Chaos still held the crowd in a vise grip. I had to shove my way through it, through children crying, through men and women demanding answers from one another. The damage done to the city from the attack wasn't light. Few buildings stood unharmed. The ground was covered in scorch marks. My temper flared. Just to stop me and my crew, that group had decimated a block of Settlement Vilara. Just for two people. Either they were insane or they really believed what they were doing was justice. I didn't know which could be more dangerous.

    I finally found the pod station Peterson had described. The pod itself was toppled over and the side was smoking. A hole gaped through the smog. I tried to picture how Edwards, Peterson, and Captain Thorn would have run as soon as the bus pod stopped. Edwards had run straight ahead. Peterson had run a few paces, turned, and then he said the Captain was gone.

    I turned in a full circle, mind racing. What could have happened? He couldn't have gotten out of range so quickly. Besides, we had no idea that our telepathic communications had any boundaries in the first place. The more likely conclusion was that he was distracted or unconscious.

   My eyes finally landed on a scorch mark on the ground. It was a different angle from the rest. I turned slightly and frowned. The weapon that had shot this blast came from the west, not the north. I looked in the opposite direction the blast had gone and saw an alley. And as I headed for it, I saw a boot sticking out from under a tarp.

   My throat felt tight as I pulled off the tarp. And there laid Captain Thorn. He was lying on the ground in a way that suggested he'd been knocked out. The crook of his right elbow was bleeding profusely. I got down onto my knees, ignoring the puddle of blood, and tore off a strip of fabric from my neque. I pressed it onto his elbow to stanch the bleeding. My other hand shook his shoulder. "Captain? Captain Thorn, can you hear me?"

   At first, he didn't move. I shook his shoulder harder, worried, but he finally shifted. His lips peeled open. "I s-said it doesn't ha-have to be that formal, Au-Autumn."

   I snorted. "Are you kidding me?" Still, relief made my shoulders slump. His bleary eyes looked down at where I was gripping his arm.

   "What happened?"

   "I..." He shook his head. "I'm not sure."

   Alarm made my eyes shoot wide open but he lifted his other hand. "I'm not concussed. I remember getting off of the travel pod. We started running. Then," his face twisted, "someone grabbed my arm. And I felt something in my neck." His other hand rubbed it slightly. I pulled it away to see a faint speck.

   "An injection site," I muttered. "You were drugged. Did you see who it was?"

   He nodded. "Some woman. Brown and silver hair. And the man from Satov."

   I cursed softly. "It adds up. I had their ally – Ambrogio Tase – cornered. He was waiting for them to come help him out of it. They eventually got there but it wasn't quick. And what about your arm?"

   Captain Thorn exhaled. "Everything's foggy, but I think," he frowned. "I think they took a vial of blood."

   It wasn't what I'd expecting. I was waiting for an answer like he'd fought them off and they had slashed his arm in response. His arm was torn up pretty badly. But that? I blinked slowly. "Blood? Are you sure?"

   "I don't know details, but I'm positive it was what they were doing. They stuck the needle in until they hit the vein." His face tightened at the memory. "Then they took a vial. Or two. I can't remember. The drug they hit me with kept me completely complacent. I started to fight as soon as it wore off. It tore the needle out of my arm and then they hit me with that stuff again. That's all I remember."

   "So you got hit with two doses. There's no telling how much they took while you were out the second time." I looked at him, flabbergasted. "Why would they do that? They've been about trying to get us thrown into prison or detained somehow. Why take blood?"

    Captain Thorn shook his head. "They're not trying to detain us."

   "How do you mean?"

   "They're trying to stop us from waking up the crew." He finally was able to sit up and hold the fabric to his arm. I let go, my fingers scarlet. "They somehow sabotaged the crew before we took off. Then as soon as we land, they take more power – just enough to keep you from waking the whole Bridge crew. Next they tried to get the vote from the Planetary Council that would detain us – and prevent us from waking them. Now this – they've stopped us from getting valuable information that could have recharged electron batteries and gotten everyone else awake."

   I felt cold once I realized he was right. Absolutely right. "And the woman called what they were doing justice? They're just sentencing the rest of our crew to death, if they keep this up." Dread curled in my stomach tightly.

   "I don't know why," said Captain Thorn. He looked down and peeled the fabric away from his bleeding arm. 'Still haven't figured it out, have you? Maybe you should ask your bloody captain who we are. He knows. Maybe ask why he was discharged from his position in the military while you're at it.' My face tightened at the memory and I studied his face. Did he really know more than he was saying?

    I knew I couldn't let the thought stir around. I took a breath and finally asked, "Ambrogio Tase ... he said that you know who they are."

    His eyebrows drew together and he looked up. "You're positive that's what he said?"

    I nodded silently. He held my gaze for a minute and I could see him thinking hard. After too long, he shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Autumn. I have no idea what he meant by that. I don't know those people."

    I felt like that was a half-truth, but also doubted that he was lying. Disappointment made my heart feel heavy, but I had one more question. "He also suggested I ask why you were discharged."

    Captain Thorn blinked. "Oh. I was discharged for a reason you could probably imagine." A wry smile crossed his lips. "I didn't respond to bullies with authority very well. If my leader had bad morals, I didn't care if he was the leader or not. It doesn't make a very good subordinate soldier, though. I have no clue why he'd know that or why he'd think it was important, either." I hadn't pictured him as a man to deny orders, but now that he said it, I had a hard time disbelieving that statement, either.

   "I think he hoped to try and get us to start distrusting one another," I admitted.

   "It was a valiant effort," grunted the Captain as he got to his feet. "Where is everyone?"

   "I've got Edwards and Bird with Byrne at the hospital. She was hit with a forty-pound metal grate and knocked out. Peterson and Decker are trying to track the ship that rained fire on Vilara. Maybe Byrne will have an idea as to why they took some of your blood."

    Captain Thorn nodded. "I'll head to the hospital and get my arm stitched up while I'm there. You go after Peterson and Decker." After I made sure he wasn't about to fall unconscious, I split off and headed in the direction I'd seen the two of them run after. After informing the crew that I'd found the Captain, I got directions from Decker and found myself running into the militia base within five minutes.

   A soldier lifted his hand to stop me, but the other grabbed his arm as I brushed through the doors. "Easy, man, General's orders." I ignored them and caught a passing woman's arm. "The other two like me – mostly bald and wearing grey, where did they go?"

   She stuttered, "toward the control room." "Who is this lady? And why's she covered in blood?!"

    I let go of her arm and jogged in the direction that she'd pointed out. Following the stuttered thoughts of confusion, I found Decker and Peterson up an elevator in a runway tower. Peterson was sitting at a screen and tapping wildly, his face stricken. Decker was pacing as the two control room workers whispered to each other. "No response yet . . . stealth technology?"

    "Doesn't matter – space can't hide technology—"

    "Decker, report," I said sharply, snapping the two workers out of their trance. Decker straightened and blanched. His eyes were bleary. My eyebrows creased. He's tired but we have no time to rest. "That ship is as much a ghost as the people," Decker answered. "It disappeared as soon as it left Vilara's boundary."

   "Invisible itself, or invisible to radar?"

   "Seemingly both."

   I growled under my breath. "We can't lose them. We can't. If they disappear, they're gone until they get the jump on us. Peterson, tell me you have something."

   "I'm looking for the three people through surveillance footage," said Peterson absently. His blue eyes were locked onto what he was working on. "I might have something... Give me a moment, First Officer."

   "—Couldn't have left the planet—"

   My attention turned to the airspace workers sharply. "You two – what do you have?"

   The first one – an older man with bifocals and weathered skin – answered. "That ship could be the most advanced ship in the galaxy, but no ship can travel through space without being detected. Satellites around Nusora keep track of traffic. No ship can fly without a power source and those satellites use power sources to track ships. Besides that, it takes a serious blast to leave Nusora's atmosphere. That'd be detected, too."

   "So we can know for sure that the ship hasn't left Nusora?"

   The older man nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

   "What about tracking it on the planet?"

   Now he shook his head. "No luck, there. We've got every settlement watching their airspace. We'll know as soon as it shows up."

    I hated the lack of answers, but knew I had to take what I could get. "Peterson?" He lifted his head and grimaced. "I tracked them to the edge of Vilara, but they went through the wall and there's no footage out there. They're gone."

   "They're probably heading to where their ship is going," Decker suddenly said. "I found the model on this database." He turned it around. "It took me a minute because the model is incredibly old. Considering that line of ships never had stealth technology integrated, they've kept it updated. But now we have a number." Decker smirked gleefully. "It takes two people to pilot the ship and fire the weapons. And since three of them were on the surface—"

   "Then there are five of them." I clapped his shoulder. The image of their ship floated on the screen. However, this ship was green and blue rather than the pure black the ship in Vilara had been. "Could there be more?"

   The same older worker looked at the screen and shook his head. "Probably not. It'd be pretty cramped for six people. I can't imagine there's more than seven that could fit in there. The life support wouldn't be able to handle it."

   "Even if they updated the system?"

   "Yes, ma'am. It's a matter of the size of the ship and the space the technology can take up. It's just not plausible for a lot of people to survive in one ship that small."

   "First Officer, Byrne is currently going through a minor surgery," suddenly came Bird's voice. My back tightened. "One of her ribs broke and has to be put back in place. But she should be back in her feet in a few hours. Something about this technology will speed it up."

   Decker and Peterson had also gone quiet, telling me Bird had included them too. I answered, hoping that Captain Thorn and Edwards could hear me too. "We don't know where the ship went, but it's still on the planet. And we'll known as soon as they leave. Meanwhile, do we know anyone else with experience in sekrite use?"

   Before anyone could respond, Captain Thorn swore violently. I flinched and pressed a hand against my ear. "Captain? Captain, what happened?" Decker asked hurriedly.

   "The batteries – I had the batteries and then they ambushed me." Captain Thorn sounded like he wanted to slap himself. "I was so worried about finding them that I forgot I had the case. Autumn, please tell me you saw it in the alley. Please."

   I'd never heard him so desperate and my gut sank as I realized why. "No . . . it wasn't there."

   "Damn it all to hell!" snarled Captain Thorn. His anger seeped through my mind. "They took them. They've got the batteries."

   "And Byrne locked down the ship when we left," answered Edwards miserably. "We can't get inside without using more power. It'll escalate the timeline."

   I checked my communication clasp. 4 days, 23 hours, 56 minutes, 49 seconds. "So either we go get more batteries and risk losing more time . . . or we go after them for the batteries and might not catch them in time anyway."

   "Wait, First Officer." Peterson suddenly stood up and reached into his neque. My eyes widened as he pulled his hand back out with a pale face. "I've got a battery. It's dismantled because I was figuring it out in the time we spent flying here. I can put it back together, but we've got one." Praise everything holy that he thought to keep one with him. I rubbed my forehead, beyond relieved.

   "Quinn, I could kiss you," said Captain Thorn quickly. "How much will one battery help?"

   "If charged with electrons, it would buy us time. Probably a few days. But with sekrite? There's no telling."

   "Autumn, find another sekrite expert. We're heading their way until we can pinpoint the location of the ship and the three of them."

   "Yes, Captain."

   "Captain, we've managed to figure out that there's probably five or six of them," said Decker instantly. "But I've no idea how Ambrogio Tase could be one of them."

   "I'm trying to figure that out right now. Bird, Edwards, stay with Byrne. Decker, you keep working to track that ship. Peterson, get that electron battery back into shape."