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"No," Firebreather said across the table, his voice firm and unyielding, "you can't hit the ship there. It's too far along in its route, we need to hit it earlier."

"If it's done with most of its route, then it'll be ripe for the picking," Night Star insisted. "The crew will be tired and ready to get to their shore leave, and we'll have even more resentment from the Mrr'tani on board, since they've spent so long with the humans on the cruise."

"You don't understand the way that these spacers work, you haven't seen it," Firebreather said, his eyes locked to Night Star's in either passion or challenge, Strong Soul couldn't tell which. "By the end of a cruise, sure, there's resentment, but there's also a hundred fewer to channel it."

"What do you mean?" Strong Soul questioned, her voice calm and even while she focused on the two minds arguing next to her, attempting to spread calm between the two of them.

Firebreather was aptly named by the Ferret's crew. His temper was easy to rise and he took a perverse pleasure in saying exactly what he wanted to, regardless of any social outcomes or likely punishments from the humans. His luck came in the shape of the human crew being too intimidated to actually do anything about it during any of his cruises, and any overseer that tried to do what the humans couldn't usually found themselves incapacitated one way or another, never provably by him.

Night Star was another passionate Mrr'tanou, and the two managed to get along quite well unless they disagreed on something, then it was like a bonfire in Strong Soul's mind, burning hot and bright until they worked it out between them. Usually that involved a trip to the cargo bay on one of the hulks that the inhabitants of Mss'ranaw had turned into a rather impressive gym. They didn't have that luxury right now, though, in the middle of their planning session, so it was up to Strong Soul to keep the peace, and she winced slightly as the effort of doing so throbbed in her mind.

"I mean that by the time that cargo hauler gets to this point, they're only going to have about three hundred Mrr'tani on board."

"But the manifest says they shipped out with over five hundred," Strong Soul said, frowning.

They'd managed to secure the databanks on the Ferret before the humans had gotten around to erasing them, a welcome effect of the attack being so efficient and surprising to the humans, and from those databanks, they'd identified almost a dozen targets. The Sisko, a large-container cargo hauler, half again the size of the Ferret, looked like their most likely target. There were enough Mrr'tani on board that they'd be able to use the same strategy they had with the Ferret, and few enough humans that Strong Soul felt confident that she could keep the Mrr'tani on board from doing anything rash.

"Yeah, shipped out," Firebreather scoffed. "With the cargo ships, it's never even looked at sideways if they show back up at the end of their run with half their Mrr'tani still on board. Slave attrition is the cost of doing business."

Strong Soul nodded, seeing what was making Firebreather so adamant about his position. Beside her, she felt Night Star relenting as well.

"Then we'll have to hit them sooner," she said plainly.

"Getting the Ferret to any of the other systems before they leave is going to leave us really tight, and there's absolutely no way that we can hit them at the first stop," Night Star said. "This is the closest they come to Mss'ranaw, and the only place we're going to have time to set up a proper ambush."

"What if we pushed it?" Strong Soul asked, "Drive the Ferret to the red line? With my connection to the AI's, we can cut the safety margin."

"Then we could get them on their second stop at the earliest. That's better for the Mrr'tani on board, but it's going to give a lot more warning to the Alliance that someone's doing something to their shipping. Not to mention the chance of us just disintegrating in hyper."

"They'll chalk it up to pirates," Firebreather said. "At least for another few hits. They're used to losing tugs in the outer rim. That's why the crew them with mostly Mrr'tani, so that when the pirates slaughter everyone on board, they don't lose too much manpower."

Strong Soul could hear the anguish and disgust in Firebreather's voice, something that was reflected purely in his feelings as well. She couldn't help but agree with him. Looking through the databanks, it seemed that even the human pirates, the ones on the run from human law, cared nothing for the lives of the Mrr'tani. Every so often, a member of one of the crews would show up at Paradiso Four if their skills proved worthy of being included on a pirate crew, but that was a rare event. Most of the pirates preferred a lesser-trained human than a fully trained Mrr'tani, and they never left any witnesses to their crimes.

"In that case, we should take every advantage we have," Strong Soul said. "We'll pursue another surprise attack at Omeron and get the Sisko before it gets too far along. What do we know about Omeron?"

"It's an ice planet, and all the settlements are underground, like New Mecca. No one lives on the surface, and there's not even an orbital station," Fire Thrower said from her seat on the other side of the table. "We've had a few refugees from there over the years."

"So we'll have to land to get the humans down," Strong Soul said.

"If you're still obsessed with saving the humans," Firebreather said, his voice the mask of tolerance that belied the storm of emotions raging beneath, "you can just stuff them in lifeboats and launch them down to the planet. They all have transponders and they'll be found, at least most of them, before they freeze to death."

"Seems like that's the best option, love," Night Star said, looking over the projection on the table in front of them.

"It is going to take much longer than any of us have if you plan on going ship by ship through the Alliance," Fire Thrower said, looking at Strong Soul. "I hope you have larger plans."

Strong Soul nodded. "I do, Fire Thrower," she said, "but I haven't decided how to go about them yet. I need to work with what I have for right now, and put things in motion that will bring about what I need."

"And what is it that you need, Keeper of Hearts?" Fire Thrower asked.

"More Frr'a'narr'ahn," Strong Soul answered simply.

Fire Thrower nodded and folded her hands in her lap, surveying the other three in the office. Strong Soul frowned at the gesture, feeling something conflicting in her mind, but she didn't push it. It was clear that Fire Thrower didn't want to speak to her about it at the moment. She would when she was ready.

"Very well," Strong Soul said, standing. "It's settled. We have another four days before we have to set out. It should be enough time for you to get your Mrr'tani settled here, Firebreather."

"It will," he assured her. "I assume I'm going to be going with you?"

"If you're not opposed," Strong Soul said. "I'd like to have someone with your experience being in space on these ships with me when we liberate them. It'll be helpful to have your voice in addition to mine."

"Of course, Keeper," Firebreather said, bowing lower than Strong Soul was comfortable with. Perhaps he sensed her discomfort or perhaps not, but he straightened almost immediately and turned for the door. "I'm sure you'll be able to find me on the fleet."

She nodded and watched him turn out the door. When it had closed behind him, she returned her attention to Night Star and Fire Thrower as she sat back down at the table.

"I hope the sudden influx hasn't strained your resources too much, Fire Thower," Strong Soul said.

"Not at all, especially with the container you brought. I have work crews working to integrate it into the rest of the fleet. Of course we'll leave the tug separate as you've asked, but the container should give us rooms and support for at least the number you've brought. And they all seem eager to pitch in, which is helping immensely."

"I'm glad," Strong Soul said. "That's one of the things I've worried about is overwhelming this safe harbor."

"We'll expand as we need, Keeper," Fire Thrower said softly. "The terraforming units will let us drill some new structures into some of the nearby asteroids, and if you keep bringing cargo along with the bodies, we'll be fine, don't worry."

Strong Soul nodded and then flicked her good ear and leaned forward, elbows on the table as she regarded Fire Thrower.

"So what did you need to tell me without Firebreather in the room?"

"That obvious, was I?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Not to anyone else, just someone who's joined with you."

"You said you need more Frr'a'narr'ahn, and it just so happens that I can help you with that."

"You have a Mother here on the fleet?" Night Star asked. "Why didn't we notice when we were here?"

"They've only recently begun manifesting the gifts."

"More than one, then?" Strong Soul asked, her eyes wide and her ears perked.

"Two. They're twins, and we've only just begun to feel their abilities."

"Twin Frr'a'narr'ahn were rare even in the history books. It was almost unheard of," Night Star said. "I assume they're of the same clan?"

"Yes, both River clan."

"They'll be fully awakening soon, then, if they started manifesting not too long ago. Months at the most," Strong Soul said, remembering back on her own awakening.

"That was my thought as well, and I'd prefer they were with someone who had some control when they did. Your awakening when you arrived was somewhat traumatic for everyone here, and if it happens to them simultaneously, it might cause problems."

"It helped to have First Spark with us on the last attack, so even if they aren't totally trained, I'd like to take them with us. It may be dangerous, but I don't think we'll run into too much resistance this soon after the first. The humans likely haven't figured out what happened yet."

Fire Thrower nodded and tapped in a command to the desk.

"There was one more thing that we need to discuss before you begin your preparations, Keeper," Fire Thrower said, walking around the desk to the small sitting area nearer the door. She motioned Strong Soul and Night Star to join her in the more comfortable and casual seating.

"Now I know something is troubling you," Strong Soul said, taking one of the chairs.

"It seems that even though there hasn't been word of your most recent activities," Fire Thrower said, leaning forward to perch her elbows on her knees, "the Allied Planets is already flustered by your mere existence."

"That's no surprise, we already figured that when we were almost given up on Damrok," Night Star said. He sat in the chair next to Strong Soul, leaning back with his arm draped over the back of the chair, affecting an air of supreme calm.

"Indeed," Fire Thrower said, "but what you don't know is that they've put a bounty out large enough that even some Mrr'tani are going to be looking out for you."

"You mean besides the trackers?" Strong Soul asked. "What could possibly motivate that?"

"They're guaranteeing to free any Mrr'tani that turns you in. On top of that, they're offering a twenty million credit reward. It's enough to buy a skyscraper in Mss'delai."

"That's something to be proud of, love!" Night Star said with a chuckle. "Best I've ever heard of is a million, but that was just for a rogue Void."

"As far as we know, they don't have any personal information on any of us," Strong Soul said, her good ear peaked with interest. "How is anyone going to collect it?"

"That's what you need to think about. All they know is that there's a Mrr'tanah out there with some kind of legendary powers. They don't know what you look like or who you actually are, other than you traveling in a Juniper."

"That means that any Mrr'tanah on a freighter like the Pride is going to have a rough time of it," Night Star said.

"That was my thoughts, but there's also the possibility that they may not even be on a freighter. I know of a number of unscrupulous trackers that would say they found a Mrr'tanah on a Juniper when she'd actually been born wherever they found her. Given some of the Masters' greed, they could offer to split the reward."

Strong Soul was silent, her head lost in thought. It was too much to think about, between the attacks that she had to plan and now this. She was going to be responsible for the deaths of how many Mrr'tanahn? She shuddered lightly, drawing her knees up to her chest as the implications swept through her mind.

There was still the touch of Micah's mind, though, and she clung to it, burying herself in the logical pathways and the mathematical mind. If they didn't know who she was and what she was doing, then any tracker would be able to use just about any Mrr'tanahn of the appropriate age. The humans wouldn't think twice. They couldn't sense the gifts as the trackers could.

"There's only one thing we can do," she said, finally, the answer becoming more and more obvious. "We have to make sure that they're hunting the right one. They can't turn in bystanders as me if they know who they're looking for."

As she spoke, she sent a silent request across the link to Micah. The acknowledgment was tinged with a sense of amusement from the AI.

Night Star turned sharply to her, his brows furrowed and his ears back. She met his gaze calmly. There was no arguing with her conclusion and she knew it.

"We've gone through all this to keep you a secret, love," he said, the tone of his voice almost as if he was talking to a kit. "And you just want to put your face out there?"

"I'm not about to let innocent Mrr'tanahn be slaughtered for trackers' greed and because I'm afraid of what may come. We knew it was going to come to this, only it's coming a bit sooner than we planned."

"So, what, you want to hijack the hidef feeds and tell the Alliance who they're looking for?"

"No," Strong Soul said, shaking her head. "We're going to do it a much more dramatic way."

She knew even as she spoke that Micah had found what she was looking for, and she continued.

"We're going to take a Hawk."

"That's a cruiser, love," Night Star said. "You heard what Jessie was saying about the crews on the cruisers."

"They're near equal, but I have a plan to make the odds a bit better in our favor. In fact, Micah's found our target already. We'll hit it after we get the next tug."

"You know I trust you," Night Star said, "but this is crazy."

"No, just exactly the opposite of what the Alliance is going to expect. We're going to need Stargazer, though, and every able bodied Mrr'tani from Mss'ranaw who's willing."

"You'll have them," Fire Thrower said. Throughout the exchange, she'd been silent, but the torrent of emotions across the Mrr'ouwff spoke of her excitement. Though she wanted to protect every single Mrr'tani in her charge, she knew that there would be a time that they'd have to fight to keep what they had and she was fully prepared for it.

"Then let's be about it," Strong Soul said, standing. "There's much to be done, and we've only got a few days."