At some unseen signal, his Lordship abandoned the view and came to join them.

  Heath panicked. Did he bow in this scenario, or would that look weak? He chose instead a page out of Noborov’s book, opting for a deep nod without implying actual submission. Though he realized a moment too late that copying a Servant might not have been the best choice in this either.

  “Captain, thank you for joining me.”

  There was no way he was referring to this man as Frost God. “Lord Althalas,” Heath chose instead, “I appreciate the opportunity.”

  “Getting down to business already, I can respect that. We would like to purchase the condenser. I believe this to be a fair offer.” With a flick of his finger, a message came across to Heath’s borrowed pad.

  He scanned the details and had to force himself not to hit accept immediately. That was a lot of zeros. More than he had ever seen in one bank account. Heath gave himself twenty seconds to fantasize.

  That much money and they could buy enough argo to outfit the Loon for years – no, decades to come. Or they could potentially pay off the former owner of the Wraith. With that kind of seed money, they would be the best haulers on the rim. He let the fantasy play out. They would return, triumphant. But not as the Loon. The Imperial Regulators couldn’t be bought off, and they were registered as pirates. The lawkeepers would come for Heath and his crew. They would fight. His crew might even win. Then far more dangerous people would come. It didn’t matter how fast they leveled, there was always a stronger Classer. And for a crew that flouted Imperial law, they would find someone dangerous enough to stop them. Maybe even Lord Althalas himself.

  Or they left the Empire, with plans never to return. He thought about Ekaterina beside him, she had to know what her father was doing. Enough money to keep her comfortable, but never able to visit home again. He knew his mother would have rejected the same choice outright.

  “Thank you for the offer,” he said, “but I’m afraid I can’t accept. We are looking for something more ephemeral. You heard of our struggles last night. In exchange for something as rare as the condenser, surely assistance is a viable trade.”

  Heath sent over his counteroffer. Gear, training while they were here, shipping contracts. They had packed it with plenty of options, to give Heath the room for negotiating down. And there was the the one non-negotiable. Expunging their records and clearing their names. Making sure the Loon could fly anywhere in the Empire without fearing official reprisal.

  “Mana condensers are rare, it's true. But not that rare. It would be a boon, but not one I need. Your price is too high.”

  “Father –”

  It was Heath’s turn to cut Ekaterina off for once. “I’m glad we’re here to negotiate then.”

  Lord Althalas smiled. It wasn’t friendly. “Indeed. A counter proposal. You and your crew are looking to improve yourselves. That is a calling we value highly in our young people. Your ship is flagged as a pirate vessel, nothing to be done about that. But for you all, a new identity and a place amongst the House vassals. We reward hard work here, and you know how to do that.”

  Heath recognized that a not-quite-adoption was probably generous, but he couldn’t even acknowledge the suggestion of abandoning the Loon. “But there is something that can be done about it.” All the gods' blessings on Jenny Mae’s research skills. “There is legal precedent for such a flag to be removed. I’m sure with your resources, such a feat would be easier, perhaps even cheaper, than five new identities.”

  He forwarded another packet of information. The case was old, dating from before the current dynasty, but it existed. Another group who had been declared pirates, and then had that declaration reversed through some legal quagmire that Heath didn’t understand. But Jenny Mae had assured him the precedent was valid.

  “I don’t think you know the value of what you're asking,” Lord Alathalas said.

  “Surely a House with holdings as vast as yours has plenty of Lawyers and Advocates on hand.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  A ghost of a smile crossed the nobleman’s lips. “We do, but a case like this can’t be argued by any of them.” Heath froze. Their entire argument hinged on the legal favors. “Piracy is considered an affront against the very basis of the Empire. A case like this would need to be heard in the Court of the Immortals. That means a rank five Lawyer, evolved or not, at minimum. Do you know how many Classers like that there are in the Empire?”

  Heath’s thoughts raced. There were tens of thousands of worlds in the Empire. Many of which housed billions of people. Many would be unClassed, and of the rest few would be that strong. But that still left plenty of options, the math said so. “Ten thousand,” he said.

  That got him a genuine-sounding laugh from Aleksandr, which landed as a pit in Heath’s stomach. “Try again.”

  “One thousand.”

  “Lower still.”

  “Father, really.”

  “One hundred.” Heath was desperate now. He could feel it all slipping away, but he refused to give in. A Captain did not abandon their ship.

  “Sixteen.” Lord Althalas said.

  It took Heath a moment to realize the man had answered his own question. “Sixteen,” he repeated faintly.

  “They are dangerous, ruthless, and in high demand. To a one, they have the next century at least booked solid. It will cost more than my original offer to hire one, and get them to rearrange their work to look at this in the next decade, let alone immediately.”

  Heath took stock of his options while trying not to imagine the kind of person that Lord Aleksander ‘kids should be allowed to die on their Journeys’ Althalas described as ruthless.

  Joining the Althalas House was out, he simply couldn’t abandon the Loon. The others would understand that. Ekaterina would stay, she had to. Which would break up their little group. Jenny Mae wouldn’t want to abandon her family either, not with how she spoke about the ranch. Which left him, Copperfield, and Emerald. They would have to leave the Empire. The Alliance of Hegemons wouldn’t care about anything that happened in Imperial space. The Corps wouldn’t ask as long as they could pay the gate fees. Both would be friendly to haulers. Not the Oligarchy. None of them would make it amongst the fanatics.

  “Father, please.” Ekaterina’s entreaty stopped Heath’s spiral. “I do not wish to leave the Empire. If the condenser is not enough, then negotiate.”

  The announcement that Ekaterina would come with him absolutely flattened him. From the oh-so-brief surprise that had flashed across Aleksandr’s face, Heath thought he wasn’t alone in that.

  Lord Althalas nodded at his daughter and took a long moment to consider. “Very well. Noble Houses compete in many arenas, reputation foremost among them.” Heath assumed this lesson was for his benefit and nodded to show his understanding, despite not knowing at all where this was going. “New Classers can tip scales, and so the showings of the younger generations are critical.”

  “Father, no.” Ekaterina was clearly not in the dark.

  He did not acknowledge his daughter’s plea. “This is why we dedicate so much to training. There are many ways our young Classers prove themselves. Tournaments, exhibitions. We send our best and brightest out on Journeys, that they might grow in strength and understanding. There is one such opportunity that is considered more important than all the rest combined.”

  “There are plenty of other options.” Ekaterina was panicking now.

  “Have you heard of the Knight Guard of the Firmament?”

  “Father!”

  The shriek was distracting, but not distracting enough for Heath to miss what he had heard. “Everyone in the known realms has heard of them.”

  “Right you are. What is less well known is that every twenty five years, their lower-ranked dungeons align in such a way that provides an unprecedented advancement opportunity for the up-and-coming Classers of the Empire. As such, rising stars are invited to a training program hosted by the Guard. For those that succeed, the rewards are immense.

  “We had hoped Ekaterina would attend and represent us. But she had not yet formed a party when she left for her Journey. You present an opportunity.” He spread his arms wide as if to encompass the whole of the sky, the mountaintop, and the situation they found themselves in.

  “Young Captain, here is my final offer. I will take on the burden of clearing your name, and those of your crew. In turn you will give me the mana condenser, and you and your crew will enter the Firmament. And you will win. The Knights will tell you it is not a competition. They are lying. You will make it clear to all who see you that House Althalas is ascendent.

  “I will even throw in gear and training in the months before you must leave. We would never send representatives poorly attired.”

  There was only one answer to give. Even in the face of his friend’s obvious objections, Heath knew what he needed to do. “We accept.”

  “Excellent. Let’s adjourn below and get the technicalities squared away.”

  Like they hadn’t just agreed to something momentous, Lord Althalas disappeared and Aleksandr took over. He sent a what passed for a warm smile at the two of them and clapped a hand on their shoulders. Then space twisted once more. Though this time, they emerged not from the room Heath had entered, atop a miles-long shaft of mountain, but within a study.

  If you could still call it a study when the floorspace was larger than the interior of the Loon. It was more like an arena, dominated at one end with a desk that was probably spaceworthy on its own, with the amount of enchantments radiating off of it. Set in front of a wall of what Heath first thought was perfectly clear glass. And what he realized a moment later was simply open to the elements. Perfect design and a boatload of money must have been at work to keep the room from being as frigid as the grotto they had left behind.

  Heath and a pouting Ekaterina followed Aleksandr over to the desk, where a document was already waiting. It was only a few taps on the embedded screen to update the contract. In another universe, Heath would have been fascinated. He had heard of this kind of contract. A Lawyer – not one of the fearsome sixteen – could set the documents up to be finished when final terms had been settled upon. It kept full secrecy, without sacrificing any of the benefits of using a legal Classer in the first place.

  He didn’t think Aleksandr would try to cheat him outright. But he would be reading it front and back, and having Jenny Mae do the same before signing.