Dark Beneath the Moon by Sherry D. Ramsey

encrypted message to PrimeCorp main.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “And you know this . . . how?”
    “Mm-hmm. See, that’s one of those questions. The ones I don’t want to answer.” I grinned at him.
    “You wouldn’t happen to know what the message said, would you?”
    I studied Lanar’s face on the screen for a minute, trying to read his eyes. I could lie and tell him I didn’t know, but he might already know the answer to the question, if Yuskeya had reported the incident to him herself. Which it was quite likely she had. The thought triggered a brief flash of annoyance, but I suppressed it quickly. I knew she had to divide her loyalties, and really, it wasn’t a bad thing to have Lanar in the loop regarding possible threats to the Tane Ikai . I only wished I was always in the loop about what he knew and didn’t know.
    “A couple of words—’location’ and ‘Paixon’,” I said finally. “So he was definitely targeting us specifically. It was almost like he was testing us.”
    “To see what weapons you had on board, yes. He took off after he got a taste of them. Hmmm.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head. “Watch your back, Luta. Not only because of Cerevare and the new wormhole and what’s beyond it. PrimeCorp obviously isn’t through with you—with us.”
    “Obviously. Lanar . . . do you think Mother’s safe?”
    He laughed. “I don’t think Mother’s been safe for decades, but she’s managed to take care of herself all right.”
    “I know. This thing with that space pirate, or whoever he was, though, it’s got me worried about her.”
    Lanar squinted at me a little. “I don’t think they were actually much of a threat.”
    “Neither do I, it’s just—like you said, PrimeCorp doesn’t seem to be through with us. I thought once they got their hands slapped on Vele, they’d back off for a while, at least. But if they’re still dogging me, then they’re not likely to leave her alone, either. And now they know she has connections on Kiando.”
    “Gusain Buig will keep her safe. And she hasn’t moved to release her data on the bioscavs yet. I think she’s waiting until after she meets with Schulyer Corp.”
    “Buig and Duntmindi are no match for PrimeCorp. And I know Alin Sedmamin didn’t take much of a hit personally, but PrimeCorp doesn’t like to lose, even a little bit.”
    “I think they’ll tread more carefully now, at least for a while,” he argued. “At the very least, we put them on notice that we’re watching what they do very carefully.”
    I shook a finger at him. “You’re the one who told me the Protectorate thinks PrimeCorp is up to something big,” I reminded him. “I hope Mother—”
    “What? She’s spent the last seventy years running from them. She knows what they’re like.”
    I sighed. “I know. But would you send her a message for me? Tell her what you told me. To watch her back. I thought they’d leave us alone for a while, but that pirate’s got me thinking otherwise. I don’t think they’re finished yet.”
    “I’ll tell her.” He quirked a smile. “And Luta, give the Protectorate some credit, would you? We won’t let PrimeCorp take over Nearspace simply because they want to.”
    “I know that, Lanar,” I said, “but do they?”
     
     
    AS I EXPECTED , my crew gave me no cause for concern in the way they got along with our passenger. Apparently Viss had known numerous Lobors during his checkered past and seemed able to effortlessly keep Cerevare giggling at his outrageous stories. Everyone was friendly and considerate, and Cerevare herself kept mostly to her quarters, hunched, no doubt, over those datascreens she’d mentioned to me in the scooter. She wasn’t antisocial, but she plainly had work to do and didn’t want to interfere with ours.
    Although she’d travelled at least one wormhole before—the one between Nanear and Anar—she came up to the bridge for our first skip together. It took us from the