Excerpt from: Karanvan's Dawn

Unlike the Ekalnite, who had plucked his clothes from the shuttle floor and was beginning to re-dress himself, Trader was only interested in pushing his way out of the shuttle. He left the small bay at a dead run, closing the distance between the door and the ladder to the starboard tube as quickly as his legs would carry him.

His mind raced in tandem with his body. The Sirrenti had almost killed them.  But they'd failed, and if he didn't take advantage of this opportunity, he might never get another one.  There were thousands of them below the surface. Maybe more on other parts of the planet. And now it was their turn.  They would die for what they did today.  Die for what they'd done to Voori, to Indi, to Chas, to his parents, to every innocent in the galaxy whose life had been annihilated without mercy. He was going to kill them all.

He reached the ladder and practically flew up it. He hurled himself toward the door to the engine room, his fingers thumped the keys, entering the access code, and then he was facing the weapons wall. Dropping to his knees, he detached a case and dragged it across the floor, out into the sitting area. Anabel's blanket lay where she'd pushed it that morning, in a crumpled heap at the end of the couch. Grabbing it, he spread it out on the floor and then rolled the weapon onto it.

"What is that?"

He glanced up at Anabel. She had been there, too, knew firsthand how evil the Sirrenti were. She would understand. "It's a . . . neoplasic device," he said between tugs. He'd almost lost his life obtaining the weapon, but everything he'd gone through to get it was worth it in light of this day.

"That's a bomb in there?" she asked softly.

"A bomb?" Jase repeated, popping his head up the tube and clambering up onto the deck, Va'Heta right behind him. "Did she say a bomb?

"That's what she said."

Trader cut him off before he could continue conversing with himself. 

"It's a neo.  It'll kill the Sirrenti.  All of them."        

"Neo devices were outlawed by the League," Jase exclaimed.  "They're too destructive.        

"That's right," he agreed with himself.  "Everything on the planet will be destroyed."

"He can't do this."

"No, he can't!"

"I can, and I will.  Now get out of my way."  Trader reached for his holster but his hand slapped against his bare thigh. He moved forward again, pulling the heavy bomb closer to the edge of the tube.  "Va'Heta," he said.  "Keep him back."

"Why do you think I would?" the Ekalnite asked.  "I've heard how those things work.  The poison inside spreads across the whole planet."        

"Yes, yes," Jase exclaimed. "The agent goes from the water to the air and any living thing that touches it or breathes it dies."

Anabel also moved in front of Trader. She'd noticed his motion to reach for his laser, and while she hated using what they had together like this, right now she had no other choice. "We only saw one part of that world," she said. "The Sirrenti might not be the only beings on it."

"The sea life!" Jase cried. "All my work, lost!"        

"The effects of that bomb will last for decades," Va'Heta said.  "What if someone else lands on the planet?"        

Trader stared at them, eyes wide, hearts racing wildly.  "Don't you get it yet?  This--"  He gestured toward the neo.  "--is what we're here for.  What the entire mission is about!  The Sirrenti deserve it!  They need to die for what they did! If you don't want to help, don't!"  He took a deep breath before pushing on.  "But I'm not going to let you stop me."

Anabel wanted to run. The look on his face wasn't one she'd seen before, and in this state, maybe he would hurt her if she tried to stop him. But she didn't move, and neither did the others, although Jase's mutterings to himself were growing more and more panicky.

"You can't drop that thing," Va'Heta argued.  "You're not yourself-- you don't know what you're doing."

"This isn't what the hub is about," Anabel added. "It isn't about destroying planets. That's what the Sirrenti do. Not us."

"The world is worth the sacrifice if it stops them," Trader argued. He looked at Va'Heta. "You of all people should understand that! You survived Marmara. How many others didn't? How many others won't? Help me stop them."

"Not like this. We want to fire at their ships, fine. But I won't stand here and watch you-- or help you-- set that thing off."

Trader turned to Jasecci next. "Tell them the planet is uninhabited. That's what the star charts say. Tell them!"

"But Jase was there," Anabel said.

Trader was silent for a moment, and then his shoulders sagged. "Maybe you're right." In the next instant he was shoving between them, swinging the bomb out over the starboard tube, letting it pull him down to the deck below.