“You did.” He studied her winning position with approval. She’d sacrificed three pieces to create an opening, then exploited it ruthlessly to capture his home base. “Excellently played.”
“But you’re like a master strategist. You commanded soldiers and fought in battles and stuff.”
“And you are thirteen with a natural gift for tactical thinking.” He began resetting the pieces. “One more game?”
They played again, and this time he didn’t hold back. She still won, though by a narrower margin.
“Okay, now I’m suspicious.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you letting me win?”
“No. You are simply that good.” He felt absurdly proud. “Though I reserve the right to study your strategy and adapt my approach.”
“Bring it on, old man. I can take you.”
Corinne snorted from across the cabin. “Did she just call you old?”
“I believe she did.” He fixed Anya with a mock-severe stare. “I will remember this insubordination.”
“You’re like fifty. That’s ancient.”
“Forty-eight.”
“Still ancient.” But she was grinning, clearly delighted with herself.
Mikoz chose that moment to demonstrate his new skill—walking across the entire width of the cabin without falling. Twelve whole steps before he plopped down with a triumphant chirp.
They all applauded, and the infant preened at the attention.
“Show-off,” Anya told him affectionately. “You’re going to be impossible once we reach Tillich Two, aren’t you? Getting into everything.”
Another chirp that sounded like agreement.
On the sixth day, they made their final approach to Tillich Two. The planet appeared on their sensors as a brilliant blue-green sphere streaked with white clouds. Two small moons orbited in close formation, their gravitational interaction creating spectacular tides on the surface.
“It’s beautiful,” Corinne breathed, staring at the display.
Scattered island continents were separated by shallow seas. The primary settlement hugged the coast of the largest landmass, a sprawling collection of buildings in a variety of architectural styles
The spaceport was busy but not crowded. A dozen ships occupied the landing pads, ranging from small personal flyers like theirs to mid-sized cargo haulers. Aliens of various species moved between the vessels, loading and unloading goods.
He set them down on an assigned pad and powered down the engines. For a moment, no one moved. They’d made it. Six days of travel, three jump gates, countless hours of worry, and they’d arrived safely.
“Well,” Corinne said finally. “Welcome home, I guess.”
Anya unbuckled from her seat. “Can we go outside? I want to see everything.”
“Soon.” He checked the sensor readings one more time, confirming that no patrol ships lurked in orbit, no one had flagged their arrival as suspicious. “First, we need to secure accommodations and register with the local authorities.”
“Using our fake identities?”
“Using our carefully constructed alternate identities, yes.”
Corinne studied the documentation with a critical eye. “This is really good. Where did you say you got these?”
“I did not say, and you should not ask.” He transferred the files to her personal device. “The less you know about certain aspects of my past, the safer you are.”
“Mysterious. I like it.” She kissed his cheek. “Let’s go start our new life, mysterious retired merchant trader.”
They descended the ramp into warm, humid air that smelled of salt and something vaguely floral. The sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. In the distance, waves crashed against a rocky shore.
