Weston knew he should be focusing on the alien delegation, but his thoughts kept straying to Piper. He wondered what she wanted out of Pippa’s storage area, and he was concerned it might cause her an emotional breakdown. He had yet to see her cry, and maybe she was beyond tears for Pippa, just as he had been, but the possibility that she might break down and have no support if she did so stuck with him.

He was on the verge of rescheduling the meeting when his comm beeped. He answered it discreetly, turning his back to the group and bringing it close to his face.

The features of the Head Engineer filled the screen, and his expression was grim. “I’m dealing with the repair from the beam that fell, Commander, and there’s something you should know.”

“What’s that, Captain?”

“It was cut.”

Weston frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“The composite was cut.” He moved his comm to show a smooth line across the clear beam before moving it to reveal a long implement wedged into the remaining beam. “It took a laser saw to cut through this, which is what this is, sir.” He held up another small device in front of his comm that looked like a black rectangle. “This is a transponder that receives a signal, and I assume it was connected to the saw that cut the beam, so it could be done at a precise moment. There’s no way it was accidental.”

Weston’s scalp tingled, and the hair on the back of his neck rose. “We need to find out who did it.”

The captain grinned. “I already know, sir. There’s a security camera in the vicinity. The main camera is apparent, but the backup ones aren’t so obvious. I doubt our saboteur realized there’s a second set of security cameras that records everything on Olympus Station, which runs on a separate circuit and uploads to a different server.”

Weston was familiar with the second, discreet set of surveillance cameras all over the station. “Who did this?”

“Baxter Frink, the Coalition Reproductive Board rep, according to the computer.”

Weston was confused and could find no discernible motive. “I wonder why? Is he anti-alien or something?” Some of the Repo Board had chilling ideas about the need to keep human DNA pure from mixing with alien DNA.

In the end, it was simply a rhetorical question, and the captain shrugged an answer. “I can’t tell you that, but I wanted you to know as soon as I had some concrete evidence, Commander.”

“I appreciate that, Captain.” He ended the call a moment later and paged Central Dispatch. “Locate Baxter Frink.”

“Certainly, Commander.” The voice was smoothly feminine, and it was almost impossible for the average person to recognize it as artificial intelligence. A moment later, it said, “He’s in the oxygen scrubber sector, Commander.”

Weston’s blood chilled at the words, and he cleared his throat, but still couldn’t speak for a moment as fear assailed him. “Locate Piper Marston.”

“She’s in the oxygen scrubber sector, Commander.”

“Who’s in her vicinity?”

“Just one person. Baxter Frink, Coalition Reproductive—”

He pressed the button to end the communication, not needing to hear Frink’s official title again. He got up and moved away from his chair, rushing to the exit of the conference room.

“Where are you going?” asked Ambassador Krill, his frill ruffling in his irritation.

“Hadley, you’ll have to take over. You have my full authority, but there’s been an emergency.” He took no further time to explain as he rushed from the conference room and started running. The oxygen scrubber sector was on the far side of the station, and he was looking for any sort of transport as he ran.

* * *

Weston burst into the oxygen scrubber system with the security contingency he’d paged en route in tow. They had met up a short distance away, and he’d debriefed them quickly as he slammed the cart he’d taken from Maintenance to a stop and tumbled out while it was still moving.

Now, he stumbled to a halt, shocked by the sight before him. There was no one there, but pieces of broken components scattered the ground. He bent to pick up the largest one and recognized a section of the screen from someone’s comm system. Piper’s?

“Spread out and search all the floors. Find them.” He stood up as he issued the order, running up the stairs behind the guards. They split off at different levels, leaving him to take the fifth one. He wasn’t certain if it was instinct, but he was convinced Piper was on the floor, and probably with Baxter. That meant she was in danger. Caution dictated he take the blind corners slowly, but he was rushing like a mad fool instead.

When he caught sight of them, Weston skidded to a halt, his shoes making a screeching sound as he slid the last couple of feet before stopping. Frink held her pressed against the rail, and though she looked unconscious, that didn’t seem to be enough for him.

“Don’t even think about pushing her over,” said Weston in a hard, angry tone.

Frink jumped, clearly so intent on his task that he hadn’t even heard Weston’s squeaky shoes. He turned slowly, but didn’t let go of his hold on Piper, who dangled against the rail. “It’s harder to do than I thought it would be,” he said with a look of stunned surprise. “It was one thing to program a lift to malfunction and time it just right so that Pippa was on board when it did, or cut through a beam, but it’s a lot more visceral to have a truly hands-on role.”

Weston wasn’t certain what he was talking about, but inferred he was referring to murder. “Set her down away from the rail carefully.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Commander. I have to remove the proof. I’ll get rid of her and tie up the other loose ends, and it’s over. Right now, it’s your word against mine, which will carry weight on Olympus Station, but won’t be enough to convict in a Coalition Tribunal—especially if I cast doubt about your motives by bringing to light your questionable relationship with your dead wife’s sister.”

Weston barely stifled the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s not just your word against mine. The Head Engineer found evidence of your sabotage on the beam a little while ago.”

Frink smirked, clearly overconfident. “Anyone could have placed that, Commander, and without a working camera—”

Weston took pleasure in interrupting him. “You might have disabled the main camera, but there’s a second set of security cameras all over the station. They’re a well-kept secret—on a separate circuit, and the images are stored on a separate server. That’s how I know you were the one who placed the timed cutting device on the beam and tried to kill her at the party last night. Your image is captured on a videogram for the world to see.”

Frink paled and swayed backward, which inadvertently brought Piper from the edge of the railing. Her body fell on the floor a moment later, and Frink looked around the area with a darting gaze, his panic obvious. “I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. Pippa wanted to take it all away with that unwanted baby, and now you’ve finished the job.”

“I didn’t do this, Frink.”

He shook his head as he looked at Weston, seeming somehow disconnected from reality. “She really hated you, you know? More than once, she said she should’ve let Piper have you, and would’ve if it wouldn’t make her useless sister happy.” He scrunched his brow. “How did this happen?”

“You made an irresponsible choice by trusting Pippa, who probably tampered with her Biochip. I suspect it wouldn’t be the first time she did so.” Weston darted his gaze to Piper, who was still unconscious, but appeared to be breathing. He let out a breath of his own at the proof of life. “Then you compounded your error by trying to destroy the evidence and killing Pippa. Finally, you made your biggest mistake.”

Frink frowned. “What was that?”

“You went after the woman I love. There’s no way you’re going to walk away from this without consequences.” He stood up and moved closer, intent on retrieving Piper.

Frink’s eyes widened, and perhaps he misread Weston’s intentions—or perhaps Weston made no attempt to hide his murderous rage. Or perhaps he just realized there was no way out that allowed him to keep his position and reputation. Whatever the reason, Baxter started to run. Weston ignored him, bending down beside Piper to lift her into his arms. Frink wouldn’t get far before security intercepted him, and she was his top priority.

Suddenly, there was a clank and a scream, and he looked up in time to see Frink hopping over the rail of the fifth-floor area. For a moment, his arms wind-milled, and then he seemed to get into a position like he thought he was going to land on his feet and just walk away. Weston didn’t bother to watch his descent and couldn’t see the final collision with the first floor, but he heard the sound a moment later and winced.

After that, his thoughts returned immediately to Piper, and he hurried from the oxygen scrubber sector as he called for emergency transport to Medical. They met him halfway, and he surrendered her to the gurney this time, since they had oxygen. One of the women immediately slipped a cannula in her nose, and the other was examining her throat while the third directed the hovering gurney.

Weston stayed right beside them as they made their way into Medical, and Gretel rushed to meet them. He stood by, close enough to be able to hold her hand, but trying to stay out of their way as they worked on her. It was the sweetest sounded he’d ever heard when she drew in a ragged breath a few seconds later, and her chest rose and fell visibly from the effort. He let out an exhale of his own and held tightly to her hand as she returned to him. He vowed this time he’d never let her go again.