Selena met Kathleen when the woman was coming out of the engine room.

She looked terrible. Her long hair was messed up and she was pale like a ghost. There was an alarmingly distant look on her face. Selena was already preparing for a hard battle over her being there, but instead, a tired smile spread on Kathleen's lips.

The ship was rocking around them, gaining speed as Kathleen swept her in for a hug.

Selena was so shocked she just stood there. Her impression of the engineer hadn't been of a physical person.

"I'm glad you're here," Kathleen said, pulling away. "I'm glad I was able to help you. I knew you'd come around."

The woman gave Selena a hard, curious look.

"If I may ask, what happened? Was it something with Mjorn? I heard you were the one who warned us. I can't thank you enough. We had to rush some last-minute preparations, but gods, if that monster had caught us... I think I would have died before he ever got to me, out of sheer fury."

Selena could imagine that, but the question had struck a chord within in her. She tried to bite back the tears, but Kathleen saw through her expression in a heartbeat.

"Ragnar," she stated simply, her tone more than disapproving. "What did he do?"

Selena shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "I'm here."

Her heartbeat was slowing down with every second. It started to feel unreal that she'd actually done it. She'd left Luminos behind for a fool's hope, even if Ragnar had pushed her into it.

Kathleen nodded her head.

"Yes, yes," she said. "That's the most important thing. We have all the time in the world to speak when we're in warp."

Selena wanted to ask about that, but at that moment, an alarm rang out and a voice spoke over the ship-wide comm.

"Kat!" a woman's voice called. "Kat, they're coming!"

Selena and Piper exchanged a terrified look, but Kathleen just shook her head, a smile on her face.

"We always knew that the bastards would come after us," she said, shrugging. "It was inevitable. It's a bit sooner than would be perfect, but that's fine. We can deal with them."

Can we?

She must have looked really worried, because Kathleen rested a hand on her shoulder, smiling. Up that close, there was something really wrong with that expression. It was empty somehow, haunting and cold.

"Everything's fine, Selena," Kathleen said. "Now that you're here, I believe we're going to be all right."

She had taken three steps toward the bridge when her words connected in Selena's head.

"Me?" she asked. "Why is it important that I'm here?"

It weirdly felt like time was messing with her. The fight with Ragnar, her escape from him, boarding the ship... it all seemed like it had happened in minutes. The adrenaline had beat in her blood, pushing her forward, keeping her going through the motions without taking the moment to think.

Now Selena saw the red flags popping up that she'd walked past before.

Kathleen turned with an innocent smile, but Selena could see the strain and tension in her lips.

"It's nothing," she said. "Just a turn of phrase. I'm glad each and every one of the women I managed to save from that dreadful planet is here."

"We're not saved yet," Selena pointed out.

A cruel glint flashed in Kathleen's eyes as she turned and marched away.

"Nothing is ever good enough for you," she called to Selena. "I will accept your apology if we get home."

You mean when we get home.

As soon as she was gone, Selena turned to Piper. The young woman was looking at her with a pained, sad expression.

"Gods, Selena," she murmured. "I swear I didn't know."

"So you heard the same thing," Selena stated, her fists clenching. "This is why Kathleen was so trusting with someone who had only arrived on the planet. She's using me as a shield. Does she really think that me being here will stop Ragnar?"

Piper's eyes narrowed as she observed her seriously.

"Will it?" she asked, the tone of her voice making it clear that she personally thought it would.

Selena didn't know. The realization that the others thought her bond with the harbinger was so strong they could use it as a cover for their escape had set something in motion inside her. All at once, Selena wasn't sure what was going on.

I need to sit down.

Only there was no time for that. Selena bit her lip. She had been so afraid, so desperate to get away from Ragnar that she hadn't really considered anything. Not how far she was going nor whether it was a mistake.

"There is something really weird going on here," she said slowly. "Piper, I know you're done swearing things to people, but please, tell me you're as confused as I am."

"Yes!" Piper sputtered. "I promise, Selena, this is all news to me. I have no idea what Kathleen is thinking."

Selena paced in the room, looking around. They were in some narrow corridor with doors leading everywhere from either side. Leaning against one of them, she tried to think and gather her thoughts.

What had she been thinking, running away like that? Ragnar had been mad as hell, but he was a Nayanor. It was their natural state of mind. Selena didn't want to go on making excuses for him, but she did remember the pretty speech she'd given to Kathleen.

What exactly had driven all of her own arguments from her mind? Mjorn? Gods no. Selena knew Ragnar would never have let that monster near her. Ragnar himself?

No.

Now that she had a moment to relax and think, Selena didn't believe that Ragnar would have hurt her.

So why in the name of gods had she run? Why was she on a doomed ship?

Cattle, she told herself bitterly. I'm terrified cattle just like the rest of those poor women who listen to Kathleen and think that risking their lives is the best way –

A distant cry echoed through the air. Selena winced. The clicks in her head were deafening as pieces started falling together in a puzzle.

She stared at the doors around them.

All of them were locked but Selena thought she heard faint noises.

"Pip, how many people are aboard this ship?" Selena asked suddenly.

"I don't know," the young woman admitted. "It can take hundreds. Thousands, maybe, if they fit well."

Selena's mind went into a freefall.

Son of a bitch, Kathleen. If you really did this, you're as bad as they are!

She rushed to the first door, shaking it. When that didn't work, Selena pressed her ear against the door. The noises were clearer now, like someone trying to call for help. There were several speaking over each other and Selena could make out a few words.

"Gods!" she gasped. "Piper! Piper, we need to go! We need to get to the bridge! This is so bad!"

"What?" Piper asked, confused. "What's going on?"

Selena searched for words to put half of what she'd just realized into words.

"Piper, there are women in there!" she said, pointing to all the doors. "And they are not there voluntarily! I don't know how long they've been there, but Kathleen couldn't bring them all in just today."

She paced back and forth in the corridor, shaking with fury.

"I thought you packed way too much for just a few dozen women! And this ship is huge! Did it never occur to you that Kathleen, the savior of all women on Luminos, was ready to leave with just thirty?"

Piper's frown said that she was keeping up so far.

"You warned me!" Selena went on. "You warned me the first time I met her that Kathleen didn't believe in the bonds! She doesn't believe any woman should stay on Luminos, that's why she's taking all she can! Holy hell, Piper... she kidnapped them. She's dragging hundreds of women with her on what could be a suicide mission so they wouldn't be left on Luminos!"

Now Piper was looking like she felt. The young woman was shaking with rage, opening and closing her mouth like she didn't know what to say to such insanity.

"And you're the last safety measure," Piper concluded. "She saw that your bond with Ragnar was good, that was why she needed to have you aboard so badly."

The last piece of the puzzle fell in place.

Genius, the word echoed in her head. A genius who has had eight years to come up with a plan. The one who hacked the Nayanor systems and their carriers. Compared to that, what is tricking a blockheaded bastard like Mjorn? Anonymously.

Selena burst out laughing. Piper looked at her like she had lost her mind and for a second there, Selena really thought she had.

"She did it," Selena said. "I can't believe it."

"Did what?" Piper asked.

"She sent that damn image to Mjorn," Selena explained. "And the video. Not herself, of course, but someone else. I was thinking that it was weird that Kathleen wouldn't be able to see a spy a mile away, but she created one. She's been feeding Mjorn pieces of information, keeping him on her tail. She set it all up. Our little genius made sure that Ragnar pushed me right into her welcoming arms."

Silence set in the corridor as they both contemplated the damage Kathleen had done, the horror she might have unleashed. All for the sake of her unshakeable belief that women on Luminos didn't deserve to be free, but had to be free.

To make sure that happened, Kathleen had become a raider herself.