I couldn’t bring myself to take my eyes off Aquila’s face. I could feel Cas shifting in his chair beside me and I knew that he was looking at me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Andy looking at me too. They both clearly wanted to know what Aquila and I had spoken about in the side room.

I couldn’t tell them. I knew that Cas wanted to reach out and think something to me but he stayed silent. I was grateful for that. I barely had control of the panic spiralling in my chest and if anyone had spoken to me in that moment, I would have burst into tears.

“As some of you are aware, I asked Chal and Cory to meet yesterday to discuss Pegasus and her physical health. They have both worked with Pegasus in the past and Cory has been her ships doctor for several years. Chal, please can you present your report.” Aquila sat down and gestured for Chal to take over.

Chal’s shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh, sending anxiety coursing through me. He didn’t look good, I realised with a jolt. For the first time in the many years I’d known him, he looked tired. I’d seen him on the run from the Council, frantically transporting Irisians away from their dying planet and even on Freo after being awake for several days in a row but he’d never looked so drained before.

Is Chal okay, Cory? I asked quickly, feeling my eyebrows come together in worry.

Cory glanced at me but didn’t reply. His look said enough. Neither of them were okay.

Chal stood wearily and waved a hand towards the screen, pulling up footage of Peg from the assault on the Council headquarters.

I couldn’t help the wince that appeared on my face.

“As Captain Aquila said, I have been working with Peggy for several years ever since I fitted her first mods and I’ve been a doctor for longer than most of you have been alive. Cory and I examined the footage to try and determine how long we could drag out our attack on the Council. Essential, Aquila wanted to know how long Peggy can survive if the Council continue treating her as they have been. The answer is… complicated.” He paused and glanced at Andy.

My heart thudded in my ears and I could feel my hands shaking in my lap.

“From the footage, I believe that the majority of Peggy’s fat reserves have been depleted and she is experiencing muscle wastage. If we do not act quickly, we may need to worry about organ damage or failure,” he said in a rush.

His words didn’t register for a minute but then they hit me, leaving me breathless.

“What?” I gasped.

“I’m afraid so,” Chal said, sounding sad.

He didn’t think we’d be able to get her back in time.

I glanced at Cory for confirmation but he just shook his head at me. Gem looked sad but not distraught, she must have already known what Cory and Chal had found. Tears shone in her eyes but they didn’t fall.

We’ll get her back, I promised.

“So they haven’t been feeding her?” Andy demanded, a furious undercurrent to his words.

Chal’s eyes darted to Aquila who nodded.

“That’s part of what makes the situation complicated. According to some of the notes our fighters recovered, she’s been refusing food,” Chal started.

“Why?” Andy asked immediately.

Chal hesitated again.

“When she first arrived, before they operated on her to remove her mods… Councillor Harvey gave the order to drug her food. She noticed and stopped eating, hence the marks on her arms.”

A curse slipped out of Andy’s mouth as I stared blankly at the screen. She had red marks marring her arms. They’d started injecting her with the drug when she’d refused to eat.

“Wait, how did she notice her food had been drugged?” Fornax asked.

Normally, her expression was light and jovial but now it was concerned.

Chal looked to me for permission to explain.

“Her parents were addicts. They both died from an overdose just before she joined the Space Corps,” I said flatly.

Fury brewed on Fornax’s face.

“Why did they remove her mods? That’s what those scars are from, right? I thought yours were undetectable?” someone else asked.

Chal shot them an irritated glare as I stared at the pink scars on Peggy’s head.

“They are,” he growled.

“That might be our fault, actually,” Gem said meekly.

I turned to look at Gem in confusion but she was looking at Andy.

“What are the chances that the Council put cameras around the base or, like, read our book?” she asked.

I let out a trembling breath. Fuck. It was our fault. Mine, specifically. I wrote about them in the damn book.

Did I write about our olfactory mods? I thought shakily.

I’m not sure, Cas sent back.

It didn’t matter what he said though, I knew I’d fucked up. I shouldn’t have written about our mods but honestly, I never expected to survive. I didn’t know this would come back to screw us over.

“I’m not sure. It is possible,” Andy said quietly, his gaze distant.

“We talked about our mods, I think,” Gem said, turning to look at me. “We talked about it in the kitchen, didn’t we?”

I tried to remember but my mind was blank.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It doesn’t matter, I think I wrote about them in the book,” I admitted. “Sorry, Chal.”

He smiled gently at me. “That’s alright.”

“Continue the briefing please, Chal,” Aquila prompted.

Chal drew his shoulders back.

“Of course. Previously, we had fighters in the building posing as Guardians who slipped her food whenever possible but now, most of them are dead so we have no opportunities to make sure she can eat,” Chal said succinctly before dropping back into his chair.

Peggy’s face finally disappeared from the screen and I looked back at Aquila to find her watching me with furrowed eyebrows. Silence filled the room but my gaze was locked on hers. Eventually, she blinked and leant back.

“Because of Peggy’s poor health, our plan has had to be expedited a little. I’ve already met with Fornax and Trolis this morning to organise it but we have started to attack smaller Council bases and IA bases around the galaxy. So far this morning, we have hit four but by the end of the day that number should have tripled,” Aquila said.

Someone across the table sucked in an audible breath but I didn’t look around. I knew what was coming. She was going to mention our plan soon. I could feel her ramping up to it.

“Additionally, we have started to leak some of the more heinous things that the Council have done to disrupt public perception and we’ve started to release some information on what Peggy did to help Irision, led by Andy. It’s spread through the forums like a virus and the Council are unable to delete it before even more people spread it.” Aquila’s smile grew as whispers shot around the room.

I swallowed and wiped my sweaty palms on my legs. It was coming.

“And earlier this morning, I reached out to the Council to set up a call with Councillor Harvey.”

Beside me, Cas recoiled visibly.

“Why?” Andy asked, concern visible on his face.

My heart pounded in my ears as Aquila’s eyes locked on mine once more. I nodded, ignoring the confusion surrounding me.

“Because the plan is twofold.”