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exoskeleton or lounging in a saltwater tank while flying. Despite this, Zala demanded she remain by my side. If she was willing to sit in a folding chair in the corner not occupied by Snarg’s coiled form and my tank, then it was fine by me.
    “There would be more room if your pet wasn’t here. Is there any reason she can’t sit in the cargo bay?” she said.
    “She’s a nervous flyer,” I said as I punched in coordinates.
    Snarg gurgled. Her claws tore scratches into the metal floor.
    Venusian warriors prided themselves on their fearlessness, but Zala backed away from the anxious ultrapede. “Wouldn’t it be wiser to restrain the creature?”
    “You wouldn’t say that if you saw how she reacts to being caged.”
    Snarg arched her back and screeched unhappily.
    I activated the navigation system. The saucer lifted off.
    “I still don’t understand what you’re doing, Mollusk,” said Zala. “This is foolishness.”
    “And what would you suggest I do?” I asked. “Surrender myself to Venusian protective custody and be hidden away while you attempt to get to the bottom of this?”
    “It’s sensible.”
    “I’ve never been the kind to let others solve my problems, Zala.”
    “So instead you fly straight into your enemy’s open jaws. Perhaps the tales of your evil genius are overstated. Or does your ego make you assume that no one else can handle this problem?”
    “Let’s reverse the situation. Hypothesizing that you were the one who was the target of assassination. Would you feel comfortable sitting under guard while someone else…handled the problem?”
    “I would do as ordered.”
    I chuckled. “You’re sidestepping the question.”
    “As a soldier—”
    Zala had spent enough time obsessing over me that she could read the unconvinced look on my face.
    “Without the chain of command, there is only anarchy,” she said.
    “That’s still not an answer.”
    And then Zala did something I never expected. She thought about it. It wasn’t easy for her. Her gray brow furrowed and her blue lips pursed. She shifted in her seat several times. I had never thought Zala stupid, but imagination had never been her strongest attribute. But there must have been something buried under all that training, and it poked its head out to peer into the light for just a moment.
    “Mollusk, if I were you, I would hope that I would be sensible enough to know when I was being foolish. But I know you, and I know that, aside from your need to be self-reliant and your complete lack of trust in the abilities of those around you, that you would rather die than be caged.”
    I pushed a few buttons that didn’t need pushing. When I glanced behind me, she was sitting there, just smiling.
    “It must be irritating,” she continued. “To have that great intellect at your disposal and yet you’re not sure what to do with it. I’d imagine it must be quite a burden finding challenges worthy of it.
    “What I don’t understand, Mollusk, is, if you’re so smart, why aren’t you satisfied unlocking mysteries of the universe. Surely, there must be some grand equation or amazing scientific breakthrough you could be offering the universe right now. But instead you’re zipping around, fighting assassins. A bit unseemly for a genius of your caliber, if you ask me.”
    I’d created a monster. Now that Zala was thinking, she was on a roll. But I saw a chance to interrupt, and I took it.
    “This is not the work of the Celebrants of Oblivion,” I said.
    “What makes you say that?”
    I replied, “The Celebrants of Oblivion are a legendary cult of death-worshipping nihilists that haven’t even been proven to exist. If such a cult exists it surely doesn’t employ outside assistance from Atlantese mercenaries with questionable loyalty. It certainly doesn’t launch halfhearted assassination attempts that are more likely to fail than succeed.”
    “You aren’t telling me you were never in any danger, are you?”
    “No, there was