Within minutes the soft vibration of the intercom buzzes. Cyrox is, hands down, the best analyst we have on the Force.

“Cyrox, what do you have for me,” I say, stepping back to the console.

“Either the Atronox are getting sloppy or you are getting lucky because there is one active tracker on board. That is the good news. The bad news is that it is telling us the ship is currently on Zephyrus.”

“Shit, of course,” I say, exhaling deeply while my mind starts to work over time. “Thank you, Cyrox, you have come through again, as always.”

“My pleasure, General.”

The intercom clicks off. When I turn around, Marilyn’s face is alight with hope.

“So you know where the ship is,” she says, clearly excited by this information.

“Yes, we have located the ship.” I walk back to the table and sit in my place across from her. I’m not sure how to relay my worries. “But, it is on Zephyrus and that isn’t good news. It is a planet full of criminals, outside of our jurisdiction. We have no authority there and it is rife with illegal transactions. I worry that if the women were on board, they have already been sold.”

“But we’ll still check it out, right? I mean, it’s worth a look.” Her optimism tugs at my heart. She doesn’t know the Atronox like I do. Her brief encounter with their cruelty is only a taste of what they are capable of.

“Of course. I told you, I will check it out myself. I need to meet with the Admiral for permission to fly to Zephyrus, and I need time to work out the details. But I’ll be ready to go as soon as the mission is approved. We don’t want to waste any time.”

Marilyn stands up, and the first genuine smile that I have seen from her adorns her face, adding a soft glow of excitement. “That’s wonderful! It feels so good to be able to do something instead of sitting around waiting for things to happen for me.”

“Well, it is good news, but there’s no way you are accompanying me on this mission. You need to stay here where you are safe.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth her smile transforms into a scowl.

“I’m not just going to sit here and wait around. I need to be a part of the solution. I need to feel like I’m doing something constructive or I’m going to go mad.” She holds her hands out to me, begging me to listen to her.

“It is my job to keep you safe, Marilyn. You may not like the decisions I have to make, but it doesn’t change my mind.”

She crosses her arms over her chest and drops her head. I have to look away because her disappointment makes my stomach churn.

“If there are other women on that ship, I can help you. They will trust me, making it easier to get them out of there. I’m not going to let you sideline me on this one,” she adds.

Now it’s my turn to cross my arms. I’m used to being the one in charge. My men wouldn’t dare question my decisions. I’m quickly realizing that it is a very different situation with Marilyn.

“I will escort you to your own quarters while I meet with the Admiral and my men to decide what our next steps will be.”

She does something with her eyes that tells me she is displeased. I can tell by her frustrated sigh.

“So you can tuck me away in a room where I won’t be any trouble?”

“No. So you can rest and have some privacy while I talk with the Admiral. I’ll come find you as soon as we have a plan. I give you my word.”

She nods her head, some of the fight in her dissipating. I don’t have a lot of experience with women, a fact that is quickly becoming apparent from my interactions with Marilyn. Instead of feeling like I’m in charge, she has a way of making me feel like I’m free falling down an endless black hole.

* * *

It’s a short time later and I’m standing back in the command center with the signal from the tracker flashing up on the screen in front of us. The Admiral, Raydn, Kayne and myself are all standing in front of the board, the flashing red light taunting us from the screen.

“We need to go. I will go,” I say, breaking the silence.

The Admiral doesn’t answer. He’s staring at the screen while my impatience continues to grow, as well as my guilt. I should have done a more thorough job of checking the ship when I was there the first time. Instead, I found one woman and got the hell out of there. Not my best moment on the job.

“You will go see what they have,” he finally says. “Strictly eyes only. We’re not starting any sort of confrontation until we know more what we’re dealing with.”

“I agree,” Raydn says.

“The one thing we know about these bastards is that everything they do is for self-gain. They’re up to something,” Kayne says. “Most likely selling the rest of the women to the highest bidders.”

“I want to know what they’re up to,” the Admiral says. “For now we will see what they have and what they are up to on Zephyrus. If the tracker goes unnoticed, best case scenario, we will find their home base. We can plan a full scale assault and put an end to all of this.” He turn and looks directly at me. “For now, in and out. Let’s see what they have.”

“Got it.” I want to mention Marilyn, find out how she fits into all of this. Do I mention that she wants to go? Just thinking about it seems unreasonable. I know it’s dangerous, and certainly no place for a woman. Especially a human woman. But I also don’t like the thought of being away from her.

“You got that General? No arrests…or deaths if you can help it,” Kayne says with a smirk.

“You know the Atronox cannot be trusted, Kayne. Don’t be so naive to think that this will be so easy,” Raydn says.

“Okay, you two. Enough,” I say. They bicker like brothers and it is especially irritating to me right now.

“Keep me informed,” the Admiral says.

“Of course,” I reply before he walks away.

“Are we all going on this ride, or is it a solo ride, boss?” Kayne asks.

“We don’t all need to be there for this.” Technically it should be an easy mission. Get in there, find out what the Atronox are up to and then get back out again. There’s one more thing that makes things more complicated. “Marilyn insists on going,” I say quietly before I can change my mind.

“That’s not a good idea,” Raydn says without hesitation. “If there are other women on the ship, she’s not going to want to leave without them. Hell, you’re not going to want to leave without them. This is all a very bad idea.”

“Raydn, stop being such a killjoy,” Kayne says matter of factly to Raydn. Then, turning to me he continues. “Even if you could rescue the other women, you won’t be able to do it on your own.”

“Depending on how many women they have,” I say. “It will all depend on what I find when I get there.”

“And if it’s just a reconnaissance mission, there shouldn’t be any harm in taking Marilyn if she really wants to go,” Kayne says.

“Of course there could be harm,” Raydn says. “Hundreds of things could go wrong. It is our job to keep her safe until we return her to her planet.”

“Yes,” Kayne says. “But she wants to go.”

“Alright,” I say, before they can really get into it again. “I will make a final decision and get ready to depart. I will keep you updated on everything I discover once I am there.”

“Sounds good, General,” Kayne says. “And just for the record, I vote for taking the girl.” He winks and then walks away, leaving Raydn looking angry and frustrated with the only option to follow after him and finish this conversation.

I turn to leave the command center and find Marilyn. The Admiral doesn’t need to know what I’ve decided related to Marilyn coming along. As long as things go as planned, it won’t make a difference either way. The nagging feeling inside of me makes me question whether I’m making the decision for the right reasons. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m in charge and I need to keep the boundaries very clear between us. But there’s something changing inside of me and I know who is responsible.

Marilyn.