“Torran Fletcher, diplomatic envoy of Empress Nepru.”
That would’ve been good to know. As an envoy, he had far more power than as a simple general, no matter how high-ranking. “Kee,” I growled quietly.
“I told you his ship had a diplomatic registration,” she said over the comm, “but my initial search didn’t turn up his status. They must be keeping it quiet. I’ll find out why.”
At the bottom of the cargo ramp, the security liaison flinched and paled. I guess I wasn’t the only one who’d heard of General Fletcher. After a second, she gave Torran a short bow. “Envoy Fletcher, I humbly apologize for the inconvenience, but I must insist on retrieving the traitor.”
“No.” He stared down at her. “Return to your superiors before I report this diplomatic breach to Her Imperial Majesty.” When the liaison didn’t move, Torran barked, “Now.”
The liaison jumped. She took one look at Torran’s expression and bowed again. Her eyes cut to me, filled with impotent rage. The meaning was clear. I was super banned, and if I set foot off of my ship before we left, she would happily lock me up and lose the key.
She turned and marched across the landing bay, the soldiers following her. Once she was far enough away, Torran’s people slid around the side of Starlight and slipped into the cargo bay like silent shadows.
I turned to Torran, who watched the retreating liaison with a frown. “Thank you,” I murmured.
His frown deepened. “She will still ban you from the station.”
My laugh was bitter. “Oh, I know. I knew that before I hired Anja. I’ll report them to the FHP for abuse of power, but it likely won’t matter.”
“We should get out of here,” Eli suggested.
“Tell Kee to get ready for launch and to corral Luna. We don’t need another incident before I can explain. I’ll lock things down here and then show our guests to their quarters. I’ll meet you on the bridge.”
Eli paused, clearly uneasy leaving me in the company of four Valoffs. I gave him a minuscule nod and tilted my head toward the hatch. After another searching glance, he tossed me a lazy salute and left.
“Do you have everything you need?” I asked Torran. When he nodded, I closed the cargo ramp. I eyed the pile of cargo on the starboard side of the bay, then pulled out straps and netting. “Any cargo that is remaining here needs to be secured. If you are planning to take things to your quarters, put them off to the side.”
The Valoffs moved the duffel bags farther away from the rest of the pile. Together we lashed the cargo to the various tie-offs scattered around the bay. It wasn’t strictly necessary because we should have life support, including gravity, for the duration of the trip, but cutting corners on safety was a good way to invite bad luck aboard.
Once the cargo was secured, the Valoffs silently picked up their duffels. The sooner they were out of their armor, the better. Seeing myself reflected in their helmets brought back too many memories I’d rather forget.
I led the way to the crew quarters and pointed to the three rooms I’d set aside for them. “Here are your cabins. You can decide who stays where. The shared bathroom is there.” I pointed at the door back the way we’d come. “Change into civilian clothes and then come to the bridge for crew introductions. I’m going to get us launched.”
The soldiers said nothing, but they each turned for a separate door. Not human. I suppressed the shiver.
Torran followed me farther down the hall until we came to his door. “Lotkez, my ship, will be shadowing us to Valovia.”
I stopped abruptly and turned to him. “What?”
“My ship will—”
“I got that part. Why?” Not only would I have a Valovian general breathing down my neck, but I’d also have his warship on my ass. Fantastic.
“Time is of the essence. Your ship has approval to enter Valovian space, but Lotkez will escort you directly to Valovia so that you don’t have to wait through the checkpoints. It will also ensure safe passage.”
“So why aren’t you on your ship?”
He gave me an unreadable look. “Would you have followed me into enemy space without me aboard?”
I grimaced. No, no I wouldn’t. Not even for the fortune on offer. I had to remember that General Fletcher was a brilliant tactician. He might choose to lead from the safety of the back, but at least he’d always sent his troops into battle with a solid plan. I needed to be careful or I would be outmaneuvered again.
“Very well, I will keep an eye out for your ship. Anything else?”
He shook his head.
“Make sure your crew knows about Luna. I don’t want another misunderstanding.”
I left him standing in the hallway and made my way to the bridge. The large space had half a dozen terminals for the various crew I didn’t have. At the front, a wide screen showed a divided view of the outside cameras. The safety perimeter was already raised around our ship, warning of an imminent launch.
Kee, Eli, and Anja were all in place. Anja looked at home at the engineering terminal. Eli was in his usual spot at the tactical terminal, but his station had become more of a catch-all for everything that we didn’t have crew for. Kee glanced up from the nav terminal, where she also handled the ship’s systems. “I have a route to the wormhole,” she said. “We’ve got clearance to launch. They told us not to return.”
Anja winced.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” I said as I settled into the captain’s terminal. I smiled at Anja. “No worries. We’ll just stock up before we head through this part of space again. I wouldn’t want to give them my money anyway.” I turned to Kee. “How long to Bastion?”
Kee sent the route to my terminal. “Five days if we don’t have to wait too long for wormhole access.”
Starlight’s Shadow was not the fastest ship in the galaxy—it wasn’t even close. Torran had probably made the trip in less than half the time if Lotkez was a newer Valovian ship, but he would have to settle for a slow return trip. No matter how essential speed was to the investigation, Starlight could only go so fast.
Our route crisscrossed through space, taking us through three wormholes. Getting from point A to point B was never straightforward—not if you wanted to arrive in less than a millennium. Earth still hadn’t received any radio transmissions from the Valovian Empire that hadn’t been relayed through the wormholes by ships, drones, and satellites, and the Valoffs’ territory also resided within the Milky Way.
Space was unimaginably vast. Without the wormholes, humans wouldn’t have been able to venture much beyond our small solar system. It was pure luck—bad luck, some would say—that we’d run into the Valoffs more than a century after humanity’s first successful wormhole round trip. Up until that point, humans had thought that we were alone in the universe. Or at least in our galaxy.