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Nova Colony to see Critch?” she asked softly.
    “No, we’re going to Nova Colony, where I’m going to see Critch. You’re all staying on the ship,” Reyne replied.
    “That’s a suicide mission,” she countered.
    “Maybe. Maybe not.” Reyne chewed on his raisins.
    “Who’s Critch?” Sixx asked.
    “He’s a pirate,” Doc said, narrowing her eyes in a sideways glance directed at Reyne. “A very dangerous pirate.”
    “Psh,” Sixx said. “Pirates are overrated.”
    “He captains the Honorless, ” she added.
    “Oh . ” Sixx’s eyes widened, and he turned to Reyne. “Doc’s right. It’s a suicide mission. Why aren’t we running the other way?”
    Finding his stomach suddenly without appetite, Reyne threw his remaining raisins back into the bowl. As he strode from the commons, he heard Doc begin a tale he had no desire to hear again.
    “Critch is more than a pirate,” Doc continued. “You know the story that Reyne was one of the two torrent marshals at the Siege of Terra during the Uprising. You’ve also heard how Reyne disappeared just before the Battle of Broken Mountain, leaving behind an inexperienced marshal half his age?”
    “Of course,” Sixx said. “Everyone’s heard that story, but anyone who’s ever met Reyne wouldn’t believe it for a minute.”
    “Well, Critch was that other marshal.”
    Reyne picked up his pace back to the bridge so that he could no longer hear the crew’s conversation.
    “Hey,” Throttle said. “I was just going to ping you.”
    Relieved for the distraction, he headed over to her. “What’d you find?”
    “I don’t know yet, but Vym has definitely put something on the ship. I’ve been running the numbers against our power usage. We’re running heavier.”
    He frowned. “How much heavier?”
    “It’s significant. If I’m reading this right, we’re carrying a few hundred extra kilograms.”
    “Show me.”
    Her fingers flew over the instrument panel until the list of weight-and-balance calculations were brought to the forefront. He ran his finger down each line item until he came to the variance.
    “Four hundred and twenty-nine kilos. It can’t be.” A shiver climbed his spine, and he found himself lightheaded. He grabbed ahold of the panel’s edge.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    He took a deep breath. “The Gryphon used to weigh a bit more in her early days. Four hundred and twenty-nine extra kilos, to be exact.”
    He had to see the truth for himself. He hustled to his seat and ran through the menus.
    “Reyne?”
    He watched as a series of green lights came to life. Lines of text began to scroll.
    “Reyne, seriously. What the hell’s going on?”
    Without looking up, he pointed in her direction. “Language.”
    She let out an exasperated sigh, but he read the text repeatedly before he believed it wasn’t some error.
    “That can’t be right.”
    Reyne jerked around to find that Throttle had rolled up next to him and was reading the screen.
    She pointed to the text. “Tell me that can’t be right.”
    He read the seven lines one more time.
    Phase Cannon: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun One: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun Two: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun Three: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun Four: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun Five: Operational and Armed.
    Photon Gun Six: Operational and Armed.
    “Why would Vym arm the Gryphon ?” she asked.
    He took a deep breath. “My guess? Vym never gave up hope on the Uprising, and she’s pulling us into her torrent army, whether we volunteer or not.”
    After a moment, Throttle’s lips curled upward. “It’s about viggin’ time.”
     

Chapter Seven
    The Trouble with Pirates
     
    Reyne woke the following morning with a hard reminder that with whiskey came hangovers. He still had all the memories he’d attempted to drown, except now he had a hell of a pounding headache to go along with them.
    He gently lifted the arm draped across his chest and climbed out of bed.