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I shake my head wearily. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult them. I’m just under a lot of stress.”

My two friends turn to me for an explanation.

“I warned Aelon about the Toad attack,” I tell them. “TheCaptainsaid hewantsthe Toads to come. He’s known about it all along. He’s set up a trap for them – anti-air batteries in the mining camps.”

Sawoot nods sagely.

“Hmm. If the Toads aren’t expecting anti-air, they’ll be massacred. They’ll think they’re going to rip their way through hundreds of innocent miners, and instead they’re going to have themselves a new asshole ripped open.”

“Hundreds of new assholes,” Theme clarifies. “Aurelian anti-air batteries can fire 1,500 rounds a minute – 50mm depleted radium rounds with iron-filament casings.”

Sawoot holds up her fist – roughly the size of the hole a 50mm round can make in a ship’s hull.

“That’s abigasshole.”

She’s vulgar – but she has a point. Maybe there’s a method to Captain Aelon’s murderous madness.

“That’s beside the point,” I snap. “We need to find a way to get Theme past the three guards outside. Garrick and his triad feel a duty to you, Sawoot.”

She sighs, then smiles mischievously. “Okay, then – I suppose you can leave that to me. I’ll distract the Aurelians guarding us. I suppose I still need to show them my…appreciationfor what they did for me.”

Theme blushes bright red. Sawoot has no shame.

She’s told me before she likes Aurelians, except for their personalities. Garrick and his triad don’t talk much, but their actions speak louder than words; so it looks like they’re the exception to the typical behavior of this haughty, arrogant species.

If she’s genuinely attracted to the triad right outside the doors… Well, then I don’t see any harm in her exploring that –especiallyif it’s going to get us off this ship alive…

…or maybe I’m just telling myself that, so I don’t feel guilty about basically pimping out my first officer.

I stand up and pace the room. It’s bigger than the cell Sawoot was in before – with a single bed, twice as large as a typical king-sized one, plus a sofa and the little table that Sawoot and Theme are sitting around while they sip on that bitter blend of tea.

A single bed…

I turn to Theme. “Were you planning on taking the couch?”

“No,” his eyes widen. “I’m in the next room over. These are guest rooms, Tasha – normally for dignitaries, although I doubt thatbruteAelon has welcomed anyone of substance onto his ship in quite some time.”

I ignore his judgmental comment about Aelon – which might not be entirely unjustified. Nevertheless, Theme hasn’t seen the pain inside the Aurelian commander – the agony that lurks beneath his cocky, swaggering surface.

Instead, I focus on our plan.

“Good, good.” I clap my hands together. “Okay – so, if the Toadsarecoming, we’ve got at least a couple of days before they hit us. I have no reason to believe Aelon can’t handle himself, but I’d rather be as far away from The Instigator as possible when they hit it.”

I step up to one of the windows, gazing out across the vacuum of space. In the distance I can see the moon, with the edge of Tarrion peeking out from behind it. There are hundreds of thousands of miles between The Instigator and the surface of the moon, but because of the sheer scale of planets, it looks almost as if I could reach out and touch that silvery orb as it hangs in space.

My mind continues to plot.

“Okay – so it takes time to organize an attack, especially the type of attack the Toads are likely to run. This gives us space to plan.” I wheel around, back in the captain role that has always come to me so easily. “I’ll take the room across from this one. Tonight, we’ll just rest up.”

I turn to Sawoot with a mischievous grin.

“Tomorrow – if you’re still feeling up to it – you candistractthe Aurelians, and Theme and I will sneak down into the control room. You said we’ll have full control of the doors and the loading bays?”

“Yes,” Theme nods. “Full control.”

The wheels keep turning in my head. This plan is highly risky, but it might just work…

…only, if it doesn’t work, it’s going to make the already sizzling powder keg of this ship explode right when Aelon has to prepare for the Toad assault.