Oscar shuffled around the hard-light avatar, his wrapped fists up on guard around his head. His virtual opponent was humanoid in shape and his own height, but it appeared as if formed from swirling multicolored smoke. That in turn made it harder for Oscar to read when the thing was going to throw a punch or kick. As if to demonstrate, the avatar threw a fast straight at his head that he just managed to slip. His counter-jab made the avatar back up.

He kept up his attack, following the jab with a snap-kick to the avatar's knee. The blow connected with a solid crack, making the avatar stumble onto one knee. Oscar saw his opening, and as his front foot touched back down he immediately threw a viscous round-house with his back leg. His instep smacked into the avatar's 'head' and the virtual enemy flopped over onto the mat. He backpedaled just in case the thing was faking, but it didn't move.

"Stop program," he called out, and the avatar obediently vanished. Oscar played through the fight in his head as he walked over to his water bottle, panting deeply. In a real bout that knee-kick would have gotten him disqualified, but his intent was to train for survival rather than to score points.

Oscar had been going at this for ten minutes straight, and his gray tee shirt was now plastered to his torso with sweat. He downed about half of his water bottle in less than twenty seconds, still breathing heavily through his nose.

"[Very good,]" said a voice from the gym's door. He cocked one eye at the entryway and saw Hnrahnan leaning on the wall next to the door, her arms crossed and a gentle smile on her lips.

Shit. Oscar had just been in the middle of a punishing sparring round, but he still should have heard her enter. It seemed the Veridicator was just as sneaky as Myyreh, which was not a good thing for his peace of mind.

He picked up his towel and mopped his forehead. "Good for a human, you mean."

The Veridicator shrugged. "[I've examined your record since you joined 'We Who Hunt Between The Spaces'. I certainly wouldn't underestimate you.]"

Oscar toweled the back of his scalp and wondered if Hnrahnan also had access to his other file, the one with his Earth-based service record. The Captain had gotten ahold of his unredacted file, but to his knowledge she hadn't shared that info with the Senate or the Empire. He settled his towel on his shoulders and stared levelly at her, wondering how much he might be giving away just through his body language.

He waved at the now-empty gym. "I'm done for now, it's all yours."

Her gentle smile increased. "[Oh, I'm not here to work out. I wanted to get to know you better.]"

Oscar didn't look at her as he drank some more water. "What's to know?"

Hnrahnan tilted her head. "[[Oscar Lavell Williams]. Born on [Earth], thirty-five years before your species' First Contact. Member of the [American] military, grievously injured in the line of duty which earned you an honorable discharge. You then worked as contractor for military law enforcement, after which your record becomes excitingly vague.]"

He chuckled. "You find that exciting?"

She extended the claws on her thumb and forefinger, then pinched them together in a motion which mimed plucking something out of thin air. "[Digging out secrets is my calling. You worked as a contractor until retiring about seven years after the [Karnakian]...incident. The next couple of [decades] are mundane, until one day you applied for the placement program. Why?]"

Oscar shrugged and gave his stock answer. "My bar burned down. I took it as a sign to get off my ass and do something constructive with my life."

Hnrahnan's eyes narrowed, but she didn't lose her gentle smile. "[So you say.]"

He didn't smile back. "So I say. Hey, I'm an open book. Your dingus got stolen so I'm gonna help get it back for ya. You don't want me to know what's on it, that's fine by me. I just want to do my job."

"[Your job...now, as to your previous job, you mentioned on several occasions that you know the identity of the one who orchestrated the Egg's theft. This [Martin] fellow.]"

"All I said was it might be him. It feels like the kind of thing he'd do."

"[And you worked for [Martin].]" It was not phrased as a question, and Oscar realized that there was another reason for the Veridicator's presence on board the Claw.

"You're here to keep an eye on me, aren't you?"

Her smile faded. "[That's part of why I'm here. Given that this theft was perpetrated by [humans] and given your previous record, it's only logical to suspect you.]"

Oscar polished off the last of his water to give himself time to think of an appropriately neutral reply. "Is that suspicion from you, or from the Senate?"

Hnrahnan continued her level gaze at him. "[Both. I can't speak for the Senate, but in my defense I'm a professional paranoid and I suspect everybody.]"

He gave a bemused grunt. "That sounds like a lonely way of life."

"[I serve the Inquisition, who in turn serves The Throne-at-The-Center-of-All-Things. My position is indeed solitary, but I am content.]"

Oscar gestured at exit. "Are we done here?"

"[For now.]"

He walked towards the door, which to his relief slid open without delay. Even though he could feel the Veridicator's eyes on him, he didn't so much as glance at her as he left.

The assembled crew stood on the Claw's bridge while Ngralh gave his briefing. The two newcomers, Valentin and Hnrahnan, stood as far away from each other as they could get. He gestured to the front display, which now showed the rocky cratered blob of an asteroid.

"[Our destination is this way station, [Kn''arnt]. It's the next stop of [Lucky Thnnrasnnn], the cargo vessel which contains our package of interest."

Next to the asteroid appeared a cylindrical craft with lines of trapezoidal nodules hanging off of its sides.

"[The latter is a Jornissian vessel, captained by one [Nnnsrnshrnah]. They've made two stops since leaving [Hsrneanth-IV], and this station is their last scheduled stop before they reach Zephyr Station Ten at [Earth]. The crew seems clean, no weirdness in their finances. It appears they don't know what they have on board.]"

"That fits with what Tobias told us," said Oscar. "It's just one more package among many."

"[I'm assuming the station itself is staffed by [Karnakians], correct?]" asked Myyreh.

Ngralh nodded. "[They built it a few years after the discovery of [Earth].]"

Oscar looked at the ship's image and tried to estimate how long it would take to search the damned thing. "When do they get there?"

"[They're scheduled to arrive tomorrow. The ship will only be there for [twelve hours]. Even at maximum speed we're not going to arrive until well after they dock. Our window of opportunity will be [six hours]."

Egwreh flicked an ear in puzzlement. "[Wait, why don't we just stop them from leaving? We have the authority.]"

"[The Senate wants this mission carried out with the utmost secrecy,]" said Hnrahnan. "[Officially we are only stopping at [Kn''arnt] to resupply.]"

Rgrarshok stepped up beside her XO. "[We have one day to figure this out, people. We have to get the Egg off that vessel without its crew or the station's staff knowing our true business, and somehow do it within [six hours]. Go away and think about it. We'll reconvene at the beginning of the next sleep cycle and see what we can come up with.]"

If one had told Valentin ten years ago that he'd wind up on board an alien starship, he would have believed it. But he wouldn't believe the bit about his sleeping accommodations. Unfortunately those arrangements were all too real, and unless he wanted another unexpected 'kidnapping' from the Veridicator he'd have to endure it. Valentin though about the Captain's directive as a way of ignoring the wall of fur pressed against his bare back. At least he had pants on to preserve what remained of his dignity.

"Getting on board that ship will be difficult," he mused.

"[Yep,]" replied Bgrarh with a yawn. He sleepily hugged the Commander tighter to his chest. "[My guess is we'll have to spoof the system somehow. Make it look like the package's delivery info has been updated, so the crew will drop it off at [Kn''arnt] instead.]"

Valentin wondered what the galactic equivalent of UPS was like, and how hard it would be to hack into such an entity. "Sounds equally tough. Shipping network servers are very protected, da?"

"[It's doesn't work like that,]" said Bgrarh. "[The number of packages involved is truly astronomical. Moving that much data around would crush any centralized system. Each package has an on-board [ID] chip that lets the carrier know where it came from, where it's going, and if what's in it is hazardous or not.]"

The Commander pondered that for a bit. "Chip must talk to ship's network, so they know when to drop off that particular package."

Bgrah settled his big chin onto Valentin's head, and the latter had to suppress a shudder. The huge Dorarizin was a friendly fellow, but he also had a mouth big enough to easily encompass Valentin's entire head.

"[That's right. It does give us a possible way in, but hacking into the ship's network will take time. Egwreh's the real expert in that area, but my guess is it would take her at least [ten hours].]"

"And we'll only have six."

"[Right. Now get some sleep, we're gonna be busy tomorrow.]" Eventually Bgrarh's breathing slowed into a gentle rhythm against Valentin's back. In spite of the fear at the back of his mind, the human felt his own eyes begin to close as a result of that metronome-like sensation.

Then Valentin's eyes snapped open. Surely the ship's network paid more attention to certain incoming channels. If that was the case, perhaps they could gain access to those priority channels and use their influence to gain access that much faster?

Due to his colorful past Valentin always made sure to always have some sort of writing implement on him. He wormed his hand down past Bgrarh's encircling arms and fished into his pants pocket. His fingers found their target; a small pen. Valentin retrived his prize and pulled it back up to jot a quick note on his palm.

Bgrarh's voice was slurred from sleep. "[What're you doing?]"

"Just making note to self." He put away his pen and patted Bgrarh's arm. "Go back to sleep, comrade."

Oscar's very first case after joining his pack was in a mining colony called Pak'tahl; that place was nicer than he'd expected. Kn''arnt, in contrast, was kind of an armpit. That was perhaps an unfair comparison, since Pak'tahl was a lot older. This station was only a few decades along, and still had the air of being banged together using prefabbed components.

He lounged in what passed for the 'central square' of the station, a vaguely cubical expanse with a few xeno-sized entryways scattered about and a large holographic 'sun' overhead. The floor was mostly taken up with transplanted shrubs and grass from Earth; the latter gave him an unexpected pang of homesickness.

Egwreh settled herself on other side of the bench from Oscar. "[We're on,]" she muttered, never looking towards him. "[Myyreh's in place and the doorway sensors are temporarily disabled. You've got [five minutes].]"

Oscar sighed. Their chosen course of action meant that he now had to act like an idiot for the next few minutes. He stood, squared his shoulders, and headed for the appropriate doorway. The ever-present Jeeves Junior hovered at his elbow. Myyreh was nowhere to be seen, since they'd need her particular talents for this hack.

His destination was the central complex which functioned as the station's 'town hall'. Oscar rounded a corner and blinked in sudden sunshine. One entire wall of this particular corridor looked out into the black vastness of space. He could see the complex itself, a collection of pipe-shaped constructs bundled together on the outside of the asteroid. The habitat lay ahead of him, hanging out into space. Oscar didn't bother looking for Myyreh, even though he knew she was clinging to the exterior of one of those pipes. His lover was wearing armor with state-of-the-art holographic camoflauge, which when combined with her innate sneakiness made her all but invisible.

The entrance to the complex was an un-ornamented set of double doors which were flanked by a couple of bored-looking Karnakians. One was a slim green while the other was a very floofy blue. The pair became a lot less bored as Oscar came into view. Both cocked their heads and their crests rose as excited peeping filled his earpiece.

"[Hello, [human]! Are you well?]" asked the green one.

By now Oscar was within a few feet of them. "Doin' great, guys. Keep up the good work! Wouldn't want anyone to steal those doors, eh?"

The two Karnakians goggled at him, then at each other. The green guard started a trilling laugh which was rapidly picked up by the blue. Just as their laughter reached its zenith, Oscar tripped.

He made it look pretty good, although in his heart he knew he'd never match up to the true masters of the slip-'n-fall routine. But still, he managed to go down on one knee with an appropriately audible 'crack' and then rolled over while clutching at that same knee with an appropriately horrible pained grimace on his face.

"AAAAHH!" he yelled. Well, it wasn't originality he was aiming for.

The guards froze, then one of them reached towards him.

"[DON'T!] screamed the other, at the same moment there sounded out a warning blat from Oscar's drone.

They gathered on either side of him, making sure to keep well away from his body as each of them glanced at Jeeves Junior.

"My knee," groaned Oscar, "Oooooh, it hurts..."

"[It's okay, you're going to be okay...]" The blue guard's claws twitched, his 'protect the nestling' instinct warring with his quite sensible precaution of 'don't piss off the drone and/or get yourself in real trouble'.

Oscar risked a peep towards the double doors. One of them now cracked open ever so slightly, and if he squinted he could make out the faint heat-shimmer of a cloaked drone slipping itself into the complex. The door closed silently, and to cover that motion he clutched more fervently at his knee and give another whimper of pain.

A loud and imperious Dorarizin voice sounded in the corridor. "[What's going on here?]"

Simultaneously Myyreh's voice sounded in his earpiece. "[I have eyes on the porthole into the server room. It's clear. Send in the drone, Egwreh.]"

Oscar continued his clutching and wailing, making sure that the two guards had eyes only on him or on the lean, white-furred form of Hnrahnan stalking towards them from the other direction.

"[We didn't do it!]" yelled the green guard. "[He tripped!]"

"[Is that so?]" Hnrahnan continued her unstoppable march towards the trio while Oscar let his wail trail off into a pity-seeking whine. "[I hope for your sake that is true. Stand clear of him.]"

The two guards backpedaled away from Oscar, both of them holding up their hands. Hnrahnan leaned over Oscar with exaggerated care, showing that she too didn't want to touch him. "[What's your ship ident?]"

"It's the Furious Claw of Inquiry," said Oscar through gritted teeth. "Can you call them?"

Hnrahnan smiled in gentle reassurance. If Oscar didn't know her better, he would have sworn she was being sincere. "[I will. Just wait here...]"

Now Egwreh spoke into Oscar's earpiece. "[The drone's almost done installing the bypass. Give it a few more minutes.]"

Oscar sighed inwardly. He already felt ridiculous enough. But he dutifully continued to grasp his knee and give appropriately pained and attention-drawing whines, to the point where the Karnakian guards shifted on their feet and looked about the corridor.

"[Maybe we should call our superiors?]" said one of them in the tone of voice of one who really hopes you don't take them up on their suggestion.

Hnrahnan shook her head. "[I don't think we need to involve them, do you?]"

As she spoke, the doors behind the guards cracked open again to allow the almost-invisible drone to exit the premises. "Sure!" Oscar almost yelled, just to make sure all eyes were on him. "It's my own fault, I tripped."

Egwreh appeared at the other end of the corridor from Hnrahnan and ran forward. "[I came as soon as I could!]" she cried. "[Oh the poor dear, is he all right?]"

"I'm fine, Emma, it's just a bruised knee..." Oscar whoofed as the engineer swept him up from the floor and hugged him to her chest. "Urk...too tight."

"[Sorry,]" she muttered into his ear as she relaxed her hold. Louder, she said, "[I can't thank you enough for looking out for him. I'll make sure he gets back okay.]"

Egwreh spun and moved at a much more sedate pace back the way she came. Oscar noted that slower speed and was pretty sure he knew the reason.

"Admit it," said Oscar. "You just want to take more time to cuddle me."

"[Cuddling is not all I want to do to you, cutie,]" she growled. Oscar stared up at her in blank surprise. Egwreh was a handsome Dorarizin, but he'd never thought of her in any romantic way.

"But I thought you and Nate were paired off?"

She winked one green eye at him. "[For now. We're all one pack, [Oscar]. Pack members share things. And I've always wanted to know why Myyreh looks so [damned] satisfied after one of your encounters.]"

Oscar carefully cleared his throat. "Er, what would Myra think of that?"

"[As a matter of fact, she suggested it to me. She knows how curious I've been. Ngralh is fine with the notion as well.]"

"When was I gonna find out about this?"

"[Later.]" She nuzzled at his neck as she trotted along. "[Relax. We'll wait until after this mission to work this all out. Can't have our resident devious little [bastard] being all distracted, now can we?]"

Valentin massaged his knees and told himself to relax. The pile of packages from the Lucky Thnnrasnnn sat a little ways away on the loading dock. His own perch was an oversized 'park bench' type of furniture placed against the rocky wall of the dock's interior. Next to him sat Myyreh, who looked almost like a superposition of still images as she tried to track everything going on around the two of them. A pale-blue Jornissian slithered out from one of the over-sized entrances to the dock, a small package in his hands.

"That's it," he murmured.

Myyreh reached over and placed a paw his shoulder. "[You do know we'd never hurt you, right?]"

"What?"

He was not an expert on Dorarizin expressions, but he could have sworn she looked stricken. "[That day in your office. When you were yelling at your superiors. You said something about us ending you in a heartbeat.]"

Valentin gave a wry chuckle as he patted her paw. "Was mostly act for my idiot bosses. Mostly. You have to understand, Russians are paranoid because universe has given us good reason to be such. Did not intend to cause you pain."

Her paw squeezed his shoulder. "[Thanks for saying so.]" Myyreh looked up. "[Shall we?]"

"I suppose." Valentin heaved himself up off of the bench and headed for the package-pile. The blue Jornissian now standing guard over it gave him and Myyreh a double-dose of stink eye as they strolled up.

"[Can I help you?]"

Valentin smiled. "Sure! Picking up a package, last name of Jesperson."

The Jornissian's eyes unfocused as he accessed his implant, then he blinked as he stared down once again at the human. "Right, looks like it's the one I just brought out...]" He turned and after a bit of scanning plucked up the same small package he'd just retrieved.

"[Here you go! Can you sign for it, please?]"

Oscar held his breath as Rgrarshok slit the small box open with one of her claws. She, along with Oscar and the rest of the crew, stood around the package. It now sat on a low table in the middle of the rec lounge. With utmost care the Captain folded back the package flaps and pulled off the wad of padding underneath them. Underneath the padding was...

The Egg's black surface gleamed from the overhead lights, a gleam interrupted only by the fractal pattern etched into its surface.

"[Excellent,]" whispered the Veridicator. "[But we need to make sure.]"

Rgrarshok produced a small wand-like device from her uniform and waved it over the Egg. The Captain's face set into a grimace. "[It's another replica.]"

Hnrahnan's face did not set into grimness. Instead her eyes blazed and her lips pulled back as if getting ready to strike. "[Those filthy spies. They lied to us.]"

Oscar did not like the look in her eyes. "Hey now, let's take this easy and figure it out..."

But he only addressed empty air; the rec lounge door was already sliding shut behind the furious Veridicator.

"[First Pack's nethers,]" growled Rgrarshok. "[Bgrarh, get down to the brig. You've got to beat her there.]"

Thora looked up in surprise as the door slid open. It was several hours before their scheduled meal. She was curled up on one of the sofas and reading from her tablet, trying and failing to distract herself from the never-ending trickle of fear in her stomach due to their imprisonment.

Bgrarh-of-Arhraz squeezed himself through the doorway and into their little common room. His expression was stern, in contrast to the cheerfully colorful shirt he wore. She noted with unease that there were a few tears on one shoulder of that shirt. The Dorarizin's eyes didn't so much as flicker as he stared at her, then at each of the others.

"[I'll need to scent all of you,]" he said.

"Why?" asked Tobias. The pudgy man stepped up and stood between the three others and Bgrarh. "What's going on?"

"[There's somebody on board who wants to question you.]"

Thora slid off of the sofa. She walked forward and put a hand on Tobias's arm. "It's okay, chief. We're not in a great bargaining position."

Tobias shook his head. "No. We cooperated, we told them everything we know, how we shipped out the Egg."

"[Your information is suspect. We tracked that package and retrieved it. It only held a fake.]"

The four humans stared at each other in shock. Finally Thora broke ranks and walked towards Bgrarh. "All right, let's get this over with."

There followed a round of silent, uncomfortable hugging. Thora was last, and as she dangled off of the deck she tried to relax in Bgrarh's arms. The intimate position put her in mind of her interrupted 'session' with him, as well as what she'd said after her arrest. It seemed prudent to try and...well, not mend fences but at least apologize.

"Sorry," she murmured, only loud enough for him to hear.

"[Eh?]"

"What I said after my arrest, about making you betray your pack. I shouldn't have said that. In my defense, I was pretty pissed off."

Bgrarh shrugged, making the fur sticking out of his shirt rub against her face. "[It's all right. I was also in an emotional state.]" He gave a bonesaw-like chuckle. "[If it's any consolation, you were very good at your job.]"

Bgrarh set her down carefully and withdrew. He was replaced with a leaner, white-furred Dorarizin. This newcomer had a flinty look in her eye that Thora didn't like at all.

"[I am Hnrahnan-of-Narzghr. I have authority from the Senate, and you will answer my questions.]"

Tobias stood upright in front of her, his hands not quite trembling. "There's nothing more to tell. I put the Egg, the real Egg, in that package and shipped it."

Hnrahnan took another step forwards, now looming over Tobias. "[You personally handled it?]" Her lips peeled back in a snarl. "[You didn't leave it somewhere else on the base where some associate could pick it up?]"

"No!"

The Dorarizin placed her paws on either side of Tobias and growled. Thora tensed, ready to throw herself at the alien if necessary...for all the good that would do.

Hnrahnan flicked her eyes over at Thora. "[Be still.]"

"Then you behave yourself," Thora snapped back. "He told you the truth. We all did." Her voice wavered in its resolve as Hnrahnan's claws extended and gently dug into the metal deck with a dull, soft squeak.

Tobias was damn near hyperventilating at this point, but to his credit he didn't turn and run. "I can't tell you anything more! If it wasn't in there then Martin must have swapped it out before now!"

Hnrahnan continued to dig channels into the deck. "[Ah yes how very convenient for you, to blame this mysterious 'Martin' for all your crimes. You four got off too lightly, you should all be in prison...]"

Thora took a deep breath and tensed her legs. Physical intervention was stupid, but it was all she had now. But then a calm, carrying voice cut through the room.

"Veridicator! Stand down." Thora could just see Oscar's head behind the Dorarizin's much bigger body.

Hnrahnan turned her head to show Oscar her fangs. The human ignored the silent threat display and walked around her. He pulled Tobias by the shoulder, back from in between her paws.

"[Don't interfere,]" snarled Hnrahnan. "[My authority exceeds that of you AND your Captain. I don't care what sort of plea-deal you concocted with these lawbreakers, I WILL get to the truth!]"

Thora looked on in disbelief as Oscar scooted Tobias behind him, then walked right back onto the spot where her boss had been, right in between Hnrahnan's clamped paws and beneath her slavering mouth.

Oscar planted his hands on his hips and glared up at her. He was a big human, but still miniscule compared to Hnrahnan. "How, bitch? How are you gonna get that truth? By scaring the shit out of them? News flash you idiot, they're already terrified. They're in a brig on board an alien vessel, trusting that those same aliens are gonna make good on their end of the bargain and not just chuck 'em into jail."

Hnrahnan leaned down, dripping a little saliva on Oscar's forehead. Thora caught a quick blur of brown fur out of the corner of her eye, just past the brig's door. She shifted her weight, ready to throw herself out of danger if this whole shit-show kicked off a Myyreh/Hnrahnan wrestling match.

"[They are not terrified enough,]" whispered Hnrahnan.

Oscar still didn't flinch. "Okay, then. What next? You gonna break out the thumbscrews and the rack? Are you going to be the first alien to injure a human in space? Do you really want to cross that line?"

Hnrahnan drew back a bit, her lips closing back over her teeth. But she didn't respond.

Oscar pressed on. "Let me talk to them alone. Give me five minutes."

The Dorarizin loomed over him for another long, endless moment before she stood up. She spun on her heel and stalked out of the brig without a look back or another word.

The door slid shut, and Thora let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Thanks," she said in a barely audible tone.

"Don't mention it," replied Oscar. He looked at the four humans who now circled around him. "Well folks. As you doubtless have guessed, this is your 'Come To Jesus' moment. If there's anything extra you can tell me, now's the time."

Tobias spread his hands and shrugged. "I wish I could. We haven't contacted Martin as per schedule, so he's got to know we're compromised. Maybe he had some contingency plan to intercept the package."

"I don't get why the xenos are freaking out so much," grumbled Jaime. He crossed his arms. "What's on the Egg isn't that big a deal, it's only..."

"Stop. Right. There," interrupted Oscar. He held up a finger. "Right now, what's on the Egg is on a need-to-know basis as far as the Senate is concerned. They've decided that I don't need to know, and I want to keep myself in that state of blissful ignorance, you got it? Otherwise I'll have to have a long chat with that charming lady who just departed the premises."

Thora shook her head. "I don't understand why you side with all those monsters."

Oscar glared at her. "To answer you and your colleague, it's a matter of trust. I've trusted my crew, those 'monsters', with my life. They've never let me down."

He waved at the door, indicating the now-absent Veridicator. "As to why they're 'freaking out', you've got to understand how this is a serious breach of trust between us and them."

Tam snorted, her cheerful face now set in a smirk. "Oh, come on. Even among allies there's always some intelligence gathering going on. It happened all the time on Earth."

"This isn't Earth!" Oscar looked around at them all. "How old are y'all, anyway? A lot younger than me, I'll wager. I was there when the Karnakians tried to rebuild us too fast. That was the start of a long, gray period. Universal draft. Make-work projects. Nothing left of value, hell even gold was worthless. There was lots of riots and wannabe warlords. And that was just from the dinos giving us their equivalent of batteries and band-aids. Whatever's on the Egg, one thing I'm sure of is that we'll somehow fuck it up and make it ten times worse."

"At least we'll be taking charge of our own destiny," said Thora. "We won't be relying on handouts."

Oscar gave her a half-smile. "Yeah, instead we'll be relying on lies and deception. I've done a lot of soul-searching on this, and my worry is that if we can't behave like adults then the other Senate members might just send us back to the kiddie table." He looked around at them again. "Last chance, folks. Trust me, if I find out later you're holding out on me I'll burn y'all down myself."

Tobias and Thora exchanged a glance. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was. He gave her a microscopic shrug to let her know it was her call.

She took a deep breath and thought of her cousin. Even if she herself somehow dodged any consequences, Thora was sure that Martin would follow through on his threat to make her relative's life a living hell. "Can you absolutely guarantee our families' safety?" she asked.

Oscar raised an eyebrow. "Me personally? No. But the Captain said she'd protect both you and yours. That's the best guarantee you could ask for."

"You trust her that much?" asked Thora.

"I've seen her in action. When she says she'll do something she means it."

Thora took one last glance at Tobias and rubbed her forehead. "All right then. We don't know how Martin replaced the Egg in that package. However, Tobias and I have a pretty good idea of where Martin will stash the real Egg. Once it's on Earth, I mean."

Oscar pursed his lips. "That's not much use. He knows you've been pinched, he'll move it to a different location."

"Yes, he would...if he knew that we knew," replied Tobias. "Thora and I dug up the information ourselves."

The other two prisoners looked at their comrades in shock. Tam was the first to speak. "What? Why didn't you tell us?"

"There was no need," replied Tobias. He looked back at Oscar. "It was an insurance policy for the four of us. Just in case Martin reneged on his promises."

Oscar gave a dark chuckle. "A wise move. Do you have details of the security around this place?"

Thora nodded. "We do, for what that's worth. It's a fortress."

"Okay." Oscar blew out a breath. "I'll let the pack know. That info should be enough to cool down that damn Veridicator. I just hope Myra's not gonna throw down over Hattie's threatening me."