The Deserter's Contract

Delia Okonjo ran the Union's ammunition train for eleven years and never fired a shot in anger. Then she read a manifest she wasn't supposed to read and walked away with two cargo birds, a stolen payroll, and a shell shipment the fleet would like to pretend isn't real. Warrant Officer Nile Brahme has one job: bring her back, or bring her body. Nine days in a shared cockpit should settle it. Instead he lies to a patrol, loses his pension, and lets her read him the shell specification aloud, twice, until he agrees to testify. The hearing is one landing away. The bullet in the corridor is not in either of their plans.