someone intercepted it and maybe that’s why they’re coming for me. Which could also mean Mouser is being punished right now.”
“It’s a shame we can’t free your sisters,” Asger said.
“Are we sure we can’t?” Casmir asked.
“Have you seen how large those pirate warships are?” Asger asked dryly. “And how many weapons and crew are aboard?”
“No. I don’t spend a lot of time studying pirates. They’re too biological.”
“That’s the least of their flaws,” Qin murmured.
“Maybe your father could come down and give us a slide presentation on them,” Casmir said.
Asger grunted. “I’m sure he could. But you’ve got another mission, Casmir. And we’ve been assigned to help you with it.”
“Hm.” Casmir walked to the comm panel and tapped it. “Bonita and Bjarke, would you mind coming to the lounge for a confab? And Kim, if you’re awake, and Tristan too. Oh, and all crushers who would like to confab are welcome. And intelligent ship’s computers.”
“Why don’t you invite his vacuums too?” Asger muttered.
“Should I?”
Bonita cleared her throat. “The ship-wide comm is for the captain to make announcements to everyone, not for the passengers to use.”
“Is it?” Casmir asked. “Huh.”
“You’re not even supposed to be able to do that from down there.”
“Sorry.” Casmir ambled to the table and sat down.
“What are you thinking?” Asger asked him suspiciously.
“Just that we should do some brainstorming. Maybe there’s some way to accomplish our mission and help Qin’s sisters. They should be free, if that’s what they wish. And if a person asks for your help, you should give it.”
“You can’t help everyone, Casmir,” Asger said. “The Kingdom has to be our priority, saving Odin and our families—your family. That must be what you want more than anything, to make sure they’re safe. After the war is over and our people aren’t at risk any longer, we can come back and get them. I’d be willing to help.” Asger nodded to Qin.
Casmir gazed at the deck as Bonita, Bjarke, and Kim filed in, trailed by a few of the crushers.
“Ensuring my family and friends back home are safe is what I want, yes,” Casmir said. “But as my father is fond of saying, the way to get what you want in life is to help others get what they want.”
Qin didn’t want her friends to land themselves in trouble by taking on the Druckers, but she couldn’t help but get her hopes up. Even though the Dragon wouldn’t be able to get close enough to one of the Drucker warships to send over a boarding party, she imagined Casmir’s crushers—all of them—storming the corridors and throwing pirates around left and right.
“Qin,” Bonita said, “you know I want to help you—and I guess the dozen mirror-yous out there—but going up against the Druckers last time didn’t go well for us. And the only one we were trying to fool was some tattooed knight in disguise.”
“A superior opponent, surely,” Bjarke said.
“We don’t have the resources to take on the Druckers, even if only two of their warships are in the system. I don’t care how many crushers El Mago here has. We wouldn’t be able to get close enough to send them over. It’s not like they can turn themselves into an attack ship and take out the warships’ weapons.”
“I have turned myself into a couch,” one said—that had to be Zee.
“Gee, that’s almost the same thing,” Bonita said.
Zee turned to Casmir. “I have observed that many of your human colleagues employ sarcasm when they are daunted or uncomfortable with the situation.”
“Yes.” Casmir smiled briefly.
“The Drucker ships have stopped,” Viggo announced.
“Stopped?” Bonita wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean stopped? Nobody stops in the middle of nowhere in space.”
“They are in the middle of the wreckage from the battle site.”
“Running salvage?” Tristan suggested.
Bjarke scratched his jaw. “When I was with them, they weren’t above salvaging ships, but they preferred richer and more obvious treasures. They preyed on live ships—and their crews—to get them.”
“What if they’re suffering the same problem the Kingdom warships are?” Casmir asked. “What if they’re cut off from the systems-wide banking infrastructure and find themselves in need of cash until that gate opens?”
“Wouldn’t they run some raids then?” Asger asked.
“With the gate inoperable?” Bjarke asked. “How would they escape afterward? Several governments in this system have sizable militias.”
Qin was relieved that the Druckers weren’t truly after her, at least not at this moment, but also a touch disappointed. If they had been coming, she and her friends might have been forced to figure out a