Page 183 of Commander’s Mate

Scarlet laughed.

“Fine. Purple shoes.”

We bought coffee after that.

Still terrible.

Halor remained committed to failure.

But for one afternoon, we practiced being people who had futures.

Not survivors waiting for home.

Women who might have more than one.

Zared’s fingers brushed the small of my back.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zared

Governor Guryon paid.

That was the most useful thing about him.

He also provided fuel, medical supplies, clothing allotments, temporary asylum for anyone who requested it, and the written guarantees Harper had demanded in the docking bay. I had watched decorated officers lose arguments to politicians with less composure than Harper had shown while wearing borrowed ship clothes and holding a registry tablet.

I was proud of her.

I was also learning that pride could be as dangerous as possessiveness if I used it as an excuse to decide what she should become.

The payment transfer had barely cleared when Tivid summoned Degatu, Pyrr, Harper, and me to the tactical room.

“This arrived through a Consortium relay twelve minutes after Halor confirmed the funds,” Tivid said.

“Efficient of them,” Degatu muttered.

The recorded official wore Consortium insignia and the expression of a man who expected systems to obey him before people had a chance to object.

“This notice is directed to Admiral Garvan Degatu and Commander General Zared Maktu, formerly of the Farseek Division of the Sovereign Transtellar Consortium Defense Force. You are hereby ordered to return all Consortium Defense assets currently under your control—”

“Formerly,” Pyrr said. “At least they learned one word.”

No one laughed.

The official continued through charges of contract violation, unlawful seizure of military assets, and interference with postwar commercial agreements. Then he reached the part that changed the room.

“Any persons removed from the Ursaga facility must be processed through appropriate Consortium refugee and property-dispute channels.”

Harper went still beside me.

Property-dispute.

Not rescue. Not trafficking. Not slavery.

Property.

Pyrr’s hands curled at his sides. Degatu’s face became blank in the dangerous way it did when anger moved past expression. I thought of auction tags. Lot numbers. Children loaded into shuttles from Farseek.