Admiral Vorn watched as the engineer worked. Travis, his chief engineer, hovered nearby, both fascinated by the tracking device and terrified at having been told about it. It was dangerous knowledge, the kind that could see a man the wrong end of a firing squad.
The engineer seemed oblivious to the danger he was in. He was focused intently on his task. While Vorn couldn’t follow everything, he could tell the engineer was skilled. It presented him with a problem. Travis wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone. He knew the likely punishments if he did. The engineer, though, couldn’t be counted on to keep his mouth shut.
On the other hand, it was possible Vorn would need such help again. While he had no objection to having members of his crew killed when needed, the idea of wasti
