“We might be able to do more than that,” Callie said. “Elder Mizori blew up Meditreme Station, and she paid for that crime, but she was under orders, in a way, wasn’t she? We haven’t reached the top of the chain of culpability just yet.”

“You still want justice, don’t you?” Elena said.

“The Axiom destroyed Meditreme Station, ultimately. It was their policy, their orders, and they’re the guilty party. They destroyed countless other cities, too, countless other planets, countless other civilizations, countless other peoples. I’m sorry, Elena. I’d love to relax and see the galaxy with you, but the galaxy is in danger, and I can help.”

“Are you planning to get in the Golden Spider and head straight out to punch space monsters?”

“Not quite. We’ll take a few months. We’ll get settled on Glauketas, and try to cure Sebastien, and settle your crew elsewhere, if they like. But after that, once Lantern gets the information she’s waiting for…” Callie gazed at the screens, showing empty starfields, a depth of near-infinite space, hiding wonders and monsters and gold and spiders.

Elena said, “After that, we’re going to find the Axiom, and we’re going to kick the shit out of them.”

“I’m pretty sure I love you,” Callie said.

Acknowledgments

I wrote a space opera! Lots of people helped. My agent Ginger Clark strongly encouraged me to branch out into this new-to-me genre, and I appreciate her confidence in me. I’m grateful to Marc Gascoigne and the other revolutionaries at Angry Robot for giving the crew of the White Raven a home, especially my editor Phil Jourdan, publicity manager Penny Reeve, and sales and marketing manager Mike Underwood.

Thanks to my wife Heather Shaw and our son River for their support during all the hours I spent muttering to myself hunched over a laptop instead of being good company. Thanks to Ais, Amanda, Emily, Katrina, Sarah, and Zoe for enduring my endless babbling and enthusiasm and thinking aloud and brainstorming and idea-bouncing and complaining while I was developing the idea and writing this book.

Thanks finally to all the great writers I’ve read who inspired me to try my hand at something other than fantasy for once, most especially Iain M Banks, Lois McMaster Bujold, CJ Cherryh, James SA Corey, Samuel R Delany, M John Harrison, Alastair Reynolds, Joanna Russ, Cordwainer Smith, and James Tiptree, Jr. If you peer closely you can probably see bits of all of them in this book, and I am indebted to my betters for their inspiration.

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