Veerna ducked, and the bullet shot past her head, narrowly missing her. "That's enough!" In the same movement as when she had ducked, Veerna had pulled her gun from its holster, and was now aiming it at Sareen. The two cousins stood, facing each other, guns trained at the other. "You shoot and I shoot. You really want to die, Sareen?"

"You wouldn't dare," Sareen snarled.

"Wouldn't I?" Veerna retorted. "You're threatening my life. I think I deserve the chance to shoot you. Do you really want to test that?"

"It would be worth it," Sareen said, squeezing the gun, but not yet pulling the trigger.

Veerna shrugged slightly. "You could shoot me," she said. "Or we could come to an ... agreement."

"What kind of an agreement are you talking about?" Sareen asked, her gun not wavering. Veerna's didn't either.

"A pardon," Veerna said.

"I don't think a pardon's going to get you very far, Veerna."

"No duh," Veerna retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Not a pardon for me. A pardon for the people you framed to cover up a crime that you committed."

Sareen tensed. "I don't know what you mean."

"Stop being stupid and listen to me," Veerna insisted. "I'm being serious. I want a pardon for the following people. Don Collego. Xander Weni. Suzan Weni. Christine Chase. Melody Chase. Yulia Threden." Veerna dug into her pocket and pulled out a communicator. "I'm going to turn this on. It'll patch in to the Federation's network, and you can tell them that you're granting those people a pardon. Then I'll drop the gun and you can do whatever you want to me."

"Do my ears deceive me?" Sareen questioned with a frown. "Is Veerna Vold finally caring about someone? Still my beating heart."

"I can arrange that," Veerna retorted. "I don't want to kill you, Sareen. I never have. Today, I came here to die. Because I know you will shoot me. I think I knew, the instant you shot Xander to try and get to me. You don't care what kind of chaos you leave in your wake, as long as I die."

"So what?"

"So, this is the path of least destruction," Veerna replied. "If you do this, then the only that has to die is me."

"What changed your mind?" Sareen couldn't help but ask.

Veerna tried not to think about Don. "They were willing to help me, even though I was a monster and everything they hated. Which is more than you ever did. They are worth it to fight and die for. Which is more than can be said for you."

Anger darkened Sareen's expression, but something kept her from shooting at Veerna. "So, if I agree to this, you'll drop your weapon and let me kill you without a fight?"

"Yes. I'm tired of fighting."

"What else changed your mind?" Sareen pressed. "There must be something."

"Leem."

That darkened Sareen's face further, though with grief this time, not anger. "Leem is dead."

Veerna shook her head. "I thought so too, until a few years ago. She's very much alive ... and she's the Empress of Vold."

Sareen's hand trembled. "She's alive?"

"Yes," Veerna said, softly. "And she's grown. You should see her now, Sareen. She's beautiful. A much more beautiful person than either of us will ever be."

"She always was," Sareen answered in the same tone. She looked up, and for the first time since that fateful day on Vold, when she met Veerna's eyes, there was no hatred in her gaze. "I'm ready to make that deal with you, Veerna."

"Good," Veerna said, and hit the button to hack into the Federation's airwaves.

"This is Commander Sareen," she said. "By my commands, the charges against the following individuals shall be dropped and they will be absolved of all their crimes. Doctor Don Collego, Officer Xander Weni, Doctor Suzan Weni, Captain Christine Chase, Doctor Melody Chase, and Yulia Threden will be given pardons. They will be permitted to return to the Federation and will be unbothered by any members of the Federation. I repeat, this order is final and made by Commander Sareen."

Veerna clicked the button to shut it off and tossed aside the remote. A ship zipped past them, and she had a bad feeling that she knew who was onboard. She looked up at Sareen. "This must be dealt with quickly. The occupants of that ship are coming to stop this."

"You're not going to drop your gun, are you?" Sareen snapped. "You backstabber!"

Veerna laughed. "I, unlike you, have something called 'honor'," she said. "I made a deal with you, Sareen, and I'm going to keep it." She let the gun slip through her fingers and drop to the ground. Then she kicked it away for added effect and heard it bounce down the cliff she'd worked so hard to climb. "See?"

Sareen kept her gun trained on Veerna. "At last," she said. "You're mine."

"It seems funny," Veerna commented. "The way Leem described it, we were the best of friends when we were younger. I can only remember those times by thinking that we were always enemies. Even my memories are stained ..."

To her credit, Sareen still hadn't regained her expression of hatred and fury. "Mine as well. But it ends now. Perhaps when you're gone, I can remember those times fondly again ..."

"Maybe," Veerna said. "For your sake, I hope so."

"You ... for my sake?" Sareen seemed puzzled. "Why do you care?"

"I don't hate you. I've never hated you." Veerna shrugged. "You're my cousin. My enemy, maybe. But also my cousin. Family. For the longest time, I thought you were the only person I had left. Even though that's no longer true, you were still all I had."

"Even when I wanted to kill you?"

"Even then." Veerna met her gaze frankly. "I'm not trying to get you to not kill me, Sareen. I know that's a hopeless battle. I just ... I just wanted you to know that."

Sareen nodded slowly. "I wish you'd been like this after—after Vold. Then maybe it wouldn't have had to be like this. But I guess that's just wishful thinking."

"Or maybe I always was, and you just refused to see it," Veerna replied. "Whichever you prefer. But it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? For better or for worse, it's all over now."

"I guess it is," Sareen agreed, narrowing her eyes.

"Stop!" Veerna looked over her shoulder to see Leem scrambling up the mountain, her white hair whipping around her face, panting slightly. Behind her were Xander and Don.

"Well, I wasn't expecting her to come," Veerna muttered.

Sareen kept her gun on Veerna, but her eyes were intent on Leem. "You!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to stop you from doing something stupid," Leem responded, motioning the two young men back. "You don't want to kill her, Sareen. She's your cousin! You were best friends! Remember those times, Sareen. Remember what you used to be!"

"She's a criminal," Sareen insisted. "She deserves this!"

"Does she?" Leem questioned. "Or are you finally seeing things in a different light? She's not cruel, Sareen. She has a heart. Maybe she made some bad choices, but didn't you as well?"

Veerna's eyes were drawn to the weapon in Don's hand, his intention obvious. "Donny, put the gun away," she said in a low voice. "The choice has been made."

"It's not your choice to make, Veerna," Don said. "You can't just throw your life away like this!"

"I'm not throwing it away, you nincompoop," she said. "I'm finally doing something good with it. Which is probably a miracle in of itself. So don't ruin my moment."

Xander watched silently, holding his rifle with the barrel pointed down. "This isn't smart," he disagreed. "You're throwing your life away."

"Ugh," Veerna said. "You don't get it, do you? I'm finished with this. With everything. So don't try to convince me otherwise, because it'd just be a waste of your breath. Besides, you need to get Leem out of here."

"What? Why?" Leem took a step towards Veerna.

"Because this planet is going to explode from the plague in about fifteen minutes," Veerna replied. "Which I don't want any of you to be a part of. Let me do this, Don."

Don shook his head, but his face was white. "Don't make me. Please."

"Do it, Sareen," Veerna ordered.

Sareen looked at Veerna, but also looked at Don. Her expression was difficult to read. "I am sorry, Don. But I must do my job."

"Sareen, no!" Don yelled, raising his gun. But Leem used that old fighting tactic they'd learned from Sareen's father—karate?—to chop Don's wrist, knocking the gun from his hand. Thank the stars for Leem, Veerna thought as she turned.

The thought was the last one in Veerna's head as Sareen fired her gun once more. The shot tore through flesh, near Veerna's heart. It had nearly been a bulls-eye. The Voldinian collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut, her eyes open, but unseeing, black blood pouring from the fatal wound, her limp hand extended towards Don.

Veerna Vold was dead.