Valeria / Blackhand

  The bridge of the Talon’s Edge was lit only by the pale glow of holoscreens and faint flicker of data lines streaming down the walls. Valeria stood at the central display, arms crossed behind her back, the cold blue glow of orbital telemetry washing over her sharp features.

  Behind her, an officer at comms cleared his throat.

  “Captain Zhukov. Update from the deep-scan array. The cruiser’s jump trail checks out. They went to the Thalasson Expanse.”

  Valeria didn’t turn. Her voice stayed low, even. “That region… is uninhabited.”

  The officer hesitated. “Nivara is the only planetary mass within the drift field. Nothing else stable in that vector. No moons, no stations. Just an ice ball with an abandoned mining colony and no known value. Everything else in the Expanse is dark matter and dead drift. I don’t think there are any other options.”

  From the side, a low scoff broke the tension.

  Blackhand leaned against the table, arms crossed, still idly picking blood from under one nail.

  “So the little xenos bitch told the truth. Gutsy move for a glorified concubine,” he muttered. “I thought she was just squealin’ to save her skin.”

  Valeria took a few steps closer to the projection, one gloved hand lifting to zoom in on the planetary data.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Why there?” she said at last, almost to herself. “Makes no sense. Haul him all way to frozen rock? If they vanted him dead, they could have buried him anywhere.”

  “Maybe that’s the point,” the officer offered. “Remote. Isolated. Hard to track if someone’s hiding something… or someone.”

  Valeria’s lips thinned. Her expression didn’t change, but something behind her eyes flickered.

  “Convenient…” she muttered, eyes narrowing. “Too convenient. Hiding in silence, like snake in snow.”

  A shrill ping echoed from Blackhand’s wrist device interrupting them. He looked down, scowled, then pushed off the table.

  “Well. That’s my cue.”

  He didn’t bother saying goodbye. He just turned and started walking toward the exit.

  Valeria didn’t move. “You’re leaving so soon? What a shame. I was just beginning to enjoy your company.”

  She let the question drip with mock regret, her tone flat.

  Blackhand gave a low grunt that might’ve been a laugh. “Don’t kill him,” he said over his shoulder. “No matter how much I’d love to hear he bled out on some remote icy hellscape. The old man would flay you alive.”

  He reached the bridge door where two guards waited. One of them, too stupid or too green to know better, moved to block his path.

  It was a mistake.

  Blackhand grabbed the soldier’s face with one hand and crushed it,

  The soldier let out a choking gasp, teeth and blood spraying across the floor as his body twitched violently before slumping into a twitching heap.

  The second guard stood still. Eyes locked forward like he was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun

  Blackhand glanced over his shoulder.

  “Tell your men not to look at me like that,” he said. “I get all twitchy.”

  Valeria exhaled through her nose, barely audible.

  “Someone clean that up,” she said, voice calm. “And get what’s left of him to medbay. If there’s anything still firing in his brainstem, I want it preserved.”

  A pair of officers hesitated, then hurried forward, dragging the ruined body out of sight.

  “Plot course for Nivara,” she continued smoothly. “Flag it as medical relief. Priority transmission to Command. Make it clean. Make it noble. Disease outbreak. Quarantine assistance. Something they can nod to… without looking too close.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” came the response from the helm.

  “Pull escort ships from outer rings. Reassign under veil protocols. I want full stealth for route. No comms. No chatter. If anyone asks…”

  She paused, eyes narrowing.

  “We are still docked.”