My father and I ended up waiting on the Phoenix for the others to come back. Kam said it was because they had to go to the Outer Rim to another bunker, where the information on a shipment was being held. It didn't stop me from pacing the common room over and over. "Seriously, TJ. You're making me sick. They'll be fine. They went with Regris."

Stopping, I raised a brow in his direction. "That doesn't make me feel better. Why did you go with them?"

"I- I wanted to stay here and make sure you were okay."

Groaning, I ran a hand down my face. I was getting sick of people sticking close to make sure I was breathing.

"Easy, Kam. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

Opening my eyes, I looked across the room at my father. He sat at the table, a small smile on his lips as he looked at Kam. He had always had a soft spot for the guy, and I supposed that had only grown over the last five years. "Kam, did you get assigned to my father's fleet right out of basic?"

He looked taken aback by the question, he glanced from my father and back to me. "Uh, pretty much, yeah. I was young, but with your dad's recommendation and my piloting scores they let my age slide. Tarkir put in for my transfer the day I graduated."

Kam had left for basic a few months before my mother was murdered. I had been devastated - I was so afraid I was going to lose my best friend - but I never told him that. What could I say to the sixteen-year-old boy who worshiped everything my father did? "I'm sorry I missed your graduation...I-."

"TJ."

I lifted my eyes from the ground and looked at my friend.

He smiled softly, brows pulled down just so. "You kind of had a lot on your mind. I've never held that against you. I was always more concerned for you than missing my stupid graduation."

Cringing, I made my way to the table and pulled out a chair. "When did you hear?"

Kam glanced at my father quickly before meeting my eyes. "I didn't find out until after I graduated. Your dad..." He sighed, his eyes looking at the table instead of me.

"I didn't want to ruin his chances for graduating. I knew what the news would've done to him."

Looking from my father's face to Kam's, I saw the same pain mirrored on both of their faces. I tried to think back to the same time frame; where had I been then? Kam would've graduated a couple months after I had ran, it was probably about the same time I met Kade and made my home on the Phoenix. I had been so focused on my own pain then that I hadn't even considered how Kam would've felt when he heard. "Well, I'm glad he did that...you deserved to graduate with the marks you did." I didn't need to know more to know that. Kam was always going to excel at being a GPF agent.

His lips cracked into a small smile, but the pain was still visible in his eyes. It made my stomach clench. "Thanks."

A creaking sound filled the room, followed by a thud. Looking towards the door, I pushed away from the table. "That's the cargo door, they must be back."

Sitting around the common room table, I was struck by how big it was - I had never noticed. And yet all seven of us were seated around it in relative comfort. Kade sat to my right, close enough that I could hear him chewing the protein bar he grabbed when we entered the room. I hadn't had the chance to ask him how they could've just left like that without telling me. By the looks on all of their faces, the scouting trip hadn't gone well.

Regris sat at the far end, a tablet in his hands. The holo in the center of the table sparked to life, showing the image of a transport ship. "The shipment is due to land on Koshi at midnight tonight." His eyes passed over every in the room, "Our initial intel that it wasn't do for a couple of days was wrong."

"Do you believe someone intentionally gave the wrong day?" My father's face was passive, his hands steepled in front of him. The military man was back in full force.

Shaking his head, Regris tapped a few keys on the tablet. The image before us changed to show a data log. "I don't think so...but then we can't know yet. I've sent another agent to investigate it."

My father nodded, but his eyes were scanning the log in front of us. Before he had the chance to say anything, I leaned closer to the table and pointed to an entry. "Is that the shipment? That's an awful lot of crates for one transport." None of the other numbers even came close to it.

"That's it. Leaving a storage compound on Uzara and heading for Koshi."

"Then we better get going. We want to catch it before it reaches the planet." I glanced from Kade to Lenna across the table. They both nodded in agreement.

"Now, let's not jump when we aren't sure of where we're going to land." My father raised a hand in a calm-down gesture. "I appreciate the desire to do this but we need to go in with a plan."

Axon snorted, "We seldom make plans."

"Precisely." I could see him fighting off a smile. Apparently, my father was enjoying this.

Shrugging a shoulder, glanced from him to Regris. "Alright, fine. Then what's the plan? We don't have a lot of time."

Regris and my father shared a look before the image over the table changed. It was the transport, again. "One of the other reasons why we all went on this scouting assignment to procure another ship. We'll use it, as well as your ship, to complete the job." The image zoomed out, now two more ships flanked the vessel. "The Phoenix will act as a distraction near the front of the transport. Once we are certain all of the crew's attention is on her, the next ship will flank it. That ship, since it it equipped with weapons, will take out the cargo hold."

"What about the crew inside? We aren't killers." Lenna's brows were pulled together as she studied the holo.

My father nodded, "The cargo hold in a transport like this is located at the very back of the ship with nothing else near it. The crew should have ample time to evacuate to the pods."

"Should?"

Regris shrugged, "There is no guarantee, of course. But this is our only option to make sure the drug isn't salvageable."

Kade and I shared a look before he turned to my father. "Who's going to be piloting the second ship? I'm assuming I'll get to fly my own vessel."

This time, my father did crack a smile. "Yes, Kade. You will will be flying the Phoenix while Kam pilots the secondary ship." His eyes shifted down the table to wear Axon sat, "And I was hoping you'd go with Kam and man the weapons system."

"What?" Axon and Lenna spoke at the same time, but their tones were very differently.

"Whoa, hang on. My little brother isn't manning any weapons."

"Aw, come on. I can do it - You know I can! I've got great aim!"

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

Raising his hands to placate the siblings, my father nodded in Lenna's direction. "I understand your concerns, but I assure you he'll be perfectly safe with Kam."

I snorted, "Yeah, their ship isn't going to be the one in the spotlight."

My father continued like I hadn't said anything. "Besides, Axon is right - his aim is impeccable."

Lenna opened her mouth to say something more, her brows pulled so tight her forehead was all wrinkles. But then Kam laid a hand on her shoulder, "I promise, I won't let anything happen to him."

She stared at him for a moment, her lips a thin line, before she sighed. "I'm holding you to that, you know. He gets a scratch and I'll know who to blame."

With a bright smile on his face, Kam gave a mock salute. "Scout's honor."

I couldn't help but chuckle at Lenna confused face. She had likely never heard the term Kam had used, after all, she had never lived on Earth. Clapping my hands together, I looked from Regris to my father, "Alright, that's settled then. When do we leave?"

A countdown appeared on the holo. "You leave in two hours. That will leave plenty of time to travel to the jump location and be ready when the transport drops."

Nodding, my father rose from his chair. "Excellent. Now, TJ, any luck on that device?"

Shit.