Margie was utterly terrified. The city was filthy, for starters. Packs of mongrel beasts that resembled a cross between a bear and a dog roamed about, their teeth showing and their eyes glittering. Beings from all different galaxies and star systems also hovered near them. Weapons were everywhere, and the air was one of rich copper and tension.

The buildings had been built from recycled ship parts and other space refuse. Nothing looked sanitary, and it certainly didn’t look safe. The very bowels of the mountain served as both street and flooring. That stone was slick, and she feared she would fall more than once. The darkness was lit by some sort of techno-lighting, but she couldn’t discern the source of it. There seemed to be some type of air circulator system in place as well because cooling air met her body and face, but it was thin, and she felt like she couldn’t drag enough into her lungs to keep from hyperventilating or starving for oxygen.

The buildings on the left side were obviously gambling and dance halls. To her horror, she saw females and males of all species standing in windows, their chains marking them as slaves. Many of them looked beaten down or drugged, and terror rose up inside her. She had nearly ended up in a place like this, may have very well ended up in a place like this if the four brothers hadn’t come to her rescue. As inadvertent as the rescue was, she was now gladder for it than she had ever been since that day.

Talon led them onward, through twisting streets that snaked, serpentine and shining with refuse and garbage, to a series of small buildings hunkered up against one stone wall. These buildings seem to be cleaner, and there were none of the wolf-bear creatures about, thankfully. Those things had made her adrenaline level race so high she was sure she was going to faint at the sight of them.

A voice rang out from the darkness behind the building. “Stand or die, stranger.”

Jeval spoke softly. “No stranger. It is I and my brother Talon. These women are our mates. We seek an audience with Blade.”

A figure moved out of the darkness. He was human, of that she had no doubt. He was tall, very much so, and very well-built. He had wide shoulders, a lean waist, and long legs, all of it shown off to great advantage in some sort of ragged uniform. His hair was a thick shock of flaxen locks and his face, despite the dimness and darkness there, held a slight wash of color. His lips parted to reveal strong and even white teeth. “So it is you. What can I do for you?”

Talon said, “We need to speak with you. Privately. This is a matter of great urgency, and you are not going to like what we have to say.”

Blade, and it must be him that they sought, answered, “I never like much of what anybody has to say. So there’s that.” His eyes roved over Jessica and Margie. “Those are your mates?”

The words that Jeval had uttered earlier and the way his hand came up and rested lightly on her shoulder made something dissolve and melt away inside Margie’s heart. He had claimed her, and there was no doubt about that now. His voice was soft, deceptively so. She heard the steel below it. “Yes. We will not have them touched.”

Blade chuckled. “I can see why but I would advise you to keep them close. Many of those here tired of the ones they’ve held prisoner for far too long.”

Margie blurted out, “Why do you not release them then?”

Blade ran a hand through his hair. “Because they are not mine to release. Here, touching another man’s possessions is death. I choose not to die for them. I have larger fish to fry.”

Disgust raised its head within her heart, but she shut that down. They needed his help whether they liked him or not, and she really didn’t like him.

Blade said, “You may enter. I cannot guarantee that you shall leave breathing though.”

Talon said, “No being can give that promise, not here in End-World.”

That seems to be a standard form of greeting, so Margie disregarded it even though unease drifted upward into her heart. Blade opened a door, and they stepped through into a fairly well-appointed open room that held long and rather luxurious sofas as well as a long table set with several chairs. Blade said, “I have drink. It’s not pure water, but it’s fit for human consumption, and yours as well.”

Jeval and Talon both said they would take it with thanks. Blade poured from a strange pitcher system, passing the cup to Talon first. Talon sipped and then passed it on to Jeval. Jeval sipped and handed it to Margie. Margie handed it off to Jessica, who drank a mere sip and then passed it back to Talon again.

Talon handed the drinking vessel back to Blade and he set it aside. His hands went to his lean hips. His eyes, shrewd and appraising, leveled on their faces. “Speak now. I have much to do before I depart the planet.”

Talon said, “We need to go to war with The Federation. Not just rebel, not just a small uprising. We need full-on warfare. We need your help. You command an army. You command most of these here whether you admit it or not.”

Margie held her breath. Her eyes slid to the side, and she appraised Jessica’s face. She had decided that she would take her cues from Jessica. However Jessica acted, that was how she would act as well. Right then, Jessica stood silent and unmoving; her face betrayed nothing.

Blade burst into laughter. “Have you lost your minds? Open warfare against The Federation is a death sentence.”

Jeval said, “So was the rebellion that you have engaged in. So are the uprisings that you have helped put into place. So is supplying the rebels with weapons and water. All of that you have done. So is harrying Federation ships and wrecking them. Also something you have done. So is disrupting their supply lines and forcing them away from planets that can no longer sustain them. Also you.”

Blade went tense. His body was rock-hard, and Margie could see the lines of tension running upward from his neck and into his face. “We are speaking quite plainly then, aren’t we?”

Jeval said, “Not many here would live to tell what they overheard, and you know it. And those who would live to tell would have their lot cast with yours anyway.”

Blade’s fingers drummed at the thick weapons belt around his lean waist. “So you say. How dare you come here and bring this into my life.”

Talon said, “We have no choice. What we are to tell you now, it seems unbelievable. Yet it is true. We’ve heard whispers and rumors. Jeval and Margie there went on a spy mission and learned a small part of it before they returned. The intel we got after they returned is good, the best. My sibling assures me, after having walked about the informant’s mind, that there are no memory blocks or implants in that mind. What that informant told us is the truth.”

Blade asked, “And what has that to do with me?”

Jeval asked, “What do you know of The Federation’s new wormhole?”

Blade’s eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. “What new wormhole?”

Talon said, “Oh. I see you are not quite as in the know as you would have us believe.”

Blade’s fingers went to his weapons. His voice held death. “Watch what you say to me.”

Jessica spoke then. “He was not speaking offensively. He was speaking the truth. We need your help. The Federation has indeed found a new wormhole.”

Blade shrugged. “So? What of it? They may hold that route for a hundred years or more and destroy an entire system with their trade, but what of it? It’s happened before and will happen again.”

Jeval said, “Not this time. This wormhole does not have an exit in our universe.”

Blade snorted. “So let the fucking Federation send their ships out into nothingness. What do we care? Just less of them to kill.”

Talon said, “If it were just that, we would not be here, now would we?”

Blade’s head tilted to the right. His eyes narrowed. “I suppose not. Where does this wormhole end?”

Jeval said, “In another universe. One whose beings closed the wormhole against us.”

Blade hooted with laughter. “Well then, perhaps we should take it for ourselves in order to have an escape route from those bastards.”

Margie spoke. But her voice was not her own. It came from deep within; it came from within the mind of the child that she carried. “The beings on that side of the wormhole are far more technologically advanced. They sealed the wormhole millennia ago when they began to see the beings in this universe make great strides toward travel.

“They are determined to live in peace. They have managed to bring peace to their universe, or rather to their corner of it. They have managed to hide the fact that the universe extends further than we could ever know by sealing not just that wormhole, but the space around it. It is like a seam, and once punctured, that seam will split open and be forever open. The Federation knows this. They seek to travel there and attempt to take over that other universe. But they know not what they will get into. They know not that doing so will be the end of this universe.”

She felt limp and shaken. Blade stared at her, as did those other members of her party. Talon asked, “How can you know this?”

Margie shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I will tell you. Just not right now. This is too important to get off track.”

Blade said, “All you have is a woman. And what she says. We all know women talk facetiously. For all you know, she is leading you on a fool’s errand.”

Talon said, “We have your father.”

Dead silence ensued. Blade’s hands went to his weapons, and he drew them. His weapons pointed directly at the four of them. Blade’s voice was thin with anger. “Do not speak of him in my presence.”

Jeval said, “We would not seek to displease you in such a way. We have no choice. He has decided to throw his lot in with the rebellion. For whatever reason, he is now on your side. He has been on your side this entire time. How do you think you have escaped so often? Even you, with all of your arrogance, cannot possibly believe that it was skill and luck that kept you alive.

“Your father has falsified documents and sent ships away from your position deliberately. He has striven to keep alive the myth that his son died many years ago. He wants to make amends, and he knows just how foolish opening this wormhole is. He fears opening this wormhole. And, perhaps the greatest reason he has for doing this is because The Federation recently destroyed old Earth.”

The weapons didn’t lower. “I had heard of that. Millions died. Just one more crime for The Federation to answer for.”

Jeval urged, “You want to fight The Federation? Then now is your chance. Your father has brought an armada with him. Federation ships, all of them capable of great warfare. If we put them up with your army and the army of the other rebels, we can stand against The Federation, but we have to stand as one. It’s time for us to put our differences aside. It’s time for us to unite. All of us are rebelling. All of us are rising. But we are rising like ants against a massive army that can crush us like those very same insects. Together we can be mighty. Apart we are nothing.”

That voice, the voice of her unborn daughter, came back again. Margie’s mouth and throat worked. “The Federation would sacrifice all for a chance to rule more. You would know that. You’ve seen it firsthand. This is your chance to stand against them. To do real damage. Would you turn away from this now?”

Blade asked, “Does she always speak so freely?”

Jeval said, “I’m afraid so. But she does speak the truth, and I stand with her. If you would stand against us, then say so now. If you do not have the guts to join us and help us, then say so now. We shall seek aid elsewhere.”

Blade lifted the weapon a little bit higher. He said, “And now you call me a coward? You come into my city and call me a coward?”

Talon said, “Should we tell all of End-World that you have refused to go after The Federation in a real and valid way? That we have information that could take The Federation down and are willing to use it but that you balk because you are frightened?”

Margie held her breath. This was a dangerous game they were playing. This was one seriously dangerous human being, and she was afraid of him even as she knew that he was far more dangerous to The Federation than he was to her. There was ruthlessness about him, a sharp and unrelenting air of sheer power coming off him that was impossible to deny or mistake.

Blade said, “If you are attempting to shame me into joining you then you are playing a foolish game. Of course I wish to strike against The Federation, and in a large way. But what you’re asking me to do would require more than just my army. I do not see an army here.”

Talon said, “We did not think you would appreciate us bringing Federation ships here. Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, most of their captains could not have survived the journey in.”

Blade burst into laughter. That sound did not relieve Margie’s fear. “You are correct in that. So, my father has decided to switch sides? Interesting.”

None of them spoke. Blade went to a cabinet and rummaged about within it, producing a printer. He sat it on the table and pressed a button. Food began to come, and he handed it out. It was a dry and crumbly thing, some sort of loaf that smelled slightly oily and vile.

Blade didn’t seem to notice. He chewed his with real enthusiasm. His weapons were holstered now, but she had seen how fast he could draw them and she was not disarmed. She was also not about to eat that thing in her hand. It had a texture that made her stomach roll.

Blade said, “Go back to your ship. Stay there. You are not safe here. Especially carrying that type of news. Go outside the solar ring and wait for me by the tip of the Black Ink system. You know which one I mean?”

Talon nodded. “I do. There are old warp-weaves there, and it’s dangerous for us to wait there. At least for too long. I can give you twelve hours, but no more.”

Blade said, “I need no more than that, son.”

The man had a whole lot of arrogance, but did he have the army that his father, Talon, and Jeval all seem to think he had as well? It was highly possible, and she knew it. It was also possible that he didn’t, and that frightened her.

Her daughter had chosen that moment to fall silent to say nothing. That just figured.

Blade said, “I shall travel behind you, just to assure your safe passage back to your ship. If you have not noticed, there’s a civil war here in the city.”

Talon said, “When is there not?”

Blade dusted his hands together, scattering crumbs along the tops of his worn boots. “You have a point, but this one is much more serious. There are too many criminals and not enough justice to satisfy their bloodthirsty little souls. Maybe now is the perfect time to take them on a mission against The Federation. They all want blood and revenge; this might be their chance to get it. I should warn you, though, that I do not run them all. I cannot guarantee who will actually be loyal to you and who will be a deterrent to your cause.”

Talon said, “Our cause.”

Blade shook his head. “Not everyone here has a complaint against The Federation. In fact, some even do business with it. Their loyalty lies only with profit. Can you promise them a profit from this?”

Jeval said, “Of course we can, and you know it. The Federation takes large cuts of everything, even this. The Federation has long since had its hands in the pockets of pirates and wreckers. There’s an un-discussed tax that we pay and have always paid.

“Tell them they can have credit and whatever they can plunder from the ships that we go up against. That we now know the location of the planet on which the highest Federation officials reside.”

Blade’s mouth hung open. “That is far above my father’s pay grade.”

Margie prayed hard that her face would not betray her emotions at that moment. Nobody knew, absolutely nobody, where The Federation’s highest officials dwelled. For their own safety, they had been hidden away for centuries. Talon was lying!

Blade said, “Go. I shall follow and have several of my men surround you. Do not panic. I haven’t decided not to kill you myself yet. I would highly advise you to make sure that I don’t decide to on the way since your back will be to me.”

Jeval said, “I have never known you to be a being who would be so cowardly as to put a blade into someone’s back.”

Blade laughed, “You may be correct. I would absolutely demand that you face me first.”

They went. Every step was torment for Margie. She could feel the heat of her mate’s body next to hers, hear his breath. Every step might be their last, and she knew that way more than she would’ve liked to have known it.

Time became so precious, so precious that not even the stone tunnel could take her mind off how close death hovered to them. Blade had several of his men come along with them to the ship. As they reached the mouth of the tunnel and the docking station, he and his men turned away. Margie suppressed the urge to break into a fast run towards what she perceived to be the safety of the ship. She knew that was a false perception; as long as they were on the planet and within that ringing system, the odds were not in their favor.