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He knows Aelon’s name.

That’s not ideal. Aelon’s spent his last hundreds of years killing Toads. I just hope this one hasn’t lost any friends to the leader of my triad.

“You have me at a disadvantage… You know my name...” Aelon remains glib in the face of overwhelming numbers. The Toad started to smile victoriously as Aelon started his sentence – but his bulging eyes narrow as he finishes it.

The Toad harrumphs. His cheeks wobble as he blows air out of his nose.

“That is not the only advantage Meelon has on you, Aurelian! I know you have the stolen Orbs aboard your ship. Give them to me and Imaylet you live!”

Aelon’s gambling for our lives, and yet he’s as cold as ice.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Meelon stiffens, as if he wasn’t expecting that ominous answer.

“My patience grows thin, Aurelian. What do you bother me for?”

“I bother you with a deal, Meelon – and I suggest you think carefully about it. After all, would I feel so comfortable approaching your Mothership in a naked Reaver if I didn’t know I had the upper hand?”

It’s hard to read emotions on a Toad’s face, but I’m looking at Meelon with a complete focus, aided by the Bond. His lip quivers, and he draws back. “A bluff! You have nothing, Aurelian.”

“Hardly, frogspawn,” scoffs Aelon. “I’ve got twenty-six Orbs loaded up in the Reaver behind me – yeah, the one that’s outside range of your weapons. You can take those Orbs and leave –oryou can see if I’ve got reinforcements lurking behind that moon, ready to trap you.”

Meelon says nothing, peering suspiciously through the projection.

Aelon smirks, and I see now why the persona he’d adopted as the infuriatingly cocky captain has served him so well. He’s implacable – the ultimate poker face.

“Your choice, frogspawn. If you want a fight, I’m not about to refuse you - but I’m hardly going to endanger The Instigator when we could solve this with a fair bargain. You shouldn’t risk your life – because, believe me, I’ll come after you personally if you do.”

Meelon’s huge tongue slips out of his mouth, lapping over his lips. My stomach lurches.

Finally, the Toad gurgles:

“Fool! You have already given me everything that I desire. I can have my assault ships pick up that Reaver in moments.”

“You send ships out before we make a deal,” Aelon warns, “and the Reaver Orb-Shifts out. You’ll get nothing – except an ugly death.”

Meelon smiles. A hideous sight. I can see deep into his maw, and I have to look away before my stomach churns. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to see the inside of that huge mouth before he bit my head off.

…and that’s what I’ve heard they do – that the worst of the Toads eat humans alive.

Meelon snorts: “My jammer technology is strong, foolish Aurelian. That Reaver cannot shift.”

“No, it can’t – but it doesn’t need to. It’s far enough away already that you’ll have no ship that can outpace it. At my signal, that Reacher will hightail it out of here until they have enough distance to shift out.”

“An Aurelian fleeing from combat? Hah! Your species is too proud to run. I’d believe that as soon as I’d believe a bloodthirsty killer like you would make deal.”

Meelon’s jowls jiggle disgustingly.

“I know your reputation, Aelon the Merciless. You killed my brother twenty years ago!”

Fuck.

My heart sinks. I’m suddenly nauseous, and I have to stop myself from throwing up. I force the bile back down, but it swirls in my stomach, eager to rise again.

Only the steadiness of the faint auras of my triad calms me. With the comms-link restored to basic power, so too has the Bond disrupting device been cranked off a notch.

The emotions of Aelon and his battle-brothers hasn’t changed with the devastating news. Its as if they know something I don’t.