looks.
When it was obvious none of them were going to humor her, Athenais growled, “The way I see things, you need me a lot more than I need you. I also see that if I don’t agree to help you, you will probably find some nasty way to make me help you, considering how much your son, here, knows about me.” She gestured at her First Mate.
Morgan’s face was unreadable, but Ragnar winced.
“So my choice is either turn you in or help you.” Then Athenais cocked her head thoughtfully and said, “Or just blow the three of you away and dump your bodies in space, but that leaves me out nine million credits.” Returning her attention to Ragnar, she said, “As much as I would just love to spit in my father’s eye for what he’s done, there’s still that huge, glaring mistake you made when you decided to lie to me.” She paused and looked at Stuart, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange. “So is he another shifter?” she demanded.
“What do you think?” Ragnar growled.
“So you’re all shifters.” Athenais glanced from one to the next, finally ending up on Ragnar. “That’s strange, considering you want to destroy the Millennium Potion because Marceau kills colonists to make it. Or is that a lie, too?” She cocked her head at Morgan. “Maybe there’s another reason why you want to get into my father’s labs.”
No one said anything for a long time. Finally, Ragnar admitted, “Our family might still be in there.”
“And the Millennium Potion? Was that a cover?”
“No,” Ragnar and Paul said together. Morgan continued, “When we landed, we made Penoi our home. Marceau is killing the people we have come to know as friends.”
“So by getting into my father’s labs, you have the chance to kill two birds with one stone, is that it?” She looked at each of them. “I’m sensing there’s something you’re not telling me.”
The four shifters hesitated.
“What is three million times four?” Athenais asked, tapping the com unit against her cheek.
“We want to kill Marceau and put Paul in his place.”
Athenais stared at Morgan, a little tingle of excitement threading its way up her spine. Breathlessly, she said, “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
The shifters glanced at each other uneasily.
“We might as well tell her,” Paul said. When everyone scowled at him, he shrugged and said, “We’ve got several villages scattered across Penoi. Marceau’s men raided one of these a few weeks ago when he was looking for Potion incubators. They took five of us back with them. After finding five of our kind in one spot, Marceau will know that we’ve got colonies of our own down there. He’ll sweep the whole planet looking for us.”
Athenais let this information digest a moment. “Why don’t you evacuate?”
“No time,” Morgan said. “Marceau’s still trying to figure out which village his men raided when they found us, so he locked down Penoi until he can do a search. Sneaking all of our people past the blockade would be impossible.”
“So why did you land on Penoi, of all places?” Athenais asked. “Seems like that’s the last place I’d go, with the center of the Utopia looking down on you each night.”
“At first, we crashed,” Morgan told her. “Then we were hiding in plain sight.”
“It was working, too,” Paul said, “Until we figured out what Marceau was doing. By then, there were too many of us to escape.”
Athenais rubbed the scar across her brow. “So you want to break into the labs to destroy the Millennium Potion, eliminating the need to raid Penoi. On your way out, you’ll grab any of your friends who are still alive and at the same time, you want to install Paul as Overseer of Penoi and Father of the Utopia to make sure the raiding stops and your colonies can exist in peace.” She glanced at Morgan. “Is that all?”
“You forgot the
When it was obvious none of them were going to humor her, Athenais growled, “The way I see things, you need me a lot more than I need you. I also see that if I don’t agree to help you, you will probably find some nasty way to make me help you, considering how much your son, here, knows about me.” She gestured at her First Mate.
Morgan’s face was unreadable, but Ragnar winced.
“So my choice is either turn you in or help you.” Then Athenais cocked her head thoughtfully and said, “Or just blow the three of you away and dump your bodies in space, but that leaves me out nine million credits.” Returning her attention to Ragnar, she said, “As much as I would just love to spit in my father’s eye for what he’s done, there’s still that huge, glaring mistake you made when you decided to lie to me.” She paused and looked at Stuart, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange. “So is he another shifter?” she demanded.
“What do you think?” Ragnar growled.
“So you’re all shifters.” Athenais glanced from one to the next, finally ending up on Ragnar. “That’s strange, considering you want to destroy the Millennium Potion because Marceau kills colonists to make it. Or is that a lie, too?” She cocked her head at Morgan. “Maybe there’s another reason why you want to get into my father’s labs.”
No one said anything for a long time. Finally, Ragnar admitted, “Our family might still be in there.”
“And the Millennium Potion? Was that a cover?”
“No,” Ragnar and Paul said together. Morgan continued, “When we landed, we made Penoi our home. Marceau is killing the people we have come to know as friends.”
“So by getting into my father’s labs, you have the chance to kill two birds with one stone, is that it?” She looked at each of them. “I’m sensing there’s something you’re not telling me.”
The four shifters hesitated.
“What is three million times four?” Athenais asked, tapping the com unit against her cheek.
“We want to kill Marceau and put Paul in his place.”
Athenais stared at Morgan, a little tingle of excitement threading its way up her spine. Breathlessly, she said, “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
The shifters glanced at each other uneasily.
“We might as well tell her,” Paul said. When everyone scowled at him, he shrugged and said, “We’ve got several villages scattered across Penoi. Marceau’s men raided one of these a few weeks ago when he was looking for Potion incubators. They took five of us back with them. After finding five of our kind in one spot, Marceau will know that we’ve got colonies of our own down there. He’ll sweep the whole planet looking for us.”
Athenais let this information digest a moment. “Why don’t you evacuate?”
“No time,” Morgan said. “Marceau’s still trying to figure out which village his men raided when they found us, so he locked down Penoi until he can do a search. Sneaking all of our people past the blockade would be impossible.”
“So why did you land on Penoi, of all places?” Athenais asked. “Seems like that’s the last place I’d go, with the center of the Utopia looking down on you each night.”
“At first, we crashed,” Morgan told her. “Then we were hiding in plain sight.”
“It was working, too,” Paul said, “Until we figured out what Marceau was doing. By then, there were too many of us to escape.”
Athenais rubbed the scar across her brow. “So you want to break into the labs to destroy the Millennium Potion, eliminating the need to raid Penoi. On your way out, you’ll grab any of your friends who are still alive and at the same time, you want to install Paul as Overseer of Penoi and Father of the Utopia to make sure the raiding stops and your colonies can exist in peace.” She glanced at Morgan. “Is that all?”
“You forgot the
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