Kaedren reached the door first—then stopped.
Pain detonated in my chest. White-hot. I staggered, barely catching myself against the wall.
Kaedren grunted and collapsed.
Smoke curled through the airlock.
Director Voss stood there, blaster rifle in hand, staring down at Kaedren with open fascination.
I screamed.
Enough.
I charged.
Voss grinned and dropped the rifle. "I'm going to enjoy this."
I took three steps, dropped low, and slid between his legs like I was stealing second base. I drove my fist upward with everything I had.
Voss slammed into the back wall, frozen, hands clamped to his groin, gasping.
I walked up calmly, placed a hand on his shoulder, lifted his chin.
"Director Voss. Per paragraph thirty-eight, section one-eighty-four, subparagraph six-zero-eight, subsection ZZZ, the Corporation's failure to deploy a rescue vessel within three hours of an emergency beacon voids my contract and awards damages up to five times my annual salary."
His mouth worked soundlessly.
"You have my banking information. If the funds are not transferred within thirty days, you will deal with the Pirates of the Starbreaker. Understood?"
He nodded frantically.
"Oh. One last thing," I said. "Per my contract, I'm required to provide feedback on my supervisor's performance."
He nodded again.
"Your performance was unsatisfactory."
For every ignored email. Every dismissive comment. Every time he'd treated me like property instead of a person.
I drove my knee up with surgical precision.
He made a small, patheticmeepand collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
I rushed back to Kaedren. "Are you okay?"
"I am," he said, pushing himself up. "Stun setting. Shoulder hit. The fear was real, though."
Relief nearly took my legs out from under me.
I grinned at all four of them, backpack heavy on my shoulders, bond warm in my chest. "Good. Then let's go home." I squeezed Torvyn's hand. "Our home."
Chapter 12
I peeled away from the othersas Lyrin hauled Kaedren toward the medical bay despite his protests—"I'm fine, dammit"—while Torvyn's voice echoed down the corridor, already barking orders before he reached the bridge. Vaelix disappeared in the opposite direction, muttering about system diagnostics and corporate retribution.
No one stopped me. No one asked where I was going.
They didn't need to.
