Alex doesn't answer, so I ping out my location in the rest of the message and wait for him to reply. And wait. A minute goes by. A second, a third. Five minutes, as I sit on the sole chair in the medical suite, head bowed to avoid a low-hanging, complicated-looking armature. I try to ignore the itching of the patch or burn of the gel.

  When I finally do get a response, it's a simple written reply. On Route. Well, he's succinct. At least that's the Alex I know; laconic. Still, the lack of detail makes goosebumps rise on my skin.

  For her part, TooBee finishes sanitizing her operating theater. "So, this Alex... is he an old friend?" She asks, as she sprays some sanitizing solution on the metal and polymer table.

  I bite my bottom lip. "An old partner..." I say, trying to steady my breathing.

  TooBee doesn't look back at me but lifts a focused UV lamp and rolls it over the exposed surfaces in the suite. "I'm detecting elevated blood pressure and dilating pupils. If there's going to be violence-"

  "No! Not from me," I say quickly, sitting up. And wincing; damn gel. "And he's Code Enforcement, so he's not going to do anything crazy, and-"

  "He's what? She asks, turning to face me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I thought you said you didn't want to go to Codes. But you pinged a Scouting Officer your location?"

  I gnaw on my cheek. "It's... complicated. But I trust him."

  There's a moment of silence, and TooBee seems tense. "So, when you say old partner, do you mean romantic partner, or work-partner?"

  I flush deeply. "Kind of... both. Once upon a time."

  "Ended poorly, I'm guessing?" Her expression seems guarded.

  I sigh. "I bashed his skull in with a spanner, then dumped him and ran off to the Jovian."

  For a moment, she waits silently for more. "Ah, tale as old as time, then," she says, rolling her eyes. "Nothing personal, but I'm going to ask you to wait for him in the corridor. And I'm going to lock the door and back up my consciousness, just in case. Good luck."

  Sitting in the corridor, back against the wall, I'm again surprised by the warmth in the tunnels. I mean, there's ice on the other side of this ferrocrete, right? It's nice and icy cold on my back. But the air feels almost too dry and warm, like it's overcompensating. Ugh, just can't seem to strike that balance, you know?

  On the hard ground, between the waves of slowly fading pain and the feeling of being both too hot and too cold, I don't know how I fell asleep. Or how long I'm asleep.

  A boot hits my calf. "You know, there are regulations against loitering in public areas."

  I gasp as I awaken, jerking forward and blinking quickly, squinting up against the corridor lights. But I recognize the voice. "Alex..."

  "Hello Mel. You look like someone ran you through the turbine," he says, leaning in, a hand on his hip. The blurry silhouette resolves into a figure from my past. The same shaggy blonde hair hangs over the helical augment. The same uniform. The same green eyes. The same tone and posture. But he's frowning.

  I push off the wall and stand unsteadily, wincing as my shoulder twinges. "Alex. Thanks for coming so quickly. I wasn't sure who to ping, things got complicated, fast-"

  "Yeah, I saw the admin alert. And you said you were shot?"

  I nod, turning and showing him my shoulder. "Yes, but thankfully a glancing shot. Lost some skin, but hopefully no long-term nerve or muscle damage, and as long as my movement isn't-"

  "Right, we should start there, then. Mel, why did you go to an unregistered black-market surgeon for treatment?"

  I blink, mouth hanging open. What? "Because of the Admin alert. Medical would report a security threat."

  "So, you were avoiding Code Enforcement? Out of fear of arrest?"

  "What? Yes!" I say, cringing as my motion makes my shoulder burn.

  "So, you were there? You attacked a hearing officer? They're claiming attempted murder."

  My eyes bulge. "That's not- Anna Delmond attacked me first! She fucking shot me!"

  He raises a blonde eyebrow. "She had a plasma pistol?"

  "No, that was this private security prick, Cid. Anna bean-bagged me," I say, pulling up my shirt and showing two blotchy, dark bruises the size of saucers.

  Alex looks at my belly for a moment. "Why would security shoot you, if you were the one under attack?"

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  At that moment, it strikes me that Alex has a stun-stick in his hand. I hadn't even noticed. But he's... I look up into his eyes. His expression is guarded. "Alex, Admin is infiltrated. They're dirty, and I twigged onto them, so the hearing officer pulled a gun," I say.

  Alex tilts his head. "How'd you twig onto them?"

  "A sniffer from one of my fraud cases alerted on them," I say, waving my hand.

  "I thought, based on the appeal paperwork I just reviewed, you came here based on a denial of a weapons certification. For alleged mental instability, or the like?"

  I grind my teeth. "You know me, Alex. I have trouble letting things go, but I'm not a deranged maniac. I wouldn't-"

  "Bash someone's skull in?" He asks, tapping his foot.

  My belly clenches, roiling. My breath catches, and I shake my head. "I'm sorry, Alex. For a lot of things. But I don't have time to open my heart and set right all my wrongs just now; the clock is ticking," I say. For a number of different things.

  Alex doesn't react to that. "And whose clock, precisely, are you punching?"

  I shake my head. "I'm purely an Indy PI now. I take the cases I choose, but the fraud case involved a sailor who retained me on a separate issue-"

  "Where'd you get the lead?"

  "A friend of a friend."

  "Would that be a friend of this 'Sparrow'?"

  My blood runs colds. How the void-spawned fuck do you know about her? "What? What are you talking about?" I stammer.

  Alex tilts his head the other way, narrowing his eyes. "Funny thing, Mel. Things blow up between us. You run off, get in trouble at Europa. You get medically suspended, then resign your career and sail off with a confidential informant. A felon. Then a friend of this felon sends you a case that happens to get you tangled up with a shootout in Admin?"

  My mind races. Damnit, I'm so blind! Jax, that oxide-huffing prick, he set me up deliberately. Crap, he was using me and Sparrow to expose the Gaian's on the sly. A wirehead would probably be one of the first to realize. Plausible deniability: can't blow the whistle, but leave some breadcrumbs for the motivated former-cop PI and make sure she gets the case? Goddamn, and him reaching out the second time about the blackmail? Ah, he's concerned about the timetable. Things are coming to a head. And I'm three steps behind, as usual.

  I set my jaw, ignoring the bead of sweat rolling down my neck. "Alex, I don't answer to you," I say, licking my lips.

  He nods. "True. But here's the thing. The first time you pinged me? It took me by surprise and left a bad taste in my mouth. After you cursed me out and hung up, I decided to look up recent activities on Ursa Miner station."

  I roll my eyes. Great. Bet the precinct files were a fun read. "What kinda dirt did you pull up on me?"

  He taps his foot more quickly, tightening his grip on the stun-stick. "Not you. I pulled up dirt on an Officer Rusteater."

  I straighten up. "What? I killed them."

  "I know," Alex replies, taking a step back. "So why are you sleeping with their ecoterrorist partner?"

  "I..." My train of thought derails. Oh, Mel, you vacuum-sucking moron! He knows the Gaian's are here, and he thinks... I swallow hard. "Wait, Alex, I'm sure this looks like I'm all over the grid-"

  "It looks like you killed them after a falling out between Sparrow and Rusteater. Who were both members of the Gaian League," he says bluntly.

  My breathing grows shallow and my heart pounds. "Yes, that is... technically true, but out of context. And Rusteater tried to bomb the dock to kill Sparrow first," I add quickly.

  Alex nods. "After which you killed their avatar. Then their chassis on Europa. Then you bombed the moon and resigned as a cop."

  I wince. Oof, hearing that out loud? I shake my head quickly. "That's... it didn't play out like that. Rusteater tried to kill both Sparrow and Captain Ashton Cartwright, and me, before I killed them. And I resigned..."

  "To keep her out of custody," he says softly.

  I blow an exasperated sigh through my lips. "It's more complicated than that, Alex. She saved my life."

  He gives me another nod. "You know, I inquired about this with Cartwright. Officially. He managed to tell me the literal truth without implicating you in sabotage and terrorism." His foot isn't tapping anymore.

  I raise a hand and take a step forward, but I see his fingers tighten on the baton and lift it. "Alex, Rusteater was the saboteur."

  Alex keeps the stun-stick between us. "You bombed Europa."

  Baring my teeth, I hiss, "you're an oxide-huffing moron! That was unrelated to the sabotage or the Gaian League!"

  His expression doesn't change. "Was it? You created a radiological disaster on the surface, which prevents expeditions to plumb the depths, just like the League wanted."

  "That's..." Huh. Actually, that's kind of a bonus. "Listen to me, I know what you're thinking-"

  "I just told you what I'm thinking," he says softly.

  I take a deep breath, trying to steady my pounding heart. "I was sterilizing an infection site."

  "To prevent intrusion into Europa's biosphere?"

  "No, Alex, to keep some crazy intelligent alien malware from blooming and spreading like cancer until it eats all of humanity's computational substrate, everywhere!" I snarl at him.

  Finally, his expression does break. It looks bleak, sad. Pitying. "Mel... that's insane."

  I shake my head urgently. "Alex, I can prove it. It's the Andromeda Signal, and it's the same thing that ate you alive. It's a long story, but Sparrow can verify it, once we resolve the mess here."

  Alex clicks his tongue, one hand running through his blonde hair. "So, it wasn't the Gaians who body-jacked me, it was aliens? So says Sparrow, the Gaian ecoterrorist felon you're sleeping with?"

  I clench my fists. "I get that her credibility might be suspect in your eyes, but if she corroborates-"

  But he raises the empty hand to cut me off. "Mel, even if your stories match verbatim, I'm not sure what you expect. Fine, you think there was an alien malware infestation. Let's say it was even true. It doesn't change anything. Sparrow was running Gaian terrorists, ones wanted for felonies, past the border. I have to arrest her," he says.

  "No, dammit-"

  "And you," he adds with a sigh.

  My mouth falls open. "For the station reactor explosion? That was Brent Rockchaser, technically.”

  "Another partner. Where is he?" Alex asks softly.

  The question hits me hard, and I bite my tongue. "Dead."

  Silence plays out for a moment. "Where's his body?"

  A pang hits my heart. "Incinerated in the explosion on Europa, to kill the alien malware that ate his augments. The same way it ate yours. I... had to push his body onto the surface; there was too great a risk that the malware could have hung on inside him."

  He nods at that. He looks... forlorn. "Melody Cygnus Cruz, you're under arrest for the murder of Sergeant Brent Augustus Rockchaser."

  My eyes bulge and I lift both hands. "Alex-"

  I'll give him credit; he avoids the bruises and tags me with the stun-stick in the thigh. The jolt makes my muscles tense, a flare of pain seizing me as I flail and hit the ground hard. I feel his knee on my lower back, and the cuffs snap around my wrists. Damn it. And only a year ago I would have found this kinda hot.