They were only in Darkspace for a few moments before emerging in the void; over five light-hours from the star, far from anything of any significance. If they had some sort of tracker on them, it would take hours for anyone to get the signal and pinpoint their location; and the moments going FTL should’ve been too quick for anything to matter. They should be perfectly safe… as the mining team started work. Setting up a massive web of chains and cables, securing the dragon to the ship.

  Of course… there was an incoming signal that had come in the moment they transitioned. It must’ve been broadcasting constantly in Darkspace, waiting for them.

  His board popped up with the text of it as Kyle studied it, behind him Zeke chatting with the CEO on the other ship… who was asking to board, not liking being on the crowded mining craft.

  ~Mercenary Vessel Sapper: You are being tracked. We are aware you have a sample of a specimen determined classified by the Empire. If you flee, you will be destroyed. There is a slim chance that you may be able to delay this destruction until you arrive in front of United Worlds or other witnesses. To forestall the possible political issues of killing you somewhere inconvenient, we have an offer for you.~

  ~Thirteen million credits split among your crew. Free passage for yourself and the BSE executive on the ship you’re currently carrying.~

  ~In exchange, you leave behind the mining vessel and the specimen. Allow us to implant you with NDA software regarding the specimen. We will board with a single unarmed shuttle, and allow you to take the software one at a time so you can check its operation.~

  ~This offer only persists in the immediate volume of the system. After one light-month, you will be destroyed as soon as we catch you, regardless of location or political significance.~

  Kyle blinked… stared at the message.

  He almost just deleted it… but he glanced over. No way the captain would take it, right? They had to be bluffing. They wouldn’t just execute someone right in front of some United Worlds navy base. Especially not when the dragon would be clear as day on sensors before they did it, and they could easily broadcast the truth.

  “..Captain. There was a beacon transmitting a message that we picked up as we did the transition. If… you want to make a response, I can rig it to broadcast with our next jump.”

  He stared back at Kyle for a moment. “Well that’s not a good sign. Pass it over.”

  Kyle nodded… and forwarded the message to his console… watching the captain frown, looking thoughtful.

  “..... Alright. We should make a counter-offer. Just a second.” He looked thoughtful. Nodded. “Risk vs. reward. I’ve got a response. We’ll make another short jump… somewhere random… and transmit it.”

  He typed it up on his console, and passed it over to Kyle.

  ~NDA software on all miners in the system, fifteen million credits, we only turn over the dragon. You don’t kill anyone, you pay us, you keep your secret.~

  Kyle looked at it a moment… and nodded. It would be absolutely crazy; there were thousands of miners, and many wouldn’t even have implants, so they’d have to install them. But if the secret was worth that much to the Empire? “Got it. I’ll drop a beacon as we jump, so we can get a response back. Just let me know when.”

  “It’ll be a few. I want to make sure we’re sufficiently stable if we have to move.”

  The tension mounted as the minutes passed. Billy glanced back at Zeke. “...So… we’re not gonna let them just kill all those people, right?”

  The captain studied his cousin for a moment. “We may not have a choice. We’re mercenaries. Sometimes people die. We need to make sure we live, and we get paid. Personally, if I can do those and not get a bunch of civvies killed, I’d say thats the way to go.”

  Both Clarice and Billy nodded. Kyle frowned.

  Did that mean getting paid came before the lives of others? Sounded like these people would get along well with his own folks. Though.. They obviously wouldn’t be able to crew one of the ships that went into Alliance space.

  When they finally got the go-ahead from one of the miners, that the last of them was back on their ship… Zeke took a deep breath. “Lets do it again. Less than a light-month, but assume we’re being tracked somehow. So… a few light-days, or a week.”

  The miners would likely be confused. Possibly even worried. As the ship jumped…. But not the extended one they were expecting. Instead, they once again only stayed out for seconds… and emerged far enough from the star that it was merely a tiny ball in the sky.

  It would take a week for a radio signal to get here from where they’d killed the dragon. If the Empire had something to track them while going FTL, it was unlikely, but possible, they could be here much sooner than that.

  The comm buoy popped into reality a few kilometers from the hull, bearing a response. Zeke routed it directly to his console this time… though Kyle read it at the same time.

  ~Unacceptable. In excess of five thousand individuals without implants present in system. Preserving all witnesses is out of the question.~

  ~Final counter-offer; those implanted individuals on board the Sapper and attached vessel will receive NDA software. All other individuals will be terminated, whether on-board or in-system.~

  ~Twelve million total credit payout, split among survivors.~

  ~If the response is not acceptance and directives to a location to send a shuttle to begin NDA uploads, our next counter will be a series of thermonuclear devices, either here, or in Darkspace.~

  ~You, personally, will not be allowed to survive if this deal is not taken, Captain Ezekiel Rush.~

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Zeke stared at it for a moment. He grimaced. “Alright then. Sounds like that’s it for options. I suspect they’d probably respond if we tried by just making the offer worse every time. Either that or they estimated putting the NDA on all of the folks here would cost them about that much in time and effort. Either way….”

  The captain gave a firm nod. “Well then. Time to accept the offer. To be clear, gentlemen, Jenny is going to have a new body once we get back home, so she’s getting a cut of that payout.”

  Billy nodded. “Seems the best option. Best out of a bunch of shitty deals.”

  Kyle blinked. “But…. the plan. We drop off the dragon, with proof. The Empire doesn’t kill anyone, to avoid consequences.”

  “What consequences? If they act fast enough, and are jamming as soon as we show up, all that will get out are rumors and pictures of a weird smudge. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a way out of this that leaves those people alive. But I’m not risking myself to see it.”

  “...Okay. I wasn’t going to get into it, but the reason why I didn’t tell you my last name, is because its Huxley.”

  Billy just nodded. While Zeke and Clarice both just stared at him for a moment.

  “...Who the fuck else would give a nuclear bomb as a birthday present. That tracks. Goddamn.” Zeke rocked back in his chair for a moment. “.... If they kill you, and your family finds out… how close are you to the top?”

  “Gramps was the founder, uncle is the current owner. Mom leads a strike force.”

  “.... If they don’t think they can keep it contained, no way in hell they’d risk killing you unless it were crazy important. It’d be different if it was an on the job thing, but like this…”

  Kyle nodded. “Well then. I… actually already called the family, when things started to go south. With any luck, someone’s already on the way here.“

  “...Hmm. One last counter-offer, then? Or just drop them a warning and leave?”

  “....I don’t really care about revealing the dragon to the galaxy. Zero fucks given about secrets. If they’ll pay and not kill anyone…”

  “..Okay. One last attempt. You write this one. Base it on my last one.”

  Kyle turned to his console, and started typing up a response.

  ~This is Kyle Huxley, owner of the Sapper.~

  ~Our previous offer stands. You can keep your secret, and keep the dragon, if you pay us, and don’t kill any civilians. Otherwise, everyone will know. We’ll be headed towards United World space. This offer ends with the first death among the colonists.~

  “There. Sound good?”

  “...Well. Lets just head out. If they want to contact us again, they’ll have to drop the jamming.”

  The captain took a deep breath, and settled into his chair. “Get it ready to send… and set course for that naval base. “ He closed his eyes. “Hit it.”

  ***

  In the cargo bay of the Sapper, nestled amongst the handful of remaining missiles, the wreckage of the Poisseux, nestled five orbs; four of them cold and black. One of them glowing faintly orange.

  They were stuck together by some form of organic webbing, undoubtedly made by the dragon itself to adhere them to the wall of the cavern they were laid in… and amidst the gentle thrum of the engine…. The glowing one started to crack.

  ***

  Darkspace is usually considered safe. Most of the time, its impossible to make out much detail; only the view of the Core, the black hole in the distance, and the thick darkness in every other direction.

  Even inside a ship, the light seems dim, blurry. It doesn’t travel as fast as it should, or as far as it should. Not something you usually notice; ships are generally equipped with enough lighting to avoid it being a problem, since the beginning.

  For the crew of the Sapper, they thought they were safe… for now. If someone were going to catch them and do something, it would be when they arrived at the naval base.

  Signals were still being jammed. They were clearly still being followed. But barring a technical malfunction which almost never happened, it should just be a smooth journey.

  Kyle was on the bridge, in the captain’s seat. Managing a set of crawling spider drones that were carefully inspecting all the cables holding their frankenship together.

  They were down to just himself, Zeke, Billy, and Clarice; so for the moment, he was alone. They’d all be awake when they arrived at the naval base.

  He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. If the Empire was going to drop the jamming and respond… or if they were going to just follow them and strike.

  What he wasn’t expecting… was the hull breach alarm. There was no atmosphere loss, and it was only in one place… he opened up the camera view for the cargo bay…. And saw the hull glowing yellow-hot on the side facing the dragon, with some of its glowing blood pooled on the floor; fortunately not near any munitions..

  He sighed. “Ahhhh, fuck.” He shut off the alarm. It was cooling off. But the monster’s insides were still so hot that some unnoticed wound must’ve leaked into the cargo bay, caused problems.

  He considered for a moment. Clarice, who he’d barely spoken to since she boarded the ship, was the next one up. Plus, she was intensely heat resistant, like everyone with her particular genetic augment.

  He tapped a button to page her. “Clarice, this is Kyle. Sorry to get you early, but there’s probably gonna be some overlap. Some dragon blood looks to have melted its way into the cargo bay.”

  He could hear rustling of fabric. Complaining grumbles. A male voice… was it Zeke, or Billy? Kyle didn’t really care.

  “Acknowledged. What do you want me to do?”

  He looked at the camera again. “There’s a hole less than a meter across, and some of the beastie’s blood is inside the bay, melting the floor. I’m gonna enable the compartment-wide fire extinguisher first, which should make it manageable. By the time you get the big handheld extinguisher and get masked up, it should be cooled down, and we just want to patch that hole in the hull, in case the dragon shifts while we’re moving. Don’t want to waste that much air.”

  “On it. I’ve… only got half an hour before I start, so I’ll just come to the bridge when I’m done.”

  Nice, calm, professional. He nodded, and hit the switch, turning on one of the foam dispensers in the cargo bay; spraying the whole mess down with a substance that should cool it off, as well as sucking most of the air out of the chamber.

  The ship was already so badly damaged he didn’t care about one more hole. He would be taking months to fix her if he didn’t hire an outside crew.

  He… wasn’t certain whether he’d want to, after Yumi. Actually… Billy and Zeke were both solid. Clarice might be too, if he gave her a chance.

  He nodded to himself, and watched as Clarice entered; wearing a thicker, heavier suit than the usual skinsuit, and a vacuum-sealed helmet; and waded through the foam to the storage for the hull repair materials, the foam hissing and popping as it dissipated the heat off of the liquid.

  One moment, she was walking through the foam. The next…. There was a sudden, horrendous, tearing sound… the ship shook, rolled… and the screens suddenly showed stars for the moments before Kyle slammed headfirst into the rear bulkhead of the bridge.

  His last sight before it all went black was Clarice similarly tumbling through the foam towards the back of the ship…he didn’t even have time to wonder how they could possibly have hit something.