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  “Madalena, you will be responsible for resupplying Persephone. Paula, Kasta, Eve, Zea, and I will visit our friend on the station. We’ll be back in a few hours, and I’ll have a plan for our next step.”

  “Adam,” Madalena said quickly, “I can delegate such a task to one of the crew members who has submitted to me. My preference is to remain by your side.” I could feel her dismay even though her face betrayed no emotion.

  “That is fine,” I said. “You can remain on Persephone while we visit our friend. I have not seen my friends in eighteen days, and wish to speak with them about the changes in our life.” I gestured over my shoulder with my thumb to point to the rest of Madalena’s crew.

  “Understood,” the Prime Valkyrie said, but her anger rolled off her like lava, and she turned her gray eyes from me so she could stare at Persephone’s blank display screen.

  I saw Zea open her mouth to speak, but then she glanced at me, closed her mouth, and turned around to sit in her chair. She probably figured that a snarky response directed at Madalena wouldn’t help anything now.

  I’d spoken, and my women needed to follow my orders.

  “Thirty seconds,” Nikki said after a few moments of silence, and I moved to buckle my harness.

  “Everyone to battle stations,” I said.

  “Battle stations!” Madalena repeated.

  “Yes, Prime Valkyrie!” the shouted behind us.

  “Are they going to do that every time she tells them to--” Zea started to say, but then we exited warpdrive and arrived at Queen’s Hat.

  A small part of me expected the massive hat-shaped station to be under attack from Elaka Nota still, but the megacorp would have had to send an armada, and there was no visible damage to the station. It looked just as it had the other times we journeyed here, and I felt my shoulders relax.

  “Zea, run a scan on the docked ships,” Madalena ordered.

  “Uhh…” the blonde hacker raised an eyebrow and gave the Prime Valkyrie a surprised look.

  “I can ask Nikki to do it, or Paula,” the brunette woman said flatly.

  “Adam?” Zea narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.

  “It’s fine. I know you were about to do it anyways.” I gave her a smile, and she nodded.

  “Running scanners,” Zea said as she turned back around to her terminal. “Looks good so far.”

  “Yeah, nothing is jumping out at me,” I said as I watched the green text scroll down the side of Persephone’s screen. None of it said Elaka Nota, Lith Dae, or Alloprize. I didn’t really expect the last two corporations to make an appearance on Queen’s Hat, but paranoia was a good survival technique.

  “They are sending us a message,” Zea said.

  “Pass it through; audio only,” Madalena replied, and Zea’s head spun around so that she could look at me.

  “Yeah, it’s fine, Zea,” I said, and the hacker glared at me before she turned around.

  You will need to establish a clear chain of command. I am sure you can understand what the Prime Valkyrie is attempting.

  I nodded at Eve but then turned my attention back to the screen.

  “Persephone, this is Queen’s Hat. Welcome back,” a woman’s voice said.

  “Glad to be back. Do you have a dock for us?”

  “Yes, head to E-24. Bearing 24.5 and -897.4.”

  “Do you have anything in B harbor?” I asked.

  “Negative, Persephone. We are doing some maintenance there. Please proceed to the bearings.”

  Zea and Paula turned around to look at me, and I made the motion for Zea to mute the line.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “There are… ten open docks in B harbor,” Zea said as she danced her fingers across the controls of her terminal.

  “Paula and Kasta, does that sound right?” I asked the twins. “Would they repair ten docks at the same time?”

  “I don’t know much about their dock repairing procedures,” Paula said.

  “Me either,” Kasta admitted, and then she turned to Zea. “Are they next to each other?”

  “Kind of,” the hacker said with a shrug.

  “What do you suspect?” Madalena asked.

  “I told you about our last visit,” I replied.

  “You suspect Elaka Nota has taken over the station?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m probably just being paranoid,” I admitted.

  “There is no such thing as too much paranoia with Elaka Nota,” Zea said after she cleared her throat. “What should we do?”

  “You could return to Nordar - 13,” Madalena suggested. “We would crush them if they chose to follow.”

  “It is probably nothing,” I said. “Zea, unmute please.” She waved her hand after I pressed a button on her controls.

  “Queen’s Hat, can you patch us into Lieutenant Colonel Larns?” I asked.

  “I will inquire, you have special status with us, so I have authority to page her.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, and then we waited for a few minutes.

  “I’m sorry, Persephone,” the voice finally said. “The Lieutenant Colonel is in a meeting. Will you be docking with us today?”

  “How long will she be in a meeting for?” I asked.

  “I am unsure, Persephone. I’m traffic control. Her assistant didn’t tell me.”

  “Can I speak with her assistant?” I asked.

  There was a pause for a few moments, and Zea started to shake her head.

  “This is Constable Smith,” a voice answered, and I sighed when I recognized the voice of Juliette’s assistant.

  “Hey Constable, this is Adam, from Persephone. Just wanted to make sure that everything on the station was fine. We couldn’t reach Larns, and they are directing us to harbor E. Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, Adam. We are good.” His voice didn’t sound strained, but I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  Something was wrong.

  “You all got rid of Elaka Nota after we left?” I asked.

  “Yes, Adam. Was easy. We cleaned them out, no problem. Captain Larns is in a meeting with the council talking about beefing up our security so that we can’t get attacked again.”

  “Great. We’ll dock shortly,” I said, and then I motioned for Zea to cut the connection.

  “He called her ‘Captain,’” Eve observed.

  “Hmmm,” Kasta said. “I didn’t spend a lot of time with Smith, but he seemed pretty buttoned up, he must have called Juliette Lieutenant Colonel some dozen times.”

  “Yeah, fuck this. This is a trap,” Zea groaned.

  “We should return to Nordar - 13,” Madalena said.

  “Hey, one track mind Viking babe, we’ve got a lot of other places to go besides the place where Adam is gonna hang. Give it a rest.” Zea rolled her eyes. It was apparent that she wasn’t intimidated by Madalena.

  It was probably because Zea had not yet seen the Prime Valkyrie kill dozens of people in a few seconds.

  “Zea, have you completed the scan of all the ships docked at Queen’s Hat?” I asked.

  “Awww, no,” Zea admitted. “I need Nikki to fly around the other side.”

  “Nikki, please fly around,” Madalena said, and Zea smirked.

  We watched the screen for fifteen seconds, and then the hacker chuckled “I bet the whole fucking Elaka Nota armada is on the other side of Queen’s Hat hiding from us.”

  “How would they know where we would exit from warp or hyperdrive?” Paula asked.

  “Ahh. Good point,” Zea said as she scrunched her nose. Then the hacker looked at her terminal and moaned. “Queen’s Hat is sending us communications again, probably because we aren’t sticking to their heading.”

  “Pass it through; audio only,” Madalena said again, and I saw Zea’s slender shoulders stiffen.

  “It’s fine, Zea,” I said, and the hacker pressed a button on her controls.

  “Persephone, you are not taking the instructed heading,” the woman’s voi
ce said.

  “Sorry about that, Queen’s Hat. We’ll be on your heading in…” I paused as I looked at Nikki, and she flashed me five fingers three times. “Fifteen seconds.”

  “Fine,” she replied, and then I motioned for Zea to turn off the communications.

  “We have to head to this side anyways to dock,” Zea said. “We just aren’t on their heading.”

  “Any sign of Elaka Nota?” I asked.

  “Should have it in… there!” Zea gestured to the screen. “No Elaka Nota docked.”

  “Perhaps they are not on the station?” Kasta asked. “Our suspicions rest on them sending us to District E instead of B, and Constable Smith calling Juliette a Captain.”

  “I agree with the android,” Madalena said. “It seems doubtful your enemies are here. However, I would prefer we return to Nordar - 13.”

  “First of all, her name is Kasta,” Zea said. “Not ‘android.’”

  “It’s fine,” the blonde android said as she waved her hands.

  “I apologize,” Madalena said.

  “Second of all, you don’t know Elaka Nota. These fucks are probably waiting to spring a trap on us as soon as we dock. They will capture Eve and Adam for their experiments, take back Persephone, and then kill the rest of us.” Zea crossed her arms and shook her head at the screen.

  “Paula?” I asked as I looked at the twin engineer.

  “Hmmm,” she said as she brushed back her hair. “If it is Elaka Nota, Kasta and I can pilot some drones into the harbor. We’d be able to tell. Then we can blast out of here. It’s not like the dock can keep us trapped.”

  “Good point,” I said as I turned to Eve.

  “Elaka Nota is powerful, but I do not know if they could take over all of Queen’s Hat in three weeks,” the vampire woman said. “I also worry that if they have, Juliette and all of the other innocents on this station are in danger.”

  “Juliette’s a big girl,” Zea said. “She can handle herself.”

  I looked at the blonde hacker, and she deflated a bit.

  “Yeah. Fine. Fuck. I don’t want to leave her if she is in trouble. We should figure out what is going on. Might not be a big deal.”

  “Shall I dock?” Nikki asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Everyone else, grab a weapon, meet in the hold, and hope we don’t have to save Queen’s Hat again.”

  Chapter 3

  Minutes later, the group was in the armory picking out weapons and putting on armor. The room was big enough for all of us to fit, but Madalena’s warriors really didn’t need to occupy themselves with putting on armor, so my friends and I got a few moments alone in the corner while we put on our plates.

  “I don’t like this,” Zea said again.

  “I know,” I replied.

  “I know you know. I’m saying it again because I want you to know that I know that you know that I know.”

  “The drones will be able to see,” I said.

  “Yeah, okay,” Zea sighed.

  “If we encounter someone, I can read their thoughts and find out what is going on,” Eve said.

  “Ahh, good point,” Zea replied. “Sorry, I’m just feeling super paranoid.”

  “No,” I said. “It’s fine. We all should be paranoid.”

  I finished putting on my armor before the women, so I helped Eve with her back plates. Next, I did the same for Zea, Paula, and Kasta. As soon as I finished, I turned around to find Madalena waiting for me with my ammo belt in her hand.

  “I will assist you, my lord,” she said as she reached around my hips with the belt.

  “That’s okay,” I said as I waved the gun belt away. “I intended to go to the security door unarmed.”

  “Huh?” Zea said.

  “We aren’t allowed to carry weapons on the station, remember? We need to get the door opened. Kasta, you and I will approach the docking security door without weapons. As soon as they open the door, you’ll send your drones through to scout. We’ll retreat if we need to. If it looks clear, Eve will move up and try to read some minds out there.” My explanation sounded beyond paranoid, but every time I let my guard down we got punched in the face, and I was sick of it. Everything was going to be tightly run from now on, even if it cost us some time.

  “Everyone loaded up?” I asked after my friends grabbed rifles and ammo belts.

  “We are ready,” Madalena said as she gestured to her team. Nikki was still in the pilot’s seat, but Mikhael, Josefinna, Lux, Milda, and Calisto were holding their pulse rifles, and I could feel a bit of excitement rolling off them.

  “We are as well,” Eve said as she gestured to Zea, Paula, and Kasta. My friends held our conventional rifles, even though there were plenty pulse weapons available.

  “Alright. Everyone but Kasta and I will post at the hull exit. Let’s go.”

  The team followed me out, and we walked down the hallway to the hold.

  “Adam,” Nikki said over our transponders. “I have docked. The harbor tube is attaching.”

  “Thanks, Nikki. Get ready to warpdrive out of here if we run into problems.”

  “What destination?”

  “We’ll return to Nordar - 13,” I said after a moment of thought, and I felt pleasure roll off Madalena.

  “Ugh. Adam?” Zea gasped, but I just shook my head at her.

  “I will set it,” Nikki replied as we reached the hold. As soon as we stepped into the space, five of Kasta’s drones floated toward us and came to hover over the android woman.

  “I’m going to control one of the knight-drones,” Paula said as she gestured to one of the massive robots that sat beside the shuttles.

  “Good idea,” I said as the Vaish warriors spread out through the hold to cover the bay doors. Our hold was organized, but there were still plenty of food crates, shuttles, and the APC to take cover behind.

  I gestured for Kasta to come with me, and we approached Persephone’s exit door. It irised open when we were within two meters, and we walked down the ramp toward the security door at the end of the tube. Once we were there, I pressed on the button and then waited for the harbor security to answer.

  “Persephone?” a man asked from the intercom, and we looked up at the camera.

  “That’s us,” I said.

  “You know the rules?” he asked.

  “Yeah, we aren’t armed,” I said.

  “Trading rhodium again?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “We’ve got a hundred grams, so we shouldn’t have the docking fee, correct?”

  “Correct. Welcome to Queen’s Hat.” The door opened, and I stepped aside in the tunnel. So that I wasn’t standing in front.

  Kasta knew the plan, and her five drones dove through the doorway as soon as I stepped aside. She gasped a few seconds after the drones plunged through. There was silence for a few moments, and then she shrugged. “Looks clear, there are people in the harbor, but I don’t see anything out of place.”

  “You sure?” I asked.

  “Yeah, give me another minute though.” The android’s mouth wiggled a bit, and her eyes got a far-off look.

  I gestured back to the team in Persephone’s hold to wait for a few minutes, and then Kasta shrugged.

  “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Alright. We’ll go out with Eve,” I said. The vampire was already walking down the ramp, and she gave me a small smile when she reached me.

  “Check the clerk at the station first,” I said as the three of us walked through the tunnel and into the harbor.

  “Yes,” Eve said. “Hmm. He doesn’t seem to know anything unusual. I will check the crowd.” We waited for a few moments as the throng of visitors, traders, and travelers walked through the massive harbor. No one seemed to exhibit any more than the usual tense behavior that I’d expect when being in a crowded space harbor.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Eve said at last, and I felt some of the tension in my shoulders relax.

  “Okay, I guess we are good for no
w.” I smiled at my two friends and then pressed on my transponder button. “Zea and Paula, you are clear to come out. Madalena, you have command over Persephone until I return. Restock what you can and be ready to depart soon.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Madalena replied. Her voice was flat, and I was too far away from her to feel her emotions.

  “Alright,” Zea said, and I looked back through the tunnel to watch her and Paula walk toward us. They closed the security door behind them, and then the five of us stood in a circle while the crowd walked around us.

  “Feels like old times,” Zea said as her face split into a wide smile.

  “Yeah, like four weeks ago,” Paula chuckled.

  “Damn, yeah. Feels like forever though.” The hacker smiled at the other blonde women, and then they turned to me.

  “We’ll have to take the tube train into District B,” I said as I gestured to where most of the crowd was walking.

  “We should grab dinner, or lunch, or whatever,” Zea said as we walked.

  “Yes,” Eve said as the twins nodded. “I have told everyone about what Adam went through, but he might wish to explain in his own words.”

  “I’m sure you did a fine job,” I said. “I’m just happy we are all together again. I missed all of you, and there wasn’t a second where I didn’t worry about you.”

  “Even us?” Kasta asked.

  “Of course!” I laughed. “I saw you fake unconsciousness when the men used their darts on you. It was a relief. I hoped you’d be able to help everyone escape.”

  “Ha!” the android laughed. “I counted a dozen darts on you, and everyone else was unconscious. I figured it would be the best way to help. I was worried they would try to kill you when you passed out, but then you made it up to Persephone.”

  “How long was everyone out?” I asked hesitantly. My friends didn’t seem to be traumatized from their abduction, so I guessed that they hadn’t been sexually assaulted, but I didn’t know how to ask the question without feeling the rage pour through my body.

  “They loaded us in our cells and went into the atmosphere,” Kasta explained. “We jumped into hyperspace a few minutes after. They put us all together in a metal cell with patches on our arms to administer the drugs. I pulled them off a few minutes after they left us and then used water from the sink in the cell to splash on everyone’s face.”