Raven ducked under the troopers wide swing and front flipped over the next. Bringing his knee into the helmet of a third trooper, he let his weight bear them both to the ground. His knife-hand strike hit the trooper on the side of the neck, rendering her unconscious. Spider dispatched two troopers as they moved to subdue the big blue felarnian.

"I said I had that one," Spider said as he searched the troopers for anything useful.

"I wanted this one." Raven hoisted the unconscious woman to her feet and walked her into the maintenance room through the next door. "I have questions."

"She's a grunt. You're wasting your time." Spider checked his noise suppressor. As long as he continued using 12 yield rounds or smaller he'd run out of ammo before the attachment failed.

"Yeah, well she's also a female. The commanders are all females. Females talk to each other."

"You're being sexist, I think."

"Odds are I'm right, though."

"Men talk to each other too."

"Not felarnian men."

"She's too short to be felarnian," Spider pointed out. "Wake her quickly. We're on a clock."

Raven violently shook the trooper and snatched the helmet off of her head. The woman's eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air. She had a colonial look about her with a large bruise where Raven's knee met her face. She struggled to be free of his grip, but his slow growl took a lot of the fight out of her. Her head darted around the maintenance room. Raven grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. His claws bit into her flesh.

"Look at me. Answer my questions or I'll cut you down right here."

"You'll kill me whether I talk or not." She kicked Raven in the groin, dropping to a knee and breaking his grip in the process.

She took a step toward the door and Spider stepped into the room. His pistol was aimed at her center mass, his face serious. She froze and raised her hands.

"Now he's gonna be pissed," Spider warned.

She looked down in time to flinch as Raven's fist drove into her gut. The trooper doubled over beside him. He rose to his considerable height and grabbed a handful of her hair. Wrenching her into a standing position, he pulled until she was forced to dance on the tips of her toes. Spider shook his head and moved back to his position by the door. He watched both the interrogation and the hallway.

"Try that again and I'll make you wish I killed you."

"What do you want to know?" she replied through clenched teeth.

"How did you find us?" Raven asked

"These were the rendezvous coordinates. You came to us."

"Bullshit!" He raised his hand, bringing her off of her feet. She screamed and grabbed his wrist rather than have her hair ripped out.

"If we're going to be screaming, then there's no reason to hide. They're going to find us," Spider said. He was never a fan of using torture for information, but circumstances had already taken them off mission. If Raven's methods worked, Spider was willing to briefly look the other way. "Put her down."

"How'd Belladonna know we'd be on that ship?" Raven snarled as he put her back on the ground.

"Know you'd be on the ship? Who are you?"

Raven glanced towards Spider, both men sharing a surprised expression. Spider had assumed his team was being tracked in some way, though he couldn't figure out how. They were very careful to steer clear of The EC authorities and Belladonna's people. The idea that those hunting them would chase them into uncharted space was unsettling. Realizing fate continued to throw him in her path was even more frightening.

"You're lying," Raven said.

Again he pulled her up. She punched his chest and his arm repeatedly, until he dropped her. She fell to the ground. Raven growled and she drew a blade from within her boot. He stepped back and drew his plasmatic edge.

"I am a simple flower in my lady's garden. Pluck me, and more shall grow in my place."

Spider heard the ritualistic cadence of her tone before the meaning of her words registered. He spun into the room, but too late to stop her. The trooper jammed the knife into her neck and ran it across her throat from ear to ear. She dropped to her knees and threw the weapon across the room. Raven's plasmatic edge flared to life, bathing her in colored light. He brought the tip of the burning plasma to her chest. She opened her arms wide as if inviting him to finish the job. Her eyes stared up at him, defiance written in the set of her face.

Raven deactivated his weapon and used his foot to shove the dying trooper to the floor. He checked her body as her last breath escaped then joined Spider at the door.

"I hate when they do that."

"I hate them, period," Raven said. He peered into the hall. "Let's get out of here. We still need to find a map of this place and disable their weapon systems." He crouched low and prowled deeper into the enemy ship.

"What we need is a console key."

The pair swept through the next three corridors swiftly searching every room they found. No console keys, no ship maps or schematics. They ducked into an empty compartment at the sound of approaching footfalls. A ten foot tall series 4 war construct marched past them conferring with a Low-Face projected from the wall. Spider only caught a glimpse of her. A bald feminine face with the number 12 stenciled on her forehead.

The two were silent until the machines could no longer be heard.

"Renegade suspected we were on a Diva Class ship. That was definitely a Diva Core AI."

"How the hell do they keep finding us?"

"I don't think these are after us. If they were, that war construct would have been waiting outside the ship when we docked."

"Then you explain it: Jasper II, Rohx Ston Station, The Kiln World, now here... wherever here is. They're always there."

Spider had to admit, Raven had a point. They traveled all over known space and, wherever they went, Lady Belladonna and her Legion of The Pale Garden were never far away. Raven waited for Spider to respond, but when no words were forthcoming he nodded.

"It may not have been a coincidence, but I find it hard to believe they're here for us. I think they're here for someone else, and I think The Djinn was expecting them."

Raven's face grew grave.

"We need to find him, and figure out his angle."

"I know. I've been looking, but he seems to have a finger in every pot. I don't want to spook him or piss him off."

"I'm fine with pissing him off."

"His money is the only reason Belladonna hasn't caught us already," Spider said.

"You're kidding, right? They have us right now." Liam hated it when Scott was right.

"They have us, they just don't know it yet." Spider listened for the sound of approaching sentries. "We need to get off this ship. Renegade, do you read me?"

Renegade: Been reading you since you crossed paths with that war construct.

"So what do you think?"

Renegade: I've been monitoring their communications. They're not here for you guys.

"Good, we can stop worrying about that"

Renegade: They're actually here for the same reason we are.

"The CEO?" asked Raven.

Renegade: She's always been very popular. I wrote to the board of directors twice to congratulate them on her appointment.

"The Djinn knew," Spider whispered. "Which means he has access to Belladonna's communications network. It's the only way he always knows what they're planning."

"You think he's Pale Garden?"

"Maybe, but he's also close enough to The Board that he has intimate knowledge of their closed room discussions."

"Who is this guy?" Raven growled.

Renegade: We have to worry about that another time. They've found Farnsworth and eliminated all of her executive service agents. You guys need to get to the gunnery now.

"No luck on finding a console key," Spider explained.

Renegade: What? Did you lose my Cheshire?

"No, we still have it, and it must be working because the ship's security measures haven't spotted us yet," Spider said.

Renegade: The two of you make my life so difficult.

"I find it hard to work with him too," grumbled Raven.

Renegade: I've told you both, multiple times, that Cheshire is designed to bypass security measures.

"I kno-"

Renegade: Surveillance equipment, sensors, laser tripwires, PASSWORD PROTECTION! This is not a high security vessel, it's a Pale Garden cargo ship. Find a console, put Cheshire in the card slot, and find the ship schematics.

Spider did vaguely remember a short conversation about a cracker tool Patricia had been tinkering with, but he hadn't realized the slim purple metal shard she stuffed in his pocket hours ago was the same device. It was so small he couldn't see it doing all the things she claimed it could. He pulled out the purple metal and studied it with squinted eyes. He turned it around, but didn't see any indications of its functionality. He raised the sliver of metal up towards Raven who shrugged.

Renegade: You guys are terribly dense... I bet you're staring at Cheshire as if instructions are going to jump out at you.

Spider looked around the room for cameras or spy drones. "No we aren't."

Renegade: Now I'm sure you are. Just find a console and plug it in.

Spider pointed back the way they'd come and followed Raven into the hall. They were much more cautious as they backtracked, wary of the war construct. Its armor plating and arsenal of weapons would make it a force to be reckoned with. Walking BACK tanks had replaced the standard tread and, later, the hovering models that had dominated much of the 20th and 21st centuries of human history, but it was the war construct that made them obsolete. If they ran into the machine, they were dead meat.

They returned to the maintenance room where Raven had interrogated the trooper as two clones stepped out with mops and a bucket of bloody water. The two groups studied each other for a moment, neither expecting the other. Raven reached for his blade and the two clones turned towards the console at the end of the hall. Spider drew his pistol, firing twice from the hip. Unarmored, both of his targets dropped to the floor. The next cleaning crew would have even more to mop up.

"I wonder why they didn't sound the alarm the moment they found the blood?" asked Raven. He grabbed one in each hand and carried them to the pile of bodies they'd stashed in a ground level air vent in the next room.

The loud piercing claxxon of the security alarm didn't surprise Spider in the least.

"They probably contacted their supervisor and went to work. They aren't good at improvisation. We have to hurry."

Spider placed Cheshire in the console card slot as Renegade had instructed. The screen went dark. He turned away from the interface at the sound of approaching boots, but Raven was already enroute. A pair of troopers turned the corner and were met with the business end of a plasmatic edge. The first was nearly cut in half, the second lost his arms then his head. Spider removed the suppressor from his pistol, and raised the yield setting. The Pale Garden was on high alert now, so there was no longer a need to be quiet. He turned his attention back to the console and waiting for him was a Low-Face version of Patricia's visage.

"Oh my goodness, I'm a computer program!" The image on the screen put its hands against the glass and pushed. "Help, I'm trapped."

"Umm, Pepper, is that you?" Spider asked.

"No, silly! My name is Cheshire. You should see the look on your face. What information can I find for you? Disclaimer: Once I crack this terminal we will need to find a new access point if you wish to avoid detection."

Spider looked at the smiling Low-Face and had to marvel at Patricia's technical ingenuity. She'd won a full scholarship to one of the universe's best electronics and programming schools, but because of its ties to the EC as well as the mandatory tracking that accompanied enrollment she turned it down. The EC believed Scott Felinus was a pirate, and she refused to lead them to her brother inadvertently. Instead she aced the admittance exam for a rival private school and settled for a partial scholarship instead. There was no question in Liam's mind Patricia was a genius.

"Spider, let's go!" Raven shouted. He hid behind a pockmarked wall as energy rounds illuminated the air.

"Cheshire, we need the shortest route to the gunnery. ASAP." Spider sighted down his arm, waiting for a shot to present itself.

"ASAP, as in, as soon as possible?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Done. Check it out!"

A multilayered floor plan of Diva-12 appeared on screen. A pulsing blue-green light illustrated a starting point and then drew a line five levels down to huge reinforced double doors. The image zoomed out to put the instructions into perspective. Finally the image refined until only their path was shown. A second yellow light flashed faintly.

"Cheshire, what's the yellow light?"

"That's momma. Unseat me, we have to go. The Core AI will notice the crack in 2 minutes and counting."

Spider snapped a pic of the screen with his optic lenses. Snatched Cheshire out of the console, he secured the purple metal shard in his pocket. He ran down the hall and joined Raven. The troopers were still using energy rounds to pin him down.

"You get it?"

"Yeah, we have to go that way." Spider gestured in the direction of their attackers. "We need to hurry. The Core AI is coming."

"Renegade said Cheshire would conceal us."

"I doubt it'll work once she has eyes on us and I'm not trying to find out," Spider said. He pointed at the headless body at his feet. "Let's do this one just like on The Kiln World."

Raven nodded, grabbed the body with one hand, and put up three fingers with the other. Spider took a few steps away from the corner and a series of deep breaths. Raven counted down and tossed the body across the hall. At the same time Spider ran and threw himself to the floor. The decapitated trooper sailed through the air as Spider slid beneath.

Three white tinted troopers and a pink hued legionnaire unleashed a barrage of superheated energy bolts. They fired at the first target they saw and death struck unexpectedly in the form of an ex-EC special forces sergeant. Spider targeted the legionnaire first and managed to kill a trooper before attention fell on him.

Spider activated his personal shield generator and a sheet of hard light protected him from shoulder to hip. The heat from a blast lanced across his face and he shut his eye tight to avoid the burning pain or damage to his lens. An energy round deflected off of his shield and Spider returned fire with deadly accuracy. The last trooper crumpled under a trio of shots from Raven's sidearm.

Spider stood and touched his cheek where silvery nano worked to repair the damage to skin and tissue. He flinched at the sharp pain.

"Hit in the face?" Raven asked with barely veiled humor. "It really was just like The Kiln World."

"Shut up," Spider said.

They'd filed that particular job as Mission 9. The Pale Garden was smuggling a rare substance known as dragon fire off world and the natives paid handsomely for help crippling their operations. Back then, a legionnaire had made a lucky shot, bypassed his shield and almost cost Spider his eye. His nano could repair serious wounds but never replace such a delicate organ. Spider rubbed his eye, remembering the pain as if it were yesterday and not more than an Earth year ago.

"We have to go. That Core AI could be here already."

Spider deactivated his shield as they ran. They took the second right and then a left. A series 5 construct stepped into their path, the gatling gun in its hands already beginning to spin. Spider shot the weapon, Raven went for the machine. The construct sidestepped the hot plasma of the felarnian's weapon and punched him in the ribs. Using the damaged gun as a shield against Spider's next attack, the construct lost a step and the plasmatic edge went through it with little resistance. After the construct, the pair hurried down through a mess hall that connected them to the hall they needed.

Unfortunately they ran right into a squad of troopers rushing to investigate the alarm.

Raven barreled into them, knocking two aside and dispatching another with his blade. Spider dropped back and powered his shield. Kinetic and energy rounds were deflected away, and he returned fire. Two more troopers went down. That left one trooper and two legionnaires. The latter threw up their own shields, tall five foot walls of energy that absorbed energy rounds and slowed kinetic rounds. In response Raven activated his own shield, a small buckler compared to Spider's standard shield. At the sound of footsteps approaching Spider stepped fully into the hall. When the mess hall door slid closed, he smashed the control panel to force the auto lock.

It wouldn't hold for long, but it would buy them time.

Spider whistled at Raven. The Pale Garden soldiers looked from one to the other, trying to anticipate what they would do. The troopers were sandwiched between the two.

"Deanberg Alley," Spider shouted.

Raven laughed. "If you're up for it."

"Now!"

The two broke into a run and the enemy opened fire. Raven would have been hard pressed to deflect the incoming bullets so he juked side to side, relying on his nano to keep him alive. Spider led with his shield, trusting in his tech. The legionnaires braced themselves for impact. At the last possible moment Raven flipped into the air and Spider jumped as high as he could. He fired at the exposed flank of the one watching Raven, scoring a debilitating blow. Raven cleaved through the other shield bearer as he came down. The remaining trooper dropped his pistol and raised his hands in surrender. Spider shot him once in each kneecap, then again in his dominant shoulder.

The T.Nano Lady Belladonna pumped into her soldiers helped her commanders control their troops, but also accelerated the healing process. It was a slightly stronger version of the S.Nano Earth Conglomerate used on its soldiers. The troopers would recover, but Spider made a point of making it difficult. In their dealing with The Pale Garden, Spider and his team shot to maim or shot to kill. Anything else was a waste of ammo.

They left the trooper screaming on the floor and rushed to the end of the hall. Spider pointed to a wall panel, Raven tore it down. Inside was a vertical shaft 3.5 feet in diameter. A ring of energy fired past them, cooking the air in the immediate area. The stink of ozone filled their nostrils. Spider shook his head. He'd had a bad experience with power transfer conduits.

"This is crazy," he mumbled.

"We going down or what?" Raven asked.

Spider could hear the enemy cutting through the mess hall door over the moans of the wounded trooper.

"Shit." Spider could see a stairwell door feet away. Another ring of energy rushed past. "Start counting." Raven did as asked, while Spider consulted the route saved on his datapad. The shaft ended on the gunnery floor, Cheshire had indeed given him the quickest path to their destination.

"14 seconds," Raven said.

"I don't know about this."

"We can make it."

"You're insane."

The mess hall door collapsed, partially melted, and troopers poured out. Spider pulled a grenade from