“Too bad. I would have liked the backup.”

“Ah, but Ashok was poking around in the station armory, and he found something better: a Martian war drone. It’s a decade old and it has a busted cooling unit, so they couldn’t use it – turn it on, and it overheats and shuts off almost immediately.”

“Because pirates are shitty mechanics, and prefer to steal new stuff rather than fix the old,” Ashok chimed in. “I, however, am a genius mechanic, and I got it working again.”

“When you say war drone…”

“You’re going to be happy,” Shall said.

Elena, Lantern, and Callie got on board the Golden Spider, a dirty and much-patched ship, clearly the ugly duckling of the Glauketas fleet. But the engines worked, and they didn’t need much else. The weapons systems were offline, but Shall was clinging to the hull inside the war drone, a machine twice the size of the old hull repair drone and more straightforwardly designed for fighting. Possession of such technology by private individuals was illegal by Martian statute, but Mars law didn’t reach anywhere near this far out.

They burned toward the Oort Cloud, sitting together in the cockpit, discussing their approach. It was fairly straightforward. Lantern seemed confident the plan would work. Callie was a bit anxious having Elena on board, but she was focusing hard on the task ahead. That was the way you got through any huge project: take it one small, manageable step at a time. Don’t build a starship, just bolt on a plate. Don’t write a novel, just write a sentence.

Don’t topple an ancient alien empire of unimaginable power, just infiltrate a base.

When they got within real-time communication range of the Liar station, but still outside the range of its guns, Lantern reached out on a secret emergency frequency. “Elder Mizori. This is Lantern. I successfully infiltrated the White Raven and destroyed the forbidden technology, and the ship itself, along with all its data. I acquired a new and untraceable vessel. And I have taken two prisoners.”

A long silence, and then a voice said, “We do not take prisoners. They should have been killed.”

“They have information crucial to our mission,” Lantern said. “They know about other humans planning an excursion to Axiom space. I considered killing them and producing a neural bud so you could witness the interrogation, but I feared I might not question them properly. Your wisdom and experience are better suited to a task of such importance.”

Another pause. “You have done well, Lantern. Dock your ship and bring your prisoners. Come straight to my quarters when you board. Don’t mind the mess. We had a small problem with some human interlopers, but it’s being cleared up.”

“Acknowledged.” Lantern shut off the comms, and then trembled uncontrollably. Elena soothed her.

“It’s all right,” Elena said.