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  Izanami wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  Izanami? ADAM, why isn’t she answering?

  ADAM came back almost immediately. >>I can’t find her either.<<<br />
  Mom. Alexis spoke softly in Bethany Anne’s mind. Izanami is dead. She sacrificed herself to get you out of the trap.

  Bethany Anne refused to believe it. IZANAMI! Answer me, damn you!

  Nothing.

  ADAM, where is she? Find her!

  >>I have the last location of her hard light drive,<< ADAM told her regretfully. >>But I can’t connect to it. She’s gone. You still have time to find the drive, and it’s giving out enough residual power to hold the ghost of the Izanami construct.<<<br />
  Show me where to go. Bethany Anne followed the directions in her HUD across the newly formed ice field without a thought.

  She came across a crag in the ice that was too wide to jump, and jumped anyway, throwing herself into the Etheric. Her boots scattered fragments of ice and crystal as she crunched over the jagged edges on her return, and on she ran.

  The light trapped inside the ice had almost faded when Bethany Anne reached the place ADAM had marked in her HUD. Her traitor eyes burned with tears when the light vanished, making enhanced vision pointless since she couldn’t see through the blur. Where is it?

  >>Somewhere here, in the ice.<<<br />
  Bethany Anne began searching for Izanami’s hard light drive, tearing at the ice in a frantic attempt to locate the drive before her chest did as it was threatening and stopped breathing.

  Izanami had been a part of her life for only a short time, but the AI’s simple grace and quiet caring nature when it came to the children had earned her a place in Bethany Anne’s heart. She dug deeper, throwing up huge chunks of ice as she burrowed into it.

  She left no one behind, and she refused to lose another loved one.

  No more sacrifices; not one more in her name. If she had to lock everyone down again and fight this war alone to prevent the pain she felt right now, she would do it.

  Someone was sobbing nearby. It wasn’t until she felt Michael’s hand on her shoulder that Bethany Anne realized it was coming from her.

  “She is gone,” he told her softly.

  Bethany Anne blinked at Michael, not processing his words. She shrugged him off and dropped to her knees to keep on digging.

  Michael spoke into her mind. Bethany Anne, you need to come to the ship.

  Bethany Anne looked up at him, the hollows under her eyes painting her face in lines of grief. “I’m not leaving without her drive. She has no backup.” She pounded the ice with her fists. “Why didn’t I force her to back herself up?”

  “Because you treated her with the respect of an individual. Izanami made her choice.” Michael held out a hand and waited for her to take it. “The living need you, my love. Alexis and Gabriel are waiting for us.”

  Bethany Anne felt her chest loosen at the mention of her children. She looked around one last time as she got to her feet. “Give me a moment to say goodbye.”

  Michael nodded and walked off a short way, his eyes on the ground in respect.

  Bethany Anne returned to his side a few minutes later, still looking paler than usual behind the visor of her helmet. “Let’s go.”

  Michael called for the Pod he had waiting to take them to the Polaris. “You will bear this, as you have so many times before.”

  Bethany Anne’s eyes flashed red. “I’ll bear it, but I won’t allow it to happen again.”

  19

  QTS Polaris, Queen’s Suite

  Bethany Anne curled up on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked up when Michael entered the cabin. Just let me be. I want to cry.

  Michael crossed the room wordlessly, pausing only to grab a blanket before he got onto the bed beside her.

  Bethany Anne allowed him to wrap the comforter around her without argument. They sat as the silence between them built, thickening with the words she didn’t know how to say. The tears came eventually, the first to escape followed quickly by a deluge as she poured out her broken heart to her husband.

  Her emotion ebbed after a while, drained away with her tears. “Why? Why would she do that? She knew she wouldn’t survive.”

  Michael held her while she vented. “Izanami loved you, Bethany Anne. Our children can tell you the lengths she went to in order to reach you.”

  Bethany Anne sniffed, pulling herself into an upright position. “They might if I ever unground them. Or when I pull my shit together and go see how they’re coping with their grief.”

  “She was part of their daily lives for a while, so I expect Alexis and Gabriel are feeling what death truly means for the first time in their lives.” Michael let his hands fall into his lap. “Time will tell if the deaths they have experienced in-game have provided them with any immunity.”

  Bethany Anne closed her eyes. “There is no immunity, Michael. Loss fucking hurts.”

  Michael got up from the bed and bent to pick up Bethany Anne’s shoes from the floor. “Our AIs are loyal to a fault, and Izanami was especially focused on protecting you.”

  “We have to protect them better,” Bethany Anne’s words hitched in her throat, unable to make it past the emotion wedged there.

  Michael felt her grief harden into something altogether more productive. He held out Bethany Anne’s shoes. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

  Bethany Anne scrubbed a hand across her eyes, the puffiness beneath them vanishing as resolve returned to the line of her jaw. She took her pumps and slipped them on, her eyebrow returning to its usual imperial angle. “We take care of the meeting with Mahi’Takar. Then I’m going to QT2 to light a rocket under Jean’s ass.”

  Outskirts of Yollin Space, Voidrux Logistics Headquarters

  Luther Voidrux came from a long line of assholes. His father was an asshole, and his before him, all the way back to Earth. Being educated men whose sense of honor outweighed their tendencies to poor social intelligence, the Voidrux name had nevertheless been one that spoke to dependability and quality service for as long as humanity had been in space.

  Luther had inherited all of his family’s wealth when he inherited the company. Unfortunately for him, the family name, and the couple hundred thousand employees who had suffered since Luther’s takeover, he had somehow missed out on even a drop of their sense of duty.

  Voidrux Logistics was no longer the proud company it had once been. His habit of screwing his business partners out of their money, and most often their lives in the process, had forced him farther and farther from the welcoming bosom of the nascent Federation.

  He was currently based on this shitty asteroid, but not for long.

  Rumor had it someone was throwing credits around like they were going out of fashion, and Luther knew exactly what to do with a potentially huge score like that. He expected to be sunning himself on one of those luxury resort worlds he couldn’t afford in his present financial circumstance within weeks.

  Luther walked the warehouse floor, humming to himself.

  Things were looking up for him at long last.

  Devon, The Hexagon, Penthouse Apartment, Living Area

  Alexis finished setting Todd’s offerings to the world of finger-painting out to dry and went to wash her hands in the kitchen. “I wish Mom would just get mad at us.”

  Tabitha made room at the sink for Alexis, grabbing a towel to dry her hands. “I told you, you can’t scare the crap out of your mom and get away with it.” She passed Alexis the towel. “I thought you liked training with her?”

  Alexis laughed. “Yeah, she’s the most skilled fighter I’ve ever seen. It’s just, I don’t know. She was holding back before.”

  Peter returned from the bathroom with a paint-free Todd. He set the child down to play and came over to lean on the counter by Tabitha while their son ran over to the miniature fort that was his play area. “Say what you mean. Playing with the grown-ups is painful.”

  Alexis flicked her hair back. �
�Got it in one. She’s merciless.”

  Tabitha’s eyes lit up. “Welcome to the big leagues, where you learn, or you die.”

  Alexis rolled her eyes. “No kidding.”

  Tabitha snorted. “You’ll appreciate it when you’re too hard to kill for anyone to bother trying.”

  Alexis giggled. “Don’t tell Mom, but I’m kind of enjoying it. It might be fun to zap my brother every once in a while when I have better control of the Etheric. Or that ass…inine…”

  Her voice trailed off when no other word to describe Ch’Irzt presented itself, then accepted her fate and dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups before finishing her sentence. “That monumental ass Chet. I hate how he treats Trey. I wish I had laser vision. Corneas don’t take that long to grow back, do they?” She counted off and got to her feet. “It would so be worth it.”

  Peter patted Alexis on the shoulder. “Kid in class giving you trouble?”

  Tabitha threw up her hands. “Yeah, the fully-grown type I had to bump down from the adult classes before he even began. This dumbtastic wonder is the only one of his sibling group still alive, so I can’t even use his brothers to knock him into line.”

  Peter grimaced as his protective instincts kicked in. “Want me to show him some brotherly love?” He pounded his fist into his hand. “Wouldn’t take a minute.”

  Tabitha stood on tiptoe to kiss Peter. “I know, my hunk of sexy wolfman. But I can handle one moody male, and if I get bored with smacking him down, Mahi’Takar is always happy to reinforce my lessons.”

  Bethany Anne materialized in the center of the sitting area while Tabitha was speaking. “I can’t say I disagree with her methods.” She dropped onto the couch with a relieved sigh and bent to remove her boots.

  Alexis came over and tucked herself under Bethany Anne’s arm. “Hey, Mom. I’m glad you’re home. Tough day?”

  Bethany Anne held her daughter tightly. “Good day.” She raised an eyebrow at Alexis’ hair. “I see you had some pampering from Tabitha.”

  Alexis released Bethany Anne and looked at her uncertainly as she touched her fingers to the frosted tips. “Mmhmm. Do you like it?”

  Bethany Anne narrowed her eyes at Tabitha as she brushed her lips against her daughter’s head. “Of course I do.”

  Alexis let go of the breath she’d been holding and flashed a grin at Tabitha. “Told you.”

  Todd poked his head over the wall of his fort, his face creasing with joy when his eyes confirmed what his nose and ears had already told him. “Auntie Bethany Anne! Come and play!”

  Bethany Anne chuckled and got to her feet. “What are we playing?” she asked, stepping over the fort’s wall.

  Todd handed her a small box with a solemn expression. “Keep the treasure safe from the pirates. I gotta fight them.”

  Tabitha sighed loudly. “Did those pesky pirates come back, Todd?”

  “Yeah, Mama,” her son agreed. “Me and Auntie Bethany Anne will show them.”

  “We will,” Bethany Anne agreed. “I bet we’ll defeat them just in time for dinner, huh?”

  Todd forgot about the pirates at the mention of food. “Is dinner soon?” he asked Tabitha.

  Tabitha looked at Peter.

  Peter held out his hands. “You already had dinner, Todd. It’s almost bedtime.”

  Todd pouted, folding his arms. “Don’t wanna go bed. I wanna play with Auntie Bethany Anne.”

  Bethany Anne made a sad face. “I have to go to a boring meeting soon, sweetheart. It wouldn’t be any fun for you to sit quietly while the adults talk about the rules, would it?”

  Todd’s brow furrowed as he worked through the logic. “Nooo…”

  Bethany Anne lifted her hands. “That’s what you would have to do if you stay up late. How about you get ready for bed, and I’ll tell you a story before you go to sleep?”

  Todd narrowed his eyes. “A story about pirates?”

  Bethany Anne lifted her hands. “What else?” She grinned at the resulting joy on his little face.

  Tabitha grinned as her son dived into Peter’s arms. “I’d better get my fine behind out the door. Mahi’Takar is due at the open day in a few minutes.” She tossed Alexis her jacket. “You ready?”

  Alexis caught her jacket midair. “You bet I am. It’s killing us to keep things from Trey. The sooner we can get him away from his so-called family, the better.” She flounced out with a hair-swish worthy of Tabitha.

  Tabitha looked at Bethany Anne over her shoulder as she followed Alexis out the door. “Do you remember being that righteous at her age?”

  Bethany Anne waved them off, snickering. “Weren’t you a little ball of sunshine at that age? I know I was.”

  “Bet your dad would tell us differently,” Tabitha called back.

  Devon, The Hexagon, Main Arena

  The hum of many languages met Tabitha and Alexis when they got to the back corridor leading to the arena.

  “Maybe the open day wasn’t just a good cover,” Alexis commented as they got to the doors. “Sounds like half the city turned up to take a look round.”

  Tabitha nodded at John as they passed his position by the door. “It won’t be a bad thing if we get more support.” She scanned the arena, looking for Trey’s slightly golden fur among the pinks, yellows, greens, and blues of the crowd. “I don’t see any new Bakas.”

  Alexis shrugged. “They’ll come around. They won’t have much choice if Trey’s mom signs a treaty with us.”

  Tabitha spotted Trey at the entrance. “There he is. No sign of his mom, though.”

  “How’s my best student?” Tabitha asked when they reached him.

  “I thought I was your best student,” Alexis teased.

  Trey grinned. “Nervous, honestly. Mahi’ is almost here, and she sent me ahead to tell you she has her two youngest brothers guarding her. They’ll do as she tells them.”

  Tabitha tilted her head, greeting Mahi’Takar with a warm smile when she arrived with two large guards in tow. “Hey. Glad you could make it. This is Alexis, another of my students.”

  Mahi’Takar inclined her head a fraction, her regal nod offset by the warmth in her eyes. “We are not so different when it comes to wanting to know our children are on the right path. I look forward to hearing about my son’s accomplishments.”

  Tabitha noted the dissatisfaction the two guards flanking Mahi’Takar failed to conceal at their leader’s friendly tone. “He has a lot of accomplishments to talk about. Trey has shown intelligence and perseverance in his training.”

  Mahi’Takar looked over the assembled Devonians. “I assume you have somewhere quieter in mind for our discussion?”

  Tabitha played along, the attitudes of the two male guards at Mahi’Takar’s back not impressing her. “Actually, I wanted to invite you to a small gathering I’ve arranged for my star students and their parents.”

  Mahi’Takar raised a hand to still Trey’s reaction. “Very well.” She turned to her guards. “You will remain here to ensure we are not interrupted at this gathering.”

  “Not happening, Mahi’,” the tallest told her roughly. “We don’t know that these humans will obey the laws of hospitality.”

  Tabitha sighed. “You’re talking to your sister about hospitality, and you haven’t even bothered to introduce yourselves? What rights do nameless guests have? None.”

  The shorter male peered out from under his shaggy fringe of hair. “You have learned our ways.”

  “I told you,” Trey cut in. “We can be allies and exchange culture. Humans are not so different from us. They fight for family and honor, and they despise the Seven.” He waved his arms as he spoke, somehow managing to tangle up his gangly limbs for a second. He blinked, then continued as though nothing happened. “You could learn a lot from them if your head wasn’t made of wood.”

  The taller brother snorted. “You have to be joking. These small, hairless creatures?” He leaned over to Mahi’Takar. “Sister, why are you allowing our future Takar to be
influenced by lesser warriors?”

  Mahi’Takar wheeled around and backhanded her brother across the face. “I warned you, Da’Mahin. Do not force me to make a point.”

  Da’Mahin bared his teeth at Mahi’Takar, and Trey jumped in front of his mother. “Do you want to live out your days in exile?”

  The rise in the level of tension drew John’s attention. He swerved to intervene, but Tabitha waved him off behind her back, wanting to avoid a confrontation.

  John ignored Tabitha, approaching Mahi’Takar with a winsome smile. “These guys bothering you, ma’am?” he asked.

  Mahi’Takar fanned herself with a hand. “Since the day they were born. Unfortunately, it is the role of male siblings to make life difficult for a female.”

  John chuckled. “You sure? I can throw their behinds out of here, no problem.”

  Da’Mahin scoffed. “You barely reach my chest. How do you expect to make us do anything?”

  John met Da’Mahin’s eyes calmly. “Keep being an asshole and you’ll find out.”

  Trey snorted. “This is John Grimes. He’s one of the humans’ most celebrated warriors.”

  Mahi’Takar dipped her head fractionally. “Then it is our honor to meet you, John Grimes. Perhaps you would care to share stories of battle with us?”

  John lifted a shoulder. “I dunno about celebrated. I live my life and kick what ass is necessary, is all. Same as the rest of us. No need to make a big deal out of it.”

  Tabitha raised an eyebrow, wondering why John was slinging humble pie like he was moonlighting as a short-order cook. “You could give these guys a tour while Mahi’Takar and I talk about Trey.”

  John folded his arms across his chest. “The guys and I are sparring in the outdoor arena with the CDF. If you guys aren’t bothered by a little pain, you’re welcome to join us.”

  Tabitha pressed her lips together. “You want to fight the Bakas?”

  John shrugged. “Group consensus.”

  “Challenge accepted.” The smaller of Mahi’Takar's brothers grunted, inflating his chest to loom over John. “How many are in your group? It should be a fair fight, or there is no honor in winning.”