Felix’s station was somehow even more impressive than his yacht.

Immense stations dominated Koller’s Gate, just a small part of the Aurora’s Edge Star Cluster. This was the territory of the rich, powerful, and somewhat disreputable. Grand floating mansions hovered here and there, drifting with the mood of their owner. Felix had once told Valentina that he could always tell the mood of his neighbors by who moored up beside which Legendary Regional Claim day by day.

Fortunes had been made on the politics of the lesser-respected Houses, and Felix had taken every advantage of that fact. He used the connections of his many friends to move goods and information here and there. After all, many of them had the wealth to go wherever they wanted, with whatever they wanted onboard.

Valentina didn’t worry too much about all that. Today, Felix’s station was on the outer limits of the region. He liked to be away from everyone, mostly because his frequent company was even more disreputable than the usual fare in this cluster.

As she had only a few weeks earlier, Valentina landed in the grand hanger and waved at Felix’s hanger overseer, who looked as familiar as ever, down to the shade of his grease-stained overalls. He waved back, and Valentina went inside toward the lifts.

Felix was waiting for her in his favorite parlor. It overlooked the system’s nearest star, and had a luxurious but comfortable air. It wasn’t where he liked to meet his more important guests, but Valentina wasn’t important, even if she had interesting goods.

“So,” Felix said casually when she sat across from him. The press of a button on his side-table brought up a selection of tiny, gilded snacks, and Valentina bit back a sigh. Of course. Of course he wanted to eat and talk, and probably eat and talk some more after that. “Things have changed since the last time we spoke.”

That… was not what she expected him to say.

“What do you mean?” she asked, and took a few of the tiny, decadent pastries. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, but she didn’t see a point in covering everything with edible gold. It didn’t taste like anything. “is there a problem?”

Had they turned him? Would Icy and Grumpy walk through the door momentarily to vanish her? She didn’t think she could blast her way out of Felix’s station if he had decided to double-cross her, but he eased her worries by raising a hand to stop her before she could even get to her feet.

“Not exactly,” he hedged, which wasn’t especially encouraging. “I reached out to a few contacts. I figured we might as well play the field, after all. Get a better price for you and a better finder’s fee for me. The problem is that there’s rather more interest than I expected.”

“That’s… good?” Valentina wasn’t sure what to make of it, but Felix probably knew what he was doing. “More people means better bidding, right?”

“It’s the people involved, and that’s why I’m talking to you now,” Felix said reluctantly. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but here it is. You have the rapt attention of all three Factions. Leaders, not some trumped up minions, and they’re all interested and for different reasons, none of which I have been allowed to know.”

Oh.

Oh blast.

Now she understood why he brought it up. She’d been dealing with one underling or another from different houses and factions for years, here and there. They didn’t have much power, even if they gave her trouble now and then. But to have Lords and Ladies interested? Members of the Galactic peerage interested? That was a real good way to die very badly.

“What do I do?” Valentina asked, reeling at the very thought of so many powerful people knowing her name. “Do I sell? Who do I sell to? Should I run again? And where in the galaxy do you run from them?”

Valentina took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Ok, where do I find these nobles?” Valentina said, steeling herself against what was to come. “That’s the easy part my dear Valentina. Nobles from many of the fine houses as well as The Royals, The Arbeiters and The Garrison are meeting at GALActic Station right here in Koller’s Gate, I imagine to bury the hatchet. Truly an auspicious coincidence, is it not?” Felix said with a smirk.

“Now it’s all up to you,” Felix said seriously. “So, Valentina Barbaro. It’s time to make a choice. What will you do with this treasure of yours?”

Part 1 — Kepler’s Remnant

Part 2 — Sovereign Protectorate

Part 3 — Lightspire

Part 4 — Shepherd’s Void

Part 5 — Celestious Nox

Part 6 — The Crucible

Part 7 — Edge of the Miasma

Part 8 — The Pale

Part 9 — In Too Deep

Part 10 — The Quick Slip

Part 11 — Danger’s Dock

Part 12 — Face the Aurora

One of the documents Valentina stole from the Arbiter Titan turned out to be a list of access codes, but she didn’t get a chance to look at it until she made it onboard the Asterias. Being the enterprising smuggler she was, and also having strong feelings about the Miasma as a subject, Valentina immediately used the codes to sabotage the immense ship. Two codes, and she was in.

All trace of her name, the Miasma, and Sigis Station were removed from the data banks until the only records left were the ones that rested in a nondescript little data chip on her galley table. It looked so harmless. Just a little silver slip of metal with the chip itself on one side, and the name of the maker on the other. It was such a tiny thing, but it was more trouble than Valentina had ever experienced, and frankly more than she could ever imagine.

Now she had a decision to make.

Obviously, that information was valuable. So valuable that Valentina didn’t want to hold onto it for very long. Sooner or later they would figure out that she had made it onto their ship and scraped their documents. As soon as that happened, she was in trouble. She was a small-time smuggler, and those who would want that information were the kind of people who didn’t mind killing anyone who got in their way. Valentina knew at this point that she was an expendable pawn in several games.

She didn’t want to be vanished.

If she could get that big payout before anyone caught up with her, it would finance a good long hide. Maybe take a relaxing stay at one of the resort planets. Who knows? She might even make enough money to retire completely and set up her own little smuggling bolthole like Mateo’s.

Actually, talking to Felix was probably a good decision regardless. Valentina certainly didn’t have the contacts to sell off vital information to anyone who mattered, but Felix did, and he could hand it off for her once the arrangements were made.

It would be hard. She had heard rumors that things with the three Factions were heating up. Certainly, if the Arbiters were searching for a powerful weapon, they were planning for serious trouble.

Valentina didn’t know anything about war, and she didn’t want to. War always made everything harder, and the only people who came out ahead were the people in charge.

She looked at the data chip again, and closed her eyes against the fear that pooled in her stomach. This was so much more than she ever wanted to face down. It was so much more than anything that fitted into how she faced the galaxy.

Squeezing back and choking off the tears of a child, Valentina reached over and punched Felix’s number into her comm. She’d have to go to Aurora’s Edge.

The sooner she was rid of that damned data chip, the better.

Part 1 — Kepler’s Remnant

Part 2 — Sovereign Protectorate

Part 3 — Lightspire

Part 4 — Shepherd’s Void

Part 5 — Celestious Nox

Part 6 — The Crucible

Part 7 — Edge of the Miasma

Part 8 — The Pale

Part 9 — In Too Deep

Part 10 — The Quick Slip

Part 11 — Danger’s Dock

Danger’s Dock

It was stupid. It was so stupid. It was the kind of stupid Valentina actively avoided.

Sometimes stupid was the only reasonable choice.

Valentina had already swung through a number of systems staying ahead of Grumpy and Icy, who were on her tail as soon as she made the faster-than-light jump. She didn’t even know exactly where she was, but she finally found what she was looking for: An Arbeiter ship. This was enemy territory (at least at the moment), but she had to sneak aboard in search of answers.

This particular Arbiter ship was a Titan. Practically a floating colony, so there was no way for them to know every single face aboard. Even better, unlike the Garrison, the Arbiters didn’t bother with uniforms as long as everyone followed a general sort of dress code. Valentina’s orange exo-suit blended in nicely with all the other mechanics, pilots, and service people who kept the huge ship running smoothly.

There was a special sort of attitude that was needed when sneaking into somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be, an artistry that Valentina expertly appreciated and always used to her advantage.

The first rule was to act like you belong.

Valentina casually landed the Asterias in one of the smaller hangers, off to the side but still primed for a quick getaway.

“Got a delivery,” she said when one of the hanger’s overseers swung by to find out what she wanted. Valentina affected a bored expression and jerked her thumb back towards her ship while proffering her credentials as a certified delivery ship with her other hand. The overseer looked them over skeptically. “Dame Sophie Anja. She’s meeting me in the Upper. I know where I’m going.”

Lies, every word, but there was a loud crash from across the hanger. The overseer thrust her tablet back at her and whirled on his heel. That was damned lucky, and Valentina hated to rely on luck.

“If you get lost, check the consoles,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t wander. Security does regular sweeps.”

With that, he was gone and Valentina offered a half-hearted wave. The tablet went back on her belt and she headed for the nearest console. She had a very expensive little slicer, bought for the rare occasion that she needed to get into a ship’s memory banks in a hurry. It wasn’t subtle, but she was only a few steps from the Asterias, and the hanger doors were too big to close fast. She could be gone in a flash if necessary.

As soon as she plugged the slicer into the console, it lit up and went to work. She had already programmed it to look for anything on Sigis Station, her name, and references to Prince Gabriel. To cover the slicer, she pulled up a map of the ship, and scrolled through it casually. Before long, the slicer flashed and the files popped up on the screen. Valentina quickly copied them to a data chip, but froze when a document caught her eye.

It was about the Miasma.

Valentina skimmed over it while the other files copied. For a minute, she was confused about why it had gotten caught in her slicer’s information net. Then when she saw her own name, what she discovered chilled her blood and paled her face.

The Miasma. The Arbiters were looking for the source of the Miasma. They thought it was a weapon, and worse, they thought she knew where that weapon could be found.

As soon as she was done copying the files, Valentina headed back for the Asterias. It took all her strength to walk slowly, and even to wave at the overseer who had checked on her before. Anything to keep a low profile. Anything for them to ignore her just long enough for her to get out of the system and figure out what her next move would be.

Part 1 — Kepler’s Remnant

Part 2 — Sovereign Protectorate

Part 3 — Lightspire

Part 4 — Shepherd’s Void

Part 5 — Celestious Nox

Part 6 — The Crucible

Part 7 — Edge of the Miasma

Part 8 — The Pale

Part 9 — In Too Deep

Part 10 — The Quick Slip