The crew didn't even close the door between the loading bay and the rest of the ship behind them. The standard operating procedures of the VSC were obviously not adhered to in the smuggler community.

Nick waited until the sound of their footsteps faded, and then swung down from the all-terrain's roof. Drake landed lightly beside him.

“All we need is a system port. This is a modified VS652, so we should be able to get in.” Drake walked to the door and flipped up a few covers Nick hadn't noticed.

“They said the ship that attacked Cepi was Verdant String tech, but I didn't know they'd narrowed it down to the exact model.”

“Above your security clearance.” Drake shot him an amused look. “And they only confirmed it two days ago.”

Drake crouched down beside one of the open covers and pulled out his handheld screen.

“Why should it be compatible?” Nick stood beside him, keeping watch.

“Unless they've completely redesigned the system, why shouldn't it? And since our systems are pretty good, why would they? I'm sure the comms and the maps are encrypted, but the general ship systems should be accessible.” He moved his screen close to the port and made a sound of satisfaction.

“It worked?” Nick risked a quick look down. Saw Drake had thrown up a three dimensional image of the ship above his screen. “They haven't got staff activation working, but given the lack of uniforms, that doesn't surprise me. So we can't tell where anyone is, but we can see where they're most likely to keep Tila.”

Nick crouched beside him. “Do they have a brig?”

Drake pointed to it. It was only two doors down from where they were right now.

“Let's go.”

He moved to the entrance, looked out and found the way clear.

When he got to the brig, he didn't need Drake to use his handheld to get inside. Like the loading bay, the door was open and the one small cell was empty.

The sound of footsteps galvanized him to move. Drake ran back to the loading bay, and Nick ran after him. They took up position inside it on either side of the open door.

“You're saying you caught two hovers crossing up ahead of you on your scanner? But you're sure they didn't see you?” The man who spoke kept his tone calm.

“They kept going on their trajectory, and I stopped and waited to make sure they didn't turn our way before I came back.”

“All right.” There was a sound of a hand slapping a back. “We knew they'd be out there looking. It shouldn't be a surprise to catch them buzzing around. We're leaving as soon as the pinch zone clears a little, so don't worry about it.”

“Sure, Jirmain.” The man who spoke did not sound relaxed or calm. He sounded tense.

“Go take a break. You did well, Hine.”

The all-terrain driver muttered something and then Nick heard him go.

The man he'd called Jirman stood silent for so long, Nick wondered what he could possibly be doing.

Then footsteps rang in sharp staccato past the open door and away.

Drake moved back to the system's port, and flicked up the ship's schematics again. “If she's not in the brig, she could be in the guest suite.” He pointed to the room set between the captain and the navigator's rooms.

“That's if they're sticking to the VSC designations.” The smugglers didn't have to adhere to standard VSC protocol. They might deliberately not stick to it.

Drake shrugged. “It's as good a guess as any.”

True.

Nick took a last look at the plans and then moved to the entrance. The way was clear, and he worried about that.

Where was everyone?

Jirmain had gone left, toward the command center, and the all-terrain driver had gone right, to take the break Jirmain suggested.

The cabins were to the right, and it might be he and Drake had gotten lucky, and everyone was relaxing before they left for the pinch zone.

He moved forward quietly, but he stopped when a passage branched off to the right. A few doors down, in a closed room, he heard raised voices.

A number of people were very unhappy.

He turned to look at Drake, eyebrows raised.

The commander shrugged, then stepped past him and hunkered down in front of the door of the guest suite. It looked straight down the corridor where the argument was coming from.

The back of Nick's neck prickled at their exposed position, and he stood guard as Drake crouched beside the door, looking for a way to bypass the locks.

The raised voices down the passageway rose a little higher, and then cut off sharply, as if someone had turned a switch.

Then a door opened, and a man strode out, face set.

Dun.

Nick recognized him from the feed they'd gotten from the camera on Tila's dress.

The insurgent jerked back at the sight of Nick and Nick lifted his arm and shot him, keeping his laz on stun.

Drake turned at the sound, and a moment later, the door he'd been working on opened.

Nick ran forward, grabbed Dun's collar and then turned back, dragging him through the open door.

The room he stepped into was relatively comfortable, with a bed and a table and chairs. Tila Dor Rio stood in the middle of it, mouth agape.

The door shut behind them, and Drake moved to lock it.

Tila looked between them, speechless. “Special Forces?”

Nick frowned, and then remembered his helmet. He pulled it off.

“Nick?” Her voice was almost a squeak. She took a step toward him, hands together and reaching out, and he let go of his hold on Dun's jacket, dropping him to the floor and stepping over him. He pulled Tila close, running his hands up her arms and over her shoulders, to cup her face.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded, and tears glittered in her eyes. “I never thought . . .” She looked over his shoulder and gasped. “Commander Drake?”

She pulled out of Nick's hold and stepped toward the commander, again with hands outstretched. Drake reached out and awkwardly took her hands in his.

“I'm saying this now, before anything else happens. They only gave me your comms when I went to university.”

Her words had an immediate effect on Drake. He tilted his head to one side.

“That . . . woman.”

Tila nodded. “That woman.”

She stepped back, releasing his hands as if suddenly shy. “I've wanted to say thank you for a long time. I told myself that if I managed to escape, I'd do it as soon as possible.”

She turned to look at Nick, and gave him the sweetest smile. “And as it turns out, I didn't even have to escape to do it.”

From the floor, Dun let out a groan.

She looked down at him, and frowned. “Stun?” she asked.

Nick gave a nod.

“I have to say, I'm surprised you found him outside my room. I thought he'd be off somewhere fomenting dissent.” Tila worried her bottom lip with her teeth, in a way that was far too distracting.

“Dissent against who?” Drake asked.

“Jirmain, the captain.”

Nick raised startled eyes to meet hers. “I think maybe you need to fill us in.”

* * *

“The crew have worked out Jirmain has deliberately endangered them all.” Tila felt a disconnect with her calm tone and the excitement and fear churning through her at having both Drake and Nick in the room with her.

They had risked everything to get her back, and she was very afraid Jirmain would have no compunction in killing them if he had the chance.

“Because his actions will revive the hunt for smugglers?” Drake asked.

She nodded. “He hoped for that outcome. He wants the smugglers chased down. What he forgot was his crew has links to the smuggler community, and they consider themselves smugglers still, whatever else they've become. Insurgents or agitators.” She shrugged. “He may be able to walk away, but his crew can't or don't want to.”

“So that's what the shouting was about,” Nick said, glancing over at Drake.

“Shouting?”

“The crew were arguing their next moves, is my guess.” Nick looked down at Dun with a considering expression. “He's coming out of it.”

Dun's eyelids fluttered, and then they snapped open.

He looked up at Nick without any recognition, but when his gaze landed on Drake, he sat up. “You!”

“Me.” Drake crouched down beside him. “You tried to kill me.”

“Nothing personal.” Dun slid back a little, putting a bit more space between Drake and himself. “Jirmain's orders.”

Drake looked at him with focused dislike, and Dun turned his head to Tila.

“How about we make a deal?”

“Now, why would we do that, when Special Forces know exactly where you are, and have this ship surrounded?” Nick asked, voice soft and reasonable.

“Because even if they're out there, you're in here, and vulnerable. My way, no one gets hurt.” Dun ignored Nick, and kept his gaze locked with hers. “I'm your best option. Jirmain will kill you rather than let you go.”

“What form does this deal take?” Tila had a good idea, though.

“You let us go.”

“I don't know that will be acceptable to the VSC.” Drake rose back to his feet, towering over Dun.

“It will be if it means she gets away unharmed.” Dun jerked his head toward Tila.

Nick and Drake said nothing in response.

Tila frowned. “Is that true?”

Nick seemed to have been working his way closer to her, because he was suddenly right beside her, gloved hand coming to rest on her back.

“Yes.”

She shook her head, and her hair snagged on the pockets and straps of his suit. “But they killed so many people in Var. They shouldn't get away.”

“This is a dead zone anyway.” Drake's gaze fixed on Nick for a moment, then back to Dun. “We can't negotiate on VSC's behalf with you because we can't contact them to okay it. Help us get Tila out safely, and take your chances. At the very least, we'll all testify you did what you could.”

Dun's lips thinned. “No. I'll get you two off this ship. You contact your people, get them to agree. We'll fly away, and tell you where to find Tila.”

Nick barked out a laugh. “That's not going to happen. I'm afraid you're not exactly considered truthful. We leave this ship and let you go, we never see Tila again.”

Dun shook his head in frustration. “Then what do you suggest?”

“I'm interested in that, too.”

Everyone's gaze jerked to the doorway. The door had opened silently, and Jirmain took up the whole entrance, eyes dancing as if he was having a lot of fun.

He held a laz, and Tila noticed he'd pointed it very deliberately at her.

“My suggestion,” she said, because no one else was speaking, “is that you let us take the all-terrain, and as soon as we're out, you try to run. You'd have the element of surprise, and Special Forces might take a few minutes to work out we're safe and still on the ground, giving you a little time to get away.”

Jirmain might actually have a chance of pinching to the black if he got far enough from the Mother and had the space he needed. She hoped they didn't succeed. But they would have a chance, and everyone in the room knew it.

“Or I could just fly now, and all the same things apply,” Jirmain said. “With the added bonus no one will shoot us down because they'll know you're onboard.”

He'd barely gotten the last word out of his mouth when Nick shoved her back and stood in front of her.

Both he and Drake were shooting before she even understood what was happening.

The speed of it was shocking.

She had the impression of a coordinated effort, although she hadn't seen them communicating with each other.

Jirmain went down, his collapse silent and sudden.

Tila stared as Nick took two quick steps forward and crouched beside Jirmain, feeling for a pulse.

It was over. So quick and clean, it was shocking.

Dun suddenly struggled to his feet beside her, and as he rose she saw a flash, caught a glimpse of a laz in his hand, and then felt the still-warm end of it as he shoved it against her neck.

Drake toppled, going down with a sickening thud.

Tila made a sound, and tried to move forward, but Dun's arm was around her waist.

“No, no. You're not going anywhere.”

Nick turned, his body angled so he could look out of the door and still keep an eye on Dun. “You had a laz the whole time?” His tone was bitter.

“I was on my way to take out Jirmain when you shot me.” Dun gave a dry smile. He waved at Jirmain, still out cold on the floor. “Thanks for doing the job for me. And for keeping your helmets off so I had a headshot. Would have been a bit difficult to drop you in those suits, otherwise. Now, drop your laz.”

Nick let it fall to the ground.

Enough of this. Just . . . enough.

“I need to see if the commander is alive.” She jerked in Dun's hold.

“He should be, it's on the lowest setting.” Dun tightened his grip. “Now here's what's going to happen, and it's good news all round.

“I don't have any attachment to you, Tila, except for the ticket out of here that you represent. So you'll be coming with me, and I'll keep the commander here, too, as a nice way to control you, seeing as you're so concerned about him.

“Soldier boy here can take Jirmain, put him in the all-terrain and drive off this ship. You can tell your friends in Special Forces they better let me go or Drake and Tila die. Then, when I'm at a safe distance, I'll dump Tila and the commander in a safety pod, and you can come get them. Everyone's happy. And you even have Jirmain in custody, as a nice bonus.”

Tila could see the agony on Nick's face as he worked out there was going to be no way out of this.

“It's okay,” she told him. “I think he will let us go.”

“You'll have to trust me on this,” Dun said, and she could hear the smirk in his tone. “You've got no choice but to do as I say.”

Jirmain groaned from where he lay sprawled on the floor, and Dun casually moved the laz and shot him again.

“Get moving.”

Nick reached down for Jirmain and started dragging him down the passage.

She and Dun followed, their movements awkward as he tried to keep her in step with him, his arm still around her neck. He choked her a few times before they got to the loading bay door.

“Drive the all-terrain around to the front of the ship. If I don't see you within ten minutes of closing this door, Drake dies. Fifteen minutes in, I start hurting Tila.”

Nick didn't say anything, he simply dragged Jirmain to the all-terrain and opened the rear doors. “What are the codes?”

Dun called them out to him, and Nick heaved Jirmain up, threw him in the back, and then walked toward her, his gaze never leaving her face.

“Uh-uh. No further.” Dun lifted the laz to her temple again.

Nick stopped, hands fisted at his sides. “I'm sorry, Tila. I should have done better.”

Dun put a hand over her mouth. “Enough talking. Your time starts now, Soldier Boy. Get moving. And tell Special Forces I am deadly serious. You let us get away, or you'll be very sorry.” Dun yanked her back and shoved her ahead of him. “Walk. I'm happy to shoot you and knock you out, or you can be a good little hostage.”

He reached out an arm and slapped the door lock.

As it closed, Tila stopped and looked back, her gaze meeting Nick's.

“I'm sorry,” he mouthed.

She reached out a hand, opened her mouth to tell him it wasn't his fault, that none of this was his responsibility, and Dun shoved her again.

As the door slammed shut, as she stumbled forward, she realized something.

Her anger was bigger than her fear.