Once the others were able to take care of themselves, Kayla wandered into the kitchen. She found Jack, helping himself to a snack.

“Sorry for keeping you up,” she said as she dropped into a chair.

Jack gave her a hug and kissed her head. “It’s okay, I’m a midnight owl anyway. Want a hot chocolate?”

“You’re my hero.”

“Actually, Mr Fenway,” Thandi said from the doorway, with Christie right behind her. “If you already making one…”

Jack bowed graciously and moved towards a cupboard while they seated themselves at the table.

“How’s your girlfriend doing?” Kayla asked.

Christie yawned. “She’s a trooper. Probably asleep already.”

“Did you two have to make it weird?” Thandi demanded.

“Well, she had to run her mouth about being better than me,” Kayla said defensively. “Those kinds of words can’t go unanswered.”

Christie snickered.

“I bet you wouldn’t have said Rose was out of your league,” Kayla said accusingly.

“No.” Christie’s expression became somber. “She was out of mine.”

A heavy silence filled the room, broken only by Jack’s gentle handling of the kettle.

“Do you remember the time she tried to carry you on that hike, after you sprained your ankle?” Kayla said as she smiled at Thandi. “She got like ten paces before realizing she was too tired.”

“Yeah,” Thandi chuckled. “She literally dropped me off her back. I was so pissed.”

“She thought she could do anything at first,” Christie said. “Always had to learn the hard way.”

Thandi smiled. “Bunny. Hopping along with that leg that looked like it had been caught up in a freaking shredder.”

“That was insane,” Kayla said. “She could be insanely tough sometimes. But arrogant too.” She sighed. “Just like me.”

“That why you got along so well?” Thandi asked.

Jack cleared his throat and spoke in a whiny feminine voice. “Dad, she’s so awful. She’s the queen of darkness and I hate her, and she said this, and she said that.”

Kayla grinned as she shook her head. “Sometimes I can’t believe how childish I was. Back in the Before Times.”

“No,” Thandi said. “You’re still crazy childish. Just in a different way.”

“Oh, sure. But I remember feeling that Rose represented everything I couldn’t do. And I had to work so hard to catch up with her, and it hurt so much. But I blamed her, instead of myself for being driven. That’s partly why I hated her.”

“So, boot camp changed that?” Christie asked.

“Of course, because it made me face myself. Truly and honestly. Once that happened, I didn’t have a reason to care about Rose so much.”

“She taught me to take the League’s ideals seriously,” Christie said. “No don’t laugh. It’s obviously a monstrous, bureaucratic nightmare, but what they pretend to believe does matter. Raise everyone else up no matter what it costs you. She took that as her guiding light, unlike those corrupt fools who only hide behind the words.”

“Yeah,” Thandi said. “She taught me how to be strong. I mean, boxing makes you tough, and that got me a lot of the way in the early days. But she told me, ‘There’s no trophy, Thandi, just you, and that’s all you need.’” She wiped away a tear. “Oh, dammit.”

“Language,” Kayla said, and they laughed.

“Shame I never got to meet her,” Jack said quietly.

“Oh, I can see it now.” Kayla imitated a harsh, upper-class voice. “So, you’re the man responsible for this delinquent criminal in our midst? She definitely had her dark side.”

Thandi shoved her shoulder. “You had that in common.”

“Certainly wouldn’t be letting you make eyes at a Frontier Marine,” Christie said.

Kayla shook her head and pressed a finger to her lips, but Jack stared at her with a concerned expression.

“What’s that?” he demanded.

“Nothing dad!” Kayla said innocently.

“I’ve told you that you can date on your fortieth birthday, and not a day before, didn’t I?”

“Of course, dad,” Kayla insisted, but the trio couldn’t help themselves, and a few giggles managed to escape.

He began passing out hot mugs, and glanced again at Kayla. “Alright, but seriously. You met someone tonight?”

“Absolutely not. And he wasn’t tall or good looking or anything like that,” she said giddily.

“Is there something we should know?” Christie said, eyeing Jack with interest.

“I dunno, it’s probably nothing. A group of ex-marines showed up in Rackeye recently, carrying a bit of a reputation. Seems they made waves on Intaba hunting down traffickers and rescuing some poor kids.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Wait, what?” Kayla sat up, suddenly alert.

Thandi’s brow furrowed as she digested the news. “They exposed a VennZech employee?”

“Yeah, I guess you heard about that?” Jack said.

The girls exchanged glances.

“They got a tip off leading here?” Christie asked. “From Intaba? On VennZech freighters? Oh, this is going to be gold. Mr Fenway, if you would please remind of this tomorrow when I regain sobriety, we must talk extensively.”

“Hold on a second,” Kayla objected. “The implication here is that VennZech has brought trafficked children to Caldera?”

“That’s certainly what your marines were asking about,” Jack confirmed. “And offering money for information, around town.”

“No. No,” Kayla went on, as she felt an unstoppable wave of anger drowning out the alcohol-induced haze. “Hell no. Those Helvet scum are not bringing their disgusting filthy behavior onto my home planet.”

“I saw him in the bar,” Thandi said, “chatting with some creepy looking guy.”

“What’d this other guy look like?” Jack asked.

“Fat, short brown hair. Had a Kite jacket on.”

Jack nodded. “Oh, yeah, I know him. Used to work the docks in Rackeye starport. The Larue cartel operates the corporate traffic, and they enable most of the criminal activity in the city. Makes sense these marines are angling for a way in, but I don’t think they’ll find one.”

“Huh?” Kayla said. “Way into what?”

“Well,” Jack said, “If VennZech did traffic some kids into the city, they’ll have kept them within the dockyards themselves where the cartel is in charge. It’s huge, privately controlled real estate which allows you to bring in uh… customers discreetly.”

“I’m going to throw up,” Thandi said miserably.

“It is indeed a horrific crime to contemplate,” Christie said. “But I would encourage you to think of the broader implications. There is a connection to the freighter we… um… came across elsewhere.”

She waggled her eyebrows.

“I can leave if you want to talk secret stuff,” Jack suggested.

“No, stay please,” Kayla said. “And Christie, don’t think I don’t see you trying to change the subject.”

Thandi had been staring at her hands as though they portended some kind of disaster. She looked up before Christie could respond. “I want to go up there.”

“What?” Kayla asked. “Up where?”

Thandi swallowed. For a moment she looked like she didn’t want to speak. “To Rackeye. To the docks.”

“Why?”

“To see if there’s something we can do about this.”

They stared at her in silence.

After a pause, Christie let out a short laugh of disbelief. “Have you lost your mind completely? What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking,” Thandi said carefully, “that the only people who both know about this problem and are able to fix it are located within the walls of this building.”

“Valkyrie does not police human trafficking,” Christie said sternly. “They would probably tell you to contact the authorities, and do absolutely nothing.”

Thandi nodded. “I agree. Which is why I wouldn’t ask them.”

Christie scoffed. “Well, I can see alcohol has clouded your judgement—”

“No, I think the shock and adrenaline has sobered me up pretty well.”

“Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?” Kayla said.

Thandi shrugged. “Why not? You can infiltrate literally any location in the galaxy. My legs are healed well enough. We can be careful, but—worst-case scenario—a bunch of vanilla humans aren’t going to be too difficult to handle. Besides, the whole place is covered in shipping containers. For Mountain Rangers, that’s just easy access and freedom of movement.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Christie snapped. “Do you have any idea what an irresponsible and selfish action you are suggesting?”

“The chance to rescue some poor teenagers from horrific captivity?”

Christie inhaled deeply as her face began to redden. “No. You want Valkyrie to step in where civilian authority is weak. You want a force of unaccountable super soldiers to begin meddling in human affairs. For the love of god Thandi, this is the first thing they warned us about in the ethics classes.”

“I slept through ethics,” Kayla said, her voice neutral. “But If they missed the part about rescuing innocents from evil, then they got it wrong.”

Christie slapped her forehead. “Oh, how could I have been so stupid, it’s all so clear. Queen in waiting Kayla Barnes is going to follow the religious crusader on a quest to right all wrongs. Then, once you’re finished, you can both take over the galaxy and rule from your righteous thrones.”

Kayla paused. In truth she wasn’t giving much thought to the consequences. While she had become more wary of her own reckless impulses, the scheme wasn’t her idea. The need to protect and support Thandi gave her a license to ignore the rules.

“I mean,” she said hesitantly, “only if they find out about it.”

“By all means,” Christie said with a smirk. “I intend to hear how you think you are going to keep such an action a secret from the most sophisticated intelligence agency in the galaxy, and a community of non-stop gossipers to boot.”

“It does not matter, Christie,” Thandi said. “Personal risk does not weigh on the morality of an action.”

“I’ll be keen to hear how the ‘god told me to do it’ defense works during your court martial,” Christie said.

“Acts 5:29 ‘For we must obey God rather than men.’”

“Romans 13, ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.’”

“Hah,” said Thandi. “The passage most frequently cited by tyrants to justify wanton oppression. I don’t believe we can save the galaxy from this crime, but we might be able to save a handful of innocents right now, and that is righteous. Isn’t that worth any sacrifice? These are children, Christie.”

Kayla’s stomach turned at the sudden possibility that she would be kicked out of Valkyrie, but she quelled the emotion. How could anyone argue with Thandi’s logic? And maybe, a dark thought whispered, they would be supported by others who disagreed with the strict ethical standard.

Christie clutched her head in her hands and turned away. “I snapped at you, and I’m sorry for my harsh words. But I need both of you to understand that this action you want to take… may have no end point. Valkyrie is in control of an alien base on this world with profound implications for the future. The League wants to control Caldera, it’s no secret. That means we are standing at the heart of a flashpoint that could unravel human civilization as we know it. We have to be so cautious in our actions or we could unleash a war that lasts generations.”

“I’m Calderan,” Kayla insisted. “This is my home. I have a say in what happens to it.”

“No, you are not,” Christie said, her voice now pleading. “You are a Valkyrie. You gave up your connection to humanity. That was the precondition for the power that was bestowed upon you, can’t you see that?”

Kayla sighed and clenched her jaw. “It’s a freakin’ cartel operation. If anything happens, which it won’t, the authorities will dismiss it as gang rivalry. No-one will care.”

“I’m begging you not to go up there, as your friend. This is complete madness.”

Kayla didn’t respond. Rose would have gone, but she couldn’t say that. Such a devastating argument would be crossing the line with a friend she loved just as much.

“I don’t understand,” Thandi said, “what you think a moral system can be based on if not the willingness to do what is right in the face of death. Doesn’t anyone understand that better than us? Yes, there is a risk to many, but that is the cost of confronting evil. I can’t see it any other way, I’m sorry. And I can’t live with myself if I don’t even try to face this.”

Kayla put a hand on her shoulder. She looked over at her adopted father. “Dad, I haven’t asked what you think yet because I would follow both of these girls,” she glanced meaningfully at Christie, “into hell if they asked me. But I still want you to say what is on your mind. It would mean a lot to me.”

Jack rubbed his neck and stared at the floor. “After thirty years of working with Valkyrie I know that their non-interference principle only goes one way. Rayker is proof of that. And unfortunately, from my perspective, this situation on Caldera is only headed in one direction no matter what any of us do. It will come down to a fight one day.”

Christie shook her head.

“But more than that,” Jack continued, “I can’t pretend to understand the perspective of your leadership, that a woman can stand on the outside of the world looking in. If you have the opportunity to move some innocents out of harms way, I won’t try and stop you. And there’s a small armory in the basement.”

Kayla felt the slightest tremor through Thandi’s shoulder, as she watched Christie march out of the room.