Chapter 20 · The Rebel Signal

The first railgun fired without a countdown.

Blue Heron lurched sideways. Evan Venn caught the edge of the navigation console as white light tore across the forward display. The shot missed by less than two hundred meters, close enough to turn the bridge windows silver and make every loose panel rattle in its frame.

Mara Quill swore through clenched teeth. “That came from the Dagger Wing.”

“Confirmed,” Oren Cade shouted from the engineering channel. “And their targeting system just painted us again. Whoever wrote this order wants our obituary filed before breakfast.”

On the tactical display, thirty-seven League vessels surrounded Blue Heron in a tightening sphere. Their icons burned amber, then red. Friendly transponders. Friendly command codes. Friendly guns.

Every one of them was aimed at Sera Vale’s ship.

Beyond the fleet, the dead Helios Gate hung between two broken moons like a black coin. Its outer rings were still. Its inner aperture held no stars, only a depthless darkness that seemed to absorb the light from the surrounding wreckage. The gate had shut three hours ago.