“Were you in the middle of a game?” Eris asked with a half-smile.

“Not a recent one. My father leaves me a move to puzzle over whenever he visits,” General Damocles said. “Do merchants play?”

Eris’s hand dropped. “It’s rare in the aedifex class, but yes. I sometimes have the opportunity in my line of work.”

He motioned to one of the chairs. “Then sit. Play a round with me.”

<Shit,> Eris sent through the Pathos.

<What is it?> Clo asked.

Eris settled across from Damocles and smoothed her skirts, then motioned to Ariadne, Clo, and Nyx to step back. Though she looked calm, Clo could sense her unease through the Pathos. At that moment, all their disguises seemed frail, as vulnerable as glass.

<Nothing,> Eris replied.

Clo wisely kept silent as Damocles saved the existing game in the board’s mainframe before rearranging the pieces to their starting positions. He invited Eris to make the first move.

She did. Peasant forward. A pedestrian move, indicative of someone who hadn’t played in a long time.

Damocles didn’t mention anything as he shifted his own red piece. “Tell me about your weapon.”

“I’ll be honest,” she said as they moved through the first battle. “This is a prototype. Your testing facility will no doubt perfect it before use.”

“We have plenty of weapons. Why should I bother giving this one my time and attention? Especially if the war might come to an end?”

Clo tried not to flinch. She could make an entire list of the reasons he should give this one his attention, and all of them were monstrous. If he created high-density blasts from the cargo, this weapon would be unstoppable.

<I hate this,> she hissed through the Pathos.

<Me too,> Ariadne added.

<You think I don’t?> Eris shot back.

“Wars will always need to be fought, General. Let’s start with the basics,” Eris said, “It can shoot faster than a Mors—”

Damocles sat back, bored. “It doesn’t matter how fast it shoots, if it doesn’t improve on the technology. I’m sure that line might have been enticing for my father during the Battle of the Garnet, but the Evoli already came up with the technology to block a Mors blast. If that’s all . . .”

Eris pursed her lips, as if she hated what she was about to say. “It targets specific genetic sequences.”

Now, that got his attention. “Go on.”