A faint shudder coursed through the ship as women filed into sickbay. Was that a sign of attack? Tala had no idea what the aliens that Sage had mentioned looked like or what their reasons were for attacking, only that they liked to eat humans. That seemed a good reason to avoid them.

She debated on retreating to the office as more and more of the women from Earth crowded into sickbay, which was only about a fourth of the size of the big rec room where everyone’s cots were set up. But then Angela and Juanita walked in and headed toward her, so she decided to stay. Katie and Indigo came behind them, as did Orion, though he didn’t look happy about hiding in sickbay with the women.

“Just because I don’t have armor doesn’t mean I’m not good in a fight,” he grumbled to nobody in particular.

The ship shuddered again.

“Not that I can do much when we’re just getting shot at,” he added.

“Is that what’s happening?” someone asked. “Other ships are firing at us? Aliens?”

The ship seemed to tilt for a moment, and Tala’s feet lightened, almost coming up off the deck before gravity reasserted itself. Were they engaged in evasive maneuvers? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know how things were going or not.

“Aliens,” Orion said, “yes. The captain’s big plan to get you safely home by taking a short cut wasn’t so brilliant, it seems.”

“Are you pleased about that?” Juanita asked him.

“I admit it generally tickles me to see Sage make mistakes, since it’s so damn rare, but considering we could all be killed by this mistake, I’m not that delighted this time.”

“Killed?” someone whispered.

Others stirred, bumping and jostling each other. Tala thought of cattle in a pen concerned by coyotes howling in the night.

Orion looked around and seemed to realize he had better watch his words if he didn’t want to get trampled by a stampede of scared women.

“No, no,” he corrected, patting the air with his hands. “Sage is smart. I’m sure he’s got a plan.”

The deck shivered under their feet. Nobody appeared reassured by Orion’s words. Nor did it get any better when two men in combat armor came in, carrying armfuls of weapons that seemed a blend of a laser gun, if that was a thing, and a crossbow.

“Captain said to give weapons to anyone who’s comfortable firing them,” one of the armored Star Guardians said.

“Two here,” Orion said, lifting a hand.

The man tossed a couple over the women’s heads. Orion caught them and handed one to Juanita.

“Just like you did on the swamp planet,” he said.

Juanita wore a slightly daunted expression, but she accepted it. “This is a lot bigger than the gun you gave me there. What happens if I impale my friends with these wing things when I’m trying to fire at a bad guy?”

“Your friends start saving up for a set of combat armor so they’ll be immune to impaling?”

“I thought combat armor was only for Star Guardians and soldiers and police and stuff,” Juanita said.

“Guess everyone will have to give up on the idea of going home and apply for law enforcement jobs.”

That comment earned him a few dirty looks, though Juanita appeared a little wistful.

“We are armed now, you know,” Katie told Orion, and patted the side of the weapon she’d received.

“Who else wants a bolt bow?” one of the armored men asked.

“Tala?” Angela asked. Surprisingly, she had accepted one. “I’ve seen you kick people. Shooting them would be easier.”

Tala grimaced. “No, it wouldn’t. I learned karate as a kid because I grew up in a tough area and because we had a woman down the block who taught us. But I’m no killer. I took an oath as a doctor to do no harm.”

Besides, she might need her hands free soon to treat patients.

“Eridanus?” Tala asked.

“Yes, Doctor?”

She wondered at the way all the Star Guardians, including their ship’s AI, had started calling her doctor, as if she had any kind of accreditation or license to practice in outer space.

“Will you fill us in on what’s going on?” Tala asked. “I’d like to know before—”

The deck jerked, pitching her into one of the beds. Indigo, Angela, and several others around her toppled to the deck.

“—everything escalates,” Tala finished with a mutter.

The lights flickered, and the gravity lessened again. Her stomach did a queasy flip.

The door slid open, and more men in combat armor filed in. The women scooted back, bumping against each other.

Sage was among the men, his helmet tucked under his arm. He spotted Tala and nodded at her before addressing everyone in the room.

“We’re being pursued by the aliens that live in this system,” he said. “That was to be expected. I’d originally planned on shooting past them and through a gate on the opposite side, but as I said earlier, we’ve encountered eight Zi’i warships also in the system, with a ninth Zi’i ship blocking our way back through the nebula gate. We can’t retreat without a battle, and if we stop to fight, more enemies will catch up with us. Right now, we’re one ship against about thirty in the system that would prefer us dead.” He moved between the women as he spoke, heading toward a cabinet Tala knew to be full of containers of drugs. “We’re going to do our best to slip by them and get home to warn the Confederation of the threat. Since we were just in the Dethocoles System, and I heard nothing of this, I must assume neither the archons nor Fleet nor Star Guardian High Command knows about this. I must make sure Dethocoles is safe before taking you back to Gaia.”

Dismayed murmurs erupted in the room, though nobody openly questioned him.

“We should have sneaked off and gone with Juanita’s bounty hunter,” Indigo whispered from nearby.

“To do that,” Sage went on, “we must go through the gate most of the Zi’i ships are guarding. If we attempt to fly straight in, we’ll be an easy target, and our shields can’t withstand the firepower of eight ships at once. Also, two of the warships have moved to float directly in front of the gate, physically blocking it. We are going to attempt subterfuge to get by.”

He opened the cabinet and scanned the rows of drugs in foil packets and bottles, all locked into positions in such a way that they wouldn’t roll around or fall out during a bumpy landing—or a bumpy battle.

Wondering what he sought, Tala squeezed past Katie and Juanita to head to the cabinet.

“You’re stepping on my toes, Mikolos,” Orion grumbled, looking small next to the hulking men in their combat armor.

“You have big toes, Orion.”

“Yes, I do. I’m big all over.”

“It’s amazing you can manage to maintain that bigness when you’re so busy reading comic books all the time,” another man said.

Tala couldn’t tell with the helmet on, but it sounded like that cocky Lieutenant Commander Varro.

“There’s nothing wrong with reading comics or anything else,” Juanita said, stepping close to Orion and linking her arm with his. “It’s a sign of intelligence and an active imagination.”

“Oh, we have no doubt about our bounty hunter’s imagination.”

Juanita looked up at Orion. “Want me to write him into a story, turn him into an odious troll, and have him eaten by a dragon?”

Orion, his cool gaze locked on Varro, said, “I was thinking of pummeling him into the deck the first time I see him without his armor on.”

“Are you allowed to do that with the captain watching on?”

Orion glanced toward Sage. “I bet he likes his men getting pummeled now and then. Keeps them ornery.”

“You couldn’t pummel a dune crab,” Varro said. “Enjoy your time hiding in here with the women.”

“I’m not hiding. I’m defending them.” Orion slapped his bolt bow against his open palm.

Varro stalked out along with most of the other armored men. Some of them disappeared down the corridor, and others took up positions in the alcoves near the door. They looked like they were ready to shoot at enemies storming the ship. Was that in case Sage’s subterfuge didn’t work? Or did he intend to let the aliens aboard for some reason?

“Got some good news, crew,” came Zakota’s voice over the intercom. “The Scyllan ships chasing us have veered off. The bad news is, we’re heading straight into the clutches of the Zi’i, but that’s part of the captain’s plan, so we’re choosing to be unconcerned. Should be steady flying for the next ten minutes. After that, I guess that depends on how reliable the Zi’i admiral is. Might want to stay buckled into your seats though. Zakota, out.”

The two chairs and the handful of beds and exam tables in sickbay didn’t leave many buckling options for the dozens of women crammed inside.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” Tala asked softly, coming up to Sage’s shoulder.

“Yes.” Sage apparently found what he sought, for he grabbed a small foil package. He opened it, withdrew a dark blue capsule, and tucked it into some hidden nook inside the high neck of his armor. “Tala, I’m afraid I don’t have time to tell you much, but I want you to know that if I don’t make it back, I’ve sent messages home. To a few good friends who happen to owe me favors and also to my mother. She’ll take care of you and the others on Dethocoles, and someone will be able to get you and your people home. One way or another.”

Tala frowned at him. While she appreciated the effort he’d made and that he cared, all she could think about were the first words he’d spoken. “What do you mean if you don’t make it back? Where are you going?”

“The Zi’i admiral wants me.”

“That sounds like a good reason to stay here. Aren’t these the people—aliens—that eat humans?”

“Yes. He said he’d let the rest of the ship go, if he gets me—or thinks he’s going to get me. I’m going to try not to let that happen, but if handing myself over to them means I can buy time for Hierax and the others to do something clever and get away…” Sage touched her arm. “The ship has to get away to warn Dethocoles. I have to do everything in my power to ensure that happens.”

He looked toward the rest of the women, who were watching the exchange curiously, and lowered his hand.

Tala wanted to hug him and tell him not to think about doing something stupid like sacrificing himself. Surely, he’d been in situations worse than this before and walked away from them. But, like him, she wasn’t one to fling herself at someone for hugs and kisses and mushy words while others looked on. And rarely even in private.

“You still owe me that apology,” she said.

He smiled faintly. “I do. I hope to make it back so I can give it to you properly.”

“If you don’t, when I meet your mom, I’ll tell her what a pain in the ass you are to work for.”

“She knows. I was a pain in the ass to raise too.”

“We’re ready, Captain,” came a call from the corridor. Hierax, also with his helmet under his arm, peered inside.

Sage nodded. “Coming.” He rested a gauntleted hand on Tala’s shoulder. “Stay safe.”

“You too.”

The words seemed inadequate, but she also couldn’t imagine calling more heartfelt ones after him as he made his way through the crowd and to the door.

After he left with his engineer, Tala turned back toward the cabinet. He’d forgotten to close the door. She pulled out one of the packets and felt the outline of the capsule inside.

“Eridanus,” she asked quietly, hoping the AI would hear her without her having to speak over the conversations starting up in sickbay. “What does tachynaron do?” she asked, doing her best to pronounce the foreign letters.

“It is a fast-acting poison with no cure,” Eridanus informed her.

At the sound of his voice, the conversations stopped. Several women looked over at her.

Tala barely noticed as she stared at the packet in her hand.

“Why?” she whispered. “Why would he need that? To force some alien to swallow it?”

“Tachynaron does not have the same affect on Zi’i physiology as it does on humans,” Eridanus said. “High-ranking fleet officers will sometimes consume the poison if they are captured, thus to ensure they can’t be interrogated.”

“They commit suicide?” Tala stared toward the door even though Sage was long gone now. “Why wouldn’t they try to escape? Why wouldn’t he?”

“Tachynaron is generally used as a last resort. Captain Sagitta served for years in the fleet, and he was trusted and confided in by the highest-ranking officers in the military before shifting to the Star Guardian ranks. It is likely he feels he knows too much confidential information to risk giving it up. I, also, would be required to wipe the databases and purge my existence from the computers if the Falcon 8 were captured by the Zi’i. It would be unfortunate.”

Unfortunate. Tala thunked her forehead against the cabinet. That was an understatement.

She now wished she’d said something far more meaningful than “you too” to Sage before he left.