“They could fire on Bakkarholt at any moment.” There was no censure in my father’s voice, mere statement of fact.
He was right, but we could not destroy their ship, not yet. “We need them to set their target before we take them out. We need proof to take down Bertok. He’s too powerful and has too many friends on Trion. Just being here isn’t enough.”
“It’s a risk.”
“A necessary risk, Father. Trust me, Bertok is too dangerous. We have to finish this.”
Patient as a spider, my father sat with his hands hovering over the controls. “Agreed.”
“Intercept in two minutes. Target acquired but not locked,” Erick reported.
“Perfect. They won’t lock on to Bakkarholt until we fly past their ship. They think we can’t see them. Be ready to reverse course and fire immediately from the rear. If we’re fast enough, we’ll catch them with their shielding down.”
Erick mumbled through the comms, just as eager as I to end the enemy. “Trust me, we’re ready.”
The longest two minutes of my life ensued as I watched the Cerberus ship grow closer and closer. But they were smart. Sneaky. They did not activate their ion cannon. They did not activate their targeting systems. They flew like a ghost ship. Had Zenos and Ivy not warned us, there would have been no way to stop them. None.
We flew past them as if out for a practice run. No hurry. No shielding. No weapons. Two ships flying a routine patrol.
“Get ready.” I inspected the Cerberus ship as we flew by. It was twice the size of the ship I flew and loaded with three times the weapons. “Don’t miss, Erick. They’ve got enough firepower to take out a small fleet.”
“Holy gods, what the fark is that?” Erick’s shock had my father leaning forward.
“Drift up, son. Get a closer look.”
I followed Father’s words, so I could get a good look at the top of the Cerberus ship.
“That farking Xeriman. She bought my Spectra IV.” The irony was not lost on me. There, mounted atop the Cerberus ship was the Spectra IV ion cannon I had ordered from the Silver Scions. I knew it was mine because I had requested a special insignia be embossed on the side of the cannon. My family crest.
“Is that… is that our crest?” Father asked, wide eyed.
“That was to be mine.”
“You negotiated with the enemy?”
I looked to him, his gaze serious and dark.
“You negotiate with the enemy, Father. What I’ve done is diplomacy. Watched. Listened. Fark, if I hadn’t been selling to them, we wouldn’t be here right now saving the planet.
Father listened, studied me, then nodded.
I didn’t know what it meant, but it wasn’t hurtful words.
“She probably used my money to buy it.”
Now Ulza, or one of her sons, was probably on that ship. And they intended to use my Spectra IV to kill an entire city full of people.
“What is a Spectra IV?” Erick asked through the head set.
“It’s a specialty cannon built with Hive tech. They could take out a city five times the size of Bakkarholt with that cannon.”
“And what were you going to do with an ion cannon with our family crest emblazoned on the side?” My father’s voice was deadly quiet, and I knew the sight had angered him as nothing else might have.
“Because it’s mine. I ordered that cannon to help me hunt and kill Hive. I didn’t have a weapon big enough to take down their Integration ships.”
“By the gods, son. You’ve spent the last four years hunting Hive? On your own?”
There it was, the criticism. The disbelief. The blatant disapproval.