The Spiral Path Read Free

could be suffering, broken and bleeding, in the Chimeran sector of a shattered Interlace. By force of will if needed, her ship would get them through and she’d pull him out of another close call, just like when they were kids.
    As always, Lara to my rescue.
    The back of her neck tingled and fine hairs on her arms stood out. A piercing crack rent the air, and the Gryphon jerked. Lara’s muscles protested the jolt, but she stayed upright as the emergency klaxon blared across the bridge.
    “Report!” She zoomed through status logs on her station’s visual display. Life support down fifty-three percent. Thorne compensators ground to a halt. Any minute the core would shut down when safety parameters were exceeded.
    “Aft outer hull buckling. Engine three operating at thirty-two percent—”
    Damn it. Oh, Rafael.
    “Shut down the wormhole, Ensign. XO, reboot the compensators and send a buoy to collect a sample of that negative matter.”
    If all that negative matter destabilizing the wormhole didn’t come from the Gryphon, then where did it come from? Mitch could be sabotaging her mission, but he needed her help to find Rafael more than he needed to be a hero. Lara needed him for nothing.
    “Buoy away, Captain.” Cam leaned over her console. “Wormhole destabilization in three…two…one.”
    The ship shimmied and a slightly heavier gravity pressed down on them. Normal space-time. Unlike that of Terrans or Creed, Chimeran physiology self-adjusted to either dimension’s phase frequency. The wrist-syncs sure did make the experience more pleasant, though.
    “Ensign, how long until the buoy—”
    “Captain.” Cam tilted back in her chair. “Commodore Yoshida requests your response on the emergency band.”
    “Ignore him.”
    “Actually, he’s broadcasting on all channels now, ma’am.”
    The world around her was spinning out of control, and Mitch would fix it if she let him. Thing was, he missed his chance eleven years ago and she sure wasn’t giving him another. This was her mess; she’d fix it.
    Lara forced her jaw to relax and closed her eyes. “Audio only.” She just could not look at him right now.
    “Captain Soto, report your damage.” Mitch’s low voice filled the bridge and its dark timbre turned her insides liquid.
    “We’re fine, Commodore.”
    “No casualties?”
    “No casualties. No injuries. We’re touched by your concern.”
    A pause. What did he expect? When Lara had needed him most, the man had deserted her.
    “Good to hear. I tried to warn you, Captain Soto. Since the Interlace’ s last mission, the wormholes have been unstable.”
    Just unstable? Her ship had almost broken in half.
    “Do you require assistance, Captain?”
    “No. Everything is under control.”
    “Good. Prepare to be boarded.”
    Outside the dark captain’s lounge, Titan hovered like a coin in space. Lara propped her booted feet on the small round table, studied the old crinkled photo of Rafael with her and Mitch, and sipped Creed whiskey.
    She’d never found that closeness again. Leaving the Star Union had opened a chasm even between her and Rafael. As twin children they’d had their own language and talked every day as adults, but Rafael considered her departure to be a desertion. His inability to understand still kicked her in the gut.
    The Chimerans needed and respected her, definitely, but none of them offered her a safe haven from the world, not like Mitch had. When he left for his duty shift the night they argued and she walked out, Lara figured she’d never see him again. The refuge with Mitch had all been an illusion. Lara knew that now and swallowed her tears with another swig of whiskey. That naïve little girl had grown up and knew better than to give anyone else the opportunity to fail her again.
    Any minute the cause of that failure, Commodore Mitch Yoshida, would be boarding her ship. Taking over her ship. Killing him would, unfortunately, cause a galactic incident. Chimeran Murders