Anya Fritz walked into the center of the main deck, her eyes moving from one of her people to the next, cutting through them like a high-powered laser. Fritz was an engineer, but as far as her people could tell she was nothing less than a sorceress, wielding some kind of black magic to pull shattered systems back from the brink, to coax a few more megawatts from a dying reactor. Her skills were renowned across the fleet, and most of her team suspected it was the Barron mojo that had secured her transfer along with the captain.

They were glad to have her skills aboard, but that didn’t change the fact that she scared the shit out of them all. The captain called her Fritzie, but none of her officers and techs would dare do the same. The very thought was enough to evoke night terrors in a veteran spacer.

“Sorry, Commander. We…ah…” Billings was staring down from the catwalk, his cockiness gone, struggling for words.

“I’m sorry, Commander.” Carson flashed a glance up at Billings and then back toward Fritz. “We were talking about my transfer. It won’t happen again. We’re actually in good shape on the repair manifests. We’ll be done before the ship docks.”

Fritz sighed, her eyes focused on Carson. Then she shocked them all. She smiled. “Don’t worry about it.” She glanced around the room, throwing a quick frown up toward Billings. “Just finish up…and then we can give Lieutenant Carson here the sendoff he deserves. And I’ve got a bottle of twenty-year old bourbon to get us started.”

She turned and took a few steps toward the exit. Then she stopped and looked back. “I’m going to miss you, Sam. Just like everybody else.”

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Victorum, Alliance Capital City

Astara II, Palatia

Year 58 (307 AC)

“Commander-Maximus, you sent for me?” Kat stood at the open door, peering into the palatial office.

“Kat! Come in. Please, have a seat.” The officer sitting behind the massive desk stood up as he spoke. He was a large man, tall and muscular, and his face was scarred and hard-looking. But now he smiled, and his voice was almost soft, affectionate. “And, please, none of this Commander-Maximus nonsense. Not when it’s just the two of us. I remember when you used to sit on my lap and call me Uncle Taks.”

Commander-Maximus Tarkus Vennius was a man to be reckoned with, one few ship commanders would dare to address with anything but the gravest formality. But Katrine was the daughter of Lucius Rigellus…and Lucius Rigellus had been Vennius’s best friend since childhood. The two boys, later men, had been virtual brothers, through decades of life, war, struggle. They had completed the coming of age Ordeal together, and they had served side by side as they rose through the ranks. Vennius had practically adopted Katrine after her father’s death in battle.