Once alone, Val looked up at the ceiling.

“You there, buddy?”

“Always,” answered Nim.

She gritted her teeth as her eyes went back to the screen.

“So what do you think about our guest?”

“If anything,” interrupted the AI, “you are the guests.”

“Very touchy,” said Nim.

Val chuckled.

“Not at all,” corrected the ship. “But I do like things to be neat.”

“Is that why you threw me in the middle of that messy battle above Rimzana?”

“It was a necessary risk.”

“And all that for what?”

She did not expect the AI to respond, but after a few seconds of silence its deep voice echoed once more in the control room.

“You needed to rescue Kaine.”

“I knew it!”

“Why?” asked Nim’s confused voice.

“His assistance will be required.”

“For what?” insisted Val, but the voice did not answer. “Fine. But he’s no longer with us, so now what?”

“We will have to collect him.”

She frowned. “I hope you’re not suggesting we go to Xovu?”

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“He would no longer be there by the time we arrived.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Even as she asked the question, she knew the AI was right. There was no way that man would want to stay in the heart of the Imperium.

“It would not be safe for him there. He will want to return to the rim. And there’s a 73.6% chance he would want to seek you out.”

She smiled. “Really?”

“The rim is huge,” cut in Nim. “Where would we find him?”

“I predict he will go back to a world you visited together.”

“That makes sense,” she said. “Though I don’t look forward to seeing any of them again.” She straightened in her seat. “Evenodds, maybe?”

“It was too expensive for him the first time, it would be more so now. Chances are under 5%.”

“Let’s see... Alterica, no. Too damn cold and it’s a dead world anyway. Can’t see him wanting to spend any time there again. Pluvios...” She grimaced. “Too many Impies, and considering how things went down last time...”

“Correct. Odds are under 2% for both of those.”

She frowned as she looked at the image of Ovkan on her screen—it was only a small dot lost among the stars now.

“Are we making a mistake? I mean... I was supposed to come get him here. Wouldn’t this be the place he’d go back to?”

“Unlikely, given the situation. I estimate the chance at 13.9%.”

“You’re annoying, you know that? Well, that leaves Derkanash and it’s not even in the rim.”

“You forget Rimzana,” said Nim.

Val frowned. “Seriously? That place crawls with Impies.”

“Not since the Qevahri won the battle,” said the AI.

“They did?”

“And his ship is on that world, which further raises the chance of him going there to 84.2%.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so right away?”

“You did not ask.”

Val cringed. “As if you always answer all my questions, you pest! Alright. We’ll drop off the rebels on Pluvios, then head for Rimzana. But, you know, that’s a big world. Even assuming he’s there, how ever will we find him?”

“I know where his ship is.”

“That’s the first good news I’ve heard all day! Well, after learning Kaine was still alive, that is.”

They fell quiet as Val tapped on the controls and set their destination.

After a while, she leaned back in her chair and grunted.

“You know, everything would have been so much easier if you’d just come out and introduced yourself and told me you needed Kaine.”

“There was an 86.7% chance you would resist the notion. I could not take the risk.”

“Why not?”

Again, the AI said nothing.

She threw her arms in the air. “You know, you’re gonna have to tell me something at some point.”

“I’ve already told you many things.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Val fell quiet for a few seconds. “Okay, so how about you tell me why you sent us to that invisible planet?”

“Calista,” said Nim.

“It was important for you to know about it.”

“Why?”

Once more, only silence answered her.

She grumbled.

“Fine. Be that way.”

They said nothing for the rest of the trip.