When Lucian reached his pod, his heart was still pounding madly. There was no longer any shadow of a doubt: he was a mage. He’d seen the way his hands had glowed, had seen the blood spewing from Dirk’s face.

  He remembered what he’d told Dirk, too: that he’d rip their faces off. Had his thought somehow turned into reality? If Lucian had done that much, not even a medical pod would save Dirk.

  And Lucian would be a murderer, and since he had used magic, no one would see it as self-defense, but as the act of a frayed mage.

  He let out a yell as he punched the interior screen of his pod. The force of his blow did nothing to break the inner viewscreen, though it made his hand throb fiercely.

  “What the hell do I do now?”

  His mouth tasted of metal in a way that had nothing to do with blood. He drank from a nearby bottle of water, but the acrid taste didn’t wash away. His skin still sizzled with heat, almost like a sunburn, right beneath his skin. An aftereffect of streaming magic, maybe, or perhaps the poison of ether already at work . . .

  Lucian couldn’t think about that right now. He had to go through his options. If he were lucky, Dirk’s injuries wouldn’t be too bad and he could get healed up in the med bay. If he were unlucky, Dirk was already dead. Worst-case scenario, the captain acted as executioner and sentenced him to the airlock.

  Lucian couldn’t believe that this would be his fate. Surely, some cameras had caught him being pulled into Dirk’s cabin, and cameras would have caught the bullying in the galley. Might that help his case?

  Lucian simply didn’t know. All he did know was that most people hated mages because of some war fifty years ago in which he had no part. It would take a miracle for him to not receive some form of punishment.

  Within hours, the entire ship would know what had happened, or at least a version of it. He wondered if he should get Emma’s advice. The question was, would she see it as self-defense or unnecessary cruelty on Lucian’s part? He hadn’t wanted to hurt Dirk—not to the point of death, anyway.

  Before he could second-guess himself, he took out his slate and called Emma. When she answered, her voice was sleepy.

  “This had better be good.”

  “It’s bad.”

  There was a short pause. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  Lucian took a deep, calming breath and told her the story. He tried not to think about what was running through her head.

  It took all of two minutes before he went quiet again, waiting for her reaction.

  “Are you still there?”

  Finally, she cleared her throat. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking. I have to say, not the thing I was expecting to hear from you.”

  “What do I do? I didn’t mean to hurt him like that. Not bad, anyway. It was more of a threat than anything else.”

  “You were trying to defend yourself. I mean, they pulled you from the corridor into the cabin. As you said, that had to have been caught by cameras. From your perspective, they might have been trying to kill you. Magic, though?” Emma paused. “That will be seen as more severe, even if it was self-defense.”

  “So, what do I do?”

  “I’d tell you to run, but that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

  “That bad, then.”

  She left that question unanswered. “This is the first time you’ve used magic, right?”

  “Yeah . . .”

  “Well, now you know for sure. You’ve emerged. It’s rare to do that without any sort of training, but from what I understand, it can happen. Maybe because of the stress of the situation, you were able to stream, albeit for a moment. That’s what it sounds like to me, anyway. Did you see what the actual injury was?”

  “No. I just saw blood.”

  “Okay, no use worrying about that right now. What we do have to worry about is what you’re going to say. You were the one who was attacked. Any time they ask, repeat that over and over. Even if using magic without belonging to an academy is against League Law, there may be exceptions for self-defense. It’s the difference between getting leniency to . . . well, worse options.”

  She didn’t need to spell out what those were. Onboard a liner like this, the captain had absolute authority to do what he wished with a passenger who had broken the law. Capital punishment was rare, certainly these days, but it could still happen if the case was severe enough.

  “Trust me,” Lucian said. “I’ll be telling them the truth about it being self-defense.”

  “They’re going to question you,” Emma went on, “and it’s not going to be fair. Even if they have a recording of what happened, they may choose to ignore it. It sort of depends on what the captain thinks of mages. His word is law in deep space.”

  “Not doing much for my confidence.”

  “I’m trying to plan, no matter how bad it is. I believe everything you’ve told me. The problem is getting others to believe it, too.”

  There was a long silence. Emma had only confirmed everything he had already thought. His future hung by a thread, and the smallest shift could send him over the edge.

  “Lucian?”

  “Yeah. I’m here.”

  “Let’s meet in the galley. We should speak in person about this.”

  “I’ve already involved you enough. I wouldn’t want people to think you're helping me. Accessory and all that.”

  “I won’t take no for an answer. Get to the galley now.”

  There was no convincing her otherwise. “Okay. See you there.”

  #

  Emma was already waiting for Lucian, her face was paler than usual.

  “Heard anything yet?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Lucian said, taking a seat.

  He couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the med bay. No doubt, that was where Dirk was now.

  He and Emma outlined a strategy for what to say, a strategy that stuck to the truth. If there were cameras, then the captain might see it as self-defense. If Dirk and the others lied about that part, then the cameras would validate Lucian. That was, assuming there were cameras, but it was inconceivable that there wouldn’t be.

  Of course, all that wouldn’t matter if the unthinkable happened and Dirk were dead. If that were the case, then Lucian’s life was practically over.

  Before Lucian could say anything more, footsteps approached from the direction of the bow. He turned to see who must have been Captain Miller. He was a tall, middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and sharp blue eyes. He was dressed in a white Pan-Galactic captain’s uniform, complete with a cap bearing the company’s retro rocket logo. Two male crewmen flanked him on either side, both in plainer gray uniforms. One was tan-skinned, bald, and glowering, and the other was tall, with graying hair and solemn features. Both bore shock batons on their belts.

  “Lucian Abrantes,” Captain Miller said. “You are under arrest. Accompany us to the bridge at once.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Lucian wanted to argue and defend himself right there, but the fact that the captain was taking him to the bridge rather than placing him in a cell right away told him the man wanted to talk first. “All right, then.”

  “He was just defending himself,” Emma said.

  Captain Miller nodded as if he were aware of that much. “Rest assured, we’re doing what we can to get to the bottom of it.”

  Emma’s eyes were challenging, but she said nothing further. Lucian straightened his back to appear more confident than he felt.

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  He knew they were just words, but from the relaxation of her features, they seemed to make her feel better.

  “Let’s move,” the bald crewman said. “We don’t have all morning.”

  Lucian followed the captain and his two crewmen back to the ship’s bridge, a leaden weight in his stomach. He tried to ignore a vision of himself being blasted out of the airlock. They went upstairs to the second deck, and when they passed the med bay door, Lucian couldn’t tell if there was anyone inside. If there had been a blood trail leading to it, it had been cleaned up by now.

  They passed the first-class cabins, all the way to the sliding doors marking the bridge’s entrance at the end of the corridor. Lucian wondered why the captain wanted to speak to him there.

  The doors opened at the captain’s approach. The bridge beyond was smaller than Lucian had anticipated. And it was crowded. Captain Miller’s navigator, a brown-haired woman of middle age and chubby red cheeks, stood to the side. She watched Lucian with wide, green eyes as if he were a snake that might bite. A couple of younger female attendants he’d seen around the ship were also present. One had red hair and a pale face, and the other had dark skin and high, regal cheekbones. The ship’s entire human crew had been gathered together, likely out of concern for the captain’s safety. Like the male crewmen, they each carried a shock baton. The bald crewman who had led him here was already touching his baton as if itching to use it.

  Captain Miller faced Lucian, standing before a wide panorama of stars. He had no idea what the captain was thinking behind his icy blue eyes. Nothing good, for sure.

  “Clear the bridge,” he said. “Everyone but Lucian here.”

  The five crewmen looked at their captain as if he were crazy. But an order was an order. They left, albeit a bit hesitantly.

  The bald crewman hung by the door. “Captain. Permission to speak?”

  Miller gave a terse nod. “Granted.”

  “I advise against staying alone here with this . . . mage. He might have already frayed.”

  “I’m aware of the risk,” Miller said. “Thank you, Emerson.”

  The crewman nodded before casting a glare in Lucian’s direction. The doors closed behind him, sealing the captain and Lucian inside.

  Captain Miller regarded Lucian for a moment before speaking. “I analyzed the med bay log. The diagnostic was not a pleasant way to wake up. Corneas ruptured with kinetic force. It’s as if he took a particle impactor shot right to the eyes.” Captain Miller stared Lucian down. “Dirk Beker would have bled out had his friends not gotten him to a med pod in time. Count yourself lucky they did.”

  Lucian heaved a sigh of relief. “He’ll live, then?”

  The captain nodded. “He’ll live. But without organ-growth surgery or an expensive artificial eye, he’ll never see again. He’ll be in the pod a while longer, that’s for sure.”

  Well, at least Dirk was alive. That meant Lucian would most likely keep his life, but he would still be getting some punishment. What that was remained to be seen.

  “I’ve heard their side,” Captain Miller said. “They painted a bleak picture. But I’m a fair man, so I’d like to hear your side before passing judgment.”

  Lucian took a moment to get his thoughts in order. His fate on this ship hung in the balance, depending on what he said.

  “I don’t know what they told you, but I’m going to tell you the absolute truth. Whatever I say will be backed up by any camera logs you have. I should start by saying that I’m not a frayed mage, as your crewman suggested. It’s legal for me to be on this ship since it’s taking me to Volsung to train at the Academy. That said, it’s only fair to point out they’ve had it out for me from day one. They eavesdropped on a conversation I was having with another passenger, most likely using an illegal auditory implant.”

  “Emma Almaty, I presume?” At Lucian’s assent, Captain Miller nodded. “Continue.”

  “Well, Dirk overheard us talking about our shared reason for being aboard. Emma and I are both mages, as you and your crew should know. Since then, he and his friends have had it out for me. The first night out, they cornered me in the galley. Check the cameras, and you’ll see it. And just a few hours ago, after logging off a sim with Emma, they forced me into their cabin.” Lucian considered a moment. “Dirk’s cabin, I guess. I could tell just by looking at him that he meant to murder me, and I’m not exaggerating. Just look at these bruises. He called me a psycho, which, as you know, is a slur toward anyone who’s a mage. I didn’t want to get involved with him, and even tried to flee, but they caught me and cornered me anyway. I didn’t even intend to use magic, but my emotions were boiling over for understandable reasons.”

  Captain Miller watched him, his eyes not seeming to miss a single detail.

  Lucian continued. “My mother took out a loan to afford this ticket. I’m determined to make it to Volsung or die trying. I never expected it to be easy, but how am I supposed to survive this voyage if nothing is done to protect me or Emma, for that matter?”

  “It’s true that your . . . kind . . . has great difficulties.”

  “I can’t afford half the stuff on this ship, Captain. I can’t control my magic yet, and if anyone antagonizes me to the point of me using it, that’s on them, not me. Whatever I did was self-defense. Maybe it would have been less complicated if I hadn’t used magic. In that case, you’d be dealing with my dead body instead. Maybe that would have been more convenient—after all, not many people would miss a mage. Then again, you’d have to explain to the Volsung Academy why their newest recruit didn’t arrive.”

  He hoped Captain Miller wouldn’t recognize the lie. As far as Lucian knew, the Transcends didn’t even know to expect him, since he’d never heard anything back. But Lucian was betting Captain Miller would have no way of knowing that. Then again, all this would end up meaning nothing if the captain hated mages as much as Dirk or Believer Horatia.

  But it seemed as if the captain was listening, which gave Lucian some measure of hope.

  Captain Miller came out of his silence. “You’ve put me in a difficult position.”

  “I’ve handled this situation as best I could. I know it’s less than ideal. But everything I said is the truth. Security footage will back me up.”

  “I don’t need to check it; I believe you,” Captain Miller said. “The funny thing about the truth is it can be irrelevant, at least in matters of public opinion.”

  “What are you talking about? There’s got to be footage. Either from a few hours ago or even day one.”

  “We did get footage of the second incident, at least from the corridor as they’re pulling you into the cabin. Of course, there’s no telling what happened in that cabin. We can only see that you were pulled inside in a rough manner. What happened inside is speculative, at least from a legal viewpoint, as we don’t have cameras there. But whatever you did to Mr. Beker’s eyes could not have been done by hand.”

  Lucian forced down his anger. It would do him no good here. Instead, Lucian lifted his shirt to show the captain the nasty bruises that covered a good half of his torso, since the ones on his face weren’t enough evidence. “These are fresh, Captain. It’s not just my face that’s busted up.”

  Captain Miller noted the injuries mechanically. “Be that as it may—”

  “—And what about a few days ago when they ambushed me in the galley? Nothing was done then. I’m sure you have footage of that, too.”

  “Nothing was reported,” the captain said in a neutral tone. “Disciplinary actions against passengers are not taken seriously unless a report is filed. Reviewing today’s case, however, I will go back and have a look at that.”

  He was worse than useless. What kind of captain couldn’t keep peace aboard his vessel? Not a particularly good one. Captain Miller would rather avoid problems than deal with them. Even if Lucian had reported the first incident, nothing would have happened. It was just a convenient excuse for the captain not to act.

  The captain continued. “I know Mr. Beker’s intentions were not good, but we have no evidence that he and his associates hurt you. Those bruises could have come from anywhere, at least as far as the lawyers will be concerned. I’d rather not involve them at all. All we have is the evidence of the ruptured corneas.”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit, Captain.”

  “As I said earlier,” Captain Miller continued, nonplussed, “all this is pointless. I sympathize with your predicament. At the same time, I must make a difficult decision. I also have to write a report that will be interpreted as a factual account of events.” Captain Miller’s expression was icy. “In short, until the Burung docks at Volsung Orbital, your life is mine.”

  Lucian bit his tongue. Panic warred with anger within him. He tried to control his breathing. Nothing good would come from emotion.

  “Mr. Beker could sue Pan-Galactic for thousands if you aren’t punished in some way,” Captain Miller said. “Personally speaking, I believe you. But to satisfy everyone, I have to come up with a sentence that fits the crime. Something that will placate Mr. Beker and any passengers who might be sympathetic to him, while resolving the situation as peacefully as possible. People talk, and the version they hear in the coming days will be far from the truth.”

  Logically, that made sense. Emotionally, Lucian fumed at the injustice.

  The captain turned his back on Lucian, facing the stars filling the viewscreen. That action alone proved the captain didn’t fear him. “Another ten days will see us to the Volsung Gate. I think that’s a suitable length of time in the brig to satisfy most people’s sense of justice. And it’s the best you’re going to get.”

  Lucian could hardly believe what he had heard. “Ten days?”

  “I understand that mages have an affliction,” Captain Miller continued. “An affliction that can’t be controlled without training. I also know that training won’t help everyone. Contrary to what most people think, Pan-Galactic is happy to transport mages to Academy Worlds.”

  Yeah, because the League paid them for it. Lucian kept that to himself, though. Fair or not, Lucian saw that confinement would be his life for the next ten days. It would have been his death had Captain Miller been as bigoted as Dirk.

  Considering that, Lucian was willing to accept the verdict peacefully.

  “I understand,” Lucian said. “After that, will this be settled?”

  “If you cause no further trouble, then yes, I will consider the matter dealt with.”

  “Can Emma visit me?”

  “Your confinement is to be solitary. Your food will be delivered by one of my crew.”

  “I . . . understand.”

  Summoned by some unseen signal, the two male crewmen entered the bridge once more.

  Captain Miller was already focusing his attention back on the ship’s controls. “They’ll escort you to the holding cell.”

  Nothing more was said as the crewmen led Lucian away.