 
Trade Havok

S T Xavier

Published 2015

Copyright 2015 S T Xavier

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9906535-5-4

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. This eBook is licensed to the purchaser per the terms and conditions stated on the reseller site used to purchase this eBook.

# NOTE ON NAMES AND ACCENTS

Each world in the Ugly Dirt Box Universe was originally populated by a small subset of folk who were either happy to explore and settle a new world more to their liking, or who weren't interested in sharing Terra with everyone else and just wanted to leave. As such, each world has its own customs and architecture, as well as their own accents and thoughts on naming conventions.

As noted in Rylae's Storm, goblins have kept their original goblin naming conventions, but have simplified their names to be more socially acceptable. They also have no readable accent, but generally speak with a bit of a growl or hiss behind their words.

Dwarves exist on a scale between underground mining worlds (like Halyer) and overland industrial worlds (like Hallowforge). The underground worlds have a very thick accent that uses shortened words ('ya' instead of 'you', 'yer' instead of 'your', dropping the 'g' on the end of most '-ing' words). The overland worlds speak very formally, never dropping words or letters in their speech. Terra dwarves generally fall in the middle of the scale, and tend to follow the speech habits of dwarves they're conversing with.

Both goblins and dwarves have kept the "Old Terra" style of naming with their family names (e.g. Axesmith, Gravelhand, Darkrender, Dreadthief). There are no world-specific naming traits for these two races, although some last names may be more prominent on certain worlds to better match the world's culture (e.g. Gravelhand on Halyer, Gemcutter on Hallowforge).

Elf cultures were segregated on Terra long before the discovery of other worlds. Wood elves were of the larger population, and ended up becoming the overwhelming majority on Terra. They also settled Tir Tairngire, as that world was so close to Terra. They forsook the "Old Terra" naming style long ago, and name their families based on the "Old Elf" ways (e.g. Westiel, Aldamiel, Onoviel, Tsornsin, Ondoel).

Water elves, as the minority, took the first chance they had to leave Terra and settled on Andriennein, which is full of islands. They changed the original 'wood elf' pronunciation of the world to better suit themselves (previously 'Ahn-drehn-yihn', currently 'Ann-dree-eh-nine'), although both pronunciations are now used in the universe depending on who is speaking. They also changed to the "Old Terra" style of naming (e.g. Longbow, Goldencloak, Songdancer), and speak with a slightly more formal version of the common language, similar to overland dwarves.

There are other races and cultures, but as they have not yet been introduced, I won't describe them here. For homework, create a character in your favorite culture and have them describe themselves. This will be due next Tuesday. And no "the ice cats ate my homework" excuses. That only works once.

# CHAPTER ONE

"Ya never quite realize how many folk ya know until they want somethin' from ya."

Cap smiles and lifts his mug after saying that. I continue giving him a confused look, so he takes a drink, then chuckles. "That's what ya get for bein' so high on the List, Rylae. Welcome to politics and such."

I asked Cap to chat after I started getting dozens of unexpected messages from other commanders, battalion majors and captains asking me about ships. I figured Captain Elthen Gravelhand, the dwarf who has been captain of the UCST starship Corsari for the last fifteen years and mentor to his elven Executive Officer – me, Commander Rylae Westiel – for the last eight years, would be able to explain it to me. I have to admit that I expected more of an explanation than that, though. Then again, maybe I shouldn't have agreed to meet him at this bar near the UCST Academy, at which he arrived a full hour before I did.

I sigh and take a sip from my glass of wine. "Thanks, Cap. Knowing I deserve it makes me feel oh-so-much better."

He chuckles and takes another drink. "Silly elf. Hasn't that friend o' yers taught ya anything? Her mom bein' an Admiral and all, she should know this stuff!"

Commander Tanna Aldamiel is my best friend and unofficially-adopted big sister, as well as the Chief Engineer on my ship. Her mother, Maeralya Aldamiel, is an Admiral in the UCST in charge of personnel. Considering that, I shrug and take another drink. "I'm not even sure I'd know what questions to ask to find out if Admiral Mom knows anything about it."

He nods. "Lemme tell ya a quick story. I didn't get the Corsari 'cause I'm the best." He chuckles for a second, then continues, "Well, not _just_ 'cause I'm the best. But I was much lower on the list! I was around number 33 when I was offered the ship. Do ya know why?"

He waits for me to respond like I would have an answer for that. I just shrug and let him continue his story. He doesn't really want me to interrupt him anyway. Being his XO for this long has taught me that much, at least.

He smiles and takes another drink. "It's because I had to give out a lot of favors to get her! There were 32 officers on the List above me who had to pass on her command before I would get the offer. The Corsari's a popular ship, elf. Ya think those 32 officers would just pass it on to me fer no good reason? Of course not! I had to ask 'em fer 'considerations'." He puts his hands up and makes quotation marks in the air as he says the last word.

I lean my head to the side and continue listening. 'Considerations' is exactly the word that most of the messages I've been receiving have used. I honestly didn't know what they meant! For all I knew, they heard I was single again and wanted a date! Knowing that they're asking me to pass on certain command offers is a lot better than thinking all these high-ranking folk suddenly wanted to date me.

Cap sets his hands on the table. "I still haven't paid out all the favors I owe yet, especially to those career favor-collectors at the top. I honestly don't know what those five at the top even plan to use their favors for! They have to have more'n a hundred of 'em saved up by now!"

That peaks my interest. I'm at position 6 on the Official List for Starship Command, so the 'five at the top' are the five folk directly above me on the List. "More than a hundred favors?"

He grins and takes another drink. "Those five have been at the top of the list fer years, even when I was on it! They're never gonna take a ship of their own, so they just collect the favors from others below them in exchange for passing on the offers. A lot of folk in the top ten do that while waiting fer their ship to come available. In fact, that new dwarf captain of the Terra-Tairngire collected quite a few favors herself before Direclaw finally died. She was on the list fer awhile!"

Captain Rubyhewer was still a commander when I first met her as the XO of the message ship Terra-Tairngire. The offer of commanding a message ship came to me with the message which informed me of my place on the list, but I passed on it without having anyone offer me a favor in exchange. I just didn't want to command a message ship! When I first met Rubyhewer, I thought she didn't like me much because she thought I was going to take her ship. While that turned out to be true, there are additional reasons why she doesn't like me now.

But knowing that she was collecting favors to pass on other starships until Captain Direclaw died and she received the ship offer puts an entirely different spin on things. I thought I would just take the first interesting ship assignment that came along. I didn't realize that there was actually a way to make sure I got whatever ship I wanted!

I take a drink of wine and look at him closely. "So you're telling me that these folk are using the list for their own gain, and everyone's okay with that?"

He laughs loudly. "Says the girl who has the personnel Admiral in her back pocket! Ya can't tell me Aldamiel put ya so high on the list fer no reason!"

I narrow my eyes, stunned by the comment. "I never once asked Admiral Mom to do anything of the sort! In fact, I was originally supposed to be at position 27 until the whole Stenchstone thing was resolved and they moved me up!"

Cap shrugs and takes another drink, then waves a dwarf serving girl over to show her his empty mug. She doesn't say a word as she runs off to get him another one. "Alright. Calm down. I know ya didn't, elf. Ya did good work on Stenchstone. Ya deserved the placement. But now that yer up so high, ya got a lotta other folk who are gonna be mad. They gotta offer up another favor to stop ya from takin' the ship they've been workin' to get."

I shrug and take another drink of my wine, finishing my glass. "I'm used to folk not liking me."

The serving girl brings by another mug of ale for Cap and sets another glass of wine down at my elbow. Cap takes a drink, then sets his mug down with a happy sigh. "They don't like ya because ya gotta tell 'em no all the time. Hazard of the XO job. But with the List, the first time ya tell someone no ya end up landin' a ship assignment. If ya think they're mad now that they gotta owe another favor, they'll be _really_ mad if ya take their ship after they've worked so hard to offer favors to everyone else below ya!"

Great. Another angle to this mess I hadn't considered yet. "So what am I supposed to do to get a ship?"

Cap smiles behind his close-cropped beard, then stops and takes a drink. When he sets his mug back down, he shrugs. "Ya gotta play the game. Most folk are after a specific ship for some reason or other. Pick a ship ya want and work to get it. Send those five favor-hoarders above ya on the list a message offerin' 'em a favor to pass on whatever ship ya want, then check all those requests ya've been receivin' to make sure yer not steppin' on someone else's toes." He shrugs again and grins. "And if ya are, then step harder than they do!"

I take a long drink and sigh. "Well, I guess going through those requests will give me something to do once we're on our way to Hallowforge."

We just received notice yesterday of our next mission. Now that our main mana battery is fully recharged and our new ambassador, Commander Kesn Dreadthief, is finished with her training, the Admiralty decided it was time for us to get back to work. The six months we've been sitting on Terra haven't exactly been completely without work, but there's been a lot of down time. This trade meeting mission is a good first mission for a new ambassador, and a good simple mission to get everyone back up to readiness after all the down time.

Cap grins again, much larger than before, then takes another drink. He sets the mug down, still grinning, and leans back in his chair. "That reminds me. This mission is yers. I'm gonna stay here and continue helpin' Shockpaw with his return mission to Stenchstone. He just about has everythin' sorted out, and a couple more months o' workin' and waitin' for certain folk to arrive on-world should just about get it ready to go."

My empty glass falls out of my hand and hits the table, rolling across to bump into Cap's mug. I blink a few times, stunned, then shake my head and laugh. "That's a good one, Cap. Either you're drunker than I thought, or you've been saving that joke for a while! Well done!"

He laughs, sets my empty glass upright and picks up his mug to take another drink. "That's the funny part! I'm not kiddin'! You know I've been as busy as an elf tree-climber while workin' with His ExcellentPants on this whole 'makin' Stenchstone part o' the rest o' the universe' mission. If dealin' with Admiral Longbow and all his regulation crap hasn't been bad enough, workin' with Admiral Spiritmelter on the trade details has been terrible. That old dwarf is gonna go with us, and I kinda feel bad for Stenchstone's Majestic Damnness havin' to sort through Spiritmelter's crap."

He takes another drink and grimaces. "Admiral Foulfury's another mess. Zennis is difficult enough when I just have to look at her, but that goblin is a _complete_ pain in the ass when it comes to settin' up new facilities on a world. Bax is still talkin' about promotin' that Darkmuck kid to Commander to be in charge o' things out there, which Aldamiel's perfectly fine with, but Zennis is insistin' the kid doesn't have enough tenure to manage the setup of new facilities. She wants to put one o' her hand-picked project commanders out there to run things instead. That negotiation isn't goin' as well as we want it to."

Finishing his mug of ale on that thought, he motions to the serving girl for another one, then turns back to me and smiles. "So, elf, I can't really take the time away from this mission setup to go babysit a trade agreement meetin' between uppity dwarves and elves. Yer gonna have to do it for me."

I stare at him for a few minutes longer while all that sinks in. The serving girl brings us more drinks while I'm staring, and I take a drink from the new glass of wine before I respond. "Wow. Um... Thanks, Cap. But don't you think it's a better idea to have someone more experienced sitting with Kesn on her first mission?"

He chuckles. "Experience ain't gonna save ya if the meetin' goes belly-up like a dead rockfish! Yer gonna have to learn the hard way how these things work at some point or another. Might as well be right now! Besides, ya got a crew ya know ya can rely on that's backin' yer play. You'll be fine."

I nod and smile. "That's all true, I guess. I suppose it's just one of those things where I'll never feel like I'm ready."

He raises his mug. "Here's another Captain's trick for ya, then. Yer never ready. Ya just do what ya gotta do. It's a lot like bein' an XO, but with a lot more politics and drudgery."

I laugh and raise my glass. "More drudgery than being XO to Captain Elthen Gravelhand? I'm doubting that!"

He laughs as he taps his mug to my glass. "If ya think this is bad, wait till ya gotta start dealin' with the Admirals! Zennis, Longbow and Spiritmelter are gonna be yer biggest challenge! At least ya got Aldamiel and Shockpaw on yer side already. Prolly won't have an issue with Lira either. She's pretty laid-back when she's not just bein' hot as an iron forge!"

My eyes grow wide. "My Captain has a crush on the Science Admiral? This is news to me! I need more details! Does Admiral Trollhunter even know you exist? I can't imagine the two of you have a whole lot to talk about, seeing how she's an intelligent adept and you're... well... you." I grin and take a drink.

He shrugs. "We've talked. She thinks I'm a brute, but I think she secretly likes it. Now all I gotta do is get to Admiral rank so I can get with her without the damned regulations in the way! Or quit, but I'd only do that if I knew fer sure she was interested." He smiles and grins at me. "And, ya know, ya do have a way o' gettin' to be friends with attractive ladies. Maybe ya can go be friends with the Admiral and talk me up! Find out if she's worth quittin' the UCST for!"

I shake my head with a smile. "You know, for you, I'll actually go ahead and try that. I'll talk to Tanna when I get back to the ship. She might even already know Admiral Trollhunter since she's in Engineering and her Mom is an Admiral."

He grins and raises his mug. "That's why I love ya, Rylae. Damn good XO thinkin' right there!"

I tap my glass against his mug and we both finish our drinks. Laying some money on the table for my drinks, I stand. "Thanks for the talk, Cap. I think I'll head back now, especially since you've now reminded me that I also need to talk to Tanna about being my temporary XO during the mission."

He stands and we salute each other, then he puts out his hand to shake mine. When I put my hand in his, he pulls me closer and whispers, "Don't let that elf fool ya fer one minute. She secretly wants yer job. She's gettin' bored in Engineerin' and Pikeforge is lookin' like a good replacement. She told me not to tell ya, but she deserves it. Break her in!"

My eyes go wide again. Tanna never told me she wanted to be an XO! "Thanks for the tip, Cap. I'll see what I can do about her." I shake his hand and grab my coat from the rack near our table, sliding it on and closing the buckles in the front. With another quick salute, I head for the door of the bar. This meeting certainly gave me more to think about than I originally expected!

# CHAPTER TWO

As I walk back to my borrowed landcraft, a gust of cold wind hits me and I shove my hands in my pockets. Just a few months ago I was on Tir Tairngire in the late spring, where it was just starting to get warm enough to sit out in trees in short sleeves while I was scouting guard patrols for my now-ex-girlfriend. But while the city of Corsari was heading into summer, Admiralty City on Terra just turned over to year 7402 and started changing from autumn into winter. Pushing my hands farther into my coat pockets, I'm thankful that my jeans are keeping my legs warm. It's definitely too cold for a thin uniform outside of the ship right now!

As I get near the landcraft storage area, I notice the sky gets a little darker and look up to see some storm clouds. It'll probably snow before the day is out. Hopefully I can get back to the ship before it starts. My coat and jeans may be warm enough, but I'll be much happier inside!

When I get in the landcraft and insert the key charm, a message appears on the terminal asking me if there is currently snow in my area. The proximity spell on the landcraft can detect temperature, but it can't determine the difference between rainfall and snowfall, or snowdrifts and other obstacles. The best it can do is notice when it's cold enough to be snowing and ask if it actually is. I tap the 'no' command and the landcraft begins its path back to the docking pad.

While I ride along, I think about things I just learned. Tanna wants to be an Executive Officer? That's actually really awesome! She's been putting a lot of work into Lieutenant Commander Pikeforge, who is just about at the right level for promotion. I've been wondering what Tanna's plan was to resolve that, and I guess she's starting to look for an XO position so Pikeforge can have the Corsari's Engineering department.

My thoughts stumble a bit as I realize what that means. If Tanna's looking for a new XO position, then she'll end up leaving the ship. It may be _years_ between when we see each other! I start shaking my head furiously. That _can't_ happen! I just lost my other best friend for the second time. Tanna's not allowed to leave me as well!

I sigh as I sit back in the seat and watch the road go by. I'm not too happy about that revelation at all, but I guess it's not happening right now so I can just put it aside to deal with on a later day.

My landcraft pulls up to the docking pad storage area and I get out so the attendant can take the vehicle back. As I walk to the ship, I notice a few flakes of snow floating down in front of me. I guess that timing worked out rather well! I look up and smile at the snow clouds, thanking them for waiting for me. In response, I get a flake of snow on my nose, which melts quickly.

Looking back down, I see the staircase pushed up to the ship, as it's been for months. Currently, however, it has someone standing at the bottom of it, looking up at the ship door. Wearing a light blue coat and jeans, they stand out rather well against the brown of the Ugly Dirt Box.

It isn't until I'm a good bit closer that I notice the blue of the coat was camouflaging the long blue hair against her back, and I immediately know who the elf waiting is. I move faster for the last few steps before I end up next to her. "Romara? It's a surprise to see you here. How long have you been standing out here in the cold?"

She turns and looks up at me with her dark blue eyes. "Commander? I... um..." She stops and turns back to look at the staircase again.

That pretty much seals it for me. I met Romara on the Terra-Tairngire during my trip home a few months ago. She works in the mess hall as a cook. She was there when I was accosted by the ship's XO, an elf named Simarron Elenarin, who didn't like taking 'no' for an answer when he was flirting with me. She basically let me know that he's a creep with lots of women, and I asked her to talk to me when she had time off. I haven't heard from her this whole time, but if she's here now and uncomfortable with talking, I'm sure I know why she's here.

I place my arm around her shoulders and smile when she turns back to me. "Let's go inside. Do you want something to eat? We can grab something from the mess hall and take it to the Captain's office to chat." Her eyes get wide and she starts to shake her head, but I stop her. "It's okay! Cap's not here right now. I just left him in an Academy bar. But no one else will be in his office, either. It'll just be us."

She relaxes a bit under my arm and nods. I remove my arm from her shoulders and take her hand, leading her up the stairs and into the ship. She follows slowly, obviously uncomfortable about being here. I slow my pace to match hers, but still move her as quickly as I can. Not only does she look like she needs something to distract her, but I have no idea how long she was standing outside! Having her walk through the ship is a good way to warm her up a little.

Once we get to level 6, I take her into the mess hall where she comes to a complete stop right inside the door. Her hand drops out of mine as I turn to look at her. Her dark blue eyes are wet, with small tears starting to run down her face as she looks around. I can't tell what thoughts are going on behind her eyes, but I figure out quickly that bringing her to the mess hall wasn't the best idea.

Taking her hand again, I turn her around and lead her back out. I can feel her fingers shaking, so I change plans and lead her down the hall to my quarters instead of Cap's office. Opening the door, I walk her inside and set her on my bed, then crouch down in front of her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize taking you there was going to hurt you. I can run and get you something if you'd like, or we can sit here and talk. You tell me what you need."

She sniffles, her eyes filled with sadness. Without a sound, she looks at the ground and shakes her head. I take that to mean she doesn't want me to get anything for her, so I change position from a crouch to sitting on the floor with my legs crossed, waiting patiently for her to speak again.

It takes a few minutes before she calms enough to look up again. She looks me in the eyes and fakes a smile. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't mean to be a burden."

I shake my head. "Nonsense. You're not a burden. I'm very happy that you came to me when something is obviously bothering you."

Her smile becomes a little more real. "Thank you, ma'am. I was worried you'd be mad at me for never coming to talk to you before. But when I found your card again while packing my things, I knew I needed to try."

I tilt my head to the side. That comment seems important. "Packing your things?"

She looks down at the floor again and I see her shoulders start to shake. A small hitch enters her voice as she speaks. "Yes, ma'am. I no longer work on the Terra-Tairngire. I was fired and asked to leave."

That explains why seeing the mess hall hurt her. I reach out and place my hand on her knee. "I'm very sorry. Why would Captain Rubyhewer fire you? I thought you were very good at your job."

She shakes her head slowly. "The Captain didn't fire me. The XO did. He found out I was warning the female travelers about him and threatened me. He said I could either sleep with him or lose my job. I refused to sleep with him, so he told me to leave."

That total elf bastard! I guess some elven men really have no rock bottom when it comes to how low they can sink! When he told his Captain an entirely different set of circumstances behind that night on the ship with me, I had a feeling he was slime. But now I know for certain he's much worse than slime.

I move my hand to her chin and lift it slightly so she can see my face. "Romara, I'm terribly sorry for that. That's not your fault in any way. I'm very proud of you for warning the travelers about him, and I'm sorry things ended up this way. However, there are regulations in the UCST to prevent folk like him from doing things like this. I can help you create a report for the Admiralty."

She shakes her head furiously. "I don't think that's a good idea! I already lost my job! I can't afford to lose anything else!"

I move my hand back to her knee and wait until she stops shaking her head. She's crying again, harder than before. The poor girl's terrified. I didn't really need more reason to follow through on having Commander Elenarin written up, but seeing how much he's terrified Romara has pushed me over any lines I might have had before.

I wait another minute while she calms down again, then slowly pat her knee. "You did the right thing by coming to me. I won't let him take anything else from you. Not one single thing. We can even fix the things he's already taken. And we can stop him from taking anything from anyone else."

Her face lifts to look at me, her dark blue eyes rimmed with tears. "How? He said I can't do anything."

I smile an evil smile. "Romara, you can do _everything_. You've seen what he does. Your report to the Admiralty can help protect everyone else from him. I can help that report go straight to the Admiral in charge of personnel. She can take the proper steps to make sure he can't target anyone else."

I soften my smile and reach over to take her hand. "I can maybe fix this job thing, too, if you wouldn't mind working on the Corsari. My mess hall isn't as fancy, but maybe you can kick some sense into the folk I currently have in there. They can't make a good stew to save any of our lives!"

Her eyes widen at the offer, then a small chuckle escapes her at my joke. My smile grows as I hear it, knowing she's not completely broken yet. She reaches up with her other hand and wipes her eyes, then looks at me closely. "Thank you, Commander. Are you sure it's okay that you're helping me?"

I chuckle softly. "Absolutely. There's nothing that damned elf bastard can do to me, and I can protect you from anything he'd try to do to you. You have my word on that."

She nods. "I believe you. Thank you. I'm sorry for bringing this trouble to you."

I shake my head while smiling. " _He_ brought this trouble, not you. He just made the mistake of picking the wrong XO to target." I stop my head and look directly in her eyes. "And he picked the wrong elf girl to target, too."

A small smile crosses her face and she squeezes my fingers. "Thank you, Commander. What do you need me to do?"

Standing, I take off my coat and drop it on the floor near my wardrobe, then walk over to my table. Turning on my terminal, I tap in the commands for personnel changes. "First things first. What's your full name and rank?"

She stands and salutes. "Cadet Romara Tinuviel, Ma'am!"

I chuckle softly as I search the records for her name. "Thank you, Cadet. Here's your personnel file now. Looks like he wasted no time in doing the paperwork, saying you were fired for 'willful misconduct'. That's easily remedied. I'll just add a note that the previous comments are disputed, then move you to a job on my ship. Done and done."

I stand and extend my hand to her. "Cadet Tinuviel, welcome to the UCST Corsari. I'm Commander Westiel, the Executive Officer. I'll have our quartermaster find a bunk for you, and you can move your things to the ship tomorrow."

She shakes my hand strongly. "It's a pleasure to join your ship, ma'am! I promise to work hard for you!"

I laugh. "I have no doubt, Cadet. No doubt at all. Now that the job thing is settled, do you want to start working on that report? You seem to be in better spirits than you were earlier."

Nodding, she removes her coat and sits in the other chair at my table. "I am. Thank you, Commander. That job was the only way I could go to the Academy. It was all I had! When I was fired, everything disappeared in front of me. I owe you a lot for helping me."

I shake my head as I sit. "When we finish this report, you can consider your debt fully paid. I'm not a big fan of officers who bully their crew, so I'm equally invested in getting this report to the Admiral."

She smiles as I find the proper regulations on my terminal and create a new report. Reading the regulation detail is slow and dull, but it perfectly explains exactly what questions need to be answered in the report. I translate the questions to Romara, who provides clear and concise answers.

After a few questions, she pulls a small notebook from her coat pocket, which she had been using to collect specific details over the last few months, and starts reading to me from that. The more detail she gives me, the more my hatred for this dragons-be-damned elf grows. I already knew I wasn't the first girl he'd gone after, but the list is a lot longer than I could have believed for someone who's only been XO of that ship for a few months.

We spend a few hours compiling the report, then read over it to make sure everything is correct. Once we're satisfied, I send it through the regular channels as well as in a message directly to Admiral Mom. I have a brief reminder of Cap telling me earlier today that I 'have the personnel Admiral in my back pocket' and chuckle softly as I realize how much that helps me right now.

I finish the necessary messages and paperwork to get Romara's new job finalized, then look up from my terminal and smile at her. "Cadet Tinuviel, your debt to me is officially paid and your new job starts the day after tomorrow. Please report to the ship in the morning for your bunk assignment."

She stands and salutes. "Thank you, Commander! I'm so glad I met you!" I salute back and smile as I watch her grab her coat and leave.

# CHAPTER THREE

Checking Tanna's schedule tells me that she should be in Engineering right now. Since we're not actively moving and the battery recharge is complete, she's likely just going over reports and other mundane things I can easily distract her from. I turn off my terminal, pick up my coat and hang it in my wardrobe, then slowly begin the walk down to level 2.

As I walk down the stairs and look down the hallways at each level, I realize this is the first time the Corsari has really been 'mine'. Sure, as the XO it's been 'my ship' for the last nine years and I've treated her like I owned her, but it's always really been Cap's ship and I was always okay with that. It's Cap, after all. No one can run a ship like he can. But now... now it's my ship. It's only for one mission, but that's at least two months where the Corsari completely belongs to me. I can't help but smile as I seem to see her through new eyes.

Unfortunately those 'new eyes' aren't paying attention to where I'm walking, and neither are the eyes of the elf coming up the stairs from level 3. Halfway between level 3 and 4, we collide into each other with a thud. Stumbling backwards, I grab the rail on the side and catch myself. The elf below me, however, isn't as graceful. I watch as he slips and bounces down a few stairs to land on his ass at the level 3 landing.

Seeing who it is, I stop myself from chuckling. He's a little too new for me to start actively laughing at him yet. I reach the bottom of the stairs quickly and hold out a hand to help him up. "Sorry about that, LC. My mind was elsewhere. Although, most folk use the stairs in the other hallway to go up, and these stairs to go down. It's a bit of an unwritten rule."

Lieutenant Commander Herion Songdancer, my new Chief Science Officer, looks up at me from where he sits on the ground. I notice he looks exhausted, with his short blonde bangs plastered to his face from sweat. He shakes his head at my hand and slowly pushes himself to his feet. "My apologies, Commander. I'll remember that for the next time. I was just coming from my training session with LC Axesmith and I don't think my eyes were completely open. That dwarf can certainly tire you out!"

I smile briefly as I imagine how little work Lada Axesmith, my Chief of Security, would have had to put in to tire out Herion. He's a fantastic adept, which I know first-hand from his work leading the emergency science team who helped Ground Control 'find us' after our return from Stenchstone, but he's spent a long time at the Admiralty and is quite soft around the edges. Lada can give our platoon leaders a difficult time, so she probably didn't even have to leave her chair to tire out Herion!

I swallow another chuckle and nod. Sometimes the hardest part of my job is not laughing at my officers when they're being honest. "That she can, LC. You'll get used to the workout, but even then you'll never quite beat her. I've been trying for years. The rumor is that there are only two folk on-ship who can beat her, and one of those turns out to be a draw more often than not."

I actually know for a fact that my Master Sergeant, Simon Darkrender, can easily take Lada in a fight. He's the most dangerous goblin I've ever known, and I'm glad he's on our side. The only other one who can fight Lada off is my Battalion Major, Gimmir Giantbasher, but those 'draws' usually end up in either his or her quarters. I don't think that technically counts as a victory....or it _always_ counts as a victory. I don't really want to think too much about it either way, though.

He nods and forces a smile. "I don't expect to be anywhere near her list of top opponents, but I'll do my best, ma'am. If you'll excuse me, though, I really need to clean up and take a nap." He snaps to a salute and reaches for the stair rail, then seems to remember what I said about the other stairs and turns to walk to the other hallway.

I wait until he turns the corner and I go down to the next level before I start laughing. I really shouldn't, but it's funny! Herion's never served on a ship before, so all these little things like weekly training sessions and which stairs to use are completely new to him. However, he's excited to work on my ship and really good at leading a science team. Those two things more than make up for the lack of on-ship experience. He can pick up the rest as we go, just as he has to pick himself up after his training sessions.

After I catch my breath and calm myself, I continue the walk to Engineering. Overall, Engineering takes up most of the second level. The main ship door at the outside staircase comes in on this level, but I think that's mostly because Engineering doesn't take up much space in the hallways. Aside from a couple of small conference rooms near the main door, everything on this level is through the main doors of Engineering. That way, any dangerous folk who want to get to our mana batteries have to go through an entire department full of adepts to get there. I can't think of a single time that's ever been a problem, though.

As always, the first thing I notice when I walk through the door is the large holoreport showing our battery usage. Since we're docked and only running minor ship spells – like lights, terminals, doors and air/water cycling – I can easily see the solid unmoving line showing the full main battery next to the slightly-wavering line showing the slight mana usage from the secondary. The daily recharge maintenance will more than cover what's being used, though, and both batteries should be at full when we're ready to leave.

The quiet is always a bit unnerving when I come in here, but I know that's how Tanna runs her department. If anyone's yelling, it's because something is terribly wrong. Otherwise, everyone sticks to their own stuff and everything runs smoothly. The smallest distraction while we're in the starfield can be the difference between noticing a problem early or having everyone on-ship die.

The quiet today, however, seems to be that no one is at their desks. I knew Tanna was going to run some understaffed shifts after everything important was finished, but I didn't realize exactly how few folk she was going to keep around. They absolutely deserve the time off, so I have no complaints. It just surprises me.

I see Tanna well before I get to her small glass-walled office in the back of the room. Her long brown hair drapes in front of her as she leans over her desk, reading something from her terminal. She seems to sense my movement and lifts her head, brushing the hair away from her face to look. When she sees me, she smiles and sits up, excitedly waving me over.

I walk to the front of her desk and head to a chair, but she jumps up and attacks me with a hug before I can sit. "Rylae! I'm so bored! Entertain me! Please!"

I hug her back and laugh. "Stop suffocating me with your assets and maybe I can try!" Tanna's taller than me, but not by that much. Today, the angle of her hug attack somehow presses her ample breasts right against my chin, and it's all I can do to get the words out.

She laughs and releases me before stopping to adjust herself. "Sorry! I can never keep track of these things! They're probably as bored as I am!"

I giggle as I sit in a chair. "Isn't that what your boyfriend is for?"

She rolls her eyes as she sits in the chair next to me instead of behind her desk. "Normally, yeah, but this _is_ Aelon we're talking about. I haven't seen him since he went out drinking with some Academy buddies sometime last week. He's dumb enough that he may have forgotten where the ship is and can't find his way back."

I shake my head and laugh. Lieutenant Commander Aelon Onoviel is my Chief Tactical Officer. He's one of the best pilots in the business, but he's about as bright as a speck of dust in a dark room. Tanna doesn't date him for his mind, though, and the parts she _does_ date him for look very nice. Or so I've heard. He does work for me, after all, so it's not like I'll ever look for myself. Besides, 'big dumb and sexy' is much more Tanna's type of man than mine.

Thinking about Aelon brings a small wrinkle into my original reason for coming here, though. I smile as I throw her a wink. "You should probably call and give him directions, then. You only have another ten days or so before you're not allowed to sleep with him for about two months. Better get what you can!"

Her eyebrows raise as her eyes widen. "What?"

My smile turns into a slightly evil grin. "Regulations. He'll be reporting to you, so you can't date him."

Her expression turns to fear and her questions shoot out like lightning bolts. "What!? Why!? Are you going somewhere!? What changed!? I wanted an XO job, but I didn't want yours unless you got a ship! Did you get a ship!? Are you leaving me!?"

I laugh as I set my hand on her knee to calm her. "I'm just messing with you! Well, sorta messing with you! I'm not going anywhere! But Cap isn't going to be on the next mission with us. I'm running it, so I need you as my temporary XO."

Relief floods her face. "You little brat! You scared the crap out of me! I'm absolutely going to get you back for that!" Then everything seems to collide in her head and her eyes sparkle. "Cap's letting you run the next mission and you want me to be your XO? Really?"

I shrug and try to look indifferent, but I can't get the smile to leave my face. "Yeah, unless you're not interested. I mean, you never seemed interested in my job before, but now you're telling me you want it. Which is it?"

She starts to answer, but sputters. "Of course I'm interested! I mean... but... well, I... I really... and Pikeforge..."

I punch her playfully in the arm. "Tanna, you ridiculous elf! Why have you never told me that you want to be an XO?"

A sheepish grin appears as she looks down to the floor. "I didn't know when I was going to get a position and I didn't want you to worry. I didn't want you to think I was going to take your job, either. Mom's been looking around for me."

I punch her in the arm again. "You told Mom but not me? You're a terrible Big Sister!"

She sighs. "Sorry, Rylae."

I chuckle at her reaction. "It's okay. Just promise me you won't do anything like that again and that you'll be my temporary XO, or maybe the next time we see Srindin I'll knock _you_ down instead of him!"

With a gasp, she looks up at me. "That's not fair! You're only allowed to knock _him_ down! It's what little brothers get!"

Laughing harder now, all I can respond with is a shrug. She growls at me, then sighs, but I can see the small smile on her face that she's trying to hide. "Fine. I'll be your XO, and I won't hide things from you again. But this agreement was made under unfair threats!"

I shrug again as I catch enough breath to respond. "Welcome to the job of an XO. Most agreements are made under unfair threats! It's the only way to get anything done!"

She chuckles. "I guess that's true, but folk love me more than they love you. I'm sure I'll be fine." I stick my tongue out at her as she continues. "So what's the new mission? This is the first I've heard of it."

"Andriennein summoned representatives from Hallowforge to settle a trade dispute. We're going to Hallowforge to escort their transport ship to Andriennein and mediate the meeting. It'll be Kesn's first mission as an ambassador. I'm going to call everyone together in a meeting in a few days. You know, long enough for Aelon to find his way back." I smile and wink at Tanna.

She laughs, then thinks about it for a second before smiling back at me. "I think you mean that _I_ need to call everyone together for that meeting. That's _my_ job now, boss."

I start to laugh and say something back, then stop when I realize she's right. I swallow what I was about to say and start over, running my fingers through my hair in embarrassment. "I guess it is. Wow. Okay. Well, I guess I should trust you to take care of that and get LC Pikeforge ready to take over Engineering during the mission. That's weird. It's been _my_ job to do things like that for the last nine years. This is going to take some time to get used to."

Tanna giggles and pokes my shoulder. "Just don't get so used to it that you don't want to give Cap's ship back when we return!"

That makes me laugh, and we chat for awhile about things that Tanna needs to know. The more I tell her about things she needs to worry about with the XO job, though, the more I realize I have very little idea of what Cap actually does during a mission to a trade meeting. I should probably do some research on that or I'll be completely useless to my new ambassador!

# CHAPTER FOUR

Four days and I still can't bring myself to actually sit at the desk. I'm sure other XOs, when they're acting as temporary Captain, settle themselves right into the Captain's Office and make it just like home. Whenever I look at the desk, though, I see Cap sitting behind it.

I don't plan to use the office for much anyway. I can use the terminal in the Operational Discussion Chamber. I'll just use the table in here for meetings and such. So, Cap's specter can continue to inhabit the desk area. I'll just be over here minding my own business.

Once I changed all of the access on the ship to reflect the new temporary assignments – me as Captain, Tanna as XO, and Tofi Pikeforge as Chief of Engineering – I decided to come in here to clean up a bit. The problem, of course, is that I don't know what half of this stuff is or why any of it's in any particular place. Cap did it, so only he knows! Finally, I had the idea to bring in a few boxes and carefully tag everything as I put it in a box. That way, when we return from the mission I can put everything back where it belongs like nothing ever happened.

I'm tagging the last few things while sitting at the round conference table in the office when the door chime sounds. It's technically my first visitor in my temporary office, so I look to the door with a smile. "Enter."

Along with the other access changes, the door spell now recognizes my voice instead of Cap's. Once I say 'enter', the visitor on the other side hears my voice and the spell prepares to open the door with the next tap of the charm. A few seconds pass before the door fades out and my visitor enters the office.

Commander Kesn Dreadthief, new ambassador assigned to the UCST Corsari, steps into the room and snaps into a salute. Her knobby goblin hand presses up against her light green forehead, brushing against the thick black curls that frame her face. Standing rigidly as she holds the salute, I can see the determination in her face. It's a perfect 'cadet salute', forced into her from her short time at the UCST Academy. Most officers of her rank don't salute so rigidly after years of easing off of the 'proper form', so it's a bit amusing to see her standing so perfectly at attention.

As I look her over, I'm totally jealous of the way she looks in a uniform. The standard blue-white-and-gray jumpsuit uniform we wear on-ship is very form-fitting, and a shapeless elf like me is constantly pinching it around certain areas to make it look just a little better. Kesn is one of the most beautiful goblin women I've ever met, though. Her body looks stunning in the tight uniform, which has probably contributed to the number of date requests she's had over her six months in the Academy.

The sound of a throat clearing brings me back around to realize that I might have been staring just a little bit while she's still saluting. With a smile and chuckle, I stand and return the salute. As soon as I drop mine, she drops hers and walks over to smack my shoulder. "Why did you make me hold that salute for so long? Not nice, Rylae!"

I laugh as I wrap my arms around her in a hug. "Sorry, Kesn. It was just funny to watch you standing there so properly! We'll break you of that habit soon enough."

She hugs back with a chuckle. "Liar. I know when I'm being checked out by a sexy elf girl!"

I shrug and let go. "You're my ambassador and newest friend, so I'll never admit it if I was. The salute was still pretty funny, though."

She smacks my shoulder again before we take seats at the table facing each other. I'm always happy to see Kesn. We haven't been friends long, but we bonded quickly when she helped me sneak into the Stenchstone Palace. She had already decided to leave the previously-reclusive goblin world, but when Calgonnel, the Corsari's previous ambassador, was killed during the mission, she was offered the opportunity to replace him.

She looks at the box of stuff sitting on the table and turns to me with a questioning glance. "Was I interrupting something important?"

Still smiling, I go back to tagging. "Nope. Just cleaning up Cap's mess in my own organized fashion. I couldn't work in here with all of his random stuff lying around."

She picks up a small brown cube with the word "Corsari" painted on the side and holds it up to her face. "So are you as excited for your first mission as 'temporary Captain' as I am for my first mission as 'UCST Ambassador'?"

I finish tagging the final things on the table and stick them in the box as I shrug. "Excited, nervous, terrified I'm somehow going to cause an interstellar incident during your first mission... just a lot of different feelings. I'm glad you're excited, though!"

Her nervous laughter causes me to look up at her. With one hand, she moves the small starship toy around in front of her as if it was flying. "Oh, yes, I'm _definitely_ excited, provided 'excited' means all the things you just said about being nervous and terrified! I've never been off of Stenchstone before, and now I'm about to go to a dwarf world to escort them to an elf world where I'll try to get them to agree on new trade terms without anyone starting a fight. I'm really glad you're going to be there to keep me out of trouble!"

That makes _me_ laugh nervously. "Yeah. I should be able to keep us out of trouble, because my track record clearly shows that I can be trusted to _not_ break into a goblin king's palace or an elven contractor's compound, and I certainly would _never_ offer to use myself as bait to capture a goblin warlord. I'm _absolutely_ the elf for the 'keeping you out of trouble' job!"

She laughs and sets the toy starship down by my hand. "Okay. Admittedly, you have some recent black spots on your record, but I'm glad you'll be there as my friend anyway."

Filling out a tag quickly, I attach it to the toy and place it in the box before moving the box to the floor. "It's good to know we both agree on how badly this is likely to go!" I look at her as I sit up. "So, tell me what you understand about the mission and I'll try to fill in anything you miss."

She nods and sets her hands in front of her on the table, clasping them as her personality changes to be much more serious. "Of course, Commander. Andriennein exports mana and items for mana battery creation regularly to Hallowforge, who uses them in the creation of different technologies – landcraft, spellshooters, armor and shields, and other small household items. Hallowforge exports those items to many worlds, including Andriennein.

"The Andriennein Trade Organization feels Hallowforge is charging them too much for the return imports and is insisting on the presence of Hallowforge representatives at a meeting to discuss how to resolve the disparity. Hallowforge vehemently disagrees that there is a disparity, and has asked for a transport ship from the UCST to deliver their trade delegation along with a company of soldiers."

She stops, thinks for a second, then looks back at me. "Per UCST regulations, when a transport ship is requested for the purpose of transporting a group of soldiers, an ambassadorial starship is required to accompany the transport and manage mediation between the groups to help keep peace between worlds."

I nod. "Mediation between the groups, and so our battalion can stand between the obvious threat of the hotheaded soldiers and anything they wish to attack. My job as Commanding Officer is to position the battalion in front of civilians, and to make sure that any fighting between Hallowforge and Andriennein soldiers stays completely between the two groups. I also sit with you in the meetings to act as a counter-threat to either group who tries to use their soldiers as leverage in the negotiations."

She smiles. "You get to be the brutish enforcer while I get to be the pretty and level-headed organizer of happy things."

I grin and lean back in my chair. "Can't I also be pretty while being brutish?"

Kesn laughs. "I suppose we can both be pretty, but as the ambassador I get to be the prettiest!" She grins at me with happiness, which is a very different expression than the evil grin of most goblins. Sometimes she seems very elf-like, and I'd forget she was a goblin if she wasn't green.

I can't hide my smile as I sigh and roll my eyes. "Fine. You can be the prettiest this time, but only because it's your first mission."

Her grin turns just a little more evil. "Deal, and next time I'll be the prettiest just because I happen to be the prettiest." We both laugh.

When we've calmed down a bit, I think of a question for her. "Is there anything special you need for the mission?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think so. I have true copies of the trade agreements already in place between the two worlds, dossiers of the representatives, and the reports from previous meetings between both groups and each group individually with other worlds. It's a lot to go over, but the Vice Admiral who assigned the mission to me said I should have plenty of time to read while we're traveling."

Thinking over the mission details I've already read, I nod. "Two weeks from here to Hallowforge, then almost two weeks from Hallowforge to Andriennein. Four weeks total for you to catch up on your reading. Two weeks on Andriennein and two weeks back to Terra should bring us back in around two months to check on Cap."

She grins her happy grin again. "This is so exciting! Terra's been fun, but now I get to see a dwarven world _and_ an elven world! Have you been to them before? What are they like?"

Her giddiness about traveling makes me smile and remember how much I loved it when I was new to the UCST. I guess I still do, but it was never quite as new to me as it is to Kesn, who's spent her entire life on a goblin world that barely talked to the rest of universe. I think through my memories of both worlds before I respond.

"Well, Hallowforge is a lot like every other dwarf world. Very industrial there. Lots of mountains and mining going on. Everything's made of stone. The dwarves are nice enough, but they're dwarves. Andriennein is a beautiful world with a lot of water and lakes, but also quite cold. Most of their buildings are on islands, so they're use aerial craft instead of landcraft to travel on-world."

I remember another point and shrug. "It's also a world of very stuck-up and proper elves. Our favorite regulation-writing Admiral Longbow is from there, as are a lot of science adepts. In fact, LC Songdancer is from there originally. He's been on Terra in the Admiralty for a long time, but he can give you some of the basics about how the folk there behave."

She nods. "The new science officer, right? I remember meeting him." I nod, so she smiles her prettiest smile as she continues, "I'll set up some meetings with him to talk about his homeworld. From his reaction when he met me, I already know he'll help me out."

She stands from her chair, and I laugh as I stand with her. "Just remember that the LC's married with two kids. No corrupting my new officers!"

She shrugs with wink and a grin. "It's not corruption if he's just admiring my beauty while he answers my questions! Anyway, I should get started on my reading. When are we leaving?"

"Six days. We'll have a meeting with the full senior officer team either tomorrow or the following day... I don't remember when Tanna scheduled it."

She chuckles as I walk her to the door. "How's that working out so far?"

I shrug. "I love Tanna to death, and I've worked with her for a long time, so it's going as well as we expected. I'm just having a hard time remembering that I'm not supposed to schedule meetings anymore, and she's supposed to be in charge of my senior officers now. She's doing fine with it, but I guess it's just hard for me to easily change over to Cap's normal duties."

She gives me a quick hug. "I'm sure you two are going to be fine. She's been worried about the same things you are." She stops, then chuckles. "Oh, but she told me not to tell you that. Oops."

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Seems like my best friend is telling a lot of folk things that they're not supposed to tell me. I'm going to have to have some words with her about that."

Kesn laughs as she touches the charm and the door to the office fades out. "You two are hilarious. Reminds me a lot of how Bmundn and I would go back and forth all the time. Sisters are fun like that." She steps out and turns down the hallway as the door closes behind her.

When she's gone, I look around the office. As I look at the desk, I briefly think that I could just actually clean it and use it to work. But then I get a vision of a brown-and-silver-haired dwarf sitting behind it, so I shrug as I leave the office to go to the Discussion Chamber across the hall.

Sitting down in my regular chair, I check my messages and find a surprising one. A new message from one Saelihn Westiel – my ex-girlfriend Saeralyn Gwalindiel's alias. The subject reads "Regarding Andriennein", so I tap it to open it. It simply says, "Don't be surprised to see some friends. It's not my contract, but I know they're not there for you or your crew. Be careful with them."

I suppose I'm glad she's decided we really can get along by passing business-related information back and forth, but I really wish I knew what she meant by 'some friends'.

# CHAPTER FIVE

I start to write a reply asking Saeralyn for more details, but I stop before I finish it when I realize that she would have sent more details in the original message if she was going to send them at all. Being a Contractor on Tir Tairngire, Saeralyn's business is to accept job requests from clients for activities such as thievery, con artistry and assassination. She regularly sends out 'cleaners' to perform those jobs, and can complete jobs herself if she wishes to.

When I was on Tir Tairngire a few months ago, I helped eliminate the contractor who had her parents killed when we were children. As a result, she took over his business. I didn't entirely know that's what she was working toward, though, since she didn't feel it necessary to share all of the details with me. Those lies and omissions are what finally destroyed our rekindled relationship and friendship, and we separated on not-so-good terms.

One of the terms we actually agreed on was to share information with each other, but I didn't really expect to hear from her again. I certainly didn't expect her to actually be willing to send me information I could use, and still don't understand how she could know about my ship's mission to even know I could use it. I'll have to spend some time thinking about this later, once I know more about exactly what she's trying to warn me about. Obviously I should expect someone I know to be on Andriennein, but I have no idea who or why.

I rewrite the reply to simply say thanks and that I'll keep an eye out for our friends, then send it along. It'll be a couple days before she gets it, and about three days before I can expect a response if she sends me one. I don't really expect her to immediately respond, though, and we'll be gone before the following message ship round-trip between Terra and Tir Tairngire. Thanking her is really all I can do before returning from the mission.

I wonder briefly if that's why she sent it when she did, arriving in just enough time to be helpful without being able to start a real conversation. With a shrug, I push those thoughts aside again. Sometimes, all you can do to stop the pain is to push it aside and pretend it's not there. I've been doing that often these past few months, and there's no difference today.

Checking my calendar shows me that the meeting for the senior officers is scheduled for tomorrow and I only have my training session with Lada later, so I decide to focus on reports for a bit. The more I dig into exactly what a captain's job is, the more I realize it's mostly making decisions and writing reports about those decisions. The XO does all the things that actually manage the readiness of the ship, so all the captain has to do is read those reports and sign off on them.

All the reports about the miniscule pieces of a captain's day, however, are somewhat ridiculous. I start to realize why Cap has a yeoman to help with things like reports and managing his calendar as I work on writing a report detailing the mission briefing meeting I just had with Kesn. It seems like such an unimportant piece of writing, but I know these little meetings can sometimes hold all the important details. This one didn't, but others...

When we were sitting in the High Admiral Council after the Stenchstone mission, Admiral Longbow pulled out a lot of these daily meeting reports to discuss decision details made between Cap and Admiral Shockpaw. Cap kept very detailed notes about each of their meetings, and it was easy to follow their thought processes and decision trees through the conversations. Those notes were the reason why the two of them took most of the blame for setting me out as 'bait' for then-Captain Darkmuck.

As I finish the report on my meeting with Kesn and file it away, I find myself hoping that I don't need to write any reports on this mission that show up in a High Admiral Council meeting. I know that a lot of the previous trade meeting missions I've been on with the Corsari ended just fine without fighting... but for every one of those, there were another two where at least one fight broke out.

I make myself a note to talk to Gimmir and Simon about the battalion after the meeting tomorrow, then turn off the terminal. I find myself really starting to worry about screwing up badly. It's not quite at the front of my mind, but it keeps nagging me from the back, right behind my ears. I reach up and scratch like that's actually going to help, but of course it doesn't.

I'm normally a lot more confident in my abilities, but this being my first time out as a Captain – temporary or not – I can't stop the worry from pestering me. It's just hard to be confident when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing! I felt the same way when I first got the XO job, but at least I had Cap there to help me out when I didn't know what needed to be done. He made fun of me all the time, of course, but he still helped me through everything until I had my own feet under me.

All the years I've spent working toward this, and now that I'm actually acting in a Captain capacity, I'm scared. Good job, Rylae. Maybe you should have been a little more scared years ago instead of waiting until the last minute. Where's that planning instinct you used every day before? Start putting it to use!

I shake my head to clear it, then get up and start to walk down to level 3. I just need something to do to stop myself from thinking about it. Maybe Lada will be okay with starting my training session early. If not, I can just practice a bit on my own before we get started. Ever since my self-defense classes as a child, I've enjoyed fighting as a way to clear my head. Dancing works, too, but I can't exactly enjoy dancing on-ship without a band playing. Maybe Tanna and Kesn will want to go dancing later! That's a good idea! I'll have to ask them... if I'm still able to walk after the training session.

I get to the training room to see Lada sitting at her desk in the corner. We call this small training room the 'security office', although that's mostly just for show. Since she's the only member of the 'security department', the desk in the corner is really all of an 'office' that she gets... but it's still more of an office than the XO gets!

Lada's job as security officer is mainly to be the bodyguard and protector of the Captain and any guests or important folk within range. As such, she doesn't have any folk that really work for her permanently, but does have some officers in the battalion which she mentors for security work and can pull for security details if required. She also works closely with the battalion on hand-to-hand combat techniques, which is a lot different from Simon and Gimmir's weapon-based training.

Lada's also an expert with a lot of light weapons, which I normally train in. I walk to the opposite corner and pull my training weapon belt with two dagger sheaths on the left, a spellshooter holster on the right and a small pouch at the back. I strap it on as I hear footsteps and turn to see Lada walking over.

The dwarf is about half a meter shorter than I am, with the top of her blond curls reaching my breasts. Like most dwarves, she's stocky and round, but very solidly built. Every bit of her fifty kilograms is muscle. Even her breasts hurt if you run into them! One of her favorite things to do is let new ensigns and privates hit her in the chest, then use her chest to hit them back.

She stops about a meter away and does a quick half-salute, which I return as soon as I finish buckling the belt, then smiles at me behind her close-cropped blond beard. I've never understood the whole dwarven 'female beard' thing, but I guess it's just part of who they are. Some dwarf women don't wear one, especially in the battalion where they're not allowed, but some officers like Lada wear them proudly. I think it makes her look more dangerous by hiding a bit of her age.

Unless you look closely, you'd never realize that Lada Axesmith is almost a hundred years older than I am. Her two distinct personality traits – fighting, and gossiping like a schoolgirl – also keep you from really realizing it. But with over 60 years as a security officer after 20 years in the battalion, she's almost daring you to say something about how old she is. I've heard Gimmir say some things a few times, and I've seen him get punched pretty hard for it, but I'm pretty sure that's something the two of them consider 'flirting'.

She looks at my belt, then up to my face and grins behind her beard. "Yer a bit early, Rylae. Is taking over for Cap that difficult for ya?"

I chuckle and shrug. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you know already. Tanna told you, didn't she?"

She winks. "Ya know that elf can't hide anything from me! Of course, Tofi couldn't help gushing about being in charge of Engineering for the next mission, either. I was able to piece the rest together easily."

I shake my head with a grin. Lada is the center of all ship gossip. If it happens, she knows everything about it. Sometimes she knows about it before anyone else! "Well, of course you're right. Details will come out in tomorrow's meeting, but we're headed to Andriennein for a trade meeting. I'm nervous about it and decided to come work some of it out."

Her eyebrows rise, then she grins. "I'd be worried about a room full of boring elves, too!" Then she looks back at my belt before meeting my eyes again. "Ya know, ya won't have weapons during the meeting. That's the whole reason I'm there!"

I touch the buckle of my weapon belt, then shrug and unclasp it. "Good point. I hadn't really thought of that. I'm so used to the belt I just assumed I'd always be wearing it. So, unarmed combat today?"

She looks me up and down for a second, then smiles and taps the side of her head. "Yep. And I have an idea. Fighting me is fine, but in a room full of elves, it helps to fight an elf. I know just the chick."

With a grin, she turns and walks back over to her desk. I follow and see her pick up her communicator. Tapping the charm, she says, "Gimmir Giantbasher."

A second passes, then Gimmir's dwarf head appears in front of her with a grin across his face. "Lada. Social call, work call, or did ya just wanna see my pretty face?"

She laughs. "Considering I _never_ want to see yer face, and there ain't nothin' _pretty_ about it, and there ain't nothin' _social_ about ya, I'm obviously calling for work-related reasons." Her accent and word choices change slightly to match Gimmir's Halyer-born way of speaking. Maybe these two are spending a bit too much time together!

Gimmir's head smiles. "Yer lucky I like ya, or I'd come down there and show ya just how _social_ I can be."

Lada winks at him. "Shut up, Giantbasher. Send Alayna up here. I need some help with the XO's training session."

He nods. "Right away, LC." His head disappears as the call is cut.

She turns to me, her accent reverting mostly back to its much cleaner Terran form as the words pass through. "This should be fun. Alayna's pretty tough. With her as the attacker, yer likely to end up dead more often than ya end up winning."

I shrug and roll my shoulders. "We'll see."

It takes less than a minute for LC Alayna Rhuviel to come down the hallway to the security training room. The elven platoon leader is a scary looking woman, with short blond hair, an angular face, and muscles easily visible through her uniform. She stops in the doorway and snaps to a salute, which Lada and I return, then walks over to stand near us.

Lada grins. "Thank's for coming, Alayna. The Commander needs to practice some disarming and tackling of an elven attacker. I thought you would wanna help out."

LC Rhuviel's eyebrows raise and she looks at me. "Commander? Did you agree to that?"

I shrug and smile. "Just promise not to go as easy on me as you did with those goblins on Stenchstone."

Her eyes widen, then narrow as her mouth turns to an evil grin. "Okay then, Commander. You're not my unit leader today. You're officially my target. Prepare to be killed over and over again."

I chuckle and turn to Lada. "Security, can you please give the LC a training knife or something? I think she needs a weapon before I'm really going to take her seriously."

I'm watching her from the corner of my eye as I say that, so I see as she tenses up. That's all the warning I needed, so I turn back to her as she steps forward and reaches for my left arm with her right. Lifting my left arm to block, I move inside her reach and grab her right forearm with my left hand as I grab her uniform collar with my right hand. A quick twist of my shoulders pushes her backwards, and my right leg sweeping behind hers gives me enough leverage to drop her on the ground.

With one knee on her arm and my hand on her chest, I smile down at her. "Shouldn't let yourself get so worked-up, LC. I saw you coming a kilometer away."

She looks up at me with wide eyes, then grins and laughs. "Well done, Commander! I thought I'd have to go easy on you, but I really should have known better."

I get to my feet and offer her a hand up, which she takes as Lada laughs behind me. "Rylae's been training with me for years! Do ya really think I'd call ya up here for a pushover?"

Alayna laughs. It's really a pretty laugh for such a harsh-looking elf. "Sorry, Lada. It's not that I didn't trust you. I just thought the XO was a lot softer than she looks... and she looks pretty soft!"

I tense and consider attacking her, but I can tell she's waiting for exactly that so I relax again. "Good try, LC, but I think I'll wait for the two of you to come up with some scenarios to walk me through. Maybe with a script you'll be better at this."

She laughs and walks up to me. "A script? I've got a script for you right here!"

Her right hand flashes towards my face, and I instinctively sidestep to my right. That's apparently exactly what she wanted, though, and I lose track of her movements as I end up face-down on the floor with her weight on my back. I hear Lada laughing as she watches us stand and go again.

# CHAPTER SIX

While I lay face-down in the hospital ward waiting for the orange-marmalade-smelling ointment to be absorbed into my skin, I can only take solace in the fact that LC Rhuviel is laying in the next bed over waiting for the exact same thing. I turn my head to look at her and notice her head is turned facing me. She smiles at me and winks, and I return the smile. We really beat the hell out of each other for two straight hours. Between that and all the trash-talking, I definitely think we're a lot closer than we were when we first worked together to take out the gang on Stenchstone.

Of course, lying naked in the hospital ward together adds another extra bit of camaraderie. We both got to laugh while young Lieutenant Bellas had to rub ointment all over our naked backs and legs. The poor elf kid was totally flustered while he worked. He's going to have to get over that if he wants to be a real caregiver off-ship, so I figure we're really just helping him out in that area!

I yelp as my leg is brutally pinched and turn to see my Chief Caregiver, Lieutenant Commander Sen Foulmuck, standing at the foot of my bed. The evil-mannered goblin woman grins and chuckles. "Bed check! Just seeing if you're still alive, Commander. You know I can't trust my lieutenants to keep folk from dying, and I hate doing the paperwork."

I roll my eyes at her. She knew I was still alive, of course, but 'bed check' is something she just enjoys doing to satisfy her own 'evil goblin' sense of humor. "Thank you, Sen. I was afraid I might be dead, but you saved me. Now I know I'm alive. You're my hero."

My sarcasm is not lost on her, and she pinches me again. "Keep it up and I won't let you cover up when you roll over so Bellas can rub ointment on your front!"

I shrug. "Then Alayna and I will just lay here naked."

She chuckles and walks over to Alayna's bed. "Nope. You'll lay here naked alone. I'll let LC Rhuviel here cover up as much as she wants, because she could almost definitely kick my ass." She then reaches down and pinches Alayna's leg. Alayna yelps and kicks out, but Sen steps out of the way. Apparently an ass-kicking isn't enough to scare Sen away from her 'bed checks'.

I look at her and grin. "Are you saying I can't kick your ass? I gave Alayna all those bruises today!"

The goblin shrugs and pushes her long brown hair back over her shoulders. "I'm sure you could, but you wouldn't. You're too nice to hit a caregiver." Then she grins her evilest grin at me. "Besides, I'd tell your mother, and we both know she'd take my side."

That's totally not fair! Mother – Arlien Westiel, Chief Caregiver of Academy Hospital on Tir Tairngire who personally trained and graduated Sen Foulmuck many years ago – probably _would_ take Sen's side over mine, then send me a message telling me how disappointed she was that I didn't treat my caregiver with more respect.

I sigh and close my eyes. "I'll be good, although it's completely unfair to threaten to tell Mother."

She shrugs and grins. "I never said I was fair. Now, go ahead and roll over. I guess I'll wait until you get yourselves covered up before I send Bellas over. He still needs practice touching females without wetting his pants, but there's no reason to torture the poor kid with having to look at you both fully naked while he's doing it."

I chuckle as I roll over, grabbing the towel I was using to cover my ass so I can use it again. "Caregiver Foulmuck is doing something to avoid torturing someone else? Is it a special day I'm unaware of?"

As I position the towel across my hips, another towel hits me in the face and Sen's voice follows. "Sure is. Today is 'pick on the Commander' day. Bellas gets a break while you're still in here avoiding your duties because you couldn't handle a few hugs from miss 'arms of stone' over here."

I lay the towel across my breasts and glance over at Alayna, who's now also on her back with two towels covering her. Without her uniform on, you can see every single muscle on her body. Looking at her arms, they really do look like they might be chiseled from stone. And I got hit with them multiple times today!

Alayna sees me looking and smiles with a wink. "It's okay, Commander. I thought our hugs were really nice. A lot nicer than I'm sure hugs from Caregiver Foulmuck would be!" She yelps again as Sen gives her another pinch right at the bottom of her foot, and I can't hold back a laugh.

Another half-hour or so passes while we go through the process of being covered in ointment by a nervous young elf boy and laying around waiting for it to dry. When we're finally permitted to put our uniforms back on – or, as Sen so politely tells us, to "get our lazy elf asses out of her hospital beds so folk who are really hurt can use them" – I quickly get out of bed and pull the jumpsuit on, sliding my arms in the sleeves and closing the front. A few quick breast adjustments and I turn to LC Rhuviel.

Alayna is a lot slower getting into her uniform than I was, and I catch her only halfway dressed. Her top half is still uncovered, and I can't help but look over her firm and defined torso, small athletic breasts, and solid shoulders. As my eyes reach her face, I see her watching me look at her. She smiles and winks, and I turn away slightly embarrassed.

My mind is immediately flooded with ideas, and it takes all my effort to remember to smack them down. As the commanding officer of the ship, I absolutely can't consider anything with any member of my crew. As someone who recently had her heart broken, I also can't get memories of Saeralyn out of my head. However, the loneliness of the last few months still makes it difficult to clear my mind. As I'm working on it, a hand on my shoulder startles me a bit.

"Are you okay, Commander?"

I turn to see Alayna standing next to me, her light blue eyes filled with concern. I quickly shake my head and put a smile on my face. "I'm fine, LC. Sorry. I didn't mean to look at you like that while you were half-dressed. It was unprofessional and I apologize."

She shrugs and smiles. "No problem, Commander. It just makes us even. I'll see you next week if you want to spar again." With a wink, she walks past me.

As I pick up on the comment she made, I specifically don't turn to watch her walk away and continue kicking myself around to get the thoughts out of my head. I don't have long before Sen comes up and stands next to me, looking past me to where the platoon leader is leaving the hospital ward.

The older goblin caregiver watches quietly for a few seconds, then turns to me with an evil grin. "Better be careful with that one, Commander. She'd break you in half. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Breaking your lover in half is a lot of fun! It's right up there with impaling them on a spike and smacking them around with a hammer."

I drop my chin to my chest and slowly shake my head with a sigh. If I ever need a reminder of how weird goblins can be, I just have to talk to Sen. She'll always set my head straight. I chuckle as I lift my head and look back at her. "You're probably right that she'd break me in half, but it doesn't matter. Even if the regulations weren't in the way, I'm still not planning to date again for awhile."

She shrugs and looks me in the eye. "If you're not touching, then you should stop looking. And quit moping around about that stupid elf girl from your homeworld. Your heart's not going to heal if you keep thinking about it. And if you come back in here for heart pain, I'm going to kick your ass harder than miss stone arms over there would." That said, she punches me in the shoulder and walks off.

I chuckle a bit more as I shake my head and leave. Sen and I never really became close during the years we've served on-ship together, but things changed a bit when she and the other senior officers helped me on Tir Tairngire a couple months ago. She's still evil and weird, but the older goblin woman has some surprisingly good advice. If you can sift it out from the evil phrasing she uses, that is.

I head back to my quarters and clean myself, then call Tanna. Her see-through head appears over my table with a grin. "Hey, girl! How was your time in the hospital ward with the platoon leader?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. Of course Lada already told Tanna. I really need to find those two more work to do. "It was fantastic. There's nothing at all like lying out naked while a young elf boy rubs ointment all over you. You should try it some time. In fact, I recommend it. I'll tell Lada to have LC Rhuviel beat you up during your next training session."

"No! No, that's okay! I'll just keep doing what I'm doing! Lada would prefer it that way, I'm sure!" The look of horror on her face is priceless. I'm not sure if she's more horrified about having to actually expend physical energy during training or having a female elf beat the hell out of her. Either way is funny, though. Once I also add in the thought of Lieutenant Bellas exploding over having to touch Tanna's naked body, I can't hold back the laughter.

When I'm finally able to catch my breath, Tanna's still looking at me expectantly. "Sorry! I'll explain why that's funny later. I'm thinking about getting you and Kesn together to go dancing. Interested?"

A wide grin splits her face. "Absolutely! I'm _so bored_ down here! Dancing sounds wonderful! And I don't even know if Kesn _can_ dance! It'll be fun to find out!"

I smile back. "Awesome. I'll call Kesn and see if she's available. See you in a couple hours."

Once I call Kesn and have her agree to the outing, a quick call to the Academy recreation office gets me the name of a club that has a popular dance band playing tonight. I have the male dwarf in the office make a reservation for me and agree to pay a little extra to add our names to the VIP list. Being a UCST Commander comes with nice perks sometimes, but I rarely take advantage of them. Today, I think I deserve it.

# CHAPTER SEVEN

The whistle gets my attention, and I stand from my chair and turn toward the door. I was checking messages in the Operational Discussion Chamber before the mission briefing meeting, and as usual was completely distracted. The whistle from the door announcing Cap's presence usually pulls me out of that distraction. When the door doesn't open, and my dwarf captain doesn't walk into the room, I finally register the laughter behind me and turn around.

While I wasn't paying attention, all of the senior officers showed up. Tanna's laughing hard enough to shake the table, and quite a few of the others – Lada, Gimmir, Sen, Kesn and Aelon – are laughing or chuckling with her. Simon's looking at me with very serious disappointment, while LCs Songdancer and Pikeforge are looking around the room and obviously wondering why all the senior officers are laughing at the XO.

I immediately realize what happened and scowl at Tanna. "Thank you, Commander. I appreciate the kindness you showed in retrieving my attention from my messages. So very thoughtful of you."

She catches her breath and brushes the hair out of her face. "Sorry, boss. You know I can't help it! Besides, you have to admit that my whistle is getting better!"

Probably the only ability Tanna has that she considers a 'talent' is her ability to mimic a ship whistle. It really is pretty close to the actual tone and it's difficult to notice the difference when you're distracted. That being said, it's still not a nice thing to be tricked with. Sitting back in my chair with a sigh, I scowl at her. "I think I'm going to add something to your personnel file, just so whatever future captain you end up XO for gets some kind of warning about it."

She shrugs and winks at me, then turns to the room. "Well, now that our temporary captain is paying attention, we should start the meeting." She waves and smiles brightly at the officers. "Hi everyone! I'm Commander Tanna Aldamiel, and I'll be playing the Executive Officer during this performance of 'The UCST Corsari visits Andriennein'."

All of the officers who laughed earlier, including Tofi Pikeforge this time, give Tanna a brief round of applause. She stands and bows in recognition of it, which makes everyone laugh. While standing, she gestures to the dwarf next to her. "Playing Chief of Engineering, may I present Lieutenant Commander Tofi Pikeforge!" More applause as the female dwarf stands, her dark purple hair shining where it lies on her shoulders. She waves shyly at the room, causing Gimmir and Lada to applaud louder and start whistling at her. Now thoroughly embarrassed, she sits with a shy look on her face.

I can't help but chuckle at the two unique reactions in the room. Herion Songdancer looks like he's starting to wonder exactly what he got into with this group. His expression is a mixture of confused and terrified as he watches Tanna's antics. The other notable reaction is from Simon, as he sits next to Gimmir with his green arms crossed and a look of boredom on his face. He notices me looking and rolls his eyes, conveying his total disdain for this ridiculous show.

Tanna continues smiling and gestures out to the rest of the room. "I also want to give a quick introduction to our two new team members, since this is their first official mission briefing! Our new Chief Science Officer, Herion Songdancer, and our new Ambassador, Kesn Dreadthief!"

Herion jerks with surprise as if he was slapped, stands quickly, gives a short wave, then sits back in his seat without meeting anyone's eyes. Kesn stands politely, smiles and gives a short curtsey, then goes back to sitting. The applause continues for a second, and I notice a brief smile from Simon as he glances at Kesn. That's very unlike him! I'll have to ask Lada if she knows something I don't!

When everyone starts to calm down, I clear my throat and look at Tanna. "Thank you, XO. We'll miss you on the Corsari, but I wish you luck in your new career as a theater announcer." Everyone laughs for a second before I continue. "As Tanna over-enthusiastically described, Cap's not going to be joining us for this mission. He said, and I quote, 'I don't have time now to babysit a trade agreement meeting between uppity dwarves and elves'. So our glorious leader decided we can do it ourselves while he gets drunk in an Academy bar."

Gimmir stands, turns to the wall, and salutes. "Godspeed, Gravelhand. May yer ale always be in yer hand!" The rest of the room laughs and stands to match his salute. I notice LC Songdancer join the salute with a smile. I guess he's already starting to figure us out.

Everyone sits, so I get back to the meeting at hand. "We're going to be launching in five days for Hallowforge, where we're meeting up with a transport ship, the UCST WagonTrail. Once the Hallowforge trade delegation and accompanying soldiers are loaded, we're escorting them to Andriennein for the meetings."

Tofi Pikeforge raises her hand to get my attention. "Excuse me, Commander. Do we know who is leading the trade delegation from Hallowforge?"

I glance at Kesn, who logs into her terminal and checks her notes before she responds. "It looks like the leader of the delegation is Gorgan Gemcrusher. He's bringing four other trade members, along with the two platoons of soldiers."

I hear an audible laugh from the other end of the room and see Gimmir and Simon smiling at each other before the dwarf turns to look at me with a grin. "Two platoons is nothin'. We have that covered by a factor o' five! Our folk can even swap out in shifts so they don't get overly tired! Are we allowed to antagonize the tired dwarves?"

Before I can respond, Tofi chuckles and turns to Gimmir. "I say you go ahead and give them hell. Gemcrusher's a bully and a tyrant. Used to be the mayor of Ironspike, and everyone hated him. Now that he's in trade, he's completely corrupt. No one from back home will miss him if he ends up on the end of your axe." She suddenly stops talking and looks back around the room in fear, realizing what she just said in front of everyone.

Gimmir smiles and winks at her as she turns back. "Hypothetically, o' course. We're not really allowed to cut down the representatives unless they come outta the meetin' with a sword in their hands and blood on their sleeves!"

That gets Lada's attention, and she turns to Tofi. "Is he likely to start trouble in the meeting? Should I be concerned?"

Kesn jumps back into the conversation at this point. "From what I've read on his dossier, he does seem to match LC Pikeforge's description of him. There are many notes of bullying and threats during trade meetings, including a few times where he attempted to start a fight with the opposing delegates. It might be wise to have additional security in the room."

Lada sits back and smiles. "Is that all? We'll be covered. No problem."

I nod and smile. "Good. I'm glad everyone's on top of this after so much downtime. I was worried some of you had become a little rusty. Especially you older folk!" Every set of eyes in the room widens, and they all look around to figure out which 'older folk' I was talking about.

My chuckle brings their attention back, and I smile. "Okay. Since I was XO through most of our docking time, I know everything's ready to go. Unless someone has a conflicting report to share with me, I'm assuming all departments are at one hundred percent." No one steps up after a few seconds, so I wave my hand at them. "Good. Meeting adjourned. Go find something to do. Herion, Tofi and Kesn, can you three hang back for a minute? Tanna too, I suppose."

When everyone's gone, I turn to LC Songdancer. "Herion. Have you had any trouble getting the Science team together? Is there anything you need?"

He shakes his head. "No problems, ma'am. Lieutenant Neltasyr is a challenge, but she's nothing I can't handle. I'm curious about Lieutenant JG Sickshade, though. He's really good, and his record says he's been the communications theorist for quite some time. Why is he still junior grade?"

I respond with a shrug. "I actually asked Nub that same question some time last year. He's completely uninterested in promotion. He likes doing communications for the Corsari and knows that moving up to Lieutenant might move him out of that position, so he asked to not be promoted."

Herion nods with understanding. "I've known a few folk like that before, so I get it. In that case, the department is solid. Needs some sharpening around the edges, but I can take care of that."

"Excellent. Thanks, LC. One final thing. Before we launch, can you keep a close eye on the storage bay and make sure nothing unexpected appears in it?" The question in his expression is plain and makes me chuckle. "Don't ask. Bad experience with our last mission. It'll just put my mind at ease if you can keep an eye on it. Thank you. You can go."

LC Songdancer nods and leaves the room. When he's gone, I turn to Tofi and Kesn. "I'm a bit concerned about this Gemcrusher bully now. Tofi, since you know him from your homeworld, can you work with Kesn to put together more details about him and anyone else from his delegation that you recognize? Anything you can think of that might not be in our files will be helpful. It sounds like the dwarves on Hallowforge might know more about him than our dossier states. "

Kesn nods. "That would indeed be helpful. Unfortunately, politics is a lot like history in that the details are written by the victors. Most of our information is just on how he's handled trade negotiations, and how he handled certain policy details while in office as mayor. Information about how he actually acted in public where any dwarf could see him and overall public impression of how he handled his work would be vital intelligence."

Tofi shrugs and smiles. "I can try. I didn't know him personally, but everyone knows _of_ him. I'll tell you what I can remember, but I don't think it'll be much."

I grin and nod. "Thanks, LC. Anything is better than nothing. Let me know what you put together." With a nod, they leave the room to me and Tanna. I turn and look at my best friend. "A little over-the-top with the introductions, weren't you?"

She shrugs and smiles. "Everyone except Sergeant Shoots-at-stuff thought it was fun, so that's all that matters to me. It was my first meeting! I had to make it memorable! Even had the new Science elf laughing by the end of it, so I think it was a success!"

I try to sigh and look disappointed, but I can't stop myself from laughing. "Fine. Okay. You did good. Thank you for taking care of the meeting."

Jumping from her chair, she moves quickly around the table and grabs me in a hug. "Thanks, boss! Let's go get something to eat then!"

I hug her back, then remove myself from her squeeze and shake my head. "Not yet. I want to run something about the mission by you and see what you think."

When she sits back down, I open the message I received from Saeralyn and read it to her. When I'm done, I wait without saying anything to see what her first reaction is. I can see her face turn redder with anger, then slowly fade back to her normal bronze color. After a few seconds, she finally speaks. "The little bitch couldn't manage to be any more helpful than that? 'Some friends'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I shrug. "That's the problem. I don't know. Since she says it's 'not her contract', I'm guessing that it's someone she knows who works for another contractor, but I have no idea who or why or what I should do about it. Should I just wait to see when I get there, or should we try to make assumptions about the reason behind the 'friends' visit and make plans for them?"

Tanna thinks about it for a second, then nods. "Let's see what we can figure out. If she's telling you there are 'some friends' there, does she mean folk _she_ knows, or does she mean folk _you_ know?"

I tap the table as I talk my thoughts out. "I suppose it could be either. She has lots of friends in the business, and it could be that she's just letting me know to keep my eyes open so I don't get in someone's way and they don't get in mine. On the other hand, she wouldn't necessarily need to warn me about that, because I wouldn't know who to look for. So it's probably someone I know, which narrows the options down to just a handful of fighters and a few other characters."

As she brushes the hair from her face, Tanna opens her terminal and starts a new note. "Okay. That sounds plausible. Let's start there and see what we can come up with. I didn't meet any of these elves since I didn't go with you to the fight, so tell me what you remember about them."

I give her all the details I remember about the crew of elves that Saeralyn hired to help us – Emmyth the fighter captain and as much as I can remember about his dozen fighters; Volodan the 'swashbuckling swordsman'; Maeral and Tishani, the silent infiltration expert and the childlike assassin.

She looks over the list and clicks her tongue. "I'm thinking the best bet is this Emmyth guy and a few fighters are helping guard the Andriennein trade delegates from the Hallowforge soldiers. That seems to be the option that makes the most sense, unless someone hired the kid to kill someone. Can't imagine what anyone would use this guy in the blue cape for."

Nodding, I smile. "I think you're right. I should warn Gimmir, Simon and Lada about the possibility of Emmyth being there. The three of them got along well with him. He's actually a really decent guy for a mercenary. I'd definitely prefer to try to keep him and his fighters from getting into trouble, and we can make contingency plans for that."

Tanna nods and closes the note. "I'll pass the information along to them. I'm assuming, since you waited until we were alone, that you want to keep this information closely guarded?"

I chuckle as I grin. "See? This whole thing is working out for us already. You already know what I'm thinking! Having my best friend as my XO is awesome. Shame it's not going to last."

"Hey!" She slams her hands on the table as she leans on it to glare at me. "You're not allowed to talk like that! We have at least the next two months together, and I'm sure Mom isn't going to find me a job while I'm gone, so you just stop worrying about it! This is why I didn't tell you to begin with!"

I hold up both my hands in front of her. "Woah, girl! Sorry! No need to growl like a near-wolf and try to take my head off! You know how my mind works, and I just think of it occasionally. I'd rather think about it than not know it was coming! Besides, our roles in this mission are only temporary anyway! When Cap comes back, you stop being my XO!"

She sits back in her chair with a sigh and runs her hand through her hair. "You're right. Sorry, Rylae. We'll just keep doing what we're doing and try to enjoy it. Speaking of which, I should go pass this along to the ruffians before I forget about it."

I nod. "Okay. I have to write a report about this meeting anyway. Better to do it now while it's all still fresh." We stand and I walk around the table to give her a hug. "Thanks, Tanna. I really appreciate your help. And we're definitely going to have fun with this, as long as there aren't any more introductions to be made."

She laughs and smacks my shoulder. "Those introductions were awesome! You just don't want to admit it!"

I watch her leave and go back to my chair. The blasted report won't write itself, after all.

# CHAPTER EIGHT

Tanna and I agreed that the best thing to do for this launch was for me to monitor Engineering while she monitors Tactical. It's Tofi Pikeforge's first launch as Chief Engineer, so it's important to let her manage it the way she sees fit without her old boss hanging around. Plus, Tanna's never seen Tactical during a launch. I can only imagine how that's going. I'm sure she's either loving the fact that she can watch Aelon work, or she's hating every moment of it since he now reports to her and they're not allowed to date. I'll find out when we meet up afterwards.

Watching Tofi run around Engineering during launch is a much different sight than watching Tanna's calm assuredness. Where Commander Tanna Aldamiel stands at the main holoreport terminal and manages everything with a few simple commands to her team, Lieutenant Commander Tofi Pikeforge constantly hustles from one station to another, verifying with her own eyes everything her folk are telling her. I recognize a lot of that is the fact that this is the first launch where she's Chief Engineer, but I also see some of it just being her style of keeping things organized. It'll be interesting to see how she manages things while we're in the starfield.

The purple-haired dwarf runs past me to the battery monitoring station, then pops out of that to slide up next to me, tapping the communicator. "Mana flow to the Bubble is stable. Activating Flight." She points off to a station behind me, and I turn to see a goblin Lieutenant tap a few commands and say a few words. Turning back to the large graph, I see a new line appear and start moving upwards. After a few seconds, the line drops back down.

Tofi stares at the line for a second then taps the communicator again. "Flight failure. One moment, Tactical."

She runs off as Aelon's voice comes over the communicator with a confirmation. I turn to watch Tofi as she works with her Lieutenant. She doesn't raise her voice, but her movements are frantic and fast as she points, touches and talks about the process. After a few seconds, the Lieutenant nods and performs the activation sequence again.

Halfway through, Tofi throws up her arms to stop him, then points at something. It looks like the Lieutenant then recognizes his error, smiles, nods and starts over. I watch from a distance as he finishes his activation, then I turn back to the graph to see that line jump back up and stay stable. Tofi runs back over and taps the communicator. "Flight is stable. Sorry, Tactical. Our team's a little rusty after the long dock time."

I hear Aelon's chuckle. "No problem, Engineering. Tactical copies that Flight is stable. Finishing launch preparations... now. Ready for confirmation."

Tofi checks the graph, then runs between three other stations before running back. "Spells are holding and stable, Tactical. You may activate Propulsion when ready."

"Tactical copies. Activation in ten... five... two, one. Launch."

Tofi checks the graph again before running off to another station. After a few seconds, Tactical comes back on the communicator. "Launch successful. Engineering, please confirm stability of Flight and accuracy of Propulsion."

The LC jogs back over with a grin and taps the communicator. "Flight remains stable. Propulsion accuracy is one hundred percent. I suppose two full batteries and six months of docking time is good for something after all!"

No response comes for a few seconds, then Aelon's incredulous voice comes back. "Engineering, are you certain it's one hundred percent? We've never heard of that ever happening before."

Tofi runs and checks the other station, then runs back. "Confirmed. The report says it's at a hundred percent. Make the first direction change and we'll see what happens."

"Confirmed. First direction change in one minute, fifteen seconds."

Tofi runs back to the other station, so I follow her. A dwarf JG is sitting at the station, going over his work. The LC looks over everything he has running then taps him on the shoulder. "Orin, buddy. Is your graph keyed into the right mana flow? Tactical tells me they've never heard of one hundred percent propulsion accuracy ever happening, and I would tend to believe them."

The white-haired dwarf looks over his shoulder at her. "Should be."

She nods and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Shut it down and start it back up. I want to see what happens."

With a nod, he taps a couple commands and his holoreport goes blank. A few more seconds and he brings the holoreport back up, then taps the commands to find the mana flow for the Propulsion spell. After a few seconds, the report changes to show the accuracy to be at 98.7%. Tofi silently points at the coordinates next to the accuracy number, obviously to remember them for herself, then runs back to the main report. I'm right behind her as she taps the communicator.

"Tactical, we found the problem. Propulsion accuracy is 98.7% at 19,115,24. Sorry for the delay."

"Confirmed, Engineering. We have one-point-three percent at 19,115,24. We'll factor that into future direction changes. First direction change happening in twenty seconds." The time passes quickly, and Aelon's voice comes back online. "Direction change complete. Adjusting remaining directions now, will verify with you in a few minutes."

LC Pikeforge points to the goblin Lieutenant that was monitoring the Flight station and points him to the main terminal. As he comes over, she turns to me and smiles. "I think we're good here, ma'am."

I wave for her to follow me and walk back to the glass-walled office, taking a seat away from the desk. I keep my expression neutral as I watch her take a seat next to me. "LC, can you tell me what happened with the launch problems?"

Her smile sags a bit. "Yeah. Sorry, ma'am. I think everyone's just a little rusty from so much dock time between launches. Both problems were simply procedural. Nothing major was wrong with either system. I'm going to run some extra training exercises while we're in the starfield so we're better prepared to launch from Hallowforge."

That brings a smile to my face. "Excellent. Good job managing the launch, LC. I'm impressed. You found the problems quickly and resolved them just as quickly. I'm glad to have you back here."

Her smile fully returns and she stands to salute. "Thank you, Commander!"

I stand to return her salute, then leave her to her department as I go up to the Captain's Office to meet with Tanna. When I open the door, she's already there, sitting at the small table.

My best friend looks up at me with concern plain on her face. "Sounds like things weren't as smooth down there as they normally are. What happened?"

I shrug as I take a seat next to her. "Just a couple small errors. The Flight problem seemed like just a procedural error, and the Propulsion problem was a report keyed into the wrong mana flow. The LC says she's going to run some training scenarios before the next launch."

She nods, her expression softening. "Good. Tactical went nuts for a minute when she reported that hundred percent accuracy. Everyone on Aelon's team started yelling and arguing with each other, and only stopped when Aelon stepped in. He basically told everyone to sit down, shut up, and wait for Engineering to figure out what was wrong."

I nod. For all his faults and lack of intelligence, Aelon is actually a good team leader. "So they did?"

Tanna sighs as her brow creases and eyes narrow. "Almost all of them did. That one Lieutenant bitch of his decided to say something about how he's only defending Engineering because his girlfriend runs it."

My eyes go wide. "Oh, really?"

She shrugs, then brushes her hair off her shoulder. "Yeah. He shut her down really quickly by just pointing at me sitting in the room and giving her a look that made her feel like an idiot. He really is pretty good at running his team."

I can't help but laugh. "Aelon made someone _else_ feel like an idiot? That's some talent!" That makes Tanna laugh, and it's good to see a smile on her face. After a minute, I decide to ask her the important question. "So, aside from that, how did things go?"

Another shrug. "They were fine. A couple fumbles with the math while figuring things out, but that seems like the same procedural errors you found in Engineering. Too much docking time made everyone forget how to do their jobs."

I nod. I think we're going to see a lot of that during this mission. But that really wasn't what I was trying to get from her. "How are things with the two of you?"

Surprisingly, her smile just gets bigger. "Well, I sleep better now that he's moved back into his quarters and isn't snoring in my ear, if that's what you mean!" That makes me laugh, and she continues. "I think we can manage two months apart while he reports to me. But, ya know..." Her voice drops to a whisper as she leans closer. "Watching him run his department is kinda hot. I knew there was a reason I liked him beyond the way his ass looks in a uniform!"

I shake my head and smile. "I'll never understand you, Tanna. But I guess I'm glad to hear that. After this mission is done, you can go back to whatever it is you two do together."

She laughs and stands up. "Gee. Thanks, boss! So nice to know I have your approval! For now I'm going to run down to Engineering and check on Tofi, just to satisfy my own mind. You okay for awhile?"

"Yeah. I have to write a launch report now. I had no idea Cap has to do so many reports! No wonder he always seems grumpy when he's not cracking jokes!"

Tanna gives me a quick hug and walks to the door. "Just don't end up like that! The times you _think_ you're funny are already bad enough without you trying to make a habit of it!" I roll my eyes at her, causing her to chuckle as she leaves.

I take a few minutes to collect my thoughts, then walk to the Operational Discussion Chamber to use a terminal. Opening the door, I'm surprised to find Herion sitting there by himself. His eyes are slightly glassy, and he seems to be staring at the wall. He doesn't appear to have noticed me, so I step over in front of him. When that doesn't seem to work, I take a step back out of his line of sight and clear my throat.

The sound makes him jump, and I watch as his eyes refocus. After a few seconds, he turns back to me with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Commander. I didn't hear you come in."

I tilt my head to the side as I regard him. "You didn't see me standing directly in front of you either. Are you okay?"

"Of course, ma'am." He nods and stands quickly from his chair, but seems to stumble a bit.

I move over to him quickly and grab his arm to help him steady himself. "I'm not a big fan of having my officers lie to me, LC."

His grin disappears and he looks down at the floor. "Sorry, ma'am. I was hoping things would be different after all these years. I guess they aren't."

Still holding his arm, I start to walk him to the door. "Explain it to me while I'm taking you to the hospital ward."

He sighs and slowly follows my lead. "Yes, ma'am. I'm very sensitive to changes in mana flow. I first noticed it when I moved to Terra to join the Academy. As soon as the Bubble closes, I suddenly feel like I can't breathe. It wears off after a day or two, and then I'm fine. When the Bubble opens on a world with mana, I feel like I get hit in the face with it. Another day or two to recover from that."

We walk slowly down the stairs as he continues. "I decided to stay on Terra after graduation because I was fine while on the ground. After all these years, I was hoping it would have gone away. I guess it hasn't."

On level 4, I slowly walk him to the hospital ward and sit him down, then sit next to him. "It sounds like a really bad problem, Herion. You're not stupid, so I'm assuming you considered this as a possibility. Why did you still decide to interview for the job on the Corsari?"

The sheepish grin reappears as he looks at me. "Risa really pushed me to do it."

Risa? I can't put the name to a face, but I can put it to a file. "Your wife?"

He nods. "Yeah. She's been hearing me complain about being bored at the Admiralty for years. When she heard I had a chance to join the Corsari, she wouldn't let me turn it down. Said she could take care of the kids while I'm away. Said I'd be happier with the work. I couldn't let her down."

I smile and pat him on the arm. "That's very noble of you. But how do you think you'll be when we get to Hallowforge and Andriennein?"

He shakes his head and smiles. "I should be okay in a day or two, so managing the docking procedures are no problem. Once the Bubble goes down..." His smile disappears and he looks at the floor. "I guess we'll see what happens. I'm a little worried, but it's also good that we're going to two different worlds before we go home. Maybe multiple changes in fairly quick succession will help me get used to it."

The details click in my mind and I look at him closely. "So you haven't been off Terra since you joined the Admiralty?"

He shakes his head. "Not since my Academy cruise. Not long after I graduated and got married, my parents moved out to Terra to be closer. They spend their time now with Risa and the kids. I haven't had much reason to go off-world, so I haven't.

The sincerity in his light green eyes settles my mind. Standing, I turn and smile. "Well, I'm still glad to have you on my team if you're still glad to be here. I hope you really do get better, because we kinda do this whole 'launch and dock on other worlds' thing a lot."

He chuckles as I continue, "If you don't, then you can just start camping out in here with Sen during launch and after docking. I'm sure she'll be happy to have your company."

"I can always just try removing an arm and see if that helps him!"

Sen's voice behind me makes me laugh, and I turn to her with a smile. "You can't take his arm off. Just make sure he doesn't die. Can you do that?"

She looks past me at Herion and shrugs. "I can try, but I make no promises."

I shrug and smile. "If you kill him, then _you_ have to explain it to his wife. I'm not going to."

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. "Fine, Commander. I probably won't kill him. Now get the hell out of my hospital ward so I can get some work done." She pushes past me to get to Herion, and I laugh as I leave. Sen may be an incredibly difficult goblin, but I know she's good at her job so Herion's in good hands. Strange, slightly murderous hands, but good ones.

# CHAPTER NINE

The two weeks of travel to Hallowforge pass fairly uneventfully. Most of the crew goes through departmental training sessions to refresh their job skills, and I split my time evenly among paperwork, training with Alayna and Lada, and brief procedural meetings with Kesn. It's not the most exciting time, but the lack of excitement is a nice change.

I decide to sit in on the Hallowforge docking procedures, both to watch LC Songdancer's first time docking with his new Science team and to be available if Tanna has any problems with Ground Control. Of course, I'm also in the chair to see through the scry window, and to keep an eye on LC Pikeforge in the corner. Tofi doesn't sit in on very many dockings, since Tanna normally pulls rank on her to do it herself, and it's always a good time to watch someone see the starfield from a new world's perspective.

Lieutenant Runeshadow finishes the scry window and we all sit in silence for a minute staring at the starfield. The end of our directions brought us to a place where there seems to be almost nothing nearby. We can see the pinpricks of light from the stars in the distance, but nothing else is in the scry window – no suns, no moons, no worlds. It's a rather rare sight, so we just stare at it in awe.

After a few minutes, I hear the dwarven officer cough. "Um. Sorry I couldn't find anythin' more interestin' for ya, Commander."

I can't stop myself from giggling. "It's just not quite the same without Cap giving you a hard time about the view, is it?"

He turns and looks at me with a shrug. "Not quite, ma'am. He's been bitchin' about the view durin' every dockin' procedure for years. I kinda missed it is all."

I tap my finger on my chin for a second, then smile back and rough up my voice with a small cough. "Right. Well, good job, Lieutenant, but are ya sure yer even lookin' in the right spot? There's just a whole buncha twinklin' lights out there, and I don't see anythin' a group o' noisy dwarves could be livin' on. Maybe ya should try and aim better next time."

After a few seconds of silence, everyone in the room breaks into laughter. Tanna turns to me and slaps my shoulder. "Girl, that is the _worst_ Halyer accent I've ever heard!"

Tofi turns from her station and looks over at me. "Don't quit the UCST for the theater just yet, Commander!"

Vico Runeshadow laughs the hardest, then picks up a runestone from his design and walks over to Lieutenant Vanwen Neltasyr. "So sorry, Commander. Musta got my spell turned around or somethin'. Vanwen'll sort it out for ya and get ya a nice view o' Hallowforge. I won't make the same mistake again!"

He sets the stone down on the elf mage's spellsand drawing as she takes a few deep breaths to control her laughter. The bookish elf girl looks at me with a rare smile and chuckles a final time as she runs her fingers through her shiny silver hair. "I'll fix it right up for you, Commander. Sorry about Vico's failure!" Turning back to her drawing, she passes her hands over it and continues the spell.

After a second, the view in the scry window changes as the points of light seem to shift and move. After about a minute or so, a small gray dot appears from the side. It slowly grows in size within the window, taking on slightly different shades of gray and some spots of blue. After about ten minutes, the world is finally large enough to see clearly in the scry window.

Herion turns to the female elf. "Nicely done, Lieutenant, but why did it take so long to show up in the scry window?"

Her eyes still glassy, the silvery-haired elf turns to face him. "Sorry, sir. We must be at the far edge of the spell's reach. The world still seems really far away. I'm having trouble keeping it in focus."

The new Chief Science Officer nods and walks over to her terminal, touching the spellsand drawing with his left hand while laying his right hand on Vanwen's shoulder. I hear the Lieutenant gasp slightly as she blinks, then notice Herion's eyes go slightly glassy as well. Without looking at the table, his left hand traces a new design into the edge of the spellsand drawing. After a few seconds, Vanwen releases a sigh and seems to relax further into her chair.

Herion nods and removes his hands from the elf and the table, blinking a couple times to refocus his eyes. "That should help your focus, Lieutenant. After the mapping is done, make a note of the changes I made to your spell so you can use them later."

The elf girl blinks like she's waking up as a small grin crosses her face. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." After another sigh, her brow creases and she suddenly sits up straighter. "Oh! The mapping! Sorry, sir! Triggering the mapping now!"

As she taps some commands on her terminal, I glance up at Herion. He notices me and quickly turns away, walking to his own terminal. I think he's blushing, but I can't tell. I turn to look at Tanna and see she's watching him carefully as well. After a second, her 'juicy gossip' smile appears on her face and she leans over to me, whispering excitedly, "I thought you said he's married!"

I give her an odd look, then look back at Herion and Vanwen and consider their reactions. I whisper back, "Explain to me what just happened and tell me if we need to follow up on it."

She giggles and whispers back, "Tapping into a spell like that can trigger certain 'feelings' in a female adept. I don't think he thought of that before he did it. He seems embarrassed as hell! If he thought she was a challenge before..." She ends with a wink and a grin.

I look between the two Science adepts and I definitely see it now. Herion won't look at anyone else as he waits quietly for the mapping spell to finish. Vanwen looks quite relaxed and satisfied, if a little embarrassed herself. A small smile escapes me as I whisper a final time to Tanna. "Have fun with this one, XO! Can't wait to see how you handle it!"

She giggles, then stops and looks at me with wide eyes. She forgot that she has to take care of the problem herself this time! That makes me start giggling and gets me a dirty look in return. I take a deep breath and stop my giggles right as Tofi announces that the mapping has completed.

After thanking her, Herion turns to his table and picks up the sphere. I also notice a spellsand drawing on his table, which he touches briefly before rotating the sphere. After a few minutes, he finishes the spell and triggers the mapping on his terminal. Tofi checks her terminal, then touches her communicator. "Tactical, initial coordinates have been mapped. Please calculate our arrival time."

It only takes a minute or so for a voice to respond. "We seem to be quite far from the mark. Estimated time to arrive is greater than two days."

I nod and walk over to Tofi's terminal, touching her communicator charm. "Thank you, Tactical. We'll reconvene tomorrow to get more mapping detail."

I turn to the Science team. "Good job, everyone, but I guess we've done all we can today."

The goblin in the center seat turns to me. "Not quite everything, Commander. I can still connect communications if you wish."

I turn to Herion, who shrugs, then back to Lieutenant JG Nub Sickshade. "Are you sure, Nub? It's awfully far."

The goblin grins. "I can make it work. Our mana batteries are full, after all!"

I glance at Tanna and Tofi, but their expressions are much more like interest than disapproval, so I turn back and nod. "Okay, Nub. I think everyone wants to see you pull this off, so go ahead."

He taps his terminal and pulls up the mapping coordinates, chanting softly. Nothing appears to happen for a few seconds, then he takes a breath and seems to start over. I notice his eyes seem to flash green for a second right before I hear Tofi call for Tanna. The elf jumps from her seat and runs over, so I go to them and listen.

They point at the reports and chatter excitedly about the results. I can't keep up with what they're saying, but enough jumps out at me to recognize that they don't quite understand how the JG's able to do what he's doing. I turn back and watch as Nub finishes his spell and turns to me with a grin. "Communications established, Commander."

I tap Tanna on the shoulder to get her attention, and she runs back over to her chair, tapping the charm on its arm. "Ground Control."

The lag is long. About five minutes pass before we get a reply. "Hallowforge Ground Control. Please identify and provide arrival time."

Tanna touches the charm again. "Hallowforge, this is the UCST Corsari. We're still over two days away, but will have an updated arrival time tomorrow. Can you tell us if the UCST WagonTrail has arrived yet or provided an estimate?"

Five more minutes pass before the dwarf voice comes back. "Damn, Corsari. Surprised to hear from you if you're that far away! Glad you're almost here, though. The WagonTrail docked a few hours ago and our docking pad is covered with soldiers, politicians and bureaucrats! Now you're telling me I have to deal with them for another two days! Tell Gravelhand that LC Stonepusher says he's fired!"

I can't help but chuckle at the comment. I smile and nod at Tanna, who touches the charm to reply. "Sorry, Ground Control. Cap stayed home this time to drink with some Admirals. Commander Rylae Westiel is in charge right now. But I'll still tell her you fired her! No problem!"

The laughter-filled reply comes back a few minutes later, "Thanks for passing that along! We'll be expecting your updated arrival estimate tomorrow, so quit burning your battery by talking to us!"

I shrug and head for the door. "If I'm fired, I'm going back to my quarters. I'll see everyone tomorrow." I hear their laughter as I leave, but I don't go to my quarters. Instead, I walk down the hall and tap the charm outside of the Ambassador's office. When I hear Kesn's voice I touch the charm again and walk inside.

She's sitting at the desk, so I walk over and take a seat. She finishes reading through a scroll and rolls it up before looking up at me. "Are we there yet?"

I shrug. "Still a bit over two days away. We'll have an updated estimate tomorrow. But the WagonTrail is already there, and we've been told that the docking pad is full of 'soldiers, politicians and bureaucrats' which we've been politely tasked with removing as quickly as possible."

Kesn brushes the black curls away from her light green face as she chuckles. "I don't blame them. _Anything_ full of bored politicians could be considered a bad day!" She takes a breath and looks at me seriously. "I've been looking through more of the regulations and previous trade meeting notes, and I have a question for you. Who's the ship's meeting recorder?"

My brow furrows as I consider her question. "Meeting recorder? That's not an official position, is it? The Corsari's never had a position like that since I became XO."

She squints at me, then pulls another scroll from a shelf behind her. "Really? I wonder who this name is, then. Let's see..." She unrolls the scroll in front of her and runs her finger over the words. "Amariel Sharathei."

I nod. "That's Cap's current yeoman. She's with him on Terra."

She looks up at me slowly. "Oh. Well. That makes things difficult."

Things click in my mind right as she says that. "Dragons be damned! I had no idea that Cap's yeoman went with him to those meetings! She never worked for me, so I rarely met her or had any idea what she did! I didn't know she was an official meeting recorder!"

My Ambassador forces a smile and sits back in her chair. "Well, Commander, I think we need to find one quickly. Each side has their own recorders and assistants. I never really had to worry about it at the palace, so I didn't think about it before now."

I rack my brain for a minute, but come up dry. "I'm not sure who I can tap for the job. I think it's normally an Ensign-level position, but most of our ensigns are tied up in their departments. I'm not sure if I can pull someone higher than that, either. I'll have to dig through some personnel records to find someone who's available and has the right skills."

She shrugs and smiles. "You have a few weeks still. I trust you to figure it out. You're the temporary Captain, after all!"

I laugh sarcastically. "Yes, I suppose I am, even though I sure don't feel prepared for it! I guess I should start _expecting_ to be surprised with things I'm not prepared for."

Kesn chuckles as she closes the scroll and sets it back in its place, then turns off her terminal. "Well, right now, you can expect to sit with me while I get something to eat. I haven't had anything yet today, and, from what Tanna tells me, you probably haven't either!"

I think about it with a smile. "Actually, you're right. I haven't. Tanna's _always_ yelling at me to eat more, though, so you shouldn't use her as a reference point!" We laugh as we stand and leave her office to go to the stairs. On the next level, we turn the corner and walk to the mess hall.

As we enter, we see a number of crew members seated around the room, appearing to enjoy bowls of stew. When the mess hall usually serves stew, members of the crew either eat quickly with a lot of drink or slowly force it down while grumbling the entire time. Today, however, folk appear to be chatting happily and having a good time. I even notice a few dwarves take their empty bowls to the serving line and return with second helpings. That never happens!

I follow Kesn to the serving line and see a goblin private standing at a large pot of stew, spooning it into bowls. The closer I get, the more I notice the delicious smell coming from the stew causing my mouth to water a bit. When I get to the goblin, I smile and look across the stewpot at him. "Private, exactly what poison are you drugging my crew with today?"

He looks up at me and stops in surprise, then drops his spoon into the stewpot and reaches to the side of his table. "Nothing bad, ma'am! This is a recipe from the new girl! Here! Have a look!"

A piece of parchment is passed to me nervously, so I take it and read over it. The vegetable stew looks like a really simple recipe, and I also notice the beautiful flowing handwriting it's written in. Handing the recipe back to him, I smile. "Thank you, Private. Do you know where Romara is now?"

He looks around behind him, then back at me. "I think she's on a break. Might be sitting at a table."

I nod. "Thank you. One bowl for each of us, please."

He fills the bowls, handing one each to me and Kesn. We grab spoons and glasses of juice before going out to the tables. After a quick look around, I notice a familiar spot of blue and walk toward it. Romara's sitting alone and facing away from us, her long blue hair draped behind the back of her chair as she focuses on something in front of her. I walk up with a smile. "Excuse me, Cadet. Do you mind if we sit with you?"

She slowly turns around and sees me, then jumps to her feet and salutes. "Commander! Of course you can! Please have a seat!"

I smile and walk around the table, grabbing a chair while Kesn sits next to me. When we're seated, Romara returns to her chair and closes the small notebook sitting in front of her. I recognize the notebook from the last time we talked and look at her. "Hopefully you're not adding anything to that book which I should be worried about."

She shakes her head. "No, ma'am! I'm just making some notes about a new recipe I've been working on. So many folk seem to be enjoying my stew today that I thought I'd try something different tomorrow!"

The smell from my stew bowl reaches my nose again, reminding me that I definitely want to start eating. However, my mind starts putting together the other pieces and keeps me from digging into my food. I turn to Kesn and see her looking at the elf girl, then her notebook, and finally to me. I can tell she's thinking the same thing I've started to.

I look at Romara's face with a smile. "Cadet, I think I might have a new job offer for you."

# CHAPTER TEN

As we step through the ship's door and onto the staircase, I hear Kesn take a breath behind me. If you haven't seen it before, the view of the white stone mountains of Hallowforge is truly something. Hell, it's beautiful even if you _have_ seen it. I've been here dozens of times over the years, but the huge mountains in the distance are always an amazing sight against the dark blue sky.

A less-than-beautiful sight awaits us at the bottom of the stairs, though. A goblin in a UCST dress uniform – Captain Stenchfinger of the WagonTrail – and a gray-haired dwarf in a business suit, his gray beard reaching his knees, are waiting for the two of us a couple meters away from the staircase. I adjust my shoulders in my dress uniform jacket and continue down the stairs toward them.

At the bottom, I step aside for Kesn. When she's next to me, I snap into a salute and see her follow my lead from the corner of my eye. After Captain Stenchfinger salutes us back, I drop my hand and step forward to extend it to the dwarf. "Mr. Gemcrusher. I am Commander Rylae Westiel of the UCST Corsari. This is my ambassador, Commander Kesn Dreadthief. We'll be your escort and mediation team for your meeting on Andriennein."

The dwarf shakes my hand, then turns to shake Kesn's hand before turning back to me. "Commanders, it's lovely to meet you both. I was disappointed to hear that Elthen Gravelhand wasn't going to be joining us for this mission, but that may be for the best. He's a bit uncultured, after all. You ladies seem very refined and reasonable. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful asset to our negotiations. The dragons must be watching over us for this meeting."

_Of course_ he's a Dragon Purist. The universe is such a pain in my ass sometimes. At least this seems to explain why everything Tofi told us about him points to him being impossible to deal with. The connection between being a Purist and being an insufferable prick further solidifies in my mind. I'm not sure how I stop from rolling my eyes, but I manage to keep my face impassive and a smile on my face.

My wonderful ambassador friend saves me from having to reply when she speaks up herself. "Our goal is to be a wonderful asset to _both_ sides of the negotiation, Mr. Gemcrusher. I hope that, with our assistance, a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached quickly and without trouble."

The dwarf turns to Kesn and smiles behind his beard. "Wonderfully said, Miss Dreadthief. It will be a pleasure to work with such beautiful ladies during this negotiation."

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up when he calls us beautiful, and it'll take a little extra work in my washroom tonight to feel clean again after that. Still smiling as best I can, I turn to Captain Stenchfinger. "Captain, how long does your team need to prepare to launch? Is Mr. Gemcrusher's entourage fully aboard and ready?"

The goblin captain, whose eyes have been on Kesn throughout the conversation, turns his head to look at me and nod. "Indeed, Commander. The last two days have been enough to get everything prepared while waiting for you. I'm ready to put my crew in the vice and squeeze until we get to Andriennein."

I nod with a smile. "Excellent. I've also had my crew preparing while we were getting closer to Hallowforge just in case you gave me that answer. We should be ready to launch again in an hour or two, so you can go ahead and leave any time you're ready. We'll be close behind."

The captain snaps a salute, which Kesn and I return, then gestures for the dwarf to head back with him to the other ship. They walk away quickly, obviously ready to be on their way. When they're far enough away to keep from overhearing, I turn to Kesn with a wince. "Did he set off your 'insufferable prick' alarm as well? Or was it just me?"

I notice her smile disappear as she glances in my direction. "Absolutely. I think everything LC Pikeforge told me about him is going to turn out to be incredibly accurate. I can easily see through his thin disguise to the 'scum politician' at his core. I think this meeting is going to be a challenge."

I put my hand on her shoulder and smile. "At least we don't have to deal with him for two more weeks. They'll probably be launching in just a few minutes. In the meantime, are you still interested in doing more intelligence gathering?"

She grins. "The best way to find out about someone is to see how they treat the folk trying to work with them. I think it's still a solid plan, and not nearly as dangerous as breaking into the Palace! I'm surprised you came up with it!" Ending her statement with a wink and a sideways smile, I can't help but chuckle.

I pull my communicator from my jacket pocket and use it to call Ground Control. A few seconds pass before a dwarven head appears in-front-of-and-to-the-left of me. "Ground Control, LC Stonepusher speaking."

I smile. "Hi, LC. This is Commander Westiel of the Corsari. I wanted to come by and chat a bit about being fired. Would you be so kind as to send a landcraft driver to bring two of us by for a visit?"

He laughs with a huge smile on his beardless face. "Absolutely, Commander. I may be willing to hire you back in, since you're finally getting that load of dwarf crap off of my docking pad! I'll come pick you up myself. Should be with you in five." His face vanishes and leaves us some time to lose ourselves to the serene mountain view.

After a few minutes, a standard landcraft appears and rolls up to the beacon pole a few meters in front of us. A black-haired dwarf in a standard UCST uniform gets out and salutes us. We salute back and walk over. When we're closer, he reaches his hand out to shake. "Commanders, I'm LC Stonepusher. Welcome to Hallowforge."

I shake his hand with a smile. "Thanks for the ride, LC. You weren't the LC-in-charge when I was here last time. When were you promoted?"

He shakes Kesn's hand, then turns back to me with a grin. "Just three months ago, ma'am. Rubblesmith was promoted to Commander and moved out to the warehouses, so I got the job here. I was hoping to see Captain Gravelhand again, but I suppose two beautiful ladies are a much better trade."

The LC's comments immediately make me feel better about being called beautiful, and my smile becomes a lot more honest. I bat my eyes innocently as I look in his face. "So, you were saying you might be willing to let me keep my job? It would be such a shame if I had to go back and report to the Admiralty that I was fired for being late on my first mission."

He laughs a loud dwarven laugh and takes my left hand, lays his forehead on the back of it and drops to a knee. "Milady, please forgive my actions. I insist that you remain in your current position aboard the Corsari, and accept my apology for harming your reputation."

At that, Kesn and I both break into laughter. I pat the dwarf on the back of his head, ruffling his black hair slightly. "Apology accepted, LC... but trust me that it will take a lot more than that to harm _my_ reputation!"

He laughs and stands, looking back at us. "So what did you two need a ride for? Where are you headed?"

I look at Kesn and she looks back at me with a smile. This is going well so far. I turn back to the LC and put on a more serious expression. "LC, we'd really like to get your team together in a room and talk for a bit about the last few days here. We want to find out more about the group that just boarded the WagonTrail and think your team would have the answers we want."

He looks back and forth between the two of us, then laughs loudly and claps his hands. "That's devious! I like it! Well, hop in the 'craft and I'll get the folk together who I think are going to have the information you want. I hope you don't mind, but I'll take everyone to a local place to grab some lunch and talk without it feeling 'official'. I think that's what you're looking for. Am I wrong?"

Kesn smiles her evil goblin grin and nods at the dwarf. "That sounds perfect, LC. You picked up on our intentions beautifully. And I'm not going to turn down a pint of ale!" She finishes with a wink, which makes the dwarf laugh harder as we follow him to the landcraft. Once inside, he inputs the destination and starts making calls on his communicator.

The Miner's Folly is a really rough-looking place on the outside, seemingly carved out of one large block of stone that was moved straight from the mountain. Once you get past the front door, however, the inside is a beautifully-sculpted masterpiece of architecture. All of the tables seem to melt into the floor, all carved from and still a part of the same block of stone as the rest of the building. The chairs seem to also be made from the same stone, but are movable and covered with colored cushions. Beautiful painted carvings in the rock adorn the spaces between the windows.

The LC speaks to the dwarf at the door who then leads us to a far section of the restaurant with a thick stone wall between us and everyone else. I'm guessing the Hallowforge personnel use this place for meetings often, because this section looks designed for privacy. We sit in the corner of a large table and wait patiently for the rest of his team. Within ten minutes, six other folk in UCST uniforms – four dwarves and two goblins – appear in our section and salute us as they sit.

We order drinks and some food, and I lead the conversation in finding out about the last few days dealing with the group that we're escorting to the meeting. As expected, the information we receive is rather bad. Constant complaints from the trade delegates about the delay, the transportation to the ship, the delivery of bags and supplies, the loading procedures, the quarters assignments, the food options on the WagonTrail... the list goes on and on. It seems like there was almost no situation in which the group was happy about the way the UCST managed their transport requirements.

The worst part, however, is the description of the actual treatment of the officers. Apparently Gemcrusher really is a bully, using every argument in his disposal to get whatever he wanted from whoever he wanted it from. We hear multiple stories about threats to report to the Admiralty, a number of suggestions that local politicians who are still friends with Gemcrusher could cause problems for residents and their families, and two instances of being directly insulted by the trade members for incredibly stupid reasons.

The group of officers from Ground Control looks like they can continue for hours, but I bring them to a stop by finishing my mug of ale and slamming it on the table. With a nod, I look at the officers around the table. "Thank you, friends. I appreciate your assistance in our information gathering. I'll be sure to record all of this and submit it to the Admiralty so it doesn't happen again. Maybe the trade delegation needs to think twice about trying to charter a transport for this group in the future."

As I stand, the rest of the group stands with me and salutes. We return the salute, and the LC passes me the key charm for his landcraft. "Ladies, I'm going to stay with my team for a bit longer. We'll take care of the cost. Please take my 'craft back to the Corsari and we'll chat with you again when you leave. If you can actually get the Admirals to somehow use their influence with Hallowforge to fire Gemcrusher and the rest of his team, we'll buy dinner for your entire crew!"

A hearty agreement is voiced from everyone else, and I nod. "I'll do what I can, LC. This kind of treatment is unacceptable, and I'll do what I can to stop it from happening in the future."

The LC grins and slaps my ass. "Sure am glad I took back that part where I fired you! You're a rather decent elf, Commander! Glad to have you come out!"

I laugh and punch him in the shoulder hard enough to knock him back a step. "I'll be sure to tell Cap you're happier having me out here than him!"

The LC laughs with me. "Well, ma'am, you're a damn sight prettier than that old Halyer-born bastard! But do tell him we said hi and hope he comes out to visit soon. He's a bastard, but he's a good friend to the Ground Control crew. As are you, ma'am. Safe travels to Andriennein!"

I lead Kesn out to the landcraft. We don't remember which landcraft is his, so it takes a few tries to find the one the key charm works in. We do eventually figure it out and input the directions back to the docking pad. Once we start moving, Kesn turns to me with wide eyes. "Did the LC actually slap your ass in there?"

I laugh and nod. "He did. Dwarves are funny like that. He didn't mean anything by it. It's just that their hands are so much lower, so where an elf or goblin would slap someone's shoulder or back, they just slap an ass. It's a dwarf thing. A bit crude, but you get used to it. And I like that crew. I wish we could stay a little longer so you could get more exposure to them."

Kesn smiles and shrugs. "I'm just glad I got to spend time with them before the trade delegation colored my perception of dwarves in general. Definitely sounds like we're not going to have much fun dealing with them at the meeting."

The smile slips from my face. "Agreed. Maybe I actually _will_ have to be the brute during this meeting while you play the impartial mediator. I'm sure Gemcrusher's going to try to roll over the Andriennein trade delegation multiple times during the negotiations. I'm not looking forward to it."

The landcraft stops outside of the Corsari, and we both get out. I leave the key charm in the seat and walk with Kesn to the stairs. I gesture for her to go first, and she looks at me with a grin. "I'm sure we won't have any problems as long as we work together." With a wink, she slaps my ass hard then turns to saunter up the stairs.

I blink a couple times in disbelief, then launch myself at the stairs. As soon as she hears my foot hit the first step, Kesn starts running too. I don't catch her before she locks herself in her office, and we laugh for a while seated with our backs against opposite sides of the door.

# CHAPTER ELEVEN

Two days after launching from Hallowforge, I set up a meeting with the senior officers to use as a training exercise for Romara. Kesn arrives at the Operational Discussion Chamber a full fifteen minutes before the meeting, and we hash out a quick idea of how to run our scenario. Five minutes before the meeting starts, the door chime sounds but no one enters. I get up from my seat to open the door, and a timid young elf girl with blue hair is standing there with a notepad and pen looking incredibly nervous.

I can't help but smile as I look at her. "Thanks for coming, Romara."

She looks at me with a shy smile. "You're welcome, Commander. Thank you for the job offer. This is a very important position and I hope I do a wonderful job for you."

I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her into the room. "I wouldn't have asked you to help us on this mission if I didn't have faith in you. Try not to be nervous. Today is just for training. We're going to make sure you're okay with the work before we throw you to the near-wolves!"

I can feel her shaking nervously below my arm, but she lets me lead her to a chair without a struggle. Once she takes a seat, she sets the pad and pen on the table and lines them up in a way that I'm sure she thinks looks the most professional, then clasps her hands together and looks up at us with a little fear in her eyes. "I'll do my best, Commander, Ambassador."

I pat her on the shoulder for reassurance as the door opens and Tanna walks in, followed by Aelon and Sen. Herion, Tofi, Gimmir, Simon and Lada show up quickly after that. Once they all have their seats, I nod to Kesn. The goblin woman stands, brushes her hands down the sides of her uniform, and smiles at the group.

"Thank you for coming to our training session. Today we're going to be negotiating for the prize of a paid dinner at a highly-respected Andriennein restaurant. The dinner will be paid for by Commander Westiel and Ambassador Dreadthief, covering all expenses for the winning team. "

The senior officers look around at each other, obviously confused, before Gimmir coughs. "Right, then. So, who's on my team? I'm sure everyone wants to know, since I'm obviously gonna win!"

Tanna laughs out loud. "Only if your team also has me on it! Otherwise, my team will talk your team under the table!"

Kesn clears her throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I may. Commander Westiel and I have already discussed this, and have decided the fairest teams are to separate the males and females. The female team will sit on my side, and the male team will sit on the Commander's side. Please arrange yourselves now."

Tanna and Gimmir stand and look at each other smugly, both thinking they're going to win the negotiation. Simon and Lada both look completely disinterested in the game, while Herion and Tofi both seem a bit terrified about what they were just thrown into. I glance at Kesn and we share a wink. We had considered those reactions, and think the teams are fairly matched this way.

Once the teams are seated, with Tanna and Gimmir staring across the table at each other, Kesn takes a seat and I stand for my part of our slightly-scripted event. "Okay. Now that everyone's seated, we have a few rules. Rule one – no bullying. If we find you're being too aggressive, your team gets shut down for three minutes while the other team gets to talk uninterrupted. Rule two – interrupting the other team is fine, but excessive interruption can be considered bullying and will be penalized."

I get nods of agreement from everyone around the table who seems interested in playing, then nod to Kesn and sit back in my chair. The goblin smiles her prettiest smile and surveys the room. "Well, then. I'll start by asking each team to explain why they think they deserve to have a nice dinner purchased by Commander Westiel and me."

Tanna smiles sweetly and looks directly at Gimmir. "This isn't a challenge, really. Obviously, I'm going to win easily because Rylae is my best friend and will definitely..."

I jump right in to stop her. "Nope. Stopping that one right there. No one wins based on friendship. First warning to Tanna's team for bullying."

Tanna stops cold and looks at me in absolute shock while Gimmir laughs. "Well then. Ya thought ya had somethin' there, but ya don't. Overconfident, ain't ya? In that case, my argument starts that my team deserves the dinner because we don't think we deserve it as much as yer team does!"

Lada laughs out loud. "Giantbasher, yer full of crap. Ya think yer fooling anyone with yer fake benevolence? Everyone here knows yer stuck up and haughty self thinks ya deserve everything!"

Simon's voice cuts in to defend his teammate, and I glance over at Romara. She's writing frantically on the notepad, filling a page then flipping to the next one. I try to read what she's writing, and it seems like she's keeping up with the fast-moving conversation rather well. Maybe not perfectly, but we can verify it afterwards.

I turn back to the conversation to hear Sen make a comment, "Well, maybe I just won't fix you the next time you show up in my hospital ward."

I clear my throat. "LC Foulmuck, that's a bullying call. Your team loses three minutes while the other team gets to talk as much as they want."

Sen's mouth drops open in shock as she looks at me wide-eyed, but quickly changes to a scowl as she narrows her eyes in anger. I shrug and sit back in my seat while Gimmir's team chats among themselves for a few seconds. After a short discussion, Gimmir turns to Kesn and smiles, his voice dripping with honey. "Dearest Ambassador. As ya can see, our opponents are rather unsettled types who can't restrain themselves from bullyin' my poor team. All we're tryin' to do is follow the rules and give ya the argument yer askin' for. Shouldn't that be enough?"

Aelon's voice slams into the conversation unexpectedly. "Yeah! You'll never get a decent argument from the other team. It's all girls! They can barely make sense most of the time!"

Closing my eyes, I shake my head sadly. Oh, Aelon. You're such an idiot. "LC Onoviel, that's a bullying call for you now. Your team has three minutes of silence."

The room is quiet for the next minute as neither team is allowed to talk. They glare at each other hatefully across the table, obviously wondering how to win the argument. I look between the two groups, trying not to laugh at them, then turn my attention to Romara. She continues scribbling away, obviously catching up on everything that was said.

Right before the time runs out on Tanna's team, I stand and smile. "Thank you, everyone. I think that's really all we need for now. For the record, we're going to buy dinner for all of the senior officers one night, so technically everyone wins. We just needed you to argue for a bit so Cadet Tinuviel here could practice taking notes. I appreciate your help."

The eight officers in the room look at me, then back at each other, then back at me. I can't tell what exactly they're thinking, so I wait patiently. Finally, after a minute, everyone smiles and stands. Gimmir extends a hand to Tanna as an apology, and they shake. As one, they turn back to me and smile. Tanna speaks first. "Glad to help you out, boss. Oh, and thanks for the really expensive dinner we're going to have. Gimmir's going to drink most of his, so you better be prepared to pay for that!"

Gimmir shrugs. "Tanna's gonna buy the most expensive meal on the menu and only eat half of it!"

Simon smiles as he steps up to the two of them. "Sen's probably going to torment the waiters and cause them to break dishes."

Sen turns and grins her evil grin. "Any waiters that are left after Simon kills the rest of them, that is."

Lada smiles and points at Aelon. "Most of 'em will be wasting food after Aelon orders the wrong thing six or seven times."

Aelon laughs. "That's because they'll keep dropping things in horror when they get to the table and see Lada's face!"

Herion and Tofi look at each other, then back at the group, then at me and Kesn. Obviously expecting that they have to do something, they instead just reach across the table and shake hands, causing the rest of the room to laugh. Gimmir and Tanna walk over to them and whisper in their ears.

After a second, Tofi looks over at Herion and shrugs with a smile. "Herion will probably have to call his wife to find out what to order!"

The Science elf shrugs and smiles back at the Engineering dwarf. "I'll have plenty of time while Tofi's running from table to table to sample everyone else's food!"

The entire room breaks into laughter. As far as team-building exercises go, this turned out to be a really good one. I catch my breath and smile. "I'm proud of you all. Thanks for turning this around on us. I'm glad no one's mad."

Tanna walks over and punches me in the shoulder. "Nah. We're not mad. In fact, we're all looking forward to draining your wallet on Andriennein now. Can't wait!"

With a general sound of agreement from everyone, they turn and head for the door, leaving me alone with Kesn and Romara. After a few seconds, Kesn looks over at me with a weird look. "Hey, Rylae, how much do you think this dinner is going to cost us?"

I shrug. "Dunno. Around five hundred credits for each officer, so maybe five or six thousand credits total? I don't actually expect you to split that with me, though. I figure I'll cover half myself and put the other half on the Corsari's operating budget. Being the Captain is no fun if I can't spend the UCST's money!"

The sound of scribbling at my side catches my attention, and I look over to see Romara still writing. I stop and set my hand on her shoulder. "Romara? Are you..."

As I say it, I notice the last words she's writing: 'the UCST's money'. She's not only caught up, but she's still writing everything that we're saying! She writes her name, which I just said, then stops as she realizes it. With a sheepish look, the blue-haired girl turns to look at me. "Sorry, Commander. What were you saying?"

I glance at the notepad, then look over to Kesn. "I think we need to make sure that dinner is for eleven folk instead of just the ten senior officers. Romara is definitely going to deserve to have a nice dinner with us!"

Kesn looks at the notepad and nods. "I agree. We obviously found the right elf to be our meeting recorder! "

The young cadet blushes and looks at her papers. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm still surprised to be working with you directly like this. You've done so much for me, Commander. I just hope I'm making you glad you decided to accept me on your ship."

I set my arm around her shoulders. "Cadet Tinuviel, I'm _incredibly_ glad you're on my ship! Not only have you re-trained my mess hall to actually make a decent stew, but now you're going to be able to help us out of a major bind we had with this mission. It's an honor to have you in my crew."

She looks up at me with a smile. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm glad I'm able to help. This is a big thing for me. It'll definitely give me an advantage at the Academy during my ambassadorial classes. I hope I do well for you."

I look up at Kesn, then back down at the blue-haired elf girl. "I'm sure you will, Romara. Thank you."

She smiles as she flips back to the beginning of her notebook and we go over the details word-for-word.

# CHAPTER TWELVE

"I brought a surprise for you today, Commander."

I turn toward the voice and see Alayna Rhuviel and a male elf with a Corporal insignia on his collar standing in the doorway of the training room. Lada left a note on her desk saying she was going to be working with the battalion today and would send some 'suitable replacements' to meet me for my session. As I look at the two elves, I assume they're supposed to be her 'suitable replacements'.

I grin at her. "Is the surprise that you're actually going to be a difficult attacker today? Or did you bring the Corporal because he's better than you?"

Alayna takes a step inside the door and shifts to the side to lean against a wall. "Corporal Lanthion, would you please attempt to assassinate the Commander?"

As she's stepping to the side, I notice the weapon belt on the Corporal's waist. Before the sentence is completely out of her mouth, I launch myself forward into a run. There's only about three meters to the doorway from where I was standing, so I cover the distance in a second. The Corporal's hand is still reaching behind him for something when I lunge, tackling him at his middle and knocking him backwards into the hallway. We slide across the polished wooden floor and slam into the far wall.

Moving quickly, I hold the elf down with my knees and grab him at the throat gently, signaling that I win this match. Before either of us can do anything else, an arm snakes around my neck, gripping me tight. I'm lifted up and away from the downed Corporal.

I hear Alayna's voice softly in my ear. "The surprise, Commander, is that you have more than one assassin today. You lose the first..."

I don't wait for her to finish before I stomp my heel onto her left foot and throw my left elbow back into her midsection. She grunts and her grip loosens enough for me to get my head free from her choke hold. I drop to a crouch and spin, punching the side of her left knee. The move surprises her and makes her stumble.

I hear the Corporal moving behind me, so I dart past the LC and back into the training room. Moving to the side of the room, I rip open a cabinet door and grab a training spellshooter from the stash. I'm not sure exactly what kind it is, but right now it doesn't really matter that much. Once I have it in my hand, I spin and drop to a crouch again, looking at the door.

I don't see either elf in the doorway, so I slowly crabwalk away from the weapon storage area and try to get to Lada's desk to use for cover. I'm still a few meters from the desk when the Corporal sticks his head in the doorway to look for me, and I can see the spellshooter in his hand. When he notices me, he points the weapon into the room and pulls the trigger.

I make a quick decision and fall to my back. The melon which represents a fireball flies over my prone body, smashing against the wall behind Lada's desk. I roll to the left to face the door and quickly aim my spellshooter. Pulling the trigger causes a beam of warm light to immediately cross the room from the point of my weapon, tagging the Corporal on the shoulder. He feels the warmth of the light, recognizes that he was hit with the training version of a lightning bolt, and drops backwards to the ground.

Alayna jumps through the doorway to the side and rolls to the ground, under and around my line of fire. I quickly crawl back to the wall and crouch against it. The only thing between us is the cabinet which holds the training weapons, but at least it's some kind of cover for each of us. I'm not sure if she has a weapon or not, but she now knows I have one. Thankfully, the doors to the cabinet are on the side facing the room, so if she needs one she'll have to come out of cover to grab a weapon from there.

The seconds pass in silence. I don't move, and I don't notice her moving. We stay like that for a bit, with nothing changing on either side. After about two minutes of silent motionlessness, I figure I'm really the one losing. If I'm the defender, then the only ways I can win are to take out my attacker or get away unharmed. All she has to do is wait me out and attack when I'm tired or distracted. My only option is to get her before she gets me.

Moving as quietly as possible, I slide against the wall toward the training weapon cabinet. It's only about a meter tall, so I can easily jump it and attack from above. That seems like my best option, as going around it would give her more visibility. She's likely waiting for exactly that.

Putting my hands on the side of the cabinet, I slide them up and curl my fingers over the top, just enough to give me a little leverage to help my leap. I flex my legs and jump, pushing myself off the corner of the cabinet to fly over it and toward my attacker.

As my vision clears the top of the cabinet, I see Alayna's face. She's lying on the ground with her feet against the cabinet and her spellshooter pointed in the air. She was expecting me to attack this way. I'm on a collision course with her when she pulls the trigger and a small pebble hits me directly in the center of my chest. I land hard on top of her, my head barely missing hers as she grunts beneath me.

I hear her breath in my ear as she chuckles. "You're dead, Commander. I win."

I'm suddenly very conscious of my body lying directly on top of hers. Her hands are trapped between us, still holding the spellshooter. I can feel the outline of it directly below my breasts. My arms are on either side of her torso and I can feel her leg between mine, with her knee bent and pressing against me. I push myself up slightly and look into her light blue eyes as she smiles up at me, and absolutely notice when she moves her knee up to press against me with more force.

A sound from the doorway catches our attention, and we both look over to see Corporal Lanthion leaning against the wall by the door. "Please, ladies! Don't let me distract you!"

Having been so disgustingly (and thankfully!) reminded that we're not the only elves in the room, I roll off LC Rhuviel and stand to face the male elf. "No problem, Corporal. You weren't distracting anything except the end of a slightly painful jump attack."

I turn to Alayna, wincing slightly as I twist at the middle. "Congratulations on your win, LC. That was difficult, and I thought I had you when I decided to go over the cabinet instead of around it. I'm a bit sad that you were prepared for that possibility."

She stands and brushes herself off. "I was prepared for both possibilities. I had you in a no-win situation. You couldn't get out without getting past me, and I was watching both over and around the cabinet. Your only real option was to make it to the cover of the desk where you could then try to tag me with your weapon with less chance of getting shot. Sometimes you need to think about the less aggressive option and stick with cover against a better-prepared opponent."

I sigh and shake my head. "You're right. I miscalculated my options and thought I had to attack you to win. I guess I learned something important from this exercise. Thank you, LC."

She smiles, then frowns as she turns on the male elf. "Corporal, I'm disappointed that you let her take you to the ground without getting a shot off _and_ that you let her tag you with that lightning bolt. Security personnel are supposed to be better than that. Return to your squad and practice with firing from cover for the next hour. When I come back to the platoon, I expect you to be able to hold the line on your own against an entire attacking squad. Dismissed!"

The Corporal winces as she chews him out, then snaps to attention and salutes before leaving the room. I can't help but smile a bit as I watch the piggish male get chewed out for failing at the training exercise. When he's gone, Alayna turns back to me with a grin. "Sorry about that, Commander. Some members of my platoon are a bit crass."

I shrug. "Not all elven men can be at the top of the class pile. I've known my share of worthless pigs. I imagine gaining rank in the battalion has acquainted you to your share as well."

An evil grin crosses her face as she crosses her arms. "It helps that I can kick the ass of any male of any race who decides to be really stupid. Getting to be a platoon leader involved a lot of ass-kicking, but now that I'm in charge most of my ass-kicking is sanctioned!"

Her eyes seem to focus more intently on me as her smile softens. She steps closer to me. "Speaking of ass-kicking, you did a lot of it today. Good job. I thought I had you in the hallway, but you broke that choke hold easily. Surprised me again. I really need to quit underestimating you."

Her praise causes my cheeks to feel warm, so I turn away slightly and raise a hand to scratch at the side of my head in an effort to shield my face. "Thank you. I spent a lot of time working on self-defense when I was younger. That was an easy hold to break. I really am rather good at this most of the time."

I feel her hand on my hip and turn back to face her. Her light blue eyes twinkle as she looks at me. "Yes, you are. You impress me, Rylae."

Hearing my name come from Alayna's lips triggers multiple immediate and conflicting reactions in me. Lovesick Rylae swoons at the way it falls from her tongue and sounds so sweet. Heartbroken Rylae worries that getting into another relationship is just going to end as badly as the last one. XO Westiel is instantly taken aback by the LC under her command who seems to have forgotten her commander's rank and the proper way to communicate with a senior officer. I blink for a few seconds as I reconcile my thoughts, then sigh and take a step backwards away from her.

The disappointment in her eyes is obvious before I start to speak. "I'm sorry, Alayna. I'm truly flattered, and maybe if the situation was different... but it's not. Even if I wasn't your commanding officer, this just can't happen for me right now. I'm sorry." I turn to the side and look away.

I hear her take a step and turn back to see her standing closer to me again. Her voice comes out soft and sad. "Rylae, please just indulge me for five seconds."

I don't have a response for her, and a second passes in silence. Apparently taking that as acceptance, she leans in and lightly touches my lips with hers. The kiss is surprisingly soft and gentle, and I lose myself in it without meaning to. My hand moves to her short hair as I press into the kiss, and I feel her hand on the back of my neck as I taste the tangy sweat on her skin and lips. After a brief time, she pulls back and leaves me breathless.

Alayna takes a deep breath, runs her fingers through her hair, then snaps to attention. "Thank you, Commander. I appreciate your understanding. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask your permission to take my leave from your training session to plan more scenarios for you to work on."

Breathing slowly, I nod at her. "Permission granted, LC. Thank you for your effort today."

Turning on her heel, LC Rhuviel leaves the training room without looking back. I walk over to Lada's desk and drop into her chair with a sigh. Between the attack and the aftermath, I find myself completely drained. I sit for a while and stare at the wall, trying not to think too much about anything.

I don't know how much time passes before I'm saved from my silent contemplation by a female dwarf with blonde curls bouncing into the training room. She stops a couple of meters away from the desk and strokes her close-cropped blonde beard with an inquisitive look on her face. I shake my head to clear it and stand. "Sorry, Lada. Didn't mean to nap at your desk."

Her inquisitive expression turns into a huge grin as she takes a few steps closer. "No problem, Commander. I guess Alayna tired ya out. She told me she was bringing an additional attacker to surprise ya. Was it a difficult exercise?"

I nod and stare off over her head at the doorway. "Yeah, it was. I lost in the end. She got herself in a position where she was prepared for anything I did and I couldn't get out of it. I need to think about that for later, but I still took out the Corporal and broke free from them a few times. It was a good match."

In the bottom of my vision, I notice her look me over and nod slowly. "That's interesting. But, if she won, then I don't understand why she came back to the battalion room and started chewin' out her platoon. She's been tearin' the place up for the last hour. Know anything about that?"

I shrug, still not meeting her eyes. "She seemed like she was okay when she left here, LC. Not sure what I can tell you."

She nods a few times, then walks over and sits in her chair next to me. "Understood, Commander. In that case, I have a question for ya." When I turn to look at her, she looks up at me seriously. "Should I remove LC Rhuviel from the security detail on you during the mission?"

The question catches me off-guard, and I take a step backwards in surprise. "Alayna's going to be on our security detail? Isn't she supposed to be managing her platoon during the standoff?"

The dwarf woman looks at me intently. "She's one of the best bodyguards on the ship. I've had her help me protect Cap's yeoman a few times. She's my first choice to help us on this mission. But if it's going to make you uncomfortable, I can change the detail around to leave her with Giantbasher's crew."

I shake my head to clear it, then stop and look at her. The gossip-driven dwarf is way too perceptive sometimes. No wonder she's at the center of everything that happens on-ship! I pull up a chair on the other side of her desk and sit in it. Looking at her over her desk, I think carefully before I respond.

Her face remains serious, so I force a smile on my face. "Thank you for the offer, Lada. However, I've seen LC Rhuviel in action, and she's your first choice, so I think it's best to have your security detail with the officers you think are best." I don't know right now if that decision is the correct one, but it's the one I make anyway.

Lada nods and turns on her terminal. "Understood, Commander."

I stand from the desk and walk to the door, then stop and turn to walk back. When I get to her side, I crouch down and whisper to her. "Do me a favor, LC. Keep this between us, okay? Nothing happened, and I really don't want anything to go around the ship if I can help it. I'd appreciate your discretion."

The older dwarf smiles and pats me on the shoulder. "No problem, boss. I never share the stories that would cause problems. They aren't good for business. As long as yer okay, I don't plan to tell anyone anything."

A much more honest smile appears on my face. "Thanks, Lada. I really appreciate that."

She nods as I stand and leave, heading to my quarters to get cleaned. Maybe spending some time with the water cascading over my head will help clear it from the events of today's training.

# CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The last week of travel to Andriennein goes by uneventfully, for which I'm terribly glad. The only thing of note that happened was another training exercise for Romara, which entirely consisted of each of the officers reciting lines from their favorite songs or stories while constantly interrupting each other, then having the young elf put the notes in the proper order afterwards. As before, she did a wonderful job and we think she should have no problem with the notes from the trade negotiations.

Following the training, I recognized exactly how lucky I was to get her on my ship right before this mission. The circumstances weren't good, but it worked out rather well in the end. It makes me wonder exactly how that karma's going to even out for me later. I figure I should come out ahead as long as I don't end up in front of the Andriennein Judiciary Committee.

Once communications are established with Ground Control, they inform us that they've had the WagonTrail holding for a few hours, waiting for us to dock first so we can deploy the battalion as a barrier. Knowing that, we dock quickly and prepare three platoons of soldiers in the staging area.

Opening the bay doors, the bright green light of Andriennein reflecting off of a light covering of white snow fills the staging area. A cold breeze blows into the ship, causing those of us who aren't in the battalion to shiver slightly. The soldiers are all wearing additional warm clothing under their armor, but UCST diplomatic procedure dictates that the rest of us simply wear our dress uniforms. I look longingly at the bag against the wall which contains my coat before looking back outside.

A small group of four elves in formal attire with thin jackets stands outside of the ship, with what looks like two platoons of soldiers lined up behind them. An elder female with silver-gray hair steps forward and I walk out to meet her.

We stop a few steps away from each other and perform a small bow in greeting. As soon as I return to a straight posture, the woman speaks. "Welcome, Commander Westiel, to Andriennein. I am Sharya Watertracker. Our trade delegation appreciates your help with these negotiations."

I recognize the woman's name as the leader of the Andriennein trade delegation. I nod and turn to wave Kesn and Romara over. They move quickly to my side as I respond. "Madam Watertracker, it's a pleasure to work with you on this issue. Please let me introduce our mediator, Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief, and my yeoman, Cadet Romara Tinuviel."

The elder elf woman exchanges bows with Kesn, then turns and bows very slightly to Romara. Romara bows deeply in return, a proper response to the much more senior woman. As she stands, I can see the nervousness on her face. She shifts her shoulders in her dress uniform jacket attempting to surreptitiously block more of the cold breeze blowing at us.

I recognize that it's still my job to continue the discussion, so I turn back to the silver-haired elf. "Madam Watertracker, if you don't mind I would like to authorize our platoons to take up positions so we can have the WagonTrail dock with the Hallowforge representatives."

The elf nods, so I lead her group away from the doors and signal to Gimmir. The Battalion Major barks an order causing two platoons of soldiers to file out of the ship. They take up position around the WagonTrail's docking pad and the Andriennein soldiers while the third platoon remains in the staging area of the ship. With the current shift of the battalion in place, I pull my communicator and call Tanna to have her contact Ground Control. That done, we can only wait patiently for the WagonTrail to complete its docking procedures.

While waiting, Watertracker turns back to me. "Excellent organization, Commander. We're pleased to see how well you manage your crew. It gives us hope that you'll be able to help us sort out these trade discrepancies easily and without trouble."

Although the tone of her voice is pleasant and her words seem polite, I can tell that they're veiling a contemptuous insult beneath them. She's disappointed in the UCST sending her 'only a Commander' and doubts my abilities, but hides it behind small compliments where she can. Sharya Watertracker seems to share some personality traits with our Andriennein-born Admiral Longbow, so I can feel what she's really thinking burning through her smooth comments.

I force a fake smile to cross my face as I respond. "Thank you, Madam Watertracker. It is definitely our plan to help resolve this issue so peace and prosperity can be maintained across both worlds. We hope to be a valuable resource to both teams during the discussions."

I feel her eyes trying to look through me as she nods with a small smile that's obviously as phony as my own. I sigh to myself as I realize I'm going to be dealing with not one, but two insufferable pricks during this meeting, with one on each side of the argument. We stand in chilly silence for the remainder of the docking procedure, watching as the Ugly Dirt Box that is the UCST WagonTrail drops from the sky to land with a thump on the snow-covered docking pad next to the Corsari.

After another short wait, the bay doors of the WagonTrail open and two platoons of dwarven soldiers emerge, filing onto the docking pad to stand between the ship and the elven soldiers. The atmosphere is eerily quiet as the two sides stare at each other, metal armor clanging softly from tiny movements on either side. The tense standoff continues for a minute before I see the Hallowforge delegation appear in the ship's opening.

I hear a sound at my side and turn to see Watertracker make a small gesture to a younger male on her team. The elf had taken a step forward, toward the WagonTrail, but her gesture stopped him. No one else in the group appears to be planning to move forward. As she forces me to take the lead again, I wonder if this is another test of my abilities, or another veiled insult.

I take a step forward and turn completely to face the elder elf woman. "Madam Watertracker, with your permission I will go over and retrieve the Hallowforge trade delegation."

She nods. "With your escort, Commander, the delegation is welcome on Andriennein."

I respond with a small bow before I turn to Kesn and Romara, gesturing for them to walk over with me. They follow behind me as I walk up to the wall of Hallowforge soldiers and step in front of their obvious commander. "It is our wish to speak with your delegation and escort them to the trade meeting. Will you allow us passage?"

The armor-clad dwarf turns to look back at the ship, then barks a command to his soldiers which creates a space wide enough for us to walk through. No response or recognition is given to us as we walk through the space to collect the Hallowforge trade delegates. As I lead Kesn and Romara through the soldiers, I recognize that my patience for all of the formality crap we're currently engaged in is growing thin and strained. I can only take so much more of it before I'm going to need a glass or two of wine to wash it out of my mouth. The thought of a bottle of Andriennein Silver Wine soothes my nerves enough to put a small smile back on my face before we reach the open door of the ship.

Captain Stenchfinger waits with Gorgan Gemcrusher and the other dwarves from the Hallowforge trade delegation. As I step up to the door, I salute the captain and hear my two crew members do the same behind me. He returns the salute, then drops his hand while the four dwarves of the trade delegation, along with eight assistants carrying bags, file off of the ship and begin to cross back across the docking area to where the Andriennein elves wait by the Corsari. When we reach them, I step off to the side with Kesn and Romara to allow the elves and dwarves to speak with each other.

Gemcrusher and Watertracker step forward but do not offer any pleasantries in the form of a handshake or a bow. They stand and gaze threateningly at each other for a while before Watertracker speaks. "Representatives of Hallowforge, thank you for coming to discuss this discrepancy. We will lead you to the meeting building. Please follow us."

The elves turn and start to walk away. As they do, a small contingent of bodyguards exits the Corsari. Led by Lada, the four goblin battalion members take up position around the group of dwarves as they begin to follow the elves away from the docking pad and toward a small group of waiting aerialcraft. Without waiting for the dwarves, the four Andriennein elves enter a single craft, which immediately lifts from the ground and begins flying away from the docking area.

Multiple aerialcraft remain, including one larger one to hold the twelve dwarves and all of their bags. An elf driver stands to the side, purposely not looking at the dwarves or offering to help as they load their bags in the vehicle. It's impossible to miss the intentional insults hanging in the air from Watertracker's refusal to wait and obvious orders to withhold assistance, but for their part the dwarves seem to continue on as if they expected nothing more.

When the larger aerialcraft is full and the dwarves are loaded, Lada and her goblin security team flow into another aerialcraft designed to hold six. The elf driver speaks with Lada briefly before signaling to the other driver, causing them both to enter their vehicles and start them moving. They lift from the ground and fly off in the same direction as Watertracker's group.

I turn to Kesn, who looks back at me and offers a shrug without a smile. While we were expecting a little animosity between the groups, we both expected to have _our_ group treated with just a little more respect than being left behind on the docking pad. We wait to see if anything changes before walking back to the ship, but nothing does. Turning back, we see three folk standing next to the ship with our bags situated near them. While Lada's security detail is tasked with the general security measures for the meeting, these three are specifically tasked with keeping tabs on me, Kesn and Romara.

Simon looks between us, then off at the empty sky in the direction where the landcraft disappeared. He nods to himself, then looks to his right at the two elves standing with him. "Seems like we're not wanted on this trip. We're going with Security Profile Lightning."

LC Alayna Rhuviel and Corporal Remyn Lanthion nod in response, and the rest of us reach for our bags. Security Profile Lightning assumes hostile intent toward the ambassadorial team and takes a decidedly more threatening posture with everything. As such, I open my bag and pull out my regular weapon belt, strapping it on under my uniform jacket.

Kesn and Romara both look at me oddly while I close the buckle. Neither of them will carry weapons, as they're both untrained. Under certain security profiles – especially Lightning, which is visibly defensive under the assumption of hostile intent, and Fireball, which is fully offensive when hostile intent has been confirmed – any trained members of the team should be armed. I have to admit that I feel better having weapons on me, even though none of the slights so far have been physical in nature. I just hope I don't have to use them.

Our bodyguards each take up position behind us – Simon behind Kesn, Corporal Lanthion with Romara, Alayna at my back – and follow us back to the remaining aerialcraft and driver. The male elf steps forward to help us load our bags, but stops as our three guards step past us quickly to form a wall between us and the driver.

Once we load our own bags, we climb into the vehicle and wait while Simon coerces directions out of the driver and enters the driving compartment to take control of the aerialcraft himself. Alayna and the Corporal climb into the passenger compartment with us and close the doors, settling in for the ride. The craft rises from the ground and begins traveling away from the docking area on a path to follow the trade delegations.

Although we fly in the Corsari all the time, an Ugly Dirt Box has no windows so it's decidedly not like actual flying. As we rise above the tree line, our eyes are drawn to the sight of the world below us. The green and yellow trees, along with most of the rest of the docking pad and buildings in our view, are covered with a dusting of white. Andriennein is usually cold, and is almost always coated with some amount of snow and ice on the islands.

We quickly leave the ground behind us and speed over a large bluish-white expanse below us. The sea on Andriennein, which covers most of the world, is usually frozen in large spots, making water travel difficult. As we pass, we can see those large ice patches outlined in the green sunlight. We also notice a handful of large aerialcraft closer to the water, where workers use magic to harvest the fish and other edible sea life.

The ride lasts for about fifteen minutes before we come up on a small island with a few professional-looking buildings on it. None of the buildings are more than five levels high, made from stone and wood so they don't freeze like metal buildings might. As we get closer to the ground, I can see the Hallowforge dwarves emptying their vehicle while Lada and her security goblins stand guard around them. The Andriennein delegation is nowhere to be seen.

Once our aerialcraft lands, Alayna and Corporal Lanthion open the doors and step out, surveying the area around us before motioning that we can exit. I climb out of one side while Kesn and Romara climb out of the other. As I emerge, I see a male elf in a hooded jacket start to walk over to us. Alayna tenses up in front of me, which causes the elf to stop a couple meters away.

Lada sees us and walks over, gesturing at the jacketed elf while talking to Alayna. "He's okay. He's assigned to show everyone to their rooms. You would have known that if the damn fools had waited for you like they should have."

Alayna makes a gesture to Simon on the opposite side of the aerialcraft to relay what Lada said, and their posture becomes less stiff. Lada notices, then turns to me and nods. "Lightning. Tell Simon that's a good choice. There's a lot of animosity here, and I think we're going to run into trouble at some point. Don't let your guard down, Commander."

I sigh as she walks away, waving at the jacketed elf to come toward us. He slowly walks up, clipboard in hand, and looks past Alayna to me. "Commander... um... Westiel?"

I nod, then reach back into the vehicle to grab my bag. I wonder if there's a bottle of Silver Wine already in my room, or if I can at least have one sent to me. I'm definitely going to need a drink tonight.

# CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the size of the meeting room, considering the total lack of consideration given to us by the Andriennein trade delegation. The building itself is quite large, with multiple meeting rooms on the ground level and five levels of offices above them. We passed one room on the way in which looked like it could easily hold six dozen folk and still leave room for an audience. A second room could hold around two dozen, with long tables that gave each individual their own terminal.

Both of those rooms were empty when we passed them to get to this one. The small table with no terminal access has twelve chairs at it, but they're cramped together with five on each side and one on either end. Four small desks have been placed in each corner of the room for assistants to sit off to the side, but not far enough away to keep from tripping over them if you have to leave the room for any reason. The single glass of water at each seat is the only 'decoration' in the room, with no artwork on the walls or even windows to look through.

Sharya Watertracker and her three assistant delegate members sit on the side of the table closest to the door, forcing Gorgan Gemcrusher and the three assistant Hallowforge delegates to stumble over to the far side to take seats as best they can. One junior assistant from each team joins them at the table, while a second junior assistant takes a corner desk. The remaining assistants are dismissed, as there's simply no more room for them. Lada looks in the room, then positions her security team outside of the room and stands against the door on the inside.

I look at the remaining seats – one on each end and two open desks in the far corner – then to Kesn and Romara. This was obviously done with purpose, in an effort to separate us. I don't have the patience for this nonsense today. After all of the slights and insults that were sent our way yesterday, I've had more than my fill of political garbage and the meeting hasn't even started yet.

With a glance and a gesture, I send Kesn to the other side of the table and Romara to one of the far desks. They squeeze between the elven delegation and the wall – an annoyingly tight fit considering the slimness of all the folk involved – and take their seats. Once they're seated and Romara has prepared herself to take notes, I look at the Andriennein side of the table and clear my throat as I lay my hand on the open chair at my end.

"Excuse me, Madam Watertracker. Would it be possible to have your team switch seats to use this one and leave the one on the far end open for my use?"

The looks I get in return, from _both_ sides of the table, are awesome. Sharya Watertracker's eyes narrow as she looks at me without saying a word. The elves at her sides stare at me with wide eyes, astounded that I'd even dare suggest such a thing. The dwarves have a similar expression of astonishment, but with small grins on their faces. Only Gorgan Gemcrusher looks at me with a wide, honest smile. I purposely ignore him, not wanting to give the impression that I'm on any side but my own.

After a few seconds without a response, I shrug and take the chair in both hands, lifting it easily over my head. As I do, I look at the elven side of the table. "In that case, please excuse me as I walk through. You may want to duck your heads so I don't accidentally tag you with the chair legs. Thank you."

Without waiting to see if they duck, I push between the elves and the wall, carrying the chair. It bumps against the wall a few times, threatening to tip onto the delegates, but I manage to keep my grip. After a few uncomfortable seconds, I'm finally on the other side and set the chair down next to Kesn, sliding up with her at the small end of the table. I turn my head to look at her and shrug. The lack of elbow room causes my shoulder to hit hers as I do.

Taking her cue from my actions, Kesn reaches for the glass of water in front of us on the table and takes a small drink before setting it down and looking at the elven delegates with a serious expression. "Members of the Andriennein delegation, I thank you for your consideration in your choice of accommodations. However, it appears that there has been a slight error in deciding on the size of the meeting room. The UCST formally requests an adjournment while an additional meeting room is acquired for our usage."

The silver-haired elf woman looks at Kesn with obvious disdain and opens her mouth to respond when a small movement from the elf at her side stops her. The younger male makes a few gestures with his head and hands that don't seem to mean anything, to which Watertracker responds with a nod.

Watertracker smiles without any trace of friendliness as she refocuses her eyes on the goblin ambassador. "I apologize for the error, Ambassador. A larger room will be available for our use tomorrow. I suggest, however, that we continue the preliminaries for the meeting today, as none of us wish to delay these proceedings for an issue as small as the size of the room."

I feel Kesn take a breath beside me – which is yet another commentary on the size of the room – and I reach out a hand to lay it on hers, stopping her before she says anything. I smile as wide as I can while looking at Watertracker. "Madam, I believe the size of the room might actually be _smaller_ than the issue, but I agree that we should begin the meeting. I worry that a day of waiting might be a day in which the soldiers begin to think the _docking area_ is too small for everyone to fit comfortably in."

I get the same set of looks as I did earlier with the chair incident, but again purposely choose not to look at anyone in particular. While I was originally preparing to deal with Gemcrusher's bullying, I have no problem changing focus to defend against Watertracker's bullying instead. If I'm going to have to play the brute in this meeting, I might as well solidify my role while also making sure my team doesn't get walked on.

I notice a member of the Hallowforge dwarves make a few gestures of his own to Gemcrusher, who nods before turning to Watertracker and smiling. "Indeed. I believe we should be able to happily work with what we have today, although having enough room for all of our assistants tomorrow should make the process move a lot more smoothly as we dig into the exact trade details."

The hate never completely disappears from the elf woman's eyes as Watertracker turns her attention to the dwarves. "In that case, Mr. Gemcrusher, we should begin by discussing the exact issue at hand. As you all know from the briefs we submitted with the meeting request, we feel Andriennein is being cheated on the trade value we are receiving for the mana and batteries being sent to Hallowforge for further manufacture. Prices have increased for many of your goods, but none of this has flowed upstream in trade to cover our increased costs."

The gray-bearded dwarf shakes his head sadly. "As I'm sure you're aware, Andriennein has not been the only world with increased costs. The additional demand for Hallowforge-made goods has caused us increased costs in buildings and workers that are many times higher than what Andriennein has seen. The increased prices are not even enough to cover our increased costs, so there is nothing additional to pass upstream to our suppliers."

Sharya Watertracker's eyes narrow. "Andriennein would like to respectfully disagree with Hallowforge on this point. Our analysis has determined otherwise."

The dwarf sits back in his chair with a smile, clasping his hands across his chest in front of his beard. "Indeed, Hallowforge would be happy to compare your analysis with ours. Unfortunately, the assistants who are currently carrying the documentation of our analysis were not able to fit into this room. That will have to be a point which we carry over until a larger room can be provided."

During this exchange, I notice most of the other members of both trade delegations making complicated gestures to each other. I can't follow any of what they're saying, so I turn to Kesn and whisper near her ear, "Can you follow any of what's going on behind the scenes?"

She glances around for a second, then turns back to me. "Not everything, but it seems like the 'seconds' are discussing what documents to bring to the next meeting. For instance..." She gestures with her head to one of the dwarves, who just moved a fist in a circle, then turned it to point two fingers downward before wiggling them. "I think he just said they need the report of overall expenditures in labor costs."

I watch more of the gestures, amazed that she could even pull that little bit of information from them. I turn back and respond with another whisper. "I definitely think I'm out of my element this time. I'm glad you're able to follow along with what they're doing."

She shakes her head sadly. "Only barely, and only because I understand some of the context. At least I didn't have to be the one to carry a chair from the other side of the room! Watertracker already didn't seem to like you much, but I think that moved you higher on her list!"

I shrug, my shoulder again bumping hers. "It seemed like something Cap would do, so I went with it."

With a grin, she reaches for the glass of water and takes a sip, then pushes it slightly in my direction. I nod in thanks and reach for it. As I do, the elf sitting closest to me moves a hand over to reach for a scroll. He grabs the scroll and moves it quickly, bumping my hand as it touches the glass. I can't stop the glass before it tips over, spilling its contents across the table and soaking a number of papers.

"Dragons be damned! Sorry about that! Completely unintentional!" I reach to move some of the papers out of the way, but I'm stopped cold by a look of pure anger from the dwarven side of the table. Gorgan Gemcrusher stands, staring at me with his hand on his chest like I physically punched him. The other dwarves in the room stand with him and collect their soggy papers, throwing daggers at me with their eyes.

A few seconds of silence pass as he stares angrily at me, then his eyes soften as he turns to the elf side of the table. "Madam Watertracker, I'm afraid this meeting will indeed have to be adjourned for the day. Please ensure we have a larger room tomorrow. I would also request a separate table for the UCST delegation, preferably without water glasses that may cause them to make blasphemous remarks against the honorable dragons."

Blasphemous remarks?...Oh, hell. My normal curse completely slipped out without me remembering that Gemcrusher is a Dragon Purist! I can't even respond before Watertracker turns and looks at me with a twinkle in her eyes, then looks back at the dwarven delegation leader. "Of course, Mr. Gemcrusher. I'll have my team begin to work on those accommodations immediately. For now, we'll adjourn the meeting."

Without another word, the dwarves file out of the room. Lada quickly informs the guards outside, then steps out of the way to allow them to pass. As soon as they're out of the room, the elves also stand and leave without another word to anyone. In less than a minute, the only folk remaining in the room are UCST – Lada, Kesn, Romara and myself.

I feel Kesn slide her chair away from me as I stare at the puddle of water in the center of the table. "Dragons be damned. I really screwed that one up, didn't I?"

I hear Kesn and Lada laugh, so I look up. Lada grins and crosses her arms. "Ya broke the meeting on yer first day! Good job! It would take Cap at least two or three to break it this bad!"

I shrug and smile. "At least it's good to know Cap would likely have broken the meeting, too!"

I see Kesn nod from the corner of my vision. "Most of the blame is really on the elves for deciding to play all these stupid games. If they had just put us in a normal-sized room, the stuff with the chairs and the water never would have happened. It's not your fault, Rylae. Well..." I see her shrug with a grin on her face. "Not completely, at any rate."

That said, she turns to the blue-haired elf girl. "Romara, can you please make a note about the layout of the room, including the room size and the placement of the chairs. Please also make a note that the glass being knocked over was caused by a member of the Andriennein delegation reaching for a scroll and bumping the Commander's hand. I want this completely documented so we can use it later."

I turn to look at Romara and see her frantically scribbling on her notepad. She looks up every few seconds at the room, then makes more notes. After a minute, she sets her pen down with a nod and looks back at Kesn. "I have those notes, Ambassador. I'll rewrite them later to put the events in the proper order."

I smile at her honestly, happy to have a reason to. "Thank you, Cadet. And, since I guess we're done with the meetings for today, we should go shopping or something. Let's get out of here before I irritate any other politicians!"

Kesn nods her head as she stands, then brushes the black curls from her face. "At least you successfully managed to irritate both sides! The chair incident was looking like you were taking the dwarf side for awhile, but then the dragon incident firmly locked you out of that camp. Everyone hates you! In politics, we consider that a win!"

Lada grins and walks over to punch me on the shoulder as I stand. "I'm definitely gonna have to share this one around the ship! Cap's gonna be impressed when he hears it! He'll laugh his old dwarven ass off!"

I can't help but laugh with everyone else as we think about Cap's reaction to my first day in his job. I'll be waiting in anticipation of what his one-liner is going to be.

# CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A short call is all Tanna needs to be convinced to join us for a shopping trip, and she's quick to grab Sen to come along with us. We meet up at a clothing store in the shopping district where we dig through the inventory while Lada tells the story about how I broke the trade meeting. Sen's disappointed that I didn't kill anyone during the meeting, but she does seem to giggle a lot when she finds out how insulted the dwarves were at my dragon curse. I just shake my head and chuckle at her weirdness.

Around mid-afternoon, Lada gets a call from Simon wondering where we are, and within ten minutes of disconnecting he shows up with Alayna and Corporal Lanthion. Since our bodyguards are on a night-long watch for each of us, they sleep during the day while we're in the meeting. Waking up on the first day and having their charges not be there really ticked Simon off so I add him to the mental list of folk I've irritated today. I apologize by reminding him that we were with Lada, which seems to only soften him a little. The three take up a position outside of the store, following us when we switch to each new store.

For some reason, Simon's call made me think about food so I make some calls to the other senior officers to meet us out for the dinner I promised them. Everyone is quick to agree once I tell them the name of the restaurant: The Lake Master's Retreat. They make a grilled water lizard with bluefish jelly which can't be beat. I also know that I can negotiate a UCST discount with them, so everyone wins. Once we have the agreements, we go back to shopping until it's time to meet up.

I don't buy anything for myself, but I enjoy watching the other girls pick out outfits and shoes. Tanna's had a shoe problem for years, so it doesn't surprise me when she ends up purchasing six different pairs. The stores don't carry any dwarf-sized clothing, but Lada finds plenty of accessories that I'd be really surprised to see her in: a pair of dangly earrings that sparkle, a large floppy sun hat, and an opal pendant on a silver chain. I remember seeing my Security Chief on Tir Tairngire in a blue dress, but thinking of her as 'girly' really messes with my perception of her.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear Sen and Kesn were having a contest to see who could purchase the most clothing. I lose track of how many items each of the goblin women picks up, or how many times they come out of the dressing room wearing something else. They each end up with more than they can carry and start passing things to Romara and me to help hold them all. When they're finally done, they have to hire someone to deliver everything to the ship for them.

Romara is the only other member of our group who doesn't purchase anything. She doesn't seem to mind being used as a pack mule for Kesn's purchases, but I can see the slight fear and confusion in her expression. Of all the things the Cadet might have been prepared for, a shopping trip with four senior officers was likely not one of them. I try to smile at her every time I catch her eyes, but it never seems to calm her down much. I remember what it was like when Cadet Westiel first came in contact with LCs and above outside of work, so I can definitely understand her apprehension!

The green sun is low on the horizon when we finally finish shopping and file into aerialcraft to go to the restaurant. After the stress of the meeting, it was good to spend the rest of the day just having fun. It's a shame we won't be able to do this after every meeting day. As we fly out, I look out the window and wonder how the rest of these meeting days are going to go. I should really sit with Kesn later and find out what she's thinking.

We arrive at the small fishing island on the edge of the populated island areas and land on the aerialcraft pad. It starts to snow during our short walk to The Lake Master's Retreat, forcing us to put up the hoods of our coats. Hands in our pockets, we trudge through the cold to the large wooden restaurant building. We enter through the first set of doors into the coat room, brush off and check in our coats, then go through the next door into the restaurant.

The Lake Master's Retreat is designed to look like an old fishing ship from Terra – long and thin, wider in the center, with a seating deck on the ground level above the darker 'fish hold' seating area on the lower level. A few large tree trunks decorated as 'masts' are used for the support poles of the building, with different flags hanging from their sides. A magic enchantment creates a warm light breeze throughout the building, bringing with it the smell of warm salt water and a feeling of relaxation.

I tell the elf at the door about the size of our party, and he asks us to wait while they prepare an area. While waiting, I negotiate with the manager for a twenty percent discount and give him the details needed to bill the UCST on the Corsari's operating budget. It's easier to have the ship pay for everything now, then I'll pay my part of it back to the budget since I don't carry enough credits to cover this in cash.

The rest of the senior officers arrive while we're waiting, and we become a rather unruly mass at the front of the restaurant. Quite a few diners turn to look at us while some of my crew – Gimmir and Aelon, mostly – become loud and a bit annoying. I try to acknowledge and smile at all of the diners who are being disrupted in an attempt to defuse any more irritation. I slowly look around the room, meeting the eyes of a lot of folk.

I turn to look at a table on the far left and stop, staring at the elves sitting there. A young-looking girl with wavy pink hair is sitting across from a really attractive blonde male, both of them looking at me. I recognize them immediately, even before the girl jumps from her chair and runs at us. The movement catches Alayna's eye, and she steps in front of me while reaching for her short sword.

I put my hand on her shoulder and tell her to hold just a split second before the young girl darts around her to slam into my midsection, wrapping her arms around me for a hug. "Rylae! I've missed you!"

I squat down and give the girl a hug in return. "It's good to see you, Tishani. I'm surprised! I wasn't expecting you here."

She takes a step back, smoothing out her purple sweater as she looks at my face. "Maeral likes to come here for the food. I think it's weird here, but he says he likes the smells. I do like the water lizard, though! It's my favorite!"

I smile at her as I look over her shoulder to see Maeral stand from his table and walk slowly over to us. He's wearing a dark blue sweater over a shirt with a maroon collar sticking out. The colors accentuate the angles of his face while also showing a bit of his well-defined neck. I look further down to notice his perfectly-fitted jeans before tearing my eyes away. They fit just a little _too_ well, and I don't want to stare....okay, that's a lie. I _absolutely_ want to stare, but I really shouldn't.

I turn back to Tishani with a smile. "I like the water lizard too. I get it every time I'm here. So, how long have you two been on-world?"

Tishani taps her chin while she thinks for a second, then turns and looks over her shoulder at the advancing man. "Hey Maeral! How long have we been here? I don't remember!"

He steps up and comes to a stop just a couple steps away from us, looks from me to the young girl, and smiles. "Almost two weeks, sis. Probably going to stay for another two or three more."

My mind almost breaks at the number of things that it has to process during that short exchange. First, Maeral spoke! His voice is firm and powerful, but not too loud. It's a very sexy voice, which I definitely hope to hear more of. Second, he smiled! I don't think I saw him smile the entire time we were working together on Tir Tairngire. The smile looks completely genuine, and not as if he's hiding any fear or dislike behind it. It really softens his face and only makes him more attractive.

The third thing is that he called Tishani 'sis'. I was wondering what their relationship was when I met them before, but Saeralyn wouldn't tell me anything. Knowing he's very protective of Tishani because he's her brother makes me like him a good bit. I feel a small smile on my face as I look at him, and only the return of the elf manager telling us that our tables are ready reminds me that I have other folk here.

I stand and ruffle Tishani's hair like I saw Saeralyn do once before and smile as I look at the two of them. "Well, if you're going to be here for a few more weeks, maybe we can find time to get together. I need to take my crew and go have some dinner. You should finish yours. I don't want to keep you from it."

Maeral shrugs and gives me a small smile. "We've only been here a short time ourselves. Still eating bread and haven't ordered yet. You're not actually pulling us from anything. But we'll leave you to your group. Come on, sis. Let's go get some water lizard."

Tishani looks sad for a moment, then gives me a quick hug and turns away. I don't know why I say what I say next, but it's out of my mouth before I can stop myself. "Well, if you haven't ordered yet, maybe you can join us. The more, the merrier, right?"

The restaurant manager chimes in, "We can easily add another two chairs to your party, Commander, if the gentleman and little miss would like to move."

Maeral's expression never changes as he glances at his sister, then the rest of my group. Looking back at me, he nods. "Thanks for the invitation. I accept on the grounds that we're not allowed to discuss work and we have a good time. We'll go grab our things from the table and meet you over there in a minute." With that, Tishani giggles and jumps, dashing away to their table. Maeral turns and follows slowly behind. I can't help but watch the new angle for a second before I feel a tap on my shoulder.

I stand and turn to see Tanna looking at me with a grin on her face. "Nice catch, Rylae! Now reel it in! It looks delicious!" All of the other senior officer women are standing behind her with grins, giggling quietly at me. I notice Romara behind them staring off at Maeral before turning to me with a wink and a smile. I also notice Alayna standing next to me, a solid look of unhappiness on her face. I straighten my dress uniform jacket and gesture for everyone to follow the manager to the table.

As my unruly mass of crew starts to leave, Simon walks up to me with a serious expression, his hands clenched at his sides. "Are you sure we should trust him? This seems a little too coincidental."

I stop and think for a second, then remember Saeralyn's message to me. "I think these are the 'friends' I was warned to look out for. Based on the information I have, I don't think we have anything to worry about. We'll just be friendly and stay out of each other's way. We know those two are professionals. I think they're trustworthy enough."

He nods and walks away as I turn to Alayna. I know she heard every word of that and I'm not going to go into it further with her. I nod and gesture for her to follow Simon, which she does while continuing to look unhappy. As I stand there alone for a moment, I shake my head and sigh. I know I'll have to deal with that later, but it's not something I really want to get into right now.

I'm still contemplating when I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Maeral and Tishani standing behind me. Tishani's carrying a small pink backpack over her shoulder. The shade is different from her hair, which makes for an interesting color clash against her purple sweater. Maeral has a small black bag in his hand at his side, with his other hand on my shoulder.

His smile has disappeared and his eyes have taken on a serious look. I recognize the look from the first time I saw him, working on Tir Tairngire. He looks in my eyes as he calmly and slowly speaks again. "I saw your Master Sergeant was questioning you. Is there going to be a problem? Should we go?"

I shake my head. "No. Please, stay. He's right to be concerned, but I know you're not here for us. Saeralyn messaged me to expect someone here when we arrived. I didn't know it was you, but I actually am happy to see you both. I wanted to get to know you both better, and this seems like a good time to do it. My team won't bother you."

His expression softens as he smiles again. "Good. I have to worry about these things, for Tishani's sake. We didn't know you'd be here, but we're also glad to see you, Rylae. For the same reasons."

The same reasons? Because he wants to get to know me better? My mind shuts off for a second while I think that, so I have no response, but he glances away to look at his sister and says something else. "Besides, I believe Tishani has something to say to you."

The girl looks up at him with fear in her eyes and shakes her head violently. The smile never leaves his face, but his eyes narrow as he looks at her. Finally, the girl sighs and turns to me, speaking quickly. "I'm sorry I stole your box, Rylae! I really am! I just wanted more sleep darts! They're so cool!"

I can't help but laugh, shaking my head as I lay a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I had a feeling you were the one that took them, and I've been told they can be replaced. I'm glad you have them. I'm sure they'll help you with your work."

She yells, "Yay!" and grabs me in a hug before darting off to the tables my officers are at. I look back at Maeral, who chuckles as he watches her run off. I decide we should both get over there too, before Lada and Tanna start gossip about us, and tap him on the shoulder with a gesture to follow me as I walk away.

I'm halfway to the table when I realize that he's now walking behind me and possibly looking at my ass. My step stutters and I almost trip over my own feet for a second, then shake it off and continue walking. Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't. Not like there's much ass there to look at anyway.

Getting to the tables, I find a section with four four-seat tables pushed together in pairs to make two eight-seats. One end of one of the rows has Tanna sitting at it with Tishani standing at her side. The other two chairs are open so I walk over to sit across from Tanna. Maeral comes up at my side and pulls out my chair for me. I thank him and sit gently while he pushes my chair in before sitting beside me.

I see Tanna's eyes go wide for a second before a huge grin crosses her face and she winks at me. Obviously, my best friend thinks this is all going well. Deep down, that worries me a bit, but I definitely can't say I'm disappointed by the unexpected company. I order a bottle of Silver Wine and sit back to have a fun meal with friends.

# CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Thank you, Madam Watertracker. This new meeting room setup should suffice perfectly for our meeting. The UCST appreciates your effort in quickly resolving the problem." Kesn's voice rings out over the room, reaching across to the tables holding the trade delegates from both worlds. Today we're in one of the rooms we passed yesterday – the one with the larger tables which can hold about two dozen folk. Everyone fits in the room well and there's plenty of space for us to work.

Per Gorgan Gemcrusher's request, however, the table assigned to me, Kesn and Romara is eight meters away from the other two tables. The distance makes it so we have to speak loudly to be heard, and also means we can't easily hear anything that's happening at the other tables. It's an annoyance, but it's something we can work with. Romara sits at the seat of the table closest to the trade delegates, hopefully able to hear enough to be able to continue taking notes, while Kesn and I sit at the farther end.

Sharya Watertracker nods, a thin smile on her face. "Of course, Ambassador. Andriennein is happy to provide a proper working environment while hosting these meetings."

I fight to keep my expression impassive, just barely holding in the incredulous chuckle I can feel stirring inside me. Watertracker's 'proper political answer' is basically a load of complete garbage, but it makes her sound good. I'm once again glad Kesn's in charge of responding to comments like that, because I just want to get up and smack the older elf woman around.

Gemcrusher leans in over his clasped hands on the table, smiling through his beard. "Indeed. Thank you, Watertracker. These accommodations are excellent. We have plenty of room to begin discussing your supposed analysis."

No more words are spoken as terminals are logged into and reports are brought up. Junior assistants pull scrolls from boxes and pass them to senior assistants, who look them over before passing them around. I try to stay focused, but my mind eventually falls into the dull abyss of paperwork retrieval and I drift off into other thoughts.

I spend awhile thinking about last night's dinner and the unexpected company. I actually had a lot of fun talking with Maeral and Tishani, and learned quite a bit about them. It was quite astonishing to learn that Tishani is only 64 years old! Well, not completely astonishing. She's actually quite shorter than an average 60-something, and looks a bit younger than that. Plus, when she's not talking about work she acts like a much younger, much more playful elf. When work is involved, though, her entire demeanor changes to become a lot more professional and pointed. If you average out the two personalities, 64 years old seems about right.

When I was 64, my whole existence was being obstinate about Father's history classes, learning the technical aspects of how my terminal worked, and dancing as much as I could get away with. Tishani, however, is a professional assassin at an earlier age than most girls are starting to go out on dates! It's both impressive and a little disconcerting, but some of the other things I learned about them help me feel better about it.

Apparently, Maeral is only a few years older than I am and has been 'working' for as long as I've been in the UCST. We obviously weren't able to discuss the details of his work, but I already know he's an infiltration expert, creating an entry point and being a bodyguard for his sister while she's performing her duties as an assassin. While he was on a job 'some time ago' (he wasn't clear about the exact date), his parents were killed in an accident and Tishani was put in his care. Since she was always around, she started picking up skills from him and the other cleaners, mastering her craft at a young age.

While I'm not sure I agree with what she does, I'm definitely impressed that her brother kept her nearby for all those years. Really, it's not his fault that she picked up those skills. It's just part of how she grew up. It's much easier for me to focus on the fact that Maeral had a really difficult job that took him off-world often but he still made sure his sister was near him at all times. I respect that. I respect that a lot.

My attention is drawn back to the meeting by a loud dwarven laugh. I focus in to see Gemcrusher holding an open scroll in front of him, laughing at it. He lowers it and looks across at the Andriennein table. "These numbers are ridiculous, Watertracker! I don't know what assumptions you started with, but you're way off! No wonder you elves have tree branches up your asses!"

Kesn pushes her chair away from the table, causing a loud sliding sound which everyone can hear. They turn to look in her direction as she stands. "Mr. Gemcrusher. I'd appreciate if you could retain some decorum during this meeting. It's not necessary to insult the Andriennein trade delegates when you can simply show them where their assumptions are incorrect."

The dwarf looks at her with a sneer. "Indeed I could, Ambassador, except I find this _entire meeting_ rather insulting at the moment! We were _ordered_ to come out here by Andriennein, only to get here and find out they're being uptight entirely because they have bad numbers? That's a waste of all of our time, and I'm insulted that I have to deal with it! This is the whole reason I brought Hallowforge soldiers with me! Maybe I should make a call and have them knock some sense into some elven heads!"

I push my chair back and stand next to Kesn. "That'll be quite enough of that, Gemcrusher, unless you want to see whose soldiers answer the communicator first – yours or mine." I set my communicator on the table in front of me, returning my hand to my side. "Come on. Set your communicator out there and let's see who's faster!"

"Dragons burn your soul, Commander! You dare challenge me?!" He sets his communicator on the table, then stands and puts his hands at his sides.

Unfortunately, he failed to consider the fact that he's a dwarf at an elven table, and the top of the table is at his chest instead of his waist. Noticing this, I smile and easily move my hand from my side over the table, then back. "It appears I have you at a disadvantage, my dwarven friend. Maybe you should reconsider accepting my challenge, both here and against my battalion."

Two of the assistants at the Andriennein table laugh out loud briefly before catching themselves, while the Hallowforge table glares at everyone. A second passes before Gemcrusher finally blinks, climbing back into the chair and removing his communicator from the table. He looks at me with anger and hatred, his eyes trying to burn a hole in my face. I look back calmly, then smile as I pick my communicator up. "If that's finished, then maybe now you can simply discuss the numbers like sensible folk? It would really make everyone's day go a little easier."

Watertracker looks at me calmly, but I can see the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. She still doesn't like me, but she obviously appreciates the way I handled the situation. On the other side, the dwarves start talking amongst themselves, making gestures and whispering low so no one can hear them. Seeing things have settled, I sit back down and pull my chair back to the table.

Kesn has also returned to sitting and turns to look at me. I can see a smile playing at the corners or her mouth, too, and she's trying hard to keep it from breaking free. She speaks in a low voice, holding her mouth as tight as possible while still letting sound escape. "Thank you for the help, Commander. I like knowing that you have my back."

I smile and pat her on the shoulder, then settle back into my chair. I want to say more, but I don't want to cause her to break out of her 'Ambassador mode' by making her laugh. There's been enough disrespect for the moment.

As my surliness subsides, my mind drifts back to my other recent confrontation, which I had when returning to the residence hall after dinner. While the dinner was fun, the stress went up as soon as we returned to the aerialcraft. My bodyguard refused to look at me the entire trip back, and became extra aggressive when anyone tried to approach us between the landing pad and our rooms.

When we finally reached the residence hall and started down the ground level hallway to our rooms, I watched Kesn touch Simon on the shoulder as she went into her room. He looked in all directions in the hallway, then followed her in. Seeing that, Romara smiled as she turned to Corporal Lanthion and did the same thing. The male elf took on a predatory grin as he followed her into the room.

It took me a second to recognize exactly what I was seeing, but it finally dawned on me. I started to wonder if this was an open secret when it came to officers and their bodyguards when I got to my room and reached for the door. The angry huff of breath pretty much answered the question for me.

I turned to look at Alayna, who had turned away to take up a standing post against the wall of my room. Looking up and down the hallway showed me that we were alone, so I crossed my arms on my chest and looked at her. "Would you like to get something off your chest, LC?"

She turned her head to look at me before turning away again. "There's no need for anything to be said, Commander. You've been quite clear about the matter. I'm disappointed, but there's nothing to be had for that. I'll continue to perform my duties as expected."

Her anger cut through me like a dagger, and I sagged as I leaned against the wall next to her. "Look, Alayna. I'm sorry for a number of reasons. First, I didn't actually know about the subtext to the whole bodyguard thing when I told Lada to leave you on. I didn't realize there were going to be certain expectations on your part, and Lada conveniently failed to tell me about them."

Alayna continued to look at the opposite wall without speaking, so I kept talking. "I'm also sorry if you felt that I led you on. It wasn't my intention at all. I do like you, but the whole command thing gets in the way. It's not that I'm not interested. It's that I _can't be_ interested while you work for me."

My memory of last night gets clearer as I remember the look of disgust and disappointment on Alayna's face when she turned to me. "You mean you can't be interested because you _lied_. I saw how you looked at that male elf tonight while you talked with him, and I saw how your friends were pushing you to him. You're just another regular girl who's interested in men."

I've hated this conversation for years, and my mind speeds through the memory of giving Alayna all my pre-rehearsed lines. I never lied. I like both. I'd just left my girlfriend so things with another girl feel different right now. It has no direct bearing on you at all. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

She listened to all my words without interruption, but she was obviously still angry. It was all over her face. "Rylae, you can tell yourself whatever you want, but we both know it's not true. You can play whatever game you want to play. I want no part in it. We both know you can take care of yourself, so I'm going to ask to be reassigned back to the battalion in the morning. Good night, Commander."

My memory stops there, and the scene of her turning away from me for the final time haunts my vision. I look at the memory of the side of her face, so angry at me for reasons that were not my fault, and feel a small pain in my chest. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in an attempt to control my emotions. Three deep breaths later, I finally feel like I have a handle on the feeling and open my eyes.

I look out across the meeting room to see some kind of discussion happening between the dwarves and elves, assistants running back and forth between the tables carrying notes. It doesn't appear to be completely civil, but it's quiet enough that I can't focus on any of the words from this distance. I suppose I'm glad they're talking and leaving us out of it for the moment.

I turn to look at Kesn and see her staring at me, a bit of concern on her face. She reaches out her hand and lays it on my knee. "Are you okay, Rylae?"

My feelings must not have been hidden very well. I nod and try to force a smile. I know it looks fake, but it's something. "I'm fine, Kesn. Sorry for worrying you."

She looks closely at my face, then pats my knee. "You're not fine. Something's bothering you. Don't try to lie to a politician. I can read your face like a trade agreement. After the meeting ends we're going to have a drink and talk about it. Okay?"

That brings an honest smile to my face. "Okay. If you want to hear my problems that badly, I'll tell you over a bottle of wine." I stop and look out at the room, then back at the goblin woman. "I'm afraid I'm going to start drinking as much as Gimmir and Simon if I have to deal with these folk for too much longer!"

She chuckles and pats my leg again, then turns back to the rest of the room. I follow suit, trying not to think of any more memories. There's plenty in this room to keep my attention.

# CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

When we go out to dinner after the meeting, I feel decidedly more alone than usual. I shouldn't, of course, since I'm nowhere near alone with Kesn, Romara, Lada, Simon, and Corporal Lanthion here. The obviously-missing Alayna, however... I know that's my fault, although no one else says anything and the subject is completely avoided. Even Kesn doesn't follow-up on her earlier insistence to talk about it once she puts the pieces together for herself.

Eventually, however, the feeling of being alone in the crowd combined with the curious glances I swear everyone is giving me is too much to take. I excuse myself from the restaurant and take a walk down to a nearby bar to grab a drink. My weapon belt becomes noticeable when I remove my coat, and the manager comes to question me about it. Showing my ID card and giving the standard UCST explanation doesn't seem to work, but a hundred-credit bill disappearing into his hand eventually gets me a table in the back corner of the establishment.

Andriennein Silver Wine is good stuff, with a nice flavor that basically tastes the way silver looks – smooth, cold, fruity and a bit metallic. It doesn't take me long to go through a bottle, and I signal to the serving girl for another one. I'm occupying myself with the first bottle's label when an elf-shaped hand sets a new bottle of wine on my table. I look up to thank her and stop cold when I realize it's not the serving girl at all.

The light-green eyes looking back at me seem to twinkle with mischief as Maeral removes his right hand from the bottle of wine and crosses it across his red-sweater-covered chest to grab his left bicep. "I'll have to tell Tishani she owes me dinner. She was convinced I wouldn't be able to find you. Sis has no faith in my abilities."

I reach for the new bottle to hide my smile while making my voice sound as if I'm offended. "Tishani should _never_ have to pay for your dinner! You're the older brother, after all. It's just part of your job to take care of that poor, helpless girl!"

He laughs, and the sound is nice. As he does, he moves his left hand from behind his back and shows me another bottle of Silver Wine. "Mind if I sit with you while we debate the helplessness of my little sister?"

I gesture to the open chair across from me, then turn away to pour myself a glass of wine from my new bottle. I see him out of the corner of my vision as he takes a seat and waves to the serving girl, who brings him a glass. Once my glass is full, I wait for him to fill his and raise mine in a small salute. He raises his, and we both have a drink.

Setting my glass down, I smile at him. "So why were you looking for me? And how exactly _did_ you find me? I didn't even know I was coming here until just a little while ago."

He shrugs with a grin. "I do find folk for my job, you know. I'm rather good at it. But, in your case, I was able to track you to the restaurant down the road. When I got there and you weren't with your group, your gossipy dwarven friend told me everything I needed to know to look for you here."

Everything he needed to know? Damn it, Lada! Ah well. Nothing can be done for it now, I guess. I shrug with a small sigh and take another drink. "Well, good work on your part, then. But why were you looking to begin with? I thought your contract had nothing to do with me."

He shrugs and takes a drink. When he sets his glass down, he's smiling. "Are you telling me I'm not allowed to use my talents for personal reasons? I worked hard to learn these skills specifically so I could find attractive women on every world I visit."

I roll my eyes at him, but I definitely registered what he said and it causes my cheeks to warm up slightly. "So you're one of those 'girl at every docking pad' types. I'm not surprised, but I feel bad for Tishani having to sit by herself while you're out gallivanting."

He shakes his head with a laugh. "Don't worry about Sis. She has to finish two book reports before we get back home. That should easily keep her occupied while I'm 'out gallivanting', as you so kindly phrased it."

I lean my head to the side questioningly as I look at him. "Book reports?"

He shrugs. "Of course. She still has a school curriculum, after all. Just because she's always traveling doesn't mean she should grow up stupid. I make sure she's learning everything she needs to learn."

I think I swoon a little bit. I hope it wasn't obvious! I try to see if anything in his expression shows that he noticed, but I can't tell. I finish my glass of wine to cover my embarrassment and pour another. "That's really great of you. You're a pretty good brother."

He finishes his glass and refills it with a smile. "I try. It helps that I have a pretty good sister." Once his glass is full, he takes a drink quickly, then looks down in his glass for a second before looking back up at me without his smile. "Speaking of sisters, I heard about you and Saeralyn. I'm really sorry about that."

The reminder of my relationship with Saeralyn, combined with the whole Alayna thing, really hits hard. I drink down my entire glass of wine without stopping, then refill it before responding. "Yeah. Thanks. It just wasn't working out the way I had hoped it would. I still wish the best for her, but I also don't need to be lied to like that."

He takes a sip from his glass and looks at the table for a second, then back in my eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't know you better then. I wish I could have warned you. I've known Saeralyn for some time and worked numerous jobs with her. She talked of you often, but she talked of her parents and her desire to be a contractor more. It was an obsession, more important to her than being your foster sister and lover. I saw what she was doing, and I didn't like it, but I couldn't do anything. It was a contract, after all."

I sigh into my glass as I take another drink. "Yeah. It's always the contracts. I understand. Don't worry about it."

He shakes his head and sets his glass down, reaching out his hand to lay it on mine where it lies on the table. "But I do worry about it, Rylae. She didn't have the right to hurt you like that, and you didn't deserve to be hurt. I saw it happening and didn't do anything to stop it. I was wrong, and I owe you an apology. I'm very sorry."

I look up into his eyes and see the honest concern in them. He really is worried about this! I smile as I set my glass down and place my other hand on top of his. "Thank you, Maeral. I appreciate that. But please don't beat yourself up over it. There wasn't any way you could have stopped it. It was way too far gone by then. I just hadn't realized it yet. But it makes me happy to know you wanted to."

Between my hands, he turns his over and lightly takes my upper hand in his, setting his thumb across the back of it. I'm still looking in his eyes as he smiles. "Of course I wanted to. We didn't talk much then, but I listened to everything. I saw how you worked. I saw how you managed your team. I saw how you put your life on the line for her. I saw _you_."

His comments combined with the touch of his hand make me smile. I stretch my other hand over to grab my glass of wine and take another drink. When my glass is empty, I ask him to refill it for me so I don't have to remove my hand from his. We talk for a few hours and I leave my hand in his the entire time, even after we leave the bar.

««»»

I sit up with a happy sigh to watch Maeral walk to the washroom. If seeing him in jeans was nice, seeing him out of them is _definitely_ better! I look over on the floor to see the jeans in question lying on top of one of the parts of my dress uniform. The other parts are over there somewhere. I'm not sure when we got back to my room, but I was a little too busy to check the time. For that matter, so was he!

A giggle escapes me as I think about everything that happened since then. Then I giggle more as I realize that Tanna won't be able to check me for indecent marks in the morning! I'll definitely have to tell her about this! She's the one who told me to reel him in, after all! He sure seemed okay with being caught, so I guess I did a good job of it!

After a bit, he comes out of the washroom and walks back over. He doesn't seem to be smiling, and that concerns me for a second. When he gets to the bed, he sits on its side with his back to me instead of lying down next to me, so I roll over on my side and wrap my arm around his waist. "What's wrong?"

He sets his hand on my arm as he shakes his head. "Don't worry. It's nothing. Just realizing how long it's been that I've left Tishani alone. She's probably cold out there."

I feel like there's something important there, but I'm getting sleepy now that we're done with what we were doing and I'm not quite grasping it. "Cold out where? She's in a room where you guys are staying, right?"

He shakes his head slowly and his voice is a little sad when he speaks. "Not exactly. She's outside right now, waiting for me. I need to go to work tonight. I'm not too happy about it, but a contract is a contract. I'm sorry."

I sigh and wrap my arm around him tighter. "It's okay. I understand if you can't stay. Work is work. I don't entirely agree with yours, but you're good at it so I guess that's all that's important."

He shakes his head again, still speaking slowly. "That's not exactly what I'm sorry about, Rylae. I'm sorry for _this_." He gestures with his other hand to encircle the bed and my naked body in his meaning. He keeps speaking before I can say anything. "Don't get me wrong! I'm not sorry it happened! I'm actually really, really happy that it happened. I like you and I had fun. I hope we can have fun again."

He turns his head slightly to look at my face, and his expression is sad. "I'm sorry that I had to use you. Not just that I had to, but the way I did it. I wasn't fair to you and I hope you don't hate me. It was a perfect infiltration opportunity. I had to take it. Please don't think that means I don't respect you or anything, because that's not true. I respect you a lot.

"In fact, it's because I respect you that I had to take the opportunity. You're really the only elf in the city who could cause me problems if you got in the way. So, I'm really, really sorry. Please don't hate us. Tishani would be _really_ sad if you hated us for this. In fact, this part was her idea to begin with. She likes you as much as I do."

Tired plus afterglow plus wine equals a much slower brain, but my reasoning eventually slips in somewhere and comes up with a question. "I really like the two of you, too. What would I hate you for? I can't imagine it's really that bad. Let's talk about it in the morning. I'm pretty sure it can't be as bad as some of the things that have happened in my recent relationships!"

I feel his chest move as he sighs. "I sure hope you still think that when you wake up." After he says this, I feel a slight jab in my arm where it's wrapped around him, lying on his naked leg. I look in his eyes and notice the sadness in them, then notice how heavy mine have become. The last thing I register before I fall asleep is a single word from his lips.

"Sorry."

# CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Owwwwww. Ow. Ow ow. Dragons be damned! My head feels like it's going to split open! What the hell happened?

My eyes feel glued shut and it's a chore to open them. When I finally get them to pop open, the light hits me like a fireball and makes the pain in my head increase. I quickly close them again as a soft moan escapes me.

"She's finally awake! Call the Ambassador now!"

That's Sen's voice. Sounds like she's shouting orders to someone on her team. That must mean I'm in the hospital ward on-ship. But, that doesn't make sense. I haven't been on-ship for days. I should be waking up in my room by the meeting hall. That's the last place I was, right after...

Oh. Dragons be damned. I remember now. The last things that happened, in my room with Maeral, and then... and then what? I scrunch my eyes closed tighter to block out the pain while I think.

And then the jab in my arm. A sleep dart. That had to be what he did. But why? What was that he said about being the only one who could get in his way? And about it being a perfect infiltration opportunity? I need the pain in my head to go away so I can think things through.

I feel a cold, wet cloth on my face, rubbing lightly, and smell the orange-marmalade-scented ointment. I lay there calmly as the salve is rubbed on my forehead and the cloth wipes my face and eyes. After a few seconds, my eyes feel well enough to open again so I open them slowly. When they adjust to the light, I see the heads of a goblin and elf leaning over me – Sen Foulmuck and Lieutenant Bellas.

Shaking my head lightly, I try to sit up, only to be roughly shoved back down again. "No chance, Commander. You're going to lay here for a while. Not just until you're better, but maybe a few days after that. They can't arrest you if you're on-ship and in my care."

I stop fighting to sit up and focus in on Sen's face. "What do you mean, 'they can't arrest me'?"

She shakes her head. "Kesn will explain. I don't know all the details. I just know that her and Simon brought you in here two days ago and the elves have been banging down the door trying to arrest you for something."

I close my eyes with a sigh. "Two days. Then I was right. Sleep dart."

Sen's voice moves away from me, then comes back. "Good. That's what I thought was happening. Looked a lot like what I saw before with that goblin captain you captured awhile back. In that case, we should have you sorted out in a couple hours. But you should still stay here."

Another voice drifts over to me, getting closer while speaking. "I don't know if we're going to be able to accommodate that, Caregiver. It'll be easier to get the Andriennein Judiciary Committee off our backs if the Commander can explain to them what she knows."

I open my eyes again to see Kesn standing at the side of the bed. "Hey, Kesn. What I know about what?"

She looks me hard in the eyes and I can't read her expression. "What you know about the assassinations of Gorgan Gemcrusher and Sharya Watertracker."

I stop breathing for a second when I hear that, then shake my head slowly. "Of _course_ that's who the contract was for. Nothing can ever go easy for me, can it?" My reasoning kicks in and I get confused. "But both of them? I can imagine one side or the other wanting to kill one of them, but both of them? That's weird."

With that, Kesn sighs and sits in a chair next to my hospital bed. "Yeah, that's where the whole 'arrest Commander Westiel' movement comes from. You were the only one to antagonize both of them over the first two days of meetings. You're the main suspect for the assassinations."

I close my eyes again and think for a second. Now that the pain in my head is almost gone, it's much easier. I start putting together what I know, then open my eyes to look back at Kesn. "Okay. In that case, let's start by telling me what I've missed over the last few days. Then I'll catch you up on what I know."

She nods. "Of course. Well, the last time any of us saw you was at dinner when you left us. You didn't tell us where you were going, but we knew you weren't in a good mood. We were kinda gossiping about you and LC Rhuviel when that elf guy from dinner the night before showed up and asked about you. Lada said something about you needing to nurse a broken heart, and he left. We finished dinner and went back to the residence hall to sleep.

"Simon woke me early, telling me to get dressed as quickly as possible, then left to check on you. While I was getting myself together, he came back carrying you wrapped in a sheet. He said something about needing to go before everything broke loose. We hurried out of the room, met up with Romara and the Corporal, then moved quickly to an aerialcraft to come back here.

"When we got out of the vehicle, the Major and a large group of soldiers met us there and escorted us back to the ship. On the way, we had to stop once to push back a group of Andriennein soldiers, then once more to push back a group of Hallowforge soldiers. There was a lot of fighting between everyone when we arrived at the ship, but they pushed us through quickly to bring you to the hospital ward.

"It wasn't long before we received the official arrest request, marking you as the suspect for both assassinations. I sat down with the senior officers to discuss it, and we decided the best solution was to close up the ship tight and figure out what happened to you. Simon had some ideas, but he didn't share them with us."

I nod, remembering what Simon asked at the restaurant when we first ran into Maeral and Tishani. "Yeah, I'm sure his ideas are correct. He would have recognized a lot of the details and figured out a good bit of what happened."

Kesn nods with me. "Well, in the last two days, we've been receiving numerous requests from the Andriennein Judiciary, as well as the lead assistants on both sides – Kelethyl Glitterbreeze from Andriennein and Brog Ironsmasher from Hallowforge. They want to know what we know about the assassinations and why they haven't received any communications from Commander Westiel.

"I've sent them polite replies letting them know that you've been ill and we're researching our options, but they're getting more insistent. They're very interested in blaming you for this, and we need to figure out how to resolve the questions."

I sigh sadly as I lie back and look at the ceiling. "Well, at least Cap will be happy to know he was right. No amount of experience could have prepared me for the meeting going belly-up, and it certainly couldn't have gone more belly-up than this."

An evil goblin laugh catches me off-guard, and I turn to see Sen standing at the side of my bed with a smile on her face. "Your first trade mission and you killed someone on each side? That's fantastic! There's hope for you yet!"

I chuckle at her without much humor, then turn back to the ceiling. "I obviously didn't kill anyone, but we'll need to convince everyone else of that. The problem, however, is if we tell them the truth then they'll definitely think I was involved, since I guess I kinda was."

All sound stops around me, and I turn my head to see both goblin women looking at me in shock. Sen's mouth is actually hanging open slightly, while Kesn's is held tightly closed. As I look back and forth between them, they eventually look up at each other and share a glance. After that, Sen nods and grins. "Commander, you'll be ready to go in about twenty minutes or so. Be sure to put some clothes on before you leave, though. Having you sleeping here naked like that is already distracting Bellas, so let's contain that."

She turns on her heel and walks away so I turn back to Kesn. She gives me a dark look, then pulls out her communicator and pushes the charm. "Tanna Aldamiel."

Tanna's green disembodied head appears to Kesn's left. "Hey, Kesn. How's the patient?"

Kesn just nods. "Commander, we're going to have a meeting in twenty minutes. Can you get everyone together?"

I can't see Tanna's face from here, but I notice her tone of voice changes to be more professional. "Of course. I'll call them now." That said, her head disappears and Kesn looks back at me.

Neither of us says anything for a few minutes, then Kesn's face softens. "I'm not going to like this too much, am I?"

A small wry smile crosses my face. "As my friend, you'll probably be proud of me. As my Ambassador... no, you probably won't like it."

She sighs, but smiles and reaches out to pat my arm. "Ah well. If I wanted a boring job, I could have just stayed on Stenchstone at the Palace, right?"

I chuckle at that, and we sit in silence for a few more minutes before I try sitting up again. The pain is mostly gone now, so I'm eventually successful. As the sheet falls off of my chest, Kesn quickly hands me a uniform that's been sitting at the foot of the bed and I hold it up to myself as I slowly climb to my feet. I slip into the jumpsuit as quickly as I can, then follow Kesn up to level 5 for the meeting.

Everyone else is already there when we arrive and I can feel their stares as I walk to my normal chair and sit with a sigh. I look around the room, then quickly begin, without preamble, to walk through everything that's happened with me. I explain about being poisoned with a sleep dart, and that sleeping with me must have been Maeral's plan to infiltrate the building.

I'm briefly reminded of a joke I made when I first met him about infiltrating the pants of female elves, but I no longer find it very funny.

I cover everything that got me to that point, including the way he used his knowledge of my relationship with Saeralyn and what happened with Alayna to manipulate me. I also explain everything that happened with Alayna, so everyone understands all the details.

When I finally finish speaking, I see Simon nod. "Good. That's what I thought had happened. Let me fill in from there, then. Right before sunrise, I was standing guard outside of the Ambassador's room when I noticed a commotion down the hall. A handful of armed elves were running around. I didn't imagine anything good was happening, so I had the Corporal collect the Cadet while I woke the Ambassador.

"While she was getting ready, I remembered that LC Rhuviel had left for the ship and no one was guarding you, so I went over to get you ready. I found you deep in sleep and I wasn't able to wake you. Your clothes were folded and left on the table beside the bed, which I knew wasn't right. I made the decision right then to get us out of there and called Gimmir while wrapping you up to carry you."

Gimmir pipes up at that point. "I got Simon's call while we were trying to stay out o' the way o' the Hallowforge and Andreinnein soldiers. Didn't know what got 'em all riled up, but they started talkin' trash to each other and some small fights broke out. I pulled some elites to go with me to guard yer group comin' back and was headed over to the 'craft when I heard in my helmet that both groups had turned to attack us.

"We didn't have any warnin', but we were ready. Once we had yer group back at the ship, I pulled back the battalion and closed the doors. All heads counted. The rest of 'em have been sittin' outside bangin' on the ship to get us to come back out. We've been waitin' for you."

I sigh and drop my head in my hands. "Wonderful. Sounds like everything blew up really quickly. I'm glad none of our folk were lost in that, though. Good job getting everyone back in the ship safely."

A hand drops onto my shoulder and I glance up to see Tanna looking at me from her seat at my side. "Hey. It's not your fault, you know."

Another wry chuckle escapes me. "Of course it is! I'm the one who slept with the assassin's infiltration expert. He got in because I let him in. That makes a really large part of it _directly_ my fault."

"But you didn't actually do anything wrong, Rylae." I turn to look at Kesn across the table as she continues. "It sounds a lot like a professional assassin took advantage of you, and we can definitely use that to get the groups off of your case."

I shake my head. "I doubt it. They'll find out I knew the assassin, and they'll hold me until I give them more details. That's not going to go well in any case."

Everyone goes quiet at that point and we sit in silence for awhile. While I can tell everyone else is thinking about the details, I'm mostly sulking. I'm incredibly mad at myself for this and disgusted with Maeral for using me. I can't quite believe everything that's happened in just a few days' time, and I find my mind just circling through the same things over and over.

Distracted or not, though, it's a complete surprise to hear the next voice speak up. "So, maybe we don't tell them any of that. Maybe we say that Commander Westiel was a _target_ of the assassination attack, and we need to complete a full investigation to know why she wasn't killed when the other two were."

I look up to see everyone turn and stare at the voice, which belongs to LC Herion Songdancer. My new Chief Science Officer glances around the room with a small smile, then turns to look directly at me and shrugs. "Commander, I've been married for a long time. I know how to spin a situation to make it look like I wasn't doing anything wrong, even if I absolutely was. It even works more than half the time."

We stare at Herion for a good solid minute before everyone starts laughing. The abrupt release of tension changes the atmosphere in the room and we're all smiling and laughing honestly. After a few minutes of laughter, the room calms down and I look back at Herion, who just shrugs with a grin.

I turn to Kesn and we look at each other for a second before she nods. "Actually, that's a pretty good cover. We don't know why you're still alive, but you were also attacked as the leader of our delegation. I can get them to buy that. It'll also explain why we were so quick to bundle you up and get you out of there. It works well. I'll start working on our official response to both delegations."

In full agreement, I nod as I add another piece to the idea. "Not only that, but there's only a few folk who know that I wasn't actually an assassination target – us, the assassins and whoever actually set up the contract to kill Gemcrusher and Watertracker. Maybe we can use this to gather information during our investigation. Someone's likely to slip up eventually."

I see Simon, Gimmir and Lada turn to each other to share a glance and a nod, then turn back to us. Lada smiles as she looks at me. "Good idea, boss lady. Rather devious of ya, actually. Starting to think yer learning a bit too much from Cap!"

Her grin changes as she turns back to Herion. "And I _definitely_ want to know more about how our new LC knows how to hide illicit bedroom encounters from his wife. I smell a juicy story in there somewhere!" Herion's face goes dark red as the room laughs again.

# CHAPTER NINETEEN

"We're so glad to hear that you're doing better, Commander Westiel! Our whole group has been hoping for your speedy recovery." The male elf, Kelethyl Glitterbreeze, gives me an oily smile as he reaches out to shake my hand. He's quite a bit younger than Sharya Watertracker was, but is obviously just as skilled at being a lying politician considering both trade groups wanted my head a short time ago. I shake his hand quickly, then turn to our other invited guest.

Brog Ironsmasher doesn't offer me his hand, and instead nods with an unreadable face behind his long beard. "Indeed. After what happened to the leaders of our groups, we're happy to know that at least someone managed to escape the assassination attempt. It's quite a feat, Commander. We're hoping you'll be able to explain to us exactly how you accomplished it."

Two days have passed since I woke up on-ship. Kesn spent that time working hard to draft the responses to the groups trying to blame me with the assassinations. The communications back and forth have been tense, and not everyone has completely accepted our version of the truth. Finally, we decided the easiest solution was to invite the two new leaders of the delegations to the ship for a meeting. If we can convince them face-to-face then everything should flow more smoothly.

I look back at the dwarf with a defeated expression. "I wish I knew, Mr. Ironsmasher. I don't actually know what happened. I went to sleep like I normally would and awoke two days later in our hospital ward. Through a comparison of notes among my officers, we think that my room, being on the ground floor, was used as the entry point for the assassin. That made me the first target before the assassin then moved on to the others. We don't know why I wasn't killed, but my caregivers think it was something as simple as a mistake with poison doses. Aside from the two days of sleep, I haven't had any other ill effects."

Once my rehearsed explanation is complete, Kesn speaks up at my side with her part of our scripted comments. "We hope to learn more as we complete our own investigation. I'm working with the Judiciary Committee to have access to their evidence, and our Security officers will dig into the details further. If we're lucky, we'll find some more details on how events actually happened."

Ironsmasher looks over at Glitterbreeze with a grin. "Indeed, Hallowforge is happy to know that the UCST is conducting an investigation. It's not that we don't trust Andriennein, but..." He drifts off with a shrug, still grinning. Gemcrusher was openly antagonistic, but Ironsmasher is a lot more careful about not saying things directly. His grin says everything, but the actual words can't be attributed to him.

Unfazed, Glitterbreeze turns his oily smile to the dwarf. "Of course, my friend. Andriennein completely understands the situation which our Hallowforge partners are currently facing. It's difficult when one of your own is so egregiously slaughtered during a peaceful trade meeting. We absolutely understand that you wish for additional resources to hunt the culprit, and we're happy to work with the UCST to provide you with the peace of mind you're hoping for."

Wow. Just... wow. There's so much smooth-talking in those comments that it stuns me. I'm simultaneously impressed and disgusted. Watertracker wore an outwardly hostile attitude as often as possible, but Glitterbreeze weaves together the most syrupy comments to make it seem like he's on your side the entire time. We're definitely going to have to watch him carefully... and listen to him even _more_ carefully!

Ironsmasher continues to grin at Glitterbreeze. It's still not a very friendly grin, but the elf doesn't seem to notice as the dwarf lays his political comments out. "I'm surprised at your agreement, Kelethyl. But, of course, it's no harm to you to have the additional help while we're all looking for answers."

The elf reaches over and claps the dwarf on his shoulder, continuing to wield his seriously oily political smile. "Indeed, Brog, we hope to find justice for every party wronged by this terrible atrocity."

I'm just about at my limit, unable to swallow any more of this sticky sweet nonsensical garbage without being violently ill, when my wonderful Ambassador comes to my rescue. "Of course, we hope the investigation can reach a fast resolution and provide us with all of the answers that we seek. Until then, since there is little we can personally do to help in that area, I would like to recommend that we reconvene the trade meetings and attempt to reach a resolution, as a tribute to the delegation leaders that were lost in this awful incident."

The slick Glitterbreeze latches onto that comment with an immediate reply. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Ambassador Dreadthief. I think the Andriennein delegation would absolutely prefer to be working instead of thinking about our lost mentor, so we'll be happy to host the continuation of the trade meetings in the same room in which we were working for those first few days. I'd also like to offer to host a team-building dinner for all three teams on our first day back to work, as a token of our respect and goodwill."

My stomach turns a bit with Glitterbreeze bringing up food after I've already swallowed so much political nonsense, but I manage to hold my own as I nod and smile at the elf. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Mr. Glitterbreeze. Let's make plans to restart the meetings in two days, and have a wonderful dinner as comrades at that time. It'll be an excellent way to bring everyone back together and create an atmosphere of cooperation."

Dragons be damned! Now _I'm_ starting to sound like him! I really need to go back to my quarters and spend awhile in the washroom cleaning this stuff off of me. I think it's starting to seep into my skin!

Ironsmasher nods. "Excellent idea. I'll prepare my team to be ready in two days. We'll look forward to seeing everyone there and getting this new trade agreement sorted out."

Once we're all in agreement, Kesn leads the two delegates to the door of the small conference room we're using on level 2. I follow them out and down the thankfully short expanse of hallway to the door to leave the ship, where I watch as the elf and dwarf start down the staircase. Once they're back on the ground, Kesn taps the charm to close the door and slumps against it with a sigh. I drop to the floor, stretching my legs out and holding myself up with my hands behind me.

As I stare up at the ceiling, I hear my ambassador chuckle. "Those two are something, aren't they?"

I shake my head slowly. "Glitterbreeze's comments were about to make me violently ill. I don't know how you can deal with this stuff all the time! It was much easier for me to work with Watertracker and Gemcrusher being so obviously hateful. I knew how to deal with that! These two, though..." I continue shaking my head as my sentence drifts off. I don't even have the words for how I feel.

Kesn laughs. "I've had much worse. Glitterbreeze is all talk with no substance. Ironsmasher is careful to only use the right amount of words without locking himself into actually saying anything. They're tiresome, but they're rather standard as far as politics goes."

I push myself up to a fully sitting position and look over at the goblin woman. "At least everything seemed to go well. Did you pick up on anything from either of them that might point to them being involved in the assassination?"

She shakes her head. "Not really. Glitterbreeze could talk his way out of anything, though, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out he's involved somewhere. We'll just have to keep watching and listening to see what happens."

I push myself to my feet with a grimace. "In that case, I'm going to go get cleaned off. I feel like I've been swimming in something nasty and it's starting to get sticky."

Kesn laughs as she pushes herself off the wall and walks over to me. "That sounds like an excellent idea. After that, I may need some of that wine you like to drink. I think these two are _definitely_ going to make us as bad as Simon and the Major!"

I laugh as we walk to the stairs, heading to our separate quarters.

««»»

Feeling decidedly cleaner, I put on a new uniform and sit at my table to log into my terminal. I want to start writing the report about the 'slimeball politician meeting' before I force myself to forget all of the sleaze that came out of Glitterbreeze. I really don't think I'll be able to eat another meal until I can calm my stomach.

I take a quick look through my messages, and one stops me cold. The name on the message is Tishani Shyrandor. I only know one Tishani, so I think I can safely assume I know who it's from. I stare at it for a second, then tap it to open it. However disgusted and angry I am at her brother, Tishani's just a kid. A professional assassin, but still just a kid. I can at least see what she decided she needed to send to me.

"Rylae!

"We heard you're awake again! I'm so glad! I was really scared when Maeral said you might get in the way of our work, and I told him he wasn't allowed to hurt you! I gave him some of the sleep darts specifically to make sure he didn't hurt you!

"Maeral said you'd be mad at us. I really hope you're not mad. I even folded your clothes for you when I saw them on the floor! I wanted to be helpful! I think Maeral hopes you're not mad, too, but he's not talking about it. He's upset that we have to wait until the contact says our contract is done before we can go home. I don't think he's very happy here anymore. He doesn't even want to go to the restaurant with the water lizard! He's very sad. I hope he feels better soon.

"Can we hang out for dinner again soon? I really had fun that time! And my school work is boring! Is your work as boring as my school work is? I hope it's not! Your job is probably very exciting! But I have to write this book report now and then I have to do my math work.

"Write back soon!

"Hugs and kisses,

"Tishani"

I close the message, then shut my eyes and shake my head. I'm not altogether sure what to make of that message, but it's difficult to be mad at Tishani for the things her brother did to me. I may not be able to forgive him right now, but I can overlook her involvement in it... especially since it sounds like she was actively trying to help me, in her own ways. I decide to write a short message back, just to let her know I received hers.

"Tishani,

"Thank you for your concern. I was not hurt, and I feel okay now. Also, thank you for folding my clothes. That was a very nice thing to do, and I appreciate it.

"I don't know if I'll be able to see you again before I leave, but maybe we can talk in messages occasionally. You definitely have to finish your school work first, though! Then maybe you can have an exciting job when you grow up.

"Take care,

"Rylae"

I send the message, then sit back and stare at the wall for a bit. Part of my mind wants to think about everything that happened with Maeral, and another part of it really doesn't want to think about it ever again. I eventually decide that now really isn't the time anyway, so I turn back to my terminal to write that report.

As I put the words down, I realize that the detailed report of sticky sweet politician phrasing is actually making me feel sicker than thinking about being used by Maeral. The thought makes me chuckle a bit, which is a good-enough distraction from what I'm doing to allow me to finish my report without becoming violently ill. I will _never_ understand how politicians can actually look at their reflections and be okay with the way they conduct business.

I finish the report and file it away, then think about what we're going to do moving forward on this mission. Lada, Simon and Gimmir are going to take the lead on the investigation as far as the evidence from the assassinations is concerned, while Kesn and I go back to managing the trade meeting to finalize the new agreement. Hopefully one of our groups will eventually come across a clue that points us in the right direction to find the folk who put in the assassination contract. It's not much of a plan, but it's the only plan we have until we get something more detailed to work with.

I suddenly wonder what my specific function is going to be in the meetings, now that the two antagonistic trade delegation leaders are gone. It seems like the two recently-promoted assistants actually know how to work with each other without throwing soldiers around. I may not have to be the bully any longer. I wonder what I can do to fill my time.

My eyes scan back through my messages through habit, and I stop on Tishani's name again. I suddenly think about what she said about hoping my job was exciting, and I laugh. Not only is it _not_ usually exciting, but now I'm not even sure what they need me for in these meetings! I'd probably be more effective doing book reports and math work!

The thought of comparing the trade meetings to math work actually triggers something in my mind, and I think it through for a second. Maybe I should try to read the actual trade agreements and understand the math behind them. If nothing else, it'll better prepare me for future missions involving trade paperwork. I mean, that's not really any different than the XO paperwork I've been doing for the last nine years, right? Maybe it'll be easy for me to understand!

I have two days before the trade meetings start up again. That should be plenty of time to start looking into the agreements and analysis reports. I switch to the Corsari's diplomatic files and start searching for anything Kesn has stored about the trade agreements. I find dozens of documents to read, and settle into my chair with a sigh.

Sorry, Tishani! Unfortunately, adult work is rarely more exciting than school work!

# CHAPTER TWENTY

There's a lot of detail inside a trade agreement! No wonder Kesn's job is so difficult. Not only does she have to be a mediator between two negotiating teams, but she also has to understand all the nuances of the agreements. I somewhat remember that kind of thing from my ambassadorial classes in the Academy, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them. Very few folk really do, and they either join teams at the Admiralty or become ambassadors themselves.

My biggest issue with the document is that there's so much political-style language inside it that I can't always figure out exactly what it's trying to say. It's like it was specifically written so either side could find ways around it while still trying to be sure the other side doesn't have any holes to squeeze through. It's a mastery of double-speak and positive negativity. No wonder the trade groups require so many assistants. I bet each one of them is only able to translate a particular section of this garbage.

Once you add in the notations pointing to subsequent documents for changes made later or detailed further in a specialized section, the entire thing is just about unreadable. I spend almost a full day trying to read the unreadable before I finally set it aside to take a break and grab some food. Leaving my quarters, I walk down the hallway to the mess hall and walk inside.

The delicious smell of a new stew immediately hits me as I walk in, and I smile as I look around and see a number of my crew eating happily. It's truly amazing how one young elf could make such drastic changes on my ship in such a short time. And just by teaching the cooks how to make a decent stew! I shake my head with a chuckle and continue toward the serving line.

Unfortunately, shaking my head while walking is a bad idea, proved when I bump into someone's back. She turns around as I look up, and I recognize an elf I've been trying to purposely avoid for the last few days. I silently curse the powers behind such meetings as I look at the woman and put a small fake smile on my face. "Sorry for bumping into you, LC. My mind was elsewhere."

Alayna Rhuviel looks back at me, but her expression is unreadable. "It's no problem, Commander. I was standing around with my head up my ass anyway, so I'm just as much to blame."

I nod and move to walk around her, but stop when I feel her hand on my shoulder. "Actually..." She trails off, so I turn back to look at her. Her face is now obviously covered over with sadness, so I stop and wait to see what she has to say. After a couple seconds, she takes a deep breath and looks in my eyes. "I have something I need to say to you. Do you have any time?"

I glance around. Seeing a table nearby with no one else around it, I gesture for her to follow me as I walk to it and take a seat. She sits across from me while I wait quietly. I've been avoiding this meeting specifically because I don't really know what to do with it yet. Rylae's still incredibly hurt by the things that were said, and XO Westiel has been considering disciplinary action for the bodyguard who left her post. For now, I think I'm just going to wait and see what she has to say.

After a few seconds, Alayna takes a deep breath and starts talking. "I'm sorry, Rylae. I really am. I shouldn't have left you unguarded. Lada and Simon have both kicked my ass for it, and rightfully so, but I still owe you an apology. If I had been there, maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

A quiet, involuntary scoff-like chuckle comes out of me when she says that. She notices and continues quickly. "I mean, you wouldn't have been hurt by the assassin. I know I had already hurt you, though, and I'm sorry for that, too. Lada and Simon both told me some things about Tir Tairngire and your ex-girlfriend, and I was wrong to make the comments I made. Lada also told me that's why she didn't tell you about the... um... the thing with the..."

I pick up on her meaning and give her the words she's missing. "The unwritten rule about bodyguards sleeping with their charges during a mission."

She nods. "Yeah. No one ever meant any harm with it. It was just a way around the regulations. Lada's been setting it up for years, and all the regulars knew about it. I've had some fun with Cap's yeoman on some previous missions. When she set us up together, and we were already getting along, I just figured..."

Her head shakes as she trails off, then she looks at me again. "Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let my feelings get in the way of my job, and I'm sorry I was hurtful. I hope we can still be friends, and I'm ready to rejoin the mission if you want me there."

I take a few seconds to process everything she said, then let out a sigh. "Alayna, I still don't know everything I want to say about this, at any level. I need more time to think about it. But, I promise I'll come back to you, both as your commanding officer and as a girl you hurt pretty badly." Her eyes drop to the table and her shoulders sag when I say that.

"I will say this, though." Her eyes look back up at me as I continue talking. "First, whether or not it _should_ have happened that way, it _did_ happen that way. We need to accept that and move on from there. As such, until I've figured out what to do about it, I can't just forget what happened and have you rejoin the mission. I'm sorry."

She releases a sigh and looks back at the table, but nods quietly. I stand from the table and push my chair in, then walk over next to her. "Second, looking back on it, I realize something. Maeral is a professional. If he went so far as to manipulate and use me to get me out of the way, then you being there would have just been another obstacle for him. He would have killed you. So, leaving the mission is probably the only thing that kept you from a blade in your back."

I lay my hand on her shoulder, which causes her to look up at me. "Given the choices, I'm much happier that you're still here. What you did was wrong, but it had some good consequences as well. I'll remember that while I'm thinking." With that said, I turn and walk away without looking back.

After a few steps, I stop and shake my head to clear it before continuing to the serving line and grabbing a tray. I think I deserve some berries and cream after that conversation! I grab two containers of it, along with some utensils and a drink, and am about to walk away when I hear someone's throat clear behind me. "Excuse me, Commander, but I can't let you leave without some actual food on that tray!"

The voice surprises me, and I turn to see Romara standing behind the stew pot at the serving station. Her lighthearted comment makes me smile as I walk back over to her. "What makes you think you can stop me, Cadet?"

She sets the serving spoon down and straightens her shoulders. "Commander Aldamiel gave me specific orders to watch out for you and make sure you were eating. I've been standing at this post for days watching for you. Now that you're here, I have a mission directive to not allow you to leave without at least one full bowl of stew! Executive Officer's orders, ma'am!"

I start laughing hard enough that I have to set my tray down to keep from spilling it. When I catch my breath, I shake my head with a smile. "Tanna's always on my case about not eating, but this is definitely farther than she's ever gone before! Okay! I submit! I'll take some of that delicious-smelling stew!"

The blue-haired elf girl fills a bowl and sets it on my tray. "Good! Now I can get Lieutenant Bellas off of my case! He's been in here constantly, telling me that I'm risking my health by working here so much. But now that I've fed you, I can take a break! He'll be happy."

That catches my attention. "Lieutenant Bellas? Really?"

She giggles. "Yeah. He kinda has a thing for me, I think. The other mess hall workers say they never see him in here as much when I'm not around. It's kinda cute."

I think about the hospital lieutenant for a second, and I can definitely see him being totally awkward about trying to talk to a girl. Hovering around while she's here and being worried about her health would absolutely be things I could imagine him doing. It _is_ kinda cute, though. I smile as I look at her. "Well, it's good that you'll get some rest. Working in here for days just to keep an eye out to make sure I'm eating isn't very good for you."

She nods. "I know. But I was worried about you, too." Her expression takes on additional sternness as she looks closely at my face. "Speaking of, where have you been? The Ambassador said you had a meeting yesterday morning with the new trade group leaders, but no one's seen you since."

I shake my head with a sigh. "I've been trying to read the trade agreement documents. I need to be ready for the meetings scheduled to restart tomorrow, and I think it'll be important to understand them. But they're completely unreadable! There's so much mess inside them that I can't even understand what they're about, let alone find any actual math! I don't even know where to begin to find the numbers to understand why Andriennein is so mad at Hallowforge right now!"

Surprisingly, Romara's face breaks into a large smile. "Why didn't you say that's what you were doing? I can help with that! The last day of meetings was all about the analysis that Andriennein had done! My notes are full of numbers! Let me grab my notebook and I'll join you while you work!"

Before I can say anything, she rushes off to the back of the mess hall where the workers have small storage spaces. She grabs her things, including the small notebook I always see her with, and rushes back out. As she does, she taps a goblin worker on the shoulder and points to the stew pot, obviously to get him to cover her station as she leaves.

She hurries back over to me and stops with a bounce. "Okay! Ready to go!" As she says that, she stops and looks at my tray, then back at me. "Well, almost ready to go. You need to eat! So, we're going to go over to a table and you're going to eat while I explain my notes to you. Problem solved!"

She sets her stuff on my tray and picks it up, not even looking at me as she carries it away to a table. I briefly remember the scared elf girl that appeared outside of my ship a little over a month ago, and I can't hold back a smile as I follow this much more confident elf through the room to take a seat next to her. She pushes the tray in front of me and reaches for her notebook, flipping through the pages.

I let myself get distracted by the smell of the pork stew and scoop a bit into my mouth. It's really good! Maybe not quite as good as the pork casserole I had on Stenchstone, but still much better than any stews the ship used to have! As I think that, I realize I absolutely have to get Romara out to sample some of the foods on Stenchstone so she can teach the cooks how to make those, too!

I'm halfway through the bowl before I realize it, so I stop for a second to wipe my mouth with a napkin before I turn back to Romara. She's watching me eat with a smile and giggles when she sees me looking. "Commander Aldamiel and the Ambassador will be happy when I tell them I got you to eat something!"

I smile and look back at the bowl. "Well, it's harder to avoid when it's so delicious and right in front of me! You've really changed stew days on this ship, Cadet!" Just then, her words sink in and I look at her from the corner of my eye. "Wait. Did you just say Kesn is in on this little conspiracy as well?"

Her eyes get wide and she stammers in response. "Um. Well. Yes? Commander Aldamiel told me I should use her name when I told you my orders, but it was really the Ambassador that asked me to do it. She said I was the right elf for the job, and you'd just yell at the two of them if they tried!"

I chuckle as I push the bowl aside and grab one of the berries and cream desserts from my tray. I set it by Romara's hand, along with a spoon, and smile. "I think you deserve one of these for being dragged into anything by those two! But I'm glad they did. It's good to know they trust you."

As she reaches for it, I look over her arm at the open page of her notebook. As she said, it's full of numbers along with her other notes. "So, why don't you tell me what you have there, and we can try to figure this out together."

After a couple hours spent alternating between eating and discussing numbers, I realize that not only are Romara's notes excellent, but she understands them well. Certainly more than I understood the trade agreement! Eventually, we leave the mess hall and head to the table in my quarters where I can pull up the trade agreements while we look at her notes. It's all starting to make sense when we realize we're too tired to continue. I send her to her quarters with a smile and a plan to meet in the morning for the trade meetings. Now to think about how to get Kesn and Tanna back for the whole food thing!

# CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The tables in the conference room have been completely rearranged to create an environment Glitterbreeze describes as "more conducive to a collaboration effort between equals". There are no longer separate sections for each delegation, opting instead for a large U-shaped area in the center of the room. Two tables are on each side for the Andriennein and Hallowforge representatives, and a single table connects the two on one end for our small UCST group.

Kelethyl Glitterbreeze and Brog Ironsmasher take seats in the center of their groups, facing each other. Their two remaining senior assistants take seats on either side of them, with the junior assistants filling in around them. Kesn sits at the center of our table, with Romara on her right while I sit on her left.

Once we're all seated, Glitterbreeze stands and straightens his jacket. He's dressed very sharply today, with a blue suit jacket over a crisp white shirt and solid blue necktie. The only decoration on him is the jeweled pin on his jacket lapel, designed to look like the flag of Andriennein. It's incredibly noticeable, considering flags on worlds are an almost completely outdated style of symbolism. Most worlds haven't flown an actual fabric flag in thousands of years, with the designs only used in official documents and history textbooks.

The elf brings more attention to the pin by reaching up to straighten it slightly, then smiles at the room. "Friends. It is with pleasure that I reopen the trade negotiations between Hallowforge and Andriennein. My sincere wish is that we are able to reach an accord between our worlds which not only is agreeable to both groups, but helps both of our worlds prosper and grow towards better relationships with each other and with the rest of the universe. Let our work today be an example of the kinds of pacts between worlds that every future trade agreement can use as a reference point."

One of the Andriennein assistants begins clapping, and the applause is taken up by everyone on both sides. On our side, Romara continues to write notes in her notebook while Kesn and I just look at each other without joining in the applause. I'm sure she can see the disgust in my eyes as easily as I can see the exasperation in hers. We both share a defeated smile and turn back to the rest of the room.

When the applause dies down, Ironsmasher stands. "Thank you for the words, Glitterbreeze. Now to continue where we left off, with the Andriennein analysis."

The discussion starts with one of the Hallowforge assistants, who logs into his terminal and opens the documents with the analysis. He begins to point at numbers and question their integrity. I had only just begun to understand what Romara was helping me with last night, so a lot of what they're saying still goes over my head.

After a minute, I lean closer to Kesn and whisper. "So, what exactly are they talking about now?"

She leans closer to me and whispers back. "They're talking about the initial assumptions that Andriennein made with their analysis. Specifically the true cost of manufacturing goods."

I watch as one of the elven assistants chimes in with a heated tone, bringing up some counter-argument. I lean back over and whisper again. "What was that all about?"

"The elf is defending his initial assumptions by explaining the purchase price, the cost of the mana and supplies purchased from Andriennein, and the discrepancy between the rise in price and the lack of change in cost for mana."

I watch for another few seconds while the elf speaks, then whisper back. "I'm guessing the dwarf is about to counter that counter-argument by saying the elves don't understand the rise in manufacturing costs on Hallowforge. Right?"

Right after I say that, the dwarf assistant pipes back in and says almost the exact same thing I just said, but with more definitive words and a much more unhappy tone. The bickering goes back and forth for a moment before I sigh and smack my hand hard against the table. The loud sound stops both sides from speaking, and everyone turns to stare at me.

I sigh visibly and glance at both sides. "Look. I've been an Executive Officer for a long time, and I know this bickering about whose numbers are correct won't actually get us anywhere. Instead, let's treat this like I would manage my Engineering department." With that said, I log into my terminal and use some commands to expand it across the table so most of the other folk in the room can see it clearly.

I tap a few more commands and bring up a blank Engineering report. "Let's take one manufactured piece of tech. I'll choose a landcraft, since it's the largest. We'll pretend the landcraft is a mana battery. You!" I point at one of the dwarven assistants. "What's the purchase price of a landcraft on Hallowforge?"

The assistant stammers for a second, then looks at Ironsmasher for guidance. The Hallowforge leader looks from the assistant to me, then back to give a nod of acceptance. The assistant then pulls a scroll from out of a bag and unrolls it, sliding a finger down the words written on it before stopping. "Average price for a landcraft on Hallowforge is one-hundred forty thousand credits."

I nod and enter 140,000 as the mana battery level. "Excellent. Now, if I want to know how much battery I'm going to have left, I need to know what spells are running on it. In this case, our spells are going to be the individual costs of the items needed to make this landcraft. So, I now need someone to tell me the costs of the mana and battery which goes into this individual landcraft."

I look between the two groups, and I can see a lot of stumped faces. With a nod, I cancel the Engineering report and log out of my terminal. "That's what I thought. I propose that, instead of all the arguing and posturing about whose numbers are more correct, we instead figure out what the correct numbers are from scratch. Redo your analysis to show what goes into each individual product. Then redo your other analyses to show how many individual products can be created from one large import of mana from Andriennein. Once we know where all the costs actually are, we can argue more about who's more correct in their assumptions. Deal?"

The dwarves all look at each other on one side of the tables while the elves all look at each other on the other side of the tables. After a few seconds, each group pulls back from the tables and gathers into a tight circle to whisper amongst themselves. I sit and look back and forth between the two groups while they talk.

I notice Kesn looking at me from the corner of my vision, so I turn to see her staring at me with her eyes wide open. After a second, she leans in and whispers to me. "That's... that's just... Great Damnation, Rylae! I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing something like that before! You just cut through all their arguments and forced them to look at it from an entirely different perspective!"

I shrug and whisper back. "I just got tired of everyone bickering about things I couldn't understand. Now that I don't have to be a brute anymore, I'm actually trying to figure out what they're doing. I like to think I'm a fairly smart elf, and if it's confusing to _me_ , then I'm sure it's confusing to _everyone_. I just don't understand why it has to be so confusing."

Kesn looks back at me like I grew a second head, then she chuckles. "You're totally breaking apart the whole foundation of politics! I love it! It's going to take a while for these two groups to figure out what to do now. We should sit back and enjoy the show!"

As she says that, I look past her to see Romara still writing. After a few seconds, she stops and looks over at me with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Commander. I was just writing down what you two were saying. Am I not supposed to do that?"

I look at Kesn, who just shrugs with a smile, so I give the same shrug to Romara. "I don't see the harm in it. Maybe just make a note that we were whispering that to each other so we can remove it from anything we might need to share with the other groups."

Romara nods and starts going back through her notes to make additional notations, but finishes quickly to join us as we watch the two groups. Neither of them appear to have any interest in coming back out any time soon. I watch the two groups for a bit longer, but as time goes by it becomes even more boring to watch them talking amongst themselves than it was to listen to things I didn't understand. I wait quietly for about half an hour before I get too bored and have to stand up to stretch my legs.

I see Lada standing by the door, so I walk over and lean up against the wall next to her. She looks over at me briefly, then looks back at the groups with a laugh. "I think ya broke the meeting again, Rylae! I'm definitely gonna have to report all of this back to Cap!"

I chuckle as I lean there. "You sit through these meetings with Cap all the time. What does he normally do while the groups are arguing back and forth?"

She shrugs with a laugh. "He normally sleeps!"

I laugh with her for a second, then stop as I look over and see some of the members of the groups poke their heads out to look at us angrily before popping back into the huddles. I guess they heard us laughing and didn't appreciate it. Ah well. That was pretty funny and I couldn't help myself. I can imagine this whole process going quite differently with Cap in the room. Instead of stopping them to rethink their strategy, he just passes out at the table and starts snoring. Would they wake him up? Would they work around him? Thinking about it makes me laugh again, and I barely cover my mouth in time to muffle the sound.

I turn and look out of one of the windows between the room and the hallway to see Lada's four goblin guards flanking the door to our room, then look back at the groups still talking. Since we obviously have time, I turn back to Lada. "Any luck with the evidence from the Judiciary Committee?"

She nods and turns to me, speaking in a lower voice. "Those two are good, but the police here are pretty good too. They found the footprints in the snow where that man went from your window to get the little girl and lead her back to your room. They don't understand how he seems to have started from inside the building, but they're working on it."

Great. Blasted elven police are sometimes too smart for their own good. If they figure out he started in my room, and that I'm the one who let them in, it's going to cause trouble. "What about after they were in?"

She shrugs. "The police were able to determine that they started from your room at the bottom and moved upwards. They killed Gemcrusher first, then moved farther up the levels to kill Watertracker. The guard at each of their rooms was killed, but none of the other rooms on those levels were guarded so no one else saw or heard a thing."

I nod, understanding. "What weapons were used?"

Lada nods her head as she speaks, her blond curls bouncing. "The little girl's definitely good at her job. The weapons were thin, precise needles inserted perfectly into the neck. Both of them were dead instantly. The guards were killed with blades to the back of their necks. Slightly messier, and definitely the work of that man."

I let out a breath and sag against the wall. Four folk killed because I let a good-looking elf manipulate me into bed. I still can't believe I let that happen. After a second, I get punched in the arm and turn to see Lada looking at me. She smiles behind her close-cropped blonde beard and punches me again. "I know what yer thinking, and ya need to quit that right now. It's not yer fault. Ya hear me?"

I shrug without a verbal reply as I rub the new pain in my arm. Whether or not it's technically my fault is up for interpretation, and I _absolutely_ feel like _some_ of it is my fault. No one can prove otherwise to me. Maybe if I hadn't had so much fun in bed with him, I wouldn't feel quite as guilty. But I did, so I do. Simple as that.

I push the thoughts aside and turn back to Lada. "Anyway. If they know the other two were killed with needles, what are they saying about the attack on me? What are their theories?"

She shakes her head. "The police are mostly thinking of ya as just a victim of circumstance and not an actual target. They think the assassins weren't expecting ya in yer room, so they weren't ready to kill ya. They think ya were just poisoned while the man was clearing the way for the little girl."

I think that through and ask another question. "Do they say for certain they think it's a man and a little girl? Are Maeral and Tishani's identities compromised?"

She shake her head at me again. "Nah. They haven't figured that much out. They know there was someone inside and someone waiting outside, with one much smaller than the other, but they don't know who. I'm mostly adding that in since _we_ already know who they are." She grins sheepishly. "And because I didn't remember their names."

I chuckle and punch Lada in the shoulder. It hurts my hand more than it hurts her shoulder, but it's the thought that counts. She laughs in response, and we get another set of dirty looks from the groups still talking amongst themselves. I nod to Lada and walk away, thinking this has gone on for long enough.

Once I get back to the table, I cough loudly to get everyone's attention, and they turn to look at me. "Friends, it seems like there are a lot of things that need to be discussed before my idea can really be considered. Maybe we should take a recess and spend a few hours apart? Then everyone can sort out what they need to without the other groups overhearing."

Ironcrusher and Glitterbreeze both jump up quickly and shout in unison. "Agreed!"

I hold back a laugh as I turn to Kesn and gesture for her to take the lead. She stands up and smiles. "In that case, let's adjourn for the day and return again tomorrow morning. Please let us know if there's anything preventing either group from being ready at that time to discuss Commander Westiel's proposal."

With a murmur of agreement from everyone, the two groups quickly file out of the room and head to different places. Once the groups have left, I drop back into the chair and let out the loud laughter I've been holding in the whole time.

When I finally catch my breath, I turn to the other three women in the room with a smile. "Since I broke the meeting again, should we go shopping?"

The laughter and agreements are both quick in coming.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

After a fun evening of shopping followed by a decent meal, we all head back to our rooms. My room's farthest down the hall and I don't really want to look at the rest of them as they decide what to do with their night, so I go down to my room first and walk inside, pushing the door shut behind me without looking back at them. Finally knowing the 'unspoken rule of bodyguarding' is nice, but knowing whether or not my friends are having that kind of fun isn't something I want to think about right now. Especially considering what happened the last time _I_ had that kind of fun...

Once inside, I strip off my uniform and drop it in a pile on the floor, then pull on my robe and sit at the terminal desk in the room. It's not as big as the one at my table in my on-ship quarters, but it's large enough to check my messages without much trouble. Checking my messages should be a decent distraction to keep me from thinking about what happened the last time I was in this room.

I close my eyes with a sigh as I realize that I'm trying so hard to not think about it that in reality all I'm actually doing is thinking about it. I look over at the bed and cringe, realizing I'm probably not going to get any sleep tonight because of it. Maybe I should just sleep in this chair. I'll pretend it's like my days in the Academy when I had an exam to study for!

My decision made, I turn back to my terminal and look through my messages. Unfortunately, a particular name on a new message jumps out at me and makes me realize there's nothing I can do to avoid thinking about it now. The message from Maeral Shyrandor hits me like a punch in the chest, and I stare at it for a few seconds without blinking.

Once I blink and my eyes refocus, I notice the small 'urgent message' flag attached to it. That's interesting. Almost no one uses the 'urgent message' flag unless it's truly an emergency of some kind, and even then most folk use a communicator instead of a message. I look at it for a few seconds more, then tap it to open it.

"Rylae. Send me a reply, then meet me outside of your building 30 minutes later. You're in danger."

I read through the message again, then look at the time stamp on it. It looks like it was sent a little over an hour ago, while we were out at dinner. I wonder why he didn't just find me at the restaurant, since he's so good at that kind of thing. Then I remember I was out with Simon and Lada, and they probably would have strung him up on sight. The thought of Simon kicking Maeral's ass makes me chuckle for a second, but then I sober up and look back at the message.

"You're in danger." The words stand out clearly. I don't know what kind of danger, but I know two things. First, if he was going to hurt or kill me, he wouldn't have warned me of it. Second, if he's telling me I'm in danger, it's because he has some kind of inside information to share with me and doesn't actually want me to be hurt. He wants me to avoid it.

I think through my options, then write a quick two-word reply. "Thirty minutes." I send the message with a sigh and look at the time. Thirty minutes isn't too long to wait. I decide to spend the time in the washroom getting clean and trying to think about nothing at all. When I'm done, I dry myself off, throw my uniform back on, fix my hair, and strap on my weapon belt. Regardless of what he wants to talk about, I don't want to be defenseless. This won't be a repeat of last time.

It's only been about twenty minutes, but I'm tired of sitting here. I'll just wait for him outside. I throw on my coat and zip it up, then leave my room. Looking in both directions shows me no one standing out here, so I can assume that Simon and the Corporal are in the rooms (and possibly beds) of Kesn and Romara. I sigh again and turn to walk toward the main door of the building.

The residence hall is laid out really simply. There's a main door with a portal wall next to it and a desk where a manager sits during the day. From that lobby there's a hallway straight back to rooms, which includes mine. Each level above is laid out the same, with no extra hallways or turns in it. I can see everything from my room to the front door, and I know the only thing behind me is more rooms until I hit the far wall.

So, it's no surprise when I see the blue glow of the portal for a brief instant. I don't see anyone walk from that to the door, so I suppose it must have been someone going up. I continue slowly walking down the hallway, wondering what I'm going to say to Maeral when I see him. I don't think it's going to be anything nice. His information better be as urgent as he says.

The hallway is silent, so I definitely hear the sound at the end of the hallway. I know that sound, and it brings me to a complete stop. It's the sound of a crossbow being loaded. I don't see anyone in the hallway, but someone could be standing in the shadows behind the desk and out of my view. Just as I'm thinking that, I see a shadow in that area move slightly.

Without wasting another moment on thinking, I duck and spin to the side, slipping into the nearest alcove which holds a room door. Just as I do, I hear the telltale 'kachunk' sound as a crossbow trigger is pulled, followed by a clatter from farther down the hallway that must be where the bolt landed.

Dragons be damned! Is Maeral already here and trying to kill me?...no, if Maeral wanted me dead, he wouldn't use a weapon as clunky as a crossbow. And if he did, he wouldn't miss. Plus, he wouldn't have warned me about it in advance. Whoever this is, it's someone other than Maeral. It's also still almost ten minutes before Maeral's expecting to meet me outside, and the security guards on our team are otherwise occupied. I'm on my own right now.

As I stand silently in the alcove, I hear the crossbow being loaded again. I reach for my coat zipper and open it, freeing my weapons from their confinement. As I lay my hand on my spellshooter, I consider my options. There's an alcove at the doorway of every room in the hallway, and they're set up in a staggered way so I can move across the hall from one to another while advancing toward my attacker. That gives me cover at each space, as long as I'm quick enough to cross the hall before being shot.

As I steel myself to move forward, I'm reminded of the last training fight I had against Alayna. I remember being stuck behind cover in a situation just like this, and I failed fatally when I attacked from that position. She had every situation accounted for. I had no way to get past her. As I think about the layout of the hallway, I realize I'm in a similar situation here. I need a different approach.

I look down the hallway in the opposite direction and recognize that my room is only two doors down on this side. That's four times I have to cross the hall to get back to it. Whoever's shooting at me will keep shooting, but they likely won't advance on me while I'm still in the hallway and can have a clear shot at them. As long as I'm quick, I should be able to make it back to safety. I zip my coat back up to use as makeshift armor as well as to keep it from flapping when I move.

I stick my head out to take a look and hear the 'kachunk' again. I duck quickly, dropping below the fired shot, then launch myself into a run across the hallway to the next alcove. I'm sliding into it as I hear the crossbow being loaded again. So far, so good. I take a second to breathe, then look out again. There's no 'kachunk', telling me the assassin isn't going to fall for that same trick twice. I nod, then take off at a run across the hallway.

I hear the 'kachunk' as I'm running, then drop to my knees to slide across the floor. I hear the bolt fly past above my head and chalk that up as another victory. My slide ends just shy of the next alcove, so I quickly crawl the rest of the way to cover as I hear the assassin loading again.

Two more alcoves. I stick my head back out to look, and the fidgety assassin pulls the trigger again. I use the same trick I used the first time and drop to a crouch, pulling my head back in as the bolt ricochets against the wall. It hits near where my shoulders would have been had I been standing, then continues on to a skittering stop farther down the hallway. I run across to the next alcove before he can finish loading another one.

Last shot. They've got to be getting anxious now, having missed me so many times while aiming high. That last shot was lower, but still not low enough. The assassin's probably going to aim _really_ low this time, hoping to get me as I duck.

I wonder if I can use that to my advantage. I crouch behind the cover of the alcove and peek my head out. No shot, but I know they can see me looking from a much lower vantage point. I hope that's all they need to believe what I want them to. Standing again, I press my back against the door, take a deep breath, and go.

Instead of running right into the hallway, I push off of my right leg to gain a little height, then plant my left foot against the side of the alcove. Pushing off of that gives me more height, and I leave the alcove at a much higher point than a simple jump. I pull my knees up as soon as I'm in the air.

I hear the 'kachunk' of the crossbow and feel the whoosh of the bolt a couple centimeters below my feet. A half-second later, I land on my toes near the center of the hallway, dropping my shoulder so I roll into the alcove containing my room door.

I quickly get to my feet, tap the charm and say the code. The door pops open and I push it quickly to get inside, pushing it closed again behind me. I hear the door seal, then take a deep breath. I got away successfully. They didn't get me!

Just then, I have a thought. There's no way they knew I would be out in the hallway just then. The assassin was probably going to come into my room. If they were going to come into my room, they have the room code! Dragons be damned, I'm still not safe! I look around the room at my options and notice the window. Maeral used it to get Tishani in, so it must be a good way to get out!

I run over to the window and work the latch, pushing it open slightly. Some snow hits me as a cold blast of air enters my room, but I ignore it. Climbing and twisting, I push myself through the opening and drop to the snow on the other side. Kneeling in the snow, I quickly slink along the side of the building in the shadow beneath the other windows. When I've made it a couple rooms up, I dart out away from the building toward a large tree within a lot of shadow. Once I'm behind it, I pull my communicator. "Smonz Darkrender."

Simon's face appears after just a second. I don't wait for him to say anything. "Crossbow in the hallway. Warn the Corporal. Protect Kesn. I'm safe." He disconnects the call without a response. I know he knows what to do from here.

I glance back at my room, but I don't see anyone in my window or in the snow outside. The tree is a perfect vantage point from which to see anyone who might be coming after me from the outside, so I crouch behind it and wait quietly. No one comes out of the window in my room, and I don't see anyone round the corner by the entrance.

After a few minutes, I notice an aerialcraft land at the pad nearby. It's then that I remember that Maeral was on his way here to talk to me. He might be a target next! I take another look around and see no one, so I dart from the tree to the corner of the building closest to the front entrance. Once there, I slide up to the corner and peek around it. Sure enough, I see Maeral in a brown leather coat starting to walk from the landing area to the building, looking around for me.

He's about five meters away, but I need to warn him not to go inside. I move my feet in the snow, then realize my option. Bending down, I make a quick ball of snow in my hands, then launch it at Maeral's feet. It lands with a 'splat' a few centimeters from him, but absolutely close enough to get his attention. He drops to a crouch and looks in my direction. I wave him over, then duck back behind the corner.

I don't hear the sound of anyone approaching, and am just about to turn the corner again when he whirls around it and scares me. I jump backwards and flatten against the wall with a gasp of surprise, reaching for my dagger before I stop myself. When he sees me get defensive, he pulls a dagger of his own and takes a step back from me.

I quickly move my hand away from my belt and raise it with an open palm. "Sorry. Reflex. I'm being attacked by someone with a crossbow. I didn't want you to walk into it."

He shakes his head. "Damn it! I needed to get that information to you sooner! At least you weren't hurt! Are they still here?"

I shrug just as a shadow comes around the corner. Maeral already has a dagger out and is faster than I am, so I can only watch as he turns to the new threat and swings. Unfortunately, he's not as good as the goblin in front of him, and his dagger is knocked from his hands while a fist punches him in the chest.

As Maeral staggers back, I recognize the goblin and step in front of him. "Simon! Maeral's not the assassin! He was trying to warn me!"

Simon takes a step back and nods. "In that case, I didn't find him. I saw the bolts in the hallway, and I found where he was shooting from behind the desk, but I didn't find the attacker. Tell me what happened."

I give him the quick version of everything that happened while Maeral sorts himself out and comes back up to stand next to me. I finish by saying that Maeral landed and I called him over, and that's the last thing that happened before he found us.

Simon nods, but doesn't take his eyes off of Maeral. "How did you know?"

Maeral specifically turns away to walk over and pick up his dagger, wiping it off on his pants and sliding it into a sheath at his back before responding to Simon's question. "My contact sent a message asking me to extend our contract by killing Rylae. I declined, and informed them that our contract was settled. I received no additional communication, so I assumed that they found another assassin. That's when I messaged Rylae to give her a warning. I'm sorry it was late."

I look between Simon and Maeral for a second, then make a decision. "Right now, we're the only ones who know that this happened. Let's gather the evidence and keep it quiet. We know I wasn't a target the first time, but I'm absolutely a target now. Let's pretend nothing happened and see if we can get someone to slip up."

Simon nods while never taking his eyes off of Maeral. I look between the two of them and sigh. "Let's go back inside and talk. It's cold out here." As I say that, I look back at Maeral and my expression goes as cold as the wind. "We'll gather the Corporal and Romara and meet in Kesn's room. We're definitely not going to mine."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

We walk back in the residence hall through the front door, stopping briefly at the manager desk. Things have obviously been disturbed, with papers and other tools slightly in disarray. I wonder if the assassin might have been crouching on it. I motion for Simon to continue down the hallway as I stop to straighten the items on the desk. Maeral stands with me, watching from all directions. I take notice of his protection, but I decide not to comment on it.

Once the desk is more or less in order again, I take a quick look around the area before moving back down the hallway. I see Simon walking farther down, occasionally crouching to check something on the floor. I assume he's collecting the bolts, so I start looking at the walls near the door alcoves I was hiding in. There are a few gouges where the bolts hit, but there's nothing I can do to cover those up. I'm sure if no one brings up the assassination attempt those spots won't even be noticed.

As I'm checking the alcove by Romara's door, it opens and Corporal Lanthion steps out. My presence startles him, and he jumps back and reaches for a weapon before recognizing me. I hold up my hands to show I'm unarmed, then gesture for him to come out of the room. He steps out and surveys the hallway, stopping and staring angrily at Maeral. I wave my hand to get his attention, then shake my head once decisively.

He nods and steps back inside to get Romara. The blue-haired elf girl steps out wearing only a robe and walks as closely as she can behind the Corporal without tripping him up. They get to the next door down and knock. The door opens after a second, showing Kesn standing there in a similar robe. She ushers the two elves into the room, then looks outside and sees me standing next to Maeral. Her eyes get wide, but she doesn't say anything. She waves for us to come in, but I put my arm out to keep Maeral behind me and shake my head, deciding to wait until Simon's done.

While watching Simon, I notice the door to my room is slightly open. I know I pushed it closed when I went in, so I can easily assume that I was right and the assassin did have my door code. The fact that he went straight to my room, bypassing my friends, is not lost on me. I take a deep breath to slow down the rage building inside my chest.

Once my Master Sergeant has all of the bolts and surveys the hallway to his satisfaction, he returns to Kesn's door and waits while I walk inside, followed by Maeral. Simon sticks on Maeral's back like a tick, ready to strike if necessary.

When we're all inside, Kesn closes the door and walks over to wrap me in a hug. "Are you okay!? I heard what you said to Simon! What happened?"

I quickly relay the details of everything that happened, adding in details that I picked up after the fact, like my open door and the fact that no one came outside after me. When I add in that Simon didn't find anyone, we come to the realization as a group that the assassin must have gotten away.

As we decide that, though, I realize it doesn't make sense. The island we're on is small, with only this residence hall and some business-style buildings on it. There are no other residences, and no restaurants or shops that would attract any other folk. For the assassin to get away so easily, they would have had to leave the island. That would make sense, except I was watching and saw Maeral's aerialcraft land. I didn't see another vehicle leave. Whatever happened, the assassin's still here.

It's then that I remember the brief glow of the portal before the shooting started. Once I share that information, we decide that the assassin must have come from one of the upper levels, likely from one of the trade groups. That helps narrow down the possibilities and confirms that all of the assassinations have been masterminded by someone we already know.

As we realize this, I look around the room at everyone and shake my head slowly. First, the heads of both groups are assassinated. Then, they target me. Why? What do they hope to gain by killing us? What's the end game here?

I look over at Maeral and realize that his warning probably saved my life. If not for that, the assassin could have just walked in my room and put a crossbow bolt directly in my chest. I never would have seen it coming. The timing of the message followed by the attack was incredibly coincidental, but I'm willing to accept a little coincidence if it saved my life.

Then again, was it coincidence? Technically, I checked my messages as soon as I got back to my room, then went to the washroom to get cleaned up before going back out. I was only in my room for about twenty minutes after returning from dinner. That's a perfectly reasonable time for an assassin who's already in the building to realize we've returned and set up the attack. The only thing that was _really_ a coincidence was the fact that I interrupted the assassin by leaving my room when they weren't expecting me to.

I turn to Maeral and give him an honest smile. "Thank you. If not for your message, I would have never walked back outside and made the assassin change their plans. I would have been completely helpless in my room. You saved my life. I appreciate that."

He looks at me with his serious look, not smiling. "Good. I'm sorry for before. I doubt this makes up for it, but I hope it's at least a start."

I turn away without responding to that. He's right that it doesn't, but I don't want to start discussing that now. As I turn, I notice Kesn and Romara looking at me. Kesn knows everything that happened from when I explained it to the senior officers word-for-word. Romara only knows bits and pieces. Regardless, they both look at me with the same softened expression. They both believe what was just said and are telling me with their eyes that I should as well.

I decide to be a little more courteous about it and turn back to him. "It's a start. We'll have to talk later about what happened before. I'm not too happy about it, you understand."

As I say that, Simon steps from behind Maeral and turns on him from his side, standing very close. For his part, Maeral doesn't flinch or even acknowledge the additional threat from the goblin in any way. He continues to look at me, his expression never changing. "I understand. We can talk about it if you want to. I've already apologized, but I'll do so again. I'm sorry, Rylae. I was only doing my job. However..." His eyes seem to soften a bit. "Nothing I said was a lie."

I nod in acceptance of that and turn to the rest of the group. "Back to the topic at hand, I think we might need to start going back to the ship at night. We can no longer trust these accommodations."

Simon takes a step back from Maeral and looks around the room. His eyes stop on Kesn for a few seconds, then shift to Corporal Lanthion. The two guards appear to exchange ideas through their eyes before Simon turns back to look at me. "We should be okay for the rest of the night. I doubt the assassin will try again now that we know about him. He's going to wait to see what we do next. When we do nothing, but still decide to stop using these quarters, he's going to become agitated. We'll need a good reason for the change, if we're going to continue hiding the assassination attempt."

When he says that, my mind automatically puts the pieces together and I know exactly what the Corporal and Simon were eye-talking about. I feel a hint of embarrassment as I realize that both of the girls are in robes and my call to Simon must have been a serious interruption. But, it's not _my_ fault that an assassin tried to kill me while they were getting busy with getting busy!

I can still salvage the situation for the rest of them, though, as I quickly focus on the last point Simon said. "Agreed. We can all think about it separately and compare notes in the morning. We might even need to call Herion to get another idea that would get by his wife!" Everyone chuckles at that, so I nod and walk to the door, gesturing for Maeral to follow me.

Simon beats me there and opens the door, stepping out quickly to check the hallway. He signals that it's clear, and I walk out behind him with Maeral behind me. As I reach my room, I turn back to see the Corporal lead Romara from Kesn's room, heading back to theirs. She turns and gives me a wave and a slight smile, and I wait until they're safe in the room before I push the door open and walk into mine.

Maeral follows me in and I shut the door behind him. I pull off my coat and hang it back in my wardrobe, then slump in the chair by the terminal. As I do, I notice Maeral again out of the corner of my eye and suddenly realize that I just let him in my room again. Dragons be damned! Do I never learn anything!? I drop my face in my hands and let out a small sigh.

When I lift my head again and open my eyes, Maeral has moved from the doorway to sit on my bed facing me. That man sure does move quietly! He's now awfully close to me again, his knees only a few centimeters away from touching mine. The proximity makes me uncomfortable and I shift my legs to the side just so they're farther away.

He watches my movement, then specifically shifts in the opposite direction to put even more space between us. After he does, he reaches behind his back to pull a dagger from his sheath and uses the point to dig under his fingernails.

I take some solace in the fact that he's as uncomfortable about this as I am, but not much. After all, I didn't manipulate _him_ into bed by saying hurtful things! Thinking about it makes my temperature rise, and I decide to just go ahead and get it out of the way. "Saying you were only doing your job makes you as bad as Saeralyn."

He freezes, every movement of his body stopping as my words hit home. He sits unmoving for a few seconds, then slowly moves the dagger back to the sheath behind him. He looks at the wall to the side of the room as he responds. "You're right. I never thought of it that way, but you're right. There is one important difference, though. You should have been at the top of Saeralyn's priority list. Unfortunately, on mine you're at a distant third behind the job and Tishani. I'd be interested in changing that, but right now it is what it is."

I sigh deeply as his return point hits me back hard. "I'll grant you that, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. When I woke up, I remembered everything you said. You specifically used knowledge of my issue with Alayna to hit me deep with comments about Saeralyn. You took advantage of my pain."

He nods, still not looking at me. "I did, and that's what I've been apologizing for. You were the only elf on this entire world that could have caused me problems if you ended up in my way. If that had happened, I would have had to stop you with a much more permanent solution. I talked about that with Tishani that night after we had dinner. She didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't either. So we came up with the plan together to do what I did."

He finally turns to me, looking at me with his light green eyes. "It was the only solution that accomplished everything we needed to do, but that doesn't mean it was entirely fair to you. It was _meant_ to be hurtful and manipulative. Everything I said was true, but I did specifically say the words in the right order to hurt you with them. I'm very sorry for that."

Looking into his eyes, I can see the honesty in them just as I saw the night we were together. I can tell he's not lying, and that he is sincerely apologizing to me again. I also realize that looking in his eyes isn't helping me focus at all, so I turn to look away again. "So you keep saying. I appreciate your honesty, so I'll be honest as well. I recognize your apology, but I'm not sure I can accept it yet. I'm sorry."

"That's fine. I can understand that. I had hoped that warning you of an assassination attempt would help you get over the pain I caused, but I can see it hasn't. I'm disappointed, but I know it's my fault to begin with. I'm sorry, and I should probably go now."

I don't hear him move, but I can feel him getting further away. "Wait." I say the word before I realize it, and I stop to think for a second about why I would have said it. Slowly, the words form in my mind. "You're right. You did warn me, and your warning saved my life. I have to factor that into everything and come up with new feelings about it, but I haven't had the time yet."

I turn to find him and see him standing by the door, just about ready to walk out of it. He isn't moving and doesn't turn back to face me. After a second, I hear his voice. "I can understand that. I suppose I was a little too hopeful that it might have a more immediate impact. However, I can see why it didn't. I really hurt you badly to get you in here the first time, didn't I?"

I nod, even though I know he can't see me. "Yes, you did."

I notice his shoulders sag beneath his leather coat. "I'm sorry. Maybe, if I hadn't been on a contract, things would have happened differently with us. All those years of listening to Saeralyn talk about you made me want to meet you. When I finally did, we were working and you seemed happy with her. Then when she tossed you away, it was too late for me to try to catch you. When I saw you again at the restaurant, I thought I had a chance..." His voice trails off as it takes on a sad tone.

I pick up where he left off. "But your contract got in the way."

His head moves in a nod. "Yeah. The contracts always seem to get in the way. Maybe I should quit and take Tishani somewhere. We have enough money to do whatever we want. I've just been doing this for so long, and I'm _good_ at it! But, if it's the thing that destroyed my chances with the only truly awesome girl I've met in the universe, then maybe it's not as good for me as I am for it."

I hear his words, and they soften some of the edges of the pain he caused, but it's going to take a lot more time to really fix it. I shake my head slowly and try putting a smile on my face. He still can't see it, but maybe pretending to be happier will help make my words come out less harsh. "Maybe that's something you need to think about. I'll think about all of this later, when I don't have assassins shooting crossbows at me. It's the best I can offer right now."

He shrugs, still not looking at me. "It's probably better than I deserve. I'm going to stand guard outside of your room for a few hours, then head back to Sis. We'll still be on-world for a few weeks, waiting for the next message ship to arrive. I'll try to keep my ears open for any more information."

He reaches for the door and opens it, stepping outside. As he pulls it shut, I offer a soft thanks. I'm not sure if he heard it, but I needed to say it. He does deserve it now, even though he didn't a few days ago.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

As I walk into the meeting room, it's difficult to remember that I'm supposed to be pretending that everything's fine. I look around the room at the elves and dwarves already gathered here and wonder if one of them was the one trying to kill me last night. I try to look at each of their faces, seeing if they have any kind of reaction to my entry into the room. I scan their hands to make sure none of them have any weapons on them.

I bounce with a start as a hand touches my left arm, and I turn to see Lada standing next to me. "You don't look very good this morning, Commander. Come over here and let me take a good look at you."

She leads me over to a corner farther from the door and anyone coming through it, then guides me into a chair so I'm facing away from the room. She stands in front of me with a serious look and talks in a low voice. "Simon updated me on the incident last night. I asked Gimmir to start going through the records of everyone in both groups of soldiers out by the ship to see how many of 'em are well-trained with crossbows. He's also setting up a watch to make sure none of 'em leave the docking area without us knowing."

I nod. "Thanks, Lada. Glad to know you're on top of these things. What about anyone who's here?"

She smiles. It's a dangerous smile, with not much friendliness in it at all. I wonder if she learned that from Sen. "I went through all their records myself this morning. Found a couple potentials. Two of the elves are weapons-trained. One of 'em sits on the right of that Glitterbreeze idiot, name's Frostcaster. The other is the junior assistant that sits on the end farthest from you, name's Emberleap."

I nod as I take note of her research, and she keeps going. "Three of 'em are dwarves; the main three, in fact. Ironsmasher, Battlebeard and Keybreaker. All three of 'em spent time as soldiers before moving into politics."

I turn to look over my shoulder, but Lada's hand drops on it and won't let me turn. "I'm keeping an eye on 'em, girl. Don't worry. But, considering the trouble they went through to try to get ya in secret last night, I don't think they're gonna try anything in the meeting."

She has a point there, so I smile as I accept it. "Thanks, Lada. It's comforting to know you have my back."

I get a hearty slap on the shoulder as she smiles. "Of course I do! Even if ya weren't my boss, I'd still keep an eye out for ya! Cap would have my head if anything happened to ya!"

I laugh as I stand and grab her shoulder with a squeeze. "As long as you're doing it for Cap and not because you're getting all girly on me again!" I get punched in the arm for that one, but I totally deserved it and we both laugh for a second before I walk away.

When I get to the table, I see Glitterbreeze and Ironsmasher walk in together, chatting over a couple mugs which seem to have steam rising off of them. I'm just about to stand and ask what they have when a large cart is wheeled in behind them, carrying two large iron pots and a few dozen mugs.

Before anyone can say anything, Glitterbreeze smiles and raises his mug. "Since we didn't get to have a meal together last night like I had planned, and most of us were up late working on Commander Westiel's proposal, I thought I'd do something nice for us this morning. One pot is full of hot cider, and the other is full of hot Andriennein blue-leaf tea. A cart of pastries should be coming any... oh, there it is now! Please, help yourselves!"

While he's talking, a large cart with three shelves of freshly-baked pastries rolls in behind the cart of drinks. Glitterbreeze may be an oily slimeball politician, but I guess that does work out in our favor when he's going out of the way to make us all happy. I decide there's no way _all_ of the food and drink could be poisoned, so I walk over to take a mug of cider and two cheese pastries.

As I walk back to the table with the food, I realize I eat a lot more off-ship than I do on-ship. Maybe something on the ship ruins my appetite. Something like work, perhaps? I chuckle as I think that, then another thought pops into my head. Between eating like this at meetings and not having any real work to kill his appetite, it's no wonder Cap's getting so round in his older age!

That last thought gets me laughing pretty hard, and it draws a lot of attention from the trade groups. I take a deep breath to stop myself, then stuff some of the cheese pastry in my mouth. I'm lost in how good it is when I hear a voice beside me. "Thinking about the extra work you made us do, Commander?"

My eyebrows raise as I turn to see Ironsmasher standing next to me, along with Glitterbreeze. Ironsmasher has a smug look on his face from the comment. I finish chewing my pastry and swallow. If he wants to play with me today, then that's his loss. "I was, Mr. Ironsmasher. I figure it must have been the most work any of you politician types have done in years. I figure your hands must be tired from all the writing you're not used to doing."

Glitterbreeze chuckles. "Actually, I think Brog said he was shooting at you with a crossbow all night!"

I can't stop my eyes from getting wide at that comment, and I look at the two of them in shock. A second passes, then Ironsmasher laughs. "Only metaphorically, Commander. I wrote your name on a sheet of parchment and stuck it on the wall. Whenever I became frustrated at the task, I threw something at it and made a crossbow sound. It made the process a little more satisfying."

Of all the stupid...! Okay, calm down, Rylae. It was a joke. You're supposed to laugh, remember? You're hiding the whole 'crossbow' thing! I sigh at myself inwardly, then laugh right along with the dwarf trade leader as the elf trade leader joins in. After a second, I stop and smile. "In that case, I hope you at least hit me a few times! Would be a shame if you went through all that trouble and did nothing but miss!"

Glitterbreeze laughs, slapping Ironsmasher on the shoulder. Ironsmasher's eyes seem to go wide for a second, but the slap from Glitterbreeze causes him to break into laughter as well. "I'll never say, Commander. A dwarf has to have his pride, after all." With a wink, he breaks off to walk back to his trade group, and Glitterbreeze excuses himself to join his elves.

I go back to my mug of cider and drink half of it down quickly, burning my tongue a little bit but not caring. That whole conversation set me on edge through one stupid joke that happened to coincidentally line up with what actually happened last night. I need to settle myself down so we can have this meeting.

Thankfully, Kesn walks over and takes her seat at that moment and sets her mug down hard. The sound draws everyone's attention and she smiles. "Good morning, everyone. Since Glitterbreeze and the Andriennein delegation was kind enough to provide drinks and pastries this morning, I think we can afford to take time to enjoy them before we begin the meeting today. We'll start in ten minutes."

A murmur of agreement circles the room, and Kesn turns to me, taking a sip of her drink. She's still smiling, and I have a feeling I know why. I finish chewing the pastry in my mouth and take a drink to wash it down, then grin at her. "So, I'm guessing things went well last night after I left your room?"

Her smile gets a little wider and she leans in to speak lower. "I'll say this. You may have had trouble with yours, but mine didn't have to take time to reload!" She finishes with a wink, and I can't stop a loud laugh from escaping me.

Just then, Romara walks up and takes her seat. I look over at her for a smile, but I don't see one. Kesn notices my look and turns to see for herself. I sense a problem, so I move my chair closer. "Hey, Romara. What's up? You okay?"

She looks up at me, startled. "Commander? Um..." Her reply stops, then she shakes her head and puts an obviously fake smile on her face. "Of course, Commander!"

I sigh and set my hand on her shoulder. "Really?"

Realizing I saw through her, she drops the fake smile and sighs. "I'm fine. Just didn't have a great night after everything happened. I was a little scared, but Nremyn was being a total ass about it. That elf is definitely not good long-term material."

I reach over and give her a hug. "Don't let him bother you, Romara. Just have some fun and let it go. You've got plenty of options and plenty of years to worry about 'long-term material'."

She tenses up for a second, then relaxes and hugs back. When I pull back, I can see a small honest smile on her face. "Thanks, Commander. I'm glad I changed ships to end up with you."

At that, I realize that she tensed up because she's a Cadet and just got a comforting hug from her ship's Commander. The poor girl didn't know how to process it for a few seconds! I give her a smile and a wink. "I'm glad too."

I hear a sigh to my side and turn to see Kesn looking at the two of us. "Will you two be finished with all the sappy stuff before I start the meeting? You have like two more minutes."

I laugh as I decide to give her one good jab in return. "Are you telling me two minutes is all it takes to finish? The way you were talking earlier, I'd have thought it would have lasted longer than that."

Her eyes go wide, then all three of us break into laughter. I move my chair back to my spot and settle back in to finish my last bit of pastry before Kesn starts the meeting.

At her decided time, Kesn stands again and the room goes quiet. As soon as it does, she sits back down with a smile. "Now that we've all had some nice snacks, we should get started. I don't figure we'll spend too much time working today, since I know most of us didn't get much sleep last night."

I only barely hold back a giggle fit when she says that. I look past Kesn to Romara, busy writing the meeting notes. I can tell when she writes what Kesn just said about sleep, because her pen falls from her hand and I can see her having to hold back laughter as well. After a second, she picks her pen back up and carries on like nothing happened.

For her part, Kesn doesn't acknowledge either of us as she continues. "Mr. Glitterbreeze. Mr. Ironsmasher. Did either of your teams have any problem with the Commander's suggested changes to your analysis?"

Glitterbreeze smiles and shakes his head, but Ironsmasher is the one to speak. "Not at all, Ambassador. It was an interesting exercise that helped us recognize faults in our own analysis, as well as the Andriennein analysis."

I smile as I move my mug and brush pastry crumbs off of the table, then log into my terminal. "Excellent to hear that. In that case, let's start filling in these Engineering reports and see what we come up with!"

««»»

"And that, Commander, should finish off the landcraft analysis."

The Hallowforge delegates obviously did the analysis reconfigurations I asked them to. Filling in the landcraft analysis took two hours, but we have it. Now that I can see it in a form that makes sense to me, I can completely comprehend every number that's here! Who knew that all I had to do was shift the numbers around?

As I look over the completed report, I hear Glitterbreeze start to speak. "Excellent work, Hallowforge friends. Commander Westiel, now that we've completed the Hallowforge analysis, I'd like to complete the same analysis again with the numbers Andriennein has determined to be correct. I believe this will be an excellent starting point in our discussions for whose numbers should be going into the trade agreement."

I can't deny that he has a point. I save the Engineering report and open a new blank one. "In that case, Mr. Glitterbreeze, would you like to start?"

««»»

Three more hours later, the Andriennein version is done, and that's when the arguments start again.

"That's total crap! Do you even have any idea how much it costs to run a manufacturing plant?"

"From what we've seen, it can't cost nearly as much as you've padded your numbers to make it seem. Based on these numbers, your workers must be making _six times_ the average pay!"

"I still don't see how you think the mana in a landcraft can be worth that much!"

"Harvesting mana is difficult work done by professionals. Screwing wheels onto a landcraft is easy work done by simple folk!"

Kesn and I sit back and let them argue for a bit while we look at the two versions of the analysis next to each other. It would be different if only _some_ of the numbers didn't match, but it seems more like _all_ of the numbers are different! Hallowforge and Andriennein have _entirely_ different ideas on what costs go into building a landcraft, and this is only _one_ of the products!

I lean closer to the beautiful goblin woman and speak softly to her as I run my hand through my hair. "Well, Ambassador. We're back in your realm again. I understand all the numbers now, but I don't understand why they're so different between the reports. Any insight from that pretty little green head of yours?"

She nods slowly, her black curls bouncing against her forehead. "A little. It looks like you didn't completely break the whole foundation of politics after all. You just moved it deeper into the numbers. A lot of these differences are going to be things like hidden monies that they don't want to talk about in front of the other group. If we're going to continue looking at this your way, we're going to have to get them to come out in the light with some things, and they're not going to like that."

I sigh with resignation at her words, right as I hear the arguing between the two groups get louder. I shake my head and bang the table with my hand to shut them up. "Okay, everyone. This was a good start, but it's become obvious that the lack of sleep is starting to win out in the meeting. I suggest we end it here and start again tomorrow morning when we're all well-rested again."

There's a low murmur of agreement around the room, mostly covered by the movement of chairs as everyone gets up to leave. When both groups are gone, I turn to Kesn and Romara. "I think we have two things to do now. First, we pack our rooms and head back to the ship. Second, we see if we can come up with a way to find these hidden monies or this trade agreement is never going to be finished."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

There's just not enough room in here!

Kesn's office on-ship is normally large enough to hold a meeting of eight folk, plus her desk in the corner and extra space to move around. Only the three of us – me, Kesn and Romara – are currently in the room, but there's nowhere to move. Every part of the floor is covered, with barely enough space to squeeze in and out of our seats.

First we covered the table and desk with paperwork. Then we brought in two additional tables and covered those. When we realized we needed another terminal as well, since we covered the table with paperwork already, we brought in another small desk with a terminal in it and set it up sideways against the wall. We can't move, and we keep losing documents in the piles, but at least we're actually getting somewhere – albeit slowly.

The years of experience Kesn brings to the table allows her to more easily understand the language of the trade documents. She can explain how each segment describes the details of the agreement, as well as how and where each additional detail document comes into the mix. All of the things I was stuck on when I tried to do this myself, she's able to navigate through with relative ease.

Romara's detailed notes show a wonderful grasp of the meeting conversations, and she's able to relate things that have already been said to their proper places in the agreement documents. Once she's rewritten her notes on the analysis in a way that better matches what we did with the Engineering reports, we're able to relate to all of that as well. She's incredibly organized and highly valuable in helping us organize the documents properly, once she knows what we're looking for.

The change in the analysis has given me a good starting point for comparing the numbers to the previous agreements and I've started to pull out some details that match up. Running the new analysis against the old agreement's analysis isn't very difficult, but finding all the right numbers to compare is a bit of a chore. It's not that different from what I've done every day for the last nine years as an XO, though, so I dig through it and tear it apart as best I can.

Unfortunately, after eight hours of trying to figure it out, we still don't feel like we've gotten anywhere. It's now the middle of the night, and we're all exhausted. I set my pen down and push the papers away from myself with a sigh.

"Hey! Stop that!" Kesn's voice yells at me from a seat at the table across from mine.

I look up to see that, while I've successfully pushed the papers away from myself, I've caused a small pile-up in the papers in front of her. "Oops. Sorry! Wasn't thinking. I don't think I'm entirely _capable_ of thinking anymore today. Then again, that's _also_ thinking, so I'm not really sure."

The goblin woman straightens out the papers in front of her, then looks up at me. "You're right. We've been at this for hours, and we haven't succeeded at much. We might as well stop for now and pick back up tomorrow when we're rested."

Romara looks up from her place at the desk in the corner. "Ambassador? I don't mind working here for a little longer. After all, I'm not completely sure I can get out of the room."

We look around and realize that the tables have all been pushed up against the desk in a way that has completely blocked Romara's chances of escape. I laugh as I offer a suggestion. "You could always go _under_ the tables!"

The much younger elf chuckles, then smiles and nods her head. Quick as a flash, she drops under the tables and disappears. A handful of seconds later, her blue-haired head pops out by Kesn's side. I laugh again as I look at Kesn. "Now that our yeoman is freed, what's our plan for sorting this out?"

She shrugs. "We're getting there, it's just going to take some time. I think we just need to keep pounding at it until we get it. The way the meeting is going, we're not going to have an agreement any time soon anyway. I think our initial two-week estimate has expanded a bit."

With a sigh, I lean back in my chair. "Well, we did lose a week to the assassinations. That certainly didn't help any."

Kesn's about to respond when the door chimes behind me. She tells whoever it is to enter, and I turn in my chair to see the door fade out and show Tanna standing there. She straightens her shoulders and looks over all three of us. "I'm about to go to bed, but you three have been in here for hours. It's my duty as XO to tell all of you to get something to eat and go to bed. That's an order!"

The three of us in the room look at each other, then break out into laughter. I stand and salute. "Yes, ma'am!" Kesn and Romara follow suit, and we all stand there holding a salute for a few seconds, until Tanna relents and salutes back.

As she does, she looks around the room at the papers. "What exactly are you doing in here anyway? Lada told me you were coming back to the ship to avoid more assassins, but what's with all the papers and that Engineering report on the terminal?"

I shake my head. "Politics is a pain in the ass. These two groups are never going to agree to new terms if they can't even agree to the numbers behind the agreement, so we're trying to figure out what they're all trying to hide. If we can bring some of it out in the open, it should move things along faster."

Tanna looks at me, then Kesn, then the papers again. "So you're doing math? I might be able to help with that. I have a currently-not-my-boyfriend who's driving me up the wall right now. He has nothing to do and is frustrated that I won't spend time with him. He also happens to be really good at math. Do you want me to have him take a look at it?"

I look around at the mess in the room. "Aelon? Really? Can he even _understand_ some of this stuff?"

Kesn seems to think about it, then shrugs. "He can't really understand it any less than we do!"

Tanna and I look at each other and share a laugh at her comment. Tanna's the first one to respond. "You're completely overestimating Aelon's ability to understand things! I'm sure he can help with the math, but he probably won't have any real idea of what you're trying to do with the numbers!"

As we finish laughing, I look over to see Romara with a thoughtful look on her face. "What's on your mind, Cadet?"

The young elf looks at the three of us and shrugs. "Nothing really, Commander. I was just thinking that having some fresh eyes looking at the data would actually be really useful. We're doing what we can, but the more we look at it, the less we actually see. Maybe you can have Commander Aldamiel's boyfriend and a few other officers take a look at everything while we're in the meeting tomorrow. They might see things we're missing."

I share a three-way look with Tanna and Kesn, and all three of us smile. Tanna turns to Romara and nods. "Excellent idea, Cadet! I can get Aelon and Tofi in here tomorrow. I can join them for a bit, too! Then you'll have three smart officers looking over the data." She stops and chuckles. "Well, two smart officers and Aelon."

I nod in agreement. "I agree. If you and Tofi can keep Aelon in check, maybe the group of you can find some of the things we're not able to see. Since you don't really know what you're looking for, you're less likely to look past it." I turn to look and see the smile grow on Romara's face.

Kesn stands up and stretches. "Agreed. I can trust you to keep the data confidential. That'll give us a chance to keep the meetings in check while still making progress on the data. Thank you, Tanna. And thank you, Romara, for coming up with the idea. Well done."

Cadet Tinuviel's face goes slightly red at the praise, and she snaps into a salute before rushing past Tanna and out of the room. I watch her go and can't help but chuckle. She does so well most of the time, but occasionally seems to suddenly remember who she's talking to and freaks out a little. Tanna and I were never that skittish as cadets, but our parents are all highly respected elves and we're used to running in those circles. Romara's entirely new to it, and I can completely understand. It's still a bit funny, though!

I stand and watch as Kesn finishes weaving her way through the tables to get to my side, and closer to the door beyond me. "Since we've lost our yeoman, I think bed is a good idea. After all, we have to deal with Glitterbreeze again tomorrow."

Kesn sighs so loudly at my remark that we all have to laugh. It's a much sadder version of laughter than earlier, though. Much, much sadder.

««»»

We spend the next meeting day creating more Engineering report versions of the analysis. This time, we actually started from a mana battery – specifically, one that would be shipped from Andriennein to Hallowforge – and begin filling in the details of how that mana is used during manufacturing. This report isn't quite as clean as the previous ones, and it actually takes us multiple battery reports to get all of the details sorted out.

After seven straight hours of report creation, however, we manage to hit a breakthrough in the meeting. For the first time, both sides are in total agreement of the details! At multiple points throughout the day, there were corrections from one side or the other as to the actual numbers, but there was never more than a slight disagreement before an error was recognized. Once the errors were sorted out, both the elves and the dwarves seemed to agree on every single number.

I finalize the reports and save them with a loud sigh of relief. "That process sure went a lot easier than the one yesterday! I'm glad to see that it actually _is_ possible for all of us to work together!"

At that, Glitterbreeze smiles. "Of course, Commander! Both of our groups are determined to reach a successful outcome to these proceedings. Only through our shared desires can we achieve the goals we have set in front of us. As such, it is no surprise to me that we have been able to successfully complete these analyses and reach a consensus of agreement of their details."

Ironsmasher smiles as well, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I think what Kelethyl is trying to say is that the standards for the amount of mana to put in a small tech battery are rather finite, unlike the amount of credits Andriennein chooses to charge us for them. Therefore, agreement was inevitable."

Glitterbreeze's smile gets icy. "Indeed, Brog. If only the Hallowforge manufacturing costs were as finite and easily quantifiable as mana usage, I'm sure things would be going much smoother overall."

I'm a bit shocked at that comment coming from the normally-controlled Kelethyl Glitterbreeze, but I shrug it off as I clear my throat. "It was all going so well, too. Let's table this argument for a bit and just relish the happiness of a completed analysis, shall we?"

At that second, Kesn stands, obviously to take advantage of my comment. "I agree. Let's take a break for a bit and share in the comradery of a successful agreement, however small it may currently be. We'll start again in fifteen minutes."

The groups split and start walking around as Kesn sits back down with a sigh. We look at each other with a smile and a nod, each of us grateful to the other one for the comments which combined so well to avoid the start of a new argument. I decide to take the opportunity to call Tanna and see how things are going on-ship. I pull my communicator and tap the charm. "Tanna Aldamiel."

After a few seconds, Tanna's disembodied head appears. "Hey, boss. What's up?"

"Taking a break from the meeting. Thought I'd check and see how things are going with the project you're helping us with."

A smile crosses Tanna's face. "Going a lot better than expected, actually! Tofi and I are able to figure out a lot of what the agreements are saying, and Aelon's already picked up on a lot of inconsistencies in the math! I think we'll have quite a few things to show you when you get back to the ship tonight!"

I see Kesn nod her head at my side as I smile. "Great to hear. Thanks for working on it. We'll talk more later on." I cut the call and turn to my Ambassador. "Romara might deserve another dinner on us! Having our on-ship team look things over seems to have been the right thing to do!"

An oily voice from the Andriennein side of the table that I recognize all too well distracts me. "Excuse me, Commander, but did I hear correctly that you're returning to your ship tonight?"

Dragons be damned. We never did bother to tell anyone in the groups that we were leaving the residence hall. It seemed like a better idea to just pretend nothing had changed and assume no one except the assassin would notice, but now I've screwed up and let the secret out. That means I need a really good reason really quickly, and I set my mind to high-speed as I try to figure it out.

I see Kesn turn to the voice and respond. "Indeed, Mr. Glitterbreeze. As I'm sure you're aware, Commander Westiel is currently the commanding officer of her ship, and is occasionally required to return for ship-related duties."

Thank you, Kesn! That gives me the perfect beginning to work from! I turn to Glitterbreeze with a smile. "Yes. Unfortunately, we're having problems with our Engineering department at the moment, and it requires a heavy hand to resolve. I'll definitely make sure our team is on-time for the meeting tomorrow."

He nods and smiles at me, then turns back to his team. I turn to Kesn and smile, silently thanking her for the assistance. As I do, I notice Ironsmasher looking at our group, along with his two senior assistants, Battlebeard and Keybreaker. They turn away quickly, and I can't help but wonder about it. They obviously overheard everything that was just said about going back to the ship, but were they just looking out of passive interest from overhearing the conversation? Or were they looking because they're behind the assassination attempt and now know that I'm not staying in the residence hall?

I sigh and slump back in my chair. I think I'm just being overly suspicious at this point. I need to stop looking at every coincidence and seeing an assassin behind it.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When the door to Kesn's office fades out, we're greeted to the sight of Tanna Aldamiel, Aelon Onoviel and Tofi Pikeforge moving around the round table in Kesn's office. As they sit, Tofi looks at Aelon with a grin. "That's better. Feel free to get back to what you were doing, LC Onoviel!"

Aelon sits with a sputter and doesn't respond, which causes the two Engineering women to laugh. When they see us, Tofi stands with a quick salute, but quickly sits back down when she sees the other two stay in their seats and half-salute. I throw them a half-salute in response and look them over. "So, what exactly was Aelon doing this time?"

The dwarf woman giggles. "He couldn't keep his hands off of the Commander when they were sitting next to each other, so we switched. He can _absolutely_ put his hands on me if he can't keep them to himself, though." With a lecherous grin, she puts her hand up on the table and slides it over onto Aelon's. He jerks his hand back like he was bitten and quickly puts it in his lap. That only makes Tanna and Tofi laugh harder.

I chuckle softly as I take a seat across from them, along with Kesn and Romara. After spending the whole day with those politicians, coming back to my team is a breath of fresh air. I scan their faces for a second, then look around the room in shock as I realize something. All the other tables that were in here are gone! They've completely cleaned Kesn's office and put it back to the way it was before yesterday when we had paperwork everywhere!

I hear Tanna speak as I'm looking around. "I see you noticed! We didn't need all the papers all over the place, so we put everything back in order. Hope you don't mind!"

Snapping my head back around to her, she's grinning at me like a mischievous child. Every time I've seen that grin, I've ended up in some kind of trouble – the VA's landscooter during Academy, that time with the six potential boyfriends at the Academy bar, almost every time she's hidden her brother's visit from me so I would knock him on the ground when he startles me – so I'm immediately on guard to whatever she says next.

Fortunately, Kesn's the next one to speak. "Thank you. It really was a mess in here, but if you three were able to make a better working environment without the mess, then it's better for all of us."

Tanna laughs, wads up a piece of parchment and throws it at Kesn, hitting her in the chest. "Hey, Kesn! You're still stuck in Ambassador mode! Where's the fun goblin girl I know is in there?"

I watch as she blinks a few times, then visibly relaxes with a sigh. "Sorry. Those two groups are ridiculous. Some days I feel like I'm babysitting goblin children at the Palace! It's hard to relax when everything is so messed up."

Tanna and Tofi look at each other with a smile, but before either of them can talk, Aelon pipes in. "Well, with numbers like these it's no surprise everything is messed up! It took the skill of yours truly," he says as he points to himself with a big smile, "and my lovely assistants," with a flourish of his hand that's obviously meant to include Tanna and Tofi, "to figure out what these losers are trying to hide!"

That immediately gets my attention. "Really, Aelon? What exactly are they trying to hide?"

Aelon continues smiling smugly. "Other numbers, of course!"

I can't stop myself from dropping my head into the palm of my hand with a loud smack. I should have known better than to expect anything more than that, and yet I totally fell for it. It's my own fault, and I need to accept that. Maybe I'm as befuddled as Kesn is by the political nightmare we're dealing with.

Tofi's voice comes to me clearly as I lift my head. "Why don't you show the Commander where exactly those numbers are being hidden, Your Greatness."

The obvious sarcasm in her voice is totally lost on Aelon, who gladly opens a report on the table's terminal and shows us the numbers. "Well, the Andriennein numbers are over-inflated here, here, here and here." He points to each number on his report as he mentions it. "And the Hallowforge numbers are over-inflated here, here, here, here and here." He points out more numbers on the elf side.

I look at the numbers, but I'm still lost. However, I know it's impossible to get anything more out of Aelon than this, so I carefully phrase my response. "Thank you, LC. I can see you definitely found the errors. So, can either of your 'assistants' tell me what those numbers are hiding?"

Tofi hides a grin behind her hand while Tanna huffs loudly and rolls her eyes at me. My best friend glares at me as she flicks her brown hair back from where it was sitting on her shoulder. "Well, _Commander_ ," the contempt in her voice is thick, and I grin back at her while just barely holding in a laugh at her expense, "we were able to track down some of the paragraphs in the documents which referred to them, and Tofi thinks it's as simple as ways which the groups have cheated money for themselves out of the agreements."

I look over to Kesn, and she nods in understanding. "Yeah, that's common politics. Hiding monies for pet projects, or just to augment your own salary. What exactly did you find?"

Tofi reaches into her lap and retrieves a scroll, which she unrolls across the table. I recognize it as the previous trade agreement. She points to a segment about halfway down. "This section corresponds to a couple of those numbers. There's a lot of double-speak and hidden language in it, but it basically says that these monies are for the benefit of the Andriennein trade delegation to 'manage trade and blah blah blah'. In short, it's money going straight from the percentage of the trade sale to the Andriennein Trade Delegation."

I hear Romara's voice stutter from the end of the table. "Ex-excuse me, Commanders, b-but I think I have something about that." She flips through her notebook, stopping on a page. "The numbers you're talking about are in the same section where Andriennein was complaining about Hallowforge 'manufacturing costs'."

That makes sense then. I turn to her with a smile. "Thanks, Romara. So, I guess what they were really arguing about wasn't manufacturing costs, but instead was Hallowforge trying to modify the numbers enough to shrink the percentage of money going to the Andriennein trade delegates."

Tanna smiles and points out another section farther down. "There's more sections like that, both for Andriennein and for Hallowforge. But this one, specifically, delegates monies to the _leaders_ of those delegations." She looks up with a serious expression. "So, directly to Sharya Watertracker and Gorgan Gemcrusher. Those were also the two largest percentages."

Now I understand even more. "That definitely sounds like motive for assassination to me." I turn to Kesn. "Anything that was previously going to Watertracker and Gemcrusher would now be going to Glitterbreeze and Ironsmasher, right?"

Kesn nods firmly. "Absolutely. No politician would specifically name themselves in an agreement, specifically so it's ambiguous and easy to hide. That ambiguity also allows the transference to anyone with that title, and those two are now the leaders of the trade delegations."

I turn back to Aelon. "I can see you already have a report created that shows the differences in the numbers. Thank you for that, LC. Does it, by chance, also explain which numbers are going to which members of the trade delegations?"

Aelon smiles and looks ready to respond, then stops and looks down at his terminal. He scans over the numbers for a bit, then stops and looks up at Tanna. "Hey, babe. Does this have the things Rylae just asked for?"

From the corner of my vision, I see two different reactions from my side of the table. Kesn's trying hard to hold back a laugh, her whole body shaking slightly with the effort. Beyond her, Romara's staring at Aelon with her mouth wide open, as if she's unable to comprehend something. I'm not sure whether she's having trouble with Aelon's stupidity or how he called me by my name (and his temporary XO by "babe"), but either way she's silently stunned.

I glance over at Tanna who just rolls her eyes again before looking back at me. "Yeah, those notes are in there. I'll have Aelon send it to you, if he can figure out how to send messages without my help."

Tofi laughs loudly at that comment, but Aelon doesn't seem to be pleased at all. "I can send messages! Why do you have to be so mean to me?"

I'm just about to say something when my communicator and Tanna's beep at the same time. I pull mine out and push the charm to see Lada's face. "Commander. We have a problem. Where are you right now?"

As I'm hearing this, I notice Tanna is now talking to Gimmir over her communicator. Whatever is going on can't be very good. I turn to Lada's head. "I'm in Kesn's office. Do you need me somewhere?"

Lada's head shakes side to side. "Negative, Commander. You stay there. I'll bring these two up to you."

These two? "Okay. I'll wait here." As soon as I say that, her head disappears. Tanna's still talking to Gimmir, so I focus in on that.

"They're fighting each other? How serious is it?" Tanna's voice is high-pitched, and sounds a little worried.

"I'm not sure. Might be a small skirmish or might be an all-out war. My platoons are circled around 'em, but they're not fightin' us. Seem to be focused on each other."

Tanna sees me watching her and waves me over. "Major, Commander Westiel's with me. I'd prefer if she could take the lead on this one, if you don't mind."

I get up and walk around the table to crouch beside her. "Take the lead on what?"

Gimmir can't see my face, but he can hear my voice, so he nods. "Rylae, the Hallowforge soldiers just started attackin' the Andriennein soldiers. Not sure if it's somethin' serious or not, and I'm not sure if we should intervene or leave 'em to sort themselves out."

The soldiers are fighting? That doesn't make any sense, but I guess the best thing to do is end it before someone gets hurt. "Go ahead and intervene. Get the two groups sorted out so everyone stops. We'll figure out why they started fighting later. For now, let's just get it stopped."

Major Giantbasher nods and cuts the call. Tanna looks at me with a small smile. "Thanks, girl. I really wasn't comfortable with that one. I'm glad you were here to help me out!"

I nod and start to walk back to my chair. "I'm glad, too. I wonder why they just started fighting like that, though. Maybe the elves said something stupid to the dwarves and got them mad?"

"I can answer that question for you."

I'm facing the door as it fades out, and the unexpected voice causes me to stop and stare. I see Lada standing in the doorway, but it wasn't her voice. It was the taller elf behind her – Maeral Shyrandor.

Lada steps in and to the side, clearing the way for the male elf to enter the room while she stands at the ready. As she does, I recognize the small girl with pink hair previously hidden behind her. Tishani doesn't rush into the room, and in fact stays directly at her brother's side as they both walk in and stand directly in front of the door. Once they're inside, Lada touches the charm to close it.

Everyone's quiet as I look between the two of them. Maeral's dressed in the black armor I saw him in during our first meeting on Tir Tairngire, along with a brace of daggers strapped across his chest. Tishani's wearing similar black leathers, with a small belt of pouches around her waist. Each of them is carrying a bag. I recognize the black bag Maeral had at the restaurant, and can see a hint of a pink backpack sticking out of the black backpack on Tishani's shoulders.

Both of them look at me impassively, as if their presence on my ship is nothing important at all. After a handful of seconds, I finally shake my head and process what he said to me. "You can answer that question?" I feel stupid repeating his comment like that, but I really can't wrap my head around this at the moment.

Maeral nods. "The dwarves started the fight with the elves to provide cover for myself and Tishani, so we could get to the UCST Corsari undetected."

I'm still staring, not quite putting together what he's saying, when Lada laughs. "If ya were supposed to get here undetected, ya did a terrible job of it! Ya walked right up to me and Gimmir and asked us to bring ya in!"

Maeral nods, still facing me. "Yes, I did." He lays a hand on Tishani's shoulder. " _We_ did. And we did so with purpose. We're using the cover of the fighting, but not for the original intended reason."

I feel like he's trying to get to something, but he's not going to just come out and say it. There's only one thing I can think of that he'd intentionally avoid saying in this situation, and the pieces finally start to fit together in my mind. I calmly sit myself in my chair and turn to face him. "Lada, please don't shoot our guest. Maeral, I think I have a guess, but what was your original purpose for coming to the Corsari?"

Maeral turns to look at Lada, who's obviously stunned by my request, but she nods and places her hands behind her back. I know that doesn't make her any less dangerous, but it's a more relaxed posture meant to tell me she's accepting my request for the moment. Maeral seems to see that as well, and nods to her before turning back to me.

"Earlier today, I accepted a contract to infiltrate the UCST Corsari and eliminate its commanding officer, Commander Rylae Westiel."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

It was exactly as I thought, and everyone's reaction is also exactly as I thought. Tanna and Kesn gasp in horror. I hear chairs move as Tofi and Aelon jump from their seats behind me. Romara's eyes go wide, and she cowers farther into her chair. Lada, no longer at rest, moves her hands faster than I can track them and has a spellshooter in each, one pointed at Maeral and the other at Tishani.

I raise my hands and speak calmly. "Everyone relax. If Maeral and Tishani were going to follow through on that, they wouldn't have done it this way. I've seen them work and I can say that for certain. They came to us this way for another reason. Give them a chance to explain it."

As I speak, all movement stops. Slowly, everyone relaxes around the room. Everyone except Lada, who keeps her weapons pointed at the heads of the two elves in front of her. I stare at her directly for a second, then slowly shake my head. She catches my meaning and reluctantly moves her hands back to her sides. She doesn't holster the spellshooters, but she isn't pointing them any longer. That's probably the best I can hope for.

Maeral nods at me. "Thank you, Rylae. I guess we're even now, since you've just saved _my_ life. Let me start from the beginning and explain what I know.

"We received a message from our contact earlier today, asking again for a continuation of our previous contract. I informed them again that our contract was completed and should be paid as negotiated. At that point, I received another message informing me that the contract was scheduled to be paid with the next message ship, and included was a copy of the payment authorization to prove it."

He stops and looks at me pointedly. "The payment authorization was directly authorizing a specific clerk on Hallowforge to release the payment to our contractor. This also explains why it was waiting for the next message ship." I nod in acceptance of that point, and he continues.

"Immediately after receiving the payment authorization, I received an offer for a _new_ contract, not a continuation. The new contract was to access the UCST Corsari tonight and eliminate Commander Rylae Westiel. We were told that a diversion would be created for us by the soldiers, allowing us to infiltrate the ship undetected.

"I talked it over with Tishani, and we agreed to accept it." He stops and pats Tishani's shoulder where his hand lays on it. "We also agreed to fail to complete it. With your permission, Commander, we'd like to request permission to stay on the Corsari for the return trip to Terra, where we will disembark and continue on to our home on Tir Tairngire. We'd also like to request that you inform the Hallowforge and Andriennein soldiers that both of us were killed in action as we failed to complete the contract."

Everything he says sinks in, and just as I feel I understand enough of the situation to make a decision, Tanna's voice rings out behind me. "Why did you take it if you weren't going to complete it? What do you gain from this?"

He looks over my shoulder at my best friend. "For one, Rylae gets to stay alive. That's a pretty good reason for us. But, second, we realized that this contract was becoming a lot more difficult and we were no longer happy with it. The contact isn't taking no for an answer, and is obviously willing to set up assaults with cheaper assassins when we refuse. We think the same situation will happen again, and this time you'll have the information early enough to protect yourselves. The original contract was one thing, but we're not going to be political pawns for any reason."

I hear Kesn let out a breath beside me before she speaks. "I just don't understand why someone wants Rylae killed. We found a motive for Watertracker and Gemcrusher, but why would they suddenly want Rylae out of the way? What did she do?"

I turn to look at her, and realize the same question is in my mind. What _did_ I do? Why _am_ I a target? What the hell is going on?

Beyond Kesn, I see Aelon as he snaps up straight in his chair and smiles his big goofy grin. "That's easy! She got me to figure out where all the numbers are hiding!" At that, he stops and furrows his brow. "But, why are they trying to kill her instead of me? Do you think they're going to kill me next?!" He suddenly pops his eyes open wide as he says this and looks back at the siblings by the door.

The hardest part of my job sometimes is not laughing at my crew when they're being truly idiotic. I put a small smile on my face as I look at Aelon. "I'm certain they're not going to come after you, LC Onoviel. In fact, they've already been captured, so I doubt there'll be any problems at all."

He relaxes visibly, sinking back into his chair while still looking at Maeral uncomfortably. I turn back to Kesn and shrug. "Actually, I think Aelon has a point. The first assassination attempt happened right after I asked for the new analysis. The second happened after it was overheard that I had folk on-ship researching things. They might be trying to stop me from releasing the information we've found."

I watch as Kesn furrows her brow while she thinks about it, then her face softens as she nods. "The timing works. That might be it exactly. Watertracker and Gemcrusher were killed to pass on the hidden monies to the new leaders, then you were targeted to stop us from finding that motive."

Nodding, I turn back to Maeral. "In that case, I think you're right that they're going to try to come at me again. We'll need to push their hand on this, especially since we can now see it coming. As such, I accept your proposal. You and Tishani can remain on the Corsari for our return trip, under the full protection of the UCST. You will remain with us in secret until we launch, then will be afforded full traveler access to the ship."

His shoulders sag slightly with relief, and I smile. "In the meantime, we're going to have to kill you."

I hear the collective intake of breath around the room as everyone stares at me. Maeral's the one to break the silence, in his stoic professional manner. "I do hope you mean that you'll report us as being killed during the job, and not that you're actually going to have us killed."

I can't hold back my chuckle. "That's exactly what I mean. As far as anyone outside of this room is concerned, you were killed by Lada on your way to me. We'll make sure the trade delegates get that report. However, you'll both be safe on the ship and invisible to anyone on the outside. When we're done here, I'll have Lada escort you both to the Admiral's quarters and set up a security detail for you."

Maeral releases a breath, and smiles for the first time. "Thank you, Rylae. I appreciate your help."

I stand and walk over to him, extending my hand. "Thank you, Maeral. You brought me valuable information that I can use to finally stop this ridiculous political game. Helping you escape from Andriennein is the least I can do."

Maeral reaches out to shake my hand. At that moment, Tishani's professional demeanor drops and she smiles like the young girl she is while launching herself at my waist. Wrapping her arms around me, she hugs me tight. "Thank you, Rylae! You're the best! I'm so sorry I took your darts! I can give them back if you want them! I have them in my bag!"

I laugh and turn to wrap my arms around the pink-haired girl. "You're welcome, Tishani! We'll talk about the darts later. For now, you two should get settled while the rest of us talk about work."

She stops hugging me and looks up at my face. "Your work is so exciting! I want to help you work! But Maeral's going to make me do another book report if we're stuck on the ship. Book reports aren't any fun." She turns and sticks her tongue out at Maeral, then smiles as she looks back at me.

"Sorry, Sis. You have to keep up with your studies, though." Maeral grabs her shoulder and gently pulls her away from me, then looks up at me with a nod. "With your leave, Commander, we'll go to the quarters you've set aside for us. I thank you again."

I nod to Lada, who finally holsters her spellshooters and leads the two elves from the office. When the door closes again, I walk back to the table and sit down to the stares of all the other members of the room. Aelon looks relieved that he's not going to be killed and has gone back to his normal smile. Tofi can't seem to believe that any of that happened, and keeps looking at the door wide-eyed. Romara has an expression on her face that can only be described as awe, and Kesn looks a bit shaken but otherwise okay.

Of course, it's Tanna who breaks the silence. "I can't help but realize how close the Admiral's quarters are to yours!"

The resulting laughter at my expense is annoying, but I'm glad to see the atmosphere of the room go back to normal with that comment. I smile at Tanna without responding to her and wait for everyone to quiet down. When they do, I turn to Tofi. "Can you send a copy of that report to me and Kesn? Once we have it, the three of us can sit down so you can fully explain to us what's there."

Turning to Romara, I smile. "I'd like you to sit in that conversation as well, and take notes like it was a regular meeting. I want a detailed record of that conversation as part of the overall meeting record."

I move my focus to the goblin woman next to me. "Kesn, can you prepare an official notification to both trade groups informing them of the assassination attempt, and that the perpetrators were killed? Make sure to clarify that we're _not_ going to postpone the meetings tomorrow, and in fact let them know that we have some interesting information to share from our internal analysis of the trade documents."

She looks back at me wide-eyed. "Do you think that's a good idea? If we're right, and they want to suppress this information, they might come at us during the meeting."

I nod, showing no fear. "That's what I'm hoping for. We need to draw them out. This needs to be resolved, and this is the quickest way to do it. Lada's security team should be able to handle anything as long as we're looking for it. We'll just have to be as prepared as we can be."

She nods in return, so I turn to Tanna. "XO, this tactic is likely going to bring the Andriennein Justice Committee to the ship's door to collect the bodies of our assassins. I need you to work with Gimmir and Simon to hold them off without causing an interstellar incident. Whatever you need to say or do to get them to stay back, do it. We still have diplomatic immunity, and I suggest you read up on that tonight to find out what you can and can't use it to hide."

Tanna taps her chin in thought, then smiles and nods once. As I finish that, Aelon's voice draws my attention. "What do you need me to do, Commander?"

I stop and look at him, completely lost. I don't need him to do anything at all. In fact, the best place he can be is anywhere that's completely out of the way. I wish I had more crates in the storage bay for him to count! I'm still thinking of a response when Tofi takes care of it for me. "LC, you can always help me in my quarters later." She runs her fingers through her dark purple hair and winks at him.

In a flash, Aelon jumps from his seat. "I think I have to work with my team on some things. I'll help later, Rylae!" He quickly salutes and runs to the door, going through it as soon as it fades out. The sounds of his running footsteps echo down the hallway.

Tofi laughs and winks at me. "That should keep him busy. Aelon's a lot of things, but he's not a big lover of dwarf women. I love antagonizing him with it!"

We all laugh for a second, the sound echoing down the hallway. I'm just about to stand and close the door when Lada walks back in with Gimmir close behind. She taps the charm to close the door before speaking. "Our guests are set up in their quarters. I didn't shoot either of 'em."

Smiling, I nod. "Thanks, Lada." I take a few seconds to outline everything for Gimmir, then look back at Lada. "We're going to announce our findings in the meeting tomorrow. Combined with the information our assassins brought us, we need to be prepared for an attack in the meeting room."

Lada looks around the room for a few seconds, seemingly lost in thought. I give her the time she needs and wait patiently. After a short time, she focuses back on my face and nods. "I see three scenarios, based on what we know. The most likely is that they'll have some soldiers or mediocre assassins try to break in the meeting room. My officers will hold the outside, and I can hold the inside. I don't see a problem there."

Gimmir turns and raises his hand to say something, but Lada sees him coming and cuts him off. "No, Giantbasher. I'm not gonna let ya augment my security with any of yer blasted elites! Rylae _wants_ 'em to bite, and setting up a blockade will scare 'em off. We gotta set up some bait."

I nod and focus on Gimmir as well. "I agree. No one's going to carry any weapons larger than a spellshooter into the meeting room, and the last attack on me was with a crossbow, so it's more likely to come from outside. Regardless, we need to let it happen so we can finally know who's behind it. If we can capture the assassins in the act, we can get information."

Gimmir nods in agreement, so Lada turns back to me. "There's two other scenarios, of course. The first is that Hallowforge _does_ sneak a spellshooter into the meeting. They're on the side closest to the door, and to me, so I can take care of that if it happens." She pats one of the spellshooters at her side as she says that.

Her face gets more serious as she continues. "However, the third option is that our information is wrong and Andriennein is really behind it. If one of _them_ pulls a weapon, they're too far across the room and there's too many folk between us for me to handle them. I'll have to rely on you for that option. It's the least likely, but I know you can handle yourself until I get there."

I nod in agreement, then turn to Gimmir. "Major? Your thoughts?"

He looks from me to Lada, then looks back and nods seriously. "Her scenarios are solid, and I think she's right. I hate to agree to it, ya understand, but if this is the way ya wanna handle it, then yer at least thinkin' the right way."

I give him a quick half-salute in response, and he smiles as he returns it. I turn back to the group at the table and shrug. "I guess it's time for us to save the day again. Let's get to it."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

We get to the meeting room early to perform a full search before anyone arrives. Lada and her security team of four goblins scour the room, looking for any weapons or items that someone might have hidden before we arrived. Aside from a small stash of pastries from the other day which someone decided they want to keep for later, we don't find anything dangerous.

As Lada preps her team, I take Kesn and Romara to the table and go over the details of how we're approaching the meeting. Kesn and I spent a bit of time last night disagreeing over how to manage things. I wanted to be the one to give our analysis and start the confrontation, but Kesn suggested otherwise. In the end, we decide that it's best to have her, as the Ambassador, recognize me to start the conversation. Then I'll give the analysis, since I'm the one being targeted for assassination right now anyway. It seems like the option that's better for her own safety.

Romara looks terrified, and I pull her aside to try to calm her nerves. "Cadet, I just need you to do two things today. First, don't be scared. Lada will take care of anything that happens, and you'll be fine. I promise. Second, take notes about _everything_. If something starts happening, you'll be the only assistant expecting it. The others will become distracted. I need you to try to keep your focus and continue documenting the meeting events. We'll need them later."

The blue-haired elf doesn't smile, but snaps into a salute and nods. She's still obviously terrified, but I can tell she's going to try to do what I need her to do. That's the best I can ask of her. I just really hope Lada can fulfill the promise I just made on her behalf.

With about ten minutes left before the scheduled meeting time, the Andriennein delegation starts filtering into the room. Glitterbreeze is the third one to enter, and looks surprised to see us set up already. He walks over to our side of the table, so I stand with Kesn to greet him. "Good morning, Kelethyl."

He stops far enough away to avoid a handshake and nods. "Good morning, ladies. I was surprised to read your message about the assassin, and am very sorry to know that your lives were in danger."

When Kesn put together the messages for the delegates, she specifically avoided naming a target for the assassins. Since they were 'killed in the attempt', there was no real way to know who their target was, after all! So, combined with the note of our planned revelation today, it's easy to see how Glitterbreeze would think that the two of us were the targets.

Then again, is he saying that because he already specifically knows that I _was_ the target? I look into his eyes to see if I can read him, but all I get back is that same passive expression he always hides behind. Politicians are impossible. "Thank you for your concern. Fortunately, our folk were able to stop them before they accomplished their goals, so everyone remained safe. Of course, that gives us reason to further investigate what's happening."

Glitterbreeze nods and smiles his normal political smile. "Of course, Commander! If there's anything Andriennein can do to help with the investigation, please let me know and I'll work to make it available to you."

I give him my thanks, then watch as he walks past us to go to his regular seat on the Andriennein side of the table. Kesn and I start to sit, but then notice Ironsmasher's group starting to walk into the meeting room. We remain standing, expecting him to walk over and make his own comments, and end up a little surprised when he doesn't even look in our direction as he and his two senior assistants walk straight to their chairs and sit.

Kesn turns to me, then shrugs. I shrug back and gesture to our seats. We might as well sit if we don't have to be polite to the dwarves. As I sit, I wonder what his avoidance of us means. Does it mean he's disappointed that we're still alive? Is he afraid of what the analysis is going to show? Is he just being his normal gruff self? I can't tell, and thinking about it gets me even less than thinking about Glitterbreeze's motives. I turn away and shake my head to clear it. If things go well, I'll have my answers soon enough anyway.

When everyone's in the room and seated, Kesn stands. "Good morning. As you know, I sent a message to all of you last night informing you of two things. The first is that an assassination attempt was carried out last night, with assassins trying to gain access to the UCST Corsari. The assassins were intercepted, and no harm came to any UCST personnel. We will hold an investigation to determine as much as we can about the incident."

As she gives her first words time to sink in, I look around the room and try to gauge the reactions. No one in the room seems surprised, which I guess isn't that shocking considering we had sent the message last night. Everyone seems calm, but not even a little inquisitive. Not a single dwarf or elf appears to be holding onto any questions about the assassination. I wonder why that is.

After that few seconds, Kesn continues speaking. "The second issue is that the UCST has completed our own analysis of the trade agreement, based on the analyses provided by Andriennein and Hallowforge. We found some interesting facts, which we feel need to be disclosed before negotiations can continue. We're hoping we can resolve these issues quickly and still..."

As Kesn's speaking about the analysis, I again take note of the reactions around the table. The senior Hallowforge trade members, including Ironsmasher, are glaring at us. I can definitely understand now why they didn't want to speak with us when they came in. I'm guessing they're very unhappy about whatever details they think we're going to disclose.

My attention is drawn from them by movement on the Andriennein side of the table. The elf assistant at the far end of the table leans over in his chair to stick a hand inside of his bag. None of the other elves appear to be moving, and, since this elf is behind their view while they are turned towards Kesn, no one else seems to notice him.

I'm just about to turn away when I notice the familiar shape he pulls from his bag. He lifts the spellshooter above the side of the table and points it directly at Kesn.

"Down!" I hear Lada's voice boom from across the room, then running footsteps. I notice Kesn in the corner of my eye as she freezes instead of dropping to the floor to get out of the elf's line of fire. In a swift motion, I shove my chair back as I stand, then reach my right arm over in front of Kesn and push her backwards. She topples over her chair and falls to the ground, safe from the elf's shot.

The young assistant appears to be confused that his target disappeared, but he quickly changes his aim to point at me instead. My left hand is already reaching to my weapon belt, but he's a lot farther along than I am. I watch his finger pull the trigger as my hand brushes the hilts of my blades.

I'm suddenly knocked sideways as Lada's fast-moving form slams into me, pushing me out of the line of fire. The world seems to move in slow motion as I fall. Turning my head, I see the dwarf woman pushing me, her hands out to connect with my side as she leaps over the goblin Ambassador I knocked over. I then notice the lightning bolt appear as it shoots across the open space between the tables, striking a spot where my chest was just a moment before.

Unfortunately, the head of a dwarven security officer now occupies that exact spot. I watch as the end of the lightning bolt hits her squarely in the side of the head. Her eyes open wide as it connects. The force of the blast knocks her away from the table and out of my field of vision as she falls somewhere behind us.

The pain of my shoulder connecting with the floor seems to bring reality back to the proper speed. I quickly duck behind the corner of the table and look around it to find our attacker. He seems to recognize that he hit the wrong target and panics, kicking his chair over and starting to run for the door. That's not going to happen. I spring to my feet and run after him, grabbing my throwing dagger with my left hand. Once I dodge around my team and can see the elf clearly past the dwarves, I whip my arm around and release the weapon.

My aim is off. Instead of connecting with his leg to trip him, it grazes the side of his thigh. He screams in pain from the slight scratch on his leg and falls to the ground face-down. He drops the spellshooter as he reaches for his leg, cradling it like a child. While not what I was aiming for, I suppose I'm thankful instead for the low pain tolerance of political assistants.

I take another few steps before jumping at the prone elf, landing on his back to hold him down. I push myself back up to my knees, holding him down with one as I pull my other weapons. I push the blade of my other dagger against the back of his neck as I twist with the spellshooter to survey the room for other assassins.

The rest of the delegates finally seem to clue into what's going on, and that's when the screaming starts. Most of the elves and dwarves drop out of their chairs and hide under the table. Glitterbreeze stands and stares at me in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth open. Ironsmasher and his two senior assistants, Battlebeard and Keybreaker, turn to look at me, but definitely not in shock. Their faces are impassive, and I can't read them.

I notice Kesn and Romara drop to the floor next to Lada, who's laying on her back and doesn't appear to be moving. After a few seconds, I hear Kesn's voice yell over the rest of them. "Rylae! She's not breathing!"

It's at about that time when the members of Lada's security team finally burst through the doorway and into the room. Two of them take up positions by the tables, weapons free and pointed at the delegates, while the other two position themselves on either side of me.

Now that I don't have to focus on securing the room, I finally hear what Kesn just said. Lada's not breathing. Dragons be damned! I push the blade of my dagger harder against the back of the elf's neck as I bark an order to the two goblins near me to go check on Lada. They run over to her without looking back.

I look down at the elf under my blade. "You bastard. If my friend is dead, it'll be _very_ easy for me to turn this blade and finish you off."

"Commander! Don't!" The voice is very close to me, and I turn to see Romara standing at my side. Her eyes are wet and her body is shaking, but she's standing there and telling me to stop. When she realizes I heard her, she keeps talking quickly. "We need him! He might be behind it all! Remember?!"

I stop and blink as her words sink in, and I realize she's right. As much as he may deserve it, we need answers first. I nod in acceptance, then remove my blade from his neck and place it back in its sheath. It'll be easy enough for me to pull it again if I need it.

As I do, one of the goblins comes up to me. I recognize him as Officer Miredancer, one who works with Lada often for security work. He holds his short sword with the point toward the ground and presses it against the elf's back. "Commander Westiel. I'm sorry, but Lieutenant Commander Axesmith is dead. I'm sorry we failed in our duty, but I can at least take control of this foul-smelling son of a ratbeast and show him the consequences of killing an officer in the UCST."

XO Westiel pushes Rylae's emotions to the side quickly, before the knowledge that her friend has died while protecting her fully sinks in. I stand and nod to the goblin. "Thank you, Officer Miredancer. However, we need this one alive. We need to know what he knows before we kill him. Please restrain him for the investigation."

The goblin nods and reaches down to grab the back of the elf's shirt. I stand and survey the room. The two goblin officers are still holding their weapons on the rest of the delegates. The fourth is standing protectively over Lada, unable to do anything for her. Kesn sits by her side, holding her hand. The rest of the delegates are at their tables, standing quietly and trying to keep from doing anything that will get the attention of the officers.

I walk over and stand between the two officers. Glitterbreeze still seems to be in shock, and I make my tone as harsh as possible as I speak to him directly. "Mr. Glitterbreeze. It appears your assistant has killed the leader of the UCST security team while attempting to kill the two leading members of the UCST delegation. I hope you have an explanation for this."

The elf stammers as he stands there, staring at me. For the first time since I've met him, Kelethyl Glitterbreeze is completely and totally speechless, unable to get a single intelligible word to leave his mouth. I stare at him for a bit, then turn as a dwarven voice gets my attention.

"Commander." Brog Ironsmasher looks at me, his face stiff as stone. "I'm sorry for your loss. It's truly unfortunate that Lieutenant Commander Axesmith has fallen today, but she performed her duty of protecting you. This assassination attempt was much more unprofessional than previous attempts, but you were thankfully able to survive it. We now know that the elves are behind the whole thing. Hallowforge would like to assist you with the investigation, to bring to light all of the details behind Andriennein's treachery."

That comment finally gets Glitterbreeze talking, but not calmly. His voice comes out in a high-pitched yell. "Andriennein's treachery? What about _Hallowforge's_ treachery? Andriennein wants to bring to light the details about the assassinations of Sharya Watertracker and Gorgan Gemcrusher!"

I'm really not in the mood for more of this political nonsense. I'm just about to tear into them both when a female goblin voice stops me cold.

"Officers," Kesn states clearly, with no hint of emotion in her voice, "please take Brog Ironsmasher and Kelethyl Glitterbreeze into custody for the assassinations. We're also going to hold all of the delegates until the investigations are complete. I will call for additional support."

Acting on her command, the two officers on my sides step forward and hold their weapons at the Hallowforge delegation, and the officer by Lada steps forward toward the Andriennein delegation. I turn to Kesn with a question in my eyes, but she just nods as she pulls her communicator and pushes the charm. "Smonz Darkrender."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

It's only a few minutes before Simon brings two squads of soldiers into the meeting room, circling the tables where the trade delegates are still standing. Simon's team was holding position by the landing pad in case Lada's team needed the additional support. It was Gimmir's compromise when Lada wouldn't accept a squad of his elites to stand at the door.

As I glance around the room, my eyes alight again on Lada's body, lying on the floor by Simon, Kesn and Romara. Looking at her, I wonder if that was the right compromise to make after all. Yes, we now have some proof that someone in the meeting was trying to kill me, but was it really worth the cost?

XO Westiel turns away again before Rylae has time to form an emotional opinion about things. Now's not anywhere near the right time to break down and cry. Too many things to do first.

Some of the delegates start arguing vehemently against our treatment of them. Simon's squads aren't hurting any of them while they place magical restraints on their arms, but it's definitely not a gentle process. Of course, the battalion soldiers are much more dangerous than any of the delegates in the room, so the level of aggression from the delegates begins and ends at loud words.

The only ones that aren't saying anything at all are Glitterbreeze and Ironsmasher, which is an interesting feat for those two. I didn't think it was _possible_ for both of them to remain quiet for such a long period of time. I wonder if it's a way to hide their guilt and keep from saying anything incriminating. At this point, though, it'll be up to the Andriennein Justice Committee to find out more.

As I think that, I look over at Kesn. I wonder how she decided to arrest everyone in the room. Was it just a spur-of-the-moment idea to contain the situation, or was there something specific that caught her attention? As the Ambassador, she has the authority and rank to command the security team, but I know her well enough to know she wouldn't arrest everyone in the room without a good reason.

I walk over to where she's standing and overhear Simon speaking to her. "...did what she had to do. She'd be very disappointed in you for wishing it had gone otherwise."

Kesn lets out a breath, and I can hear a small sob hiding beneath it. "I know she would, and I know that Rylae or I could have been hurt or killed instead if she hadn't jumped in. But that doesn't change the fact that I wish it hadn't happened and that she was still here with us."

I let out a small cough to announce myself. I don't _want_ to be rude, but XO Westiel is having a hard enough time holding back Rylae's emotions. I need to get things sorted out before I can afford to let myself fall into an unapologetic crying fit. I'm not exactly happy about it, but things have to be done.

When Kesn turns to me, I purposely ignore the water in her eyes and the tear marks down her face as I speak. "Ambassador." Calling her by her title seems to make her stand up straighter, and I give her a second to sort herself out before I continue. "Why did you command the security team to arrest everyone at the table?"

She nods and clasps her hands together in front of her. "Ironsmasher and Glitterbreeze gave themselves away. As an Ambassador, it's my job to read through the comments that politicians make and find the true meaning behind them. In this case, Ironsmasher made the comment about this assassination attempt being unprofessional. That led me to believe that he knew about the professional assassins who were hired to do the previous jobs. Anyone who only knew the released details would likely not have made that comment."

I nod in acceptance of that and she continues. "Glitterbreeze gave himself away as complicit when he took offense at Ironsmasher's inference that Andriennein was behind everything. His response that Hallowforge was behind the assassinations of Watertracker and Gemcrusher proved to me an inside knowledge of the initial assassinations. After seeing a member of his own team attempt to kill us, he should have been apologetic, not antagonistic and blame-shifting. He'd only attempt to shift the blame if he knew something to give him that leverage."

I nod again, but I'm still not entirely convinced. It must be obvious in my expression, because Kesn nods and responds to my unasked questions. "I know. It's all a bit of a stretch, and none of it would hold up in front of an Overseer, but the enforcers should be able to get more information out of them now that they're being accused. I just have to hope that their fighting and blame-shifting serves to eventually bring all of the details out."

Looking around the room, I suppose she's right. I can only hope the police and Justice Committee members can get all the details. I suppose that's the only way we'll ever really know what's been going on here. I release a small sigh as I realize that. Things were so much more obvious on Stenchstone when everything was happening with the Black Tongues. It was even easier on Tir Tairngire when I finally realized Saeralyn had been lying to me the entire time. This time, though... it's all a mess, and there's no real hope of getting all of the answers ourselves.

Noticing Romara's notebook, still sitting on the table by her seat, I stop and turn back to Kesn. "What about the meeting and the trade agreement?"

Kesn's eyes widen, and she turns to look out at the room. After a few seconds of thought, she turns back to me. "The old agreement was never really invalid. It's stayed active through this entire process, so there's nothing urgent that needs to be completed. The whole meeting was originally put together when Andriennein requested Hallowforge come out to discuss it. I wonder..."

The goblin woman turns and walks toward the group of elves, and I follow behind. I hear footsteps behind me as well, telling me Simon's probably following us. Kesn gets to where Glitterbreeze is sitting against the wall and looks down at him. "Mr. Glitterbreeze, in light of current events, I'm cancelling any further meetings. It appears the previous trade agreement will remain in place."

The elf looks up at the Ambassador and sneers. "So what? Who cares about that stupid trade agreement anyway?"

Kesn shrugs. "Sharya Watertracker must have, since she requested Hallowforge's presence."

Glitterbreeze sneers as a small chuckle falls out of his mouth. "Sharya sure as hell wasn't the one to ask the dwarves to come out here! If those damn dwarves hadn't brought soldiers, _you_ wouldn't even be out here! _None_ of this has gone..." He moves his mouth to say something else, then stops. His expression goes back to flat and neutral before he speaks again, with no more vitriol in his tone. "I regretfully decline to speak to you any further about these matters, Ambassador, until my counsel is present."

The goblin Ambassador nods and turns away, walking instead to the area of the room where the dwarves have been gathered by Simon's soldiers. I follow along as she steps up to Ironsmasher and smiles. "Mr. Ironsmasher, in light of current events, I'm cancelling any further meetings. It appears the previous trade agreement will remain in place."

The dwarven leader of the trade delegation looks back at her without speaking. After a few seconds, Kesn shrugs and turns away. I step forward and lay a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking away as I focus on the dwarf. "Ironsmasher, I'm going to have my battalion force your soldiers to surrender, and we're going to have the Justice Committee arrest any of them who are combat-capable with crossbows."

His eyes narrow. "You go right ahead and do that, Commander Westiel. They'll all be cleared of wrongdoing soon enough."

I nod. "So you're completely convinced that none of them were the shooter?"

He sneers at me in response. "I know for a _fact_ that none of my soldiers were the one who shot at you."

An evil smile appears on my face. "Thank you, Brog. I wasn't entirely sure that Kesn was right in having everyone arrested today, but now I'm glad she's smarter than I am. And," I add with a wink, "that I'm smarter than you are."

I pat Kesn's shoulder and turn away, walking back over to Romara and Lada's body. Three soldiers have finally broken away from arresting the delegates to begin sorting out and collecting Lada, and Romara stepped up to help. I watch them work for a few seconds, then turn away as Simon speaks behind me. "Did you just get that dwarf to admit to being the one who shot at you in the hallway?"

Turning to face him, I shrug. "Not quite, but I got him to admit that he knows I was shot at. Since we didn't tell anyone else, there's no way he could have known that, or even understood what I meant about there being a shooter. The police won't be able to question him about it, since we didn't report it, but now _we_ know. That's good enough for me."

I look over the room one more time, coming back to see the soldiers have finished with Lada. She's now laid out on a small unfolded float unit and covered with a blanket. I look at the floating unit for a few seconds, then pull my communicator from my pocket. I'm just about to touch the charm when a hand drops on my shoulder.

I turn to see Simon standing next to me with his communicator out as well. He holds it up and looks at me pointedly. "You call Sen. _I'll_ call Gimmir. No offense meant, but he wouldn't want _you_ to be the one to tell him this."

He turns and walks away before I can respond, and I stop to look at my communicator silently. I'm not altogether sure exactly who I was planning to call first. Probably Sen or Tanna, considering the situation. I definitely wasn't going to call Gimmir. But, Simon's right anyway. The word would quickly get around the ship about Lada, and Gimmir definitely shouldn't hear it second-hand. Simon calling Gimmir directly is probably the best option.

I decide to wait a couple minutes to let Simon have that call before I call anyone else. Putting my communicator away, I walk over to Romara, who's moved back to her seat at the table. When I get there, I'm surprised to see her writing in her book. I wait quietly next to her for a few seconds until she notices me.

When she does, she jumps back slightly in surprise before looking up at me. "Oh. Sorry, Commander. Can I help you with something?"

I shake my head. "I just wanted to check on you. What are you working on?"

She taps her pen on the open page of her notebook as she looks at me. "I still have some notes to finish making about everything that happened today. I want to finish them before we leave. Do you mind if I work on this for a while? Sorry, Commander." With that, she turns back to her notebook, her blue hair falling to shield her face.

I quietly watch her work for a couple minutes, then say "Thank you, Cadet" softly as I walk away, unsure of anything else I can really say to her right now. I admire her decision to continue working through this, but also feel bad about how things ended up on her first mission. She was so excited to work with us, and I was lucky to have her here when we needed her, but now... now I wonder what's going through her mind. Is she still happy to be here?

XO Westiel is starting to realize she's at her limit, and Rylae's emotions are starting to get the better of her. I grab a chair and pull it over to the far corner of the room, taking a seat before pulling my communicator from my pocket again. I stare at it for a second, still unsure of who to call, then realize Simon already told me. Simon usually knows the best way to handle things. I touch the charm. "Sen Foulmuck."

Sen's face appears after a few seconds. "Hey, Commander. How's the meeting going? Kill anyone yet today?"

She's smiling, unaware of exactly how perfect she actually hit the target. I stumble over what I want to say and only get out one word. "Lada."

Sen's eyes go wide for a second before she pulls herself together. "I'll send a team over. What happened? How bad is she?"

I shake my head. The words come out slowly, but successfully. "You don't need to send a team. We'll bring her body back with us."

I hear her suck in a breath through her teeth. She's silent for a few seconds, then nods. "Understood, Commander. Um..." She stutters for a second, looking off to the side, then turns back to face me. "Has anyone told the Major?"

I nod. "Simon's called him. I'm going to call Tanna next."

She nods. "Got it. I'll prepare the ward for transport. Let me know if there's anything else you need." With that, she cuts the call and her head disappears.

I stare at the empty space where her green communicator head used to be. I've been an Executive Officer for nine years now. I've been responsible for handling the death notices for numerous battalion folk that we've lost during missions. I've had to manage death notices for a few older folk in other positions who died while serving. I've even had to deal with Calgonnel being shot on a mission right in front of me. I should be better at this.

But, as I think it through, I realize that this time there are two major differences. The first is that Lada was my friend. It's difficult to really say it, but no one who's ever died on-ship before has really been my friend. Even Calgonnel, who I worked with for years, was never close enough to me to be considered my friend. Lada and I weren't super close, like I am with Tanna or even Kesn, but she was always there to kick my ass during training and laugh at me about it afterwards. She came to help me on Tir Tairngire, even though she didn't need to. She's always been there for me, just like she was today.

And therein lies the second difference. Lada was killed saving my life. Not only that, she was killed as a direct result of decisions I made about how to push the assassination agenda. It was my decision to announce our findings in today's meeting. We knew there was likely going to be an attack because of it. There was, and that attack killed Lada.

Lada died because of me.

I can no longer see my communicator through my tears, but I still have to call Tanna. At least I can talk to her while crying. She'll understand.

I _hope_ she'll understand. I hope _everyone_ will understand. And I hope everyone can forgive me.

# CHAPTER THIRTY

We wait outside for thirty minutes or so before the police show up, along with a deputy member of the Justice Committee. She steps up to me, her broad shoulders pushed straight in the dark blue jumpsuit she wears. The stripes on those shoulders seem to mark her as someone in charge, if the rest of the police taking a step back wasn't already an indication of that. Her dark gold eyes stare into my face, as if she's daring me to make an improper move. "I'm Deputy Dreamfeather. Are you in charge here?"

She's trying to bully me, but I'm definitely not in the mood right now. I nod, barely able to keep from scowling at her. "I am. Commander Rylae Westiel, UCST."

She steps forward again, until she's just a few centimeters in front of me. She's taller than I am, and she uses her height to her advantage as she looks down at me with a sneer. "Would you care to explain exactly what this menagerie is? We get a call that you've arrested the entire trade meeting under your own authority, and we're just supposed to accept that?"

Dreamfeather, you've picked the wrong day and the wrong elf for this little game of yours. I step forward just enough that the fabric of my uniform is brushing against the fabric of hers, then look up into her eyes from right below her tilted head. "In fact, Deputy Dreamfeather, you _are_ supposed to accept that. My chief of security was killed by one of the assistants on the Andriennein trade delegation, and we have reason to believe that both groups of delegates may be involved in the assassinations of the previous leaders."

I smile, though not a gram of genuine happiness is present in it. "So, Deputy. Are you going to do your job and take this 'menagerie', as you called it, off of my hands? Three deaths have happened under Andriennein's watch. I can't wait to see what happens to your tourist trade once word of that gets out, along with word that a certain Deputy Dreamfeather decided to be difficult instead of taking the gift which the UCST is trying to give her."

Her eyes narrow as she huffs, blowing hot breath directly onto my face as she does. "Are you threatening me, Commander?"

I shrug. "I don't _think_ I am. But, if _you_ seem to think I'm important enough to be legitimately threatening a deputy in the Justice Committee, then I _must_ be important enough to legitimately arrest a room full of politicians on the grounds that they are implicit in multiple assassinations. Your call, Deputy."

We stand and stare at each other for a bit longer. Her breath comes out in short angry bursts through her clenched teeth, smacking me in the face every few seconds. I can feel her chest heaving with each seething breath, so close that her ample breasts push against me slightly with each inhale. Finally, when she realizes I'm not going to back down, she takes a step back and turns away from me to yell at the police she brought with her. They move quickly to avoid her wrath, getting to work with collecting the prisoners from the UCST soldiers.

Turning away from them, I walk over to Kesn, Romara and Simon where they stand by the aerialcraft with Lada's body in the back. None of us say a word as we climb in the craft, and Simon sets it to take us back to the docking area.

We're over water, about halfway to the ship, when my anger at the deputy breaks and I fall back into the more depressing emotions I'd pushed aside. I stare out at the water, thinking about Lada and the choices that I made to bring us to this point.

I'm not paying attention to anything at all and don't notice we're landing until I feel the soft thump of the aerialcraft hitting the ground. The sounds of the vehicle shutting itself off are immediately drowned out by the crash and clatter of arms and armor. The noise surrounds the vehicle, and I look out the window again wondering what I have to deal with now.

For a second, I'm surprised to see soldiers in full UCST plate armor, but that is quickly overshadowed by seeing their leader step forward out of the group. Gimmir Giantbasher is wearing a suit of armor I've never seen him wear before. Crafted out of a dark metal – possibly copper or bronze – the armor plates cover his entire body. The arms and legs appear to be covered in scales, each plate carefully fitted above the one below it. In the center of his metal form is an embossed image of a dwarf holding a battle axe above the felled body of a creature four times the dwarf's size – a giant.

The armor-clad dwarf steps to the vehicle and waits while we climb out. Once the doors are closed, he steps up to Simon. "Master Sergeant. I understand that you have brought our fallen comrade."

Simon stands at attention and nods. "Indeed, Major Giantbasher. I have brought one Lada Axesmith, who fell bravely today while protecting her charges."

Gimmir nods, his helmet clinking against the metal of his chest. "Thank you, Master Sergeant. We will protect her until such time as she can be laid to rest. Company!" He raises his voice, and the surrounding elites all snap to attention. It's now that I notice that every single one of them is a dwarf. A full dwarven honor guard has been put together for Lada. I get a hitch in my chest and tears in my eyes as I watch them.

Gimmir turns to his soldiers. "Escort our honored warrior!" The honor guard breaks into two sections, walking around the vehicle to the back. Once they are all lined up behind the aerialcraft, Gimmir walks over to stand at the front of the lines. With the constant sound of metal armor clanking, he reaches up and opens the door to the cargo area of the craft. The door flips upwards, and the float unit with Lada's body lies there in the space.

Reaching in, Gimmir is the first one to lay hands on the float unit, but is quickly followed by the two lead dwarves on either side as they reach in to grasp the sides. Pulling slowly, Gimmir moves backwards down the line, his hands never leaving the end of the float unit while other soldiers hold the sides of it and slowly pass it down the line.

When Lada has arrived in the middle of the group, with three soldiers on each side of her float unit, six in front and six behind, Gimmir finally releases the end of the unit and walks to the front. The dwarves on either end form up tightly around the ones holding the float unit, making an impenetrable circle of armored dwarves surrounding them. Outside of that circle, Gimmir raises his hand, and the group follows him as he marches slowly toward the ship.

When they have moved a few meters away, Simon steps forward to slowly follow them. I turn to Kesn and Romara and gesture for us to follow with Simon. The whole procession moves slowly, with us following a few meters behind the honor guard. I don't know how long it takes us to get to the ship, but we finally do.

Most of the battalion is set up outside, standing guard between the ship and the soldiers from both Andriennein and Hallowforge. The full force of our four hundred battalion soldiers completely dwarfs the combined numbers of the Andriennein and Hallowforge soldiers. But, whether the two opposing forces were informed of what's happening or whether they figured it out for themselves, they stand politely by and watch as the honor guard moves through the protection created by the rest of the battalion soldiers and onto the ship.

Once in the staging area, the circle of dwarves breaks off, taking up positions facing the bay doors and any potential outside enemies. When I look back over, Lada's body is still being held by the six members of the honor guard, with Gimmir at her head. Once he seems satisfied with the layout, he shouts a command and the group starts moving to the staircase.

The hallways are a tight fit for dwarves in armor walking essentially three-abreast, and their shoulders rub against the walls as they walk, creating deep grooves. I notice the grooves, but none of us would dare say that the walls deserve more respect than Lada right now.

When we reach the stairs, it seems to me that we're presented with a bit of a puzzle. The staircase is not wide enough for dwarves to walk on either side of Lada. Gimmir, however, isn't fazed. With a sharp command, the dwarves change position so two are holding the front of the float unit behind them, and two are holding the rear of the float unit in front of them. The other two dwarves take up position at the rear.

They count each step as they ascend. The dwarves at the lower end of the stairs hold Lada's body above their heads so she's not slanted. Reaching the fourth level, they return to the original three-on-each-side position as they finish the escort to the hospital ward.

We follow the dwarves into the hospital ward to see all of the senior officers in the waiting area. All of the chairs have been pushed away, leaving room for a single table in the open area. The dwarves walk over and carefully place Lada atop the table. With another command from Gimmir, they remove their hands and set themselves at attention on either side of her body.

Sen and Lieutenant Bellas step forward to remove the sheet covering Lada's body. When they do, I hear a couple sobs from the senior officers watching. I wipe my eyes quickly so I can keep watching as the two caregivers lay runestones around Lada's body and chant a spell. Within seconds, a thin sheet of light seems to cover Lada's body from head to toe, settling on her gently. It lies there for a few seconds, then slowly fades to nothingness.

The spell obviously finished, Sen gestures to the Lieutenant, who rushes away quickly. The goblin Caregiver then steps up to Gimmir, a solemn look on her face. "Major, the preparations are complete. Lada's body will be preserved for the remainder of the trip back to Terra."

Gimmir nods, his helmet again clanking on his breastplate. "Thank you, Caregiver. Her guard will remain at her side until such time as we arrive at her home and can place her at rest."

With a nod of acceptance, Sen steps back and walks over to stand with the other senior officers. Gimmir turns to the honor guard and raises his right hand so it's level with his shoulder, palm downwards in front of him. As he does, the six honor guard turn to Lada and raise their hands to mirror his, their palms above her. They stand there, unmoving, even after he lowers his arm.

As Gimmir continues to stand there, facing Lada's body, Simon gestures to those of us following him and walks over to the other senior officers. When we get there, I can see all of them are wearing dress uniforms. Tanna and Tofi are actively crying, while Herion and Aelon are standing quietly with them.

I turn to Simon. I don't say anything, but I think he can tell that I have a question because he turns toward Lada and starts talking. "It was Gimmir's idea. Lada Axesmith has been a member of the Corsari longer than anyone else on-ship. She was already the Chief of Security when Cap took over. She was already here when Gimmir became Battalion Major, and when I first joined the battalion all those years ago. She's been on this ship for over sixty years. She loved this ship and knew everything about it. She deserves to be regarded with full honors."

As his words answer my questions, I follow his gaze to the fallen Chief of Security and feel tears in my eyes again. I'll never shed enough of them to make her sacrifice okay. All those years as Chief of Security, and the first time she runs security for me becomes the last time she ever will. She died to protect me.

Slowly, I walk over to Lada and stand at her head, looking over her. The spell Sen cast over her body removed the black mark from the side of her head where the lightning bolt hit. To look at her now, she seems to just be sleeping. It's enough to make me want to start crying again.

Leaning over her, I kiss her forehead gently, and whisper to her. "Thank you, Lada. I'm not sure I deserved what you gave for me, but thank you for protecting me. I'll miss you. We all will."

That said, I stand up and walk back to the group. Tears start to fill my vision, and I almost run right into Tanna when I can't see any longer. She wraps her arms around me, and we hold each other while we cry on each other's shoulder for an unknown amount of time.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Every time I think we can start prepping for launch, Deputy Dreamfeather requests another 'interview session' with me, or with Kesn, or with both of us. As expected, the information coming from the politicians from both sides is badly contradictory. Then again, I'm not entirely sure she's asking us questions to use our testimony as a 'neutral third-party', but instead to try to make us say something that's going to mark us as implicit in the entire situation.

She asks for me to arrive on my own today, having seen Kesn just the night before. I meet her outside of the Justice Committee building as usual, and she leads me through the halls without speaking. After a few minutes, she opens an office door and gestures me inside, and I walk around the single table to take a chair on the far side of the room while she closes the door and takes a seat across from me.

At least we've finally upgraded to a room with an outside window. The initial room we were questioned in had only a door and four solid walls. One of the walls had the outline of a scry window on it, but all we saw was more of the wall. The window was obviously one-way only and blocked our view back out. This room doesn't have an obvious scry window in it, and feels a little more comfortable, but the look on Dreamfeather's face hasn't changed much.

I don't think Deputy Dreamfeather likes me very much. I suppose that's fine with me, since I don't really like her very much either.

I sigh from my seat on my side of the small table. "Look, Deputy. The change of venue is nice, but I don't understand why you keep pulling me in here. You know the UCST is happy to help you with your investigation, which is why my ship and crew are still sitting on the docking pad instead of launching for Terra. But..."

She flips pages in a book without looking up at me. "The Justice Committee appreciates the UCST's help in our investigation, Commander. But there are still some questions that we're not fully convinced we're getting the proper answers to." Stopping on a page, she runs her fingers over some written notes, then stops and looks up at me.

"According to multiple members of the trade delegation, there were professional assassins hired for the killings of Sharya Watertracker, Gorgan Gemcrusher, and their bodyguards. Obviously, the dwarf..." She coughs, looks down at the book, then looks back up at me. "I mean, the folk under suspicion for the hiring of these supposed assassins are denying this claim. However, the claim from all of the delegates is that your Ambassador, likely under your orders, sent out a message claiming that these professionals were sent after you on your ship and were killed in the attempt."

Her eyes narrow as she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms on her chest. "Now, from the initial assassination report, we know that the assassins came in through your room and poisoned you on the way to killing the others. Based on this, we're curious. Why would these so-called 'professional assassins' go through _your_ room? Further, why would they _not_ kill you the first time, when they had an obvious opportunity, and instead try to infiltrate your ship later? That just seems like an overall bad plan for a professional!"

I smile as I lean back in my chair, kicking my legs out straight to stretch them. One thing I do actually like about Dreamfeather is that she's really not very good at her job. Now, in most situations, that would irritate me to no end. But in this one, it actually helps me out. She already questioned Kesn about some of these points yesterday, and Kesn gave me a full report of what she gave as answers.

So I can simply continue to tweak the story that Kesn already started giving, which is that she 'didn't see any assassins or hear about them, since she's not in the on-ship command chain, and simply wrote that message under my orders'. That gives me a lot of room to work with.

Once my legs are stretched and I've had a second to think of my reply, I sit back up and lean my elbows on the table in front of me, keeping the smile. "As you know, Deputy, we have no idea why the assassins went through my room. We think they thought it was empty, since the rest of my team was still out at dinner at the time. I had come back early because I wasn't feeling well. We think they were already hiding in my room, or right outside of the window, when I came in. After I went to sleep, they poisoned me to keep with their plans, and either the poison was improperly dosed or didn't work well since I was already feeling sick."

I move my hands in 'opening' and 'accepting' gestures as I speak, giving the impression that I'm being as forthright as I can possibly be as I share the information. It's a subtle trick, but it helps in these kinds of situations. "When my Chief of Security received access from your office to the initial report on the assassinations, we determined from the details that the assassins were professionals. From that, I came up with the plan to say that the assassins had been killed coming for the ship.

"I already knew that someone was trying to kill me as well, from the attack in the hallway of the residence building, so it seemed like my death would help to push along someone's agenda. I hadn't reported that attack, specifically so it wasn't common knowledge. The only folk that would know about the professional assassins _and_ the attempt to have me shot were either on my team or the culprits of the entire assassination plot. So I used that knowledge as a ploy to force their hands."

Sitting back, I lower my eyes and drop my hands into my lap with a sigh. "Obviously, we don't have any bodies of any assassins. As you said, it would be very unprofessional to attack my ship like that. And, with what happened to my Chief of Security... I wish I hadn't done it at all. Lada was a dear friend. Even though it did work and allowed me to arrest the delegates, it came at a cost that was almost too high."

I hear the scribbling of a pen and risk raising my eyes to look across the table. Dreamfeather is writing furiously in her book, but doesn't seem to have a distrustful or angry look on her face. I drop my eyes again to resume my sad and demure expression and wait quietly.

After a few seconds, I hear her voice. "I think I understand now. Thank you, Commander. I'm sorry for your loss, but I think your trick may have worked. As I said, we've had a number of delegates from both sides agree that there were professional assassins. In fact, the elf that tried to kill you and instead killed your security chief was quick to tell us about a lot of things, including the dwarf..."

Again, she coughs with a long blink before opening her eyes again to look at me. "The _folk_ responsible for paying him to shoot you. We trust much of his testimony, which includes the professional assassins, the scheme to use the assassinations to increase all of the salaries on both sides by a large amount, and the details about a quiet discussion where certain folk lamented their failure to shoot you themselves."

That said, she closes her book and narrows her eyes again. "Don't misunderstand me, however. What you did was reckless, as proven by the death of your friend. Additionally, failing to report the shooting in the residence hall was a violation of our rules, and we will be sending a violation report to the UCST Admiralty. I expect their censure of your actions to be thorough."

I lower my eyes again and nod along, appearing sad and disappointed but actually trying hard not to break a smile. While she's right that it was reckless, and I'll never forgive myself for what happened to Lada, it was obviously the right thing to do. It sounds like _everyone_ was complicit in the overall assassination plot, in one form or another. It'll still take some time to sort everything out, but that's in the hands of the Justice Committee now.

The obnoxiously aggressive and slightly incapable hands of Deputy Dreamfeather, to be precise. I wonder if that will be enough, or if she'll actually find a way to screw up the investigation so that folk walk free without repercussions. I should make a request to the Admiralty myself to have someone keep an eye on this situation.

A few seconds of silence fill the room, then are broken when I hear Dreamfeather's chair sliding across the floor. I look up again to see her stand, closing the book and picking it up in her right hand. "Commander, I think we're done questioning you and your crew. We now seem to have all of the answers we need from you. Your ship is free to return to Terra and your duties with the UCST. If we do have any more questions that come up, we'll send along a message."

A small smile appears on my face as I stand. "Thank you, Deputy. I appreciate your work in this matter, and am glad we were able to assist." I reach my right hand across the table, and she fumbles with her book to move it to her left hand before reaching her right hand out to shake mine. I'd never admit to anyone that I did that on purpose, but I absolutely did.

With no more words, she escorts me out of the Justice Committee building and I walk from there to the aerialcraft. The trip back to the docking pad takes about twenty minutes, but it's very relaxing knowing I won't have to deal with Deputy Dreamfeather any longer. Even the violation report they'll send won't cause me too many problems. Well, I suppose Admiral Longbow could get it, and then I might spend a day listening to him chew me out about it, but that's likely the very worst that would happen.

I walk back into the ship and go straight to the Admiral's quarters on level six. Tapping the door charm, I wait patiently for a few seconds before a young girl's voice comes to me through the door. "Excuse me! Who's there?"

A smile appears on my face when I hear Tishani's voice. "It's Rylae. You can open the door."

The door disappears and the young pink-haired elf girl runs out to grab me in a hug. "Rylae! Can we leave the room yet? I've been stuck in here _forever_! I want to see the ship!"

I look into the room to see Maeral sitting at the table, wearing a simple blue shirt and comfortable-looking black pants. He looks at the back of his sister's head and shakes his as he pushes himself up from the chair to walk over. "Sis, you need to be more patient. As soon as we leave..."

I wave my hand to cut him off. "Actually, everything's resolved as of today. You'll be happy to know that you weren't killed after all."

He stops a few steps from me, and his face hardens. "What do you mean?"

I shrug and can't keep the smile from my face as I giggle a bit. "Well, it turns out I completely made up that entire story about the professional assassins that tried to infiltrate the ship. I knew you existed, so I made you a boogeyman in my own story to tell to the trade delegates. Since I've never actually seen you due to you being too professional to actually attempt to infiltrate my ship, you couldn't have been killed and we can't have your bodies. It's funny how all that works."

His eyes grow wide as he looks at me. Even Tishani steps back from me and looks up, her dark green eyes sparkling with her surprise. After a second, she laughs and runs to hug her brother. "Maeral! We're not dead! I told you Rylae would take care of everything! You should have believed me!"

He wraps his arms around his sister as his face softens again. "You're right, Sis. I should have. I'm sorry I didn't."

Now that my arms are free, I pull my communicator from my pocket and call Tanna, speaking when her head appears. "Hey. Can you send out a communication to everyone that we have two travelers on our ship – a brother and sister? They have full traveler access to the ship now. Also, we're going to launch tomorrow, if you can get that prepared."

Her green head nods. "Can do, boss. I guess that meeting with Deputy Bitch went well?"

I giggle even more at Tanna's nickname for Dreamfeather. I can always count on my best friend for a laugh. "Yeah, we're finally done with the questions. Seems she actually finally believes me! So we're free to go."

She nods again. "About time! I'll get Aelon and Tofi started on their preparations. But, why tomorrow? Why not immediately?"

I shrug. It's not that visible through the communicator, since Tanna can't see my shoulders, but it's a habit. "I thought we'd go out to eat tonight. Get everyone together again for another dinner at The Lake Master's Retreat. I could do with some water lizard."

She smiles. "I'll get everyone together. See you in a couple hours!"

When her head disappears, I pocket the communicator and look over to see Maeral and Tishani looking at me. Tishani looks sad, her shoulders drooping and her mouth curved into a frown. I let her stay like that for a few seconds, then smile at her. "So, since you two aren't killed and can't be professional assassins since I apparently made that story up, do you want to go out to dinner with us?"

Tishani screeches and jumps happily in place for a few seconds. When she stops, she looks at me and smiles. "Thanks, Rylae! I'm going to go start getting ready!" Before either of us can stop her and tell her that dinner isn't for a few more hours, she rushes off into the washroom and I can hear the water start running.

Maeral looks over to the washroom door and chuckles, then turns back to me. "I guess it's okay. We can use the extra time anyway. I want to make a quick trip to a local clerk we use to have him get me some cash. If everyone's getting together for dinner, I'm going to need a lot of it. I'm buying tonight. You and your crew have done a lot for us. I owe you this, for a start."

I hear what he says, but I also hear some of what he _doesn't_ say there at the end, and that changes my response slightly. Instead of being completely happy, I remember exactly what he owes me for. My mood drops noticeably, and I nod. "Thanks, Maeral. Maybe during the trip back to Terra, we can talk. I can see you're not a bad guy, but..."

He turns away as I drift off. "Yeah, I know. I'm sure we'll have time to talk. I really am sorry."

I nod, unable to reply again to this line of discussion right now. The way he used me still hurts, but maybe I can at least get past it for my own sake. After a few seconds of silence, I turn towards the door. "I'll come back in an hour or so. I can give you the quick 'traveler's tour' of the ship before you go to your clerk. Then we can meet at the restaurant."

I step out of the room and hear his voice move closer. "That sounds like a good plan. See you in an hour." His voice fades out behind me as the door closes, and I turn to go to my own quarters.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

After we launch, my days shift into a fairly regular routine. I spend part of the day in my quarters writing reports about the mission, then grab food in the mess hall, then part of the day in the Operational Discussion Chamber writing reports about the mission. After another stop in the mess hall for a second meal, I then visit Lada in the hospital ward.

It's the sixth day after launch, with about a week to go before we reach Terra, when I walk into the hospital ward and see Herion standing near Lada's body. I keep a respectful distance, waiting until he's done. After a minute or two, he turns to leave and sees me. A bit surprised, he snaps into a salute.

I salute back and smile. "Don't mind me, LC. Sorry I startled you."

He shakes his head. "It's no problem, Commander. I just wasn't expecting you there. I've started feeling better again after the whole launch-cutting-me-off-from-the-mana thing, and had a training session with LC Axesmith on my schedule. I went down to the training room before I remembered, so I decided to come up here instead."

The thought of Lada's training sessions stabs me in my heart, and I release a slow breath. "Sorry about that, LC. I guess I should have been more proactive about clearing out her schedule. I just..." I drift off as my eyes shift to look past him to Lada again.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn back to see Herion standing next to me. "I know, Commander. I saw you in here every day while I was recuperating. I'm not really surprised to see you today, either, although I didn't realize we'd run into each other here." He stops and looks away, as if he's realized he's rambling, then looks back. "What I mean is, I know you're still not really okay with this. All of the senior officers do. It's okay."

I nod along, not really listening. But a second later, what he said hits me and I stop nodding. "Did you just say that all the senior officers know? Are you all talking about me?"

His eyes go wide. "No! Well, I mean, yes, but it was an official meeting! Commander Aldamiel called everyone together yesterday when she knew you were in your quarters and we talked about it. Well, they talked about it more than I did. I don't really know any of you well enough yet to talk about it. But everyone else was talking about it, and..."

I shake my head and sigh. "Okay, LC. I got it. Thank you. Slow down a bit. No need to panic."

Herion shuts up fast, then takes a deep breath as his eyes go back to a normal size. "Sorry, Commander. Anyway, all the senior officers were talking about it. Well, the Major didn't say a whole lot. Neither did the Master Sergeant, but he doesn't really talk much anyway, does he? But, everyone else talked about it and agreed that they don't blame you for what happened. They know you're taking it hard, though."

My eyes slide back over to Lada. "Of course I'm taking it hard. Lada died because of me; because of choices I made; because of my decisions and my orders. Everyone can say they don't blame me, but that doesn't stop it from being my fault."

He steps forward and turns to face me, walking into my field of vision. "Commander, you need to stop that. You didn't shoot her. Some greedy elf pulled the trigger. You couldn't control that." I open my mouth to tell him that my actions led to that, but he stops me. "No, you _couldn't_ control that. That was his choice to point a spellshooter at the Ambassador. _Then_ it was your choice to save her by knocking her out of the way. Then it was LC Axesmith's choice to save _you_ by knocking _you_ out of the way."

Herion squats down slightly to look me in the eyes. "The only choice you had control of was the one you made, just as LC Axesmith had control over the choice she made. You can't change what happened, and you can only change the future for the choices you can control."

As he finishes saying this, he blinks and jumps back to his feet. "Oh. Um... Sorry, Commander. I... um... I think I thought you were one of my kids for a second. I didn't mean to lecture you! I'm terribly sorry for that."

I blink at him for a second, then burst into laughter. It takes me a minute to calm down enough to catch my breath, but I'm still laughing as I try to respond. "I'm not mad, LC! That's incredibly funny! I thought you were _my_ Father for a second, there!"

I'm about to say more when I hear a female goblin voice yelling across the hospital ward. "Hey! Enough of that laughter! This is a hospital! Quiet down or I'll come over there and rip your arms off and attach them back to the wrong sides!"

Herion's eyes go wide as he turns to see Sen standing across the room, staring at us. He jumps and salutes. "Sorry, Caregiver! I'm leaving now!" Without another word, he bolts from the room.

I turn to look at Sen, who starts laughing herself as she walks over. "I love watching them run! So much fun!" When she gets to me, she stops laughing and smacks me across the face. "You, though! You need to listen to what that kid was telling you. You come in here every day, sulking over a dead dwarf. Sure, she was a great woman, but get over yourself!"

She smacks me across the face again before I can stop her, then walks away. I stand there stunned for a minute, then look over at Lada. Not sure what exactly to think anymore, I turn and walk out of the room.

I'm still stunned by Herion's and Sen's words – and the two slaps to the face – when I finally stop moving and find myself standing in front of Lada's training room. I look around and try to get my brain to work, but all I can remember about my thought process for coming down here was that I had to cancel her scheduled sessions. For some reason, I guess my feet thought it was best to do that from here. I stand in the hall and look through the opening into the training room for a minute, then walk inside.

It's obvious that no one has been in here for weeks. With Lada spending most of her time off-ship with us in the meetings, there hadn't been any training sessions, so no real need for her to be here. She probably hadn't even checked her desk during the nights we were on-ship. It wasn't really her style to be sitting in here when there was lots of gossip to be learned everywhere else on-ship.

Walking to her desk, I sit down and look through it. She never kept anything on top of it, since it has had folk thrown on top of it many times and been used as a barricade many other times. In the drawers, I find some paper and scrolls, but nothing really important. Mostly checklists and training notes which she would have translated into terminal-held reports.

I find one drawer full of what look like personal effects, and I close it quickly. I should see if Gimmir wants to look through Lada's things before I do anything else. Those two were really close. There might be some things in her possessions that he'd rather keep for himself. He'd also know what should go back to her family.

As I'm sitting there looking through things, I hear a knocking sound come from the doorway. I look up to see Tanna standing there, her fist rapping against the wall by the door. When she sees me notice her, she walks in and plops into the chair on the other side of Lada's desk.

"Sen called me after she chewed you out. Said she slapped you pretty hard, too. Once she told me what she said, and what Herion said, and that you didn't stay with Lada... well, I kinda had a feeling you'd be down here. And here you are." She grins lopsidedly. "I guess my skills at Executive-Officer-style mind reading are getting a little better."

I chuckle a bit and smile back at her. "Yeah, you've been a pretty good XO. I'm glad you were around to help me through most of this stuff."

She shrugs. "I didn't do anything but take care of the ship while you were working. And, ya know, as part of that whole 'taking care of the ship' thing, it's really supposed to be _my_ job to clean out Lada's calendar and messages and workspace, not yours. So it's really _my_ fault that it hasn't been done yet."

I shake my head. "No, it's still mine. In a week, we'll all revert back to who we were before this mission, and the job of cleaning up these messes comes back to me. I shouldn't shirk the responsibility."

She looks over the room, then back to me. "That's all true, I suppose. But, for the next week until we do 'revert'..." She winks and puts that lopsided grin back on. "Why don't you let your trusted temporary XO clean things up for you while you finish with your temporary Captain duties?"

I shrug and turn away from her. "I've been writing reports for days. I need something else to do to clear my mind."

I hear her click her tongue. "Well, I hate to tell ya, girl, but this is the exact opposite of clearing your mind! You're just muddying it all up again!"

I sigh without a response. I don't have one, because she's right. Of course she is! Coming down here to work more on Lada's stuff isn't going to help me clear my head from thinking about Lada!

I'm still staring at the wall when I hear her speak again. "Okay, Rylae. I've been your best friend for long enough to know what you need. There's only two things that get you out of a funk like this, and there aren't any dance clubs in the starfield. So, get over here and fight me."

My chin drops just enough that my mouth pops open in surprise, and I'm glad I'm facing the wall so Tanna can't see it! I close my mouth and turn to see her no longer sitting in the chair but instead standing on the edge of the training mat. I tilt my head to the side and give her a questioning glance, but she just waves me over.

Still unsure what to say, I get up and walk over to stand in front of her on the mat. She grabs me by my shoulders and moves me more to the center of the mat, then takes a handful of steps backwards. Without any warning, she starts to run at me with her fists clenched, pulling her right fist back to her shoulder to swing at me.

I take a half-step to my left and twist to move outside of her swing, bringing my left arm up. As I do, I put my right foot out in front of her legs. When she punches, my left arm pushes her punching arm farther inside and away from me. A half-step later, her running leg connects with my right foot, causing her to trip and fall forward. She lands flat on her face in a heap on the mat.

I look at my friend lying flat on her face on the mat and start laughing. "Tanna, I love you to death, but I really don't think fighting you is going to help me work out any frustrations. It's not really much of a fight, after all."

Pushing herself to her feet, she fixes her hair a bit and readjusts her breasts in her uniform before turning to me with a sour look on her face. "I tried! You know I'm not good at this kind of thing! And you're one of the best fighters on the ship! Lada always yelled at me for not letting you teach me anything since you already knew so much!"

I shrug in response. "I guess that's as much my fault as yours, really. I knew you weren't interested so I never really considered trying to teach you anything. Besides, I might not be a very good teacher."

Tanna just huffs and stands there. "You can at least show me what you just did to make me fall on my face! I didn't give you enough time at all to prepare anything!"

I shrug and stand in front of her. "You gave me all kinds of time. Your punch was so obvious that I didn't need to know anything else. All I did was push you to the side and let you trip over my foot. You really did the rest by yourself. Here. Stand like this." I grab her shoulders and move her to straighten her up.

"Now, when I come at you to punch you, you'll move to the side like this," I say as I twist her body to the side like mine was, "then lift your arm like this," as I move her left arm vertically. "When I swing my fist, push your left arm into my punching arm. It knocks me away from you. You can add the foot later when you're better at this."

She nods as she practices spinning herself from one side to the other for a second, then stands and faces me. "Ok. I'm ready."

I take a step back. "Okay. I'm not going to run, just punch. Just do what I showed you. Ready?"

She nods, so I ball my fist and bring it to my shoulder, telegraphing my punch so she can't miss it. When I swing, she moves to the side, but not quite far enough. When she brings her arm up, it's right in the way of my fist and I hit her arm gently.

"Ow!" She shakes her left arm.

I shake my head. "I barely tapped you! But, you tried. Want to try again?"

She nods, so we go through the exercise a few more times. After a bit, she finally gets out of the way of my punch and pushes her arm against mine to deflect it. I smile and give her a hug, which makes her laugh. "That's more positive reinforcement than I ever got out of Lada! Thanks, girl!"

Hearing Lada's name makes me sigh again. I guess that little bit of fighting didn't clear my head after all. Tanna feels me sigh while we're hugging and pushes me away. "Damn. Okay, I'm not good enough. Got it. What's that platoon leader's name that had a thing for you? You told me she was a pretty good fighter. I'll call and have her come down here and kick your ass for you!"

She already has her communicator out of her pocket and is calling Gimmir before I can stop her. Dragons be damned!

# CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

For the entire last week of travel back to Terra, Sen won't let me in the hospital ward at all. She allows me one final visit to Lada, but then bans me from coming back in until we dock.

I end up spending most of my time, once reports and eating have been taken care of, in the training room with some senior officer or another. The initial sparring match that Tanna set up with Alayna lasted for about three hours, and we tired each other out quite a bit. I don't know exactly when Tanna disappeared, but I'm sure it was well before the first hour was over. Neither Alayna nor I spoke much, but we fought like near-wolves after the same mate during mating season. That couldn't have been interesting for Tanna to watch.

Every day after that, I get to the training room to find another officer to spar with. I work with Herion on some basic moves like Lada was teaching him. Kesn and I work on her reaction time to certain defensive commands. Tofi decides to work on some wrestling moves, and that little dwarf woman is incredibly difficult to hold down! Sen brings her own practice flail with her to the training room, and that match doesn't go well for either of us.

Aelon shows up and offers to spar, but that match ends quickly. I step in with a training dagger to attack, and he wraps me up in a choke hold. Everything seems to be going well, until his hands start moving farther down than my neck. Once they're on my breasts and I feel him pushing up against my back, I quickly break his hold and push away. He _never_ would have _dared_ to touch Lada like that, but I guess a few months without Tanna has been too much for him. I recommend we switch to target practice, and he actually agrees rather quickly. I guess it was as uncomfortable for him as it was for me.

On the last day, Simon meets me in the training room. I walk in to see him standing there with two training swords on his weapon belt. He turns to me and nods, then turns away. I know this isn't going to be easy, so I grab my weapon belt and load it with two daggers on the left and a practice spellshooter on the right. I also load a few small practice darts in the pouch on the back.

When I turn back from the weapon cabinet to face him, Simon's nowhere to be seen. I immediately drop into a crouch and press myself against the wall next to the weapon cabinet, limiting the options from which he can attack me. I wait quietly for a few seconds, watching all the approaches I can, before leaning forward and looking around the front of the weapon cabinet.

The slight rush of air is the only warning I have, and I barely pull my head back in time before the blade of a training sword slices through the space my head was just in. I launch to my feet and jump to the side as the sword-wielding goblin steps in front of where I was and stabs into the space I was just occupying.

I pick myself up from the ground where I landed and pull my parrying dagger, barely getting it out and in front of me before one of the training swords is coming down at me. I catch the blade and push it to my left. It's then that I notice that I caught his left-hand blade, and pushing it to my left tangles up his other attack. I got lucky there, but I need to use it.

With my right hand, I pass up my spellshooter and reach for the pouch at my back, pulling a dart. As I do, I step forward and to my right, coming up on his left side past his tangled training blade. I swing my arm around and jab at his shoulder with the dart.

Simon's too fast for me, though. He figures out what I'm doing and steps forward himself, moving his shoulder past my swing and out of the way. His sword also comes free when he pushes forward on my dagger, and I have to spin around behind his back to face him again.

He stands there with both swords in front of him, crossed at the tips in front of his face as he holds them at an angle. Neither of us move as I wait for a physical tell that he's going to attack. After a few seconds, I don't see one, and I move on instinct instead. Dropping to my right knee, I throw the dart in my right hand at him. Once my hand is free, I reach for the spellshooter.

He moves as soon as my body shifts, anticipating my movements. His left-hand blade smacks away the training dart, and his right-hand blade comes down at my left knee, below my dagger. It connects hard and pushes me farther to my right side before I can get my spellshooter out of the holster. I land on my side, my hand still on the holstered weapon, as both of his blades come down to my face, stopping a centimeter from my nose.

Simon nods. "End. You're dead, Commander."

I take a deep breath to steady my breathing, then nod. "I am. Good fight, Master Sergeant."

He puts the training swords back on his belt and reaches a hand down to help me up. As I take it, he nods. "Good enough, I suppose. There was only one of you, after all. Maybe if there were three of you, it would have been a difficult match."

He pulls me to my feet and I can't help but smile at his comment. "Well, I never did expect to beat you. I'm just glad I lasted as long as I did."

He nods again, looking at me closely. "Lada would say similar things, except our fights would go on for much longer. Then again," he looks over my shoulder toward her desk, then back to my face, "she already knew all of my moves. You don't. So you actually did really well."

I nod at the compliment. From Simon, that actually does mean quite a lot. He's long held the title of best fighter on the Corsari, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could take the title of best fighter in the UCST. We should hold a tournament some time to find out.

It's a second later that I process his comments about Lada, and my mood shifts again. I turn to look over at the desk and feel my shoulders sag. Right as I do, I feel a training sword hit me hard in my left shoulder. With a yelp of pain, I turn and face my attacker.

Simon's standing there, but both of his blades are still on his belt. Damn that goblin is fast! He nods and looks me squarely in the face. "You're not the only one that misses her, but get the hell over it. The only one on this ship that deserves to be grieving like that is Gimmir, and he isn't. You don't deserve that amount of grief. So get past it."

His words strike me hard in the chest, and I stagger backwards for a step. I've never heard Simon say anything like that before!

He nods in acknowledgement of a scored hit and speaks again. "You need to go back to your job and find a replacement for Lada's post. It can't stay empty for long. There's a few folk in the battalion that would be a good fit for it, including LC Rhuviel. The only elf on this ship that's a better fighter than Rhuviel is you. But you need to go back to being the XO and find yourself a new senior officer."

I shake my head slowly. "Tanna's still the XO and said she's supposed to be working on it."

He nods. "Then go back to being the Captain and get her to _start_ working on it."

I shake my head slightly faster. "Being the Captain got Lada killed. I'm not so sure I want to be the Captain anymore."

The words shock me as they come out of my mouth. I didn't realize I felt like that until I just now said the words. However, once I hear them I realize that they are exactly how I feel. I've been focused on Lada's death because I know that I got her killed, and on my first mission as a temporary Captain. If being a Captain is going to get my friends killed, then maybe I don't want to do it anymore.

Simon continues looking at me, his expression unchanging. "If you want my opinion, I think that's an incredibly cowardly decision on your part. But it's your choice to make. Unfortunately, until then, you still have work to do, and one of those things that needs to be done is to fill the position of Chief of Security before Cap gets back on this ship. Someone needs to organize training sessions and get to know the security officers and bodyguard-capable crew before our next mission. That's just the way it has to be."

I'm still stunned at what I just said, but I nod along with what Simon says. I know he realizes I'm not listening when he steps up to me and puts his hands on my shoulders as he puts his dark green face in front of mine. "Rylae. We dock this ship in less than two days. When we do, Cap and Admiral Shockpaw are likely going to have things ready to go back to Stenchstone. They're going to need the ship ready immediately. You need to work on that. You have no choice right now."

I take a breath and let his words sink in. He's right. I need to get things done. We'll be preparing to dock in about one day. I should get prepared for that. I also need to... dragons be damned. "I need to tell Cap about Lada before we dock. I'll have to call him after we talk to Ground Control."

Simon nods. "It's already taken care of. Gimmir's going to call Cap. Tanna's already worked out the details with the Science team. You just need to focus on the things you need to focus on. That includes pushing Tanna to work on filling the Chief of Security position, if you're not going to do it. But, as temporary Captain for the next two days, you need to get back to your job and make sure this ship is ready for another mission."

As he tells me these things, I realize exactly how much I've fallen behind on normal ship details. I haven't been checking Tanna's reports, or even verifying with her that everything is fine like Cap would with me. I've been writing the reports about the trade meeting mission, but I haven't been doing anything else. I've been completely out of the loop on everything.

I've been a terrible Commander Westiel, and an overall horrible Rylae.

He must see it in my expression, because he removes his hands from my shoulders and steps back. "Good. You're starting to pull yourself together. There are things that need to be done, and you need to do them. You can't walk away from everything like this. You're better than that." With those words said, he turns on his heel and walks from the training room.

I stare out the door at the emptiness in the hallway for a minute, then sigh and start to put away my training weapons. Right now, I don't really feel like I'm better than that at all, actually. But, if Simon says that I am, then I probably am. Simon's usually right, after all.

Once my weapons are away, I walk up to my quarters and go into the washroom to clean myself off. Once I'm washed, dried and have a clean uniform on, I look at my reflection for a while and think about the conversation with Simon. As I do, I realize a few things.

I realize that I really _don't_ feel like I'm better than that. I feel like a terrible officer who got a good friend and competent officer killed. I don't clean messes, I create them.

I realize that, deep down, I _am_ feeling like a coward. Not so much a coward that doesn't stand up for herself, but one that's afraid of making the wrong decisions. One that's afraid to order other folk around and put their lives in danger through my choices.

I realize that, for the first time since young Rylae wrote 'Captain Rylae Westiel' in the gazebo over a hundred years ago, I'm second-guessing my choice to be a starship captain.

But, I also realize that Simon was right, and I do have certain things that are expected of me right now. I have to complete those things, even if they're the last things I complete. Reaching for my communicator, I call Tanna.

Her green head appears. "Hey, girl."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Hey, Tanna. Listen, have you done any work regarding the open Chief of Security position?"

I hear her take a deep breath and slowly let it out as I open my eyes again. "No, I haven't. I've never filled a position that high before. I was hoping you could help me through it. But, I know you haven't been yourself recently, so I haven't wanted to bring it up. It's still an open item on my to-do list."

I nod. I was expecting an answer like that, after all. I can't imagine Tanna to have been one to fill that without telling me, even if she was avoiding talking about it with me to protect me from it. "In that case, maybe we can work on it tomorrow. We'll need to look through some personnel records, and..."

I watch Tanna's head shake side-to-side. "No-can-do, boss. We're starting docking procedures in about five hours, and I need to get a nap before we do that. We're going to have to wait until we dock to start working on it. Is that okay? Won't we need to bring someone on from the Admiralty anyway, like you did with Herion and Kesn?"

A reply starts to come out of my mouth, but I stop it. There's no real point in arguing if she's too busy to really think about it right now. I know what docking can be like, after all. I did it myself for nine years. I fake a smile. "We won't necessarily need to, but you're right that it can wait. You do what you need to do. But, if you don't mind, I'm going to start working on some things from here."

She nods and cuts the call. I look at my table, with my terminal charm on the side, and sigh as I think about going through personnel records. But, instead of stepping toward it, I turn and leave my quarters to go to the mess hall instead.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

I'm sitting in my quarters, still avoiding looking through personnel records on my terminal, when my door chimes. I walk over and touch the charm, and am surprised to see a tall handsome elf standing in my doorway. I glance around him, but his sister doesn't seem to be anywhere nearby. I look back at his face with a question in my eyes.

Maeral looks back at me with concern in his. "Your friend, the other Commander. The one with the brown hair and oversized chest. I don't remember her name. Anyway, she said you must be in here."

I nod, still not quite sure where he's going with this. His concerned expression grows as his brow furrows at my response. "Well, I'm not normally one to tell someone what is and isn't their job, but normally the Captain of the ship escorts their travelers out when they're docked, especially if they're supposed to be friends with the travelers in question. It's been a few hours now, so I was wondering."

My body freezes, except for blinking. We're docked already? Why do I not already know this? I always know when we're docked! I'm usually the one in charge of it! But, for the first time in the years I've been on the Corsari, the ship docked without my knowing it, and apparently that was hours ago.

Tanna would have sent a message informing everyone when we docked, but I haven't checked those, either. Every time I thought about checking my terminal, I thought about going through personnel files, and I brushed it off again. I haven't really been doing _anything_ with my time. Mostly just sitting around.

My mind finishes processing my shock as Maeral's expression hardens and his tone becomes more serious. "I understand. I'll go retrieve Tishani from the mess hall and we'll escort ourselves out. Sorry to have troubled you, Commander." As he turns away and takes a step, I hear him mutter under his breath, "Sorry to have assumed there was still a chance at friendship, too."

I step out of my room before I can stop myself and drop my hand on his shoulder. "Wait!" He stops, and I catch my breath. "Wait. I'm sorry. That's not the problem. Let me change my shoes and I'll walk you out."

I turn back in and kick my ship shoes off while reaching for my outside uniform shoes. Ship shoes are great if you're not going outside – they're practically nothing more than fancy slippers, after all – but the real grey-and-blue uniform shoes can actually stand up to the elements. I slip my feet in and buckle the clasps, then walk out of my room and close the door.

He's turned to me, still looking at me with his serious expression, which causes me to sigh and shake my head. "I'm sorry, Maeral. I honestly didn't know we had docked yet. I've..." I try to find words to express myself, but I fail. After a second of silence, I stumble upon words that will work, even if they're not nearly good enough, "...been elsewhere in my head."

He nods, and I can see his features relax slightly. "So you haven't just been avoiding me?"

I shake my head lightly to either side. "Not intentionally. I'm sorry we haven't talked like I promised."

Shrugging, he turns and walks slowly next to me toward the mess hall. "That's fine. Tishani's been asking about you from the folk in the mess hall, and has latched onto one girl with blue hair who works in there. She told Sis that you've been taking your friend's death pretty hard. I've been disappointed that we haven't been able to talk, but of course I understand."

I nod without turning to look at him. "Thanks."

We finish the short walk to the mess hall without any more conversation. Inside, I can see the staff busy with cleaning and inventory. In the far corner of the seating area, I see a young pink-haired elf talking to an older-but-still-young blue-haired elf. We change direction slightly to walk over to them.

Halfway there, Romara notices me and stands to snap into a salute. When she does, Tishani turns and sees us, then darts across the remaining space faster than I can blink to slam into me for a hug. "Rylae! You came! Romara said you've been upset and I was scared you wouldn't come out to see us!"

I hug Tishani back quickly, then throw a fast salute to Romara. I see her grab a couple bags from the chairs they were sitting near as I turn to the girl at my side. "I'm sorry I didn't get to see you much during the trip. I didn't realize so much time was passing. I owe you one later, okay?"

The girl looks up at me with her dark green eyes and grins while nodding. "I'll make you pay up, too! You'll have to come see us at our new house! Then I can trap you there and make you spend time with us!"

I don't immediately have a response to that, so Tishani turns and punches her brother in his gut. "Maeral! You didn't tell her? What's wrong with you?!"

I can tell the punch didn't hurt Maeral in the slightest, but he doubles over slightly and grunts anyway. "Sorry, Sis. We didn't talk much before we came down to get you two. It's only a short walk down the hall, after all."

Looking between the two of them makes me smile a little. They are pretty good siblings, after all. "What exactly was Maeral supposed to tell me?"

Tishani whips around to look at me, her pink hair flying. It wraps around back into her face, so she pushes it over her shoulder before smiling at me. "We're getting a house in Corsari! My big brother said we can stop working for a while, and we're going to move away from Melithas. That'll put us closer to Saeralyn, too, so I'll still have a friend there!"

Her happiness is infectious, and I smile with her even though I don't entirely feel happy. Turning from her to Maeral, I nod. "Stop working, huh?"

The male elf shrugs. "Like I said to you before, I was getting a bit tired of my job always coming first. Maybe I'll try something else for a bit. Or maybe I'll just stay at home and be on vacation. I'll have to look at our finances, but I can probably stay unemployed for about seventy years before I go broke."

Nodding, my smile turns a little more real. "I'm glad to hear that. Congratulations on the change. I hope it works out for you."

He smiles in response, but I'm not sure exactly how much of it is real. "Thanks. When we have everything ready, I'll send you a message so you can come visit the next time you come home to Tir Tairngire. If you want to, that is."

I don't have a response for that right now, so I turn back to Tishani. As I do, I see Romara enter my vision pulling two bags behind her. One is a medium-sized pink one, which obviously belongs to Tishani, and the other is a small black bag that's seen better days. I'm just about to assume that one belongs to Maeral when Tishani grabs hers and looks up at her brother. "I have our stuff! You ready too, Romara?"

Romara smiles at the younger girl and nods. "Ready to go." She turns to me and her smile fades. "Sorry, Commander. I wanted to tell you before, but you haven't been around like you used to be. I spoke with the Ambassador and Commander Aldamiel, and they told me your next mission is going to be a long one. Since I still have Academy classes to take, we agreed to let me off for this mission, and I'll join the ship again when you get back from it."

She looks in my eyes and shrugs. "It's a little different being on the Corsari, which doesn't have the same three-week shift schedule as the Terra-Tairngire did. I have to miss entire missions to be able to take classes now. The Commander and Ambassador said it would be fine, but I'm sorry I didn't ask you, too, since you were the one who saved me and brought me on your ship to begin with."

My shoulders droop at her revelation. I'm sad that she's leaving, of course, but I'm mostly destroyed anew that I've failed so much in my duties that Romara couldn't even tell me she was going back to Academy for a while. I try to smile anyway. "It's okay. It's my fault you haven't been able to find me easily, so don't feel bad about that. I'll miss you, but finishing your classes is more important. Hopefully you'll still want to join the ship again when we get back."

She smiles. "Of course I will! I'll bring some new recipes, too. These _terrible cooks in here_ ," her voice raises and she turns her head to look toward the mess hall staff as she says this, "will probably be screwing up the stews again anyway!"

The staff stops what they're doing to shout nasty responses back to her. One of them throws something which only makes it about halfway across the room and nowhere near Romara. After the yelling, everyone laughs and waves to her. She waves back as her smile grows.

She turns back to me with a shrug. "They're not bad folk. Terrible with spices, but not bad. I can't wait to see them again in a few months. You too, Commander."

Without responding, I wrap her in a tight hug. I feel her freeze up in my arms for a couple seconds, then slowly relax and wrap her arms around me to hug back. After a few more seconds, I step back. "I'll miss you too, Cadet, and you had better come back when you're ready. I'll expect you to be here and ready to work." I salute, causing Romara to snap into one as well. After a couple seconds of holding it, I drop my hand and let her relax.

Not wanting to drag the goodbyes out much longer, I turn to the door. "Well, let's get you folk off of the ship. You all have places to be, after all."

Taking the lead, I walk out of the mess hall and down to the door on level 2. When I open it, the staircase is already there, so I walk to the ground. Romara follows me out, with Tishani and Maeral right behind her. With another salute, Romara starts off towards the opposite end of the docking pad, leaving the siblings with me.

I spend a few seconds looking around. The weather's actually nice, and a good bit warmer than it was when we were last on Terra. Then again, even the snow on Terra is warmer than the icy breezes on Andriennein! Spring weather on Terra is like a nice dream in comparison!

I notice a few ships docked near us, but I don't see the Terra-Tairngire on its reserved docking pad. Turning to Maeral, I shrug. "I don't see your ship. Must be off-world right now. What will you two do in the meantime?"

Maeral shrugs with a small grin. "I'm sure we can find something to do without getting into too much trouble. There's this girl I know who lives here..." My eyebrows rise, and he chuckles. "Hey. _You're_ the one who originally told me I was a 'girl at every docking pad' type. I'm just making sure I live up to your expectations!"

I'm still wondering what to say to that when Tishani lets go of the bag and spins around to punch her brother in the gut again. "Maeral! I told you to be nice to Rylae! Telling her about Tamryn isn't very nice!" She punches him a second time as she continues. "Besides, Tamryn's terrible! You said you weren't going to see her anymore! Rylae's nicer, and you're supposed to be nicer back to her so she likes you again!"

Turning to me with a smile, Tishani brushes the hair out of her face and straightens her shoulders as she takes on a serious tone. "Commander, please excuse my idiot brother for his stupidity. I promise that he's not a bad guy, although his sense of humor is occasionally lacking."

Listening to her 'professional voice' come out as an apology for her brother makes me laugh. I wasn't expecting to, but I laugh rather hard. After a few seconds, Tishani breaks character and laughs with me as well. I reach out and grab her in a hug. "I'll forgive him for being an idiot, but only because you asked me to. He certainly doesn't deserve it on his own!" She hugs me back tightly for a few seconds before we split up.

I turn to Maeral, the smile still on my face. I think for a second about how I really feel, then decide it doesn't matter right now. I can figure it out later. For now, I can just let this be what it is – a goodbye between friends. I reach out my right hand. "Maeral. Take care of your sister."

He nods and takes my hand, shaking it. "I will. I'm sure Tishani will send you a message when we're sorted out at home. Maybe you'll still want to come visit when you get it."

Releasing his hand, I shrug. "I probably will. I still owe you some time to talk, after all. We'll see what happens."

He nods, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. "That's better than I was hoping for, so I'll take it. Take care, Rylae." Taking the bag from his sister, Maeral leads Tishani towards the landcraft storage area.

I watch them go while leaning against the staircase. When they're out of view, I lean there for a while longer, just looking out at the parts of Terra I can see from the docking pad. At some point, a large group of crew, I think from the battalion, leaves from the bay doors around the corner of the ship, and I watch as they run off toward the landcraft storage area.

When six large vehicles drive up to the bay doors, and I notice some of the same crew I had just seen leaving jump out of them, my curiosity peaks and I push myself off the stairs to walk around the ship. When I get to the corner, I stop and look at the large group of folk gathered around. Many members of the battalion have gathered inside the storage area and immediately outside. They're all being incredibly quiet for such a large group, which explains why I couldn't hear them from the stairs.

I'm just about to turn and ask the Corporal standing closest to me what's going on when I notice a movement inside the ship. A wave seems to pass through the group, with everyone snapping to attention starting from inside the ship and slowly moving to the outside. As I watch, I notice a second wave following the first, with crew members snapping a tight salute.

When the first wave hits the Corporal next to me, he snaps to attention posture as fast as the others by him. Unsure what's happening, but recognizing it must be something important, I snap to attention as well. From the corner of my eye, I watch the salutes as they slowly move closer.

Before the salutes reach us, though, I'm finally able to see what's happening. A dwarf in full plate armor walks through an open area in the crew. I recognize the armor, but it's not UCST issue. It's also not Gimmir's personal armor. When it clicks in my mind, I stand up straighter and salute, even before the rest of the group does.

I watch as Captain Elthen Gravelhand, in his full personal suit of armor, leads the honor guard escorting Lada's body out to the waiting vehicles.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Cap leads the procession from the ship. Six armored dwarves follow him, followed by the six dwarves escorting Lada's float unit. Six more honor guard dwarves come after Lada, with Gimmir in his personal armor bringing up the rear. The dwarves walk slowly through the group of saluting officers, coming to a halt at the large transport landcraft near the front.

After opening the rear door, Cap steps forward to the honor guard and shouts a command. The six dwarves behind him line up to match the ones around Lada, along with the ones in the rear to create two straight lines. Gimmir walks up between the two lines until he's at the foot of Lada's float unit. Taking it in both gauntleted hands, he slowly pushes Lada to the front of the line where Cap waits.

When Cap is able to reach out and place a hand on the float unit, the two lines of dwarves take a step backwards. Once they have room, Cap and Gimmir move around Lada's body until they're facing each other from her sides. As one, they place their hands on the float unit and slowly slide it into the landcraft.

When Lada is fully inside the vehicle, Cap closes the door and the armored dwarves immediately move to two large folk-mover landcraft directly behind it. Cap and Gimmir slowly climb into the vehicle with Lada. After all the dwarves are loaded, the landcraft slowly start moving to their destination.

Everyone holds salute until the landcraft are about fifty meters away, then break and start walking to follow. I watch the procession for a second as I realize that this all had to have been planned. It's likely in the messages I haven't been reading for the past few days. Myself be damned for being so stupid! If I hadn't been standing outside and noticed the commotion, I would have missed Lada's entire funeral!

After most of the crew has already started walking, I notice the senior officers start to exit from the ship. I walk up to them as they exit and Tanna closes the bay doors. Simon notices me with a nod, but no one else acknowledges me in any way. In fact, no one says anything as Tanna returns and the group starts walking to follow the rest of the crew. I keep in step with them. At this point, I can assume where everyone is headed, but falling behind will be more even more disrespectful than I've already been.

The UCST campus is quite large overall. It has to be to house all of the docking pads, warehouses, offices, training areas, on-campus quarters buildings and the Academy. You can spend the entire day walking and not manage to visit every location. Our destination is about 45 minutes away for a normal walking speed, but at our current respectfully slow speed it's almost twice that. Still, no one in our group says a word to each other during the walk.

We finally reach the UCST Memorial Gardens, the resting place for many fallen UCST members. Not every fallen member of the UCST is laid to rest here, with many of them instead resting on their homeworlds, but many others chose to be here with their friends and UCST family. The Gardens itself is quite large, with different sections set aside for combat crew, non-combat crew, Admiralty administration members, Academy instructors, Admirals and other Honored Fallen.

Passing through the large gates, I can see the procession of crew members in front of us stretching quite a distance into the Gardens already, and can easily tell where we're headed. The front of our group is already at the edge of the resting place set aside for Honored Fallen. I continue walking slowly with the other senior officers, starting to feel the tears already filling my eyes.

Another handful of minutes of walking passes before we, at the rear, get to the edge of the Honored Fallen. A small stone wall, no more than a dozen centimeters high, encircles the area. Our crew is gathered in the grass on the outside of the small wall. We continue walking on the stone path to the opening in the circular wall, stepping into the area. The dwarven honor guard is already inside, a shining circle of protection around their fallen comrade as they stand in front of a small stone mausoleum.

Simon and Tanna lead us to the side of the armored dwarves. On the opposite side of the honor guard from us, I can see a number of dwarves in normal clothes, along with a couple in UCST uniforms. These are Lada's family members. An elder dwarf woman, her silver-gray curls matching her chest-length beard, is stoically holding herself straight while tears run openly down her face. A slightly younger male stands with her, holding her hand as they look at Lada. Behind them, another handful of even younger dwarves watch, some weeping openly.

Once everyone is in place, Cap steps forward and shouts a command to the honor guard. The dwarves move in perfect precision as they shift into straight lines and walk to either side of the stone mausoleum. With a final clank, they line up next to the walls and fade into stillness. A sad quiet fills the air, with the reticent weeping of some folk being the only sounds.

Cap and Gimmir look at each other through their helmets, then turn and face the gathering. Cap's voice rings out across the Gardens, an amplify spell making him easily heard.

"Today, it is with sadness, but with great honor and respect, that we lay one of our best to her final rest. Lieutenant Commander Lada Axesmith was such a wonderful dwarf that there are no longer any words in any language that can accurately describe her true worth! As such, we will not try."

With a quiet clanking, Cap turns to look at Gimmir, who clanks as he nods, then turns back to the group. "Lada has been a strong friend to many of us. As we all know, the Corsari was truly _her_ ship, long before it ever belonged to any of _us_. Her career with the UCST lasted 85 years. Twenty years in the battalion, followed by 65 years as the best damn Chief of Security the Cosari could ever have had!"

He pauses as a small cheer rises up from the crew. When the noise dies down again, he continues. "Lada was already on that ship when I took it as Captain. She was already there when Gimmir Giantbasher worked his way up to be the idiot in charge of the battalion. Hell, she was there when Simon Darkrender, one of the nastiest goblin fighters any of us have ever seen, was just a snot-nosed goblin Private! She worked with all of us longer than any of us deserved, and gave us everythin' she was that entire time!"

Cap pauses for a second, but not a sound is heard from anyone. Even those who were weeping are now quiet as they listen and remember. I can feel the tears running down my own face as I think of the dwarf woman who kicked my ass every week in training for over ten years of my time as a senior officer. Lada deserves every single one of those tears, and much, much more.

A small chuckle from Cap spreads out over the group before he starts speaking again. "If Lada herself heard me say this, she'd make sure I was lyin' dead right there next to her. For all I know, she's gonna haunt me for the rest o' my life for it anyway. I'm probably gonna have her ghost wakin' me up in the middle of the night _every_ night when she punches me in the head for ever sayin' somethin' like this where ya can all hear me say it."

He turns to Lada's body, and I can hear the smile in his voice as he continues. "Lada, ya know I loved ya like a sister. A really obnoxious sister that liked to hit me all the time and boss me around during meetings, but a sister nonetheless. Since my actual sister isn't here to hear me say it, I'll even say that ya were my favorite sister. Ya were my closest kin, ya gossipy broad."

He sniffs, then turns to Gimmir. "And, ya know Gimmir loved ya too. So if ya are listenin' to this fool stuff I'm sayin' and plan to come back and haunt me, ya better haunt him, too! In fact, haunt him more! Captain's orders!"

A bit of laughter spreads across the crew, and a small smile pops up on my face as well. Lada would have been disappointed if Cap didn't make at least one ridiculous comment during her funeral.

After a couple seconds, Cap's voice comes out one more time. "Today, we lay Lieutenant Commander Lada Axesmith with her honored comrades, where she deserves to be. Some of the greatest warriors and Admirals that the UCST has ever had are resting in this spot. We lie Lada here in hopes that she'll be happy kickin' their asses for the rest of eternity!"

A loud cheer rips through the crowd as he finishes his speech. Turning, he walks to the head of Lada's float unit as Gimmir walks to her feet. In step, they slowly walk her into the mausoleum, disappearing into the darkness inside. After a few seconds, the two dwarves exit, pulling the large steel door shut behind them with a clang.

Taking that sound as a cue, the crew turns and starts leaving the area. Cap and Gimmir both reach up and remove their helmets as they walk over to us. Gimmir walks directly in front of me and stops, looking at me with hard eyes. "Rylae. Yer not gonna want to, but ya need to come over with me to speak with Lada's mom and brother. It's important."

My eyes go wide as I turn to look at Cap, but all he does is nod at me. This must be a dwarf thing that I don't really understand, but for Lada I'll do whatever they want me to. I nod in return, then turn back to Gimmir. "Of course. After you."

He turns and walks over to Lada's family, and I stick as close to his back as possible. When he gets in front of the elder dwarf woman, he stops and motions with his left arm for me to move up next to him. I do, and get a good look at the elder woman. This could be no one else but Lada's mother. Aside from the silver hair and longer beard, they could have been the same dwarf. I can also easily see the resemblance in the male dwarf standing with her, his fiery red beard reaching to his knees.

Gimmir gestures to me as he speaks. "Madame Axesmith. Kit. Ya both know how Lada died. This is Commander Rylae Westiel. Rylae was the one Lada saved."

A fear like I haven't felt before settles over me like a shroud. I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. Am I supposed to say anything? Should I just stand here quietly and take whatever they throw at me? My shoulders and knees lock in place as I look at the two dwarves that represent the head of Lada's family.

The elder woman turns to me and looks me up and down. After a few seconds of appraisal, she looks me in the eyes. "Is it true that Lada had to save you because you put yourself in danger while saving another?"

I open my mouth to speak, but it's so dry I can't form words. Forcing myself to swallow quickly, I nod. "That's correct, Madame Axesmith. My Ambassador was the target of an assassin, and I pushed her out of the way of his shot. He then moved to target me, but Lada was faster and pushed me out of the way. She took the shot instead."

The woman looks me over one more time, then turns to the male dwarf holding her hand. "Do you hear that, Kit?"

Kit squeezes his mother's hand as he nods. "I do. Lada saved someone who saved another. There can be no greater honor." Releasing his mother's hand, he takes a step closer to me and reaches his hand out to me. "Commander. Lada's honor in the afterlife will indeed by high, as a hero who saved another hero. Thank you."

I reach out and shake his hand by reflex, but I have no words to give back to him. I've been mourning Lada for weeks, constantly going through everything as I knew – I _knew_ – that I didn't deserve to have Lada die for me. And now, her closest family has just thanked me for raising the honor of Lada's death by being a hero myself. Everything I've been thinking for weeks, and now...

Kit releases my hand and walks back to his mother, taking her hand again as he turns to Gimmir. "Thank you, Gimmir. You may be from the backwoods world of Halyer, but Lada cared for you and that's enough for us. We hope you don't forget to visit when you're on Terra."

Gimmir chuckles as he nods. "Ya know ya can't get rid of me that easily, Kit! Hell, yer sister tried and still never figured out how to do it!"

They share a small laugh, then clap each other on the shoulder. Gimmir then turns to Madame Axesmith and takes her other hand, kissing it lightly before lowering it. She smiles and nods to him, then turns to me and nods as well. I nod back as I see Gimmir turn to walk away, so I turn with him and follow him back to the senior officers.

When we're still a couple steps away, he stops and turns to me. His face is calm, but I can see a fire in his coal gray eyes as he looks in mine. "I'm hoping ya understand now. What Lada did for ya was a gift, and it made all of us proud. Ya disrespect her by not bein' proud of her. She was yer friend, but ya didn't understand her. Ya better understand her now."

When he says that, a lot of things click in my mind. For the first time, I think I actually do understand. I no longer feel sad, and I wipe my eyes for the final time.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I just about have everything out of the box when Cap walks into his office. I haven't removed all the tags from them yet, but every item is back where it originally came from. He walks in, takes a look around, then shrugs. "It's gonna take me days to get everything pointed back in the right directions and wipe off all the elf finger stains."

As I pull out the last item and set it on his shelf, I roll my eyes. That's just like Cap. "Good to have you back, Cap. Sorry for making a mess of your office."

He shrugs again as he walks to his desk and sits in his chair. Shuffling around a couple times, he smiles. "At least ya didn't mess up my chair! I woulda had to kick yer scrawny elf ass all the way down the hallway if ya did!"

Tossing the empty box on the table, I shake my head at him. "I wouldn't sit in that chair if you paid me to. You wore through all the good padded parts already."

He chuckles, then turns as he sees Tanna walk through the door he left open. Nodding, he turns back to me. "Okay. That's all three of us. So, let's talk about this assassination crap. I swear, I leave ya alone for one mission and ya go gettin' shot at! It's like ya got a disease or somethin'!"

I spend the next few minutes explaining everything that happened on Andriennein, some of which Tanna hadn't even heard yet. When I get to the end of all the details that I put in the reports, I give them a summary that I didn't put in the reports. I can't exactly validate it until the Andriennein Justice Committee investigation is complete, after all.

"Based on what I know, I'm pretty sure Brog Ironsmasher was the one who hired Maeral and Tishani. I'm also just about certain that he's the one that shot at me. But from what Kelethyl Glitterbreeze said to me at the end, I think it was really Gorgan Gemcrusher that messed up their plans by bringing soldiers and getting us involved at all. Otherwise, Gemcrusher and Watertracker would have been killed and no one would have had any information about it."

Tanna nods when I finish. "That's what Kesn thinks, too. She walked me through everything while we were in the starfield, and I agree with her. But, like you said, we can't do anything but guess until Deputy Bitch puts the pieces together for Andriennein."

Cap chuckles. "Well, Rylae, I guess I can't give ya a hard time about it, then. Sounds like it wasn't actually yer fault at all this time. I'm shocked! Gonna have to go rethink my world view now that ya went and shattered it!"

I look at Tanna and raise one eyebrow, to which she just shakes her head. I suppose it's good to have Cap back after all, but it sure was a lot quieter when he was busy.

He sees us looking at each other and coughs. "Alright, enough o' that telepathy thing women do! Let's talk about our next mission. We've got everything ready and plan to leave in five days. The Corsari was the last ship we were waitin' for. Everyone else is loaded already."

He logs into his terminal on his desk and pulls up some notes. "We've got just about all of the Admirals goin' with us to Stenchstone to chat with King Damnabbit. The only ones _not_ goin' are Longbow and Aldamiel. Zennis and Spiritmelter are gonna be on the UCST DragonWing, along with a lot of their staff. The UCST Draconia's also goin' with us, carryin' a lot of sciency crap and buildin' materials."

Glancing up at us, he grins. "We've got two Admirals ridin' with us on the Corsari, too. Shockpaw says he likes it here, so he's gonna ride along. I also talked Lira into goin' with us, so that should be fun."

That catches my attention, and as I turn to look at Tanna I can tell it caught hers, too. She looks at Cap and smiles. "That's awesome! I haven't seen Admiral Trollhunter in years! It'll be fun to talk to her again for a bit."

Cap nods knowingly and gives her a sly smile. "As long as yer talkin' up yer Captain to her, ya can talk all ya want!" He winks, which causes me to laugh.

Tanna nods. "Sure thing, Boss. I'll be sure to share some of your more embarrassing tales with her."

He shrugs. "I'm sure ya don't know the _really_ embarrassin' ones, so that's no problem."

I shake my head and cough. "Okay, so, back to the mission. How long are we going to be on Stenchstone?"

Cap looks down at his terminal, then back up and shrugs. "Not sure. That's gonna depend on the negotiations with the Palace. Could be as long as a year. All I know is that it's gonna be a long damn time."

Tanna squints as she looks at Cap. "A year? There's no way we can keep the batteries running without recharge maintenance for a year! Please tell me you considered that in your plans!"

He nods with a grin. "Of course I did! I'm not new to this whole 'runnin' a ship' thing! We're likely gonna sit for six or eight weeks on Stenchstone while we unload everythin' and get the talkin' started. By then, we should know what more we need from Terra, so we'll send everyone back home to reload 'n recharge."

Listening, Tanna nods. "That should work. Good plan."

Smiling, Cap leans back in his chair. "Of course it is! I came up with it! Besides, we're only gonna need a platoon or so from the battalion to assist the Palace Guard with security and stuff. The rest of ya are gonna be bored while we're sittin' in conference rooms for weeks. Might as well let ya bounce around a bit and stretch yer legs, so to speak."

At his mention of the Palace Guard, Tanna tenses up and glances in my direction while still addressing Cap. "Yeah. Security and stuff. Um... How long did you say we have before we leave?"

I specifically don't look at Tanna while she's speaking. I know what she's getting at, but I want to watch her get there on her own. I'll come to her rescue at the end. I'm sure I owe her for _something_ annoying she's hit me with at some point. Not that it matters, since she'll just end up getting me back for it later anyway.

Cap strokes his furry beard as he looks at Tanna. "Five days. Why? Ya got problems I need to know about, elf?"

Tanna coughs, then specifically turns to look at me. I notice her from the corner of my eyes, but continue looking at Cap. She obviously notices that I'm ignoring her, which I know when I hear her huff. "Actually, yes. We do. _We_ have a problem."

She emphasizes the second time she says it, obviously trying to include me in on this. I hold back my chuckle, but just barely.

The brown-and-silver-haired captain of the Corsari looks between the two of us, then smiles. "Looks to me like yer the only one with the problem, Tanna. At least, yer the only one claimin' it. So, what is it?"

She sighs as she stops looking at me and turns back to Cap. "The problem is that we haven't replaced Lada yet. We still don't have a Chief Security Officer. I honestly didn't know what I was doing, and Rylae hasn't been able to help me with it."

I watch as Cap's brow furrows, and he looks at me. "Is that right? That doesn't sound like the Rylae Westiel I've had runnin' my ship for the last nine years. Care to explain?"

Nodding, I smile. "You already know some of it, Cap. I was an idiot for a few weeks and basically failed at my job for way too long. I'm sorry for that. Tanna did a great job of covering for me. So great, in fact, that it was almost too easy for me to just keep failing."

Turning to Tanna, I see her glaring at me, and I wink. "So great, in fact, that I don't want her to stop doing it. So, I've done a few things behind her back. Firstly, Tanna's going to remain XO and Tofi's going to remain Chief of Engineering, if that's okay with you, Cap."

Tanna's jaw drops as she looks at me. I can see her trying to figure out what to say, but she can't. I turn away to look at Cap, and he nods. "I suppose I can see that workin' out. But, if Tanna's taking yer job, what are ya gonna do with yerself? Yer not quittin' on me, are ya?"

I shake my head. "Absolutely not. In fact, I'm resolving Tanna's problem. I'm going to move myself to Chief of Security."

Unintelligible stuttering comes out of Tanna at my revelation, but Cap just sits and looks at me. After a few seconds, he nods. "Gimmir put ya up to this, didn't he?"

With a small chuckle, I shake my head. "Not technically. It was a combination of a few things. When Gimmir took me over to meet Lada's family, some things were said that made me realize what I needed to do. There were also some things Simon said, and some things Tanna said, and some things I realized about myself. It was a lot of stuff that just made me realize this is the right thing to do."

Tanna finally stops stuttering and looks at me. "Stuff I said?"

I smile and nod. "You said Lada always yelled at you because I never taught you anything. So, maybe I should start teaching some things. Besides, now you have the XO job you wanted, and you don't have to leave the Corsari. Tofi gets to stay where she belongs, at the head of Engineering. It's a win for everyone."

Cap coughs. "And what about yer own ship?"

Shrugging, I look back at him. "I'm still on the list. Maybe I'll just collect favors for a while. I don't think I'm in such a hurry anymore."

Nodding, the dwarf looks over at Tanna. "Well, elf? You okay with this?" All she can do is nod, which makes Cap laugh. "Yeah, I bet ya are. Probably the best sleep ya've had in years without Onoviel pesterin' ya all the time!"

She chuckles for a second, then stops. "Oh, crap. Aelon's gonna throw a fit!"

I nod knowingly. "Just make sure, when you explain it to him, that you're certain he understands that he is _not_ going to try anything with me. Mr. Roaming Hands will get his elf ass handed to him on a tray if he does anything that stupid ever again."

She shakes her head, then looks at me carefully. "Are you sure about this?"

I shrug with a smile. "I've already set all the authorizations on the ship, including mine. And, since I'm no longer Captain or XO, I can't change them back. So they are what they are. Everything will be fine."

Standing, she nods. "In that case, I have some work to do. You need me, Cap?" When he shakes his head, she salutes him and leaves, closing the door behind her.

When she's gone, Cap turns to me and smiles. "Ya ain't Lada, but I'll take ya. I hate losin' ya as XO, but I think ya'd be my number one choice for the security job in other circumstances."

Standing, I smile. "Good. And, we'll have to talk about this whole off-the-books bodyguard sleeping arrangements thing. I don't plan to continue that."

He laughs. "Good. Yer not my type anyway."

Smiling, I salute and leave the office, heading down to the third level. Walking into the small training room, I sit at my new desk and log into my terminal to go through my messages. Coming back to Terra has more than doubled the number of ship requests I've received from other officers on the list, and I have a fair amount of ship offers from the Admiralty as well. Since I'm not leaving the Corsari any time soon, I figure I might as well start collecting those favors and passing along the requests.

The first message I open, though, is from Captain Rubyhewer of the Terra-Tairngire. I've already read it, but I haven't replied yet. I was thinking of exactly what I wanted to say to her. I read it over again, just to be sure.

"Commander Westiel,

"It appears my XO has been fired, pursuant to regulations regarding sexual relationships and impropriety. This, after you stole a Cadet from my ship who was threatening him. I know you had something to do with this, and I want you to know that I will be happy to knock you off of your high horse. If you were looking to make an enemy of me, you succeeded.

"Keep your eyes open, Commander.

"Captain Foku Rubyhewer"

I smile as I finish it. For that woman to be as mad as she is with me over a piece of slime like Elenarin, she had to be at least a little complicit in his sliminess. I open a reply window and start typing:

"Captain Rubyhewer,

"You should be glad he's gone. If you're not, then you're part of the problem and I can help resolve that, as well. I wasn't looking to make you an enemy, but if you choose to be one, then welcome to my enemy list. Don't worry, you're not anywhere near the top of it.

"Or, I can call in that favor you owe me for passing on the Terra-Tairngire. I want you to realize your XO was scum and get over it. End of the issue. Favor complete.

"That's your choice, Captain. Let me know what you decide. Or don't. I don't plan to give it any more thought after I send this reply.

"Good luck on your message runs.

"Commander Rylae Westiel"

I send the message with a smile, then switch to personnel files. I need to get a better understanding of all the bodyguards and security officers Lada used regularly so I know what to do with them now.

Chief Security Officer, Commander Rylae Westiel. I definitely never wrote _that_ on the gazebo floor.

# END – TRADE HAVOK, UGLY DIRT BOX UNIVERSE 3

### About the Author

S T Xavier is a new writer whose desire to combine his favorite things - stories, magic, spaceships, and the voices in his head - has coalesced into his first novel in the fantasy/sci-fi realm. His characters have a story to tell, and he's obligated to tell it until that contract with the red horned guy expires. He is a practicing computer geek, avid collector of fantasy art, amateur player of decent video games, and voracious devourer of stories. He currently lives in Charleston, SC with his two cats and the numerous voices that occasionally let him sleep.

You can learn more about the Ugly Dirt Box Universe at www.uglydirtbox.com

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