The buildings were in flames as hoverbots sprayed the still-burning walls with water. They were everywhere, buzzing and darting in every direction. Crowds had assembled on both sites to gape at the destruction.

“We can now confirm,” said Athissia, “that both bombings happened simultaneously. The timing this would have required hints at a terrorist attack. Some suspect the Qevahri, but official sources have denied this, claiming the technology used here is much more mundane. There are reports of other—”

Thiari turned the news off when her vircell rang. She pressed two fingers against her temple and the face of Alini na’Mindri appeared against her retina. She had expected and dreaded this call for days. The wait was finally over, though it did not make her feel any better.

There was no kindness in the older woman’s eyes—nor had she expected to find any. She fully understood the gravity of her actions. Part of her shuddered at the thought of all those other things she had done—had anyone known about half of them, surely she would have been sentenced to death.

Well, there were two who knew, but they had no interest in denouncing her. For reasons of their own.

The older woman gave her a curt nod. “Thiari. We need to talk.”

There would be no talk, though. A talk implied an exchange. One would say something, the other would respond. She knew she was not expected to respond. This would be a one-way conversation. A monologue. All she had to do was listen and accept her fate. She would only speak if prompted to do so.

So she simply nodded back.

“You have acted rashly—to say the least. You had no right to pull all of Gnorlia into this mess.”

Except she hadn’t. Not technically. She had been very careful how she had phrased her announcement. If they wanted to, the government could spin things to their advantage, to make her stand out as a rogue element. Likely they would. She had given them the tools to do so. It was only fair.

“We have read your report, and we find it to be lacking. It does not answer any of our questions. Most of all, it does not tell us why you did what you did. Can you give me that answer now?”

Thiari remained quiet. How could she not? She could not tell Alini about her secrets. About the hooded man who knew those secrets and used them to manipulate her. To coerce her into betraying her own people. Better she not say a word.

The older woman sighed. “Very well. If you insist on silence, we have no other option but to punish you to the full extent of the law.” Alini paused. “However, some have pointed out how this could be an opportunity for us to gain the independence we have so long wanted. The Imperium is weakened at the moment, torn between different attacks. I do not feel it is weak enough yet, but...” She paused again, blinking. “We shall delay your sentence until we see more clearly. In the meantime, you are hereby relieved of your duties. You will shortly receive instructions on your wristpad, which you are to follow to the letter. Is this understood?”

Again, she nodded.

Alini watched her for a moment, then sighed. “I had such great hopes for you, Thiari. You have proved a disappointment. Goodbye.”

The image faded, and Thiari leaned back in her chair.

More than anything else, those last words had cut through her heart.

The older woman had once been her mentor—before she had risen to power. She had taught her everything she knew about politics, manipulation, and human psychology.

And now she had failed her.

Her wristpad blinked and beeped.

Expecting the message from Alini, she tapped on the screen. Instead, she found one from Juden.

She frowned.

Juden. She hadn’t heard from him for some time. He had sent her occasional updates over the past months. Last she’d heard, he had found Starrider on Pluvios.

In his message, the brilliant agent said he needed to talk to her. She guessed he must have tried reaching out while Alini was scolding her.

She pressed down on her temple and blinked a few times until her vircell connected with Juden’s.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Juden looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“That woman is driving me crazy. She and that friend of hers managed to trick and capture us on Pluvios. We escaped on Derkanash—”

“Derkanash?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“Watch your tone, Juden. I’m not in the mood for this.”

The dark-skinned man took a deep breath and nodded.

“Apologies, Thiari. It has been rough out here.”

She nodded. “Go on.”

“We escaped and took control of the ship. Managed to take off, leaving that woman behind. But she caught up to us with a freaking battlepod! To cut a long story short, we fought and escaped again, this time in the battlepod.”

Thiari frowned. “So you’re no longer on that ship?”

“We are not.”

“What about Bregg?”

“That’s the thing. I’ve been trying to reach him ever since we took off from Derkanash, but he’s not taking my calls. He gave me a scrambler so I could call him on a secure line, but that’s giving me errors now.”

She pursed her lips. “Last I heard, he’d gone down to Qevahr. I wonder if he got caught.”

Juden blinked. “Qevahr? What was he doing there, of all places?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“What should we do now, boss?”

Thiari pondered this for a moment.

“You might as well come home,” she said. “You could be useful for another project.”

“Alright. We’re on our way.”

She cut the communication with a blink of her eyes.