“Thank you, Miss Genius.”
“If I were a genius, then I wouldn’t have been caught in the first place and coerced into military service.” Riana’s fingers flew over the input pad, and moments later, the comm line opened. When it came to anything involving the networks and hacking, Riana truly was a genius. She made it look so easy. “And there you are. You don’t have any spareJuvisticks, do you?”
“You know I gave up years ago.” Arin shook her head as they swapped places, Arin sliding into the seat in front of the holoscreen.
A spine-chilling scraping sound echoed through the room, coming from above.
“Not now,” Arin groaned. “Riana, stay by my side. Don’t go anywhere.” She faced the holoscreen. “FSS Marcia, this is theHendrix II, requesting urgent assistance. I repeat, this is a distress call. Patch me through to command.”
There was a pause and then crackling static.
“Hendrix II, your request is in breach of Federation protocol. This is an unsanctioned communication. You are ordered to clear the line immediately.” The voice that greeted her was monotonous and lifeless.
Anger surged through her, but Arin suppressed the emotion. She’d been expecting this. “Listen, asshole. You tell General Varga that her daughter’s trying to reach her, that it’s a life-or-death situation, and that if she doesn’t get on the line right now, she might never speak to me again.”
There was another pause. It seemed to drag on as the air was split by those awful, harsh scraping noises.
Arin wondered whether her mother was cold enough to cut her off.
“Sergeant Varga, what’s the meaning of this?” The holoscreen flickered, and General Alison Varga appeared. Behind her, the lights of theFSS Marcia’scommand center winked as military personnel swarmed all over the place.
“Mother.” Arin tried to ignore the small lump that had formed in her throat. The general stared back, her steel-grey eyes revealing not even the slightest trace of emotion. Above Arin’s head, the scraping noise had turned into loud tapping.
“Oh, fuck,” Riana whispered, drawing her bolt gun.
Arin couldn’t see what was going on behind her, but there were two Kordolians in the room. She prayed the cold-eyed newcomer would prove to be every bit as protective as Rykal.
There was a crash, and Riana screamed.
“Arin, what’s going on?” Her mother’s voice turned sharp.
“So now you’re concerned?” Arin began bitterly. She glanced behind, saw a Xargek claw penetrate the roof, and saw the cold-fish guy draw his twin swords, preparing to face it head-on. Rykal appeared at her side, Riana swore in English, and Arin turned back to her mother, swallowing years of resentment. They hadn’t spoken in two years, but now was not the time. “I really, really hate to play the ‘mother’ card, but it’s kinda urgent.” She waved a hand at the scene behind her, just as the fully sized Xargek smashed through the ceiling, shrieking loudly as it met the twin swords of the nameless Kordolian warrior, who had donned his full armor.
Riana fired a few bolts at it before Rykal placed a hand on her trembling arm.
“See what I mean?”
Her mother’s entire body radiated tension. “Arin, get the hell out of there, now!”
“And go where, exactly? As long as we’re on this freighter, we’ve got nowhere to go. These things can cut through metal and survive without oxygen. They’re practically invincibleunless you’re a Kordolian. Meanwhile, the Federation is wasting fucking time debating useless politics in that little bubble of theirs. We need a mass evacuation, General Varga. I’m asking you as a peacekeeper and as a daughter. So what are you going to do, mother?”
A glob of foul-smelling yellow gunk landed on the input pad, just as a bit of chitinous exoskeleton whizzed past Arin’s face and lodged itself in a nearby wall with athunk.
As Arin looked back in alarm, Rykal’s hand whipped out and snatched another bit of insect shell out of the air, just before it hit her. “See what I mean?”
Arin watched her mother’s face as the stern woman stared at her, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes growing deeper as she tried to come to a decision. Alison Varga gave away nothing, and for a heartbeat, Arin worried that her mother would condemn her and her people to die in the cold vacuum of space. Everything General Varga did was calculated, even when her own daughter was involved.
Rykal grunted as he threw his large dagger, helping his buddy out in a difficult spot.
The Xargek shrieked again, the sound so loud and horrible that Arin cringed, a feeling of impending doom washing over her.
Her mother’s eyes widened. “These Kordolians are… protecting you?”
“Yeah. It’s like I told the Committee. They’re the only ones who can handle these things.”
The general took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Arin wondered whether her mother was going to be the next in a long line of official humans whodidn’t fucking listen to what she was saying.
“Hold on, Arin,” General Alison Varga said softly. “I’m on my way.”
