The man outside the bridge hatch dropped, smearing the wall behind him in blood. There had only been a few people in their way, but they all looked old. Like fifties or sixties old, and their vac suits were worn and patched so many times she would be surprised if they would still hold air for the individuals, the few that bothered wearing them anyway.

Most of the people they came across, including the first two, wore simple overalls that looked like they had seen better days. With the hatch to the bridge closed and their suits indicating the people inside were still oblivious to their presence, she decided to take a closer look at the man's suit. As she was leaning down, the ship alarm started to blare.

Kaela cursed and quickly stood back up, but Taigo was quicker to react.

He rushed past her and spun the wheel on the hatch leading to the bridge before yanking the door open.

Kaela was ready, catching a surprised captain reaching for a covered red button. He didn't make it. She rushed into the room, taking some small arms fire before clearing the rest of the bridge.

"Fuck! Time to go," she said as she clicked on her radio. The element of surprise was gone. "What happened?"

"Sorry, boss. The repair crews were blocking the route to the reactor room. We were forced to go around, but someone must have come across one of the people we took out."

"Get to the ship as fast as possible."

"Roger," came the reply.

Without having to worry about stealth, they covered the distance back much quicker, only slowing to stun the same guy again. Taiga tossed the unconscious man over his shoulder, and they were off again. She would have preferred an officer, but she wasn't leaving empty-handed.

"Boss, I'm seeing an energy buildup aboard their ship," Omari said over the radio.

She cursed and pushed harder. "Clear the airlock, Omari. We're going to blow it."

"Clear," came the confirmation a moment before they reached the airlock.

She opened the inner door, reached behind her back, and pulled out the explosive compound. By the time she formed it into a circle and set the charge, the rest of her people arrived. One shoved a RASP into the unconscious man's mouth. Since he wasn't wearing a suit, she hoped it was enough to keep the man alive for the short vacuum walk; she had questions for him.

"Clear!" she called before activating the charge.

There was a short burst of air, dust, and debris before the door blew out, and all the atmosphere was sucked out of the ship.

"I'm back in position, boss," Omari said as the last of the air was venting.

"Taiga, go," Kaela ordered.

The man didn't hesitate; he made sure he had a secure hold on their prisoner before rushing through the airlock and diving through the remains of the outer airlock hatch. She wanted to wave the rest of her people through, but she knew better than to sit around and argue why she should be the last to leave.

Instead of wasting time trying to convince her people, she rushed through the door, diving into the Kitsune's airlock in an athletic roll only possible thanks to the armor's enhancements.

It was a good thing, too, because she would have crashed into Taiga and squashed their prisoner otherwise. She let her weapon hang as she assisted the rest of her crew into the airlock.

Once the last man was onboard, she slapped the door control. Taiga had radioed the bridge, and they were already pulling away from the ship.

"Omari, light off the main drive and get us out of here. The time for skulking about is over."

The crew was pushed against the back-facing wall as Kitsune accelerated hard. Those new engines were no joke.

"Boss, the other ship spotted us and is powering up their drive and weapons. They still need to undock from the other side of the refueling station before they can get a clear shot. I'm keeping that and the other frigate between us."

"Taiga, pass our guest off to Marle and get to the bridge as soon as the airlock stabilizes. Marle, the RASP should keep him sedated long enough to get clear, but make sure his restraints are secure."

"Roger, boss," the pair said in near unison.

"Hold on!" came the panicked shout from the bridge right as the airlock went green.

The ship shook violently, and Kaela was thrown against the forward bulkhead as something peppered the side of her ship.

"Report!" she ordered as she picked herself up off the ground.

"The enemy's reactor went critical. The thermal overload must have detonated their missile storage. We took some debris, but all systems are green. On a happy note, the explosion took out the small station and the other frigate before it could separate."

"Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good," Kaela muttered inside her helmet. "Omari, cut the drive and go back into stealth. If we can keep our presence out here secret, we might as well."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Already on it," came her pilot's response.

Taiga had already sprinted out of the room and was well on his way to the bridge, despite the lack of targets. Someone was bound to come looking for the two ships eventually, so it was probably better to have him on the bridge in case they did get spotted.

"Good job, everyone. Stay near your posts, but you can have one drink to celebrate."

Her crew cheered as they exited the airlock one at a time. She headed to the galley and grabbed three of the celebratory beverages before heading to the bridge.

It had taken a bit of trading to get hold of the beverages back on Eden's End, and some convincing to have Branston fly it up for her during his supply trips, but it was worth it. BSE might have a policy against drinking while on duty, but her people were accustomed to celebrating a job well done or the loss of someone during a job.

Once on the bridge, she handed out the drinks and popped her helmet off, her hair and face a sweaty mess from being trapped in the suit, despite the suit's environmental control systems.

She raised her drink and glanced around to make sure everyone else had theirs. "Another day, another success. We couldn't have done it without every person here. To all of you," she said on the bridge and over the ship's comm before downing the small can.

Kaela might like to maintain her celebrations and flaunt the BSE rules when she could, but she wasn't dumb. The cans were filled with a non-alcoholic fruit juice. It was delicious stuff, but they only had a limited supply aboard, hence its use as a reward.

***

Ivan groaned as he started to come to. It felt like he had been shot out of an autocannon, and he was having trouble remembering what he had been doing prior to waking up. The last time that happened, he had been drinking Dmitry's vodka, but he had sworn off that swill. He didn't need to go blind again.

Once again, he lamented his life. He should be living it up on a planet with kids and grandkids of his own, but he was stuck living aboard a spaceship with nothing to do for the boredom and tedium but to get blackout drunk. He licked his lips and went to scratch an itch on his nose, earning a stinging pain in his wrists.

As the pain registered in his addled mind, memories came flooding back to him. T$his+ v%er!sion is s$ource^d f#rom MV3#L$3MP#Y.R$.

"Morning, sleepyhead," a sultry voice said.

Ivan froze, trying to go back to pretending to be unconscious, but cold water splashed across his face, making him splutter and finally open his eyes.

A woman with cold eyes, raven black hair, and a mischievous smirk sat in a chair on the other side of a hatch opening. She would have been a sight for sore eyes if he wasn't hyperventilating as he glanced around at the airlock where he was tied to a chair.

"What's your name?" the woman asked, a hint of mirth in her voice.

"Wha- Where am I?" Ivan asked

The woman tsked. "You can answer my questions, or I'm closing the inner airlock and venting it. I don't have time to waste with someone who has nothing to provide."

"I- Ivan," he quickly said.

"I- Ivan," the woman responded cheekily. "What is the Grand Admiral's plan?"

"What?" he caught himself asking.

The woman frowned and shook her head before standing. "I guess we'll have to find someone else."

"No, wait! I was just taken off guard by the question. I don't know what the Grand Admiral's goals are or if the man is even still alive. I've never actually met him," he said as quickly as his mouth could form the words.

The unnamed woman tapped on the hatch before letting go of it and sitting back down. "Explain."

Ivan did like his life depended on it, because he was pretty sure it did.

***

"Hold up," Kaela said, stopping the man's panicked rambling. The man clamped his mouth shut.

"You're one of the original people who left with Grand Admiral Xin?"

"Yes," the man confirmed, "but it's not like us peons were given a choice. The Grand Admiral filled each ship with a select group of his sycophants who were in command of the bridge, weapons, and engineering. Those who didn't play along got spaced."

"And where do the Shican come in?"

The man winced. "You heard that? That's not a question," the man quickly added. "I don't know. All I know is that they were waiting for us when we arrived at what was supposed to be our new home world."

Kaela quirked an eyebrow. "They ambushed Xin's traitors?"

"No. Xin was working with them, at least that's what people whispered when they thought nobody could overhear."

"And where is this world?"

"Lady, do I look like a bridge officer? I was an ensign when I was shanghaied out here, and I've been stuck as an ensign because the people in power want to keep that power. What little of it they still have," Ivan muttered darkly.

Kaela tapped the back of the chair, which she had turned around to face Ivan. "I believe you, but I still need to confirm what you're saying. For now, you get to live. I don't give second chances, though. If you try anything, you're going out the airlock."

"I won't, I swear," Ivan said as tears of relief streamed down his grimy face.

Kaela nodded, and Marle lifted Ivan's chair off the deck with ease, surprising the man who hadn't known anyone else had been in the airlock with him.

Leaving the pair, she moved to the bridge to think over what she had learned. If the Shican had been mixed up with the Coalition war from the beginning, it really changed the narrative.

It was also very worrying, given the timing of Xin's attacks.

***

"You know we'll follow you wherever, boss, but shouldn't you contact the Admiral before we head deeper into Xin space?" Omari asked, emphasizing Vitor's title instead of using the man's name.

"I sent a quick update to the command center on Eden's End," she said. "They know where we're heading." A time-delayed packet was also sent to the nearest stealth satellite, to go to Vitor in the untimely event of her death. The information was important enough that she couldn't risk it dying with her, but she would rather be the one presenting it to Vitor herself.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," her pilot responded.

Kaela shrugged. "What Vitor doesn't know won't hurt him. You know as well as I do that he would tell us to come home. The man is fine when it comes to putting himself at risk, but rarely when it comes to others. Remember when we first met and he tried to be chivalrous by protecting me against that bouncer?"

Omari chuckled. "Yeah, and you kicked his ass to prove a point."

Kaela grinned widely at the memory. She had only won because she sucker punched Vitor before he knew what was happening, but a win was a win. "Precisely. Vitor would probably say we collected enough intel, and maybe that's true, but I'm not happy trusting a single untrustworthy data point. We need to verify Ivan's words for ourselves."

"It's your ship, boss. Point the way, and I'll get us there. Just don't expect me to lie if Vitor asks us what we did. We're not bounty hunters anymore."

She patted her pilot on the shoulder. "I would never ask you to lie for me."

The man gave her an incredulous look.

"Ok, I would never ask you to lie to Vitor for me," she amended, but the man's disbelieving stare didn't fade. She sighed. "I will do my best not to ask you to lie to Vitor for me."

"Sounds like the best I can hope for," Omari muttered before turning back to his console.

The wrap-around holo was still a bit much for her. She had disabled the floor and ceiling sections, leaving a lateral view. That still showed more information than she was used to seeing.

She turned and headed to her seat, glancing at Taigo, who was currently occupied with an attack and defense simulation.

With no real need for communications out here, the man had put his entire effort into perfecting his skills with the untested weapons systems. There had been some training back on Eden's End, but that was basic at best. Kaela was a firm believer that those who excelled and survived were those who knew their equipment inside and out.