Karen's shuttle was smaller than Luca rembered, having gotten used to the Granite Hawk.
Seats for eight in facing pairs, soft leather and brushed tal, a narrow aisle down the middle.
Luca took the seat across from Karen. Izumi slid in beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost touched. The Director of Hyeon Logistics had dark circles under her eyes, but she was already bouncing one knee under the table, drumming her fingers against her thigh. Eighteen and incapable of sitting still.
He wished Emily was here. She had a way of reading people that Luca didn't, catching the subtext he missed. But Karen had asked for him and Izumi specifically.
Karen watched them both for a mont. Then she reached into her jacket and pulled out a tablet, setting it face-down on the table between them.
Luca's hand drifted toward his pocket. The fragnt was still there, hard-edged and damning. Physical proof of sabotage. Evidence that could destroy Orion Horizons if placed in the right hands.
"The Houston team," he said. "The ones Orion made disappear. Did you find them?"
Karen's expression didn't change. "They're fine. Shaken, but fine. Orion pulled them when things got complicated. Standard corporate damage control."
"And Mars?" Luca pressed. "Their excavations there?"
"What about them?"
"Keane slipped during the standoff. He said the burst rig was 'Orion property.' That's practically a confession. Combined with the Mars connection and whatever they're digging up out there, we have enough to—"
"Luca." Karen's voice cut through his montum. She leaned back slightly, and for a mont she looked tired. "Orion Horizons. Titan Dynamics. All of them. They're not..." She paused, searching for the right words. "They're focused on the wrong things. Corporate rivalries. Market share. Earth politics." She shook her head. "None of it matters. Not anymore. The race that matters is out there, and they're not even running it."
The fragnt sat heavy in his pocket.
"People died," Luca said. "At the portal site. UER soldiers. Civilians caught in the overflow. Orion triggered that deliberately."
"Yes."
"And we have evidence."
"Yes." Sothing heavy settled behind Karen's eyes. "And they will be dealt with. But not by you. Not today." She paused. "They overplayed their hand. Now they get to live with it."
Luca opened his mouth to argue, but sothing in Karen's expression stopped him. That look. The sa calm certainty she'd had when she told them she'd shot Barkov three tis in front of three hundred witnesses.
She wasn't dismissing the sabotage. She was prioritizing sothing else entirely. And Luca had learned, over the past few years, that when Karen prioritized, you paid attention.
Izumi shifted beside him, watching Karen with an expression Luca couldn't read.
Karen flipped the tablet over and slid it across the table.
The screen showed a ssage thread. Director Marisol Vintar's na sat at the top, the tistamp less than two hours old. Luca scanned the text, and his mouth went dry.
Transaction flagged by UER Financial Monitoring.
Tucson Territory Tower - 02/11 - 23:47.
Purchaser: Triumph Initiative (IFC Subsidiary).
Items: [UNRECOGNIZED - DECRYPTION PENDING]
Subtotal: 102,654,000 credits.
UER Administration Tax (25%): 25,663,500 credits.
Twenty-five million in taxes. On equipnt the UER couldn't even identify.
So much for keeping a low profile. Emily's voice was already ringing in his head. A hundred million credits. For transportation.
"Marisol sent this an hour ago," Karen said. "She's doing a favor by giving us advance warning. By morning, every intelligence agency on Earth will be asking the sa question." Her eyes were steady, unblinking. "How did seven adventurers from New Hampshire purchase Tech Level Nine equipnt from a tower that shouldn't have TL9 access?"
The shuttle suddenly felt smaller.
"It was civilian gear," Luca said. "The Kestrel, the Roadrunners, the dical supplies. None of that was military hardware."
"No." Karen's voice remained level. "But if you can access civilian TL9, you can access military TL9. The UER knows about your System Store access in Sandworth. Sohow they got wind of it. They can do the math, Luca."
He thought about the System Store interface back at IFC headquarters. The TL9 military vehicles that had appeared when they hit the level breakthrough. The hover tanks and heavy assault chs. Artillery platforms.
All of it requiring credits they had. And contribution points they didn't.
"Karen, all that military hardware requires contribution points and credits." Luca leaned forward, trying to make her understand. "We don't have nearly enough CP to equip the UER or buy stuff to sell. What contribution points we have, we're going to need for our own mission."
Karen nodded slowly. She knew. Of course she knew.
Izumi snorted. "Luca. You're missing the point."
He turned to look at her. The Director of Hyeon Logistics t his gaze with an expression that said she thought he was being deliberately thick.
"You and your team," Izumi said, "just beca the most valuable individuals on Earth."
The words hit harder than they should have. Because she was right.
"The news is already running footage." Karen took the tablet back and swiped to another screen. She turned it so they could both see. Shaky phone footage of the Triumph's point defense erasing the overflow creatures, a news ticker scrolling beneath it. "Comntators are asking why the Triumph isn't fighting overflows across the planet. Why you're on a publicity tour instead of saving lives."
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"We can't be everywhere," Luca said automatically.
"They don't care." Karen's voice carried no judgnt, just assessnt. "They see a TL9 starship that can erase overflows in monts, and they want it deployed. Everywhere. All the ti." She set the tablet down. "What they don't ntion is that Orion Horizons was fully equipped to handle a double overflow with TL8 technology. They had the hardware. They had the personnel. They triggered that portal deliberately and then sat back to watch."
"And nobody's going to report that."
"Not yet. Evidence takes ti. Politics takes longer." She turned the tablet face-down. "Which brings us to why we're actually here."
The shuttle humd around them, the soft vibration of systems keeping everything stable while the conversation fell apart.
"The IFC has a security problem," Karen said. "We've terminated multiple individuals over the past three months. Soone is still leaking information. I can't guarantee operational security under the current structure."
Luca watched her face. Karen's thumb tapped once against the table, and her gaze dropped for just a beat before coming back up. If she was saying this out loud, it was because she'd already decided on a solution.
"Izumi." Karen turned to the woman beside Luca. "Your company and your people. They're solid."
Izumi laughed, short and sharp. "We handle logistics and transport. Not intelligence work."
"You handle whatever needs handling. I've seen your operation." Karen's voice softened slightly, sothing almost like respect entering her tone. "Your people don't leak because you know every single one of them."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
Silence stretched between them. Luca watched Izumi process, her sharp features revealing nothing. Eighteen years old and running a company that had just mobilized three hundred people half the world over. At eighteen, Luca had been delving portals with his friends and trying not to die. Izumi had been building her base. Which was kind of insane.
"What are you proposing?" Izumi asked finally.
"Hyeon Logistics becos the Triumph Initiative's logistical arm. Starting imdiately." Karen folded her hands on the table. "You coordinate security and supply chains for the remainder of the Victory Tour. When the Triumph lands at Sandworth, your people handle periter security. Not the IFC. Not anyone else."
Izumi didn't respond right away. Her jaw tightened, and sothing flickered behind her eyes that looked almost like anger.
"I built Hyeon from nothing," she said quietly. "Four years. My company. My people. I answer to no one."
"I'm not asking you to answer to anyone."
"You're asking to fold my operation into Luca's."
"I'm asking you to align with his mission." Karen's voice remained steady. "Partner. Not subsidiary. Hyeon Logistics stays yours. You keep command, keep your people, keep your independence. But when the Triumph Initiative moves, Hyeon moves with it."
Izumi wanted to say no. Luca could see it in the set of her shoulders, the way her fingers pressed against the table surface. But she didn't.
"The Triumph stays in orbit," Karen continued. "We could end the tour early and ship in your supplies. Keep you safe while the political situation stabilizes."
"No."
The word ca out of Luca's mouth before he'd consciously decided to say it.
Karen's eyebrows rose slightly. "No?"
"We're not hiding." Luca straightened in his seat, eting her gaze directly. "The whole point of the Victory Tour was to stop hiding. Show the world what we are. If we stay up here now, we look scared. We look like we have sothing to protect."
"You do have sothing to protect."
"And running won't change that." Luca shook his head. "Announce the auction. Right now, tonight. Let everyone know that TL9 military hardware is coming to market at the end of the tour. That relieves pressure because factions know they'll have a chance to buy."
Karen studied him for a long mont. "The UER has first rights to technology packages. It's in the Charter conditions."
"Fine. UER gets first dibs. But we hold the auction publicly, we show we're willing to share access, and we finish the tour." Luca glanced at Izumi. "Abbreviated stops and tighter security. Hyeon handles logistics. But we don't hide."
Izumi was watching him with sothing that looked almost like respect.
"Bold." She tilted her head. "You're betting that transparency protects you better than secrecy."
"I'm betting that running makes us look like prey." Luca turned back to Karen. "We have extra TL9 military gear from Alpha Centauri. Armor, weapons and equipnt we don't need. That's what we auction. Not System Store access. Just the hardware we're willing to part with."
"And after the tour?"
"We run and complete the mission." He spread his hands. "Earth's problems don't stop because we stay."
The shuttle humd in the silence that followed.
Karen looked at Izumi. Then back at Luca. Sothing shifted in her expression, approval or resignation or maybe both.
"The stops will be abbreviated," Karen said finally. "Sabine and Erik coordinate logistics with Hyeon. Any additional interviews or appearances go through Izumi's security assessnt first."
Izumi nodded slowly. "My people can be in Sandworth within six hours. We'll need full access to IFC facilities to prep for the eventual landing."
"Done."
Karen paused, and sothing shifted in her expression.
"One more thing," she said. "After Geneva, I'm calling a board eting. All subsidiary directors." Her eyes moved between them. "There will be changes to the IFC's structure. Significant ones. I'll need both of you there."
Luca didn't like the sound of that. Karen making significant changes usually ant soone's world was about to get rearranged. But he'd learned not to push when she had that look.
"We'll be there," he said.
Izumi just nodded, her expression unreadable.
Sothing occurred to him.
"Izumi." He waited until she looked at him. "This partnership. Hyeon Logistics. Your whole company." He paused. "Would you be willing to go to space? Eventually?"
Sothing flickered in her eyes. Surprise, maybe. Or calculation.
"Eventually is a long ti, Captain Rossi." Her grin returned. "Right now, I'm thinking about getting your ship safely to the ground without anyone else trying to blow it up."
That was fair enough. But Luca filed it away. She hadn't said no.
"Matteo," she said suddenly. The na ca out clipped, almost defensive. "Will he be joining your expedition?"
Luca blinked at the shift. There it was. The thing she'd been circling around since the hangar. Matteo fucking Rossi. He'd heard her say it during the standoff, and he'd filed it away for later. Now was later.
"No."
"Why not?"
"We're only taking Level 60s." He watched her face carefully. "Matteo's team is in the mid-40s. They're good, but they're not ready."
Sothing moved behind Izumi's eyes. Disappointnt? Relief? Both?
"He could level faster," she said. "If he pushed."
"He could." Luca shrugged. "But he hasn't. I'm looking for driven individuals. Capped. Hungry." He t her eyes. "Matteo's not there yet."
Izumi shrugged. "His loss."
Luca's hand brushed his pocket one more ti. The fragnt was still there. Evidence of Orion's sabotage, physical proof of corporate murder.
Karen had said they were focused on the wrong things. Maybe she was right. The sabotage, the corporate rivalry, the political maneuvering. None of it mattered if they didn't make it back to Alpha Centauri.
But people had still died. And soone would eventually have to answer for that.
Just not today.
Karen cleared her throat. "I think we're done here," she said, pocketing her tablet.
"Wait." Luca held up a hand. "What do we do about the horses?"
Karen paused halfway out of her seat. "What horses?"
---
The hangar was quieter now.
Luca stood on the gantry, watching Hyeon Logistics personnel stream toward their dropships. Their crews checking equipnt and pilots running preflight. Sixteen dropships in total.
Izumi had already gone down.
Emily appeared at his shoulder. "Karen's shuttle just departed. Back to the ridian."
"Good talk?"
"Complicated talk." Luca watched the first dropship seal its ramp. "We're announcing the TL9 auction. Tonight."
Emily absorbed that. "That's going to cause a stir."
"That's the point."
Below them, the dropship's engines spooled up. The hangar doors were already cycling open, revealing the planet below, all blues and browns and cloud systems that would be getting the auction announcent within hours.
"Hyeon's going to be handling tour security from here on," Luca continued. "Karen thinks the IFC still has a mole."
"She told you that?"
"She told both of us. Izumi and ." He turned to look at Emily. "I think she's been planning this for a while. Getting Hyeon aligned. Moving pieces into position."
"Karen usually is."
The first dropship lifted off, clearing the hangar bay and dropping toward Earth. A second followed, then a third.
"Matteo's not coming with us," he said quietly. "To Alpha Centauri."
Emily's hand found his arm. "You told Izumi that?"
"She asked."
"How did she take it?"
Luca thought about the flicker in Izumi's eyes. The way she'd said Matteo's na like it cost her sothing.
"Hard to tell." He grinned. "But I think she's happy he's staying behind."
Emily smiled. "She's going to have competition with Anastasia."
The last of the Hyeon craft cleared the hangar and dropped toward the planet.
Luca watched it go.
Karen was right about one thing. They needed to think bigger.
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