It took us four days to leave, removing two engines from the Bucket and installing them on the Belithain, allowing the long hauler to limp along at a measly twenty c. Fast enough to create a bow wave and sweep most interstellar particles aside, at least.

  Montar provided her services again, allowing us to trade for spare parts, hydroponics, foodstuffs, and basic utilities at exorbitant prices.

  She'd also opened a dispute against the Huragians, claiming they'd been disposing of dead opponents in their private vats for decades. Meaning that our dumped junk might mean something after all.

  Vice Marshal Trimen was true to his word and his people handled the loading themselves. I still managed to find four razor wards and two conventional bombs in the cargoes we took on. The wards were easy enough to shatter, and the bombs went out the airlock. Marshal Trimen didn't look surprised nor apologetic when I informed him of it.

  "Cost of doing business," was all he said.

  I spent most of my off-hours in the Bucket, grappled to the Belithain while Hao and Riina's crews worked on the engines. I didn't see them, spending the time in my cabin, with the hatchling.

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  He'd been awake when I got to the Bucket, a big, black, scaly lump that mewed happily at seeing me, ate forty kilos of protein patties, and fell asleep in his dog basket in the corner.

  He'd grown, too. Soon, the dog basket would be too small for him. I'd have to get him another. After all, I owed him my life. Again.

  The door chimed, with Hao's personal code. I let her in.

  "We're ready, captain," she said, drawing into something resembling attention, her head brushing the ceiling in my cabin. "The Bucket's been slaughtered, but the Belithain will fly."

  She paused, ran a greasy hand through her sweaty hair.

  "You sure about this, captain?" she said. "We can still leave."

  "And leave the Kylians to their fate?" I said. "Their supplies will run out before that hulk makes it anywhere remotely safe."

  Hao grimaced at that, her bushy eyebrows drawing down over too-blue eyes.

  "I wouldn't want that either," she said, by way of acknowledgement. "But what will you do with the hatchling?"

  "Keep him safe," I said. "Just like the Kylians."

  "You're not going to tell them about him, are you, sir?" she said.

  "No," I said. "Much too risky. But it will be nice to not be so alone for a change."

  "That it will," Hao said. "That it will."

  We locked the cabin behind us, entering the cockpit. Hao's co-pilot's couch squeaked as she sat down in it.

  "When are you going to fix that?" I said, wincing.

  "When it's no longer necessary," Hao replied. "Core ready, engine ready, path clear."

  I stretched, luxuriating a moment in the soft comfort of my pilot's couch, letting the ventilation fill my face with cool wind. The stars sparkled, a bagful of diamonds spilled across an endless sky.

  "Let's fly," I said.