The three of them stood and stared at the comm unit on the ground.

“Corporal, report. That’s an order!” The unknown lieutenant on the other end screamed. They looked at each other, wide-eyed. 

Face pale, Damian swiped the comm unit. “Everything’s fine, lieutenant, all good here.”

There was a moment of silence before the reply. “Are you sure…?”

Now committed, Damian continued. “Yes, all good here.”

“Did you fix the computer glitch?”

Damian nodded, the motion exaggerated into a pantomime of control. “Yep. Yes, sir, computers are fixed and everything is under control.”

The trio held their breath. “Are you alright? You sound a little off…”

“I’ve got a cold,” Damian said, and slammed the comm unit onto the desk until it shattered. “That could have gone better.”

“Could have gone better?” Triskar shouted. “Our cover is blown.”

“Not yet,” Damian said. “They still don’t know what we’re doing.”

“We don’t know what we’re doing!”

“We’re moving fast is what we’re doing,” Damian said. “Do you have more charges like the one that got us through the hangar door?”

Triskar frowned and nodded.

“Good. We’re ditching stealth,” Damian said. “We blow our way into the vault, destroy everything inside, and run like hell. It can work.”

“I’m all for running right now,” Triskar said. 

“This’ll work,” Damian said. “Nick, you’re going back to the Indomitable.”

“What?”

“Don’t argue with me, you’re leaving. This is too dangerous. Wait on the other side of the hole we cut. If we tell you to run, or if we’re not there in fifteen minutes, head back to the Stargazer without us.”

“I want to help,” Nick said. 

“We’re past help,” Damian said. “It’s too dangerous. You’re going back now.”

“But—” Nick fell silent under Damian’s glare.

Damian nodded in satisfaction. “Alright. Triskar and I will go first. If there’s no shouting, follow us in thirty seconds. You remember the way to the closet we came in?”

Nick nodded.

“Alright. Good luck.”

Without saying another word, Damian left the room, Triskar tight on his heels. Nick counted to thirty and heard nothing from the hallway. He stepped into the hallway and looked around. Nothing. No one. The rows of doors on either side of the hallway stayed closed. He walked as quickly and as quietly as he could, the only sound the hum of distant machinery. 

The closet with their entry hole was a short distance away from the computer room, down one hall then a right turn. Nick spun around the turn before he noticed the hum of voices in front of him. 

Nick came face to face with a crowd of Kreeth. They looked similar to the man from the computer room, though their uniforms were more decorated with medals and patches, and their belts held things more energetic than a comm unit. They were arranged in a rough circle, tough-looking armed guards around the outside surrounding a small, less cookie-cuter group with bigger medals and smaller guns. 

Nicks eyes grew wide and he spun on his heel, turning back the way he came. Shouts followed as he sprinted down the hallway, shouts followed by the pounding of footsteps. Nick threw himself down the first turn he saw, then another, left then right, then left again, praying he didn’t accidentally go full circle. 

Nick ran faster than his gym teacher ever thought he could, but, in the end, that didn’t outweigh military training and a knowledge of the terrain. Nick took a fast right turn, only to run face-first into two waiting soldiers. The one on the left grabbed Nick by the arms while the one on the right grinned stupidly, revealing telling holes in his row of yellowed teeth.

Despite Nick’s kicking and screaming, the two soldiers dragged him back the direction he had come from until they were standing in front of the half-reformed circle of guards. They held his arms so tightly Nick couldn’t reach the comm button on his suit for help. The men holding Nick’s arms saluted awkwardly while keeping their grips tight.

“We’ve got him, your highness,” Ugly Teeth said.

As one, the guards stepped away and to the side, revealing the four Kreeth at the center. Two of them were men, one middle aged in a military uniform matching the guards, plus an impressive set of epaulets, the other older, hair greying, wearing what looked like a cross between a graduation gown and a roman toga, crocheted out of a thin, reflective thread. The other two were younger, a boy and girl maybe five years older than Nick. The girl wore a similar gown to the old man, while the boy wore a military uniform with more metal on it than five-year-old Nick’s bottle cap collection.

“Do you know who he is?” the young man asked.

“Ah, he mostly just screamed at us,” Ugly Teeth said, then hastily added, “your highness.”

The young man’s frown deepened several millimeters, and Ugly Teeth’s grip on Nick’s arm got tighter. The young man looked at Nick like one looked at the dissection of a bug, making it clear that Nick was beneath him but still mildly interesting.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Um, fuck you?”

The young man continued his icy frown, which told Nick that he probably didn’t understand Earth curses.

“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear,” the young man said. “I am Xatlan Reijas, Crown Prince of the Kreeth Dominions, and I want to know what you are doing on this station.”

“I came here on a tour,” Nick said. “I think I got separated from my group.”

That time, at least, Xatlan understood the insult. He sighed and stepped closer, stopping inches away from Nick’s nose.

“I want to know who you are, and what you are doing here,” he said. “You can tell me now, or later, after my men have scoured the station to find your accomplices. I promise, if you make me wait, your death will be excruciating.”

“What makes you think I couldn’t have gotten here on my own?” Nick said indignantly.

Just as Xatlan was about to speak, probably to deliver another artless threat, an explosion rocked the station. The ground shook. The shockwave burst the seam on a wall nearby, opening up a gashing hole, metal screeching like a flock of wounded crows. Everyone stumbled, including the two guards holding Nick. Ugly Teeth let go of Nick entirely as he looked around for the source of the explosion.

Without a second thought, Nick ripped his arm out of the other guards hands and swiped Ugly Teeth’s gun right off his belt. A half-second later, and Nick found himself holding Prince Xatlan in one arm, gun in the other, aimed at Xatlan’s forehead.