Ten years earlier—before his disgrace—Adam Bregg had dismantled a smuggling operation. One of the individuals involved had been a law-abiding citizen who got caught in the crossfire by simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bregg had recognized this. He had stepped in to help the man. Now, Rohim Drace worked as a mentor on Evenodds.

It would be a simple thing to reach out and remind him of how he had avoided being sent to Qreghan VI.

Besides, it wasn’t like Bregg would ask him to do anything illegal. He just wanted information.

“What type of information?” asked Drace.

“A ship came through your station, with a man and a woman on board. They only stayed a few hours. I need to know where they went when they left.”

“How the heck would I know that? We don’t ask visitors where they plan to go when they leave.”

The colonel clicked his tongue. “I’m sure you have cameras everywhere. Surely, they must have recorded which direction they were headed.”

Drace shifted in his seat and frowned.

“That wouldn’t tell you much. They could easily veer at any point after moving away from our reach...”

“Let me worry about that. Just get me the information.”

The man was unhappy with the request, but he complied.

Bregg provided the name of the ship and of its two passengers. All he had to do now was wait—which wasn’t his strong point.

Someone knocked on his door.

“Come in!” he shouted.

His communications officer entered and stepped up to the desk to drop a holofile in front of him.

“This just came in, sir. What are your orders?”

Bregg grabbed the disc and pressed it against his wristpad. Data appeared, floating in the air before him.

He read through the text and frowned.

Qevahr? Why would they send him to Qevahr, of all places? To “pacify the locals,” the message stated.

Was this just another way to mock him? The Qevahri were a peaceful people who spent all their time praying to their gods. This was ridiculous.

Then he remembered the battle above Rimzana.

He had been so focused on catching Starrider, he hadn’t looked too closely at those ships. But now that he thought about it, they had been of Qevahri design, hadn’t they? Not that he had seen too many. Those people rarely left their homeworld.

Bregg put the disc down and tapped on his wristpad to bring up images of Qevahri ships.

His frown increased.

“Sir?”

The colonel looked up at the man who stood before his desk. He’d forgotten the ensign was still there.

Before he could answer, his holovisor signaled an incoming call.

“Bide a moment,” he told the officer as he tapped two fingers against his temple. “Yes?”

Drace’s face appeared against his retina.

“I have the information you requested. I just transferred it to your wristpad.”

“I knew you’d do the right thing.”

The other man frowned. “But colonel, just so we’re clear, this settles the score between us. I will not be in your debt for the rest of my life. I draw the line here.”

Bregg grunted. He wasn’t about to argue with this fool in front of his officer. Though the CO couldn’t hear what Drace was saying, he would have heard any of his own replies.

“We shall discuss this at a later time. I need to go.”

He cut the communication before Drace could protest.

With another tap on his wristpad, he brought up the information the man had sent him.

He studied the data for a long moment, then closed it and sighed. The army was sending him in the opposite direction of where Starrider was headed.

Bregg looked back at the officer, who hadn’t moved an inch, staring at the wall. He wondered if this wasn’t just a test. His men must have been troubled by his actions, just like Ferris had. They’d have to be wondering what he would do now.

“Ensign Lemm. Tell Ferris to set course for Qevahr immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

The man swung and marched out.

Bregg sighed again as he initiated a new holovisor call.

He had no choice now.

He would have to trust Juden.