Let it be knownthat the Senator of Khadar and its people do not stand for the unlawful extension of a despot’s reign, and we unilaterally condemn the murders of Senator Marcus Pool and the Dalian royal family. To Carik, we say as one nation, we do not recognize your authority or sovereignty, and we will resist?—
Resist.
The word lit a fire in Kalie.
She shifted her eyes to the frame of the lonely coffins. The hollow in her stomach and the tightness in her chest shifted, turning to something white-hot and furious. The word pounded in her mind, in tune to the thumping of her heart, and she made herself a vow.
She would resist, because they could not.
She would not let it end here, not until Carik was brought to justice.
Reaching deep down, Kalie mustered up all her courage. It was small, and it was fragile.
Without tearing her gaze from the senator’s raised fist, she pushed herself to her feet. Sunlight sparkled on the gleaming ticket consoles. She set the paper on the stack, brushed her finger across the pair of ornate coffins, and squared her shoulders.
No matter what she had to do, no matter what price she had to pay, she would make Zed Carik rot in the darkest depths of Zagan’shell. For Aunt Calida and Marcus. For Lexie. And most of all, for Ariah.
The crowded boardingline surged forward. Kalie stumbled, catching one of the metal stanchions separating her from the next line over. Another announcement crackled through the intercom: “Second boarding call for all passengers…”
Deafening thrusters roared as a transport landed at the next gate over.
As nervous flutters danced in her stomach, Kalie tapped her new sneakers against the tile and craned her neck. Two people stood between her and the boarding tunnel. Still no sign of legionnaires. Thank the gods.
She’d settled on a flight to Aquis. The luxury cruiser traveling there was a charter company, not directly operated by the ISC. It had cost most of her credits, but she would make another withdrawal on the flight.
Kalie flipped open her purse. As her fingers brushed against Ariah’s mud-stained uniform, a knot swelled in her throat. She closed her eyes, breathed in the spaceport’s perfumed air, and reached for the burner comm stashed under Ariah’s jacket. She’d sent Uncle Jerran a coded message with instructions to ask the senator of Aquis, Vish Nadar, to send her to Dali. Nadar had always been close with him and Marcus.
Uncle Jerran still hadn’t replied.
Fighting down the sting of dread, Kalie slipped the comm into her sleeve. As she passed a trash can, she skimmed her palm across the surface, letting the device tumble into the bin.
“Next!”
A finely dressed Lykorian man hauled his suitcase to the ticket counter. The guard held a chip scanner over his forearm.
Kalie’s knees wobbled as she stepped to the front of the line,shifting her gold bangle over the ID chip embedded in her wrist. With any luck, it would identify her as Ariah. It had worked at the ATM, but the scanners here were much more sensitive. The signal shifters in the bangle had to work. They had to, or her ID would send up a flare for Carik’s men to find her and finish the job.
That couldn’t happen. Not until she made Carik pay.
“Next!” An old man with pale blue skin beckoned her forward.
Twisting her bangle, Kalie handed the guard her pass.
“Chip, please, Miss Rivers.”
She slid a hand over her left wrist.
The guard tapped his foot. “Chip, please, ma’am.”
She let her hand hover over her chip for a moment longer. They couldn’t fully get around the issue of the chip. If anyone dared to break the Federation’s law and remove the ID implanted at birth, the implant would release a toxin to kill its host in seconds. But there were ways to get around such things, and Aunt Calida had given her the means to alter her ID. So Kalie loosed a shuddering breath, slid her gold bangle closer to the chip, and held out her wrist.
The elderly guard’s scanner shone blue light on her chip. It beeped. He glanced at a holopad on the stand beside him.
“The scan didn’t come through. Let me see your wrist again, please.”
Sweat beaded on Kalie’s forehead. The man held the scanner over her wrist a second time. Neither the scanner nor the holopad chimed. His blue lips twisted into a frown.
“What’s the holdup?” a woman’s shrill voice called from behind her.
