The boiling atmosphere of Mal'th swirled around her, a cloud of acrid smoke so thick she could taste the hot ash through her thermal suit's filtration mask. She stood on a large island, big enough to land the Ark ship, the black rock smooth beneath her feet. Rivers of magma surrounded them. Without the protection of the suit her skin would crack and sizzle, cook her in minutes. Nothing could survive out here.

Cole sighed. Coming to this miserable planet was her idea, spouting some stupid rhetoric about finding answers. Answers? This planet was a sweltering hell pit. Its atmosphere choked out the Per Pacem's failing systems, forcing them to land in the shadow of one of the less active volcanoes. They needed to assess the damage they sustained in their firefight with the Nisseri Salvager, make the necessary repairs and get airborne again.

The atmosphere would scramble most of the Nisseri scan systems but the Barlok merc ships were equipped with the best tech, the benefit of their ruthless profession. They would be able to adapt to the haywire atmospheric conditions with little effort, pinging a signal off the surface, leaving the Per Pacem wide open for discovery. Cole had no doubt they had mercs on their trail. Her people wanted her dead, the reward high enough to make every merc in the system nibble. Daisu did his best to disguise their engine signature, but the Per Pacem was old technology, there was only so much he could do to confuse the signal. All he could do was buy them time.

Her friend was doing his part to keep them alive. Cole could not say the same. She had no plan, maybe for the first time in thousands of years. She never imagined her life's work would come to mean nothing, the lost treasures she'd discovered meaningless when her government threw her away without a word of warning. What secret had she stumbled upon? What did her people bury so deep they would kill over it?

Cole caught sight of a hull breach, pushing the mire of her thoughts away. She needed to concentrate on her task. She made Daisu stay in the ship for two reasons. First, she needed time to think, he could get them up and running internally without her help. If anyone could re-calibrate the Ark's antique scanning system to pick up readings through this burning sky, he could. Why he'd become a soldier and not an engineer boggled her mind.

Her other reason she kept to herself for the sake of his pride. She was sure her friend would pass out in his thermal suit before making any adjustments. Considering how uncomfortable she was, it was a good call.

Carefully picking her way through the curling rivets of dried magma, she stood before the burnt out section of the hull. The hole was massive, part of its ragged edges suggested this bit of the ship had torn away. What was missing? She recalled the ship's schematics, her breath catching in her throat as realization struck. This was where the ship's shielding and propulsion drive were supposed to be. The console told her they were damaged by the Nisseri canons, but they were just gone. The section must have ripped away between the shock wave and their insane descent into Mal'th's atmosphere. Daisu got them here by impulse power and momentum alone.

Cole braced herself against the side of the ship, the reality of their situation sending her into full blown panic. Where was her Fey composure? She'd been in danger, in hopeless situations hundreds of times. Yet here she was about to enter a meltdown.

Were you ever in any real danger? Her thoughts whispered. True life or death danger? You've always had Daisuke watching your back, the knowledge your people would send a rescue party if you were stranded somewhere. You've always had a safety net.

Are you truly brave?

"Cole I need you to come back in," Daisu's voice rang in her ear through the suit's com link. She struggled to get a grip on herself. Daisu didn't deserve her panicking on him, not after everything they'd been through, what she'd put them through. She made her way towards the port side entrance. Movement flashed in the corner of her eye.

She jerked her head around, almost losing her balance. Was she hallucinating? That couldn't be real, wasn't possible. She scanned her surroundings, refusing to blink though the heat seared her eyes. There was nothing there, but Cole felt watched.

"Not possible," she murmured, increasing her pace back to the ship. The feeling followed her all the way to the door, making her skin prickle once she was safe on the other side of the hull. What was out here with them?

"Cole?" Daisu came to meet her. She shook off her unease; there were too many other problems to deal with. Her mystery would have to wait, likely her stress eating at her. She removed her helm, peering at Daisu under the cover of her sweat soaked hair. He was exhausted, his tan skin a shade of gray fueling her guilt. When was the last time they slept? Her Fey physiology gave her the stamina to survive up to two weeks with minimal periods of rest, but Daisu's human blood halved the time. They'd been on the run for days with no rest at all. She hadn't slept a wink since learning the Fey signed for her execution, the lack of sleep dragging on her. Daisu had to be at his limits.

Here she was about to drop another bomb in his lap.

"You alright?" he asked, his capital accent slipping into his speech. She nodded, working up the nerve to deliver the bad news. Maybe she should get him to rest first? Did they have the time? "Well, come on, I need your help with this mess." There was a smirk on his lips. How could he smile with death barreling down on them? Then again her soldier friend stared into the face of death often. Daisu was brave.

Cole turned away, ashamed. "There's no point in fixing the Per Pacem, we'll never get her off the ground. "

"I know," said Daisu, his voice calm like he was commenting on the weather. Cole gaped at him.

"You knew. Since when?" she sputtered.

"Since I watched our compulsion engine fly off into space." Daisu started walking, forcing Cole to hurry after him.

"If you knew, why send me out to assess the damage? What have you been doing this whole time?"

Daisu shrugged. "You needed time to think."

Her shoulders dropped. She couldn't believe he knew her so well.

"As for what I've been doing, I didn't want you around for it."

"Why not?"

"Because you ask too many ruddy questions, woman." Daisu turned down a corridor leading to the Era'na. When Cole couldn't muster the outrage he expected he paused, looking her over. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She stared at the floor. "I ruined our lives. The Fey want us dead, our ride's a wreck, and I've stranded us on a flaming rock. I don't know what will kill us first, mercs or the volcano, but either way, I've killed us." Cole finished, thumping her chest with a fist.

Daisu scratched his head. "Are you finished?"

She inhaled sharly a few times, running her hands down her torso. "Yes."

"By the Veil, you're ridiculous." Daisu rolled his eyes, pulling back the door of the Era'na. The scene inside was mass chaos. "I need help sorting this rubbish before we take off."

"My lab equipment?" That wasn't all she noticed. All her research samples were here, a pile of data chips containing her findings and notes. In one corner was a heap of metal circuitry, the Per Pacem's data library.

"We're abandoning the Ark." Daisu explained, laying a hand on her shoulder. "But not without her secrets."

"Daisu," she said, her voice choked up, "Maybe if we left it, they'd let us go."

"No." There was a dark glint in his eye. "You might not have the evidence but the Queen cannot afford more doubt in her perilous reign. She'll hunt us to the end of our lives."

Daisu rarely spoke of the leader of the Fey. As a scientist, Cole didn't give much thought to the Fey Court, Queen Titain'a and her consort King O'bron. Her work immersed her in wonder and discovery, she had no time for noble decorum and politics. That was her father's life, not hers. Her father always spoke of the Queen with awe, but her ambassador father wasn't a member of the Queen's Army like Daisu. Her friend once warned her the Queen possessed many faces. It wasn't until he reminded her of her Majesty's dark side she connected the bounty of their heads to Queen Titain'a. It would be her signature on the writ. Perhaps this was why Daisu handled their situation so well, he had seen the Queen's wrath before.

Cole eased to her knees, sorting through the stacks of data and samples. She knew why Daisu loaded all this onto the Era'na without her. She would have given up, unable to see a reason to continue running with the odds stacked so high against them, with the Fey Court against them. Daisu wanted her to fight, so she would fight.

"We need the stasis pods from the Ark's cargo hold. I want this research as protected as we can make it. No doubt we are in for a rough ride."

Daisu grinned. "There's my girl." He left to fetch them while Cole brought the Era'na's power system online. Daisu worked fast, he'd already ripped the Mana cell from the Ark, placing it back in its proper spot abroad their ship. She started running scans of the surface, calibrating around the haze of interference, setting up a proximity alarm. They wouldn't be able to see threats until they'd breached Mal'th's atmosphere, but no one could lock onto them properly from above the planet either.

Some of the readings caught her attention, making her curse at the fresh complication. The Era'na was a science vessel, but even its shielding wouldn't be able to withstand Mal'th's volatile conditions for long. Unless---

She read the geographical scans again to be sure, a grin creeping across her face. This could be the break they needed and not far away by these readings. Daisu returned carrying the stasis pods. The two of them scrambled to pack as much research into the protective containers as they could fit. Moments after Cole snapped the last pod shut the proximity alarm triggered.

Their eyes met for a moment before they burst into action, Cole strapping in as Daisu powered up their weapons, blasting a hole through the Per Pacem's hull.

"Hang on," he yelled, sending Cole crashing back into her seat as the Era'na shot forward, bursting from the Ark. She read the console, the scans picking up the engine signatures of a dozen ships entering the atmosphere. She swallowed, recognizing the readouts. Barloks.

"Take the ship to these coordinates." Cole sent them to Daisu's console. The Barlok mercs hadn't noticed the Era'na yet, or they'd be bearing down on them like Wilder Hounds. Daisu didn't question her, veering the ship in the right direction as Cole scrambled their engine signature. She fired two flare beacons with an identical readout of their ship, sending them rocketing off in opposite directions. The Barlok could chase their ghosts.

"What am I looking for Cole?"

"There," she pointed through the pilot's shielded screen, the entrance to a cave, near invisible in the shadowy curves of rock. Daisu expertly steered them inside, setting the Era'na down with a gentle thump before killing the engine. Cole cut everything else but the emergency power for life support as lights flooded the darkness outside.

The Barloks were searching for them. They said nothing, watching the play of light and shadow as the merc ships investigated the surface, eventually fading away from the cave entrance.

Daisu let out a breath. "Between your scramble and those beacons, we can lie low here for a while." A shockwave shook the ship. "There goes the Per Pacem."

"Isn't that the object of the bounty, won't they leave?"

Daisu's smile was grim. "That is the official bounty Cole, anyone who accepts the job would be provided with the true targets."

Cole stared. "How many bounties are actually assassinations?"

"Oh, most of them, especially any issued by the Fey Court." Daisu tugged at his clothes. "It's hot as blazes in here."

"I think we can risk running a few systems without attracting attention. I want to get a look around" Cole brought up their environmental controls and scans.

The proximity alarm blared, the jarring noise catching both of them off guard.

"Cole, what's happening?" Daisu yelled. Her eyes were riveted to the console.

"It's not possible," she said, but the readout was undeniable. Cole looked up through the ship's front screen as shadowy figures filled the cave.

The Era'na was surrounded.