The initial meeting had not gone well. Subsequent meetings were not any better.
And, as far as we could tell, Valoffs also relied on the wormholes for space travel. They jealously guarded the ones in their territory. If they’d developed standalone faster-than-light technology, they hadn’t used it during the war.
They had their own type of anchors that stabilized their wormholes, but their overall level of technology was eerily similar to our own, which only fed the conspiracy theories. I found it hard to believe that the Valoffs had somehow spied on us from thousands of light-years away, yet had achieved spaceflight only because of technology stolen from humanity, but logic wasn’t necessary for conspiracy theorists.
I accepted Kee’s proposed route and went through the prelaunch checklist. While the various system checks ran, I went through my final mental checklist. We had plenty of food and supplies, but if something went wrong, we’d pass fairly close to two more stations before we reached Bastion.
All of the prelaunch checks came back green. Starlight’s Shadow was ready to fly, and I was antsy to leave this station behind. “Ready?” I asked.
Kee, Eli, and Anja murmured their assent.
I eased the ship off the deck and out of the landing bay. As we passed through the atmo barrier and entered open space, my muscles unclenched. I loved being in the black. Some people found space travel claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing—and it certainly could be—but I loved the endless possibilities.
The farther we got from the station, the more I relaxed.
When the traffic around us dwindled to almost none, I turned on the autopilot. Technically it could’ve guided us from launch, but I liked to have manual control around stations. Call me paranoid and old-fashioned, but I wanted my ship to be in my control when we were navigating around a bunch of obstacles that could kill us.
“We’ve got company,” Eli announced a few minutes later. “A Valovian ship is shadowing us.”
“Is it Lotkez?” At his nod, I continued, “That’s General Fletcher’s ship. According to him, they plan to escort us all the way to Valovia.”
“Well, that’s not concerning at all,” he muttered.
“See if you can find out anything about their capabilities, but be subtle about it. I don’t want them to know we’re prying.”
Kee’s eyes lit and she turned to her screen with determination. Eli said, “It doesn’t appear to be a warship, at least not on the surface. It’s a little bigger than Starlight, and it’s broadcasting a diplomatic registration.”
He sent a series of images and a 3D model to my terminal. Starlight might not look like much, but she had excellent sensors. The other ship was nothing but a black shadow on the visual cameras, but the sensors had captured it in detail. I rotated the 3D model. Lotkez had the sweeping curves typical of Valovian design. I might not care for them, but they made beautiful ships.
If Lotkez was armed, and I assumed it was, then the weapons were carefully hidden.
There were two approaches to safety in space: a plethora of visible weapons or none at all. The first option was the one most captains used. I didn’t know if the Valoffs had to deal with pirates or not, but human pirates were less likely to try to take a ship with better weapons.
The second option required a lot of mettle because pirates would try to take it on the off chance that it was actually unarmed. If a captain wanted to hunt pirates, they would hide their weapons. And while a diplomatic registration might smooth the way on stations and at checkpoints, it just made a ship a more interesting target in the black.
Fighting pirates was a risk that took time and paid nothing, so Starlight fairly bristled with visible weapons. Our current route was reasonably safe, so combined with our weaponry, I hoped it would be enough to keep us off the menu until we reached Bastion. If it wasn’t, then I hoped Lotkez knew how to fight because I would absolutely leave them behind to fend for themselves.
Unless Torran wanted to pay me an additional fee to protect them.
I laughed to myself. Maybe pirates wouldn’t be so bad after all.
The door to the bridge slid open, and knowing who it had to be, guilt wormed its way through my system. Wishing ill on someone just so I could make a profit wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to be, no matter who the targets were. We were no longer at war with the Valovian Empire. I needed to remember that.
I stood and met Torran’s gaze. He had changed out of his armor. A quick glance showed that civilian clothes suited him. He wore black pants, a dark gray shirt, and heavy boots. Muscles that had been obscured by the armor were now apparent.
And he had a lot of them.
He wasn’t bulky like Eli, but he had defined arms, a sculpted chest, and a flat belly. He had far more muscles than any general should, considering his job was to sit behind a desk and order people to die.
Two men and a woman waited behind him, and while they weren’t quite standing at attention, the military bearing was obvious. They all wore the same style clothes as Torran, with color being the only variation. Their expressions were carefully blank, but none of them looked particularly happy to be on my bridge.
I addressed the group. “Thank you for coming. I’m Octavia Zarola, the captain of Starlight’s Shadow. I answer to Octavia, Tavi, or Captain Zarola. This is my crew.” I pointed at each person as I introduced them. “Elias Bruck, first officer.”
Eli held up a hand in greeting, but his expression remained cool.
“Next is Kee Ildez, systems engineer and navigator.”
Kee waved and gave them a bright smile. “Welcome aboard.”
“And finally, Anja Harbon, mechanical engineer.” I didn’t mention that she might leave in Bastion. She was here now, and that was all that mattered.
Anja inclined her head. “Nice to meet you.”
“If you need anything, come to me or Eli. Kee and Anja are going to be busy until we get to Valovia.”
I’d expected that to generate curiosity, but I’d been wrong. Their faces remained expressionless. I blew out a slow breath. It was going to be a long damn eight weeks.
“I am Torran Fletcher and this is my team.” He stepped aside and pointed to the woman. “Chira Pelek, first officer.”
Chira stepped forward and bowed. She had on a deep garnet shirt. She was as tall as the men beside her and sleekly muscled. Her skin was so pale that it appeared to have a faintly blue undertone. Her straight, shoulder-length hair was silvery white, which looked like its natural color. Her eyes were pale, maybe blue or gray, with dark streaks.
Chira stepped back and Torran continued, “Varro Runkow, weapons specialist.”
Varro stepped forward. His shirt was black, leaving him in unrelenting black from neck to toe. He was more muscled than Torran, with tan skin, curly dark blond hair, and eyes that were a medium shade, maybe hazel or brown, with darker streaks. He inclined his head in silent greeting and then stepped back.