Captain Thorn pulled Mayor Spencer aside to talk. By the time they returned, General Koba's troop had arrived. There were about a dozen of them, all wearing the same gear: a version of the dark grey neque. This one allowed for more movement and I had already counted three hidden weapons inside the folds of fabric on each soldier. There did seem to be that small advantage to the outfits. With my tight clothes, it was much harder to hide any weapons.

    Only until we walked to their ship did Decker and Bird return. Decker hadn't been subtle about strapping the two glocks and strip of grenades onto himself. Bird had the sniper rifle across his back. General Koba grunted at the sight of them already waiting for us at the ship. It was the same dark grey as the gear of the soldiers, with a narrow body, three wings, and several weapons built into the sides. A staircase unfolded as we walked up.

    "Not a single weapon, General Koba," Captain Thorn said mildly as he climbed the stairs first. I brought up the rear, only in front of General Koba himself. The man looked like he had eaten something sour. I hid the smirk and headed up the stairs. The ship inside looked like a small cargo bay. I sat down beside Officer Bird. The rest of General Koba's soldiers sat in the rest of the space.

    "Officer Byrne," stared Captain Thorn, "start a log of everything that has happened since we disembarked the ship. I want it to be a record of evidence in case we need it."

    "Yes, Captain." Byrne slid a small tablet from her front pocket and a stylus. "Where is our destination?" Captain Thorn looked pointedly at General Koba. The man ignored him. My eyebrows pulled slightly and I located the nearest soldier. "Answer her question."

    "You don't order me," snapped the soldier.

    "Unless you are a General," I replied stubbornly, "I outrank you. Byrne, make note of this if you will. More evidence for the Captain."

    Byrne marked it down and looked expectantly at the soldier. General Koba grunted. "Answer the question, soldier."

    The kid scowled. "We're going to Satov."

    The Intelligence Officer didn't look up. "And where might that be?" Her hand tapped away on the screen.

    "Are you kidding?" His thoughts echoed nearly exactly.

   Byrne's hand stilled. Captain Thorn turned sharp, "We are as deserving of your respect as your general, soldier. I may not have direct authority over you but I can still make sure you lose whatever rank you have. Treat my crew with respect."

   The kid's eye twitched. "Damn it." "Satov is a moon – the midway point between Zoel and Nusora. The Planetary Court's residence since we populated both planets." I ignored the last jab when I realized what he was saying. Two populated planets. My eyes snapped to Captain Thorn once I realized that in order for there to be two populated planets, that meant two different Generational Ships had left Earth.

    Byrne was clearly on the same track. She glanced at Edwards. The latter cleared his throat and asked, "Remind me the name of the Gen Ship that was sent to Nusora, please."

    He was given a deadpan look. "The Venture."

    My mind raced and I closed my eyes under the guise of sneezing. It helped me focus to try to speak to Captain Thorn. "Another Gen Ship should have electron batteries—"

    "I'd already thought of that and checked the files. Each generation of ships has different methods of making and charging those batteries. That way one ship can't be hijacked to steal an older or newer one."

    I cursed softly. "So no other ship's electron batteries are compatible. Can we modify them? Surely Peterson can find a way to fix it to work on the Patriot."

    "Wait a moment." There was a pause and Peterson suddenly coughed from across from me. "Peterson, can an electron battery from a different generation's ship be modified to work on the Patriot?"

   Clearly, we could pull in other people to the discussion. Another layer of the onion we were peeling back. Peterson's head shook before he caught himself. "N-No, Captain. At least not without enough time. I'd take at least a month to start and finish a project like that. We can't safely modify a battery within ten days, much less ten of them."

   "But it's possible?"

   "Yes, I think so, Captain."

   "Start doing research on it anyway. We need another solution even after we stabilize the ship in these next two weeks. This could be the way to wake the crew."

   "Yes, sir."

   Officer Bird's voice echoed into our heads. "I hate to interrupt, but they're noticing your silences, Captain." At the same time, he faked a sneeze.

   "Thank you, Officer Bird. Peterson, you look close enough to fall asleep anyway. First Officer, I trust you know how to fend off any attention." Peterson obeyed and I saw him lean his head against the wall of the ship and close his eyes. A few soldiers were eyeing us warily. I had been staring at the floor the whole time and finally looked up at the soldier that had been answering our questions. "What are the blue power lines etched into the floor?"

   The kid glanced down at it. "Was that why she was staring? For such a 'high ranking officer,' she's never seen sekrite?" "You mean the sekrite power lines?" He seemed skeptical.

   "I was wondering about those," Officer Decker put in. His glance told me he clearly knew I'd been zoned out because I'd been communicating. "They are clearly powering this ship and I've never seen anything but engines used."

   "Engines? Aren't those the clunky, noisy things they used back on Earth?" The soldier looked at him dumbly. "Those haven't been in use since the Gen Ships or public travel pods. And even then only the Pioneer used it. The Venture used sekrite."

   "It's a power source?" Captain Thorn snapped to attention. His eyes bored into the kid, who started to sweat. "Yeah. Gives off something like magnetic pulses. You'd have to ask a sekrite engineer."

    Byrne marked it down on her tablet. After that, it fell silent on the ship. The sekrite power must have been astronomically more powerful than an engine or thruster because I didn't feel the ship leave the atmosphere of Zoel. It made me doubt that we'd left the planet. Yet Officer Edwards glanced out the only porthole and informed us that we had left Zoel. About an hour later and he claimed that the moon we were heading for was looming into sight.

   As the ship slowed down, the artificial gravity shut off. The soldiers sitting on the floors groaned as they started to float. My body tugged against the straps as the ship reached the moon's gravity and sat back down. The soldiers hit the ground harshly enough for Officer Decker to cover his laugh with his hand. General Koba was smoother about setting himself back on his feet. The ship finally slowed to a halt and the door slid open. The airlock corridor latched on and pressurized.

   Captain Thorn went first, stepping into the flimsy corridor and striding down it. I wasn't happy at how General Koba stood behind me until I left. His thoughts were dark with spite. He obviously had seen the gun at my side but hadn't noticed the small pistol in my boot or the aquarius in my sleeve. His eyes were glued to it as I stepped into the corridor.

   The surface of the moon Satov was as barren as the moon of Earth. However the dust wasn't grey but rather dark scarlet. A few volcanoes stood in the distance, bubbling magma and explaining the red surface of the moon. The station we were about to enter was built with a red exterior and would have blended in, had blue lines not weaved through the walls. I took a step and nearly went flying as I pushed off with my other foot. I flailed my arms and grabbed the side. General Koba snickered. "Lose your balance there?" "Must not be used to the gravity."

    The gravity was weaker than that of Zoel's. Barely, but it definitely was. Officer Bird glanced behind at me, eyebrow raised in question. He, nor the rest of the crew, looked affected. I realized that was because they were still regaining their muscle mass. I had had several days to build my strength back. To them the gravity probably felt a little lighter but not affect them nearly as much as it would me. I looked down and tested my step. I went a little higher than usual but I could still walk. I glanced behind me and noticed with satisfaction that General Koba was walking normally. I had a fighting advantage because my strength had been cultivated on a planet with higher gravity. General Koba's – clearly – had not been. He might have had more muscle mass, but I'd still be able to compete with him if need be.

   I was tempted to let my Captain know of my new discovery but I decided against it. He was smart enough to know. Using the side to steady myself, I followed the crew down the corridor. It opened into the docking bay of the station. General Koba scanned a spot on his wrist into a small screen. It lit up. "To the waiting room for the Court." A line lit up on the ground, not at all unlike how the Patriot used the same system to navigate.

   A few minutes later and a door slid open to reveal a waiting room. Several chairs of red sat around the room. A table had different kinds of contraptions that Peterson looked way too eager to look at. General Koba turned to Captain Thorn. "You are now on Planetary Court grounds. If a single weapon is fired or if I feel the need, you will be detained until the Court decides otherwise. And here, Captain or not, my authority trumps yours." General Koba smiled darkly. "So every one of you had better hand over every weapon you have or I'm arresting you here and now."

    Captain Thorn raised an eyebrow and glanced toward us before back at the General. I was tempted to rest my hand on my holster but held back, eyebrows creasing. I actually had no idea if the General's authority shifted once he was on his own territory. His thoughts certainly thought so.

    I knew the Captain was thinking that we couldn't risk giving up our weapons, but we also couldn't risk being detained for any time. I was stumped at how we were going to get out of this one. My mind raced for the old codes I'd been taught before we took off from Earth. Finally, I located a loophole and cleared my throat. "If I may, Captain?"

    "You may."

    "The General is correct that his authority over us changes on his own territory," I started. "And that includes seizure of weapons. However, he only has authority to take the zodiacs. Under no law is he allowed to seize our weapons from Earth. They are under our own jurisdiction since General Koba's jurisdiction is defined as anything of Zoel or Satov. Our jurisdiction is defined as anything of Earth or the Patriot or Pioneer. As the weapons are from Earth and our own ship, he is not allowed to take them."

    "Earth weapons?" General Koba thought skeptically. "All they have are props. That weapon on the guy's back is nothing but a fake. They have no actual weapons beside zodiacs. These lunatics must seriously think the Patriot I exists."

   Captain Thorn's eye twitched but other than that, it was impossible to tell that he'd heard anything. "You're absolutely correct, First Officer. In that case, give the man your zodiacs." He made true to his word and handed over the libra. I pulled out the aquarius and gave it up. Officers Peterson and Byrne did the same. Byrne accidentally knocked into the General at the same time and muttered an apology. My eyebrow went up.

    General Koba looked at the weapons in his hands, snorted, and passed them off to a waiting soldier. He tapped his ear and smiled malevolently. "Fortunately for you, the Court is ready to see you. I'll have those toys you call weapons quickly enough." "The Court is probably going to order their arrests right away. I'll be ready."

   The wall slid open.