It spun beneath them, a sphere of varied hues. It was unusual and it was stunning.

Where most worlds were patchworks of green and brown in a sea of blue, Qevahr was a pattern of reds, yellows, blues, greens, blacks, and whites.

Bregg stared at it for a long time, oblivious to the dozens of Imperial ships that surrounded it.

Unlike above Rimzana, there was no battle here. As if the Qevahri had decided to ignore them entirely.

“Colonel?”

Bregg blinked and turned to look at his second-in-command.

“The shuttle just docked in Bay 2,” said Ferris.

Bregg grunted and gave a curt nod before starting toward the door.

“Lieutenant, you have the bridge.”

Without a look back, he stepped out and headed for Bay 2.

The flagship had hailed them as soon as they’d arrived and Bregg had been summoned aboard for an emergency meeting.

It annoyed him having to waste his time here when he could be chasing Starrider. At least he’d had time to send Juden all the information he had gathered before they’d jumped here.

The walk allowed him to collect his thoughts. He hoped he could find a way to pull out of this mission so he could focus on his obsession. Doing so would put him at odds with his superiors, but not any more than he already was. What bothered him more was that it could draw undue attention to his activities. If he didn’t want people rubbing their noses into his affairs, he needed to act the way he was expected to act. Which meant he should follow orders—even if those orders made no sense.

And of course, he needed to pacify his men—including Ferris. Coming here, he hoped, would go a long way to achieving that goal.

With a sigh, he stepped into Bay 2 and approached the shuttle.

Five men stood there, looking upset. They must have expected him to be ready to board as soon as they landed. As if he had nothing better to do with his time than twiddling his thumbs. Let them wait for a change. What was he, a commoner?

Damn them all to the deepest pits of Hell!

He gave a curt nod as he stepped into the shuttle.

The ranking officer fell into step behind him.

“Colonel. I am Captain Andros. I have been tasked with bringing you safely to the Vir Victis. Please take a seat and strap yourself securely. We will leave immediately.”

Without waiting for his response, Andros stepped away.

Bregg grunted.

As if he needed to be told to strap himself securely.

He was a colonel, for crying out loud!

With a frown, he sat down, wondering if the whole Imperium had set out to humiliate him.

At least, it would be a short flight. But there was no telling how the other officers at the meeting would treat him. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to finding out.

Still, it was not like he had a choice.

A few minutes later, the shuttle docked in the flagship, and he was escorted through brightly lit halls until they reached a large oval room, with a big table and a dozen chairs. Though most of them were occupied, part of him was relieved to see he was not the last to arrive.

He sat as two other colonels—a man and a woman—were ushered in.

“Thank you all for coming,” boomed a voice from the front of the room.

All heads turned to look at the general who sat at the head of the table. The man had short white hair with a beard and small, intelligent eyes that darted all around the room.

“For those who don’t know me, I am General Thur. The Emperor himself has asked me to supervise this mission. Our mission is twofold. Find out why the Qevahri have attacked Rimzana, and subdue them into submission—using force if necessary. Questions?”

The woman who sat across from Bregg cleared her throat.

“Yes, Colonel Lung?”

“I was wondering if we have any information about their ships.”

Thur frowned and shook his head.

“We do not have such information at this time. However, it is fair to assume they must have built them in the past few decades. The Imperium has not watched Qevahr closely enough, and that is on us.”

Which makes no sense at all, thought Bregg.

The Qevahri were a peaceful people with no fleet. Why would they suddenly decide to not only make ships, but battleships? Not to mention, how could a rimworld have access to such advanced technology? Those ships were more powerful than most in the Imperial fleet—safe perhaps the ones assembled here—and had impenetrable shields. Granted, that was the whole point of a shield, but they always had flaws. If these had any, they had yet to be found.

Judging from the expressions around the table, he wasn’t the only one questioning Thur’s theory.

The general was about to speak again when a buzzer rang. He hit a button, looking annoyed.

“I asked not to be disturbed!”

“Apologies, General, but the Qevahri have finally answered our calls. They are demanding to speak with the person in charge.”

Thur’s expression switched to surprise, then annoyance again.

“They demanded?”

“Uhm, yes, General, that was the word they used.”

Thur was fuming. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine. Put them through. We might as well get this over with.”

The wall behind him lit up and a face appeared on the surface, drawing all gazes.

It was the face of a middle-aged woman, with short black hair that ended in a whitish hairline, thick brows, and a stern expression.

She squinted when she saw the assembled officers.

“What is this? I requested to speak with the person in charge.”

“That would be me. I am General Thur. Who am I speaking with?”

The other sized him up, then gave a short nod.

“Ihni Salini, High Noort of the Qevahri. I speak on behalf of all my people, and in the name of our god Saan. You are hereby commanded to immediately vacate our airspace.”

Thur clenched his fists.

“Excuse me?”

“Furthermore,” continued the Noort, ignoring the question, “you are to liberate Rimzana and pull away all troops. Civilians will be allowed to stay, provided they recognize Saan’s supreme authority and the sacred nature of the lands upon which they tread.”

Bregg cringed, wondering how Thur would take that.

There was a moment of silence as the general tried to keep his temper in check.

“First of all,” he finally said with an icy voice, “you are in no position to make any requests. Second—”

“You are mistaken,” interrupted Salini. “Saan supersedes even your Emperor. There is none more powerful. We have tolerated the Imperium’s abuses long enough. The universe is large. Find yourselves other worlds to enslave. There will be no further warning.”

Before Thur could say anything else, the communication was cut off and the Noort’s face disappeared from the wall.

Another, longer silence followed.

Then Thur slowly turned toward the table, anger clearly visible on his features.

His eyes paused on Bregg.

“You,” he said coldly. “I want you to go down there.”

The colonel straightened.

“Excuse me, General?”

“I don’t care who you take with you, but no one must know who you are or what you are doing there.”

They wanted him to do undercover work? Was this a joke?

“Gather as much information as you can. We need to know what they are planning, what weapons they have and, most of all, who their allies are. No one can defy the Imperium so blatantly without backup.”

What type of backup could be powerful enough to dare such an affront? There had to be multiple co-conspirators involved. Either that or some alien force.

Bregg shuddered at the thought.

“We need answers,” continued Thur, “and we need them fast. You are dismissed.”

He remained frozen for a second, still stunned by this unexpected turn of events.

Slowly coming back to his senses, simmering rage mounting inside of him, Bregg got to his feet, nodded, turned, and walked out without a word.