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“Get back to work!” she barked, taking me by surprise. It seemed Queen Brisha had cowed her, at least for a little while. Navan was off the hook, the isolation chamber forgotten about, and I didn’t appear to be getting a verbal lashing after all. With a palpable sense of relief, the five of us headed toward the door of the cockpit, eager to be away from Pandora’s rule, when she called out again. “Bashrik, you remain here with me. I need you to keep a lookout for any remaining debris,” she said, prompting a grimace to bristle across Bashrik’s face. I felt sorry for him. Throughout the whole trip, he had become Pandora’s wingman, always running at her beck and call.

  As Bashrik walked miserably back to the control panel, looking like a man with a death sentence, the rest of us carried on to the main space. Navan took my hand in his, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “Time sure does fly when you’re trying to avoid killer chunks of space junk, right?”

  I glanced at him, understanding the hidden meaning in his words. I’d almost forgotten that I’d been on my way to the observation deck when we’d hit the debris field. Looking up at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was already way past three. I was very late.

  “Yeah, especially when you try to slice them in two,” I muttered, leaning up to kiss him before we parted ways.

  “Enough of that! Get back to work, before I change my mind about that chamber!” Pandora bellowed from the shadows of the cockpit. Evidently, she’d been watching us as we left.

  Rolling my eyes, I tapped the spot above my heart, where my climpet flashed. Navan smiled, tapping his in return. It wasn’t anywhere near the passionate kiss I so desperately wanted to indulge in, but I’d take what I could get. Scowling toward the cockpit, I wondered if Pandora knew just how cruel she was being, keeping Navan and me apart like this, always yelling whenever we got too close. The two of us had only just taken our relationship to the next level, and she was prohibiting us from going there again.

  Just because you’re separated from your partner, it doesn’t mean you have to put a downer on everyone else’s love life, I thought bitterly, drawing away from Navan.

  “Are you okay? She always seems to come down hardest on you,” Lauren said quietly, as we looked up and down the hallways, preparing to head toward our tasks.

  I smiled. “I am now. Exposing her to Brisha was worth every trip to the isolation chamber,” I whispered.

  Angie chuckled. “The image of her squirming will get me through a million punishments.”

  “Okay, I’ve got to go. I need to pee,” I said with a wink. They nodded in understanding.

  Feeling Pandora’s gaze following our every move, the cameras whirring as they trailed us, I turned right at the far side of the main chamber, heading for the bathrooms. It was a good pretense, with them being so close to the observation deck. Meanwhile, Navan and the others went in the opposite direction, to clean the thousands of pipes that still needed scrubbing in the engine room, wash the endless laundry, and take yet another inventory of the storeroom.

  I paused outside the door to the bathrooms, turning over my shoulder to watch the movements of the nearby camera. There was one at the intersection leading up to the observation deck, but there wasn’t another one until farther along the passageway. Darting into the bathrooms, where I knew the coast was clear of cameras—though Pandora had installed microphones, which I thought a little perverse—I peered out of a narrow gap in the doorway, until the camera turned back around.

  Seizing the opportunity, I sprinted across to the observation deck and ducked through into the room beyond. Here, there were cameras, but they only pointed one way, and Pandora rarely checked them—the observation deck bored her to tears. She was so used to space travel that the universe held very little interest for her anymore. I doubted she even noticed the view. For me, the experience of seeing the vast expanse of space through such an enormous pane of glass still hadn’t lost its novelty. Even when I wasn’t coming here for a specific purpose, I couldn’t help admiring the view. The deck itself was a large room, with glass floors and a glass front, which looked out onto the dark, starry landscape of space. Below, I could still see crumbs of debris floating under the ship, some caught against the structure, although none were large enough to cause any trouble.

  I walked toward the glass, drawn to the mesmerizing glow of a blazing star in the distance. It was only a glint in my field of vision, catching my eye like the shimmer of pennies in a stream, but it looked like the kind of star that might warm the surface of a planet. I couldn’t see any planets yet, but I knew Zai was out there, just a tiny dot in the universe.

  The thought of discovering a new planet, and meeting a new species, thrilled me. I had no idea what this place was going to be like, as Lauren had been oddly tight-lipped on the subject. All I knew was it wasn’t like Vysanthe.

  Navan and Bashrik had never been to Zai either, since the opaleine mining had stopped before they became Explorers, so it was a brand-new adventure for all of us. I was looking forward to it, weirdly. But the plague worried me. It had spread through Zai and taken hold of the coldblood miners who had been sent there to retrieve opaleine. If it was still there, that meant Navan and Bashrik might get infected. We just had to hope our hazmat suits would keep out any of the remaining virus.

  I turned away from the glass observation window and made my way toward the special seating area in the center of the room. Behind the gray leather chairs, there were several cameras, pointed at the back of the seats, but that was all that could be seen through the lenses. I had viewed the recordings myself, when they flickered on the control panel screen in the cockpit.

  I took a seat in the central chair, cautiously reaching down between the cushions, keeping my eyes focused on the window in front of me, my head steady, so it seemed like I was simply admiring the view.

  After a moment of straining, my hand closed around the object I was after—the Note. Carefully, I removed the shiny white rectangle. The device was plasticky to the touch, the whole thing slightly smaller than a smartphone. Keeping my focus dead ahead, I held the device close to my body and tapped the surface. A message appeared, the letters written in Navan’s handwriting.

  N: We need to decide if we should do it now or while we’re on the planet.

  I was glad of Navan’s quick thinking in high-pressure situations. Knowing we’d need a way to communicate in private while on board the ship, he’d stolen the Note device from one of the trainees when we were being taken from our chambers to the hangar where the Vanquish was waiting. Standing outside, preparing to get on the ship, he’d whispered times to each of us, telling us where he was going to deposit the device. My time was three o’clock, though I’d missed that by a lot today. Even so, with it in our possession, we could speak to one another secretly, although there was only enough room for short messages.

  I tapped the Note again, watching as a different message flashed up on the screen.

  B: What about the airlock idea? If we can get her to move close enough to it, we can shove her in, lock the door, open the airlock, and whoosh, out goes the witch.

  I tapped again, tickled by Bashrik’s enthusiasm.

  A: Sure, we can do that—if you’re okay with being caught red-handed on the ship’s cameras!

  I smiled at the sarcastic tone of Angie’s writing, amused at how they were still managing to snipe at one another through the device. Ever since their unexpected kiss in the queen’s gardens, they had been tiptoeing around each other, though it appeared they were returning to some sort of twisted normality, their banter coming back to them.

  I tapped again, another message coming up.

  L: Better wait until we’re on Zai. That’s my vote.

  Grimacing, I wondered why it had to be so difficult to know which option to choose. We had all agreed that we needed to get rid of Pandora so that we could contact the Fed outpost near Zai, but a suitable opportunity had yet to arise. Plus, Pandora was doing an impeccable job of keeping us all apart, making it almost impossible to ra
lly together to overcome her without alerting Queen Brisha of any foul play.

  Navan had mentioned blacking out the cameras and trying to take her by himself, on the Note, but Bashrik had warned him against that. He’d caught sight of her training back on Vysanthe, and what he had to say about her sent chills up my spine. There was a reason she was the queen’s right-hand woman, instead of a more typical bodyguard: she was stronger and faster than she looked, by far. More than that, in our case, she was expecting us to betray her in some way—there was no way of surprising her. With that in mind, Lauren’s reply seemed to make the most sense. As long as Pandora kept us apart, we couldn’t do anything while on the ship.

  Solemnly, I typed my answer.

  R: I’m with Lauren. Maybe an “accident” will happen with her hazmat suit on Zai, and the plague can do the rest…

  I had just typed the last word when I heard footsteps echoing behind me. Whipping my head around, I turned to see Pandora standing in the doorway.

  Chapter Three

  Enjoying the view?” Pandora asked coldly.

  I knew she couldn’t have seen the Note from where she was standing, but the tone of her voice still made me nervous. It always did. Something menacing perpetually lingered beneath the surface of her words.

  I shoved the Note back down the side of the chair’s cushion as calmly as possible, and brushed some invisible dust from my legs, trying to act casual.

  “It never ceases to amaze me,” I enthused. “I’ve spent all my life on one planet, so this room is like a magnet—it always calls to me, no matter how many times I walk by.” I was slightly overdoing it on the excitement, but hopefully it would come across as nervous energy instead of guilt.

  Pandora gave a snort of amusement. “Don’t act so nervous around me. I came here to apologize for what happened earlier,” she said, unexpectedly. “You made a mistake back there, but my reaction did not befit the crime. A soldier cannot be blamed for lacking the expertise their superiors failed to provide. These guns were unfamiliar to you. As such, the fault did not lie with you, and I should not have placed it on your shoulders.”

  I stared at her, frowning. I hadn’t expected to get anything close to an apology from her.

  A strange silence stretched between us, as though she were expecting me to reply. I offered an apologetic smile. “Even so, I’m sorry for making that mistake. It was stupid. It won’t happen again.”

  “You will learn from your mistakes, of that I have no doubt. Failure is our greatest teacher, Riley,” she said, though I had a feeling she was regurgitating something she’d heard from Orion. “There is great promise in you, though you lack finesse. You have already proven yourself to be worthier than I gave you credit for.”

  “I have?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

  She crossed her arms. “I haven’t forgotten the loyalty you showed to me, and to the rebellion, in telling me about the deep-space tech on Gianne’s ships when we first came aboard the Vanquish. Had you not said a word about it, I couldn’t have sent the news to Orion, to have him deal with the problem. You likely had ulterior motives, where your planet is concerned, but you could have risked keeping the secret… and yet, you didn’t. Perhaps, one day, you will fully come around to our way of thinking. Maybe, then, you will see that we are on the side of the greater good,” she said solemnly.

  I didn’t think that was very likely, but I kept my thoughts to myself. After all, we’d only told her because Brisha had forced our hand by shoving us straight aboard this ship, without giving us the chance to create a backup plan. If we’d kept quiet, there would’ve been no way to reassure ourselves that Gianne wouldn’t use the deep-space tech and Brisha wouldn’t find it. At least with the rebels in the loop, they could deal with the problem. It just meant that we would have to deal with the rebels later, which wasn’t something I was particularly looking forward to. But, if telling them had earned us some gold stars on the loyalty front, then that could only be a good thing.

  “I’m glad the rebels are doing something about it,” I replied, treading carefully. “Orion is taking care of it, isn’t he?”

  Pandora flashed a knowing smile. “He will take care of the ships soon enough,” she said simply, infuriating me with her vagueness. “In the meantime, I’ll have to give you further training on the weapons for this type of military gunship. If we should have any confrontations on our travels, I cannot have you bumbling about with your rudimentary knowledge of fighter ships.”

  I hadn’t expected her to offer to teach me the ropes, and it made me suspicious. It didn’t feel like a fully altruistic move. Maybe she’d realized just how important we were, when it came to getting the Draconian blood and returning to Vysanthe in one piece.

  “Do you think we’ll end up fighting the Draconians at some point?” I asked, curious about what she’d meant by “confrontations.” The Draconians were a pacifistic species who had maybe dabbled in biowarfare, but I couldn’t see them lashing out at us directly.

  Pandora shook her head. “It’s not a matter of the Draconians fighting back, but more one of necessary coercion. If they reject the offering we have brought in exchange for their blood, then we may need to resort to something more… dynamic,” she explained, her eyes glittering strangely.

  “Violence, you mean,” I pressed, disgusted by the idea of gunning down a race of pacifists.

  “Rask, you’re slow to catch on, aren’t you?” She chuckled tightly.

  I frowned. “But, surely, they’d prefer to keep things peaceful? If we have something they want, I’m sure they’d rather take it than risk a fight, right?”

  “The Draconians have no reason to be affable toward us. Don’t forget, we mined their sacred stones, against their will, draining vast seams of opaleine completely dry. Perhaps this will be the moment they lift a finger to stop us from taking what we want from them,” she went on, sneering with contempt. “Then again, probably not.”

  “Well, everyone has a breaking point,” I said. If I were Draconian, I’d certainly have had enough of the arrogant coldbloods by now, especially if they came back after such a long hiatus, demanding things again.

  Pandora shrugged, a sour look on her face. “I honestly doubt it. It always baffled me that they never bothered to fight back in the first place. They have all that power and potential, and yet they let us descend upon them and take their most valuable asset from right under their scaly snouts. They are stronger than we could ever be, yet they refuse to militarize their strength. I have never understood it, and I never will. It’s a damned waste, if you ask me.”

  I could see how deeply she disliked their pacifism, especially with her being an advocate for all things military. Undoubtedly, she thought they were weak for not wanting to raise arms against others. However, I thought there was something inspiring about maintaining nonviolence in the face of such aggression. I certainly couldn’t have done it.

  Then again, maybe they had reached a breaking point, toward the end of the coldblood invasion of their land and the theft of their resources.

  “What about the plague? Did it seem like they were responsible for that?” I wondered.

  “I suppose they could have weaponized a plague to get rid of us. It is somewhat conspicuous that the virus only affected Vysantheans,” she mused. “So perhaps they’re not entirely useless. They are merely cowardly, hiding behind viral ambush instead of facing us like true warriors.”

  “And the plague could still be there when we land,” I stated. The plan was for us to wear hazmat suits while on Zai, but there was no guarantee they’d be enough to protect us from whatever nasty surprises might still be lurking on the planet. They likely wouldn’t have a virus that attacked humans, but they did have one that might attack coldbloods. My coldblood, in particular.

  Pandora sighed, a hint of fear showing on her face. “I’m not sure. The last coldblood mission to Zai had suits, but that didn’t stop it from ending in horrific tragedy, with the—” She stopped abruptly, offeri
ng no hint of elaboration. With a shake of her head, she moved over to the central chair, where I’d been sitting moments before, apparently settling in for a longer conversation.

  I almost gasped as I noticed the corner of the Note sticking out of the seat cushion. Clearly, I hadn’t pushed it down far enough. My heart in my mouth, I watched as she shifted about on the chair, finding a comfortable spot. All the while, I prayed she wouldn’t notice the triangle of white peering over the lip of the gray cushion, just beside her thigh.

  “I sent word to Orion about our mission, in case you were curious,” she said matter-of-factly, running her hands down the two armrests. “So we’ll need to obtain an extra sample of the Draconian blood for him. Both of us think there could be truth in what Navan and your little friend deduced about the elixir. It is worth a try, at any rate.” A smile tugged at her lips.

  “I thought that might be the case,” I replied wryly, knowing Pandora probably didn’t keep any secrets from her beloved.

  She sank back into the soft give of the cushions. “You know, if Orion stood at the helm of Vysanthe, they wouldn’t be on the brink of war right now. With him in power, there would be a true republic, where everything was in the hands of the people,” she said, impassioned. “Orion would bring a unity to Vysanthe that it has not seen in its lifetime. Even during the most peaceful reigns, there has always been unrest among our citizens. Not everyone wants to be ruled by a monarchy; they have simply been born into it.” She gripped the armrests as the fervor in her voice increased.

  I could see she genuinely believed it, but I wasn’t nearly as convinced as she was. While I might have agreed with the points about democracy, I was pretty sure Orion didn’t hold the same beliefs in his heart. He was a demagogue with an ulterior motive, a man who sought power for himself. If he succeeded in taking control of Vysanthe, there would be a military dictatorship—and he would be the dictator.

  “What if Brisha gets the immortality elixir to work before the rebels do?” I blurted out, as Pandora almost glanced down at the spot where the Note was peeking up. It distracted her attention immediately. My heart was thundering. I hated having to come up with things on the spot.