Outside her cozy cell, Pan’s ankle cuff beeped. It drove Pan nuts. Beep. Beep. Beep.

If she walked slow, she took four steps between beeps. If she walked fast, she could manage up to eight.

Pan wondered if the sounds might drive Alban crazy. Maybe, he would have the cuff silenced.

“Make up your mind,” an officer complained. “Are we walking fast or slow?”

Pan shot him a sidelong glare, but she settled on a medium pace: six steps between beeps.

Pan wondered if Sotir would be on the bridge. He promised he would come back, and yet, he never did. Perhaps, Pan should jump into his arms as per Aria’s suggestion.

The door to the bridge opened, and the guards on either side of Pan stopped. One took her elbow and walked her forward.

Alban waited on the dais. Sotir stood beside him. As much as Pan wanted to stare at Sotir, she felt the urge to look away.

Pan looked down and peered into the semi-circular crew trenches. Doors led out of the trenches, and crew came and went. A nice little cave in which to work, except Alban could see everything they were doing. There would be no video games on this bridge. Maybe, that was the reason for the design.

Beep. The guard dropped Pan off beside Alban.

Pan looked between the men. “We shall be in close quarters here on this little dais.” Pan felt the hint of a smile curl her lips. “I wonder how long you’ll tolerate the beeps before you start counting the moments we can fit between them.” Several beeps sounded during Pan’s sentence. “That was obviously too much to fit in the pause.”

Alban knit his brow and stared at Pan. He looked her up and down. Sotir smiled.

Pan lifted her skirt and held it just above her ankle. A little red light blinked in time with the beeps.

“Beep,” Pan said at the right moment. “Beep.”

Alban held up a hand. “I get your meaning. But, I can’t disable it. When you’re outside the cell, it’s policy that we know the cuff is working. My eyes have to be busy elsewhere. I don’t have time to watch the light.”

“Tell me it doesn’t drive you nuts.” Pan tossed her skirt back to the ground.

“I’m glad you’re in a better mood, even if it’s a crazy one. Do you know why I had you brought up here?” Alban walked to his seat. He didn’t sit down, but he did rest a hand on a nearby console.

Pan shook her head and narrowed her eyes. Beep.

“We’re halfway on our trip to Scaldigir. We have to pause here to wait for a break in the stellar storm. I promised Aria we would reconsider the situation. I’m giving you the first chance to plead your case regarding Tingaran Station.”

“Stellar storm?” Pan asked. “That makes no sense.”

Alban pointed at the windshield. “It’s not really a storm. It’s a migration of a non-sentient space faring species. They deter people from coming to Scaldigir, which is why we don’t want to hit any. They also gum up the engines, but that’s a different problem.”

“Oh.” Pan peered hard and tried to see the shape of the space animals. She thought they looked like deer. Her eyes widened. She shot Alban an amazed look.

Alban almost smiled, but he looked away before Pan could really tell what he felt. Sotir met Pan’s eyes. His seemed to sparkle. He regarded her with good-nature.

“They’re a lot bigger than they look.” Sotir gestured at the windshield.

Pan glanced back out the window. The gangly things looked small from where she stood.

Sotir pointed. “And, those aren’t really legs. They’re boneless limbs that provide propulsion.”

Alban cleared his throat and gestured for Pan to begin.

Pan took a deep breath and straightened. “Right, I’d like to plead my case now.”

Alban was right. Pan was in a better mood. When Pan was in a good mood, she couldn’t help but steer her mind to entertainment. Entertainment, mischief – these two things were interchangeable. Coupled with anger and revenge, entertainment and mischief were responsible for bringing her to this point in her life. Pan should probably quit them, the same way she quit revenge, but it would be a hard habit to break.

“I would like for you to let me go. Release me like a rehabilitated bird.” Pan swept an arm through the air. “Or, one of the space deer. I am meant to roam free. You see – you can’t bring a wild reaper home. I will make chaos, even with this cuff or the poison. I will incite riots with my very presence.”

Alban raised an eyebrow. “Will you now?”

Pan held her head high. “Yes, it won’t be my fault. There are people who hate my family line enough to come after me, people who lost ancestors and consider the family tab of retribution still unpaid. I’m not unique. There are hundreds of people as angry as me, or angrier.” Pan imagined someone out there would happily kill Pan if it meant no more reapers.

Sotir narrowed his eyes. Pan could practically feel his concern.

How sweet of him.

Alban crossed his arms. “Nice try, but no one will know you’re home. And, you’ll only stay a couple of weeks. We can keep you safe in that time, even if the most hateful individual happens to be the prime minister himself.” Alban gestured for Pan to continue. “Next attempt.”

Pan wore her thinking face. It involved a frown, and a smidgen of annoyance entered her eyes. She wondered where she would be going after the trip home. She needed to ask if she wanted to frame her next argument. “What happens to me after those two weeks?”

“You get put on a ship and help disrupt the Soffigen.” Alban held up a finger. “But, you’ll work within a plan, and you must be much, much less obvious.”

Pan might not need to explain herself after all. With this deal, who would care that she didn’t destroy Tingaran Station? Who would care that Brynn told her to do it all?

I would care.

She raised her eyes to Alban’s. “I would like to set the record straight. I did not destroy Tingaran Station. I could never have escaped that place, with so many active ships. My tug is designed for specific – slow purposes.”

Alban raised an eyebrow. “I do find it hard to believe you did that one on your own, but we thought we’d give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Pan held up a hand. “Oh, don’t do that. I’m not capable of destroying a target like Tingaran. For that matter, I…” She might as well bring Brynn back into it. “I took a lot of help from Brynn’s ghost. I could probably pick a target and do it on my own now, but a year ago…” Pan shook her head. “Brynn told me how to do everything.”

Alban looked at Sotir. “What did your reading say about the ghost?”

Sotir gazed at Pan. “When I look into the past, I see some kind of spirit. I’m not sure if it’s Brynn, but I’m sure of its existence.”

So, Sotir had checked her story. He’d looked into her past to find her lies. That’s why he hadn’t returned. Though, he’d probably been closer than she realized.

Joke’s on you, Sotir. I’m not lying. I have nothing to hide.

Pan set her eyes on Alban and waited.

Alban stroked his beard. “This ghost…let’s say it exists. Is it possible that the ghost wasn’t controlling Pan? Maybe, it just gave her information.”

Pan’s mouth dropped open. That horrible man would spin it any way he could.

Sotir shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I see fear and reluctance on Pan’s part. I saw events where lights failed or dimmed, and Pan seemed distressed in those moments.”

“She can be distressed by an ally. I can think of a lot of people that make me distressed, and I work with them.” Alban crossed his arms.

Sotir sighed. “I don’t think I’ve misinterpreted.

Oh, Sotir. He would defend me to the end. Pan wanted to put a hand over her heart, but she thought the gesture too obvious.

Pan stood tall. “I’m very afraid of Brynn’s ghost – though she’s less and less ghost-like these days. I feel like I could stand up to her, but the change is probably a bad sign.” Pan shrugged. “She’s gone for now. We’ll see what happens.”

Sotir narrowed his eyes. “What do mean? What change?”

“She’s more like a living Brynn. I’m not sure. Maybe, I’ll be sucked into the hereafter, just like you predicted all those years ago.”

Alarm spread over Sotir’s face.

“I can’t help you there.” Alban tapped buttons on his chair console. “I’m sorry, Pan. I lean towards believing your story, but I’m not convinced. We’re going home. But, do I understand correctly that you are willing to cooperate with the overall plan for your future? The one where you help fight the Soffigen.”

“Yes, but…”

The ship shook. Something hit the hull.

Pan looked at Alban. Alban looked at Sotir. Sotir looked up.

“There’s…someone outside the ship.” Sotir clutched his staff.

“Use the cameras. See what it is,” Alban ordered a man.

Before the man could respond, the ship shook again. They heard a bang and roar in the hall outside.

“There’s a breach,” someone reported. “Just outside the bridge. No one injured. Corridor sealing off.”

Sotir backed towards the edge of the dais. “They’re inside.”

Pan backed away as well.

“Who? Who’s inside?” Alban asked.

Sotir shook his head. “I don’t know. She looks…Soffigen.”

“What are you seeing on sensors?” Alban demanded of his crew. “Did you see a ship? Did you see this thing coming?”

Pan watched the door to the bridge because Sotir watched that door. If she hadn’t distracted him, he probably would have warned them sooner of the approaching object – person – thing? It was too late to prevent entry, but now, Pan would follow Sotir’s lead.

A crew member must have responded to Alban’s questions because Alban said, “Cloaked then.”

The bridge door slowly parted in fits and groans.

A Soffigen woman squeezed through. She had mottled skin of green, blue, and white. She looked to Pan like a canvas of water blooms.

“Who the hell are you?” Pan asked. “Can’t you see we’re having a conversation here?”

“I can see that, and I can hear that.” The Soffigen girl glared as she tapped one of her ears. “Don’t go home just yet. I heard you like to play.”

“I do.” Pan felt her eyes narrow. “But, uh…who are you exactly?”

“You can call me Era. I’m your Soffigen counterpart. They say I’m not ready, but I feel ready.”

Pan’s heart beat faster. Anyone who called themselves Pan’s counterpart would have to be a reaper. “What can you do?”

Pan already guessed that hearing from a distance was among Era’s power. She’d heard their conversation through feet of metal.

Era smiled. “You can find out. I already know your powers. Really, you only have two good ones.”

Pan thought she had many good ones, but she only had two that could be used in a fight: portal making and telekinesis.

Sotir clutched Pan’s arm and tried to pull her back. He failed. He called, “Why did you destroy Tingaran station? It belongs to the Soffigen. That doesn’t make sense.”

Pan bristled. At first, she thought Sotir accused her of the destruction; then, it clicked that he meant Era.

“I was just trying to get out.” Era shrugged. She didn’t seem one bit remorseful.

“How did you get on my ship?” Alban hit a button on his console.

Era gave him a look. To Pan, she asked, “Can we fight now?”