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But lately? It seems like every month a new vessel disappears. Orb-Drives are becoming less and less reliable – and more and more dangerous.

And now, according to the report on Daccia’s console, there have beentwovessels lost – both in a single day.

I hate to imagine what happens to those ships that disappear. Are they trapped in that in-between place? For eternity? Or do the simply disappear, into atoms and void?

Who knows? And not knowing is terrifying.

“We could standard travel.” I’m shocked that the suggestion came out ofmymouth – and I instantly feel like a coward for suggesting it.

Standard travel – using the impulse drives that powered interstellar transport before the discover of Orbs – still comes with its own set of dangers.

Not least of which isher.

We could resist Allie for a few days – but it would takeweeksto reach Colossus using standard travel.

In that case, we couldn't legally confine her to the punishment brig – not for that long. Aurelian law is robust and heartless, but even it states that for escape attempts during arrest you can’t hold a prisoner in a punishment brig for longer than fourteen days.

According to protocol, Allie’s recent escape attempts have only earned her two weeks in the cell. After that? According to law, she'd be allowed in move to the official prisoner chamber – a slightly more comfortable bedroom, which offers limited access to the rest of the ship.

Access tous.

I remember the way Allie touched my chest – and I shudder at the memory of her soft touch. She knewexactlywhat she was doing. Allie knows how to pour gasoline onto the flames of lust, and if she had twenty-five days to use those seductive wiles, my triad and I might not be able to resist the temptation.

Daccia grunts, sensing my concern.

"We could – but our superiors have okayed us to Orb-Shift even with the increased risk. We can't give up a tactical advantage. If the humans and Toads think the agents of the Empire are no longer willing to Orb-Shift, we're risking another interplanetary war. We don't want to have that happen again. Our races barely survived the first one."

That was true enough. There had been a time, an eon ago, when the civilizations of Toad and Aurelian fought for supremacy across the universe. Entire planets were razed, and whole galaxies were left devoid of life after the Planet Killers started blasting and destroying strongholds and fleets of warships.

If the Aurelian Empire wants to keep the uneasy peace in our galaxy, no one can know our people are growing increasingly hesitant to Orb-Shift. Word has come from headquarters that the Toad fleets have already begun only shifting in emergency situations. The Empire needs to keep its tactical advantage; even as if becomes ever more dangerous to do so.

But danger is a mindset – and this is a battle fought by will rather than weapons.

As for us, right now – well, knowing the orders of the Empire doesn’t reassure us much. Even with the increase in Orb-Shift disappearances, the odds are still in our favor for a safe shift. After all, even two disappearances in a single day doesn’t outweigh hundred – or potentially thousands – of shifts that have been completed safely in that same timeframe.

Logically, we have little to worry about...

…but logic doesn’t help. The thin tendrils of fear start to squirm through all our auras. It’s infectious – and the thought of Orb-Shifting fills my battle-brothers with as much anxiousness as it does me.

Fear propagates fear.

Hadrian breaks the uneasy silence. “She deserves to know.”

Daccia turns to face him down. “She deserves to know? About the risk of Orb-Shifting?” He pauses. “Wouldyouwant to? Before you take the journey, that is?”

Cold fear grips me. I wish I didn’t know we were about to face a fate worse than death.

Even when shifting goes smoothly, it’s still a freakish experience. When you Orb-Shift, it's like you're leaving your own body. It's like you're in this...limbo– this cold, dark place where nothing exists. You’re only there for a second – for less than the blink of a second – but it’s plenty long enough.

The thought that scares me the most is being that place for eternity. It's like death, even while you're still alive. Is that where the ships that have disappeared end up? Hanging in nothingness for eternity?

For Allie's own sake, she shouldn't know how fucking dangerous Orb-Travel is right now.

I shake my head. The three of us know the risks.We'rewilling to take them. But to put Allie into that dark place?

Then I wonder... If we were trapped there – in the void of nothingness on the other side of a shift – would we be trapped together? My battle-brothers and Allie?

Or would we just disappear? Disintegrated to less than atoms?