“You should really go to the medical bay, Captain,” Augustus insisted as he opened the lifeboat’s doors.

“I’m fine,” Natalya replied, limping her way through the corridor to the bridge.

Augustus had piloted their shuttle in a way it was never designed. It was a lifeboat, built for short-range travel in limited direction in the event of a catastrophe. He’d used the compressed gas thrusters at the shuttle’s nose to guide the craft safely into the cracked cargo bay. It was like threading a needle with your toes, and he’d got it on the first, and only possible try.

Somewhat less impressive was guiding the lifeboat back to its dock. Ptolemy steered Chimera, much thinner due to the loss of its cargo bay, toward the shuttle. With a little coordination, they returned the lifeboat safely to its dock.

Every muscle in Natalya’s body felt like it’d been stretched, burned, and snapped, but she stepped out of the lifeboat the second its hatch opened.

Co met her in the corridor, guns ready.

“Where’d they take him?” Co asked.

“Do you care?” Natalya replied, stumbling toward the bridge stairs. Co put her robotic arm around the captain, and Natalya accepted her help.

“You point, I shoot.”

“Good to know.”

Augustus and Sisi were right behind them, stopping on the stairs.

“What are we doing, Natalya?” Augustus asked.

“We just got attacked. We’re going to show those Prophets they can’t do that to my crew and get away with it.”

“Is Jasper part of the crew?” Sisi asked.

“He is if I say he is.”

“Don’t worry, Captain, they hurt my sweet Chimy. He looks much slimmer now without the cargo bay, but still, I liked him the way he was,” Augustus said as they reached the bridge.

“What about the space station?” Sisi asked.

“Yes, what about it?” Ptolemy added, rising from the pilot’s seat as Natalya leaned against the communications console, scanning for any ships in the area.

“We’re going to get it. We’re just going to take a detour first,” Natalya replied.

“Captain, this is exactly what we’d planned for.”

Natalya froze. She glared at Ptolemy.

“Jasper is in the hands of the Prophets. The path to the space station is clear,” Ptolemy continued. “You nearly lost your life and we lost our cargo bay, but the situation is no different than if you had decided to turn over Jasper.”

“Turn over Jasper?” Augustus asked.

Co crossed her arms.

“You hadn’t made your choice yet, Captain,” Ptolemy said. “Now the choice has been made for you.”

“It has,” Natalya replied.

“We both appreciate what Jasper did. But he’s gone now. One life isn’t worth much in the grand scheme of things. You said so yourself.”

“Auggie and Sisi found a way to save me.”

Augustus held his hand out for a fist bump. Sisi raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Augustus raised her hand and performed a manual fist-bump with her. She then smiled with understanding.

“That’s different. There was a chance of saving you,” Ptolemy reasoned. “Now there’s no chance. So we might as well make the most of Jasper’s sacrifice and—”

“No,” Natalya said. “It’s no different. You could have jettisoned the cargo bay at any moment. I told you to do that.”

Natalya glared at Augustus. He smiled back.

“But you didn’t. You risked your lives to save me,” Natalya continued.

“A mild endeavor compared to where Jasper is,” Ptolemy replied. “The risk to the ship was marginal. It was simply a matter of proper timing to rescue you, not to mention the Key Core.”

“Then it’s the same with Jasper.”

“Jasper doesn’t have the Key Core.”

“Is that all you care about?”

“You can’t save everyone, Natalya. But we can keep Qin from getting this station. We can honor Jasper’s sacrifice by escaping.”

“Or we can escape with him.”

“Think, Captain, is this the same stubbornness that convinced you it was possible to save Farbind?” Ptolemy asked. “Are you being reasonable or prideful?”

Natalya paused. She looked out the viewscreens, at the stars around her. Doubt crept in like darkness. Was she being stubborn? Was she hoping for something impossible? Should she just accept this and move on?

“If one life doesn’t matter, then my life doesn’t matter,” Co reasoned. “Jasper’s good in a fight. I say we get him.”

Once again, Co’s words snapped Natalya back to focus.

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“We’ll find a way. That or we’ll die and Qin will get the space station. Either way, it will be very interesting,” Augustus said.

“I mean, it’s hypothetically possible we could rescue Jasper. Hypothetically in that I just got a signal from Pul’s shield emitters. They put off a distinct code that, well, is very complicated,” Sisi said.

“What are you saying, Sisi?” Natalya asked.

“Jasper and Pul are on Shihuangdi. If… if that makes a difference.”

Natalya took a deep breath and exhaled. “It doesn’t.”

“I mean, it’s still hypothetically possible to break into the most advanced ship in the Prosper fleet and rescue the most wanted man in the galaxy from super-advanced tech and soldiers and magic-like Prophets holding him captive, but just because it’s hypothetical doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

Sisi blinked.

“I’d like to help him. Jasper saved my life. That matters, even if his and my life don’t,” Sisi added.

Natalya looked at Ptolemy.

Ptolemy tapped his fingers on the console. “You’ve made your decision, then?” he asked.

Natalya nodded.

Ptolemy sighed, and nodded as well. “If it must be done, it must be done right. Fools that we are,” he said.

“Does this mean we’re blowing up a capital ship? Because I’d want to do that if Jasper was on it or not,” Co noted.

“A less confrontational method may be in order.” Ptolemy typed commands into the communications console. “There is a way we can board the ship undetected.”

“And you didn’t tell us about this?” Natalya asked.

“I wanted to make sure you were thinking reasonably, that you all were.”

“Even though you don’t want to do this?”

“The logical course of action is to head straight for the space station. But it is illogical for Jasper to have helped us in the first place. Consider this my unmaking of a debt, Natalya, a payment for services rendered,” Ptolemy said as he pulled up an image of Qin’s great, black capital ship. “You and I are even.”

“Are you betting against me, Ptolemy?” Natalya asked.

“I bet for you long ago, Captain. You’re making me put more chips on the table than I’d like. Very few people have that kind of influence on me, which is exactly why I’m willing to go all in, so long as you are.”

“I don’t play cards,” Sisi noted.

“Then forget the metaphors. Let’s get our crewman back so we can get my station. Maybe we can kill Qin while we’re at it. Hopefully this will distract the Prophets from our course to Farbind as well.”

“Now you’re talking,” Co said.

“So how do we board Qin’s ship?” Natalya asked.

“We have a transmitter that can broadcast any signal we want. And a ship made out of junk,” Ptolemy explained.

Augustus gasped with offence and patted Chimera’s hull. “Don’t listen to him, you’re beautiful,” he said.

“I’m not talking about aesthetics, I’m talking about the ship’s parts.” Ptolemy typed more commands into the communications console, grimacing as the computer hummed its calculations. After a few moments, the touchscreen showed a little map of a twin-star solar system, and a flashing black dot in the center.

Ptolemy projected the image onto the front viewscreens. “Here,” he said. “Shihuangdi is in the Sui system.”

“How’d you find it? Sisi, were you tracking him?” Natalya asked.

“No,” Sisi said. “I just got confirmation of Pul’s signal and counter-referenced it to the energy signature of the ship he was on by examining the proton emissions set off by—”

“Dock workers and supply personnel also serve as viable sources,” Ptolemy interrupted. “Manifests can find their way into the wrong hands if the right payments are made.”

“You knew Jasper was on Qin’s ship before Sisi?” Natalya asked.

“She confirmed it.”

“And you were just going to keep that information from us?”

“Forgive me, Captain. I didn’t want to go on a suicide mission unless it was confirmed as absolutely necessary.”

“You vowed to not withhold anything, Ptolemy.”

“And a challenging vow that is. Captain. I’m on your side,” Ptolemy said. “I want to help.”

“To help yourself,” Natalya noted.

“Let’s call it a win-win. Now…” Ptolemy continued. He zoomed out of the Sui system. “Qin doesn’t know where my space station is. If I were him, I’d be torturing Jasper for that information, even if he honestly claims to not know it.”

Natalya bit her lip.

“This is me not withholding anything, Captain,” Ptolemy explained.

“I appreciate it,” Natalya said, trying to keep her voice level.

“Shihuangdi is positioned close enough to the demilitarized zone to quickly reach the Farbind system.” The viewscreens showed the distance between Farbind and Qin’s ship. Even though it was several billion kilometers of stars and planets, the viewscreens showed only a meter or so separating the two.

“The battle of Farbind occurred long enough ago that debris would just now be making it passed the demilitarized zone,” Ptolemy said. He made the viewscreens display a line from Farbind to Shihuangdi.

“That’s a near statistical impossibility!” Sisi declared. “The debris would have to have exploded with enough velocity, passed through several systems without being caught in the gravity of dozens of stars, and—”

“Ranger participated in that battle, and our transmitter can log its distress signal as having originated in Farbind.”

“But that still doesn’t get us inside the ship. Shihuangdi has shields and short-range scanners that can pick up Chimera easy,” Natalya noted.

“Which is why we’ll only get close enough to launch a lifeboat. Sisi’s welpro can be configured to basically cloak a small object. It won’t work for Chimera, but it will allow a lifeboat to slip through the shields undetected. And then, you make your way inside the ship.”

Ptolemy zoomed in on Shihuangdi, the black vessel dominating the viewscreens. A flashing yellow dot moved toward the ship, and entered it via one of the four cannon at its sides.

“You want us to fly through the cannon?” Natalya asked.

“Augustus is more than capable, I’m sure,” Ptolemy replied.

“Aw shucks, Ptolemy, you know I blush whenever you think I can slip in and out of things with skill,” Augustus said.

Natalya raised an eyebrow at Sisi.

“Again, hypothetically, it could work,” Sisi stated.

“Alright,” Natalya said.

“As long as they don’t fire the cannon. Then we’d explode.”

“Noted.”

“It would be a very big explosion, too.”

“Noted.”

“This is a long-shot, Captain. Everything will have to be done with perfection,” Ptolemy said.

“And if it doesn’t, Co can take on an entire ship full of Qin’s soldiers,” Natalya said.

“I’d rather not. Jasper’s there,” Co said.

“Aw, Co’s caring. It’s adorable,” Augustus cooed.

Co drew a pistol from one of her pouches and leveled it at Augustus. “If you were on that ship, I’d leave you.”

“You’re so cute when you lie, Co.”

“If Augustus was on that ship, we’d go after him. If Sisi, or Co, or even Ptolemy were at risk, we’d put ourselves on the line to bring them back,” Natalya explained.

“You too, Captain,” Sisi said.

Natalya felt her heart try to beat its way out of her chest, adrenaline, fear, and pride surging through her veins. “Let’s do this right.”

“I’m afraid that’s up to you, Captain,” Ptolemy explained. “This will get you on the ship. Finding Jasper, getting him off Shihuangdi, and dealing with the White Prophet? That may prove challenging.”

“Co, I’m assuming you already know how to blow that thing up from the inside out?”

“I have a few ideas,” Co replied.

“If they even think of teleporting Jasper off that ship, we’ll make Qin regret it.”

“Last chance to change your mind, Captain,” Ptolemy said. “If we destroy Shihuangdi it may be worthwhile militarily, but keep in mind our final goal.”

“Jasper helped get us this far, Ptolemy. If he’s not there when we reach it, it’s not worth reaching.” Natalya looked at the members of her crew. “Anyone disagree?”

No one replied.

“Good,” Natalya said. “Let’s plot a course.”