THE WEIGHT OF ONE: The Jovarko Incident

In the distant reaches of the galaxy, Captain Jovarko and his crew intercept an unknown signal from a nearby system. What they find is a massacre in progress: two ships of an unfamiliar alien race locked in a one-sided battle. One is a government warship. The other — smaller, outgunned, burning — is running for its life.

With no way out, the fleeing ship makes its final move: a full-burn collision course, straight into the heart of its pursuer. But a heartbeat before impact, the small ship launches a single escape pod — aimed directly at Jovarko's ship.

He catches it.

What emerges from the scorched hatch isn't a soldier, a weapon, or a plea for asylum. It's a child. Small, silent, reptilian, blinking up at a ring of armed guards with nothing but confusion in her eyes.

Jovarko doesn't know her name. He doesn't know where she came from. All he knows is that she's just a kid — and that someone was willing to burn a ship and its crew to keep her from getting away.