That surprised a laugh out of Chira. “The wormhole. The field it emits. It’s like a shiver down your spine, except one you can’t block or ignore. The longer we stay close, the worse it gets. Traversal is worse still.”

Lexi frowned and glanced at Kee. “Do you feel anything?”

Kee shook her head. “Nothing like that, but I can kind of tell when we’re approaching a wormhole. Like static in the air or something.”

Lexi tilted her head in thought. “I suppose that’s true. Even in the belly of a battleship, I always knew when we were close.”

I hadn’t really thought about it, but they were right. It didn’t bother me, not in the same way it seemed to bother the Valoffs, but even in my quarters earlier, I’d known we were getting closer.

Lexi slanted a look at Chira. “That still doesn’t answer if we’re flying into a trap.”

Chira stiffened and her expression shuttered. “General Fletcher has promised safe passage into and out of Valovian space. If there is any trap, it will not be our doing.”

Lexi’s smile was as wide as it was fake. “Good to know.”

Chira’s phrasing struck me. Did she think that someone else would set a trap for us? Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past the FHP, but no FHP forces were allowed on the Valovian side of the wormhole. Did she know something about the people who’d stolen from Torran?

Before I could figure out if the wording had been intentional, we got the all-clear from the anchor and Starlight chimed the wormhole warning.

“Everyone strap in. We’re next.” I took my own advice and shrugged into my harness. Lotkez had already disappeared through the anchor, and Torran had sent word of our arrival to the Valovian forces guarding the other side, so hopefully there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings when we arrived.

But just in case, I brought Starlight’s active defense capabilities online. From his terminal, Eli saw the change and raised an eyebrow at me. “Expecting trouble?” he asked subvocally over the comm.

“Just being cautious,” I replied.

I hoped it wouldn’t be needed but being prepared never hurt. I also brought up our weapons systems. I didn’t fully activate them, because there was no reason to give the Valoffs an excuse to attack, but I could bring the ship into full battle readiness with a single command.

It might buy us enough time to get back to Fed space, assuming our access wasn’t blocked.

The distorted space of the wormhole filled the screen as the autopilot brought us closer and closer. The engines ramped up and then we pierced the anchor’s plane. The ship picked up a steady vibration. I dropped my gaze to my terminal, but out of my peripheral vision, I could see the starlight dancing on the main display.