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His lips twitched. ‘Don’t start a war of words with me, Chief Bianchi, you won’t win.’

She narrowed her eyes, enjoying the banter. ‘I’ll rip you apart before you know it. I’m a fierce Italian woman who learned the art of sass from my Nonna Carmelinda. So tell me more.’

He gave her a long, slow look.

Then he arched one perfect brow, cool and brooding as ever, and said nothing.

Savvine huffed, intrigued, her mind freakin’ blown. ‘You will soon enough.’

11

Letting Sleeping Wolves Lie

SAVVINE

They fished in silence.

At first, it unnerved her, the absence of background chatter, the lack of urgency.

No team members shouting updates, no boots stomping down steel corridors, no comms crackling in her ear, only stillness.

Water lapping against the shore. The occasional splash of a fish.

The soft whir of her line spinning out over the lake.

In time, she relaxed.

Her shoulders unwound, and her breathing slowed. She stopped gripping the rod like a plasma rifle and let it rest on her palm, easy and loose.

Fireflies began to appear, gliding over the lagoon like drifting stars.

In the distance, a few delicate-winged flyers hummed overhead, their glow barely noticeable.

Across the water, golden lights winked on in lakeside cabins, homes filled with laughter, the clatter of dishes, and residents enjoying quiet lives.

She glanced around her, stunned again, still unbelieving that she was on a spaceship.How had they achieved this?

He broke the silence, his voice rumbling, filling in the blanks in her mind, somehow reading her thoughts.

‘The crew who built this deck were ex-cons, shifters, metas, the unwanted and despised,’ Xander said, eyes on the lake. ‘We knew we’d never see Earth again. Many of us had never seen lakes, even on Earth, for we came from favelas, ghettos, poverty, and despair. We needed healing and hope, so we created a place never to forget Earth as it used to be, and a sanctuary that could be a balm in Gilead.’

She turned to him, her breath catching.

He continued. ‘We all take care of it, from the security guards to the business owners and merchants on theSombra. We keep this park running, tend the soil, build cabins, and maintain the irrigation. We even have market gardens, sell fresh produce to the mess halls, and ship the excess to outlying rigs.’

Savvine took an inhale. ‘Tis impressive.’

He cast his line again, smooth as silk. ‘Tis a lifeline we believed in.’

‘How did you integrate the ex-cons and rebels in different factions to work as one?’

‘We had a reconciliation panel,’ he said. ‘We worked at it for years, and used various methods like mediation, restitution, and shared work. People stared each other in the eye, talked about the worst things they’d ever done, and chose to move forward. We still have scars, but we live in relative peace now.’

She was quiet, absorbing it.

Xander tilted his head. ‘It’s not my people who worry me now. Tis the shit show outside this ship that keeps my team and me up at night.’

She gazed at him then, really studied him. Tall, calm, this strange mix of soft and steel, she recognized not just the power, the danger, but the purpose for the first time.