Rayker smirked. “It is tapping into satellites spread throughout human space. Apparently, it has the means to identify key nodes in our communication network as they evolve, and establish permanent access. And don’t ask me how, because I have no idea.”

Christie cocked her head. “Is it some sort of AI, planning our downfall?”

Rayker snorted with laughter. “In their dreams. The Jotnar never let them get that ambitious. However, the machine is certainly doing more than storing all this data.”

“Maybe it’s looking for the meaning of life? The answer is 42, by the way.”

“I am sure we will spend the next few months finding out. Undisturbed by the rest of your friends, of course.”

“And by the League as well?” Christie asked.

“Don’t be absurd. I have those bureaucratic morons wrapped around my finger. Why else do you think I set up the invasion? With them in control of Caldera I can do whatever I want on this planet. Your band of plucky amazons can do little else but sit in the other bases and stew. Until Helvet forces go to call on them, that is.”

Christie didn’t respond. Rayker turned to her with a gleam in her eye.

“Your friends really aren’t that much of a concern to me,” she continued. “You might as well tell me all about them.”

“I don’t have that many friends, to be honest.”

“What matters to me,” Rayker said, ignoring her, “is that this whole human problem gets sorted out once and for all. My benefactor was happy to indulge my own humble attempt, but it appears your warriors were too much for us. Alas, I am not a general, nor have I ever pretended to be. Now he is back to feeding me breadcrumbs on his new scheme. Hardly ever tells me anything, you see.”

“I don’t suppose he has a name, this shadowy figure?”

Rayker thought for a moment. “He likes to be known as the Interregnum,” she said.

“Awaiting a worthy successor to the Jotnar’s legacy, no doubt?”

“Well, that’s the big puzzle.” Rayker stood up and walked to the window to stare out at the cavern beyond. “How do you make humans act like intelligent beings, and stop constantly destroying each other?”

“Have you tried killing the disobedient?” Christie offered, trying to keep her sarcastic tone to the minimum level. “Oh no, wait, that rather seems to perpetuate the cycle, doesn’t it?”

“War, crime, violence, all the terrors of our species continue unchecked until we can figure out how to make civilization work. They tried for so long, the Elders, you see. The Interregnum led their most ambitious efforts, but all failed. Our kind simply won’t see reason. Anyway, I have no idea which Elder my sister allied with, but they are certainly hatching their own strategy.”

“This would be after she fought against you?” Christie asked.

Rayker turned back to her with a suspicious look. “I can well believe you don’t actually know any of this history. She was worse at leadership than I am. Fortunately for me, men are happy to follow talented killers who can at least pay them well, and I keep my operations relatively small-scale. In any case, you do serve an Elder, or you wouldn’t be walking around with nanite enhancements. It would be most helpful to us if we could find out who, and to what end. If you’re going to insist on interfering with our work, we will have to know why.”

Christie felt a rush of adrenaline as she ignored Rayker’s question. “If the Interregnum is an Elder, as you say, shouldn’t he already know what the others are doing?”

“Of course not; the others are free to do as they please so long as they don’t infringe the accord.”

“The accord?”

“No direct involvement in human affairs by any of the powers.”

Christie’s brow furrowed. “But… what you are doing now…”

Rayker’s expression turned to one of borderline contempt. “No, of course not, darling, do try to keep up. The Interregnum only wants to make sure that Caldera remains under his control. He most certainly isn’t about to hand the installation over to the League. Once we’ve ferreted out your lot I will keep things under wraps for the foreseeable future, until whatever scheme he is pursuing bears fruit.”

Christie felt compelled to point out that Rayker’s recent actions on Caldera sounded exactly like a breach in whatever agreement her benefactor was pretending to uphold. She felt a very strong urge to share the truth about Valkyrie. Their agendas appeared to be similar; keep Jotnar technology away from human hands. Maybe Rayker could be convinced that they weren’t a threat, and let them leave the planet? But, whereas her own leaders insisted on ethical behavior and a strict code of silence, Rayker seemed happy to bend or break her boundaries whenever she felt like it.

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Of course, the woman was also a skilled manipulator, and in complete control of all Christie’s assumptions. She had to keep her secrets to herself. The only question was how long could she keep her enemy talking, and how long until Rayker snapped and killed her?

“It’s so unfortunate,” she said carefully, “that the colonists of Caldera have to suffer from all this… political maneuvering.”

“What?” Rayker said in an annoyed tone. “Who cares about them? Just another of hundreds of similar groups so naïve as to believe the universe cares about their pathetic free will. You’ll really have to grow a thicker skin if you want to be involved in this game, sweety.”

Anger overwhelmed Christie’s sense of caution. “And how thick will my skin need to be to accept the presence of that young girl, Milani?” she asked sharply.

A flicker of a snarl passed across Rayker’s lips, and she turned away. For a long moment she didn’t say anything, then almost growled a response. “Not up to me. Tensall was necessary—he kept his people in line.”

A spark of hope glowed in Christie’s mind. “I don’t recall seeing him—”

Rayker shrugged. “His evac team didn’t show up. Nobody was able to make contact.”

She rounded on Christie with a suddenly bright smile, as though all unpleasantness had been banished from the world. “The girl is young and healthy—we will find her something useful to do. She’ll have all the fun in the world learning about this place.”

The statement was made with irresistible confidence, and Christie decided not to push.

“Well then,” she said, running out of options. “I suppose my only remaining objection is your desire to hand the human species over to a bunch of aliens, however admirable they may have been.”

Rayker crossed her arms and gave Christie a look of complete astonishment. “What aliens? What are you talking about?”

Christie’s mind shuddered as her thoughts skidded off the track. “The… Jotnar?”

Rayker shook her head, as though to dislodge a fly. Her jaw hung open for only a second before it snapped shut. “Right… I can see the situation is even worse than I thought. Not only do they keep you in ignorance of history, but obviously they outright lie to you. No, we can’t have any more of this.”

She snapped her fingers. At the far end of the control room a guard appeared, still breathing heavily from his efforts to track them down, turned and left.

“I’m sorry,” Rayker said coldly. “I had thought your master or masters were at least trying to be constructive. I now see that they have nothing but bad intent for the future of our civilization.”

“But—” Christie tried.

“Enough. No more games. You’ll have to talk, or I will hurt you. I will explain, however, so you can at least make an informed decision. The Jotnar were human—a powerful and technologically advanced society, whose corruption and hubris ultimately brought them down. There was war, the entire civilization collapsed, and the Elders put a reset plan into motion. They wanted to salvage us; you see. That was why I was created.”

“Don’t you mean born?” Christie said quickly, desperate to reach any last shred of humanity in the dangerous woman.

Rayker narrowed her eyes. “I am over five thousand years old, young lady, do not think you can put one over on me. And do not interrupt me again, or I will snap your fingers.” She thought for a moment. “Actually, now I think back, there were other beings from the wider galaxy. Long before my time though. In any case, I have no idea what happened to them—they probably sealed off this area of space once they saw who we really were.”

Christie closed her eyes. What was true, and what was false? It was too much to process. She was now drowning in deep water, without any hope of rescue. There was nothing else to do but resist until she died. And if, by the slightest possibility, she ever got back to Valkyrie, she would certainly make her leaders wish that she had.

“You will have this moment to think,” Rayker continued. “Nobody is coming to save you. Even if your group is willing to go to war with the League, which I highly doubt, it will be a very long time before they find you here. A very long time before I give you the death you will be begging for.”

Christie wanted to vomit. Rayker was obviously capable of doing horrific things to her, and would know exactly how far her nanite’s healing powers could be pushed. Her knees felt weak, and for a moment she wondered if she really could just give in. The resistance training hadn’t been too bad, but it was only a game, run by women invested in her success. And the organization had lied to them all, there could be no doubt.

But what was the organization? A group of immortal old trouts who were at least a century behind actual events? Or was it Kayla, Thandi, and the squad of carefree Rangers she had spent the night with? What about Zhang, and Effy? They at least deserved a chance to get away from this nightmare. Christie clenched her fist. She had to give the others every moment she could, before she broke. Just as Rose had done for her.

There was a scuffle at the control room’s entrance. The guard had returned with friends, and they were pushing a woman ahead of them, handcuffed just as Christie had been. She was dressed in tactical gear, and covered in blood, burns, and dirt.

Someone from the Task Force, though Christie didn’t recognize her. She wanted to cry, because there was only one way this moment could end. Instead, she turned back to Rayker with a puzzled expression.

“I have taken many prisoners,” Rayker said calmly. “I will torture and kill all of them until someone talks. And you will talk—it is a biological necessity. The mind can only take so much pain before it loses control.

“I suppose,” Christie said, with a mercifully steady voice, “that you think you can intimidate me with some cartel trash you pulled off the street?”

Rayker moved closer to her, and stared her in the eyes. “You’re young, and inexperienced. You aren’t smart enough, or strong enough to challenge me. Save the lives of your friends. Save your own life. Help me to put humanity back on the right track. It’s the right thing to do.”

At that moment, Christie knew how stupid she really was. There was no trick she could play, no clever retort that would make Rayker stop. A lifetime of study and reflection had nothing to offer. Her only certainty was that her enemy was evil and must be resisted no matter what it cost.

She shrugged. “I can’t help you.”

With a nod, the Valkyrie was shoved down onto her knees. Rayker moved behind her and reached an arm out to the prisoner’s back.

Christie met the eyes of her unknown comrade. She saw rage, acceptance, and the courage she wished she could feel.

There was a loud crack, and a bone spike bounced off the floor, spinning away into a dark corner. The Valkyrie’s body slumped forward, never to move again.

But her spirit would, Christie resolved, as she met Rayker’s soulless gaze with one of her own. It would go as far as she could carry it.