His arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed, of course. A man in powered armor stomping through the corridors of a ship was hardly stealthy, even if he’d wanted to be.

The admiral turned to see the ruckus seconds after he arrived. He noted in the back of his mind that she was one of the few who weren’t surprised to see him alive. Many of the others had stared like he was the second coming. It would have been creepy if he had been thinking straight.

“Captain,” Gracen said, rising to her feet. “It’s good to see you alive.”

“Admiral,” Eric reciprocated through clenched teeth. “Request permission to have a word . . .”

She gazed at him, her expression haughty and cool. It was a look that she was known for, actually, the ability to make you feel like a bug barely worth the attention it took to flick you away.

“My ready room,” she said finally, nodding to the right and behind him.

Eric grimaced, but nodded and followed her off the bridge.

Steph stared, silently whistling at the back of his departed CO. Former CO? He wasn’t sure which, didn’t really care. He hadn’t seen Raziel that pissed since . . . well, ever. Even in the heat of the war there was nothing that came to mind that matched the captain’s current mood, though he supposed that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Even the Block never threatened to blow up the whole damned planet.

Milla looked stricken at her station, and he could understand why. He had watched her face dissolve from the almost joy of seeing one of her heroes reappear alive to shock and fear as she caught the outer edge of his fury. Steph caught her eye and smiled sadly, shaking his head. He’d try to explain it to her later, if she really needed it. She’d probably work it out for herself, though. There wasn’t a lot to figure out.

The captain’s anger came from an obvious source.

In the privacy of the ready room, Eric just glared as the admiral walked around the desk and took a seat.

“Well, Captain, do you want to sit down or are you going to start screaming at me without delay?” she asked him, eyebrows arched.

“I’ve been told that you ordered a withdrawal from the system,” he gritted out.

“Incorrect. I was ordered to withdraw,” she said lightly. “We are making preparations now to leave orbit.”

“We can’t leave almost ten billion people to . . .”

“Captain,” she cut him off, “have you seen the numbers?”

When he couldn’t reply, she went on.