Ral’s return gave me a calm confidence that was completely at odds with the fact that we were in enemy territory, with every tiger shifter soldier both on and off planet searching for us.

I allowed myself the luxury of several hours of sleep in a hammock I strung up in the cockpit.

We were hidden underneath a mound of ice. Patrols, both piloted and droned, soared low overhead. My fingers drummed the yoke. Even with the wolves back, I didn’t want to leave the cockpit, lest there be a short-term opening in the net that could have the potential to be exploited.

Aken had hobbled into the cockpit earlier. His right arm was in a flexicast, his left knee in another, with a massive bandage around his head, but other than that, he still looked like someone handy to have around in a dark alley on a frontier planet, which is actually how we met.

“Blackjack,” he said, using the callsign he had known me by. “If you told me the next time I’d see you would be by Ral’s side, I would have told them they were smoking hallocinogens.”

“You owe me a drink. Good to see that casino boss didn’t make a rug out of your hide.”

“Yeah. I’m done sleeping with enemy targets. Leads to nothing but trouble."

I shook my head at him.

“So really, Blackjack. What are our chances of getting out of here?”

If I say how bad they really are, I know it will jinx us. “As good as I can make them.”

“That’s not a straight answer.”

“A straight answer will get us shot out of the sky.”

“Fair enough. Well, let us know if there’s anything we can do for you. The others wanted me to let you know we owe you a couple rounds when we get out of here.”

“I look forward to it.”

Ral came into the cockpit as Aken was leaving. “Watch out, sir,” said Aken to Ral. “She bites.”

Ral gave Aken a look. “As long as it’s me, I’m fine with that.”

Aken held up his hands. “She’s all yours,” he said, closing the cockpit door.

Ral came up behind me. “How does it look?”

“We can’t outrun the fighters and we can’t beat the net. They’ll keep shrinking the net’s circle until they find us. It’s statistically inevitable.”

Ral grimaced. “Someone’s going to have to go take down the anchor powering the net.”

Anduin came into the cockpit as if he had been summoned. “Hopeless certain death is my specialty,” said the merc.

I tried my best to convey a death glare through the reflection in the outer window because I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen monitoring changes in the security net overhead. “You’re not going on a suicide mission, Anduin.”

“And you have been the boss of me since when, Captain?” I flicked a mirror into existence so I could see the two idiots. There was an odd glow to Anduin’s fingers, and for a moment I thought he was holding a tiny light drone, but he opened his hands and nothing was there. Anduin turned to Ral. “We’ll negotiate a new clause, with requisite fees. I’ll even waive my right to return. When that net goes down, you get yourselves out of here. No need to wait.”

“Anduin,” I said, finally turning around. “Stop trying to get yourself killed.”

Anduin shrugged. “I have no intention of dying. I’ve got unfinished business on Altai.”

He glanced at Ral, whose face was too deliberately blank.

“Shit I should have taken care of long ago,” he continued.

From their obvious we’ve-got-a-secret-look faces, they had come across something in the Teeth. I swiveled my chair to Ral “What happened back there?”

“More dead reanimated tiger-shifters,” Ral said with a frown.

“They’re reviving the use of necromancy,” said Anduin. I’m sure I was imagining things, but for a moment, his face seemed ages older and less human. Then his fists tightened and his teeth gritted. “Necromancy needs to stay lost. Trust me. Shifter zombies running around the galaxy won’t help anyone in the long run.”

I raised an eyebrow at Anduin. “Are you actually acting out of a sense of trying to do some good?”

“No. Fulfilling a contract that I thought was done a long time ago.”

“Sure you are,” I said

“Believe what you want.”

I didn’t want to leave Anduin behind. Pain in the ass as he was, I liked him.

Ral asked, “What do you want, merc?”

Anduin tapped his vambrace,. Ral looked at the screen on his own vambrace and grimaced. “Didn’t know you were an extortionist too.”

“All mercs are extortionists. At least the good ones are.”

Ral tapped on his vambrace. “I’ve made a few modifications. Agreeable?”

Anduin glanced at his screen. “Yeah. That should work.”

A handshake and it was done. Anduin looked at me and shrugged. He knew I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Anduin looked to Ral. “Give me a few hours and I’ll get that net down.”

“Since you’re actually doing it, dump a drone out along the way? It will give me a good way to test the net if it does happen to go down.”

Anduin nodded as he stood up. “Captain Daring,” he said to me, with a ritualistic bow. “It’s been a pleasure once more,” he said, the words to an ancient farewell. “May the stars shine brightly on your journey home.”

At least this was a good parting, made on our own terms. If and when I saw him again, I hoped we would be on the same side.

I stood up, clasped his forearms, and gave him an appropriate soldier-hug with a thump on the back. “And yours as well.”

And that was that. I turned back to my screens, keeping Anduin visible on cam. Within a few moments Anduin had walked out of the cockpit, closed the door behind him, grabbed his gear, bid a quick farewell to the other wolves, and headed off the ship.

I pulled up another screen over the camera views.

Ral came over to me, squeezed my shoulder. “He’ll make it. His kind always does.”

I glanced at Ral. “Do you know what he is?”

His face had that neutral blankness to it again. “Do you?”

I turned back to my screen. “He’s not human.”

“No, he’s not.”

I didn’t know what more Ral knew. I trusted Ral with my life. But betraying someone else’s confidence in me? I couldn’t do that.

“I won’t ask you to abandon whatever secrets you’ve been asked to keep. But if it could pose a potential threat to House Nightclaw, I need to know.”

“So long as you have his contract, he will not be a threat.”

“I thought so. Good thing I have him on permanent retainer then.”

“Anduin? The merc who once fought a grawlerbeast unarmored rather than sign a long term contract? Must have cost something shiny.”

“It did. I’ll buy one less new shirt this year. That’s a joke by the way.”

“Ha. That’s a laugh by the way.”

“You’ve known him longer. Do you think I made the right decision?”

I knew he was probably trying to humor me and make me feel more included. Still, it was nice to be asked. “Anduin is an asset to any side he chooses to be on. Contractual obligations are the only thing he believes in, which makes him easy to understand and deal with. The biggest problem with him is getting him to stay on your side."

“Thank you for that confirmation. Should I know anything else about his preferences on being bound?”

I smiled. “Why don’t you tell me your preferences on being bound?”

He glanced at my screens, making sure nothing was there before rotating my chair and pulling me to my feet. “You, naked,” he said, peeling off my top, “on your back,” he said lowering me to the ground. “Wrists up and behind you, like so.”

“Show me more.”

And he did.

* * *

I jumped up at the sound of a particular sensor’s alert.

“Fighters are pulling away from the planet. The power in the net, it’s dropping. It’s Anduin.”

I tapped a few more screens and sent out a few more test signals.

“The net is down.”

“So we’re leaving now?”

“Not yet.” I wiped the screen in front of me away and grabbed another one. A few taps sent a signal to the drone I had Anduin dump a few klicks away. I watched on the sensors as it soared into the sky. “If the net is truly gone, it will make it out of the atmosphere.”

The numbers representing the drone’s altitude soared higher and higher until another alert showed it breaking free of the planet’s gravity well.

I jumped into my seat, flipped on the mic. “Buckle up, everyone. We’re blowing out of this place.” I turned off the mic. “This is going to be our only chance.”

Ral’s hand closed on mine. “Get us out of this tiger pit.”

I powered up the engines and fired up the reserves. The gravity modulators had been shot to hell so we’d all feel the effects of g-force this time. We shot into the sky. I could feel every bit of g-force pulling me back, worse because of Altai’s higher gravity levels. My body, my hands were liquid concrete, heavy, slow, resisting all my efforts. I struggled to keep my hands on the yoke. If it came to it, I could issue voice commands.

And all of a sudden it was like my lead-based body turned into air.

We had broken free of Altai’s gravity.

A message was being broadcasted directly at us. I let it through. “Coalition ship. Identify your purpose and destination in Tigrantine space immediately.”

How the fuck did they know I was Coalition? Fuck. All I could do was get out of here as fast as I could.

I upped the impulse rate of the plasma rockets to prepare for hyperspace jump.

A blip. Fuck. Something wasn’t right.

“They’re broadcasting some kind of quantum interference signal,” said Ral. “It’s interfering with the command signals for the jump engine.”

Great. What a time for new technology.

Though I had a head start, this boat would be no match if they had Starbolt-class fighters like they were rumored to have.

“Well, at least they’re not firing on us,” I said.

A missile soared in our wake, missing us by a huge margin. It was a warning shot.

The coms blared. “Coalition ship! Identif—” I shut off the coms.

Ral typed and dashed something off on another floating screen, closing it before I could get a good look at what it was. “Are you sending them a message?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Worry about those three dots which are going to catch us in five minutes if you don’t pick up speed.”

Fuck. I could push the engines faster, but then we couldn’t build up the charge for the jump drive.

I pulled up another screen and entered a few more commands.

“We’re going to have to run for it.” I banked toward an asteroid field on one of the borders of Tigrantine space. If I could get there before they caught me, I could lose them.

I redistributed power to the core engines, reducing usage from all other systems. I had no choice but to fall back on a part of my training that I hoped never to use. Werewolves could survive on lower levels of oxygen than humans for longer periods than we could.

“Life support too?” asked Ral. “We can survive, but you can’t.”

“It won’t matter if they catch us in the next few minutes.”

Ral did as I asked. Seconds, minutes ticked by as the clusters in the distance became more visible. Asteroid fields were deadly as anything you could possibly encounter in space. Visibility was shit in most places without direct starlight and many asteroids were made of weird substances that tended to foil most sensors. It was generally agreed that flying into one was almost certain death.

But there was a trick to flying in asteroid fields, which was not to be a pursuer. Pursuit meant keeping track of asteroids while hunting a target, splitting your attention in a situation where it couldn’t be split. Retreat into an asteroid field meant hiding and staying alive.

Something exploded on our starboard side.

I’d take my chances among the giant spinning rocks.

Seconds, minutes ticked inexorably by. Four minutes, three minutes, two minutes. We were about there, but so were the ships pursuing us.

I banked portside, narrowly missing a jolt that would have fried every electrical system in the ship leaving us a floating dead shell.

“Watch out!” yelled Ral. Narrowly we missed an asteroid the size of our ship.

Three more fighters within range.

I flipped the ship. Couldn’t run anymore. It was time to play.

I swung, dodged, leaped like I’ve never done before. I am the ship, the ship is me this is it, I have everything to lose, and I’m not going to lose it, fuck no, not here not now, screw you bitches fuck you the darkholefucking ass I will see your fuck and raise you mother fucking four times and see how much damn better I am than you, I’m a goddess I’m captain of my own damn destiny and none of you can fucking touch me I’m so hot inferno the sun, and NONE OF YOU WILL DEFEAT ME!

And then I saw it. A glimmer of light in a space that shouldn’t be there.

And it fucking tore off our left wing.

The ship spun, everything beeping, screaming all at once. I attempted to get control, all the while trying not to get us killed by spinning into the asteroid field. Impossible. But I had to try.

Fuck. This couldn't be the end.

My screens lit up. The sensors were fucking reading the asteroids as Coalition ships. We were so screwed.

A final alarm sounded.

No time for self-lies.

“Ral,” I screamed.

“Skye?”

“I’m sorry, Ral.”

“Wait What?!“

“I love yo— There’s another ship!”

A blinding flash of light surrounded us.

* * *

We were dead.

Wait, if were dead, why did my head hurt so much?

I blinked. I shook my head. Gradually my vision came back. The ship was still spinning but slowing. Before us was a field of starships. Coalition and Alzar ships.

As the screens came back on line, my mind boggled at the number of blue and green dots. Was the entire Coalition North fleet and possibly the entire Alzaran fleet here?

What the fuck had happened?

“Skye?” I heard Ral say.

“We fucking made it,” I said.

I turned my chair to face him.

He kissed me. My mind did that melting thing again.

At some point he stopped and moved away. There was a sorrowful expression on his face. It was so ludicrously out of place, like a monster emerging from a dead asteroid to clamp its nasty jaws around you. The juxtaposition with his expression and my situation was so bizarre I couldn’t process it. My mind was moving at the speed of a vehicle with a burned engine and broken axle.

Yet I always knew this was coming. I just didn’t expect it to be so, so soon.

“What is it?”

“What comes next…It’s going to be different. We can’t continue with this arrangement. I know you disobeyed orders, but I need you to go back to the Coalition for now.”

I was filled with victory. But then complete meaning of his phrase sank into me. I didn’t need to read between the lines.

My heart cracked.

I had been right all along. All he had needed was to convince a pilot to follow him on his mission.

In microseconds, I felt myself shatter. For a moment I swear I could feel each individual atom in my body, but then I realized that the pain was too big, too overwhelming for me to be so small. Why had I ever let myself think, let myself dream, let myself hope for anything with this arrogant bastard.

Because that was what he was. A gorgeous spoiled man who should have been thrown off my ship the moment I saw him.

Rage jolted me. That was better. It was better to be furious than to despair.

All of these emotions swept over me in microseconds. I decided I wouldn’t let him have the pleasure of dismissing me like another servant. I forced myself to shrug. “I’ve done my job. We’re done here, Your Highness.” The title tasted bitter. I would rinse my mouth with the excrement of a Sapolian slug before I ever said his name again.

“This isn’t over, Skye.”

“It’s Captain to you. And I’d like you to leave my cockpit.”

There was a chime from his vambrace, an alert of some important message or something. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something then looked at his vambrace again. “We’ll talk later.”

The door slid behind him.

I could taste salt in my mouth. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. Starfuckingsolarflare it, I wouldn’t let them. He wasn’t worth it.

And yet, in my solitude, I knew I couldn’t lie to myself again.

* * *

Our ship limped into the gaping maw of the War Star. I could see the rows among rows of werewolf soldiers, uniformed and in human form, waiting at parade rest for our arrival.

The chasm between us was never wider. “This is Ral’s army, isn’t it?”

Aken had come to sit with me in the cockpit. We talked of other things, both of us carefully avoiding any mention of Ral, until now.

“His father’s, actually.”

“But it will be his.”

“He hopes not. He’s not the heir.”

I still didn’t know how we had survived. A parade of triumph was clearly more important than any explanation to me. There was no way in hell I was going out there in front of all those people.

When the cargo bay doors opened, rows among rows of werewolf soldiers saluted. I watched through the windows as Ral strode forward. He was utter magnificence, and unbowed. Confidence, clarity, everything you would want in a leader. He headed toward the tall man standing in the middle, an older version of Ral who enveloped him in a massive man-hug. Then he turned and raised Ral’s hand.

The roar was so deafening it shook the ship.

It was a welcome.

It was a war cry.

They slapped him on the back, they cheered him, they fucking hailed him as their leader.

The Alpha raised Ral’s hand. “To War!”

“To War!”

Shards I hadn’t even known were pieces that fell into place. It completed a puzzle I hadn’t even realized I had been trying to figure out.

I’d been used as an excuse to start a war.

By allegedly going against his Alpha’s orders and convincing a Coalition pilot to go underground and with him on an unauthorized assault on a Tigrantine base, his Alpha had complete deniability in an intended broach of the peace treaty.

Open warfare had broken out between the tiger shifters and the werewolves. This is what Ral was talking about.

I was ice cold like the deepness of space, colder than I’ve ever been in my life. Not even after my crash last year with the ice crusting the interior of my cockpit, with both legs broken, waiting for rescue did I feel so cold.

Not only had I fucking fallen for a prince, I had fallen for one who used me as a fucking pawn. Literally a pawn he had been fucking. And I was going to be dishonorably discharged for the whole fucktuation.

Anger spread through me and I welcomed it.

Was all of it a game? Seria? The tiger kids? If it was, he wasn’t just a master; he was a Lord of manipulations.

I played with a prince. Why should I be surprised to be burned?

* * *

I hadn’t seen Ral for hours, not since he walked off the ship. Not that it mattered because I didn’t want to fucking see him.

It was better that he didn’t because exo-armor or not, I would have killed him if I saw him. No, wait, that was the display of someone who gave a shit and cared, and you know what? I didn’t. Not anymore.

It was childish but I refused to get off my ship. If I walked on to the War Star, on to Alzaran territory, I would have to give Ral the respect due a foreign prince.

And I’d punch him before I’d ever salute him.

It was safer for everyone if I stayed where I was.

Two guards walked into my ship. They saluted, turned to the side. An older version of Ral stood between them.

The Alpha of the House of Nightclaw. A real fucking werewolf king.

I didn’t care if it was Ral’s janitor. I didn’t want anything to do with that bastard ever again.

“I wasn’t expecting you.” I coughed and spat into my hand, and extended the ball. Let him think I was just another crude soldier. “Here’s the data His Highness had me hold on to.”

The Alpha raised his eyebrow. He gestured to one of the guards to take the chip from me.

“We’ve made arrangements to return you back to Coalition forces as soon as possible. I apologize for the trouble my son has put you through.”

“Don’t mention it.” Really, I didn’t want to hear any more about it. I wanted to get out of here.

“The Prince is quite enamored of your…flying skills. He is eager to have you join our service.”

I would sooner break my legs and consign myself to an escape pod in an uninhabited area of space than ever fly with him again. I wanted to say it but I had to remember who I was, who he was. “Respectfully sir, I decline. But I made a promise to Princess Seria that I would help find her.”

The Alpha cocked his head. “Ral did say you were honorable. You don’t have to worry about that. We’ve come to an arrangement with House Stargazer.”

“What kind of an arrangement?”

He was taken aback by my question. I realized he was considering whether or not I was worthy of an answer. Finally he said, “I will respect Seria's wishes.”

So there was no reason for me to have any dealings with House Nightclaw ever again. Perfect.

He continued. “There is a transport leaving within the hour for Sundiata Station. Would that be acceptable?”

“Yes, thank you.” He offered his hand to me.

I shook it.

He held my hand fast, looking me in the eye. “I’m glad to see that you are reasonable. The Prince has responsibilities beyond what most people could ever comprehend.”

He knew. He knew Ral had fucked me. Why shouldn’t I be surprised? Wasn’t this part of their original plan? Get a Coalition pilot on their side by any means necessary. Start a war.

“Thank you for your service, Captain.”