasts had pursued him doggedly, though he hoped going underground would help him finally lose them. He found a reasonably dry and flat corner and sat down with a thud.

Gnash would be here. He just had to stay alive until then.

***

Grand Brother Treskt stood atop the viewing platform on the bridge of the Tailor, looking proudly over the fleet of People’s Interstellar Co-op ships he commanded. If the Republic thought they could discover the location of the Cornucopian Cluster without competition, they were in for a rude awakening.

In addition to the carrier-class Tailor, the fleet at Treskt's command boasted five gunships and three support vessels, easily dwarfing the Blue Griffon Fleet. It was a massive commitment of resources, but it was worth it for what they expected to gain.

Treskt was wearing the same yellow jumpsuit he’d received when he was first awarded the position of Grand Brother in the PIC Navy. It had fit him better then. He waddled down the steps of the viewing platform to mingle with some of his lesser brothers and sisters.

“Grand Brother,” said a High Sister. “We are prepared to jump. We should be at the intended planet within the week.”

Treskt nodded. They would be pushing the limits of the fleet, traveling as fast as they intended to. It would likely cost them a few ships, but it was a necessity, given how far behind they were in the chase.

The Grand Brother wasn’t happy with the cost of the information they’d received, but all in all, a few malcontent miners on some remote asteroid belt was well worth it. It had been surprisingly easy to get the Free Revolutionary Fleet to turn on the Griffon Republic, and Treskt did enjoy watching people turn on the Griffon Republic.

***

Soon the Wingspan was repaired as well as it could be in the field, the shields were charged, and the Blue Griffin Fleet had begun the final jump of their journey.

Vanbrook had all but disappeared since his conversation with Jasken, spending most of his down time in his room. Raivyn had run a bit behind the others in getting to the galley for dinner and decided to check on him before she went.

She knocked on the door and waited. When she was about to turn away, it opened, revealing a somewhat haggard looking Vanbrook.

"I'm not sleeping well," he said, stepping out into the hallway. He closed the door behind himself and leaned against the wall, looking at Raivyn with tired eyes.

Raivyn was taken off guard by the comment. She'd expected him to brush her off even if he did answer the door.

"Is it about Trembi?" asked Raivyn, biting her lip. "Look, I'm really sorry if what I said-"

Vanbrook held up a hand to stop her. "No, no. I mean, she's out of the picture now, but what else is new? This is what I do. As soon as a relationship starts looking serious, I stop taking it seriously. In fact, this time I didn't even know I was in a relationship until I got dumped. Like, I'm not stupid, I knew she was willing to give me a second try, but I wasn't really sure I wanted one." He paused, sighing. "Trembi's amazing, she's just not…" he trailed off, looking at Raivyn.

"Not what?" asked Raivyn. Her heart was beating faster than she cared to admit.

Vanbrook shook his head. "Nevermind. Besides, that's not my issue. It's Darvik."

"Oh," said Raivyn. "What about him?"

"He's nearby."

"What?" shrieked Raivyn, her eyebrows jumping in shock.

"Yeah," said Vanbrook. "Jasken told me. He's heading this way with some cult of Koo L'Koom. I don't know how they knew to head this way or anything, but that doesn't really matter. I just keep seeing Wilbis' face when I close my eyes. Having that worthless killer this close by and not being able to do anything about it…" Vanbrook's eyes had hardened.

"If we know where he is, he'll be brought to justice," said Raivyn, putting a hand on Vanbrook's shoulder.

He shrugged her off. "Justice for him would be a blade through the belly."

"Van, I get it," said Raivyn, crossing her arms. "If he comes at you and you kill him, so be it. But if you hunt him down and kill him, that'd just be murder."

Vanbrook nodded, his face softening somewhat. "Do you know what happened? Why Darvik hates me in the first place?"

"Just the broad outline," said Raivyn. "You used to be friends, he got into some bad business, he went to jail and blamed you for it."

"We were kids," said Vanbrook with a sigh. "Brilliant with swords and otherwise extremely stupid. We spent our days skipping school and our nights at the Feint Heart.

"Darvik, or ‘Rancher’ as we called him on the dueling circuit, had moved to the city from cattle ranches out in the country. I kept an eye on him for a while, but once he got comfortable with city life he was just plain hard to keep up with. He fell in with the worst elements of the sport fighting world, which just happened to be part of Griffonia's organized crime problem. He started flaunting money like I'd never seen before. I couldn't figure out where he earned it.

"One day he tells me that if I'd like to earn that same kind of platinum, he could introduce me to some of his new friends.

"Long story short, I was approached by the authorities; Darvik went to prison, I didn't. I… I didn't plan it that way."

Raivyn quietly nodded, putting her hand back on Vanbrook's shoulder as he hung his head. This time he didn't shrug her off.

***

The remainder of the trip went better for Vanbrook. He ate with the Squad and was more intentional about training the rookies, spending time sparring and coaching them. However, he was still excited to go clayside. With the jump finally over, he joined the others in Jasken’s office.

"So this is it, huh?" he said to the rest of Talon Squad. "The Cornucopia Cluster?"

"That's right," said Jasken as he entered the room. "So far as we can tell, this is the very planet Shrump recorded the location of, now designated Avo7-AW.98.

"It looks extremely promising, too. Gravity is nearly identical to Griffonia, the atmosphere is breathable, and there are several large, green continents dotting the clear, blue oceans."

"So let's set that beacon, then," said Vanbrook happily.

"We will, but I'm afraid it's going to have to be a standard beacon this time," said Jasken, smoothing his mustache. "There's not much point in secrecy now, and the IGC is increasingly uncomfortable with us deliberately gaming the system with our stealth beacons. Besides, it's clear we'll be competing with the Astralbians out here, so we might as well be bold in making our claims. This planet is likely going to be the gateway to the Cluster for the foreseeable future, so the Republic will still have a major strategic advantage."

With this in mind, Talon Squad boarded the shuttle and set out for the new world.

***

"Fire."

A wolfish grin touched Jylik's face as he gave the command. Four great eyes fired at once; one at the Wingspan, one at the Halberd, one at the Shepherd and one at the little shuttle heading for the surface.

The grin spread across Jylik's thin face and erupted into a self-satisfied cackle.