” … And that’s how I ended up in the military,” Finn finished, leaning one elbow on the bar. With his other hand he tilted a glass of dark beer to his mouth and regarded the young woman standing across from him. She had long dark hair flowing down her back and a kind smile, though in this moment she looked at him rather skeptically over the rim of her glass.

“Mm, you don’t seem like the military type,” she said. Finn grinned.

“Turns out I’m not.”

“Is that why you’re here? Who did you say you were looking for again?”

“Ah — right.” Finn’s attention was slipping further and further away from the job. Something about being back home was making it hard to focus on anything but the beer in his hand and the pretty woman across from him; he could feel himself falling back into his old familiar habits.

But they had work to do. He took another drink but centered his attention. “Lookin’ for a woman named Elena. She works here, supposedly, though I can’t find her. Lives near the eastern docks. You heard of her?”

“Sort of sounds familiar.” The woman’s expression shifted. “You lookin’ to cause her trouble?”

“No, no. The opposite, actually. Trying to help her out.” Finn hoped that was true. He actually had no idea why Quin wanted this woman so badly.

“Good.” The woman pursed her lips. “Well, maybe she — “

“Hey!” came a sudden voice in his ear. Finn straightened up at once and realized it was the bartender barking at him, pointing a gnarled finger at his chest. “You Riley? Finn Riley?”

He arched a lone eyebrow. “Afraid so.”

“Good,” the bartender grunted. “Someone in the back is lookin’ for ya.”

Finn lowered his glass, feeling curious. Was it Corra, scolding him for his lack of work ethic? Elena herself, catching wind of strangers looking for her? Or maybe an old friend. He had a handful of them in this town. After assuring the woman he’d be right back, no problem, stay right there, would ya, darlin’?, Finn weaved his way to the back room of the bar.

It was much quieter here. The tables were empty. For a moment, Finn thought he’d walked into the wrong place, but when he turned back for the door, he found it had been slammed shut.

A man clutching an assault rifle blocked the exit.

His hand jumped to the pistol tucked into the small of his back, but he too slow: the man struck the end of the rifle across Finn’s face with such blinding force that his vision went black.

– – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – –

“It wasn’t your place. I was fine. I was taking care of it,” Alyx snapped, standing in the center of the room as Quin paced circles around her.

“Taking care of it? Sure as hell didn’t look like you were taking care of it,” Quin barked back at her to which Alyx rolled her eyes for the tenth time in this conversation. Corra stood quietly and patiently off to the side of Quin’s office, still reeling from this revelation. At first, she couldn’t believe it. How could Quin and Alyx be related? It was just so farfetched. And yet as soon as she’d gotten them in the same room together, all the doubt had been wiped from her mind.

“It was only a few months. Then they were going to let me go.”

Quin stopped her pacing and eyed the girl in alarm. “Tell me you’re not naive enough to believe that.”

Alyx groaned in frustration. “Fine, but what right did you have to pull others into it? If you wanted to help so badly, why wasn’t it you in that bar getting me out? Hell, why wasn’t it Aeneas? Or any of your little pawns?”

Quin’s stare grew stony. “You know perfectly well why it wasn’t.”

“Right, god forbid someone find out I’m your daughter. Every bad guy in the Span will descend upon me and at once, of course,” Alyx mocked and Quin’s eyes went wide, glancing quickly at Corra.

“Relax, I already told her,” Alyx muttered which only earned her another glare. “And on that note, why the hell get Corra involved? Now she’s gonna have the Ministry against her. I can’t think of anyone who deserves that less.”

“I don’t really mind,” Corra put in quietly, but Quin was already talking over her.

“I sent her because I thought she might actually have some chance of getting through to you. I sent her because I knew she would get you out no matter what. And I sent her because she has a ship that can take you away from here.”

Alyx’s mouth dropped open and she started shaking her head. “Oh no no. No. You’re not just sending me off again. No.”

“Well ya damn well can’t stay here,” Quin said. “The Ministry will come looking and I can’t protect you.” She frowned bitterly. “Nor do you want me to apparently.” She looked to Corra. “You got room on your ship for one more don’tcha?”

“Uh yeah,” Corra agreed because she didn’t really see a choice otherwise. It had taken all of ten seconds with these two to realize it was best to just sit and listen.

“Good. Then you’ll go on the Beacon,” Quin decided.

“Don’t I have any say in this?” Alyx demanded. “I don’t want to be on another ship. I just want to be in one place, settle down, get a job, meet some people and not have trouble coming at me from all directions.”

Quin’s frown cracked into a look of pity. “Ah honey, trouble’s gonna follow you no matter where you go.” Alyx groaned in defeat and fell back onto a couch, slumping over and putting her head in her hands. Carefully, Quin went over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Which is exactly why I want you on a ship. At least there you’ve got a shot to outrun it.”

Alyx was quiet for a moment before shrugging her mother’s hand off of her indignantly. “I want to choose which ship then,” she bit.

But just when things started to seem like they were getting better, Quin shook her head. “No,” she said abruptly.

“Why not?” Alyx demanded, standing up again.

“Because the last ship you chose to board sold you off to a gang.”

“Right, and because what happened on the Dionysian, the last ship you chose for me to board, was so much better,” Alyx snapped and the room suddenly silenced.

An image of Ludo filled Corra’s mind. She felt a lump form in her throat that she couldn’t swallow. The urge to bolt from the room was overpowering.

Unfortunately, she also felt glued to the floor where she stood. She sort of wished Finn were here for this, if only for solidarity. Then she wouldn’t have been the only person to bear witness to this mess.

Finally, Quin broke the silence. She turned from her daughter and moved away to the window. “Fine. Do as ya please. I ain’t gonna force you.”

Alyx watched her for a long moment, her expression softening. But it wasn’t to Quin that she spoke. “I’m sorry, Corra,” she said, turning to her. “I’m sure the Beacon’s a great ship, I just — I don’t want to go back to that life. I don’t want the running or the violence or the danger. I don’t want to ever pick up a gun again. I just want peace.” She frowned sadly. “Know what I mean?”

The implication wasn’t exactly a flattering one, but Corra didn’t feel offended. She knew exactly what Alyx meant. And regardless of what her mother may have wanted, Corra knew what she had to do.

“Totally,” she said softly. “That’s part of why I left the Dionysian too.” She smiled sweetly and then added with a laugh, “Except the gun part. But on the Beacon, we don’t really do much shootin’. Least not yet anyways. Got no one chasin’ us so no one to run from. Hardly any violence. Some of our crew haven’t shot a gun in their lives and probably never will. There’s always danger I suppose. But least there’s not danger of our ship fallin’ out of the sky.”

Corra tried not to meet Quin’s eye even though she was watching her intently. The last thing she wanted was for either of them to think she was doing this for any reason other than helping a friend in need. “I won’t be mad if you don’t wanna come with us,” she went on. “But if you are lookin’ for a ship, the Beacon’s a good one.” She smiled. “I think you’d like it.”

Again the room dipped into quiet as Alyx watched Corra with interest, the wheels of thought clearly turning in her head. But before she could ever give her answer, a chime dinged from Corra’s pocket. Puzzled, she pulled out her COMM to find a new message waiting for her. A new message from Addy.

What could her engineer possibly need? Corra glanced over her words, ready to discard the message. But then her insides froze with fear.

It must have shown on her face because Alyx asked, “What’s wrong? You okay?”

But Corra couldn’t speak. This couldn’t be happening. Her mouth dropped open. It was only when Quin snapped, “Out with it, girl,” that she stammered aloud what Addy had written.

“Finn was taken,” said Corra, her voice shaking so badly she could barely talk. “Mica. Mica’s the guy we met with our last job — Finn punched him and now — now they took him. They sent a message to the Beacon, saying they’ve — they’re going to — “

“Finn Riley?” Quin interrupted, her voice measured. Her mouth twitched unpleasantly. “Pity.”

Panicked, Corra shoved the COMM back into her pocket and started back for the door, though she had no idea where her feet were taking her.

She’d nearly made it out before Alyx had swept through the room and suddenly shoved a rifle into Corra’s hands. “Then let’s go get him.”

Corra stared at her, confused. “But you just said you never wanted to–”

“One last time,” Alyx said. “It was for me that you two were out there at all. I’m at least partially responsible. So. One last time before you take me away into retirement.” She smiled bitterly. “Let’s go get your friend back.”

“Elena?” she asked, daring to let a little hope seep through her voice.

“Yeah?” was the immediate response and Corra felt a gracious wave of relief. Finally, they’d found her. Soon enough she could get out of this junky part of town and get on with finishing the job.

But as the woman straightened up and turned to face her, Corra’s relief evaporated. She felt a wave of shock.

Elena, as it turned out, was more familiar than she had imagined.

“Alyx?!” Corra gasped, her eyes widening on the teal-haired, tattooed woman who Corra recognized at once.

Immediately, Alyx — Elena? — grimaced and clapped a hand over Corra’s mouth with one hand.

“Elena,” corrected Alyx with a sharp, pointed look. “It’s Elena.” She glanced sidelong to ensure no one else had heard and slowly lowered her hand from Corra’s mouth.

“Sorry,” Corra muttered carefully, feeling bewildered. “Elena.”

Corra certainly had never known her by this name. Years ago, Alyx had been a deckhand aboard the Dionysian. Corra had always been fond of her (although not quite as fond as Cyrus had been), but then Alyx had disappeared off the ship entirely. She’d left without explanation.

Later, Corra had found out exactly why. Alyx had been among Ludo’s victims. It had been heartbreaking to learn. Thank the gods Leta had uncovered Ludo for what he was. And thank the gods Fiearius had ended him for it.

In this moment, Corra felt too shocked to make sense of what Alyx was doing in a Genisian bar with an unfamiliar name. “How — why — what?” she said blankly.

“C’mon,” Alyx said quickly, nodding toward a door. “We can talk out here.”

Alyx — Elena — led them out the back door of the bar and into a narrow, dark alley.

As soon as the back door fell shut behind them, Corra couldn’t contain herself. “What’s going on? Who’s Elena? What are you doing here? Why are you working in a bar?Last I heard you were halfway across the Span. What happened?”

Alyx shook her head and held up her hands. “Whoa there, slow down, tiger. One thing at a time.”

Corra pursed her lips seriously. There were so many questions flooding  through her head. Finally, she settled on, “Okay, why are you on Archeti?”

Alyx regarded her for a moment sadly before finally she released a sigh and started to explain. “It started after the ‘incident’.” The way she emphasized the word made it clear just what incident she was talking about. Or rather, just who had been incidentally murdered when the Dionysian had last been in Alyx’s vicinity. “Shortly after you left, people started coming by my work asking about the Dionysian. I don’t know who they were. Just…people. I wasn’t that worried until one of them showed up at my apartment.” She shook her head. “It spooked me so I decided to leave. Come back to Archeti. I was born here, raised here, I thought I could get my bearings and make a new plan.”

Her expression grew dark. “Unfortunately, I got on the wrong passenger ship. I thought choosing a fake name to travel by would keep me safe, but it turned out it didn’t matter. As soon as we landed, they rounded us up, took everything we owned and handed us over to the Ministry.” She cast a dirty glare at one of the red gang signs painted on a nearby wall.

Corra’s eyes grew wide. “Handed you over? To bus tables at their shitty bar?”

Alyx shrugged. “It was this or end up with an ally trader.” Fleetingly, she glanced at Corra’s ear but looked away at once. “This seemed the better choice.”

Of course, Corra would have to agree, but only barely. Most of her wanted to turn back into the bar, find whoever had done this to her and introduce their face to the end of a stool. But she had a task to do and beating up Genisian gangs wasn’t part of it. At least, not yet. “So you’re stuck here? What’ll happen if you try to leave? Just sneak out when no one’s looking? Can’t you just go?”

“Probably, but if I’m gone too long, if someone notices?” She shook her head sadly. “I’ve got another three months left ‘til I’ve ‘earned’ my freedom according to the Ministry. They’ll come after me. I’m sure of it. They may not look like much, but I’ve seen what they can do and it’s not pretty. If they catch me running off? I really will end up with an ally trader.”

“Then we won’t let them catch you,” Corra insisted at once.

Strangely, Alyx laughed. “Hang on, step back a minute. You can’t expect me to believe you’re actually here to rescue me. You didn’t even know I was here! You were looking for Elena. Why?”

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly. We were just sent here to look for her–you–and–”

Alyx’s eyes had narrowed in suspicion. “Sent? Who sent you?”

“Quinida Utada. Do you know her?” But Alyx was already rolling her eyes, her hands on her hips.

“Of course it was her,” Alyx sighed. “Of course. Let me guess. She wants you to take me back to her?” Corra nodded. “Pretend she’s the knight in shining armor, saving me from the terrible gang? And dragging innocents into the mess to do it for her.” She groaned in frustration. “The nerve of it.”

At this point, Alyx started pacing the width of the alley, looking angry and mumbling to herself. Corra, for her part, was confused.

“Sorry,” said Corra carefully, “but I’m lost.”

Finally, Alyx stopped and the frustration in her expression faded into apology. “God, Corra, no I’m sorry.” She took a step back towards her. “You shouldn’t be here. These people are dangerous. This isn’t your problem.”

“Actually, it is my problem,” Corra corrected, frustrated herself now as well. She would never have predicted convincing Alyx to escape indentured servitude would be difficult.

“It’s not,” Alyx insisted. “Why are you helping Quin anyway? What happened?”

Feeling somewhat exposed, she shrugged. “I just need something from her, that’s all. But it doesn’t matter. I’m not leaving you here.”

“I don’t want her help, Corra,” Alyx snapped.

“It’s not her help you’re getting, it’s mine.”

Alyx met her stern stare, finally softening. “Oh Corra…” she muttered sadly.

“I’m not stepping out of this alley without you, understand? Sure I only came because she told me to, but I’m here now, you’re my friend and I’m invested. I’m taking you with me. End of story.”

Alyx lifted a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “You always were stubborn, weren’t you?” Corra grinned proudly. Finally, she relented. “Fine. Since I know there’s no way I’m getting out of this. I accept your brave and daring rescue.”

Satisfied, Corra smiled and then turned back for the door, slipping inside to retrieve Finn.

Except Finn wasn’t at this post at the bar. The woman he was with was gone, too. Had they left together?

This time, Corra decided to let him have his fun. She could handle the rest of this without him, surely. She turned back to Alyx and nodded down the alley.

“We don’t have to go see Quin,” she told her carefully, rather hoping they would anyway. “If you don’t want.”

“Nah, I’d hate for you to go through all this trouble and not even get what you need out of it,” Alyx sighed. “I’ll go with you. As long as we make it quick.”

Well that was a relief. But she had to know. “Why does she want to rescue you so much anyway?”

Alyx looked down at her with a dark sort of smirk. “Because she’s my mother.”

– – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – — – – –

“Ah, no,” Corra answered. “I mean yes, I was, but he’s not, see I have–we have–our own ship now and–”

But Quin had already moved on and was now admiring Finn, looking him up and down as one might examine a slice of meat they were about to purchase from a butcher. “Well aren’t you a tall drink of water,” she cooed affectionately. She brought a hand to his cheek. Finn did not seem perturbed.

“Your face looks familiar. We met before?”

“I’ve known Fiear for years, yeah.”

“No no no, not that.” She patted his face, twice. “It’s somethin’ else. What’d you say your name was?”

“Finnegan Riley.”

“Riley?” she repeated. “That’s right. Riley. I’d know those eyes anywhere.” She turned away and directed herself toward the bar in the corner of the room. “Can’t say I’m too fond of your father, Riley,” she said over her shoulder as she poured herself a refill from a crystal decanter.

Finn grinned. “Can’t say I am either, ma’am.”

Suddenly, Quin froze. “I ain’t no ‘ma’am’,” she said so coldly that Corra thought they were about to be kicked from the room.

But whether it was out of mercy or interest, the storm left as quickly as it had come and Quin gestured to the second sofa. “Get in here, you two. Have a seat. Tell me what I can do for ya.”

Terribly relieved, Corra did as she was told. She sunk into the couch as Quin leaned back on hers gracefully, stirring her drink and not looking at them.

“Well,” Corra began, as confidently as she could, “We were hoping to talk to you about those Society frigates we helped you steal.”

Quin paused her stirring and glanced up at her, raising a brow high on her forehead. “Look, sweetie, those arrangements were signed and sealed. You don’t feel you got your fair share, you take it to Soliveré, not me.”

“No, no it’s not that,” said Corra quickly. “We were just hoping to buy one from you.”

Without missing a beat, Quin asked, “Why?” so sharply, that Corra was taken aback. Unconsciously, she looked to Finn for help. But Quin went on. “You just said you had your own ship. Why you think you need one of mine?”

“Nah, we don’t need it,” said Finn, throwing his arm over the back of the couch. “The thing is — “

“Someone else wants it,” Quin guessed, cutting over him. “Someone else sent you here to buy it for them.”

Finn grinned slowly. “What makes you think that?”

“‘Cause you two been workin’ for Callahan and he’s been tryin’ to get one of those frigates all week,” she said bluntly. Even Finn went quiet with shock.

Quin, however, looked amused. “What? You don’t think I know what goes on in my city? Who’s doin’ business with who?” She sighed and shook her head before taking a sip of her drink. “Got a lot to learn, the both of ya.”

“That, I agree with,” said Finn. “Yeah, we’re here on behalf of Callahan to negotiate for the freighter.”

But she just shook her head. “Already told him I wasn’t interested.”

“But he’s willing to pay,” Corra pleaded. “Really well.”

“I want nothin’ to do with that man’s dirty money,” Quin growled, rolling her eyes.

“There’s something we can do to change your mind.”

“Sure ain’t,” she said shortly.

Corra felt her heart sinking. Every time they got one step forward there was something else standing in their way. But this time, she wasn’t willing to let it go. This time, she was going to fight.

“Please,” she begged suddenly, emotion pouring into her voice. “Please, you may not need his money, but we do. Our crew hasn’t been paid, our rations are running low, and if we can’t make this work, our ship’ll be grounded for good.” Her voice was cracking and she was doing her best to make water form in her eyes as she added, perhaps a little desperately, “He might even kill us if we fail.”

For a long moment, Quin was silent, watching Corra with the fascination of a woman watching an exotic creature she’d never seen before. Seriously? Corra thought, wiping the crocodile tears from her eyes. She was that heartless?

But finally, a smile formed on her face and a chuckle rolled from her throat. “Mighty convincing, sweetheart,” she congratulated. “I woulda left off that lie at the end, but you got some real talent there. Not my style, but it could do ya some good down the road.”

Corra smiled up at her and Finn asked, “Could it do her some good now?”

Quin laughed heartily and reached forward to pour two more drinks. Only when they had each taken theirs and taken a sip did she finally answer, “I like you two. You got spirit. Been a while since I’ve seen any of that around here.” She looked between the two of them and sighed. “Alright. I’ll sell that scumbag his ship.” Corra couldn’t stop the grin spreading over her face.

“But,” Quin added suddenly, “Only if you do me a favor first.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

It was the longest twenty minutes of his life. Fiearius sat beside Leta on the bed as she searched through the tablet in her hands. He’d flashed his Verdant chip to access the Society’s database and then sat back to let her read in privacy. She hadn’t said a word since. Her eyes just scanned the screen diligently, her eyes cold and her body still and slowly he’d become more and more worried of what it was exactly that she had found.

When Leta spoke at last, she sounded positively numb with shock, like moving her lips was an effort.

“Ella May-Adler,” she mumbled, her eyes on the screen. “Age 45. Director of the Department of Biology at Carmen University, Fall’s End, Vescent. Wife to Tritius Adler. Mother of Leta Ella Adler. Deemed a potential liability by the Vescentian Department of Internal Affairs on November 22, 1848.  Solution carried out by 2nd Division Agent Cartier November 25, 1848 by way of administering toxic substance … time of death, 10:02 PM.”

Fiearius felt his insides clench. He flicked his eyes at the screen, then up to Leta’s face. Her expression was empty.

“So it’s true. They had her killed.” She seemed frozen. Unmoving. Fiearius gently took the tablet from her hands, setting it out of sight. Then he pulled her hands into his.

“Why?” Her voice was hoarse with tears. “I can’t see why they would hurt her. She was such a good person. A teacher. How could she be a potential liability? I don’t even think she was involved in their politics. Why would they?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, tightening his hold on both of her wrists. Tears slid down her face, her eyes distant and out of focus. He’d never seen Leta look so lost.

“This whole time, I thought … “

Fiearius drew her in just as her face twisted with grief. She sank against his chest, her forehead against his neck while his arms wrapped around her. He pressed his lips into her hairline. He could think of nothing to say – no words seemed worthwhile.

But it was Leta who broke the silence. She lifted her head and spoke hoarsely, but burning with more determination than he’d ever heard.

“We have to get back at them, Fiear.” She shifted in his arms. “We have to.”

Before he could talk himself out of it, he said, “Actually. There’s something else. Something he said. That was…weird.”

Leta frowned.

“You should sit down,” he heard himself mumble. He put his hand on the curve of her shoulder and joined her on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t really know what this means,” he went on, trying to meet her gaze, which was boring straight into his face. “And I don’t know if it’s true, but I think you should hear it. Despite your father thinking otherwise.” His inhaled a deep breath. “He said he would never work for the Society again. Not after what they’ve threatened to do to you. And…what they did to your mother.”

Silence descended between them. Then Leta gave a horrible, sharp laugh. “What? My mom?”

“That’s…what he said, yeah,” he went on quietly. “I don’t — “

“He said something happened to my mom?” Her voice gave one definite shake. “But that’s not true. It was an accident, that’s how she died.”

“I–I’m not a hundred percent sure of anything, alright? All I know is that he said… “

Leta’s eyes were round and hollow. “That the Society killed her.”

Fiearius shut his mouth tightly. He didn’t have an answer to give.

Then Leta jumped to her feet. “And my dad never told me?” she breathed, her voice panicky as she wrung her hands together. “I can’t believe he — “

“I’m sure he was just trying to protect you.”

Leta spun around, throwing him an ice-cold glare that cut straight through his chest. “Don’t. Don’t defend him. Don’t — “

“I’m not,” he vowed quietly. “Trust me on that. I’m not.”

Leta shoved the heels of her hands into her eyes. “Fiear. This can’t be true. She took the wrong meds is all. There was an autopsy … “

At a Society hospital, Fiearius guessed silently.

Leta seemed to be thinking along the same lines. In a trembling voice, she spit out, “I don’t believe it, I can’t believe this,” and turned back to him, full of questioning.

“Did they really kill her?”

Fiearius stood slowly up to his feet and hazarded a step closer to her, his hand slipping to hold her waist. He could feel her shaking.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “But if you want … we can find out.”

– – – – – — – – – – — – – – – –

The capital city of Archeti was just as miserable as Corra remembered. Sagging houses, overgrown brown lawns, and sticky humidity thickening the air. Corra walked alongside Finn, kicking aside gravel as they passed rows of rotting porches. Home sweet home, Finn had said cheerfully when they’d arrived.

They’d landed this morning to meet with Callahan. The meeting had gone about as well as she could have hoped for.

She knew Callahan thought nothing of her. Callahan thought Finn owned her. So while they had discussed their next job, Corra had refused to break eye contact, refused to let him think he (or Finn) had power over her. As often as Callahan’s words still burned in the back of her mind, she was determined now. She would prove him wrong.

In spite of it all, Callahan had been quick to reward the Beacon’s captains and offer them another job. A local one this time. Word had gotten out that a nearby Genisian gang lord had acquired a few Satieran frigates. And that Corra and Finn were acquainted with her.

“I want one of those ships,” Callahan had said, leaning back in his barstool. “Do you know how hard it is to get your hands on one of those?” He cast a bemused glance at Corra and she stared back solemnly. Little did he know that she had actually been involved in Quin getting her hands on those.

“I want one,” he said again. “And I’m willing to pay well.”

“Alright, sure,” Finn had said, relaxed and casual as always. “But why ya want us involved? Quin lives on the other side of the city. Why not go straight to her?”

“Unfortunately Ms. Utada and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” Callahan mused, lifting his drink to his lips and looking up toward the ceiling. “She’s refused to meet with me. But you,” he looked back to Finn and Corra, “have some friends in common, do you not? Go to her. Convince her to make the trade with me. Do whatever it takes. And there’ll be more of that,” he gestured to the case of credits he’d just handed them for the last job, “headed your way.”

That was something that the Beacon couldn’t afford to say no to. So as low of a job as it was, they had accepted and now they were crossing town to pay a visit to Quinida Utada. Not that Corra minded. She’d always rather liked the woman, powerful and intimidating as she was. She had no idea if Quin felt the same.

“Y’think she’s gonna agree to this?” she asked Finn skeptically as she turned the corner, directing them toward Quin’s crumbling apartment building. “If she really doesn’t like Callahan that much? It’s not like we have that much sway with her. She may not even remember us.”

“Who could forget this face?” Finn scoffed, to which Corra snorted.

“A powerful Genisian gang lord, that’s who.”

“Yeah, but who your friends are say a lot about you. Utada trusts Fiear, Fiear trusts us. She’ll agree to hand over the ship.”

Corra had to shake her head in disbelief. “Who knew putting up with Fiearius for four years would be an asset to offer?”

“Hey.” Finn arched his eyebrows at her. His look was warm and inviting. “That’s not the only asset you have to offer.”

Corra couldn’t help it: she whacked him on the arm, but she laughed, too. Leave it to Finn to bring that up in such an elegant way. In fact, they hadn’t mentioned their tryst at all since that night. After it happened, Finn had gathered his clothes, kissed her on the cheek and left. He hadn’t even stayed the night. Exactly how she preferred it.

“I thought we agreed we aren’t bringing that up again,” she pointed out.

“You said I can’t bring it up in front of other people.”

“Right.” Corra slowed to a halt outside of Quin’s building. “And particularly not clients.”

“Never.”

“Good,” she decided promptly. She straightened herself up with importance. “Let’s at least try to be professional here.”

For one full second, they managed composure. Then they caught eyes and they snorted laughter. Professional. Right.

Minutes later, they crested the stair to the top floor of Quin’s building. As they passed through the door, two broad-shouldered men were leaving with their eyes down. Both of them were nursing bloody noses.

Corra exchanged a look of mild alarm with Finn. Well, hopefully Quin would feel more generous toward them …

Inside, Quin was lounging on her sofa, drinking from a clear martini glass and looking disinterested. Nearby, Aeneas  — her assistant — was wiping the blood off his hands. Corra knocked on the door. When neither of them looked up, Corra ventured, “Um–Ms. Utada? Is–is this a bad time?”

Quin lifted her eyes slowly. For one horrible moment, she gazed at them with absolutely no recognition in her face. Aeneas lowered the cloth from his hands and eyed them readily.

But finally — thank god —

“Oh I know you,” said Quin, standing and walking towards them. A smile was coming to her face. Despite being no taller than Corra, her presence was nearly toppling. Aeneas relaxed in the background. “You’re one of Soliveré’s, aren’t you? He back here already?”