"After consultation with our sister stations," Commander Oran continued, "we have unanimously voted to terminate all corporate contracts and affiliations. Corporate representatives and subsidiaries are no longer permitted in Coalition space."
"That was fast," Vaelix murmured.
Commander Oran’s professional mask slipped into a small smile. "We've been waiting for an excuse, Doctor Vale. You just gave us one we could actually use."
"Thank you, Commander," Torvyn said. "We accept your offer. Please have a berth ready for us within the hour."
"Consider it done. And Doctor?" Oran's eyes met mine through the screen. "On behalf of everyone who just watched that broadcast, thank you. For making him say it out loud."
The channel closed.
I stood in the center of the bridge, the warmth of the tether connecting me to these four men who had followed me into impossible situations and come out the other side whole.
We weren't fugitives anymore. We weren't being hunted. We had turned the light on the nest, and the rats had scattered.
"I need a shower and about twelve hours of sleep," I said. "Torvyn, can you handle the docking?"
He pulled me into a hug, his arms solid and warm around me. "Anything for you, Kira."
I kissed him on the cheek, then made my way toward the bridge doors. Kaedren caught my hand as I passed, his grip gentle.
"That was masterfully done," he said quietly. "I am... proud to serve with you."
I squeezed his hand. "We're not done yet. But tonight, we rest."
The doors slid open, and I stepped into the corridor.
There was only one thing I wanted more than anything else in this world.
A double cheeseburger with bacon, a side of fries, and a very large glass of red wine.
Chapter 17
I woke up slowly, which was something I hadn’t done in a while. I forgot how nice it was.
There weren’t any alarms or proximity warnings. No voices coming through the comms with urgent updates or requests for my presence on the bridge, ready room, medical bay, or Astro lab. Just the low hum of the life support system cycling air through my quarters, and the soft rustle of sheets as I shifted against the mattress.
The remains of dinner sat on the small table beside my bunk: an empty plate streaked with grease and ketchup, a scattering of salt crystals where the fries had been, and a wine glass with a purple ring at the bottom. A double cheeseburger with bacon, extra cheese, and the works. The wine had been just what I needed to get to sleep. It was a huge glass, the kind you pour when you're not planning to do anything else with your evening.
I'd eaten every bite, drunk every drop, and then slept for what felt like the first time in weeks.
The Knights had kept their word and given me space without any conditions, which was either a sign of how well they knew me now or how exhausted we all were. Probably both.
I sat up slowly, waking up gently, and enjoying the fact that the edge I had been living on for the last month was finally blunted. I reached for the datapad next to my bunk and opened the updates I’d received while I was asleep.
The first intelligence packet was from Vaelix. Dry, precise, stripped of anything that might be mistaken for editorializing. Corporate forces had withdrawn from fourteen systems when the independent stations voided the one-sided trade contracts the corporations had been enforcing for decades. Three major shipping conglomerates had declared operational pauses, which was corporate speak for "we don't know who to bill anymore."
I scrolled past the summary into the raw data. Transaction logs. Communication intercepts. A chart showing the cascading failure of credit verification systems across the corporation’s core worlds.
It should have looked like a collapse. Six months ago, I would have read this as the beginning of the end; the kind of systemic failure that preceded famines and riots and the quiet, desperate migrations of people who had nowhere left to go.
But that wasn't what I was seeing.
I switched to the open news feeds. Not the official corporation channels. Those had apparently gone dark, replaced by holding screens that promised updates soon. The independent stations had picked up the slack. Makeshift networks broadcasting from cargo bays and repurposed mining platforms, their signals bouncing through relay chains that hadn't existed a twelve hours ago.
Rovani Station announces mutual defense pact with Kellux Outpost.
Free traders establish emergency supply corridor through unincorporated space.
