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duties
are not affected. I will complete my tasks as ordered.” She took a
step back. “You are tired, sir, and I insist you get some
rest.”
    I could have pointed out that her
insistence was irrelevant – I was her superior, and she had no
right to order me around. Instead I nodded and took a step back.
“See you around, Ensign.”
    She saluted, then turned, before
I’d had a chance to return the salute, and sat back down on her
knees.
    I stared at her for a few moments
before pushing myself from the room.
    The young Ensign was loitering by
the door. As soon as she saw me, she winced. “I am so sorry, sir. I
didn’t realize—“
    “It’s okay.” I lifted a hand
quickly.
    “I didn’t mean to be rude about my
new roommate, either. She didn’t tell me she’d been in an
accident,” the Ensign blabbered.
    “What’s your name?”
    She winced again, clearly thinking
I was about to get her in trouble. “Ensign Larka, sir.”
    “Ensign Larka, do me a favor. Keep
an eye on Jenks, will you?”
    Larka saluted. “Of course. Are you
worried the explosion traumatized her somehow?”
    I didn’t answer immediately. I let
my gaze flick towards the closed door. “Something like that. Just
keep an eye on her. Let me know if… she needs help.” I stopped
short of telling Larka to tell me what Ensign Jenks said in her
sleep. I wanted to know, though. I wanted to piece this puzzle
together.
    And yes, I was doing this as a
distraction.
    Throwing myself into the troubles
of a woman I barely knew pulled my mind from my own
troubles.
    With a nod, I turned and walked
away.
    I took barely two steps before the
magnitude of the situation struck me once more. My ship had been
attacked, and the resistance – a group I’d once thought was a myth
– was on the rise.
    The Alliance was on the
line.
    The Alliance was
on the line. That harrowing thought echoed
through my mind as I finally set out for my own
quarters.

Chapter 5
    Mari Sector, Star Forces Light
Cruiser Barrage, in orbit around Moon Alpha 78
    The crew of the
Light Cruiser Barrage had been informed about Ensign Weatherby’s
death.
    His body was transported to the
medical bay for an autopsy. What remained of his body, that
was.
    The doctor in charge hadn’t seen
injuries like this since she’d treated a group of soldiers mauled
by a Samvarax tiger.
    The claw marks dug into his back
were distinctive and unmistakable.
    She couldn’t believe her eyes,
though. That moon was meant to be uninhabited. The only life forms
down there were the crew of the research dig.
    … So what the hell had killed
Ensign Weatherby?
    Doctor Wallace stood in the middle
of her medical bay, staring down at her autopsy table.
    She’d already run all the scans
she could, and had sent the results off to Star Forces Medical
Command immediately.
    This dig may be a civilian
enterprise, but Ensign Weatherby had been Star Forces. And the
Alliance Star Forces took any death of their personnel
seriously.
    Though she’d finished the autopsy,
she was still no closer to finding exactly what had killed
Weatherby. The claw marks she could distinguish, as well as the
rupture patterns through the muscles of his chest.
    But what had caused that damage…
she had no freaking clue.
    She stood a few meters from the
table, shivering.
    She’d been a doctor for over 50
years now. She’d treated some of the most horrendous injuries you
could imagine. But there was something about the state of that body
that undid her nerve, strand by strand until it felt as if she was
standing there completely exposed.
    She pressed her teeth together and
took a steeling breath, but it did nothing to calm her
agitation.
    Standing back, she locked a hand
on her cheek and tapped her thumb over her jaw. Then, with a retch,
she realized she was still wearing her isolation gloves. There was
blood on them, and that same blood was now streaked across her
cheek.
    She let out a stuttering yelp and
lurched towards the decontamination cream