I couldn’t believe what was happening. Couldn’t I even get off this shitty planet without someone trying to kill me?

Like all Conglomeration agents, I had been optimised for combat. Not a full military upgrade, but enough for most civilian situations. As soon as Mulch pulled his gun, I felt the conditioning kick in and the world seemed to slow. Sounds stretched and deepened. My heart began to thud like a jackhammer trying to batter its way through a castle’s walls.

By the way her jaw tightened, I saw Captain Konstanz had received bad news via her earpiece. And, judging from the noises coming from the port, I guessed someone was trying to hijack her ship. I had to give her credit, though; she barely reacted. And she’d managed to activate her comms device without Mulch noticing.

I took a glance at Laura. For most of our time on this stupid planet, our relationship had adhered to professional rules of engagement. Why was I now thinking of her as “Laura”? In my mind, she’d been “Agent Petrushka” right up until the start of this trip. Was it leaving the jungle that had caused this change? One thing was for sure: it hadn’t been intentional. Get too comfortable in this game, and you were asking for trouble. That had always been my motto in the past, drummed into me by the kicks and punches of my fellow police officers. Trust the wrong person and you would die. You wouldn’t even hear the shot that killed you. And yet, right at this particular moment, as I stared down the barrel of the fat handgun Mulch held, I knew there wasn’t anybody I’d rather have at my side. Despite our political differences, I knew I could count on her to do the right thing.

“What’s going on, Mulch?” I lowered my hands a fraction, keeping my body language open and non-threatening, keeping his attention on me. “What’s this about?”

The man gave a snort.

“The war’s spreading. It will be here soon.” He scowled. “The war you people started.”

“And so you’re taking the ship?”

“I don’t have a choice.” He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “The whole town wants to leave.”

Konstanz looked incredulous.

“You’re going to try to hijack a Carnivore?” She shook her head. “Are you insane?”

Mulch glowered. “We have you. The ship won’t target civilians without your authorisation. If it won’t open voluntarily, we can fix a breaching charge to the lower cargo doors and force access to the interior.”

“That won’t work.” Konstanz leaned forward across the table. “Even if you get to the bridge, she won’t cooperate with you.”

“She will, if we threaten to shoot her captain.”

Konstanz lowered her hands. “I think you may be overestimating her sentimentality.”