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received. LodeStar paid handsomely to keep them.
    Panthar’s eyes gleamed.
    “You’re both forgetting the heroics of Commander Jag, on the Orion ’s first voyage,” he put in smoothly. “Doesn’t hurt to have a Tyger on board.”
    “Easy, big guy,” Ogg quipped. “No bloodletting on this voyage. Nice and peaceful.”
    Panthar shrugged.
    “Maybe—maybe not. We still don’t know who hired the slime-worm with the bio-bomb on our first voyage, or who paid off two of our own to sabotage us on the second voyage.”
    At this reminder, the levity around the command console faded. They looked to Captain Craig, faces grave, waiting to hear if there was a name, a face, an organization on which to focus.
    “We don’t know—yet—who is behind the attacks, except that we are going to make damned sure it cannot happen again,” he said grimly. “The Orion and her sister ship the Cassiopeia are en voyage, each carrying three hundred some passengers and crew. The Pegasus is online to disembark in a few months. If we don’t discover soon who’s behind these sabotage attempts, we’re risking the lives of hundreds of LodeStar crew and passengers and the livelihoods of thousands more. There are plenty of other shipping lines who would swoop in and take our business.”
    He nodded at Sirena.
    “Commander Blaze will brief you on our security upgrades.”
    Sirena leaned forward, glad to have a chance to channel the anger that uncoiled at mention of the terrorist attacks—especially the one that had come from within her own guard.
    “Holo-vid, bring up security command crew brief.”
    “You all know about our new security debriefing system,” she said.
    The others nodded with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. All LodeStar crew, from the guards to the galley assistants, were now required to undergo an extensive mind scan before each voyage. This meant a mentally draining session in the medical clinic on board the Orion , but guaranteed that any plans to harm LodeStar cruise and transport spaceships would be discovered.
    “Had this been in place before our last voyage, we would have known the saboteurs’ plans before we disembarked,” she reminded them.
    Halix’s round lavender face brimmed with pride. He and Commander Navos had combined their skills in mind scanning and technology to create the new system.
    “We also have the new holographic micro-scanners in place, as well,” Slyde put in, gesturing at the holographic display to pinpoint an area of the ship and magnify it. “These will examine the luggage and cargo minutely. Passengers obviously wouldn’t put up with the extensive mind scans, but they are physically scanned as they enter the boarding area. Reports fed into our computer system will bring any anomalies to the attention of crew, so that any suspect cargo or being can be examined further and if necessary neutralized or removed.”
    “For example, if a dragon tried to board?” Panthar lifted one sleek brow. “Heard we had a sighting last night.”
    The others chuckled.
    “Merely an excitable young passenger,” Sirena said.
    “Can’t do anything about those,” said Craig dryly. “But with these new systems in place, I believe we can all do our jobs, confident in the security of the Orion . Mr. Halix?”
    Halix beamed. “Thank you, Captain. We have some rather special passengers coming aboard—a royal household of Aquarius. Prince Azuran and his retinue will take up a large block of staterooms, including Mr. Stark’s personal suite. They have also reserved the adjacent ballroom for evening entertainments. They will be a large party—forty-five, er, beings altogether.”
    “Beings?” Sirena echoed, raising her brows.
    “The prince travels with a variety of life forms from the far reaches of the galaxy, including several that boarded from a Pangaean shuttle last night. He visited there recently and was intrigued by some of their, er, wildlife.”
    “Any that will need to be confined to the