“Gelhart laughed when the captured pirate, a captain in chains, told him not to trust that it was over. Gelhart didn’t listen—now he’s dead. Soon the rest of us will be, too. I can see it in their eyes.”

—Author unknown; from a recovered journal giving an account of an expeditionary voyage under Captain Gelhart Grell

Reida turned back to face Zaina. “You coming?”

Zaina glanced toward the ship to confirm her suspicions—it was definitely the same ship that had attacked her. She met Reida’s eyes again—they turned cold in understanding.

Zaina reached for her phase cycler—it was too late. Reida swiftly outdrew her, aiming her weapon at Zaina’s head.

“Ahp, ahp, ahp,” Reida taunted. “Don’t do anything foolish now.”

Zaina scowled. Her arm wasn’t even raised. Murder was in Reida’s eyes again—her expression filled Zaina’s heart with cold fear.

Reida sighed. “Okay, so—don’t freak out or anything, but—Zaina, I haven’t been entirely honest with you. Drop that weapon and I can explain everything.”

Zaina frowned and did as she was told, tossing the weapon. The phase cycler clanked to the floor next to Reida. Then Zaina said, “You’re a pirate.”

Reida frowned. “See, I told her you’d recognize the ship, but she didn’t want to change our exit plan. And after all the work it took to get you here—now, this is how it has to be, huh?”

“I guess so,” Zaina said between gritted teeth. Hot anger bubbled beneath her skin. How much of what she’d been told was a lie?

“You know,” Reida said, “we could use someone like you. Toughen you up a little, sure, but—come on, think about it. You’ll never get rich being a lancer. You’ll never have your own crew loyal only to you—why would you ever want to repeatedly put your life on the line for people you don’t even know, especially when you won’t get anything out of it? You want to be a hero for people who want nothing to do with you. Or, you could come work for me. I’ll take care of you, like I did here. We make a good team.”

Zaina shook her head. “Never.”

Reida growled. “Oh, is that so? Little-miss-hero thinks if she’s a good little girl the galaxy’s going to forget what she is? You think they’ll accept you as one of their own? You’re wrong—they’re always going to hate you. You could save the whole galaxy and they’d look anywhere else to give credit. You know why? Because to them, you being their savior is worse than dying.”

Images of Ilstevor and the lancer flashed through Zaina’s mind—all those people suffering below—all for nothing. There was no glorious cause at the end of the tunnel to lift the weight off Zaina’s chest. “At least I’d be able to live with myself. I honestly don’t know how you do.”

Reida’s eyes darkened even further. Zaina’s hands clenched, expecting this to be her last moment. Instead, Reida’s eye twitched. “Are you coming or not? We need to get moving.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. You attacked me,” Zaina said. “You wanted to use me all along. This is probably a trick, too—you won’t let me walk away.”

Reida replied through gritted teeth, “It’s not like that.”

“Oh yeah? Then how is it?”

“You were in a lancer’s ship, Zaina,” Reida spat. “We didn’t know what to expect. We thought Bilvane was getting more protection for the crystal. But when I followed you, I realized you could be—”

Zaina took a step back. “You—you followed me? How long were you—what?”

“How do you think Sister Tyza found you—you, of all people, on a world with millions of people? I led her to you. I watched your brief little friendship with that old homeless man. I watched you waste your talents working for that washed-up mechanic—and then—” Her expression softened. “Then you saved me. And I thought—”

The massive ship lurched, shaking the building. Whoever was inside was rearing to go. Reida glanced toward the ship, then back at Zaina. “Last chance. You can come with me and have your freedom, or you can stay here and they’ll blame you for everything.”

There was nothing for Zaina to think about. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Reida growled. “I’m trying to help you even though you’re being a bad friend right now. It’s a truth you need to hear—no matter how badly you want it, you’ll never be one of them!”

“You’re a murderer. What do you care?”

Reida was taken aback—the comment had clearly stung. She frowned. “Fine. If that’s how it is, have it your way.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Still keeping the gun trained on Zaina, Reida backed up in front of the ramp. Two black-clad armed guards came out and pulled the crystal into the ship while Zaina watched in helpless disbelief.

No. It isn’t over yet. Her hand twitched toward the hook-gun at her hip.

Reida’s eyes turned cold. She took the finger off the trigger of her phase cycler and used it to tap the vis-screen on her wrist. Zaina’s armor hummed as it pumped electricity into her torso. Every muscle in her body seized and twitched—red-hot pain coursed through her veins as she fell to her knees, gasping through gritted teeth. Her vision blurred and doubled.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” Reida said, stepping backward onto the ship, “but I can’t have you pulling any heroics at the last second, now, can I?”

The electricity stopped—Zaina collapsed onto her side, her arms twitching. She still managed to glare.

Reida pulled on a cord above her head and holstered her weapon. Then she met Zaina’s eyes and said, “Goodbye, Zaina Quin.”

Zaina was in too much pain to respond. Her muscles jolted and spasmed. The prong’s ramp lifted and slammed shut. The pirate ship then re-cloaked. With a deafening boom, it shot upward, its engines leaving a shockwave in their wake. It struck Zaina and threw her against the far wall.

She gasped for breath and tried to move a finger—her hands were completely numb. With a grunt, she tried to claw her way to her feet, but her body wasn’t responding. It was hopeless.

She stared at the ceiling. Reida could’ve shocked her at any time—did she always intend to betray her, or was it a failsafe? A resigned sigh escaped her lips. I guess I’ll never know.

Another few minutes passed before Zaina was able to work her way to her knees. Clicking footsteps were echoing from the dark hallway she and Reida had come down; it was over. There was no escape now.

Zaina slumped over as a team of androids entered the room. Their birifles darted about, scanning every inch of the atrium before a group of them approached and surrounded her.

“Human—it is believed you may be involved in this attack. Please submit to arrest and there will be no need for violence.”

Zaina hung her head as the androids locked her hands in mag-cuffs and forced her to stand. Pain still surged through her body with every step, but she deserved all of it. Whether she was led astray or not, she’d helped pirates get away with stealing—with murder. Someone had to pay for the awful things that had been done today. With how guilty Zaina felt, it seemed right to accept the blame.

She was led to a large, open chamber with two parked atmospheric vehicles. Their long wings were tucked backward, sliding into slits built into their slender, cylindrical bodies. On all sides but one were steel walls, allowing for small-to-medium transports to enter and exit the building as needed. Zaina was led up a small ramp and into the craft—it wasn’t very spacious, so she ducked down to sit in one of the uncomfortably shaped polysynth chairs.

The androids settled in, pushing an assortment of buttons on the front control panel to engage the ship’s engines. Zaina was weightless for a moment as they lifted into the air, but the day’s actions were heavy on her shoulders. They zipped forward—where, she knew not—and with that, Zaina’s adventure in the galaxy-at-large had come to an abrupt end.

—

Reida stood before the circular door to the Dauntless Heart’s cockpit. It opened with a hiss, spitting sparks and steam from pipes on the wall.

She sighed. Everything on this ship is falling apart. When the captain gets a new one and gives me this one, I’ll have a lot of work on my hands.

She stepped into the reinforced hyper-glass canopy where Captain Danjai sat in a large, swiveling chair. Two pilots were stationed behind a massive control panel, listening intently for orders.

The captain stood and faced Reida. “So, did you learn your lesson with that girl?”

Reida shrugged. “I’m not sure what lesson I was supposed to learn that I didn’t already know. Nothing comes before the mission.”

Captain Danjai looked her up and down.

“So,” Reida said, “what now?”

“Now the Synatorium’s going to be looking for us. We’ll go back to Tedano. Regroup. Lay low for a little while, plan the next job.” She sat back down in the captain’s chair and leaned back. “I think there’s going to be plenty of work here soon. Word amongst the stars is that one or two of the Big Five might be on their way out.”

A twang of excitement struck Reida’s heart. “You think there’s going to be a war?”

“War’s been a long time coming,” the captain replied. “All it’s going to take is one spark to light the whole thing up. And we’ll be ready.”

Reida grinned. War—especially between the Big Five Factions of Tedano—meant opportunity. Power vacuums to be exploited, chaos to benefit from. “What side will we be on?”

“The winners,” the captain replied. She turned away and continued, “We’ll offload the crystal to our fence and lay low. But keep your eyes out for our next mission—choose your target wisely and you just might get that ship you’ve wanted.”

“Thank you, captain,” Reida replied. “By the way—I’m going to borrow a transport. I’ll meet back up with you on Tedano, all right?”

Danjai’s eyebrow rose. “Right after I tell you how close you are to a promotion, you decide to act recklessly?”

“It’s not reckless, don’t worry. I have to drop something off somewhere—that’s all.”

She turned to leave, but Captain Danjai chuckled. “Is it about that girl?”

Reida froze.

“You let her live,” the captain said in a cold tone. “I thought I warned you about making friends in this line of work.”

“I have a debt to repay,” Reida said.

“Never known you to be honorable—but very well. You know what you need to do, but keep your head down. Be safe. And know this,” the captain said, her voice turning serious, “if she ever becomes a problem, it’ll be on you to deal with. Understand? You brought her into this, and if need be, you’ll be the one that takes her out.”

Reida turned back and met her captain’s eyes. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, go.”

The door hissed closed behind Reida the moment she crossed the threshold. Her pace didn’t slow—she had to get to the hangar before the ship void-skipped. They had a few clunkers onboard that registered as merchant ships, so getting on and off Otmonzas wasn’t a problem.

The captain’s words bothered Reida while she made her way to the Dauntless Heart’s hangar. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure why she was doing this. She wasn’t even sure why she spared Zaina to begin with—anyone else would be dead.

In all of Reida’s years as a pirate, she’d only ever had her life saved by two people: Captain Danjai, and now Zaina. Maybe that was why.

She climbed into one of the space-to-atmospheric transports and departed from the Dauntless Heart. It wouldn’t be long before she saw it again—she had one last thing to do, and then she never expected to set foot on Otmonzas again.

Good riddance, she thought, approaching the planet’s tapestry of multicolored flashing lights. One last errand, and then she could go home.