The cup trembled in my fingers.
I tried to bring it to my mouth without spilling water on the bandages, but the effort pulled at the wound in my chest. I stopped with the rim a few centimeters from my lips, waiting for the sharp pain to ease.
Havelyn took the cup before it could slip.
"You could have asked."
"I thought I could manage a drink on my own."
She brought the rim to my mouth. I took two small sips and settled back against the pillow, irritated by how much that one fucking movement had worn me out.
We were in the infirmary aboard the ship, which sat on the surface of Gron-Tarh.
In the next bed, Tsukumo was staring at his hands.
Splints held his fingers apart beneath thick bandages that reached almost to his wrists.
He tried to raise an arm to adjust the blanket, but the pain stopped him immediately.
Havelyn set my cup on the bedside table and pulled the blanket over his legs.
"Anything else?"
Tsukumo took a moment to answer.
"Water."
She picked up another cup.
I closed my eyes and listened to the muffled sounds outside.
In Gron-Tarh's courtyard, a heavy machine was tearing out sections of the old fortress.
Metal scraped for several seconds, followed by a dull crash that made the IV stand beside my bed rattle.
Elvernas.
I'd been repeating that name in my head since Rubens left the infirmary.
Somewhere on that planet, we might find the man who knew where Laura had been taken.
When I opened my eyes, the doctor was standing at the foot of my bed.
"If you're thinking about getting up, forget it."
"I haven't even moved."
"You've been staring at the open door for half an hour."
She pulled the blanket aside to examine my thigh.
There was a small dark stain near the edge of the bandage.
"I need to know when I'll be able to travel."
The doctor looked up at me.
"First, you need to be able to sit up without bleeding again."
"I can travel lying down."
"You can. Once I'm sure you'll reach your destination alive."
I lowered my gaze to the IV line connected to my arm.
Havelyn set the cup back on the table and sat in the chair between the beds.
I didn't argue again.
The next morning, doors from the old cells began appearing in stacks around Gron-Tarh's courtyard.
I saw them whenever I looked out through the ship's open ramp.
Some still had numbers painted on the steel; others had heavy chains attached to their bars.
Workers cut through the brackets and carried the pieces away from the wings where the wounded were being housed.
The ship's infirmary was taking in too many people.
Whenever someone was transferred elsewhere, another mattress filled the empty space.
I heard names being called, arguments over medicine, and people asking about relatives who still hadn't been found.
Rubens stopped by the entrance to speak with the rescue teams.
Sometimes he stayed seated on a reinforced structure near the ramp, his wrists wrapped in white bandages, patiently listening to anyone who came to see him.
Candice barely ever stopped.
I recognized her voice before I saw her clearing a path or bringing someone to the doctor.
Sahger was being treated in a makeshift medical tent across the courtyard.
On the second day after I woke up, Tsukumo and I left the ship.
The puncture in my chest had closed, leaving a fresh mark beneath the bandages.
The cut on my thigh had healed as well.
I could still feel the exhaustion from fighting Yashin, that hollow feeling that came after I'd used up everything I had, but I was already steadier on my feet.
Tsukumo walked beside me, flexing his fingers as he unwound the last of a bandage.
The swelling in his hands was gone, and he could make fists without any trouble.
His regeneration was working faster than mine; even the cut above his eye was down to a thin line.
Havelyn was waiting at the bottom of the ramp.
"He's in the infirmary across the courtyard."
We went with her.
Water had pooled between the metal plates.
The ice was beginning to melt in the sunlit patches, exposing twisted pieces of iron beneath the white layer.
We passed three workers carrying a cell door.
One recognized Havelyn and told the others to make room.
We found Sahger sitting on the edge of a bed, finishing a change of dressing on his abdomen.
A pair of scissors and some used bandages lay on the table beside him.
He looked up when we entered.
"They told me you woke up."
"I did."
His gaze shifted from me to Tsukumo, lingering on his hands.
"Healed already?"
Tsukumo held up his fingers and closed one hand.
"Overnight."
Sahger nodded, satisfied, and finished securing the bandage.
His graying beard was clean.
Without the blood covering his face, the deep scars stood out even more.
His recent injuries, though, had already healed considerably.
Regeneration had done its work, and the hunter had taken care of the rest: the dressings were snug, the stitches clean, his hands free of the swelling I'd seen on the catwalk.
"And you?" I asked.
"Better."
He stood to put away the scissors.
The movement was steady, though he breathed more slowly as he straightened up.
Havelyn watched him.
"At least someone here knows how to take care of his injuries."
Sahger glanced at her folded right wing.
"Doing your exercises?"
"The ones I'm allowed to." She exhaled through her nose.
"You just fought the Four Beasts, and you still want to give me a checkup?"
"I can see just fine."
Havelyn looked at me as though she expected some help.
I couldn't hide my smile.
"Great. You three can keep talking."
She picked up the empty pitcher from the table.
"I'll get some water."
She left before Sahger could ask another question about her wings.
The hunter watched her go, then turned back to us.
Tsukumo pulled up a stool, and I sat in the chair beside the table.
"The Beasts..." I began.
Sahger lowered his gaze to the used bandages.
"What about them?"
I fell silent.
Tsukumo rested his forearms on his thighs.
Sahger remained standing for a few moments before returning to the edge of the bed.
He didn't seem willing to tell us how it had happened, and neither of us asked.
If he hadn't stayed on that platform to hold the enemies back, we wouldn't have been able to push on.
"Rubens told me about Laura."
He lifted his blue-gray eyes to mine.
I told him about the neighboring cell, the message she'd left, the masked man, and Elvernas.
When I mentioned Veronica, Sahger stopped adjusting his dressing.
"She's alive?"
"That's what he said."
"The silver-haired one..."
"I know."
The answer came out harsher than I'd intended.
Sahger watched me for a few seconds, then looked at Tsukumo.
He confirmed it with a brief nod.
"We need to find the man who took Laura," Tsukumo said.
The hunter looked back at me.
"And you're going to Elvernas."
"We are."
A small object lay on the table beside the bed.
I recognized the plate Sahger usually kept beneath his armor.
It was scratched, but the child's drawing of his family was still visible on the metal.
He looked at it too.
"You don't have to come," I said.
Sahger met my eyes again.
"You have your wife. Your daughters," I continued.
"You've already done more than I could have asked."
He reached over and picked up the plate.
His thumb passed over the drawing, wiping away a stain that remained along one edge.
"I remember what you offered me."
"Lavinsk."
He nodded.
"I remember too," I said.
"When I get back, I'll ask for a place for them there. I haven't forgotten."
Sahger looked down at the plate.
His thumb stopped over one of the smaller engraved figures.
"You still need to find the girl," he said firmly.
I lowered my eyes to my bandaged chest.
"And I will."
He set the metal plate on the mattress.
"When we're cleared to leave, I'm coming with you."
Havelyn returned with a container of fresh water and stopped in the doorway when she heard his last words.
Sahger looked at her.
"You coming too?"
"Of course I am."
There wasn't the slightest hesitation in her answer.
I turned to the harpy.
"Havelyn..."
"I heard what Rubens said. I'm coming with you."
She placed the water within the hunter's reach and adjusted the support beneath his leg, checking its position before stepping back a little.
I didn't try to convince her to stay.
By the time we left the medical tent, Sahger was looking at the family drawing again.
That afternoon, Gordon arrived at the ship carrying a long, heavy bundle wrapped in shop rags.
With help from one of the men accompanying him, he set it on an empty table in the infirmary.
"They found it in Sector One," the dwarf said.
I recognized the weapon's outline before he'd even finished pulling back the cloth.
Kazekiba.
There were still patches of dirt and soot near the base of the blade.
I reached out with a hand that still trembled.
He brought the hilt closer, and I closed my fingers around the grip, carefully keeping the blade supported on the cloth.
The familiar weight pressed against my palm.
I ran my thumb along the grip and stared at Silver's name engraved in the metal.
I needed to talk to him.
I needed to understand how Veronica could have survived all of it.
"It was wedged between two fallen plates," Gordon explained.
"The crew found it while they were clearing a path through the rubble."
"Thank you."
"Save your thanks until I've finished fixing the ship."
I carefully released the sword's hilt.
"You found us a ship?"
"I'm setting one aside that can handle the trip through space. I need to check the engines, make sure there's enough fuel, and pull out a few parts someone decided weren't needed."
"How long will that take?"
Gordon looked me up and down with disdain.
"Less time than it'll take you to be fit for the trip."
From the next bed, Tsukumo turned his head toward him.
The dwarf covered the sword with the cloth again.
"I'm also going through the traffic records for the ships that came to collect shipments of prisoners. Rubens doesn't know the bar's exact name, but I'll see what I can cross-reference with his account."
Gordon left Kazekiba resting on a shelf where I could see it and walked away.
The next morning, I found Havelyn standing behind Tsukumo's chair, carefully separating the dreadlocks that had gotten caught beneath the plaster bandages on his shoulder.
She patiently gathered them and tied them high on his head.
Tsukumo kept his head bowed until she finished.
"Is it pulling?"
"No."
She loosened a lock near his face.
"How's that?"
"Good. Thank you."
I was about to comment on the scene when Havelyn glanced at the tangled mess of my own hair.
"You're next."
I shut my mouth at once.
After lunch, I asked her to set a shallow container of water on the table in front of me.
The harpy remained standing beside my chair.
"To drink?"
"I want to try something."
She moved the nearby medicine bottles out of the way.
I watched the surface of the water for a long time.
Back on the combat platform, I'd felt the rain passing through the steam, running across the steel plates, and gathering in the gaps beneath our bodies.
Now, with the water right in front of me, that awareness came and went before I could hold on to it.
I brought my trembling fingers close to the edge of the container.
For one brief moment, I sensed the exact volume of water inside.
I tried to draw a little of it toward my hand.
The surface tilted.
A thin thread of water rose along the edge, trembled, and lost its shape, spilling out of the container and soaking the cloth beneath it.
My breathing grew short and labored.
I let my hand fall into my lap and waited to catch my breath.
Havelyn stared at my pale face.
"Enough for today?"
I nodded slowly.
Tsukumo had been watching from the next bed.
"Did you feel it?" he asked.
"For a moment," I said.
"I tried to pull more than I should have."
He looked at the small wet patch on the table.
"Tomorrow, try focusing on a single drop."
I still wanted another try, but Havelyn picked up the container and moved it away before I could reach out again.
I accepted the cup of water she offered and drained it before handing it back.
The next morning, I left the ship and walked down the open ramp.
I could still feel the strain of the battle, but walking came more easily.
A line of workers was removing iron bars from one of the fortress's side entrances.
Havelyn walked with me to the metal bench near the ship, then went to speak with one of the teams arranging the accommodations.
I sat down and watched the courtyard.
Rubens was farther ahead, seated on a reinforced metal structure.
He was talking with a group of freed prisoners who had brought measurements and pieces of pipe.
A little boy stood nearby, staring in fascination at the enormous size of the giant's hands.
Rubens noticed the child and opened his palm.
The boy placed his own hand against one of the giant's calloused fingers.
The giant smiled.
"Thought I'd find you in there," a familiar voice said.
Candice approached with a metal clipboard tucked under her right arm.
Her blue hair had been hastily tied back, with loose strands falling across her forehead.
"I've spent enough time staring at that ceiling."
She glanced at the ship, then back at me.
"I can imagine."
She sat beside me and rested the clipboard on her thighs.
We were quiet for a while, watching Rubens talk with the workers.
"How's he doing?" I asked.
"Good. Now the problem is getting that idiot to understand there are other people here who can carry the heavy stuff."
I looked at the giant's open palm.
The boy was running off to fetch another child.
"He looks good, Candice."
She followed my gaze.
Her flesh-and-blood hand brushed along the edge of the clipboard.
"Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and go over there just to check he's still there."
I turned toward her.
"You wake up and go looking for him?"
Candice nodded.
"I find him, stay a little while, then go back."
"Does he notice?"
"Of course he does. He always asks if I need anything."
She let out a small breath through her nose, almost a laugh, and looked away toward the workers.
I waited.
"Suki..."
When she met my eyes again, the irony was gone from her face.
"I'll always be grateful to you."
I opened my mouth, but she continued before I could answer.
"You and the others. Tsukumo, Sahger, Havelyn. Everyone who fought alongside us in this fortress."
Her hand tightened around the clipboard for a moment.
"I waited twenty years to see my brother out of that cell."
I looked at Rubens.
He'd picked up one of the pieces of pipe and was pointing something out to the men in front of him.
"You brought him home," Candice said.
Her voice broke on the last word.
"Rubens got us out of that hellhole too."
"I know."
She touched my arm and kept her hand there for a few seconds.
"When you come back to the Dark Galaxies, come see us."
"I've already talked to him," she continued.
"You can count on both of us for whatever you need in this shithole."
I nodded.
"I'll keep in touch. With you, with him, and with Gordon."
"Gordon will complain about everything."
"He does that anyway."
Candice smiled.
One of the iron grates was carried over to the pile of dismantled metal.
The impact made several people turn their heads.
"When I get back to Lavinsk, I'll try to convince the Council to send a unit to help you here."
Candice turned toward me.
"A unit from Lavinsk?"
"For military support and to help with the rebuilding. I want to see if we can get this territory officially recognized and protected."
She watched me in silence.
"I still need to talk to the people back home," I added.
"I don't know what they'll agree to, but I'll try."
Her gaze returned to the courtyard.
Near one of the walls, several people were sleeping under blankets, waiting for another wing to be cleared for shelter.
"That would make a huge difference."
"You'll need time to get this place in order."
"And people who know what they're doing."
She tapped the clipboard lightly against her leg.
"We've got water pipes running through cell walls, an infirmary without enough power, and an armored gate that keeps locking up because the old system still thinks Gron-Tarh is under attack."
"You can handle it."
"I'll get it done."
I smiled at the certainty in her voice.
Candice adjusted the clipboard, but it took her a moment to continue.
"Suki... I wanted to come with you."
I looked at her.
"I wanted to help find Laura. Hunt down this Veronica."
Her eyes followed the workers, though she seemed to have stopped seeing them.
"You helped me get Rubens out of that cell. And now..."
"Stay with him, Candice."
She turned back to me.
"Sahger and Havelyn are already getting dragged into this fucking hunt with us," I continued.
"You have Rubens here. You have all these people who need you."
Candice lowered her eyes to the clipboard.
"I know. I just wanted to do something."
"You already are. I'm the one who jumped into this fight out of nowhere, aren't I?"
I tipped my chin toward the entrance where they were removing the bars.
"Stay in Gron-Tarh. Spend some time with your brother. Help turn this place around."
She stayed quiet.
"You two only just got each other back."
The boy came running back, leading a little girl by the hand.
Rubens leaned down to listen to them.
The girl pointed at his enormous hand, and the giant opened his palm again.
Candice watched.
I didn't add anything else.
"You'll send me news?" she asked after a while.
"I will."
"If you need fuel, transport, weapons, or equipment, tell me."
"Will do."
I looked at her before continuing.
"And when I find Laura, you'll know."
Candice pressed her lips together and nodded.
Someone called her name near the pipes.
She looked up, gestured to show she'd heard, and picked up her clipboard.
"They're already trying to fix something by hitting it," she muttered.
I stood with her.
"Sometimes it works."
"You and my brother are going to get along just fine."
A laugh escaped me.
Candice squeezed my shoulder before walking away, already shouting instructions to the men waiting for her.
I stayed in the courtyard a moment longer, watching Rubens and the two children, before returning to the ship.
The next day, Gordon arrived with the first images from the base's traffic and transport records.
Rubens followed close behind.
We moved a chair and a few boxes aside so the giant could settle in beside the infirmary table.
Tsukumo pulled a stool over next to me.
Sahger arrived a few minutes later with Havelyn and sat on the other side.
Gordon set the holographic terminal on the table and brought up an image covered in cargo codes, serial numbers, and technical notes.
"I didn't find the buyer's name on the invoices."
"But you found a lead," I said.
"I found someone who used to work at the docks. Rubens talked to him. He remembers the ships that came in with that masked man."
The giant nodded.
"He checked the crates and containers the mercenaries brought in."
"I cross-referenced the ships' registration numbers and pulled some of their route records," Gordon continued, typing.
"They're incomplete. Corrupted files, undated entries, and a lot of deleted data."
He enlarged two lines and pointed to a code that appeared in both.
Elvernas.
I leaned closer to the table to read the data.
"Is that the main port?" Tsukumo asked.
"One of the secondary cargo terminals. Those ships passed through it several times over the last few months."
Rubens rested his forearms on his thighs.
"The mercenaries talked about a bar near where they unloaded. That's where they met their contacts and got information."
I scanned the lines.
Most of the codes meant nothing to me, but now we had something more specific than the name of a planet.
"Then we start at that terminal."
Gordon nodded.
"I'll find that bar," I said.
Tsukumo nodded in agreement.
I'd gone into the depths of Gron-Tarh expecting to find Laura behind a steel door.
Distance wasn't going to stop me now.
When I lay down that night, I already knew where to start.