There was no doubt in my mind that Bridgebane would recognize me. I’d grown up, but I hadn’t changed that much. I still had the same straight reddish-brown hair, wispy bangs, unusual height—which now put me eye to eye with most men—and blue eyes that stood out from a mile away. Before she died, Mom used to tell me that my eyes made her dream of the great oceans and blue skies she’d never see. And she never did. Dad kept us both under lock and key.
And now ancient history was coming to bite me in the neck and shake me hard.Dark Watch 12was one of the Galactic Overseer’s premier warships and could blow my faithful littleEndeavorto pieces with only two or three direct hits. It was a fully armored beast. And I knew my way around it. If not for my oddities—and my conscience—DW 12might one day have been mine.
“Please identify yourself,” Captain Bridgebane ordered, “or we will be compelled to board your ship and ascertain your identity ourselves.”
And there was the galactic military in all its glory—polite, even while putting a gun to your head.
Boarding us was out of the question. There was nothing on my ship that wasn’t stolen. Hell, even the ship was stolen. Even thecrewwas stolen because, well,jailbreak.
I reached out and pushed the communications button without letting my hand shake. “This is Captain T. Bailey. You’re looking at theEndeavor,” I answered in the flattest voice I could muster.
“Captain Bailey, Sector 14 is a no-fly zone. What are you doing in this area of the galaxy?” Bridgebane asked.
I wanted to ask him the same question but managed to refrain. I pressed the com button again and calmly said, “Taking in the view. The crew wanted a peek at the Widow.”
I lifted my hand, cutting off all sound from our end, and the longest few heartbeats of my life passed in total silence as the bridge crew stared at me, waiting for their orders.
My mind bounced from one possibility to the next. I’d given my usual false name—any Bailey, especially with only a first initial, was extremely hard to pin down since it was one of the most common surnames in the galaxy—and theEndeavorhad fake ID numbers stickered on both sides. I could peel them off and get new numbers up in less than forty-five minutes, even with the necessary spacewalk. But I couldn’t do it with Bridgebane watching.
“Power up, Jax. Time to jump us out of here.” The only problem was, we hadn’t found a safe Sector indays. “Miko, move us closer to the Outer Zones.”
“We can’t, Tess.” Jax shook his head as he examined the data readings on our current energy levels. “We don’t have enough power left to get us out of 14. And they’ve locked on to our com channel now and can follow short-range leaps, even if we use warp speed to stay out of sight and jump around the Sector.”
I stared at my first mate. I’d known we were low on juice, but that was very bad news.
He pivoted the screen portion of his console in my direction, showing me just how fucked we were. Repeatedly hauling the lab at warp speed had put a huge strain on the ship’s energy reserves, and that last, big jump had drained even more power than I’d anticipated. We’d come here to try tofixour power problem, not make it worse.
“Can we get close enough to the nearest star to recharge theEndeavor’s energy core as planned, not fry, and still keep away from the Dark Watch?” I asked, knowing what Jax would probably answer.
He winced. “Even short jumps to stay away from the warship would drain our reserves faster than the solar panels could build them up again.”
I winced, too. “We’ll end up a floating duck.”
He nodded.
“We already have a target on our back, and this is the end of the line.” Usually softly lilting with Sector 10’s melodious accent, Miko’s urgent words flooded the bridge with the near panic I was trying hard to keep at bay. “What choices do we have?”
Bad ones. Without recharging, our already crippled capacity for warp speed would fizzle to nothing in no time, and simply flying away wasn’t going to work, either. A Dark Watch vessel could chase a lot faster than a cargo cruiser could run.
The red com button flashed again before I could even begin to analyze our terrible options, and Bridgebane’s clipped voice came through to theEndeavor’s bridge as clearly as if he were sitting right there. “We see you have three cargo holds and a vacuum attachment that looks like the lab that was recently stolen from the Lyronium System. Prepare your starboard port for a boarding party. Any lack of cooperation on your part will be taken as hostility, and we will not hesitate to fire to recover the lab by force.”
The communication went dead, and my heart slammed so hard against my ribs that it left me short of breath. I leaped out of my chair as I switched to a mapping screen on my console to get an idea of just how close they were.
My eyes widened.Dark Watch 12was right behind us—and looking straight at the stolen lab.
“Jax! Power up with what we’ve got. And tell Miko her jump range the second you know it,” I said.
“It won’t do any good.” Jax started flipping the necessary switches anyway. “They’ll just follow us and start shooting.”
I glanced at my controls again, at the terrifying digital image of the mammoth battleship hovering on our tail, and then pressed my lips together, trying to hold back what was probably the worst decision of my life. “Then jump us closer to the Widow.”
“What?” squeaked Miko. “We’ll get sucked in.”
“Well, don’t jump usthatclose!” I kicked the lock on my chair and shoved the whole thing back and out of my way. I didn’t plan on sitting down again while taking four other lives into my hands and also protecting the vaccines that could save thousands of people from the diseases that still ran rampant in the galaxy’s civilian populations.
I watched to confirm that Miko’s hand was flying over the navigation controls before I punched my own hand down on the yellow internal communications button. “Shiori! Get to the bridge. Fiona! You, too! Donotstop to collect your plants. This is an emergency.”
I swung my eyes back to Jax, nerves riding my spine like an icy comet. “Tell us when we’ve got the juice.”
