JESSA

I found the cold mug in the morning. My usual spot. Hours old.

I drank it and started on the briefing materials.

By the time the crew gathered, I had everything laid out. Station schematics, conference schedule, Tal’s itinerary, check-in protocols, extraction routes. Hard copies for Serak because he preferred paper.

“Meridian Station,” I said. “Diplomatic conference. Three days. I only need one.” I walked them through it. Tal’s subcommittee session. The approach. The ask.

Maris spoke first. “The Ghost is civilian-registered. Untraceable to the Raptor. I can have it prepped in six hours.”

“Extraction?” Alix asked.

“Three options,” Maris said. “Conference crowd, delegation shuttle bay, Ghost at the civilian port running my transponder codes.”

Deyric leaned forward. “If she can access the diplomatic routing network from inside the station, I can build a bridge from the Raptor’s systems. Not just Tal’s files. The entire communication chain.”

“Who approaches Tal?” Ressh asked.

“I tell him I’m Jessa Corren. I tell him I can help him get out.”

The room looked at Serak.

He sat at the head of the table. His hands were flat on the surface. He’d listened to everything without moving.

“No,” he said.

I’d expected it. I’d prepared for it. It still landed.

“The risk to a single crew member operating without support is not justified by the potential intelligence gain.”

“What support would justify it?”

“There is no support configuration that makes a solo insertion into a Consortium diplomatic venue acceptable.”

“Then we’re stuck.”

“We’ll find another approach.”

“There is no other approach. I’m the only one who can read this encryption. The only one with clean credentials. The only one who knows Tal’s face.”

“Then there is no version of this plan.”

Eight people holding still around the table.

“Is this a command decision,” I said, “or a personal one?”

The dark was climbing his forearms, past his rolled sleeves. His biology answering the question his mouth wouldn’t.

“It’s my decision.”

“It’s not. Not if the reason you’re saying no has nothing to do with the plan.”

He didn’t answer.

“I have been on this ship for years,” I said. “I have kept it running. I have kept all of you running. And I have done it while watching every one of you take risks I wasn’t allowed to take because someone had to stay behind.”

I kept my voice steady. “I watched Ressh and Alix walk into Epsilon. I watched Thoryn go back to the Quarry. I provided covering fire at the Haven because nobody told me not to, and afterward you thanked the crew for their performance and didn’t mention me. Because I was supposed to be on the ship.”

“I’m not fragile. And I am not going to sit here while three thousand people wait. Not when I’m the only one who can fix that.”

Serak stood. Black eyes, unreadable.

“The answer is no,” he said.

He left.

Nobody moved. Then Maris stood, touched Thoryn’s shoulder, and walked out. The rest followed. Deyric left his displays running. Solren watched me from his corner, then went.

I collected my hard copies. Walked into the corridor.

Maris was waiting.

“The Ghost is in the hangar,” she said.

“He said no.”

“He said no to you going alone.” She kept walking. “That’s different.”

I stopped. “What do you mean?”

“I mean he didn’t lock the hangar, and he didn’t say no to the mission.” She glanced back. “Give him an hour.”