"She returned his salute with a sly smile-a rare enough event that he eyed her suspiciously."Admiral Solovy, are you wearing a shit-eating grin because we won here today, or is there something else I should know?"There's something else you should know."

"Her pulse raced, pounding in her ears above the howling wind. A wave of dizziness crashed over her with the rapid flood of adrenaline. She gasped in a breath. "Don't let go."

"Alex thrust her hand and half her arm into the labyrinth of light. Her stare blanked, and in the halo of the matrix her eyes and glyphs blazed so radiantly she looked as if she were being consumed by a primordial fire."She just stuck her hand into Machim Command's central server matrix!Caleb smiled, watching on in blatant awe. "She does that."

"His punch knocked her back a meter into the wall. His fist had moved of his own volition, carrying a rage and frustration all its own. To his dismay, she didn't fall. People so small as her always fell.No tears pooled in her eyes; instead they flared golden amber as she rubbed her jaw and pushed off the wall to stand rigid straight. A peculiar smile danced across her lips as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and down her chin."

"Yes, she loved her ship more than she had loved him. But what she loved even more was what it gave her: freedom, and the key to the marvels of space. It gave her the stars, and she doubted she could ever love anything or anyone more than she loved the stars."

"Anyone who tells you life has greater value when it comes with an expiration date is full of shit. Immortality is worth the fortunes of galaxies.She regarded him too intently. "But it's not worth everything. You gave it up for your freedom.His forced bravado faltered. That truth still petrified him today. "I did."

"He wasn't going to be able to deactivate the field, which meant there was only one choice.He'd realized early on that his arcane, profoundly alien passenger came with a cost, possibly one too high to pay and get out the other side free and clear. He'd pay it nonetheless and without complaint if the diati would only come through for him now.Caleb closed his eyes."

"What do you want me to do? Arrest them all? "When you can, absolutely. "And when I can't? "Do whatever is necessary to remove their ability to act against us-against humanity. "You mean kill them. Her expression darkened in what he sensed was sorrow, but her shoulders rose. "If that's what it takes."

"People feared what they did not understand, and they without a doubt did not understand her. Those who believed they did least of all. She was something new."

"I wouldn't be your best and most marvelous friend in the galaxy if I didn't point out there might be a few negative consequences from all. she gazed upward and twirled her hand in the air this."

"Chaos that closely resembled panic awaited. Shuttles raced to the presumed safety of the planet below while fighters crisscrossed the perimeter of the station. Platoon-sized formations of frigates and several cruisers formed up and accelerated away. To where the approaching attackers were located?She didn't give a damn what her mother said in public. This was a bona fide insurrection."

"His vision blurred, his grip on the dash faltered and the cockpit lost definition. Then all the diati rushed back to him in its own shockwave.The physical force slammed him against the cockpit half-wall. He gasped air into his lungs as a crimson aura throbbed above his skin. The world spun around him, and it occurred to him if he wanted to he could control it-not the spinning, but the world."

"Caleb reached up and slid the tie out of her hair to let it fall free. "You were crazy to do it. But I love you because you're wild and fearless, not in spite of it, and I know the price.He sensed her cringe against him. "Which is?"At random and unexpected times, you terrify the life out of me."

"It was a subversive notion, the idea that she was free. Free to choose where to go and what to do with her time."

"Individuals reacted in any number of ways to extreme stress and, relatedly, to impending death.A non-negligible percentage of people reacted in a manner which could be summed up by, 'Screw it, I'm going out in style!"

"Her perception was propelled backward, as if it were being pulled into a vortex. She slammed into her body, and her eyes flew open with a gasp."Alex?She sat straight up in the chair and grabbed Caleb by the shoulders. "We have to save them."

"Why? Why did you kill them?He laughed, recognizing it bore a frightening coldness. "Because you walked through the wrong door, and they paid you to do it. You will be a testament to the terror that arrives the moment you or anyone else crosses the invisible line you didn't know existed until tonight. Spread the word."

"I frankly expected a far more negative reaction from you on discovering. She glanced around the lab " the situation. Why are you helping?"I'm not helping-I'm merely not hindering in as strenuous a fashion as I am able."

"You're covered in blood again."I really am. "Why are you always covered in blood when I wake up after being unconscious? "Usually for the same reason you were unconscious, I think."

"She gazed at the bay of wrecked shuttles in dismay. The last of her adrenaline seeped away at the sight of the widespread destruction.It occurred to her then, for perhaps the first time in this long nightmare, that she was going to die."

"A wispy murmur in the blackness. Blackness, where before there was only nothingness. It was dark, inky and thick, but there now existed the palpable sense of tangibility. She gasped in alarm, but no sound came out of her throat. "Where am I?," she shouted, but no words made it past her lips."

"Children are turning themselves into monsters and, quite frankly, it is your fault. You initiated the creation of this technology, then you allowed it to slip through your fingers.Miriam's jaw tightened. "I disagree, but now is the least optimal time imaginable for assigning blame. People are dying, and I will not stand around debating semantics with you while they are."

"He had seen many criminals in his years in Division. Dangerous men and even more dangerous women. Small-time hucksters and savvy crime lords. Spies, gangsters, assassins, insurgents and wannabe-revolutionaries. True believers and soulless mercs willing to kill children for the right price."

"He simply preferred the sensation of soil beneath his feet and wind in his hair, of fresh, non-recycled air which carried on it the scent and taste of life. He preferred what was solid and real, where if you could see it you could touch it, feel its texture between the tips of your fingers. As far as he knew, no one had ever touched a star. Not even her."

"People gravitated here for the open air, the prolific intoxicants and the visual treats. They made the deals here that were later played out elsewhere. They drank and got high. Sometimes they fought, not for money but for sport or grudge.They were the desperate and the daring, the lost and the searching. Tonight, they were his audience. Tomorrow, they would be his front line."

"Good luck with the aliens, and if we survive this feel free to look me up on your next vacation."Good luck with the aliens? You are such a prick."

"She skidded around a corner, slamming her shoulder into the wall and bouncing off of it without slowing. Caleb?Silence. Forty-six meters. A long stretch of hallway. She pushed faster, harder. Twenty meters.She burst into the room in unison with a deafening crash of metal shearing metal."

"Narrow, angular features, pouty lips and hatred-filled pale, washed-out blue irises glared back at him.Caleb flashed the young man a malevolent smirk and readied his blade. "Jude Winslow, I presume."

"It felt somehow comforting to return to the sparkling lake tucked into the mountains on Portal Prime. But why, when everything about Mesme made her the antithesis of comfortable?Because here was where desperation had become hope. Where helplessness had become purpose."

"Don't talk. Don't sputter out a solitary protest or it will be your last. Take me to them."Who the f**k are you?He palmed the man's forehead and slammed his skull against the wall. "I said don't talk, and you want to do as I say. I'm the one thing monsters like you and your kind fear. I'm what haunts your nightmares and hunts you in the darkness."

"She and Kennedy both dove for the power connector; Kennedy reached it first and yanked out the connection as Alex landed on her stomach beside it.The air settled down until the fine hairs on her arm no longer stood on end. Alex dropped her forehead to the platform and started laughing. "Just like university, isn't it?"Almost-nothing's actually blown up yet."

"The Novoloume gazed in interest around the cabin. "So the whispers are true-Kats, SAIs and Humans have come to join with the anarchs in a quest to save us all.Felzeor returned to Caleb's outstretched arm and leaned in to nuzzle his nose. "What a grand quest it's sure to be!"

"Time slowed as metal shards enveloped her like shattered glass. None pierced her of course, but it seemed as though she might be able to reach out and pluck one from the sky.She settled for stretching out an imagined hand, palm upturned, and letting a shard fall through it untouched like the ghost she had become."

"So that's why I say 'never have anything you can't walk away from.' Especially a woman. For them, because this is a dangerous life we lead and you never know if or when it will blow back on those close to you.""And for you, because trust me when I tell you there exists no greater perdition than the guilt of causing the death of someone you love."

"She climbed into the shuttle and got in his personal space. "Who are you working for?The man spat in her face.She rolled her eyes and wiped the spittle off her cheek. Then she punched him square across the jaw before grabbing him by the throat. "WHO are you working for?"

"She placed a hand on his arm. "It's not our fault, not truly. It's theirs. The killers. They're the ones who-"Get down! Caleb collided with her back, sending her crashing to the floor hard enough to knock the air from her chest. The windows shattered and the sounds of a city overtaken by chaos rushed in."

"The universe is not ordered, and it will not become so simply because one wishes it. The universe is chaos made manifest. The military does a fine job of creating an illusion of structure, of dependable rules to provide an answer for every situation. "But it is only an illusion, one which on its best days holds the chaos at bay."

"In the space of a breath he had crossed the distance separating them and spun her around into a vise grip from behind. Somehow, the gun was out of her hand and in his. He locked her arms between them and raised the gun to her temple. His voice resonated low and dangerous at her ear. "Just so we're very clear. If I want to kill you, I can kill you."

"Laches faded away, leaving Miriam standing facing Hyperion, the Metigen who had orchestrated the slaughter of over fifty million people a short year ago.There were limits to even deals with the devil, lines which should never be crossed but she was beginning to wonder when she might find one."

"Alex screamed and lashed out at the points of light from within, desperate for something tangible to rage against. Caleb wrapped his arms around her from behind and coaxed her out while glaring at the Metigen in loathing.Then he lessened his hold on her to a single hand. Together they turned their backs on the alien and began walking away."

"An eerie, chilling voice interrupted him to reverberate through the house. "You believe you are safe, but you will never be safe from me. My reach is limitless, my capabilities legion. Sleep fitfully and avoid the shadows, for know that I am coming for you. When I arrive, you will pay for what you did."

"The alien reached out her hands to hold Alex's tightly. "Please. Some of what I want to express, it may be difficult to locate the right words."Of course.Pure alabaster eyes stared back at her. "Child, there is a hole in your mind."

"They sit in their soundproof rooms and issue tone-deaf edicts and call themselves controlling the world. And one day they ask you to die for them."

"Alex peered behind her to see Noah fussing over a scrape on Kennedy's cheek. "Unless someone's bleeding to death, first aid will have to wait. You'll want to strap into the jump seats. "This could get interesting, and that's before we get clear of the station."

"No, you can ask for a beautiful, witty, intelligent yet minxy woman in your arms every night, a mansion on a hill-or better yet in the sky-and the best bodyguards to protect you when someone does inevitably try to kill you. For starters."

"Deep in the recesses of her mind, she knew they were probably watching. They watched everything, after all.Let them watch. Let them see what it meant to be human. To live.Let them see what it meant to love, and be loved in return."

"He wanted to grind every Federation world into dust beneath his boot as his army blazed a trail of blood and corpses all the way to Seneca.He wanted to storm their inner sanctum and fire a laser into the skull of their Field Marshal while their Chairman watched, then fire a laser into the skull of their Chairman.He wanted to burn their bodies on a pyre and carry the ashes back to Deucali and spread them on his mother's consecrated grave."

"That excuse only works until you discover the person is merely an individual like any other."

"We'll go along with it for now. Valkyrie, keep close watch and be ready to swoop to the rescue.'Hopefully swooping will not be required, nor rescue. But I am ready to do both.'He squeezed her hand. "Alex?"I'm ready, too."

"In the corner of her eye she caught her daughter's shoulders drop as Alex exhaled with uncommon soberness. "So you trust me, and you understand that I will never do anything I think might hurt you.Miriam stopped outside the armory and pivoted to her daughter. "Alex, what have you done?"