Her recruitment was a coup for the Space Force, especially when she joined the fighter corps. News feeds trumpeted it across the dozen client systems: The spirit of Sol Imperium had reached even Capristani, avowed pacifists since their founding. Even their infamous passive resistance had a limit.

Capremali rose to the top of her class like fine cream and stayed there. She endured being called Emily and veiled comments about rising above her roots. She would have put the scions of military dynasties to shame, had they known any; as it was, she earned their respect.

The Space Force chose her—rising star, ally of powerful families, media darling, and political triumph—to pilot the first Kuiper-class Angler-3, newest space fighter in the Force and valued at the GDP of a small planet.

Her first mission, to disable a refinery on strike, was catastrophic. Three minutes in, her A-3 threw up a dozen warnings including reactor failure, and she ejected, mission failed. Trillions in Angler revaluations followed, finding no clear fault, and Capremali flew three more missions before her superiors realized she was sabotaging her fighter before it could ever harm a soul.

There are more ways than one to passively resist.