I stare at Britt, my mouth hanging open. What in the blazes is this male carrying on about? "Princess," regardless if it's used in sarcasm or sincerity, is one word I would never use to describe myself.

"Zea, we need to be careful. Some things should not be said out loud. But we have a long-overdue conversation ahead of us."

Britt's brown eyes twinkled strangely. He looks younger somehow. An air of anticipation dances around him, charging the space between us.

Whatever he is excited about is catching. But should I be excited? I feel more anxious than excited. For the first time in a long time, I have no clue how I feel.

Forget the princess part. Am I a Krog? Shit!

I can't even process what this means. The Krog are supposed to be extinct. They founded our current Universe. Birthed from a massive black hole that exploded in a dying Universe they barely escaped from.

It was their last hope and the only way to avoid the extinction of their species. They had to enter the new Universe being born from the black hole before theirs exploded into oblivion. A task never before done.

As one Universe dies, it gives birth, so to speak, to millions of others. Some die almost as soon as they are made; others carry on for unknown lengths of time. And they had to ride the tidal waves of energy between the dying and the created.

However, when they entered our Universe, through the exploding black hole, their physical biology had changed. Dark matter somehow bonded with the Krog's RNA cells changing the building blocks of their DNA permanently. Not everyone had made it, the change being too volatile for them, but there had been enough.

In the beginning.

Most scientists still argue the whole purpose of dark matter, but one thing is known. Dark matter attracts all the other known matter in the universe, like some kind of matter magnet. This attraction brought the power to use the energies of the matter, too—all of them.

Either way, having an unknown or undefined element, forever part of their DNA, screwing with their genomes and gene expression turned out to be the least of their problems.

Somehow the Krog could also bend the one energy source no one else could. However, it came with a cost. They learned that the Universe itself has its own unique energy. Dark energy. Unfortunately, dark energy repels all other energies, forcing any collected or stored energies inside a being outwards with tremendous force if they chose to wield the most dangerous source of energy ever discovered.

The stories said that by using the dark energy, the Krog gained abilities that no other species known to current history have ever been able to duplicate. They were possibly tapping into the Universes veins of life itself. They are spoken of with reverence by many, being called the protectors of the Universe, and some even called them gods.

There had been reports of them magically appearing out of thin air on planets three days away from where they had been moments before. Other reports claimed that instead of dying, their bodies disintegrated into the air—shimmering lights blending into the energies around the spot they had taken their last breath.

As I consider all I know about Krog's and what it could mean if I am one, I feel myself on the verge of freaking out.

Krog. How the blazes could I be a Krog? I still stare at Britt. The twinkle left his eyes at some point. He examines my face, now concern etched on his, lines furrowing his brow.

"Zea. It's not so bad. I promise-"

I want to burst from my bed and bolt for the exit. I almost do, then suddenly the door slides open.

To my amazement, Sica glides in as silent and graceful as ever, followed by Nekkal and the doc.

Stars. Couldn't I get one day without people wanting something from me? Their timing is something to be admired, though.

"Marshal Zea. Good to see you are alive and soon to be recovered from your strange ordeal."Sica's animal eyes pierce me with a stare that makes me wish I was still in a coma.

"Thank you, Lady Secretary." I do my best to control my outward appearance. Keeping my breathing even and face blank. She makes it tricky, though—the scary ball of fur that she is.

She doesn't bother asking if now is a good time. She's already decided it is a good time.

"Britt has been debriefed. I know how he found you and what's happened since. Too bad the slippery bastard Sigma got away. I apologize for that." She looks genuinely sorry and a little more than pissed off. "Izka brought in Ufrik Sigma. I shouldn't have trusted his word so blindly. Unfortunately, that bastard has vanished too." Her lip curls in disgust as she growls out the words. Then she pauses, looking at the floor in thought.

I have to stop myself from snickering when a slight hiss escapes her fur-lined lips, exposing her elongated razor-sharp canines. That is not very ladylike or what one would expect from a person in her position. But I feel her frustration.

Seeing Sica is lost in dark thoughts, Nekkal takes over the conversation.

"What we don't understand, though, is how you came to be here. We don't normally send military personnel to a private third-party ship. And we would like to know what happened to the space station that you were supposed to be on when Britt last deployed to retrieve you finally?"

Nekkal has a way of asking poignant questions and making them sound like it would be doing him a great favour to answer kindly. When in reality, my ass is on the line here.

Stars! What do I tell them?

My stomach is in knots. I don't trust these two any more than the douchebag Commander-in-Chief, Izka. I sure as hell can't trust Armada.

What will they do to me if they find out the power I can harness? And that, according to Britt, I am a Krog?

"She doesn't have much of a memory. I did my best to walk her through her memories, but it was a fruitless effort, I am afraid. Even the neural scans retrieved mostly static."

What in the blazes? Why is the little pixie doc covering for me?

"Yes, Doctor. We read your reports, but if you don't mind, we would like to speak to our Armada Marshal alone!"

Sica's eyes flash at the doc. The silent warning is received. The little doctor swallows hard and averts her gaze quickly. She doesn't dare look at me. Silently she slides out of the room. Well, there goes my last hope.

I have to force myself not to rub my face with my hands furiously. This sucks. But it is the way it is. Best deal with it.

I look to Britt, who is getting an equally terrifying glare from Sica. Unfortunately for Sica, Britt doesn't seem to give a shit. He raises an eyebrow at her, arms crossed over his chest, feet apart. Ever the soldier. He'd leave, but she'll have to command it.

I hide a smile of admiration. I wish more soldiers had his balls.

"Let him stay, Sica. He's part of Armada, after all. And he did find Zea." Unexpectedly Nekkal sticks up for him.

I almost roll my eyes. I don't want a game of good cop, bad cop right now. Besides, the doc sealed it for me. I am not telling them shit. What happened won't affect my mission anyways. I will make sure of it.

"Look, I honestly don't know what the fuck went down after those solar-sized assholes dragged me onto their ship. Maybe the stuff they gave me to knock me out screwed with my head. Maybe they did something to my brain while I was out. Stars, if I know. One minute I was imagining how I would kill Ufrik in a hundred and one ways, and the next, my world went black. Then I woke up here."

I didn't dare say more. I am not sure if Britt told them Ufrik had been here or not. Also, I am not sure if any of the doc's reports mentioned him either. Best to keep things vague.

Not sure why, but I don't want them to have the advantage of knowing more about Ufrik than I do.

Sica eyeballs me. She seems to be looking for my lie like it will be written on my forehead. The problem is, I know that even though Nefiram have extraordinary keen senses and excellent intuition in battle, they don't See.

So let her look. My poker face is gold as long as I remember to use it. Years of training and fieldwork have made sure of that.

"Can you explain what happened on the planet Earth? I would like to know everything up until your capture." Even though she's stopped giving me the evil eye, her voice is still cold.

Good for her. I wouldn't trust me either. I try not to smirk. I really shouldn't find this funny. But I do. And it's strange to hear her calling the planet of death by the name the humans use. Guess it's a good a name as any.

"Anything you can tell us that may help us find Mr. Sigma would be great." Nekkal is a superb good cop. Time to play the problematic soldier.

"I will tell you all I can about him. But I want to know what you have on him first." I have a personal vendetta for the male.

I will do my mission, and then, if they haven't found him, I will use my vacation time hunting his ass down.

"You are not to pursue him under any circumstances, Zea."

How the stars had Sica known what I was thinking? Stupid poker face. Forgot about it again.

"Relax, Lady Secretary. Wouldn't you want to know who got the drop on you? Don't worry. My mission is my priority." I school my features, trying to look as sincere and calm as possible.

Her eyes narrow to slits as she examines my face again. Most people would be losing their minds with fear right now. Trying to pull a fast one and blatantly lying to the Galactic Secretary of Defense is a sure road to a quick execution.

Not sure if I just have no regard for my safety or if I have lost all my 'give a fucks' when Ufrik double-crossed me for the second time. But honestly, at this moment, I don't care one way or the other what happens.

It makes keeping my cool pretty easy. I almost laugh again. Thankfully I keep it in. That would be bad. They will think I have lost it. Maybe I have.

"I think it's perfectly fair, Marshal Zea." Nekkal gives me an approving smile.

Thank you, Nekkal. Not sure why he wants to side with me, but I'll take it.

Sica glares at him but keeps her small furry mouth clamped tight. Eyes blazing, anger and frustration coursing through her eyes like wildfire, she turns back to me.

"Fine. But you will be disappointed. There isn't much to tell. Izka had Sigma's original file. All of Izka's work-related files disappeared with him and his microband PC."

Now I understood why it pissed her off so much to have to share what she knows. She's embarrassed about how little they know.

Who would have thought the Commander-in-Chief of twenty years would double-cross them and disappear? I can empathize with her.

We spend the next couple of hours talking. Sica finally calms down and pulls over a grav chair. Nekkal leans on a table, and Britt never budges. Stubborn ass. Still somehow, with him on guard, I feel stronger, safer.

Finally, Sica seems satisfied she knows all I have to tell. I explained my trip with Ufrik in great detail. I did my best to remember everything except the accidental energy bending episode.

I don't see the point in divulging more than is needed. I justify it by telling myself it's more personal in nature and isn't relevant to Ufrik or the upcoming mission. Thankfully they have no video record or audio record of the incident.

Either Syndicate was covering my ass, or the data had been destroyed with my ship.

And somehow, they don't question my lack of hair. Maybe the Universe doesn't hate me entirely after all.