Both confused and hopeful, Haatim left the meeting with his father. The meeting hadn’t been what he’d expected, but it had gone quite well. He looked forward to spending time in the hotel and seeing more of his father.

Abigail paced back and forth across her makeshift prison cell, clenching and unclenching her fists. She would have preferred it if they’d locked her in an actual prison, surrounded by concrete walls and metal bars, rather than the clean and monotonous place that she now occupied.

As soon as Abigail stepped outside the house, she knew something was wrong. She no longer stood alone, although she couldn’t see anyone else around her in the immediate proximity. How could she know? Nevertheless, she felt certain.

Wade received the report only a day after it happened. He was in his private chambers on Axis. The words were clear and easy to understand, but he had trouble processing them just the same.

Abdullah stood in the conference hall in front of his seven chosen officers, arms folded behind his back. He surveyed their uniforms to ensure they were pressed and clean. Pristine.

Vivian watched the equipment vendor, a heavyset man with three chins and fading hair, as he disappeared into the spaceport crowd. He’d just finished setting things for the final goods to be loaded onto the Cudgel.

Maven sat in front of the terminal aboard the warship Eisle, stunned by the report she was receiving and trying hard not to laugh. “They did what?”

Jayson heard the train before he saw it. It started as a rumbling, just enough to shake the ground.