Page 331 of Commander’s Mate

“Not the flowers.”

“You wound me.”

“Maybe one.”

“For your mother?”

“She’ll think they’re pretty.”

“They are.”

“Debatable.”

He reached across the desk.

Palm up.

I put my hand in his.

Not because the universe had decided we matched, but because this was the man I wanted to argue with about coffee on two planets.

That felt more permanent than fate.

Chapter Forty-Five

Zared

The repair complex had one heavy transport.

We needed one heavy transport.

I considered this evidence of divine approval.

Degatu considered it evidence that I should never be allowed to interpret religion.

The target rotated above the tactical table.

Sargus bulk carrier Hekara.

Length: six hundred meters.

Crew: one hundred twelve.

Current crew aboard during repair cycle: forty-three.

Passenger conversion capacity: two thousand if cargo frames were removed.

Weapons: minimal.

Engines: functional.

Docking clamps: vulnerable.

Pyrr studied the display.

“I love it.”

“It is a ship,” Degatu said.