Wings of Retribution by David King, Sara King Page B

antidote,” Morgan said.
    “Oh, yes,” Athenais said.  “You’re going to use the technology I carry to cure everyone of being a Utopi.  You’re either desperate or delusional.”
    “We’re desperate,” Ragnar said.
    Athenais stopped rubbing her scar and gave him a cold look.  “Then you’re no different than any other colonist I’ve seen.  Desperation doesn’t win wars.  Desperation gets you killed.  I’m not risking Beetle for desperate men.”
    “We’ve been planning this for years,” Ragnar told her.  “Before I met you.”
    “Funny, it sounds to me like you’re putting most of the burden in my hands.”  She began counting off fingers.  “You want me to supply the antidote, me to find a way back onto Millennium and then me to get us into Marceau’s compound.  What will you contribute to all this?”
    “Everything we can,” Morgan replied.
    The shifters waited in silence.
    A grin cracked Athenais’s face.  “Sounds like fun.”
    They relaxed a bit.  “So you’ll help us?”  Ragnar said.
    “No,” Athenais said.  “You still owe me an apology.”
    “I apologize,” Ragnar said, gritting his teeth.  It sounded like he was pulling steel needles though his nuts.  “I should have told you, Captain.”
    “You’re right,” Athenais said.  “You should have known you could trust me, you twit.”
    “I was afraid you might pull a stunt like this,” Ragnar growled, motioning to the gun and the handheld.
    “The only reason I did this was because you lied to me,” Athenais shot back.
    “The only reason I lied to you was because I knew you would overreact .”
    “ Overreact ?! I’m not overreacting! If I had overreacted, you’d be a nice mushy pool of shifter goop and I’d be collecting twelve million credits.” 
    Ragnar’s jaw looked like it was about to crack under the strain.  “If I’d told you, you’d have put me to work robbing banks and fleecing gem-dealers, all the while risking my exposure.”
    Athenais’s jaw dropped.  “You would make a good thief, wouldn’t you?”
    “You see ?”  Ragnar said, “You’re as single-minded as a child!”
    “At least I’m not a shape-shifting blob of mucus!”  Athenais screamed.
    “You’re right! You’re a greedy, conniving, spoiled brat!”
    Athenais lunged out of her chair, tossing the pistol and the handheld to the side in exchange for Ragnar’s throat.  They went down together in a ball of ramming elbows, jabbing knees, and startled grunts.  The three remaining shifters converged on the fight that followed, though it took time for them to pull the two of them apart. 
     “…of a bitch ,” Athenais panted when they finally managed to pin her arms behind her, facedown on the floor.  Her nose was bleeding, dripping a fine stream of red onto the carpet beneath her face.  Ragnar was in a similar position several feet away, with his father seated on his back, pressing his face into the floor.
    “Enough!”  Morgan shouted, “You’re acting like children!”
    “I’m old enough to be your grandmother!”  Athenais shrieked back.  “I’ll decide who’s acting like children!”
    “You see ?!”  Ragnar shouted.  “You see what I have to put up with?!”
    “Put up with?!”  Athenais felt a whole new form of rage flood her senses.  She tried to get up, but Stuart held both her hands painfully behind her back and Paul was sitting on her shoulders.
    “Shut up, both of you!”  Morgan snapped.  “You will stop fighting immediately.”
    “This is my ship!”  Athenais shrieked.  “I’ll fight wherever the hell I want!”
    Above her, Stuart twisted her arm in warning.
    “Now,” Morgan said, “Ragnar, can I let you up?”
    “Let him up?”
    Stuart twisted her arm until she howled.
    Morgan released his son and stood up.  Ragnar got to his knees, glared at her, and began massaging his shoulder. 
    “So what do we do with her?”  Stuart asked.
    Morgan gave her a hard look.  “Can