"This is unacceptable," Scarrend grumbled. "Even for prey." The Vrrl sat on the bridge of the Encounter. A fifth control console had been installed, and the creature was seated next to Yvian.

"Welcome to the Confederation," said Mims. "Where the rich get taken care of, and the poor are left to die."

"It's worse than that," the Vrrl growled. "The populace was not even informed."

"They are now," Lissa pointed out.

"Are they?" Scarrend typed into his console. A holodisplay of a gray skinned Brilend appeared, denouncing the "Pixen Conspiracy" as an attempt to cause panic. Lissa and several Peacekeepers had worked together to send information about the impending Vore attack to every pixen in Brilend Prime Sector, along with every news agency in the Confed. Results had been... mixed. "Even now, their government denies the truth. Worse." He shook his head. "They are believed by many."

"Any idiot with a scanner can see the Vore coming at this point," said the Captain. "But most of these people don't have ships. They only know what the media tells them."

"It's idiocy," grumbled the Vrrl. "What gain can be had from hiding the truth? When the Vore attacked Histel, most of my people chose to fight, but we evacuated our young and enough people to care for them. Even the humans removed their noncombatants before the Vore struck. These fools aren't just leaving their people to die. They're fighting against those that would save them."

"There's no profit in evacuating," the human told him. "Relocating billions of people would cost money. Telling them the truth and letting them fend for themselves would cause panic, which would cost money and make the ruling class look like assholes. Cheaper and easier to keep them ignorant and hope the Military can take care of the problem."

"Profit?" Yvian could hear Scarrend's face scrunch in confusion. "They think money is more important than the survival of their species?"

"Basically." Mims shrugged. "The rich and the powerful know what's going on. They've gotten out, and taken as much wealth as they could bring. As long as they're taken care of, they don't give a crap what happens to regular folk."

The Vrrl shook his head. "And I thought humans were evil..."

"You know," Yvian remarked. "I'm surprised you're so offended. I didn't expect you to care so much about so-called prey animals."

"Of course I care," Scarrend snorted. "It's a waste of food."

Brilend Prime Sector was a madhouse. There were over two million stations in the sector, each with thousands or tens of thousands of citizens. Not to mention twelve billion Brilends on the planet itself. Everyone who could afford passage on a ship was trying to leave. Shuttles were taking passengers from Brilend Prime up to the stations as fast as they could go, but several ships had already tried to circumvent the planets defenses to land. They'd been shot down. The comms were jampacked with panicked voices and desperate pleas. Help us. Please. Get us out.

The Brilend Militia had half a million ships in the system, trying to keep order. They were handling themselves more professionally than the Enforcers Yvian was used to dealing with, but they were badly undermanned for an event of this scale. The Confed Military was there as well, three fleets with two million ships between them, but they weren't interested in crowd control. The Military was setting up weapons platforms and defenses, preparing for the arrival of the Vore.

The Pixen Technocracy was adding to the mess. Two hundred thousand krog built Haulgood Superfreighters were in the sector, each escorted by a handful of Shootgood fighters with Peacekeeper pilots. The Haulgoods were the Technocracy's primary method of getting pixens to New Pixa, and had been since Lissa had declared war on the Trelg Pleasure Guild. Technocracy ships were tagged as pirates by the Militia, and attacked on sight, but the Haulgoods were all registered to Confed shell corporations. Yvian was sure at least some of the Militia suspected their true affiliation, but so far the freighters had been left unmolested.

"Moving on," the Captain changed the subject. "How are negotiations going?"

"Neither the Militia nor the Military are happy with the Confederation's misinformation campaign," Kilroy reported. "They are aware of the imminent attack. They are displeased that the government is not assisting in evacuating the sector. High Admiral Bruck of the Military has agreed to allow the Pixen Stellar Defense Force to assist in evacuation efforts."

"Fair enough," Mims cursed as he disengaged the autopilot to swerve out of the way of a passenger liner. "Jackasses." He reset the autopilot. "Shouldn't we get that going, then?"

"Negative," said the Peacekeeper. "Admiral Salzar of the Brilend Militia still insists our forces will be fired upon if they enter the sector. The Brilend Militia is in the process of evacuating their own families, but they are unwilling to allow what they call a pirate presence in their space."

"Fucking assholes," Lissa muttered.

"Maybe we should send them in anyway?" Yvian suggested. "I'll bet this Salzar guy shits his pants when he gets a look at our fleet."

"No," Mims shook his head. "The Militia might back off if they were alone, but they've got two million Military vessels backing them up. We can't intimidate them, and we can't afford a big fight in the middle of all this. We'll have to make do with the Haulgoods." He toggled his comm. "Sanvir Station, this is Captain Mims of the Random Encounter. Request permission to dock."

"Random Encounter," a harried sounding Brilend answered. "This is Sanvir Station. Permission granted. Please proceed to docking bay 792."

"Acknowledged," said the Captain. He set the coordinates into the autopilot. "Alright." He turned to Scarrend. "You and Kilroy stay here. These people are panicked enough without a Synthetic Intelligence or a Vrrl running around."

"Can this Danil Starlancer not meet us at the docking bay?" the Vrrl asked.

"Half the station's rioting," Mims told him. "Danil might have risked it by himself, but he needs to get his wife and kids out. An armed escort's a reasonable request." He stood, hands checking his weapons. "Come on, ladies. Let's go get our client."

They trooped down to the cargo bay exit. Mims pulled his stunshot. "Alright, ladies, it's gonna be a mess out there. These aren't pirates and we don't want to hurt them, but we can't let them swarm us or the ship, either. Keep your stunshots on the lowest setting and don't hesitate to shoot."

The Encounter set down in the docking bay with a thunk. They waited another thirty seconds while air hissed back into the bay. Mims hit a button, and the hatch opened, a ramp extending. Yvian drew her weapon as they approached the bay door. It hissed open. Screams assaulted her as a press of bodies surged towards them.

Mims didn't hesitate. His stunshot blasted six people in less than a second. The crowd pressed right passed them, spilling into the docking bay as the pixens backed him up, dropping bodies as fast as they could pull the trigger.

The Captain's amplified voice boomed out of his helmet. "BACK! GET BACK! BACK UP OR I'LL SHOOT EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU!" The screaming press of bodies faltered as the scared Brilends noticed the gunfire. The shouts neither lessened nor intensified, remaining a solid wall of noise, but the movement shifted. The surging mob lost its momentum, recoiling from the stream of violence pouring out of the human and his companions.

Yvian saw a woman on her knees, pleading to be let in. Three children huddled around her. Her stomach roiled, but she kept shooting anyone who approached. Slowly, the crowd eased back. Mims started grabbing the unconscious bodies that littered the docking bay and chucking them back into the station proper. He continued to blast anyone that moved forward as he did so. In just under a minute, the scared people of Sanvir Station had formed a loose semi-circle well back from the docking bay door. Mims dragged the last body out of the bay and slapped the door control. The door hissed shut and locked.

"MOVE!" The human stalked forward, pistol ready. "MOVE!" The crowd parted, Brilend's still hollering and pleading for help. Mims pushed past them with the sisters close behind.

Once they made out of the docking area, the going got easier. People still ran and shouted, and they passed several brawls, but few of the station's passengers were willing to obstruct the armored trio jogging through the corridors with weapons in hand. The ones that did, Mims shot. Yvian wanted to object, but the sight of dead and injured Brilends scattered through the corridors dissuaded her. The Captain's ruthless and immediate application of violence might not be as callous as it seemed. Stunshots on the low setting would only knock a person out for a few minutes, and the fear he was producing kept them from being swarmed. Outnumbered as they were, being attacked by a big group would force Mims and the pixens to use lethal measures, and she didn't want to kill anyone today.

The transit shuttles were down. Yvian guessed the station administrators were doing everything they could to lock down the station. Or maybe rioters had damaged them. She didn't know. The trio were stuck moving on foot. Twice they had to change directions to go around masses of angry Brilends clashing with Station Security. Security drones were flying down the corridors at regular intervals, but they didn't seem to do anything unless a Security Officer was being attacked. When they did, the drones didn't waste time with stunners. Yvian wondered just how many Brilends had died in the last few hours. How many of these people would be alive, if the Great Brilend Republic had been honest and made a sincere attempt to evacuate them?

It took two hours of running to reach Danil's quarters. This section of the station was quiet, with just a few families and individuals hustling through. Yvian guessed those that wanted to leave had already packed what they could and made for other areas. Those that were staying were staying hunkered down in their quarters. There were still security drones stationed at regular intervals, but they just hovered quietly. One was hanging in the air about five meters from Danil's door.

Mims tapped the interface next to Danil's quarters. They heard the ring of an electronic bell. The interface came to life, revealing Danil's face. The Brilend reporter looked haggard. Pale gray skin and messy dark hair. His eyes were silver, and there were bags under them. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's Mims," said the human. "Open the door."

The Brilend's eyes narrowed. "Mims? Prove it."

"I commed you when I got here, Danil," the human told him. "Grab your family. We're low on time."

"And I got another comm from Madlad Mims five minutes ago," the reporter told him. "I checked the station logs. The Random Encounter just docked."

What the Crunch? Mims shared a look with Yvian. At his gesture, she and Lissa pulled their weapons, each aiming down one section of the corridor.

"You don't recognize my voice?" Mims glanced down the corridors. Still empty. "Danil, if someone's faked the logs, it means you're being hunted. We need to get you out of here fast."

"Voices can be faked. Take off your helmet," the reporter demanded. "Show me your faces. All of you."

The human glowered at the interface, then checked the corridor again. Still clear. "Fine." The Captain removed his helmet. "It's us." Yvian and Lissa followed suit. "Let's go."

The Brilend dropped his suspicious glare. Guilt and sorrow washed over his face as he looked down at the deck. "I'm sorry, Mims."

Yvian caught movement out of the corner of her eye. The Security drone in the hallway hummed as it turned to face them. Adrenaline spiked as she realized what was about to happen. Yvian tried to jam her helmet back onto her head, yelling, "Shiel-"

She wasn't fast enough. The drone fired. Yvian saw a bright light. Then she saw nothing at all.