The air shimmered for a moment, colors twirling before they faded. The cube glowed, then went back to normal.

Val stared at the space where Kaine had stood a second ago. It was surreal. One moment he’d been there, the next he was gone.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“It’s as if he’d never been here at all,” she muttered.

Aj’uhl nodded.

“Don’t worry, he will be fine.”

She scowled. “I’m not worried.”

“Of course not. But come. We might as well chat while we wait. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you... Over a year, surely?”

“Two, I think.”

He sat on a couch and motioned for her to join him. She did so with a sigh.

“Two long years. What have you been up to?”

“Scavenging, as always.”

He chuckled. “You make it sound like nothing exciting ever happens in your life.”

Val choked at that.

“Hardly! At least not since I got sucked into that space rift.”

“Space rift?”

“Yeah. I was about to exit Starrider to board a wreck when this thing appeared out of nowhere. It was just a glow at first, a bright yellow glow, but it grew into this... like a rip in space. And it pulled us in. Neither Nim nor I could stop it. Next thing we knew, we were in the middle of a battlefield above Rimzana.”

Aj’uhl straightened and blinked.

“What? Someone attacked Rimzana?”

“You haven’t heard? They were strange ships, the likes of which I’d never seen before, though I’ve since heard they were Qevahri. Which is the weirdest thing, when you think about it. They were fighting the Imperials.”

Aj’uhl’s eyes widened. He jumped off the couch and hurried to his desk. After tapping on the surface, a floating screen appeared. Text scrolled by quickly. After a few minutes, the large man gasped.

“This is not good. Not good at all.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The Qevahri won! That is very unexpected, but also very unfortunate.”

Val frowned. “I would think it’d make you happy.”

He continued reading as he spoke.

“Oh, I’m happy the Impies lost, but this will make them very jumpy. The whole rim might pay a high price for this. And... Oh. Oh no!”

“What now?”

Aj’uhl backed away from his TriVid screen and stared at it for a moment, then looked toward her.

“The Impies have already retaliated. They’ve sent three armadas—one to Qevahr, another to Rimzana, and the third to patrol the rim. This is not good for business, Val. Not good at all.”

Before she could respond, a loud explosion resonated and they felt the ground shake beneath their feet.

“What in Graen’s green grass is going on?” shouted Aj’uhl as he rushed toward the door.

Val stood and ran after him.

It had felt like the sound came from nearby—perhaps even from inside the house.

Nor had it stopped. Or, rather, it had morphed into a concert of screams, of breaking glass, and of running feet. A sickening stink of scorched flesh assaulted her nostrils, along with the smell of smoke.

When they reached the lobby, Val saw three dead bodies on the floor—their skins burned to a crisp—and two wounded, including the woman who had answered the door. She lay on the floor, back to the wall, yelling and crying as she held her burned arm.

The door itself was gone, as was most of the wall. Through the opening, a flood of Imperials had poured into the house, waving weapons around.

Aj’uhl froze, his face gone very pale.

“What—”

A clean-shaven man stepped through the soldiers. He wore a bright blue uniform with the insignia of a sergeant. His booming voice interrupted Aj’uhl.

“In the name of His Imperial Grace Nashadan Prime, all occupants of this house are under arrest. Any resistance will be met with deadly force.” A cruel grin contorted the man’s face. “Go ahead, resist. Make my day.”

Val and Aj’uhl both put their hands in the air, as did the few others who had survived the attack.

The officer snorted and motioned for his men to tie up the prisoners.

“This is an outrage!” cried out Aj’uhl, though he did not resist. “I am a law-abiding member of society, as is everyone here. What am I—what are we accused of?”

The sergeant laughed. “Law-abiding? A scavenger?” The word had come out as if it was filth he needed to remove from his mouth. “You thought we wouldn’t find you.” He stepped closer, looking Val’s friend straight in the eyes. “Aj’uhl. Yes. I know who you are. You perfectly fit the description I was given. Oh, I know everything about you, you despicable excuse for a human being. I know about your toys.”

“My toys?”

“Sergeant!” The officer turned to look at one of his men who had just come out of a room. “We found them. There are hundreds of them!”

The man grunted and nodded. “You know what to do.” He turned back to Aj’uhl as the soldier ran out of the house, yelling to some of his colleagues. “Do you know what punishment the Imperium reserves for those who traffic in Kinzuki Cages?” He smiled when he saw his prey’s face turn even whiter. “I see that you do. Good, good.”

“He’s not a dealer!” cut in Val, outraged by this insane turn of events. “He just keeps them off the market! You—”

The sergeant turned and hit her hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He leaned to whisper into her ear.

“Do. Not. Interrupt. Me. Ever. Next time, I’ll slit your throat. Got that?”

She barely had the strength to nod.

“Wonderful.” The officer straightened and looked back to Aj’uhl. “Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Hundreds of Kinzuki Cages. I’d wager you won’t see the light of day again for a very, very, very long time.”

While he talked, soldiers ran in and out, carrying large wooden crates in which they had piled mountains of cubes.

Val realized as she slowly got her breath back that none of them had gone into the room where she had been with Aj’uhl. Not yet, at least. She worried that if they did and found the cube, Kaine would be stuck. Which was an irrational thought, since it wouldn’t stop the transpin from working, but he’d end up in the middle of a crowd of Impies. Unless it’d take him back to the last place he’d been? She wasn’t sure how those things worked exactly.

Then again, it might not work at all. And then what? The cube would be lost among hundreds of others, with nothing to make it stand out. Kaine would be just as lost as whoever he had gone in to rescue.

She felt hands grab her arms and pull her toward the opening. Aj’uhl was in front of her, getting dragged out as well.

And Nim... What would happen to Nim?

Despair overcame her as she stepped into the light—perhaps for the last time.