Rachel leaned back, looked at the faces arrayed before her in the Patrices' living room, and exhaled. No matter what she decided, if someone got hurt, it would be her fault. Just like it always was. "I don't know how we…" "Captain Wu, we've—" Rachel grabbed the radio, hanging off her belt, out of instinct as soon as she heard Sir Anderson's voice. "Chen Nuhn Jwei, what's goin' on? Sir Anderson?" She glanced up at Saul—he was already throwing on his coat. "No more splitting up. We all go. Now." Mona couldn't see, and the seal the sack made around her head meant she couldn't hear too well either, but she could still feel, and from the degree of resistance against her foot she was fairly certain she'd managed to kick one of them. "Ling huo wa!" The smaller man wheeled around in the saddle, rubbing the sore spot where her heel had jammed into his back. His companion grinned. "Told you to watch them girly shoes, Mort." "Ah, tui tai dang tai pi gu…Why'on't you carry 'er some? We's almos' there anyhow." The larger thug grunted, moving his horse back to meet his friend's and sliding the girl over to rest behind him. As he did, the bag slid away from Mona's face. She squinted against the bright light spilling into the narrow canyon, but immediately began to thrash again. "Mei yong ma duh tse gu yong! Where're you takin' me?" "Shaddup, biao zi, or we c'n kill ya just as easy right here!" "Misser Stoltz said we's s'posed t' bring 'er back to the house." "Who gives a fei xing mi tian goh qiu, long as they finds th' body?" When she heard this, Mona's struggling slackened, and the thug grinned down at her horrified expression. "See, Misser Stoltz don't like gettin' made a fool out of. Think you's gonna be an example to them as don't understand who owns this town." Mona's face tightened into a grimace—it took everything she had not to start crying. "My crew's gonna kill you." The two men kept grinning. Rachel cleared the cargo ramp just as Daphne finished helping Sir Anderson to his feet. Leo ran forward to check on his uncle, but the Companion shook her head. "He's fine. He was out cold when I came down, though. Rachel…" The captain turned her head. "I can't find Mona. I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything, I just came down to make some tea and…" Rachel whipped around to face Patrice. "Where's Stoltz live?" "Down at the end of the canyon. They carved it out for copper before the war, and Zu Fu Stoltz put up a big house in the shallow part." Saul shook his head uncertainly. "It's pretty far, and they've got a mean head start." Patrice's wife nodded sadly. "And we couldn't never afford no horses, neither." Mariah squinted. "We can fly Artemis in." Rachel shrugged her off. "Warmin' up the engines'd take too long. I'm takin' the mule." "Don't conjure that thing's fast enough." Rachel ignored Dex and continued to the three-wheeled vehicle backed into the side of the cargo bay. "Would be with only one rider." "Rach, you can't be serious…" "Captain, think about this…" "Rachel, please!" "Bi jweh rang kai!" Rachel's hand reached for the handlebar, but Dex's came down on top of it. "Rach, what the hell's goin' on with you?" Rachel jerked her hand out of his as she kick-started the mule and pulled out into the center of the cargo bay. "Never again. I promised!" "Carly…" The big man sighed. "What now, Mort?" "She's lookin' at me funny." "Oh, git yerself a spine, Mort." The smaller man looked sideways at the teenager. Even thrown across the back of Carly's saddle, she still managed to stare up at him icily. "What? What you lookin' at?" "I'm jus' picturing what you'll look like with another hole in your head." "Carly!" "Oh, relax, ya da wa. Help me git 'er off the horse." As Mort lifted their captive's legs off the back of the horse, his head jerked up. "D'you just hear somethin'?" "No, I didn't hear nothin'." "Ye sure? Sounded like an engine, or summat." Carly shook his head. "Mort, I swear, one more word out of you…" The first bullet tore neatly through the bridge of the massive thug's nose, and Mona grunted as his arms went slack and she slapped to the ground. She only caught a glimpse of Rachel rushing down the hill, the mule slid into the sand behind her, before the other man twisted her arms behind her back. "Captain!" "Jasmine!" Rachel shouldered her way through the crowds, still thick even on the edge of town, but it was no good—she was starting to lose sight of her sister. She was approaching the town's fortress-like gates, and the crowd only seemed to be growing thicker. By the time she managed to fight her way through into the relative calm beyond the gate, it was already far too late. "Mortimer, give 'er here!" The thug passed a struggling Mona to the man who had appeared at the gate in the high adobe walls surrounding the house—Stoltz. "Now, gut that jien huo." Stoltz retreated through the gate, and Mort followed him—trying to keep the adobe between him and his opponent. Rachel circled around calmly, even methodically, two shots at the wall discouraging any ideas the thug might have had. They were now on opposite sides of the wide gate, trading pot shots while ducking out from behind cover. Rachel's first shot slammed into the wall—her second, into the man's shoulder. As he writhed on the ground, cursing at her in Chinese, her third had little trouble with the rest of him. "You wanna turn around real slow, whore!" She did—the barrel of Stoltz's pistol was digging into Mona's hair. "You hur bao duhn bei bi shiou ren, you think you can come t' my town, spit on my 'thority 'thout me makin' a example outta you?" "Put her down, so I can kill you." Stoltz grinned and pushed Mona against the inner curtain wall—she grunted as her head slammed into the adobe. "Guess I'll kill her second, then." He grinned. "I might not be a fancy Core gentleman but I can still ruttin' count. You fired six shots at my boys. You ain't no got no bullets left." Stoltz was still grinning as one of Rachel's four remaining bullets shattered his clavicle. "Get with the times," she hissed through clenched teeth. Mona tried to speak, but the captain wasn't looking at her. She was marching forward, Stoltz still writhing on the ground, eyes narrowed. The Alliance had rarely used conventional land mines in their campaigns, but in the case of their abandoned military bases, it was a safety measure to prevent Independent forces from reusing their structures. Rachel heard the pop when she was still mired in the crowd, and she broke free just in time to watch helplessly as what was left of Jasmine hit the ground. Stoltz looked up at her with genuine fear in his eyes. Rachel fired. There was nothing left in her eyes when Rachel ran to her, through the well-meaning onlookers who had tried to hold her back. Jasmine was staring into space, eyes glazed over, her own blood spattering her cheeks. But…she was supposed to take care of her. She never even said goodbye. Rachel was still firing long after she'd run out of ammunition. It was only when Mona's hand touched her shoulder that the hollow clicking sound registered in her ears and, finally, she collapsed to the ground, Mona's arms wrapped around her as she cried. "We appreciate all you've done. Whole town does." Dex nodded. "You figured on what you're gonna do with Stoltz's house?" Patrice shrugged. "Burn it maybe. Turn it into a museum. Ain't no one really ever had the chance to think about it." Annie wrapped her arm tightly around her husband's waist, each of them with a hand on the bulge in her stomach. "Y'all ever need anything, you got friends here in Orville." Saul nodded politely, then shot a glance at his captain. She was still staring out over the prairie, a far off look in her eyes. But something was different. He shook his head and went to check the new cargo containers. Dex, Leo, and Mariah waved as the Patrices stepped off the cargo ramp, and Dex slapped the button to retract it. Rachel watched the horizon narrow, then looked down. The white and orange kitten—Mona still hadn't decided on a name—nuzzled against her boot. She smiled slightly in spite of herself, looked back up at the last fleeting glimpse of Orville, Athens, shut her eyes…and said goodbye.