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haven’t they tried to shut us down?”
    “As long as you bribed the right officials and hurt no one, I guess they didn’t care about the things you smuggled.” He didn’t mention he’d buried many of the reports he’d seen. “But during one of the recent attacks, slavers abducted a shipload of schoolchildren.”
    Shyanne stopped walking and stood with her fists clenched at her sides. “I don’t kidnap children or run slaves.” Her physical reaction told him more than her words.
    “One of those children is the six-year-old daughter of a Regalus senator.” An older member of C.O.I.L., Regalus held a seat in the Senate and wielded considerable power. With their home planet situated in a barren region of space surrounded by other longtime C.O.I.L. worlds, Regalus had few colonies and little opportunity to expand. They coveted Earth’s rich mineral resources. If Earth were expel ed from C.O.I.L., Regalus was reputedly prepared and eager to stake a claim. “His screaming was what attracted the Consortium’s attention.” Shyanne started to say something but paused, shrugged, then suggested,
    “And like the good little puppet it is, when the Consortium talks, ASP listens and acts.”
    Greyson didn’t respond.
    She sighed and moved forward. “Two levels of Independence are cargo holds. The lower level—where you were—houses the engines, weapons systems and a transport bay. We have four smal er ships for moving cargo on and off planets. Independence never goes planet-side.” She stopped in front of an armored door. “This is the bridge.”
    He watched as she placed her palm against the ID screen and peered into an eye scanner. The door gave a sharp click but didn’t open. As he stepped forward to give it a push, she stopped him before he could. “There are three levels of security.
    Hand.” She held up her palm. “Retinal scan…and voice.” She spoke a phrase in a language he didn’t recognize and his translator chip couldn’t interpret. “Miss the third and try to open the door and you’re incinerated by lasers from six different angles.” She pointed to the front and back, above and below and to either side of the door. “There won’t even be enough left of you to sweep up.” Greyson shivered. “Thanks for the warning. I forgot Kedar wasn’t the trusting sort.”
    “He had his reasons,” Shyanne replied, eyeing Greyson coldly. “But this goes far beyond what you think. Even if enemies boarded this craft, once he was on the bridge he could escape. The bridge is a self-contained ship of its own.”
    “Did he ever use it?” Greyson asked.
    “I don’t know. He never shared that part of his life with me, and Eldin and the others don’t know.”
    “Have you used it?”
    “No.”
    Curiosity made him ask: “How do you know it works?”
    “I don’t.”
    “Shouldn’t you test it?”
    Shyanne smiled and shook her head. “It’s not an easy in-and-out. To launch the bridge as an escape shuttle would tear a hole in Independence that would disable her and set off a self-destruct sequence.”
    “Oh,” Greyson said. “Wel , that’s one way of defeating would-be boarders.”
    “If we need to run, we have four other ships available, remember. Not that we plan on ever doing so. Independence is ours, and we’d never give her up without a fight. Now…ready to meet my crew?”
    Shy watched with interest as she introduced Greyson to the members of her bridge crew: Eldin, Bear and Terle. Each of the three responded according to his personality.
    For the last ten years Eldin had been her mentor, friend and substitute father figure. He’d guided her through those first rough years when she struggled to find a way to survive. Though he’d advised against her smuggling, when she’d insisted he’d taught her everything he knew, which was considerable.
    Eldin rarely met a man he didn’t like. Dempster was one exception, and so he smiled and nodded a greeting to Greyson while monitoring for any