It was one of their smallest ones, called Asteria. Class C. Repurposed from the Empire, like all of their ships. Agile and moved like a dream, with an engine that hummed. The cloaking tech was so good, it could sneak up on almost any craft. Over the past few years, Clo had taken it apart and put it back together more times than she could count. She knew this hunk of metal better than anyone, even the myriad pilots that took it on missions.

Asteria had sentimental value. This ship had saved her life.

Clo set her hand on the side, patting it like a friend. She opened the hatch for Eris. “After you, my . . .” She gave a pause. “Former potential sovereign.”

“Thank you.” Eris looked the ship up and down. “This craft barely looks like it could get off the ground.” She swiped a finger across the dash, wrinkling her nose at the resulting dirt. “Seven devils, how long has this been sitting here? Longer than I’ve been alive?”

Clo glared at Eris and patted the ship’s dash. “Shh. She doesn’t mean it, sweetheart,” she whispered to her craft. To Eris, she said, “You still carry around that ancient junk blaster with the fancy etchings? This ship is like that to me. Sentimental. Say one more bad word about it and I’ll deck you.”

Eris didn’t even look up from the dash. “I was giving you two hours for your first show of insubordination, and you displayed it in fifteen minutes. Congratulations.”

“I agreed to the mission. Kyla made you leader, but that dinnae mean you’re my leader.”

“Look,” Eris sighed. “I’m just as unhappy about this as you are. But we’re stuck together and I need to know you’re going to follow my orders and not shoot me in the back at the first opportunity.”

“Your orders? Ohh, but it’s so tempting.” At Eris’s glare, Clo rolled her eyes. “Fine. No back-shooting. No front-shooting. No shooting, except in emergencies.”

Clo thought Eris might argue with her, but the other woman only nodded once. “Fine. I’ll take it.”

“Good. ’Cause that’s the best you’re gonna get from me.” She stood. “I’ll check over the engine. The sooner we’re out, the sooner we’re back, the sooner we can go our separate ways and I’ll stop thinking about shooting you.”

“Fair enough. Is your Pathos on?” Eris asked.

“Of course.”

They took a moment to sync their devices by turning back to back and gently touching their heads together. Clo stiffened at the contact with the other woman. She hated even being near a member of the Imperial family after everything they’d done—not just to Clo but to others throughout the galaxy. Eris might not have been personally responsible for the deaths of people Clo cared about, but she’d hurt so many others.