Chapter 25 · The Captain Who Wasn't There

The bridge of the Blue Heron had never felt so large.

Evan stood beneath the command dais while the fleet’s emergency lights washed the empty stations in pulses of red. Every flash turned the bridge into a different place: a war room, a tomb, a courtroom. The tactical display hung above him, fractured into twelve overlapping grids. On each one, ships drifted through the black in formations no living commander had authorized.

The fleet was waiting for him to make a mistake.

No one said it aloud. They did not need to.

Mara Quill’s voice came through the overhead speaker, thin with static and pain. “Blue Heron, confirm current command authority.”

Evan looked at the chair in front of him.

Sera’s chair.

The leather was still indented where she had sat. One of its restraints hung loose, swinging slightly as the ship shuddered. He could almost see her there, one boot hooked beneath the console, dark hair pulled back, eyes fixed on the route only she had trusted.

Then the memory broke.

There was no captain. No record of Captain Sera Vale. No biometric trace, no command imprint, no service history.