Chapter 144

  Alexander stood outside the captain’s ready room, the door a familiar threshold now. He’d been here before, but that felt like a month ago rather than a week.

  “Come in.”

  The door slid open, and Alexander stepped inside.

  The space was still compact and functional, but Carmen had made it hers. The desk remained in the same position, command screens mounted on the wall beside it, but the sterile corporate aesthetic had been replaced with something more lived-in.

  An alien plant sat on the corner of her desk in a simple ceramic pot. Its leaves were a deep violet color, edged with bioluminescent silver that pulsed faintly in the artificial light. As Alexander entered, the leaves shifted, tracking his movement with unsettling awareness. The entire plant swiveled slightly in his direction, its carnivorous-looking bulb opening and closing in a slow rhythm.

  Alexander paused, examining it.

  Carmen glanced up from her tablet, following his gaze. “Picked it up on The Nexus. The vendor said it was a Sentinel Ivy. Apparently they’re semi-aware and bond with whoever feeds them.” She set the tablet down. “I thought it would be nice to have something alive in here besides me.”

  “The room’s definitely taken on some new life,” Alexander said.

  Then his gaze moved past the plant to the wall behind her desk.

  A cultist dagger hung there, mounted in a simple display case. The blade was curved and serrated, the metal dark with age and use. Ritual markings covered the hilt.

  Alexander raised an eyebrow.

  Carmen met his look with a calm expression. She didn’t explain. Didn’t justify.

  After a moment, Alexander moved to the chair across from her desk and settled into it.

  “Would you like something to drink?” Carmen asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Any preference?”

  “Dealer’s choice.”

  Carmen nodded and moved to a small cabinet near the wall. She pulled out two mugs and a bottle Alexander recognized as decent coffee. A second, smaller bottle joined it. Whiskey, if he had to guess.

  She prepared both drinks with practiced movements. Coffee with a splash of liquor in each. He’d met with her enough times now that the behavior was familiar, but there was something more relaxed about it this time. Less rigid formality, more comfortable routine.

  Carmen handed him one mug and returned to her seat with the other.

  Alexander took a sip. Strong coffee, smooth whiskey. It was a good balance.

  He watched her settle, recognizing the process for what it was. A ritual. Something she’d done hundreds of times, probably thousands, across different ships and different commands. The small ceremonies that marked the boundaries between captain and crew, between professional and personal.

  It made sense. She’d been doing this for years before Grimnir had hired her.

  “How’s the ship?” Alexander asked.

  “It’s in good shape,” Carmen said. “Better than before, actually. The modifications held up well, and the ablative armor replacement was done properly. No complaints from the engineering team.”

  “That must be a first.”

  Carmen’s mouth twitched. “The Chief is actually happy for once. He got to perform every cold-to-hot test he’d been wanting to run since we boarded. Kept muttering about ‘finally getting real data’ and ‘proper baseline measurements.’”

  Alexander smiled. “I’m glad.”

  “He’s been significantly less grumpy. The rest of the crew is grateful.”

  Alexander took another sip of his drink. “Speaking of. How are they doing?”

  Carmen’s expression turned thoughtful. She turned her mug in her hands, watching the liquid inside.

  “Most of them have adjusted. Better than I expected, honestly.” She paused. “Especially with the losses.”

  Alexander waited.

  “Yuki’s still dealing with it,” Carmen said quietly. “She and James worked together for years.”

  Alexander nodded slowly. He’d noticed that Yuki sometimes had moments where she seemed withdrawn. Silent. It was obvious she was still grieving.

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  “I’ve been keeping an eye on her,” Carmen continued. “Making sure she’s eating, sleeping, staying occupied. She’s a good pilot. One of the best I’ve worked with. But grief isn’t something you can just power through.”

  “No,” Alexander said. “It’s not.”

  The silence stretched.

  Then Carmen looked at him directly. “Are you serious about supplying the entire crew with serum?”

  Alexander met her gaze. “Yes.”

  “It’s not that I don’t believe you,” she said quickly. “I’m just surprised. The governments and mega-corps locked it down tight after the System revealed itself. Even people with connections are paying ridiculous prices. If they can get it at all.”

  Alexander nodded. “I’m aware. But we have options.”

  “Options?”

  “I’ll check in with some black market contacts first. See if it’s viable, though I’m not expecting much. With the corporations locking down their supply, it’s not likely much stock has lasted this long. I’ll also meet with the Queen of Hearts. See if the modified serum we provided her can be used for humans. If it can, and if production has actually started, that’s our best bet.”

  “I’m still surprised at how casually connected Grimnir is,” she said. “The Royals are internationally famous. Or infamous, I suppose. And the Throne of Scales, supposedly your rivals, just drop everything and risk their lives fighting alongside you? Then you go and deal with the likes of Galactic Councilors and the master of The Nexus.”

  Alexander chuckled. “I guess we have been a little busy.”

  Carmen refocused. “What if neither of those options work?”

  Alexander shrugged. “Then we’ll rob Santiago Systems again. It’s kind of our thing.”

  Carmen swirled her mug idly. When she spoke, her voice was quieter.

  “I’m worried about the risks.”

  Alexander didn’t answer immediately. He took another sip, considering his words.

  “You shouldn’t,” he said finally. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I’m almost certain all of the risk lies in the soul reinforcement step. And if you or any of the crew feel even the slightest hint of danger at that point, they can accept the System reward and bypass it entirely.”

  Carmen nodded slowly, processing that. “What about the Willpower requirement?”

  “It’s not a problem. Willpower can be trained like any other attribute. Talia’s putting together comprehensive training programs and lessons about everything we know right now. Everyone will get there. It’s just a matter of time and effort.”

  “Alright. That makes me feel better. I’ll let the others know.” Carmen set her mug down again and leaned back. “So. You didn’t come here to discuss the serum, I’m sure. Is it about this detour of yours?”

  Alexander smiled. “Yes.”

  He lifted his hand and flicked a finger toward the command screen on the wall. The display activated, showing a broad sector map of nearby star systems. He made a swiping motion, and the map zoomed in, focusing on the local cluster around Sol.

  He pointed to one system in particular. The designation read “System K-227” in standard fleet notation.

  Carmen studied it. “I know that one. It’s uninhabited. The only activity there is automated asteroid mining operations.”

  Alexander nodded. “Exactly.”

  “What do you need there?”

  “I have plans regarding the Beastworld gateway when we get home,” Alexander said. “And I need some equipment that I can’t acquire through legal channels.”

  He paused, organizing his thoughts. “I could design and build what I need from scratch. But that would take time I don’t want to waste. And why should I, when there are plenty just sitting around waiting to be borrowed?”

  Carmen’s mouth twitched. Almost a smile. “You realize that borrowing anything in space is legally considered an act of piracy, right? Which just so happens to be a very serious crime.”

  “I know,” Alexander said. “But as you pointed out, it’s an uninhabited system. All we have to do is drop in with our transponder off. Get close enough for me to convince the machines to dump their haul, detach the containers, and fly right into our cargo hold. Then we jump back out and continue along our route with nobody the wiser. We should be able to fit half a dozen of them.”

  Carmen was quiet for a moment. “Okay, so why are we discussing it like this?”

  “Because, as you said, it’s illegal. And while I’m highly confident that we can pull this off with no issues, the risk is real. When we employed you and the crew, we made it clear there were no expectations for you to be involved with anything illegal. It was… a gray area, working for supervillains, but still legal.”

  She waited.

  Alexander continued. “I can either do this openly, with the crew fully aware… or we can allow them their ignorance. I’ll make it appear to the crew, and you, that the transponder is still on. That all our systems report nothing out of the ordinary while it happens. It’s a thin defense, but it would be technically true and offers them plausible deniability.”

  “You’re giving them another opportunity to back out of being part of a supervillain group.”

  “That too,” he said. “Now that we’re heading back to Earth, and after what everyone’s been through, it feels like the right thing to do. To give them a chance to reconsider.”

  Carmen shook her head. “I’ve already spoken to everyone privately while you were dealing with the gateways. I appreciate you being considerate, but they’re committed. And that was before the quest reward and the offer to supply them with the serum.”

  That surprised him.

  While he’d been certain most of the crew would carry through with their decision to join Grimnir, he’d been expecting some to leave once they made it back home. It made sense when they first agreed; after all, their lives were at risk. And they were stuck in a metal coffin in space. With supervillains. No matter how nice they seemed, erring on the side of caution by keeping the supervillains happy was the rational choice.

  Getting paid and cutting one’s losses just struck him as the next sane thing to do once the opportunity presented itself.

  Carmen studied him. “You weren’t expecting that?”

  “Honestly?” He shook his head. “No. Not really.”

  “Spacers are… a different sort.” She picked up her mug and sipped. “Long voyages in the void lend themselves either to forming tight bonds, or utter apathy. It’s the difference between those who keep working together and those who hop ship at every port. The people I recruited are the former.”

  Alexander scratched his nose. “I see. Then I guess it’s time to plot some piracy.”

  Carmen smiled. “I’ll let the crew know that we’re borrowing some heavy space equipment for our crazy leader’s plans to…” She paused. “What, exactly? Mine another world?”

  Alexander put the mug down. “Something like that.”

  She waited for a few seconds before realizing he was not going to elaborate. “Alright. But if this goes wrong and we end up with Space Force starships hunting us down, I’m tossing you out the airlock.”

  Alexander laughed. “That’s fair.”

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