@bronzelion had made his choice.

  He didn't fight my accusation that he was at the starlab. I hadn't even produced real evidence yet. The enemy, whoever they were, must have known that at some point they would be discovered. But what then?

  I was about to find out.

  @bronzelion pushed @spaceglider aside, tossing him to the ground, fully engaging his armor. His helmet snapped up into place, and the booster jets that I had observed fired, propelling him even faster. He was an imposing force, a force that was headed straight for me.

  I hadn't had a chance to fight in Vanquisher armor yet. I was grateful that we were on yellow alert, still in a state of anxiety that the overtaken could appear out of nowhere at any time. I mean, it sucked, but it meant I could wear my armor, inquisition or not.

  Instinct took over, and I motioned to fire my grappling hook to pull myself out of his path.

  Nothing happened. Oh yeah. Shit.

  I hadn't had the time to reconstruct my ARM, let alone think about how to integrate it with Vanquisher armor. The Infiltrator armor was easy, with its shifting nanobots. I needed a real engineer to help me construct a customized Vanquisher suit.

  It probably wouldn't have mattered. He was closing the distance too quickly. But now I felt clumsy. I recalled how seamlessly I had fought through the Shoemaker's forces, the ARM and the North Pole sword practically parts of me as I flowed through the battle.

  Note to self. Reconstruct the ARM. Get yourself a new sword.

  I was fucked. I triggered my helmet and braced myself, lowering to my haunches, aiming to absorb and deflect the impact as best I could.

  I was vaguely aware of a scuffle among the audience, shouts of treason, and the sound of metal chairs scraping the floor as aiways sprang to their feet into a scrum of pushing and shoving.

  @bronzelion bulled into me. His thruster-propelled heavy armor was beyond what I could block. The impact threw me to the ground. My Vanquisher armor was strong, but the impact stung, knocking the wind out of me. He grabbed me with one hand as he drove through me. His grip tightened on my shoulder, and he hauled me backwards, dragging me away from the audience.

  I saw @spaceglider, @pixel_princess, and @cyberneticflare, and other soldier-looking shapes, jump up and run toward me, but they were too late.

  @bronzelion fired his jets and carried me up against the far wall, spinning to slam me against it. Then he planted his feet against the wall and pushed off, sending the two of us flying over the audience, crashing through the glass in front of the store, and away from the assembly down the halls of Umbilicus.

  The halls were a blur. Without my grappling hook, all I could do was thrash my arms and legs to try to get leverage, but it was useless. We flew through several turns. Each time we turned, he slammed me against the wall, using the impact as a rebound to propel us in the right direction.

  I could feel my body numbing, the anticipation of painful bruises.

  Then @bronzelion tossed me against the corner of a hallway, sending my body into the protruding edge. Despite the Vanquisher armor, I felt something snap as I hit abruptly and fell to the ground.

  I tried to get up, but all I felt was searing pain. I was pretty sure @bronzelion had broken my back.

  "You," he shouted, because he's so articulate. "You're the one I've been chasing around the solar system?"

  He lowered his helmet so he could stare at my helpless form and properly menace over me.

  I could only watch him and moan as he started to punch my helmet. All I felt was pain at this point anyway. My vision bounced with each blow as he slammed his fists into me. By the seventh or eighth blow, he cracked the front of the helmet, and this fueled him on. His rate of punching increased, and then he reared back, bringing his fist down in a tremendous blow, shattering the helmet and breaking my nose in the process.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  @bronzelion paused, catching his breath, sweat dripping from his forehead.

  "This fight is already lost. Yours and theirs," he said, pointing back in the direction of our Solar Union and Outer System Alliance gathering. "The virus is only the beginning. Even if you manage to join forces," he sneered, "it's too late. We will wipe you all out."

  "Who … is we?" I managed to choke through my lips.

  He smiled and slammed a fist into my face again, the thump echoing painfully in my head. I wondered if my eye socket was still intact.

  "The ones who rule," he replied.

  I thought he was going to beat me to death for sure.

  I was prepared to wake up in this moment, but at Sovereign Starbase, in a fresh body that wasn't scarred and traumatized. That would kind of suck because Oblivion and my crew were here on Umbilicus. But, on the plus side, @astrowave was there, and The Pharaoh was hopefully there as well.

  But no, that bastard didn't want me dead. He just wanted to send a message and cripple me. Instead of punching my face inside out, which very much would have sucked, he threw his fists at my midsection. My back was already fractured. He wanted to break my chest as well.

  I squirmed, but I bit my tongue. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of crying out.

  Fuzzy in the head, I tried to fire my grappling hook again, forgetting once more that I didn't have it. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't even intentionally move my arms, just let my body ache and lurch.

  Satisfied with his beating, @bronzelion stood up with a grin, watching my limp form while he took in heavy breaths. Then he recalibrated to our surroundings, looking over the empty shops.

  He grabbed one of my legs and dragged me down the hall. When he found the spot he wanted, he punched through a glass window and pushed his way inside. I vaguely heard a clamor as he rummaged about.

  I was just trying to remain conscious and alert. I released chemical reserves to help. I needed to remember this.

  @bronzelion returned with a long cable in his hands. He wrapped it around what must have been a post between the windows or a rafter in the ceiling. I couldn't be sure. Then he looped it around my arms.

  He pulled, slowly easing me upwards so that I was hanging vertically in front of the broken glass, hanging uselessly, straining to breathe, on display for all to see.

  I heard a shout down the hallway.

  @bronzelion glanced in that direction, then calmly stepped back and laughed at me. "This is where your authenticity leads," he spat. "To a slow human death. Cling to your ship, @kittyboy. It won't matter in the days to come."

  I tried to say something, but that wasn't going to happen. I tried to spit, but I couldn't feel my face. I had probably managed to drool at him, at least.

  He could tell I wanted to say something.

  @bronzelion put his face close. "Once you see our strength, you might just decide to join us. A new war is coming." He patted me where my cheek probably was. "But it will be over soon."

  Then he walked off in the direction of the shout.

  I heard a clamor of footsteps. I couldn't tell how many people there were. At first, I thought I would be saved, but the footsteps stopped, and there was no fighting. Only silence. They were not my allies.

  "It's no use. Jamming signals," a woman's voice said. "The station's on alert. We have to go analog."

  I couldn't turn my head, but I recognized the voice. It was Claire, @clairevoyant, my Outer System Alliance panel member, the mogul who ran Clairevoyant Transport Company (CTC). I couldn't believe it, and at the same time, I wasn't surprised. I was angry. I knew there was a shipping component. I just didn't know which one.

  @bronzelion grunted.

  "David, you have to get out of here," she urged. "What are you doing?"

  "It's fine," I heard him say. "It's time for phase 3. We're prepared for this. Racecar will pick us up. Tell Timble to meet me there. Get to your ship."

  "I need to get back to the committee," she insisted.

  "No," he responded. His voice started to fade as they hurried off. "We're done here. Get to your ship."

  Between pained breaths, I tried to assemble the pieces of what had just happened, to process it before I passed out.

  @bronzelion, @clairevoyant, Thimble, and Racecar.

  The last two had to be codenames. I queried @thimble and found an independent insurance agent on Mars who sold insurance policies into the mining industry. @racecar worked as a bartender on Eros. Yes, it could be them, but I suspected I was looking for someone with more money or more power.

  Power and money, @horus had said. I believed he was right.

  What was clear was that @bronzelion wanted to incite fear and distrust. Fear of the virus. Distrust in one another.

  Expecting the Solar Union and Outer System Alliance to work together in the first place was a stretch. Now we couldn't even trust those within our own ranks. They were working to destroy us from within. As we self-destructed in the aftermath, they would spring on us to finish us off.

  I didn't need to futurecast to understand what phase 3 was.

  Our enemy had shown its face, but they still remained hidden amongst us. They stretched across the entire solar system, across governments and factions. And they were coming for us. Soon. While the chaos of the virus was fresh. Before we could organize or stabilize the situation.

  I had thought this was our moment, a historic moment that aiways would remember, a moment of unification between the warring governments.

  No. It was their moment.

  The enemies among us were about to reveal themselves.

  My tired brain latched on to the only thing it could.

  What do I do now?

  I needed my crew. I needed Oblivion. It was time to keep our loved ones close and save what we could. And it was time to fight.