As the battlepod rushed through the stars, hot on the tail of Starrider, Val told her brother about everything that had happened to her. From the space rift to meeting Kaine, visiting Evenodds, the war with Qevahr, rescuing Ondine from the cube, Aj’uhl’s death, Juden’s attempted hijack, the dormant AI, and how everything had gone down the drain during that face-off on Derkanash.

Peter listened quietly as they sat around the table. They had finished eating and talking like this helped pass the time.

“I’m sorry to hear about Aj’uhl,” her brother said. “He was a good man.”

“I didn’t realize you knew him.”

He smiled sadly. “I didn’t. Not personally. But I feel like I knew him from all the stories you used to tell me.” His eyes hardened. “The Imperium has taken so many people from us—”

“Don’t!”

“What?”

“I know that look. Leave well enough alone, Peter. The Imperium thinks you’re dead. Take that as an opportunity to lie low and have a life. Don’t go stirring up trouble again.”

Peter stared at her for a moment.

“So you would rather the Emperor continued to enslave the masses?”

“If it means keeping you alive, yes! And stop blowing things out of proportion. There are no slaves! You know I have no love for the Imperium, but that’s pushing it.”

“Is it? Whatever the Emperor says, the people do. They bend their heads and knees and say, ‘yes master.’ How is that not slavery?”

“They do it willingly,” she grunted. “No one’s holding a gun to their heads. Or whips to their backs.”

Stolen story; please report.

“So it’s okay to do a madman’s bidding if he doesn’t threaten you or hurt you?”

“No one has to do his bidding, Peter. That’s my point.”

“Then why are you running?”

“I’m not running!”

Peter got off the stool and went to one of the cots. It was more comfortable, and he needed to rest his back.

“Really? Could have fooled me.” He held up his hand before she could protest. “But you’re missing my point, sis. It’s true people have a choice. But if they decide to disobey, what happens? People who live out here on the rim have it easy, but those who live within do not have the luxury of saying no. I’ll grant you many will never be faced with that dilemma, but it’s for those who will that I fight. To give them that choice—the freedom to say no, to do what they feel is right, regardless of what Nashadan Prime thinks.”

Val remained quiet for a moment, staring at her empty plate.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you,” she said.

Lying on the cot, he glanced at her.

“What’s that?”

“Say you take down the Emperor. Then what? Wouldn’t any form of government ‘enslave’ the people, as you say? Do you want total anarchy? How do you envision the future?”

Peter stared at the ceiling.

“That’s a good question. I’ve often asked myself that. If I’m honest, I’m not sure what the answer is. Not yet. All I know is that the current system isn’t working. It needs to change, Val. You shouldn’t need to run—”

“I’m not running!”

“If you say so. But the point is, we shouldn’t have to worry about the government breathing down our necks or coming after us because we are not behaving the way they want us to. There is a difference between enforcing laws and tyranny. So no, I don’t want anarchy. I want justice and a fair system. We used to have that, you know, before the Imperium. There’s no reason we couldn’t have it again.”

“Maybe there’s a reason why it changed.”

He glanced at her. “Defending the Imperium now?”

She snorted. “Not in a thousand years.”

Peter smiled as he looked back at the ceiling, his hands under his head.

“But you’re right. There is a reason. And the name of that reason is Nashadan Prime.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like Hassan the Conqueror was an angel.”

“He wasn’t, but he’s not the one sitting on the throne right now.”

“You realize you’re fighting a losing battle, right?”

“I don’t care about losing battles, Val, so long as I win the war.”

“And how are you going to achieve that?”

“First, I need to—”

A high-pitched ringing cut him off as a mechanical voice resonated in the small room.

“Target within range.”

Peter and Val both jumped to their feet and rushed back to the cockpit.

On the screen, they saw the distant silhouette of Starrider.