“Do you remember when Susaki made us crawl through the surf for an hour straight?” Cara said fondly. “I thought I was going to drown.”

Toska took a swig of her beer. “She once told me it’s her life’s work—getting recruits to quit. Like they’re puzzles she’s got to solve.”

“Couldn’t solve me,” Kayla boasted.

Cara smiled. “Well, that’s kind of the point.”

The brand-new Rangers were in a bar in Tyr city, where Urtiga had invited a dozen women from various units to celebrate, drink and reminisce. Through the warm glow of success, Kayla looked back fondly on the painful experience she and the other girls had shared over the last six months. Once traumatic punishments were regaled as hilarious memories, made all the rosier by the alcoholic haze that quickly descended.

“I can’t believe I slept so much, given how loudly Kayla snores,” Christie said as she giggled into her drink.

Thandi grinned. “How loudly does Kayla snore?”

“What?” Christie said loudly, cupping her hand over her ear. “What did you say?”

Kayla went red with embarrassment but joined in the laughter.

“Hey, Thandi,” Rose said with a wink. “Aren’t you going to quit tomorrow?”

Thandi tossed a bar mat at her.

Jiao Zhang whispered into Christie’s ear, then nodded to an empty table in the corner. Christie waggled her eyebrows, at the group then stood up from her chair and the two moved away to start a private conversation.

“Toska,” Cara said after she knocked back another shot. “Did I tell you about the time I got a vacation on Ambrosia?”

“I didn’t hear that one yet,” Toska said, watching her with an expectant smile.

Rose gawped. “Shut up! How did you get a ticket to the paradise planet?”

Cara returned her amazed expression with a grin of satisfaction. “I managed to win over the son of a major corporate player. We had a fling, but he cheated on me.”

Rose smiled glassily. “Gotta watch out for those rich kids—can’t trust ‘em. But seriously, my family is well connected, and we could never get tickets to Ambrosia. It’s for the core-world cliques. They don’t like frontier families very much.”

Kayla raised an eyebrow.

Cara nodded. “For sure, I got lucky. But anyway, we drove around and ended up on this nice, flat beach, and I swear the whole place looked exactly like Camp Okorie, without the huts and assault course. Middle of the day, sweltering heat—I took one look at the surf and started shivering.”

Toska laughed. “Oh God. What did the boytoy say?”

“He didn’t notice,” Cara said.

“You have to go do a stretch as an instructor to really work the trauma out of your system,” Toska said.

“And not jump for six months? Screw that.”

Kayla began to lose focus as the alcohol did its work. She had noticed that almost all of the women in the bar were wearing identical silver necklaces. When she looked closer at Cara’s, she saw the pendant had a name engraved on it. But what did that mean?

She was about to enquire further when Masey’s voice broke through the chatter. “We’re reeling her in—you count on it ‘tiga,” she said.

“On Caldera?” Urtiga asked.

Kayla looked down the table. Past a forest of glasses, she saw Urtiga looking concerned.

“What’s happening on my home?” Kayla asked, slurring her words.

Opposite Urtiga, Masey grinned. “Basically, Kayla, Orbital Demolition is proving itself to be the most capable counter-terrorism force in the organization.”

“That’s right,” Urtiga said with a smile. “Because you’ve captured her and taken down her entire operation in complete secrecy. Oh no, wait—you haven’t done any of that yet.”

“Who? Who’s this?” Kayla said.

“Allana Rayker,” Masey explained smugly. “One of the most dangerous women in the galaxy, and a known hunter of Jotnar artefacts. Some units,” she said with a wink at Urtiga, “have been chasing her for decades, but somehow, she always slips away. Now my team has her locked down on Caldera.”

Kayla’s blood ran cold, and she struggled to martial her sluggish thoughts. Terrorist. Jotnar. Caldera. Was she the only one who saw what this meant?

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“Somewhere,” added Urtiga.

Masey waved dismissively. “Somewhere. We’re still working on that part.”

“It’s a significant step on the road to patting yourself on the back,” Urtiga said.

“So, I was right the whole time!” Kayla said, once her braincells lined themselves up. “This Rayker woman is making those creatures attack colonists, and you know what else? She’s actually working for the Jotnar. Thandi, tell them about Plato. You have to listen—”

Masey looked at her like she was crazy. “What are you talking about? She only arrived there a few months ago, as far as we know. Though you might be right that she’s involved with the creatures—I’d bet she wants to study them to understand whatever weapon effects created them.”

“As far as you know?” Urtiga said. “Back when she was my problem, we never had the best luck tracking her movements.”

Masey winked at her. “I’ll read you the play-by-play when you get back from—what was it? Exploring caves in the Meridian system, looking for a mythical Jotnar fortress that probably didn’t even exist?”

Urtiga shrugged. “I’ll take anything that gets me outside—these training cycles make me stir crazy. Besides, the Ghost Fortress hypothesis answers a lot of questions about the end of the Jotnar war. It’s worth investigating.”

Kayla slammed a fist on the table. “But what about—”

“Calm the hell down, will you?” Urtiga scolded. “Fog of war, remember? None of us really know what is happening on Caldera, except for one point. Which is?”

Kayla tried to focus. “Um…”

“That a team of Valkyrie’s finest, plus Masey, is going down there to track Rayker down, and see what she is up to. Beyond that, there’s nothing you can do about it, so let it go. And, by the way, this kind of thing is going to happen to you a lot, so get used to it.”

Kayla glanced back at Masey and saw, instead of her usual unimpressed smirk, an expression of sincere resolution. Masey gave her a curt nod, and Kayla felt immediately reassured. Then she realized she was ruining the night and tried to let the tension inside her ease.

“Sorry…” she said, “What’s a dead fortress, then?”

“Supposedly,” Urtiga said, “the war ended with a faction of the Jotnar elite caste fleeing to one or more hidden fortresses. Such an installation would be way more advanced than anything we’ve located previously. They might even be surviving there to this day. A lot of women don’t want to pry too hard into this possibility, because the place would be extremely well defended. The organization would have to plan for a large and dangerous campaign. Years of siege fighting—lots of casualties.”

Kayla swallowed. She had daydreamed about hunting monsters on Caldera, and maybe fighting robot spiders, but she obviously didn’t know half of what was waiting out in the void.

“The alternative perspective,” Masey offered, “is that young and excitable officers with aspirations of grandeur generate a lot of enthusiasm running wild goose chases for an overinflated myth based on flimsy evidence.”

Urtiga smiled at her. “Either way—there’s about a million more locations on the map to secure and they’ve all got to be checked out. It’s called grunt work, babe; it makes the world go round.”

“It’s called missing career opportunities.” Masey glanced at Kayla. “I’ll tell Jack you said—”

Urtiga frantically waved her hands.

“Jack?” said Kayla. “As in, my adoptive dad?”

“Uh… yeah,” Masey said guiltily.

“You both know Jack?” Kayla said, as she slowly processed the implications of this.

Masey shrugged. “She was going to find out sooner or later. Yes, he is a good friend of the organization. Works with us occasionally.”

“He had strict instructions not to tell you anything,” Urtiga said.

Kayla blinked slowly. Her adoptive father had known the truth about Valkyrie the whole time, and said nothing? She nodded. “I completely understand. And I’ll be sure to give him your best regards before I kill him.”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Urtiga said sternly. “The organization takes secrecy very seriously.” She turned back to Masey. “So, has he got anything new on Rayker?”

Masey shook her head. “Nah. Best guess is she’s in Rackeye, building up a power base. Jack doesn’t have any good connections there. It’s freakin’ Helvet territory, so we’re starting from scratch with some of our more well-educated gals. Can’t win over everyone with perfect hair and good looks, you know?”

“Wait a minute, you have educated operators in your unit?” Urtiga asked, straight faced.

Masey raised her eyebrows, while a patient smile remained on her lips.

“I want to be on Caldera,” Kayla moaned sadly. “Catch this hag.” She thought about Weslan and his new job. What if he was in danger?

Urtiga winked at Masey. “Girl hasn’t even got her nanites yet, and she’s already spoiling for a fight.”

“What are nanites?” Kayla asked.

“That’s what you get before you go to Ranger School and learn how to be an actual soldier.” Urtiga put a hand on her shoulder. “Right now, you are a glorified hiker.”

Kayla nodded, and got to her feet.

“Wait, where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Back to your apartment. Sleep, then get ready to train.”

Urtiga grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the table. “She sure likes to get after it.”

“Kayla,” Masey said. “Drink up, have fun, and enjoy the night.”

“I’m getting bored,” Kayla complained. “I want to do stuff. What’s next?” She sighed in frustration. Why was everyone so happy to sit around doing nothing? Why didn’t her friends want to start getting stronger?

Urtiga raised her eyebrows. “What’s next? You just spent six months getting destroyed in one of the toughest selection programs in the galaxy, and you’re already getting antsy for more?”

Kayla shrugged. “I mean… everything hurts, but it’ll pass.”

Thandi collapsed into a neighboring seat and threw her non-drinking arm around Kayla. “Recr—uh…Ranger Barnes, your glass is haff-full,” she said, slurring her words. “An empty glass is a camp standard!” She leaned over to Urtiga. “She kind of like a rock bouncin’ down a hill, you know.”

Urtiga nodded her head. “I have some appreciation for that; I did recruit her.”

“Good choice.” Thandi nodded approvingly. “You’re clever.”

Masey chuckled. “How much have you had to drink?”

Urtiga turned back to Kayla. “Your friends are awesome, you know? Maybe you should forget conquering the universe for a day or two and enjoy their company?”

Kayla wrinkled her nose as the smell of Thandi’s alcohol-soaked breath wafted into her face. “Wooooh,” she said unenthusiastically, before taking another gulp of her drink.

Urtiga stared at her for a moment, and when she spoke there was a hint of sadness in her voice. “You know something? It’s not all the cool ninja stuff that’s going to make you love it here. It’s the time you get to spend with the friends you make. Once that’s gone, believe me, you’ll miss it.”

Rose flopped into a seat across from Kayla and stared at her glassily. “You know Kayla… you’re not such a jackass you thought I was?” Then she broke down giggling.

Kayla broke a little. It was nice to hang out with Rose, even if things between them were still awkward. She wasn’t sure if they would ever really be friends, but maybe Urtiga was right and it was better just to try and enjoy the moment. Returning Rose’s glassy, and completely carefree smile, she reached for her glass.