After a few minutes, Riley came to. His battered and bloody face broke into a sneer as he met Jack’s watchful gaze.

“Didn’t expect that from you.” He spat blood onto the floor. “Didn’t think you had the instincts for it.”

“Surprised myself, to be honest.”

“You’re full of surprises. Don’t suppose you want to tell me who your ‘insider’ really is?”

“Sure, let me just write up a full confession. I can pass a copy over to my brother when I see him.”

Riley laughed. “Same sense of humor, I see. Yeah. Same cynicism too, when you don’t have your head stuck up your backside. I told him it was a mistake to hand you over.”

“No, I don’t think you did.” Jack fixed the man with a cold glare, as he tapped the pistol against his leg.

Riley shrugged and wiped the blood off his nose. “Whatever mate. It’s all part of the game, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t think Theodore wanted me dead.”

Riley snorted. “Not dead—don’t be daft. We’re stealing from the most dangerous criminal in the cluster. Wouldn’t have looked good to leave your dead body behind to rub her face in it. No—she wanted you alive, to play with, remember?” He grinned.

“Oh, I get. Peace offering. You were going to leave the blank phone so she could contact Ted?”

“Absolutely. See, with that toy in the truck downstairs, the Fenway family is well on track to create a new power balance, one that could upend the League completely. Of course, Theodore is a shrewd player. He knows he’s better off building bridges than burning them. Rayker doesn’t care about VennZech; she just wants power. And he’s prepared to share. Sort of.”

“All he has to do is give up his own blood? Not a good look to the cartels.”

“Who would know? Everyone would think you died fighting the guards back there, protecting me while I escaped. A true martyr for the family.” Riley spat blood again. “Not like you were worth anything else to him.”

Jack nodded and stood up.

“See, I know you though,” Riley continued. “I know your type. You’re not here for a paycheck and a life of crime.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“Sure I do. You hated your family, but you couldn’t survive on your own. The League police would have been able to use you against us, so you went somewhere quiet and safe. Rayker knew you too, knew that all you needed was to be able to look away while she handled the dirty work. So what if she wanted you dead? You’re resourceful, and you could have found another option—a rival corp, probably. You certainly didn’t need to come back to the cartel. It’s not your world.”

Jack watched him without comment.

“Something else is going on with you. All that secret information, all this energy and passion you have all of a sudden. You’re working with somebody else for a different kind of goal. Frankly, you might want to consider the value a man like me could have to you.”

“Zero.”

“No, no, think it through,” Riley went on patiently. “You’re playing both sides of the table, and you’re doing it quite well. Whoever you’re working for would probably find a great deal of interest in a guy like me. With all my knowledge, my position in the family? And you know I only really care about money, right?”

Jack watched Riley’s eyes for a long moment before he made his decision. “I know that the people I work with aren’t going to tolerate Rayker getting her hands on any more… assets.”

“No, hold on.” Riley said in a patronizing tone as Jack raised the pistol. “You’re being stupid, think it through. You don’t know this business; you are making a dumb mistake!”

Jack placed his finger on the trigger. “Did you help him smuggle kids? Did you kidnap them off some street corner and drug them while you threw them into that stinking cubby hole?”

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Riley said nothing, his face a mask of incomprehension.

“He couldn’t have done it with anyone else. I don’t think he would have even dared come up with the idea. Most of the guys I’ve known long enough to understand their humanity. People might dismiss them as criminals, but it’s not that simple. He needed a push from someone new, someone different.”

Riley shook his head in confusion. “I swear, I know nothing about any of that. Come on, kid, we both know you are not the type—”

Jack pulled the trigger, and Riley’s head snapped back with a shower of gore.

The truck pulled out from the underground tunnels, onto the small spaceport on the other side of the river. A Fenway man stopped him at the bullet-scarred gatehouse.

“Where’s Riley?”

“Guards broke in on us as we were trying to get out,” Jack explained. “He got shot, and I couldn’t get to him. But I got the package.”

“Shit. Well, okay then. Mikey and Jan will jump in with you, and our vehicles will lead you out of the city, got it?”

“Sure.” Jack nodded. He watched as the cartel men abandoned the guardhouse, jumping into their trucks as two armed passengers stepped into his cab. One of them peeked into the cargo space, then slapped him on the back as he grinned at the other. In the distance, the sounds of gunfire began to fade away, as his success was radioed out to the other teams.

As he gunned the truck forward onto the city streets, Jack realized that he didn’t feel much of anything beyond relief that it was all nearly over.

“To success, fortune, and power!” Theodore cheered as he popped open a champagne bottle. The helmsman had already plotted their course and accelerated them past light speed, as they left behind a city desperately flailing for control. Now they were out of the solar system, heading for tried and tested smuggling routes on their way to enjoying the spoils of the greatest heist the Fenway family had ever accomplished. On the surface, Theodore was almost giddy with delight, though Jack had seen that the news of Riley’s death disturbed him on a deeper level.

“To family!” one of the Lieutenants cheered as he raised his glass.

Theodore roared as he wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulder. Jack only smiled and returned the salute with his own glass.

The relief of success that had set in over the last few hours had crashed headlong into the hatred he felt bubbling up inside him. Urtiga had not transmitted any details to him about how she was going to get him or the weapon out of there, and the realization had sparked anger within him. He was going to be abandoned again, while powers he didn’t understand played games over his head. Even now childhood rage came surging back to the surface as Theodore once again began to lead him around the room like a pet dog, finishing his sentences for him, and making promises on his behalf about what part of the business he would take over, and who he would report to.

Jack watched the silent contempt behind the Lieutenant’s eyes as they understood that the old order was reimposing itself. They knew that Theodore’s own brother would be allowed no real power or influence. Only scraps from the table. At first, Jack faked the smiles and laughed when he was supposed to laugh, but the anger wouldn’t subside beneath the alcohol.

Finally, when the man who hours earlier had ordered his death once again roared with laughter at a joke at Jack’s expense, he snapped. He seized his brother by the throat and pushed him hard against one of the bridge’s consoles. The whole room froze as Theodore stared incredulously up at him. Then he laughed again.

“Jack! Steady on now, can’t handle your drink, hey?”

A few nervous chuckles broke out, but went silent as they saw Jack’s stony glare.

“To family!” Jack roared, and allowed the awkward silence to stretch on. Then he spoke again; “To leaving your family behind as a sacrificial pawn,” he toasted.

Theodore eyed him carefully. “Okay.” He nodded. “You’re upset about Riley-”

“Who the hell cares about Riley?” Jack laughed. “I’m talking about me. I mean, you ordered him to knock me out so you could hand me over to Rayker and cut a deal with her, right?”

Men exchanged glances as Theodore stood upright, his eyes narrow.

“You’ve had a lot to drink, mate,” someone said.

Jack whipped out Riley’s pistol and whirled it around, aiming it squarely at the speaker’s head.

“So, explain to me, Darryl, why I’m holding Riley’s gun to your head? If he went down defending me, like I said earlier?”

Darryl didn’t flinch, but after holding Jack’s gaze he ran his eyes over the pistol. “Looks like Riley’s gun to me,” he allowed.

“Oh, come on, nonsense!” Theodore said with a grin. “You have the same model—the one you bought for yourself on Raisa. We all know about that. Jack’s just playing around, aren’t you, little brother?”

He made to dart forward, but Jack switched targets, holding Theodore in his sights. He watched as his brother stiffened and glared at him.

“Practical jokes can go too far,” he growled.

“Jack was handed over as a prisoner,” Darryl observed coolly. “He left his gun in the safehouse. One of my guys picked it up when we left.”

Jack sensed the atmosphere begin to shift.

“Who the hell asked you?” Theodore roared.

“You can’t just steal from Allana Rayker, right Teddy?” Jack said, watching with satisfaction as his brother’s eyes twitched at the nickname. “You need to leave her an olive branch, especially if you want to mend ties with her. After all, with that little device, the balance of power has shifted in your favor. No sense making an enemy out of a woman who doesn’t care who pays her salary, right? And I mean,” Jack said with a shrug, “It’s not like you had any real use for me in the business is it? Come on Teddy—everyone knows it’s true.”

All eyes were fixated on Theodore now, whose face had turned pale. Betrayal of family was a cardinal sin in the cartel world, and he knew that the consequences he would face would be dire.

“Jack,” he spat, “one more word from you, and you will regret it, you piece of shit!”

There was a terrific bang and the whole ship lurched, knocking people off their feet. A shudder ran through the hull as the lights winked out.