He leaned back and picked up his cup. “Until then, Admiral Dabo wants me to bring you, your suit, and those frozen Marines from the Extenuating Circumstances back to Vyyborg.”

Kira eyed him, trying to make sense of his motives. “And you don’t agree with her orders?”

He took a sip of coffee. “Let’s just say Admiral Dabo and I are experiencing a difference of opinions right now.”

“You’re thinking about going after the staff, aren’t you?”

Akawe pointed at the crater still glowing in the holo. “You see that? I have friends and family back at Sol. A lot of us do.” He wrapped both hands around his cup. “Humanity can’t win a war on two fronts, Navárez. Our backs are against the wall, and there’s a gun aimed at our heads. At this point, even bad choices are starting to look pretty good. If you’re right about the Staff of Blue, it could mean we actually have a chance.”

She didn’t bother hiding her exasperation. “That’s what I was saying.”

“Yes, but your say-so isn’t good enough,” said Akawe. He took another sip, and she waited, sensing that he needed to talk things out for himself. “If we go, we’d be disobeying orders or, at the very least, ignoring them. Leaving the field of battle is still grounds for capital punishment, if you weren’t aware. Cowardice before the enemy, and all that. Even if that weren’t the case, you’re talking about a deep-space mission that would last a minimum of six months, round-trip.”

“I know what it would—”

“Six. Months,” Akawe repeated. “And who knows what would happen while we were gone.” He shook his head slightly. “The Darmstadt took a beating today, Navárez. We’re in no shape to go jetting off into the ass-end of the Milky Way. And we’re just one ship. What if we get there and there’s a whole Jelly fleet waiting for us? Boom. We’d lose what might be our only advantage: you. Hell, we don’t even know for sure if you can understand the Jellies’ language. That suit of yours could be messing with your brain.”

He swirled the coffee in his cup. “You have to understand the situation, Navárez. There’s a lot at stake. For me, for my crew, for the League.… Even if I’d known you since the first day of boot, there’s no way I can go jetting off to who knows where just on the strength of your word.”

Kira crossed her arms. “So then why are you here?”

“I need proof, Navárez, and it needs to be something more than just your word.”

“I don’t know how to give you that. I already told you everything I know.… Do you have any computers salvaged from a Jelly ship? I might be able to—”

Akawe was shaking his head. “No, we don’t. Besides, we’d still have no way to confirm what you’re saying.”

She rolled her eyes. “What the hell do you want then? If you don’t trust me—”