A headache was blossoming behind Tala’s eyes as she warily walked through the corridors toward the bridge, an injector in her left hand and Treyjon’s confiscated stunner in the other. Her assault team, as she was thinking of it, walked at her side, Angela and Lulu.

Angela also carried an injector. Lulu carried… her drool and her teeth, both potent weapons. Juanita and Orion had stayed back in sickbay, with Eridanus and the medical robots working on the knife cut in Orion’s thigh.

“We’re going to knock everyone out?” Angela asked.

“I’d rather not, but be ready.”

It had sounded like Lieutenant Coric could fly the ship, but did that include going through the gates or could she only pilot them in local space? Tala remembered someone saying that the dedicated helmsmen like Zakota had chips implanted in their brains that interfaced with the computer in the wormholes so they could navigate even when they were in that strange seizure-dream zone everyone else experienced.

Dream, Tala thought with a snort, remembering the one she’d had with Sage in it, an imaginary memory that had been much more interesting than reality.

Would he ever truly look at her like that? From head to toe, his gaze lingering here and there on appealing parts of her anatomy? In her dream, she hadn’t blushed at his frank appraisal. In real life, she was sure she would. But he hadn’t shown any sexual interest in her, and from all the rumors she’d heard, he was indifferent to relationships.

Not that she wanted one with him. He was arrogant and too used to ordering everyone around and being obeyed. As if she was one of his minions. She would never work for him.

As the double bridge doors came into view, she gripped the stunner tighter. She hoped this confrontation wouldn’t be difficult.

Sage might attack her outright if she came at him with the stunner or an injector. When he’d been in a sane state of mind, he’d given her the power to relieve him of duty, but would he allow her to do so now that he was being affected? Maybe if Lulu growled at him, he would stay back so she could reason with him—and stun him if need be.

“Did Treyjon’s brain give you anything that could lead to a cure?” Angela whispered as they drew close.

Tala shook her head. “I’ve barely had time to look. I did order Eridanus to have his robots make me some exogenous aromatase enzymes that we could try injecting into the men to temporarily convert their testosterone to estrogen, but I don’t know if that’s really any kind of solution. I also have no idea why some space substance would have an effect on human hormones.”

Angela wrinkled her nose. “They won’t get boobs, will they?”

“Not from a one-time dosage.” Tala hesitated. “They may experience some nipple pain and tenderness.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s hard having boobs.”

When they neared the bridge, the doors slid open without hesitation. Good. Tala had feared Sage might have barricaded himself inside, and they would have to figure out an alternate way in.

She and Angela stepped in warily, trailed by the svenkar. The carnage Tala had feared might be present wasn’t, though one of the officers lay on his back on the deck, his arms spread, a knife held in loose fingers, and one leg up on the seat of his station. His eyes were closed and his mouth hung open. Had he been stunned? Knocked out?

Zakota sat at his station, gripping one of his talismans and muttering to himself as he piloted the ship toward a distant silver-green gate identical to the one Tala had seen earlier. She hoped that meant they were on their way out of the system.

“Easy, Zakota,” came Sage’s voice from the side. “Take it very slow. The Zi’i are not to be trifled with.”

A woman at a station near the door shot Tala a concerned look, her eyebrows rising slightly. Lieutenant Coric.

“Don’t know why you think the Zi’i are around, Captain,” Zakota said, a surly hunch to his shoulders, “but I’m on it. I’m not aiming to end ass-up on the deck like Killer.” He glanced at the unconscious man next to his station.

“Technically, I think he’s cock up.”

Sage was leaning over a station with Lieutenant Commander Korta on the far side of the wedge-shaped bridge. His back was to the doors, and he hadn’t seemed to notice Tala and Angela yet. For some reason, he’d taken off his uniform jacket and tossed it onto his command chair. He stood in the gray tank top that also seemed to be a part of the uniform. The back of his neck bled from dozens of scratch marks. Had the unconscious officer done that?

“Nah, his cock is definitely down.” Zakota, who’d taken another look to check, spotted Tala and Angela and managed to look a little sheepish. “We got ladies on the bridge, Captain. And one of your favorite predators.”

Sage straightened and looked over. His usually trim and tidy brown and gray hair was tousled, and his cheeks were flushed red. Tala thought he, too, might look sheepish at having been caught discussing cock positions in the presence of ladies—apparently, Lieutenant Coric counted as a fellow officer rather than a lady—but he frowned with disapproval instead.

Logically, she knew he was being affected by their alien surroundings, the same as the rest of the crew, but emotionally, she felt stung by the frown, by the implication that he didn’t want to see her. Did he know why she had come?

“This isn’t the time for visitors.” Without further acknowledgment, Sage brought his logostec to his mouth and barked, “Hierax, are you bringing my bomb detector up today, or do I have to send this svenkar down to get it?”

“Give me one minute,” came the response. “You comming every ten seconds isn’t going to get it rigged up any quicker.”

Normally, Tala would have been surprised by one of the crew addressing the captain in a disrespectful tone, but nothing surprised her now.

“One minute, sir,” Sage growled into his logostec.

“Screw you, sir.”

“I’m going to get that detector myself,” Sage announced, seemingly to the bridge in general, and stomped toward the doors. “And to pound my engineer’s ass into the deck.”

Lulu growled, looking like she meant to keep him from leaving the bridge.

“Sir,” Coric blurted, rising to her feet. “I don’t think this is the time for fighting. We—”

The ship lurched as if struck. The deck tilted, hurling Tala toward the lieutenant.

She caught herself on a console, or she would have been thrown to the deck. Coric did pitch to the deck as she was flung away from her seat. Lulu’s growl turned into an alarmed whine as she spread all four legs to keep from going down. Angela grabbed her to keep from falling herself.

“Zakota,” Sage snarled, somehow managing to keep his balance and also whirl toward his helmsman. “I told you to go slow.”

“That was slow. If you think you can do better, get your ass over here.”

Sage stomped toward Zakota with his fists balled and rage in his eyes. Zakota jumped to his feet, turning his back on his station to face his captain.

“Shield power has dropped to thirty percent,” Korta reported from the side, his bulky rock-like base not disturbed by the still-tilted deck. “Damage is minimal, but if we inadvertently detonate another mine, we’ll—”

Zakota and Sage leaped at each other, both launching a barrage of punches, both far more worried about attacking than defending. The sounds of fists smacking flesh drowned out the rest of Korta’s words.

Tala looked down at the stunner in her hand. She couldn’t knock out the captain, could she? Or the pilot? Who would take over?

Coric cursed and ran around the fighting men to the helm. Her eyes were fiery, too, and she looked like she wanted to punch both of them, but she flung herself into the seat instead.

“There’s nothing but the visible ones on the sensors, Korta,” Coric yelled as Zakota and Sage grappled right behind her. “And we didn’t hit one of those.”

“I know,” Korta said back, raising his voice but not otherwise altering his tone to indicate he was disturbed by the chaos behind him. “I am doing my best to seek out energy signatures, but mines are designed to lie dormant—until activated by touch.”

“I know that,” Coric snapped, “but I need something.”

“I suggest we come to a full stop until Chief Hierax brings up the detector he said he could create and integrate into the scanners.”

Sage punched Zakota hard enough that he tumbled backward, knocking into the back of Coric’s seat. It jostled her, and she cursed, her hands dancing across the controls to compensate for something.

Tala stepped forward, having made her decision.

It sounded like standing still was an option, so the ship could do without its captain for twenty minutes. Besides, Coric had requested that Sage be relieved of duty, and Tala could see why.

The sedative would knock the men out for an hour. Tala chose the stunner instead, waited until they were on the deck grappling with each other, and fired at both of them. Sage must have heard the soft whine of the weapon an instant before the beam crackled around him, because he had time to throw Tala a betrayed look before slumping unconscious atop Zakota.

Once again, she felt stung. When had his opinion started to matter to her?

“Thank you,” Coric said, almost a growl. She hit several more controls before slumping back in the seat. “We’re stopped, Korta.”

“A wise decision,” Korta replied.

“It was your decision.”

“Yes.”

Coric turned in her seat, several strands of her long black hair having fallen from her bun to frame her damp face. She smiled tiredly at Tala. “I don’t suppose you have an antidote, Doctor?”

Tala winced, wishing she didn’t have to say that she had very little, including a solid idea of the cause of their problems. “No. I have a guess as to what might help, and Eridanus is synthesizing some enzymes right now.”

“Help would be good. I don’t know why the captain was going on about the Zi’i, but I’m hoping he was just being crazy because of the nebula. Usually, I wouldn’t put it past him to know something that the rest of us don’t, but—”

“The mines are of Zi’i origin,” Korta said.

Coric looked sharply at him. “What?”

“I didn’t realize it before. Captain Sagitta must have recognized some design or energy signature from the visible ones before I did.” How an alien that looked like a jumble of rocks and communicated with a synthetic voice managed to sound miffed at himself, Tala did not know, but Korta did it.

“Oh, Hades,” Coric said. “He wasn’t being crazy.” She frowned at their unconscious captain. “He was just figuring things out ahead of the rest of us. As usual.”

“He was being a little crazy,” Tala said. After all, she hadn’t seen Sage lose it and start pummeling his men before. It was admittedly impressive that he’d had the upper hand with Zakota and had apparently won his battle against the other officer—Killer—too. At an even six feet tall, maybe a shade less, Sage was one of the shorter Star Guardians, and though he had a compact and muscular frame, he didn’t have the wide shoulders and sheer bulk of many of the others.

Coric smiled faintly. “Yes. He usually keeps his crotchety thoughts to himself.”

Tala noticed blood underneath Sage’s fingernails and realized he’d probably been scratching his own neck. Some outlet for his irritation? Or had it been itching? Her own skin felt like it didn’t fit right on her body, as if it was too tight. And that headache hadn’t gone anywhere.

“He’d mentioned sedating everyone at one point,” Tala said.

“Yes, to me also, but he was worried we might run into trouble in here and need the crew. And we did. Sort of.”

“Here is one of the visible mines on the screen,” Korta said.

The holographic sensor display remained as it was, showing the gate and sun and planetary bodies in the system, but the central view screen built into the wall showed a close-up of what looked like a metal box floating in the purplish space. One side had a vent pipe—or was that a thruster? Could the box move around out there? Tala had no idea how large it was since there was nothing to compare it with.

“Notice the bluish tint to the metal alloy of its exterior?” Korta said. “Zi’i Landorite. And that simple design is consistent with their style.”

Tala was curious—and concerned—about the mines, but she had patients back in sickbay, and it might be more important than ever to study what was going on and try to come up with a solution. It sounded like the ship would be stuck right here for a time. She shivered a little, remembering Korta’s words, that the ship couldn’t withstand another mine going off.

“I’m going to relieve the captain of duty,” Tala announced, though Korta was studying his panel, and Coric had turned back to the helm.

“He seems pretty relieved right now,” the lieutenant said.

“The stun doesn’t last for more than twenty minutes, does it?”

“Not usually. But I’d rather have him awake than those two.”

“I can sedate them.” Tala held up her injector, though the idea of adding a sedative to the effects of the stun made her uneasy. She didn’t know how the stunners worked and made a note to look that up later. It was possible the sedative would be contraindicative. “Or we could just take their weapons and tie them to something.” Tala looked to Angela, though it was doubtful she would have any better ideas.

“Lulu could sit on one,” she offered.

“I was thinking of taking you and Lulu back to sickbay with me,” Tala said. “And a guinea pig.” She considered Sage.

“The captain?” Coric balked. “His brain can’t be tinkered with. We need it working. Especially if the Zi’i are around.”

“We have Treyjon in sickbay,” Angela said, though she didn’t look like she approved of the idea of using him as a lab rat, either.

“I don’t intend to do anything that will do lasting harm,” Tala said. “And if my guess proves effective, you may get your captain back, fully functional. And sane.”

“Really?” Coric asked. “He wasn’t entirely sane before.”

“The crew follows him willingly enough.” Most of the time, Tala added silently, glancing at Zakota and the other unconscious officer.

“You don’t have to be sane to defeat enemies and get your crew out of trouble.” Coric smiled, but she also cast a worried look toward the mine on the view screen.

“Can anyone help me get the captain to sickbay?” Tala asked.

“I do not believe I should leave my station at this time,” Korta said.

“I better stay on the bridge too,” Coric said. “One of the medical robots could hoist him easily enough.”

Tala eyed Sage. He might be small by Star Guardian standards, but he was probably still one-eighty. Far more than she could carry. And Angela had even fewer muscles than she did.

“Eridanus?” Tala asked, not sure if he would respond to his name from anywhere on the ship or only from certain rooms. “I need you to anticipate my needs.”

“I’ve dispatched a medical robot to the bridge,” came Eridanus’s voice from the bridge speakers. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you.”

It would have been easier to wait for Sage to rouse and have him walk himself to sickbay, but Tala feared he wouldn’t have truly allowed her to relieve him of duty. Not if he’d been awake for it.

“Chief Hierax,” Korta said, the digits on one of his tentacle-like arms tapping a console button. “I understand you do not wish to be disturbed while you are working, but I request a status update on your mine detector.”

Korta waited politely for an answer, but one didn’t come.

“Chief Hierax, are you there?”

“Sounds like there’s trouble in engineering.” Coric glanced across the bridge toward her usual station. “I was monitoring what was going on with the rest of the ship before.” She hopped out of her seat and headed toward the other station, but paused to look at Tala. “We’ll handle this, Doctor, but if there’s any possibility you could calm down everyone on board without knocking them all the way out, that would be ideal.”

“I’ll do my best,” Tala said, glancing toward the door as one of the medical robots rolled in. “Pick up Captain Sagitta, please,” she told it.

“Chief Hierax has locked himself in engineering,” Eridanus said.

“Alone?” Coric asked.

“Yes. He is throwing knives at a pad on the wall and muttering to himself that he will show the captain.”

“Shit.”

The medical robot was already on its way out with Sage in its mechanical arms, but Tala paused, wondering if she should offer to help with the engineer. But what could she do? She’d prepared an aerosol sedative that could be distributed through the ship’s ventilation system, but they needed Hierax to finish building that mine detector, not be unconscious and drooling on himself on the deck.

Coric hit a comm button. “Ensign Cheng, I need you to pick a lock.”

After a few silent seconds passed, Eridanus said, “Ensign Cheng is currently located in sickbay.”

Coric looked at Tala, but Tala didn’t even know who the man was. More people must have come into sickbay while she had been gone. Or they had been carried in.

“Ensign Lysan,” Coric said, “are you out there?”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” came a reply over the comm.

“Good. Grab someone, and grab some tools. I need the door to engineering opened, and then I need someone who can convince Hierax to get his ass to work.” Coric sent a bleak look toward the corridor where the robot was carrying Sage away. “I think I was mistaken in comming you, Doctor. Please get the captain on his feet. Even if it means using something experimental on him. He’d… be the first to volunteer for that, I believe.”

“I am in agreement on that matter,” Korta said.

Tala nodded and left the bridge, though a part of her was worried about being unable to keep an eye out how things would progress up here. But the best thing she could do would be to get Sage back to normal so he could handle his people. And those mines.