It was dark. The windows had been shaded to prevent the sun from heating the apartment to an unbearable degree while its owner was gone for the day. The tint was more than enough to keep out the starlight. The only illumination was a line of light coming in from the hall through the gap in the bottom of the door.

Two quiet voices could be heard through the same space.

“What do we know from the warehouse?”

“Nothing at the moment. We’ve been completely cut out of our systems. I’ve been told it may take as long as a week to get everything back up and running.”

There was the sound of a muted curse.

“I’ve already sent someone to check.”

“And the two men?”

“They’d already called in Fenn. There was nothing I could do.”

“Fenn was probably behind it!”

There was a silence. Shadows appeared in the light.

“If Fenn is behind it, then he’s a loose cannon. We can’t know what he’s going to do anymore. We have to take care of him soon.”

“Is tomorrow soon enough for you?”

“I can send someone for him tonight.”

“We have no one to spare. Everyone is already at the warehouse.”

“I have people to spare.”

The silence was shorter this time. The shadows shifted.

“Let’s wait until we hear from our people. By now, this might all be a nonissue.”

“Understood. Is there anything else?”

“Yes. Find out who the other man is. The skinny one is probably Ciro Vas, but I don’t know the other one. Fenn shouldn’t have allies I don’t know about.”

“I’ll try to find anyone who can identify him, but without computers…”

“I know.”

The shadows shifted again. Most of the orange light was blocked, then there was the sound of a hand being put on the knob. The door opened, admitting more light from the hall. A dark figure stepped inside.

“Lights, medium.”

Mason Croft emptied his pockets onto his entry table, then braced both arms on the surface and leaned against it. His eyes stared at the bottom of the mirror in front of him without really seeing it. After a few seconds, he raised his head, tentatively turning it this way, then that. He straightened his back and gazed around his apartment.

“Tennama, I know you’re here.”

A woman stepped out from behind a wall. “Anthony Tennama isn’t here.”

“Alix Reyer.” Croft paused, then said, “It’s been a long time since you’ve waited for me in my bedroom.”

“What a waste.” Reyer smiled, but there was no joy or humor in it. “I had Tennama come here to confirm you were the queen, but if I’d only been patient, you would’ve told me yourself. I see you got your tact from Rurik.”

“It reeks in here.”

“That’s me.”

Croft took two steps closer to her. “Amazing. How did you do it?”

“We’ve always been able to synthesize proteins. We simply had to figure out which ones to copy.”

“Why did you send Tennama away?”

“I thought it might be too easy for you to order him around.”

“So you’re alone?”

“My friends are busy.”

“I figured as much.” Croft went over to his kitchen and pulled down a glass.

Reyer followed at a distance.

“Can I offer you a drink?” When she didn’t answer, Croft said, “I presume you’re here to kill me, but you don’t seem to be in a hurry to do it. I suspect you have an e-pistol—” There was a click. He glanced over. “Your favorite model too. How did you get that past security?”

“Your security was down.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Of course it was. How did you know it was me?”

“I overheard your call back in the sheriff’s office. The other xenos may have known someone was there, but only the queen would be familiar with Tennama’s exact protein pattern.”

Croft pulled out a bottle of sparkling water and cracked open the top. “Alix, did he betray me?”

Reyer didn’t answer.

Mason poured the water and drank. The glass clicked when he put it back on the counter. “What happened to my daughter?”

“Your daughter?”

“The other queen.”

“She’s dead.”

Mason turned. “Did he kill her? Or did you?”

His fury melted into confusion when he saw Reyer’s sad face.

“She was your only one, wasn’t she?” Reyer said. “She was precious to you.”

Croft turned away.

“Why did you send her to Tennama?” Reyer asked.

“He was my only off-world ally. I knew what I was doing would be dangerous, and I thought that he would take care of her.” Croft grabbed his glass and turned around. “We need each other. I wasn’t alone for long, but you don’t forget how that feels.”

“But you made her human, and once in a body, a xeno can never go back.”

“Tennama disapproved of us taking human bodies—”

“You knew he disapproved.”

“I knew if I wanted her to be human, I would have to be the one to do it.”

“Should I even bother asking what your plans were?”

Croft shrugged as he leaned against his counter. “If it will help me live longer, I’d be happy to tell you about it.”

“Let me see if I can guess,” Reyer said. “You used the refugees to give your children their initial bodies. You knew they wouldn’t be missed by anyone. Once you had enough xenos close to sentience, you were going to take over as much of the planet as possible, all at once, without losing the knowledge you’d need to run it. Once Ionu was yours, you could take over the transport company. Then you could use them to spread small colonies across several planets, until you had amassed a large enough army you could hold out against us.”

The lawyer pointed to her. “You were always good at tactics.”

“It wasn’t exactly a complex plan.”

“It was simple enough to work.”

“Why didn’t you take over Byrick?”

“Byrick?” Croft’s lips twitched into a smirk. “I wasn’t sure how long it would be before he was arrested or killed.”

“Why did it take you so long to get this far?”

“There were fewer refugees than I would have hoped. The diseases didn’t help either. I tried to take a few of the people who lived here, but that was problematic. People blamed Byrick when they disappeared. A few missing people were to be expected, but more than that and they started grumbling. I had to back off. I need his organization.”

“So this is all of you? Here? On this planet?”

“Ah, so that’s why you haven’t shot me yet.”

Reyer stepped back when Mason moved toward the dining table. He stopped when he noticed her retreat.

“May I ask a question before I answer yours?” he said. “I doubt I’ll get a chance to afterward.” He took Reyer’s silence as assent. “Is Tennama working with you, or is he your captive?”

“I think you know.”

“Tell me!”

Croft clenched his jaw, then put his glass on the table beside him. He gripped the back of a nearby chair and forced himself to take a breath. That done, he opened his eyes.

Reyer was looking at his hand. It was white.

He moved it off the chair and stepped forward. “Please, Alix. I need to know. It matters. You wouldn’t understand.”

“You think I don’t understand?” Reyer stepped toward him. “Look me in the eyes and say that again, Ivan Rurik.”

When Reyer saw his muscles tense for the rush, she fired. It glanced off his chest. He knocked the e-pistol from her hand and shoved her against the corner of the wall. Pain erupted from her injury, reaching from her neck to her knee, but the queen’s palm pressing into her throat cut off her scream. His claws were fully extended; she could hear them tapping on the drywall behind her head. He pushed harder, choking off her airway.

“I knew you and your crew were on-planet.” He sneered. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be wearing armor?”

Croft felt something hit his side. Intense anguish slid in at the point of contact, then spilled into his guts. When he staggered back, there was a slight resistance as the blade slid out of his body.

Reyer put a hand to her neck and said in a rough voice, “Did you really think I’d stopped carrying my knife?”

She went to reach for her gun, but the moment she shifted her weight, all the stability quit her body, and she crashed to her knees. Her wrists ached from the impact, but it was nothing compared to the roar of agony in her back. Her hearing felt dull and muted, and her vision closed in until all she could see was her arms braced against the carpeted floor. There was a cut on one of them. It must have been from her own knife as she fell. A spark of dark humor made her want to laugh at the blunder.

I thought I could do it—I told him I could! Tennama, I’m so sorry.

Croft saw Reyer close her eyes and readied himself to pierce her head. Considering his wound, he’d need her body. As he raised his arm, he felt something slam into his back. With wide eyes he stared down at the four claws sticking out from his chest.

He almost stumbled, but he was caught and drawn backward until he found himself resting on someone’s chest. The scent had been faint before, but now it was all around him.

Anthony.

Tennama put his other hand on Croft’s shoulder and eased him to the floor. They were both on their knees now. Anthony still held the queen to his chest. As the minutes passed, Tennama put his forehead on Croft’s shoulder.

They stayed like that until Tennama knew the queen was dead. Even then, he didn’t pull his claws out; they retracted on their own. He didn’t want to feel that—didn’t want to know what that would be like—but he couldn’t stop it. In the end, he was left holding a handful of blood.

Anthony laid Croft down gently. When he looked up, Reyer was watching him. She hadn’t moved.

“Tennama”—her voice was soft—“please forgive me.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You shouldn’t have had to do that.”

“I don’t know, Miss Reyer. Maybe I should have been the one to do it.” He crawled over to her. “Can you move?”

He saw her leg shift an inch, then stop.

“I want my cane.”

Tennama laughed his silent laugh. “Will I do?”

Helping her up was a difficult process that took some time, but she made it to her feet and latched on to his arm. From the strength of her grip, he could guess how much she was hurting.

“Phew.” Anthony turned his head away. “You do reek.”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

“I said I’d help you, Miss Reyer. And I’ll even try not to complain about the smell.”

“You do know it’s not actually a smell, right?”

“Tell that to my nose.”

“Can you get my knife and pistol?”

Tennama made sure she could hold herself up on the wall before he left to get her weapons. When he brought them back, she tucked them away and checked the cut on her arm. It was long, but not deep. The blood was already coagulating. She grabbed on to Anthony’s arm again.

“You won’t tell Adan what I said, will you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“About the cane. I don’t want him to think he was right or anything.”

“My lips are sealed.”