Karen's shuttle was smaller than Luca remembered, having gotten used to the Granite Hawk.
Seats for eight in facing pairs, soft leather and brushed metal, a narrow aisle down the middle.
Luca took the seat across from Karen. Izumi slid in beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost touched. The Director of Hyeon Logistics had dark circles under her eyes, but she was already bouncing one knee under the table, drumming her fingers against her thigh. Eighteen and incapable of sitting still.
He wished Emily was here. She had a way of reading people that Luca didn't, catching the subtext he missed. But Karen had asked for him and Izumi specifically.
Karen watched them both for a moment. Then she reached into her jacket and pulled out a tablet, setting it face-down on the table between them.
Luca's hand drifted toward his pocket. The fragment was still there, hard-edged and damning. Physical proof of sabotage. Evidence that could destroy Orion Horizons if placed in the right hands.
"The Houston team," he said. "The ones Orion made disappear. Did you find them?"
Karen's expression didn't change. "They're fine. Shaken, but fine. Orion pulled them when things got complicated. Standard corporate damage control."
"And Mars?" Luca pressed. "Their excavations there?"
"What about them?"
"Keane slipped during the standoff. He said the burst rig was 'Orion property.' That's practically a confession. Combined with the Mars connection and whatever they're digging up out there, we have enough to—"
"Luca." Karen's voice cut through his momentum. She leaned back slightly, and for a moment she looked tired. "Orion Horizons. Titan Dynamics. All of them. They're not..." She paused, searching for the right words. "They're focused on the wrong things. Corporate rivalries. Market share. Earth politics." She shook her head. "None of it matters. Not anymore. The race that matters is out there, and they're not even running it."
The fragment sat heavy in his pocket.
"People died," Luca said. "At the portal site. UER soldiers. Civilians caught in the overflow. Orion triggered that deliberately."
"Yes."
"And we have evidence."
"Yes." Something heavy settled behind Karen's eyes. "And they will be dealt with. But not by you. Not today." She paused. "They overplayed their hand. Now they get to live with it."
Luca opened his mouth to argue, but something in Karen's expression stopped him. That look. The same calm certainty she'd had when she told them she'd shot Barkov three times in front of three hundred witnesses.
She wasn't dismissing the sabotage. She was prioritizing something else entirely. And Luca had learned, over the past few years, that when Karen prioritized, you paid attention.
Izumi shifted beside him, watching Karen with an expression Luca couldn't read.
Karen flipped the tablet over and slid it across the table.
The screen showed a message thread. Director Marisol Vintar's name sat at the top, the timestamp less than two hours old. Luca scanned the text, and his mouth went dry.
Transaction flagged by UER Financial Monitoring.
Tucson Territory Tower - 02/11 - 23:47.
Purchaser: Triumph Initiative (IFC Subsidiary).
Items: [UNRECOGNIZED - DECRYPTION PENDING]
Subtotal: 102,654,000 credits.
UER Administration Tax (25%): 25,663,500 credits.
Twenty-five million in taxes. On equipment the UER couldn't even identify.
So much for keeping a low profile. Emily's voice was already ringing in his head. A hundred million credits. For transportation.
"Marisol sent this an hour ago," Karen said. "She's doing me a favor by giving us advance warning. By morning, every intelligence agency on Earth will be asking the same question." Her eyes were steady, unblinking. "How did seven adventurers from New Hampshire purchase Tech Level Nine equipment from a tower that shouldn't have TL9 access?"
The shuttle suddenly felt smaller.
"It was civilian gear," Luca said. "The Kestrel, the Roadrunners, the medical supplies. None of that was military hardware."
"No." Karen's voice remained level. "But if you can access civilian TL9, you can access military TL9. The UER knows about your System Store access in Sandworth. Somehow they got wind of it. They can do the math, Luca."
He thought about the System Store interface back at IFC headquarters. The TL9 military vehicles that had appeared when they hit the level breakthrough. The hover tanks and heavy assault mechs. Artillery platforms.
All of it requiring credits they had. And contribution points they didn't.
"Karen, all that military hardware requires contribution points and credits." Luca leaned forward, trying to make her understand. "We don't have nearly enough CP to equip the UER or buy stuff to sell. What contribution points we have, we're going to need for our own mission."
Karen nodded slowly. She knew. Of course she knew.
Izumi snorted. "Luca. You're missing the point."
He turned to look at her. The Director of Hyeon Logistics met his gaze with an expression that said she thought he was being deliberately thick.
"You and your team," Izumi said, "just became the most valuable individuals on Earth."
The words hit harder than they should have. Because she was right.
"The news is already running footage." Karen took the tablet back and swiped to another screen. She turned it so they could both see. Shaky phone footage of the Triumph's point defense erasing the overflow creatures, a news ticker scrolling beneath it. "Commentators are asking why the Triumph isn't fighting overflows across the planet. Why you're on a publicity tour instead of saving lives."
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"We can't be everywhere," Luca said automatically.
"They don't care." Karen's voice carried no judgment, just assessment. "They see a TL9 starship that can erase overflows in moments, and they want it deployed. Everywhere. All the time." She set the tablet down. "What they don't mention is that Orion Horizons was fully equipped to handle a double overflow with TL8 technology. They had the hardware. They had the personnel. They triggered that portal deliberately and then sat back to watch."
"And nobody's going to report that."
"Not yet. Evidence takes time. Politics takes longer." She turned the tablet face-down. "Which brings us to why we're actually here."
The shuttle hummed around them, the soft vibration of systems keeping everything stable while the conversation fell apart.
"The IFC has a security problem," Karen said. "We've terminated multiple individuals over the past three months. Someone is still leaking information. I can't guarantee operational security under the current structure."
Luca watched her face. Karen's thumb tapped once against the table, and her gaze dropped for just a beat before coming back up. If she was saying this out loud, it was because she'd already decided on a solution.
"Izumi." Karen turned to the woman beside Luca. "Your company and your people. They're solid."
Izumi laughed, short and sharp. "We handle logistics and transport. Not intelligence work."
"You handle whatever needs handling. I've seen your operation." Karen's voice softened slightly, something almost like respect entering her tone. "Your people don't leak because you know every single one of them."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
Silence stretched between them. Luca watched Izumi process, her sharp features revealing nothing. Eighteen years old and running a company that had just mobilized three hundred people half the world over. At eighteen, Luca had been delving portals with his friends and trying not to die. Izumi had been building her base. Which was kind of insane.
"What are you proposing?" Izumi asked finally.
"Hyeon Logistics becomes the Triumph Initiative's logistical arm. Starting immediately." Karen folded her hands on the table. "You coordinate security and supply chains for the remainder of the Victory Tour. When the Triumph lands at Sandworth, your people handle perimeter security. Not the IFC. Not anyone else."
Izumi didn't respond right away. Her jaw tightened, and something flickered behind her eyes that looked almost like anger.
"I built Hyeon from nothing," she said quietly. "Four years. My company. My people. I answer to no one."
"I'm not asking you to answer to anyone."
"You're asking me to fold my operation into Luca's."
"I'm asking you to align with his mission." Karen's voice remained steady. "Partner. Not subsidiary. Hyeon Logistics stays yours. You keep command, keep your people, keep your independence. But when the Triumph Initiative moves, Hyeon moves with it."
Izumi wanted to say no. Luca could see it in the set of her shoulders, the way her fingers pressed against the table surface. But she didn't.
"The Triumph stays in orbit," Karen continued. "We could end the tour early and ship in your supplies. Keep you safe while the political situation stabilizes."
"No."
The word came out of Luca's mouth before he'd consciously decided to say it.
Karen's eyebrows rose slightly. "No?"
"We're not hiding." Luca straightened in his seat, meeting her gaze directly. "The whole point of the Victory Tour was to stop hiding. Show the world what we are. If we stay up here now, we look scared. We look like we have something to protect."
"You do have something to protect."
"And running won't change that." Luca shook his head. "Announce the auction. Right now, tonight. Let everyone know that TL9 military hardware is coming to market at the end of the tour. That relieves pressure because factions know they'll have a chance to buy."
Karen studied him for a long moment. "The UER has first rights to technology packages. It's in the Charter conditions."
"Fine. UER gets first dibs. But we hold the auction publicly, we show we're willing to share access, and we finish the tour." Luca glanced at Izumi. "Abbreviated stops and tighter security. Hyeon handles logistics. But we don't hide."
Izumi was watching him with something that looked almost like respect.
"Bold." She tilted her head. "You're betting that transparency protects you better than secrecy."
"I'm betting that running makes us look like prey." Luca turned back to Karen. "We have extra TL9 military gear from Alpha Centauri. Armor, weapons and equipment we don't need. That's what we auction. Not System Store access. Just the hardware we're willing to part with."
"And after the tour?"
"We run and complete the mission." He spread his hands. "Earth's problems don't stop because we stay."
The shuttle hummed in the silence that followed.
Karen looked at Izumi. Then back at Luca. Something shifted in her expression, approval or resignation or maybe both.
"The stops will be abbreviated," Karen said finally. "Sabine and Erik coordinate logistics with Hyeon. Any additional interviews or appearances go through Izumi's security assessment first."
Izumi nodded slowly. "My people can be in Sandworth within six hours. We'll need full access to IFC facilities to prep for the eventual landing."
"Done."
Karen paused, and something shifted in her expression.
"One more thing," she said. "After Geneva, I'm calling a board meeting. All subsidiary directors." Her eyes moved between them. "There will be changes to the IFC's structure. Significant ones. I'll need both of you there."
Luca didn't like the sound of that. Karen making significant changes usually meant someone's world was about to get rearranged. But he'd learned not to push when she had that look.
"We'll be there," he said.
Izumi just nodded, her expression unreadable.
Something occurred to him.
"Izumi." He waited until she looked at him. "This partnership. Hyeon Logistics. Your whole company." He paused. "Would you be willing to go to space? Eventually?"
Something flickered in her eyes. Surprise, maybe. Or calculation.
"Eventually is a long time, Captain Rossi." Her grin returned. "Right now, I'm thinking about getting your ship safely to the ground without anyone else trying to blow it up."
That was fair enough. But Luca filed it away. She hadn't said no.
"Matteo," she said suddenly. The name came out clipped, almost defensive. "Will he be joining your expedition?"
Luca blinked at the shift. There it was. The thing she'd been circling around since the hangar. Matteo fucking Rossi. He'd heard her say it during the standoff, and he'd filed it away for later. Now was later.
"No."
"Why not?"
"We're only taking Level 60s." He watched her face carefully. "Matteo's team is in the mid-40s. They're good, but they're not ready."
Something moved behind Izumi's eyes. Disappointment? Relief? Both?
"He could level faster," she said. "If he pushed."
"He could." Luca shrugged. "But he hasn't. I'm looking for driven individuals. Capped. Hungry." He met her eyes. "Matteo's not there yet."
Izumi shrugged. "His loss."
Luca's hand brushed his pocket one more time. The fragment was still there. Evidence of Orion's sabotage, physical proof of corporate murder.
Karen had said they were focused on the wrong things. Maybe she was right. The sabotage, the corporate rivalry, the political maneuvering. None of it mattered if they didn't make it back to Alpha Centauri.
But people had still died. And someone would eventually have to answer for that.
Just not today.
Karen cleared her throat. "I think we're done here," she said, pocketing her tablet.
"Wait." Luca held up a hand. "What do we do about the horses?"
Karen paused halfway out of her seat. "What horses?"
---
The hangar was quieter now.
Luca stood on the gantry, watching Hyeon Logistics personnel stream toward their dropships. Their crews checking equipment and pilots running preflight. Sixteen dropships in total.
Izumi had already gone down.
Emily appeared at his shoulder. "Karen's shuttle just departed. Back to the Meridian."
"Good talk?"
"Complicated talk." Luca watched the first dropship seal its ramp. "We're announcing the TL9 auction. Tonight."
Emily absorbed that. "That's going to cause a stir."
"That's the point."
Below them, the dropship's engines spooled up. The hangar doors were already cycling open, revealing the planet below, all blues and browns and cloud systems that would be getting the auction announcement within hours.
"Hyeon's going to be handling tour security from here on," Luca continued. "Karen thinks the IFC still has a mole."
"She told you that?"
"She told both of us. Izumi and me." He turned to look at Emily. "I think she's been planning this for a while. Getting Hyeon aligned. Moving pieces into position."
"Karen usually is."
The first dropship lifted off, clearing the hangar bay and dropping toward Earth. A second followed, then a third.
"Matteo's not coming with us," he said quietly. "To Alpha Centauri."
Emily's hand found his arm. "You told Izumi that?"
"She asked."
"How did she take it?"
Luca thought about the flicker in Izumi's eyes. The way she'd said Matteo's name like it cost her something.
"Hard to tell." He grinned. "But I think she's happy he's staying behind."
Emily smiled. "She's going to have competition with Anastasia."
The last of the Hyeon craft cleared the hangar and dropped toward the planet.
Luca watched it go.
Karen was right about one thing. They needed to think bigger.