► Cards were a boring way to pass the time with only two people, but Steph had always been one for tradition. After a couple rounds, however, they’d put away the game and pulled out a couple readers. Milla was working her way through some classic science fiction from Earth, while he had a soft spot for old pulp books.

They were a third of the way past turnover when the comm station chirped and the pair looked up from their books.

“Message from the Odysseus,” Milla said, floating down to the pilot’s seat and pulling the straps over her shoulders.

“Play it,” Steph said, gliding over and grabbing the back of the seat to steady himself.

Milla nodded and tapped the command.

“Eagle One, Odysseus Command. Stand by for a message from Odysseus Actual.”

Steph smirked. “Boss must want to offer some encouragement.”

“Stephanos . . .” Eric Weston’s voice was serious. The second Steph heard his call sign, he flexed his arms and flipped over the seat, dropping into place as the message continued. “We’ve picked up a gravity anomaly on course for the gas giant. Looks like you and it are planning on using the planet for the same maneuver. Great minds, I suppose. The Odysseus can’t get to you first, even if we light off. Worst case, if it’s unfriendly, you’d be caught in the cross fire.”

Steph punched in a command, calling up the shuttle’s scanners and overlaying them with the data packet the Odysseus had sent.

“We’ve got nothing on our scanners,” he said, “but we wouldn’t at this range.”

“Should I change course?” Milla asked.

“Negative. We don’t have the Delta-V to reverse course, and this is still our best shot at a clean return to the Odysseus,” Steph answered. “Space—even planetary space—is a massive area. We go deep, take the plates to black hole settings.”

“Roger that,” Milla answered, typing in a series of commands. “Done.”

“Secure scanners, comms, and all transmissions,” Steph ordered. “Take us dark.”

“Done. Eagle One is dark.”

“Good work,” Steph said. “Boss is going to take the Odysseus around and try to flank the bad guys, but that’ll put us intersecting their course long before that.”

“What do we do?” she asked, eyes focusing on Steph. “This is . . . above my grade, yes?”

“Reality often is, Lieutenant,” Steph answered. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll do fine.”

“This should be your bird, yes, Commander?”

Steph tilted his head, considering. “If I take it, your qual flight is over.”

“It seems more important that we live through this, I believe?”

Steph waved his hand casually. “Your bird, Lieutenant. I’ll take it if I need to.”

“Yes sir.”

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