 
Rylae's Storm

S T Xavier

Published 2014

Copyright 2014 S T Xavier

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9906535-1-6

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.

Graphic design services by gigblast and fantabanner on www.fiverr.com

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.

### ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I acknowledge all of you. Every single one of you. I see you.

To my family and friends, who never admitted to being sick of hearing me be happy over every small book-related accomplishment, I thank you for your silence. Keep it up. It was nice.

AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE READER  
(aka "What genre is this book, really?")

This isn't your normal high-fantasy swords-and-sorcery universe. This isn't your normal science-fiction space opera either. This is something different. This is a little of both. I call it 'modernized fantasy'.

Ten thousand years before events in this book (approximately... I think everyone in the universe lost track when the year numbers were reset seventy-four hundred years ago), everything was as you'd imagine it would be in a magic-oriented swords-and-sorcery adventure – elves, dwarves, goblins and numerous other creatures on a single magical world just trying to get by.

Then technology happened. However, as you'll see, technology in the Ugly Dirt Box Universe didn't start from mechanics and steam power. It didn't start from military design and the need to win wars. It started from a curious dragon and a magical solution.

Time passed, and the world modernized in its own way. Everything built logically from the goals, materials and processes they had at their disposal, which skipped most of our history's industrial phases entirely and took things in semi-parallel-but-not-equal directions. (A more 'organically evolved' form of 'magitech', if that combination of words means anything to you. If they don't, steampunk with magic. I think everyone knows steampunk by now.)

The races quickly took to the stars in search of new worlds to call home – some worlds with lots of magic, some worlds with very little magic, and some worlds with no magic at all. An oversight body was created to maintain travel between worlds, train travelers on what they needed to know, and be a third-party diplomatic and trade entity without being directly related to any government or military.

This is the basis for the way the universe works. It doesn't adhere to a standard sci-fi or fantasy atmosphere. It's a wonderful hybrid of the two. Adventurer sci-fantasy, if you will.

I hope you enjoy your stay in the Ugly Dirt Box Universe. If you do, please keep an eye out for future books, which will be released as soon as I can finish them. You can find information at www.uglydirtbox.com.

With true sincerity and thanks,  
S T Xavier

P.S. If you enjoy the universe and story, please review this book wherever you can and visit www.uglydirtbox.com I have some notes about fan art and book sharing that you'll want to read. (Spoiler: I love both of those things)

### PRONUNCIATION NOTE

Goblin names can be a bit difficult to say sometimes. Some goblins have names where too many consonants run together. In usage, these names are pronounced with the "missing letters" added. They also regularly shorten their names to more standard variants for social reasons.

Additionally, the X in most goblin names is pronounced as a SH sound.

Examples:

Smonz = SAI-muns = Simon

Kesn = KEH-sehn

Rsadun = ROH-sah-doon = Rosa

Zaxn = ZAHSH-en

Bax = BAHSH

Lusz = LOO-siz = Luis

Additional note – Elven and dwarven names are pronounced like they're spelled. They gave up on difficult names a few thousand years ago. It's really only the goblins that fell behind on social changes like these.

# CHAPTER ONE

Dragons be damned.

When in doubt, it's always easiest to blame the dragons. Interstellar starfield flight is entirely their fault, after all. Not that you can say things like that out loud without pissing off the 'Dragon Purity Collective' who don't like you using their deities in vain, but in my own head and in my own reports I can say whatever I want. Father doesn't call me 'That Rebellious Daughter' for nothing. Dragons be damned.

Not that I can say anything I want in my reports, though – especially if Admiral Longbow notices them. Longbow isn't a Dragon Purist, but he is one hell of a stickler for regulations. Cursing in your reports, while not technically against the regulations, is something Longbow considers "unbecoming of a senior officer in the United Corps of Starfield Travelers". You don't hear the end of it.

Okay, that's not _entirely_ true. He does eventually stop talking once he realizes how many meals he's missed. Then he'll usually start again to complain about the stench of the decaying senior officer who died waiting for him to finish. Fortunately, Longbow would only see your reports at a High Admiral Council inquest. By that point, dying while being lectured may be the best outcome.

I suppose it's also not completely fair to blame everything on the dragons. It's not like _all_ modern technology is their fault, and blaming the guy who came first is like blaming bad news you receive on elves because they invented the first communicator. Sure, the dragons may have accidentally discovered the vast starfield outside of our own world, and technology may have been invented in the process, but it's not like they did it entirely on their own. Hell, some elven mages, dwarven alchemists and goblinite theorists are also to blame for figuring out how that first dragon could breathe in the starfield, which led to the realization that magic isn't confined to the world, the creation of mana storage batteries, the creation of starships, etcetera.

I get that it's a long chain of events that brought us here... but since when does fairness matter in the grand scheme of cursing? Dragons be damned is just fun to say and sums up my feelings nicely, so I'm going to keep using it until I find someone who deserves more damning than the dragons.

My mind be damned for that two seconds I lost thinking about damning dragons when I should be thinking about how long it takes the delegates in separate starships to reach a conference on Andriennein, the fourth elven homeworld, along with the interstellar communication lag so I can accurately plan an Interstellar Homeworld Congress outing for the delegates. Myself be damned for wanting to be an interstellar starship captain to begin with, requiring me to learn things like how to plan an interstellar conference so I can pass this starships-be-damned test to upgrade from executive officer.

I glance at the time in my holoterminal, then at Vice Admiral Railmaker, the dwarf responsible for monitoring and validating my test. I still have a couple hours left to finish, but VA Railmaker looks extra surly today so I should really get to it. I know I hate it when I'm waiting for one of my staff officers to finish something that shouldn't be taking so long, and most folk think I'm a rather nice elf. I can only imagine how a surly dwarf is feeling.

I tap in the command for a manual calc and start factoring in the distances. Sure, a navcalc can figure it out faster than I can by hand, but there have been horror stories of a ship going missing for weeks due to navcalc failure and no one on board being able to do the math by hand to figure out how to get to where they're going.

And, of course, that one time a trollish ambassador had arrived two days late for a crucial vote. An angry trollish ambassadorial entourage can cause a tremendous amount of damage to the home of a planning assistant who screws up the math, and diplomatic immunity tends to nullify an insurance policy. It's generally just a good thing to know the math, but it needs my entire thought process to solve. I really should focus on that for a bit.

««»»

Test completed and submitted to the council. VA Railmaker didn't say anything as I left, which I hope is a good sign and not just standard dwarven surliness. I should find out if I'm approved as a captain candidate within a few weeks. Then I'll be added to the list to wait for a ship with an opening. My position on the list will depend on my score and my overall officer rating up to that point, so I'm fairly confident that I'll be added to the top third of the list. I have a pretty good rating as an XO currently, and aside from that ambassadorial planning question I think I did well on the test.

The bottom third would be bad. Some of those officers retire from the Corps before they're able to get a captain's chair. The bottom third is better than failing, but it's a surefire way of saying "you're not ever going to be captain unless there's a war and we get desperate after all of our current captains have died horrifically leading battalions in battle."

I'd like to be a captain and in a captain's chair before I turn 150. That gives me about 26 years to reach that dream and the top third would likely put me in a chair by then. The middle third might get me a chair before 200, but if I retire at 250 I have no chance at promotion to the Admiral Council. I'm not sure I want to be an admiral, but I don't want to limit myself. The Admirals would probably be happier if I don't become one of them, which is a good enough reason to want to be one. I'll have to think more about it after I get my captain's chair.

I've wanted to be a captain ever since I was small. I still remember writing 'Captain Rylae Westiel' in spellsand on the floor of the gazebo at my parents' house. I was nine or ten and had just learned to write my name and a few other words. My mother was proud and excited, and has always been the biggest supporter of my choices in the Academy and the Corps, because she feels that whole 'my daughter is following in my footsteps' thing. Arlien Westiel was Chief Caregiver on a starship when I was born, and then moved back on-world to Tir Tairngire, the first non-Terra elven homeworld, to raise me so I could also be close to my father.

My father has been a little more sedate about it. Jakobian Westiel is a schoolteacher, and has been one forever. Father doesn't enjoy going off-world, and he would prefer if I come back home, stay on-world and follow Mother's current footsteps at the Acadamy Hospital where she's Chief Caregiver. He makes sure I know that he's supportive of my goals and expects me to do great things, but I'll always be 'That Rebellious Daughter' for joining the Corps.

My parents are both hardworking folk who are loved by everyone, and it's hard to live up to that standard sometimes, but I guess I've always been a product of the drive of both of them combined, so wanting to become 'Captain Rylae Westiel' at such a young age wasn't really a surprise to either of them. It must be nice, because some days it sure is a surprise to me!

The amount of work, study and understanding – and just plain 'being the best' – that goes into wanting to be a captain is enough to cause three-quarters of the Corps to give up on it before they even try. Another nine-tenths of those remaining don't make it as far as the test. I'm still amazed at myself that I keep going, but at the same time I know I don't really give myself a choice or a chance to quit. I'm going to be a captain. I decided when I was little. The hundred-plus years since that day haven't changed my mind. I just hope the council find my test and service record as convincing as I think they are.

My landcraft is about to arrive at my on-world quarters. The test took most of my morning at the Admiralty, but there's still likely to be plenty to do both on-ship and on-world. An XO's job is never done, especially when docked. We've only been on Terra for about a week now, which has really just been long enough to get the senior officers' on-world quarters sorted out, go through the requisition lists from the department heads, and start ordering the supplies and parts we need to continue on.

Along with my test, there's been a number of officer meetings and training sessions, brainstorming collaborations, briefings, exercises... the list goes on. That's what happens when you only come back to Terra and the Admiralty every few years. You stay for around a month, get done everything you can get done, and prepare for the next few years off-world. Some information is only secure if relayed directly, some training is best when delivered hands-on, and some bars and restaurants just have to be visited. All entirely work-related, I assure you. In fact, that beeping communicator in my pocket is probably my Chief Engineer calling me about our scheduled work-related meeting.

The landcraft comes to a stop in the storage area at the corner of the building my quarters are in. I disconnect the key charm to switch off the landcraft, step out and pull the communicator from my pocket. Pushing the charm to answer the call creates a floating image of Chief Engineer Tanna Aldamiel's disembodied head in-front-but-off-to-the-left of me – positioned so I can keep walking while talking to her.

"Engineering, I assume this is urgent, as you knew I had an important meeting this morning." I keep my face expressionless as I enter the building and walk toward the door of my quarters.

Tanna smiles and wiggles her nose at me. "According to _my_ schedule, Ma'am, your important meeting was supposed to end no later than fifteen minutes ago. I don't hear an angry dwarf vice-admiral in the background, so I'm sure you didn't answer the call while testing. Railmaker would probably drop you off the list for that!"

I speak the code to unseal the door to my quarters and it pops slightly open. I push it open the rest of the way, walk inside, then push it completely shut so it seals again. "Commander Aldamiel, I'm certain I didn't just hear you say something unflattering about a superior officer. If I had, I'm almost positive that qualifies as treason under UCST regulations."

Tanna rolls her eyes at me. "I'm so very sorry, Commander Westiel, Ma'am. I hope you will please ignore my previous treasonous remark, as I would hate to have to go to the Admirals and plead for clemency by presenting evidence regarding a damaged landscooter owned by Vice Admiral Dreadfang."

"Dragons be damned, Tanna! You know that goblin never forgets anything and is still looking for whoever did that damage! He doesn't care if it's been 30 years! I never should have taken that bet!" I look around to make sure I really am alone in my quarters. I'm glad I got inside and had the door closed when she said that! Goblins are notorious for making sure folk pay up, and if another goblin heard about the damaged landscooter, it wouldn't be a day before it got back to VA Dreadfang, and it's hard to become captain when you're running for your life across the galaxy. Although, space piracy might be a better option than the bottom third of the captains list...

I hear Tanna's elven laughter as I'm looking around the room. "Poor little Rylae, still afraid of the big bad academy VA. It's still funny though, so don't expect me to stop any time soon. Are you coming out for lunch, or do I need to send a goblin hit squad to your quarters?"

I giggle at that. The last goblin hit squad that 'visited' me... well, I wasn't alone, and it didn't end well for the goblins. "I'm on my way, just going to check for urgent matters before I leave here. I'll call if I'm going to be late." She nods and cuts the call.

Tanna's been my best friend for longer than either of us has bothered to count. We met at the Academy, graduated together, and have both been on the UCST Corsari since we were junior officers. We hit Commander at about the same time, but she's more adept at spellcraft and mana maintenance, so she's been on the Engineering track while I've been on the Executive Officer track. Things changed only a little when I was promoted to XO and became her boss' boss, but she was promoted to Chief Engineer shortly after and we've worked directly together ever since. Speaking of, I should probably get to my messages or I'll be late and she'll drive me crazy with comments about how I'm 'negligent in my duties as her manager'.

I think I said earlier that an XO's job is never done, and my message box proves that more than anything. A day without messages is a day when everyone has died and the ship has been eaten by a dragon... although my dead self would probably still get messages from the Admiralty looking for a report on the size of the dragon's teeth. The XO is basically in charge of all the details of running a ship, making sure everyone and everything is running as the captain wants them to be running, and that the folk underneath her are prepared for anything the captain says needs to be done.

It's a lot of work, and sometimes incredibly stressful, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well... I'd trade it for a captain's chair, obviously, but nothing else. I love being an XO, and I hope that I have an XO as good as myself when I get my own ship. Loving it doesn't make my message box look any less full, though.

I quickly scan through the messages, mentally prioritizing them as I go. Then I see one from the Captain, marked Level 0 Confidential. Nothing that high on the confidentiality scale is ever good news, but maybe it's not so urgent that I have to miss lunch. I open it and read through it.

...Dragons be damned. At least I'm not the only one missing lunch! I pick up my communicator to call Tanna, as well as the rest of the ship's senior officers. This probably won't be a short meeting.

# CHAPTER TWO

For all the amazing and magical things about traveling the starfield, there's one thing that is both absolutely magical and absolutely _not_ amazing, and that's an actual starship. Sure, on the inside, a ship can be quite homey and comfortable. On the outside... well... it looks a lot like an ugly dirt box, but with less character. I've seen prettier buildings on goblin worlds. I guess the best word for it is 'utilitarian'. It doesn't have a need for fancy angles, so they didn't create any fancy angles for it.

When a ship is docked on-world, it just looks a lot like someone built a fifth-century dwarven feasting hall in the middle of a bunch of modern government buildings and warehouses. The UCST dock yard is a fantastic place full of fancy technology, with folk and supplies being shuttled to and from an ugly dirt box... the irony of it all is rather great. I can almost imagine how that conversation at the Admiralty must have gone one day:

"Admirals, the current question before the council is in regards the design of starships. The question is a request for the creation of an 'office of shipbuilding' to design and create more aesthetically pleasing starships.

"All admirals for the motion, please shine your crystals. Yes, yes, thank you. All elven admirals unanimously vote for the office. All dwarven and goblin admirals vote against. The motion fails to pass. Ugly dirt box starships win again." Okay, so it probably didn't go exactly that way, but I like to think it did.

At least they were nice enough to paint the starship name in nice large letters on each side so you can know which ugly dirt box is yours. I'm sure that only came to pass because there was once a large gathering of docked starships where no one could figure out where they parked. No one in the UCST Admiralty is known for solving problems before they happen, which has somehow managed to turn into a positive in regards to 'efficiency'. They surely don't waste time on things that haven't presented an actual problem yet, so they are surely efficient. The Admiralty employs excellent propaganda masters.

My landcraft comes to a stop in the storage area nearest the UCST Corsari. As I climb out of the landcraft, I spot Lada walking towards the ship, a spellshooter on her hip and a two-handed longsword against her uniformed shoulder. Lieutenant Commander Lada Axesmith is Security Chief on the Corsari, and is one dwarf lady you absolutely don't want to cross. She may only be around 120 centimeters tall, but that tiny frame packs a lot of power. The senior officers really hate the weekly beating they take in their scheduled training sessions with her. I sometimes enjoy it, but I'm a bit strange and have 'reasons'.

I smile and wave. "Hey, Lada!"

Lada half-salutes by raising the sword above her blonde head, then replacing it on her shoulder. "Hey, Ma'am. Coming from the practice battlefield now. Gimmir and Simon should be not far behind. They were running some training skirmishes when you called and had some things to clean up before they get back to the ship."

Gimmir Giantbasher is my Battalion Major, directly in charge of the fighting land battalion. He's a dwarf, a bit younger than Lada, but almost as dangerous. Smonz Darkrender is the goblin lucky enough to be Master Sergeant. Simon's in charge of all the non-commissioned troops on-ship, and most of those are in Gimmir's battalion. They work together pretty well, but their arguments usually require a lot of ale and a visit to the hospital ward before they're resolved.

Lada grins behind her close-cropped beard, and an evil light hits her eyes. "Remind me later to put some of the Elite through the senior officer trainings. They really need to toughen that crew up." We share a laugh. The Giantbasher Elite aren't a crew to take lightly, but compared to Lada _everyone_ needs to toughen up.

I smack her on the shoulder and match her strides to the ship. "I'll be sure to send that recommendation to Gimmir, and I'll also be sure to put _your_ name on it." Lada's grin grows just a bit at that comment. Gimmir will absolutely disagree that his Elite needed any special training. He'll disagree loudly, and he'll disagree with physical force. Lada's probably directly hoping for that, and I know better than to ask questions. They're both senior officers. Regulations allow it, so I don't care whose quarters they wake up in... or destroy the night before.

As we near the ship, a young goblin cadet runs over and pushes a staircase up to the side of the ship. For another reason no one can entirely figure out, the standard folk-size doors on a starship are always on the second level, never the ground level. One nice thing about it is the 'safety feature' of a door which won't open without a staircase present. A spelled charm is on the ship directly under the door, and another is on the staircase at the top. When they touch, the doorway becomes transparent, allowing someone to walk through. Opening it without the staircase requires a senior officer override command. As with all the other solutions around here, there were probably a dozen or more folk that fell out of starships before the Admiralty approved that solution. 'Efficiency'.

Once the staircase is connected, the goblin cadet salutes us, raising a gnarled green hand to the brim of his white cap which leaves his long pointy green ears uncovered, and we salute back. Goblin cadets are probably the nicest of all the cadets, but that's likely because they're going to be regular difficult goblins once they get older. Goblins aren't exactly 'evil', but I don't think anyone would ever say they were exactly 'nice', either. They're just goblins, and "goblins will be goblins", as the saying goes.

Lada takes the lead up the staircase. As security chief, she's always making sure she's between the senior officers and anything that might be trouble. That includes the ship, if she hasn't been on it yet today. She walks into the ship, checks the main corridors, then waves me in. We make a few turns, go upstairs to the fifth level, then head toward the Operational Discussion Chamber.

As we arrive, Lada speaks the senior officer passphrase that causes the door to fade out. She walks inside, glances around, then motions to me and walks toward her chair. I walk into the room to see two of my senior officers are already here, but I was expecting that. Both of them are wearing the standard white-blue-and-grey jumpsuit-style ship uniform like Lada and myself. They salute without standing when they see it's me. I return the salute and sit down. I give them a quick hand gesture to wave them back to their discussion, and they continue talking to each other from wherever they were before Lada and I walked in.

Lieutenant Commander Sen Foulmuck, Chief Caregiver, and Lieutenant Zaxn Gloomfire, Chief Science Officer, don't really have much to do off-ship, and work together a lot while we're docked to go over new hospital research. Being the only other goblin senior officers, besides Simon, they often 'work together'. Again, regulations, and again I don't care and don't ask.

But if Sen's bedside manner off-shift is anything like her bedside manner in the hospital ward, then maybe I feel bad for Zaxn. He's about as nerdy as a goblin can get, but he's damn smart. One of the best goblin theorists I've ever met. Maybe even a little less evil than most of the other goblins, but that might just be my opinion. I'm sure the quite-a-bit-older caregiver is doing her best to help corrupt the much younger goblin nerd boy.

I log into my terminal and start filtering through messages again. There's a new one from the storage bay chief complaining about taking on too many supplies and needing additional cubic meters of space freed up. That dwarf never seems to have enough available space down there. I think some days he's just picking an arbitrary number as a 'requirement' so he can complain about it again. It's a storage bay. What good is it if we don't store stuff in it?

Technically he falls under Zaxn's department, since a lot of spell ritual equipment for his department is stored down there, but Zaxn's a little light on leadership qualities so I help him out with some things. We may be the same age, but Zaxn definitely seems about 25 years younger sometimes. I guess that's just the nerdy science goblin boy way. I know some elves like that as well.

The door fades and my Chief Ambassador, Commander Calgonnel Telathyr, walks in wearing brown slacks and a checkered button-up shirt. Calgonnel (never 'Cal', unless you want to be a footstool for a visiting dignitary during meetings) is one of the officers with an on-world quarters, where I know he meets with other ambassadors, local politicians, and other folk he knows. Being a starship ambassador, he has a number of folk on every world that he has to keep in regular contact with, learning what's changed since he's been off-world. He dresses to fit the occasion, so I'm not surprised to see him in more business-style clothing instead of a uniform.

He sees me, half salutes, then walks to his chair. I don't run a very formal environment when the Captain isn't around. I just don't see any need for it. The Captain always gets the formal salutes, and the junior officers need to learn the discipline, but when it's just senior officers amongst ourselves, throw your hand towards your head and continue on, or stay in your chair. We have things to do that are more important than formalities. I understand the respect shown through the discipline, but I also know my staff respects me without the need to formally salute.

I look to Calgonnel and make a few head gestures that don't really mean anything, but he seems to catch my meaning and nods. Calgonnel's an older elf, a few years past retirement age, but one of the best diplomats in the business. When we're on a non-Terra homeworld at a conference or a summit, he outranks me on-world, and I outrank him on-ship. It's an odd relationship, but I think we handle it well – not that we've had much reason to have problems yet. The Level 0 we got today may be the first time we actually put it to good use. Based on his reaction to my meaningless gestures, I know he has all the information I have, so it's just the rest of the staff that needs to be brought up to speed on the details.

Just then a new pair walk in – Gimmir and Simon. I highly doubt another pair of individuals anywhere could be more battle-hardened, and I'd put either one of them up against a goblin hit squad or dwarven raiding party any day of the week. Together, they're possibly unstoppable. They're both in full skirmish armor, mostly leathers with padding on the knees and elbows, having just come from the battlefield as Lada mentioned earlier. They raise weapons in salute – a double-bladed battle axe for Gimmir, and a short sword for Simon – and I salute back. They get to their chairs as the last pair of missing officers enters the room, having had to come farthest since they were already at the bar waiting for me when I had to call them back.

Tanna walks in, the voluptuous elven beauty that she is, with Aelon following behind, equally majestic in his handsomeness. Some days, I'm totally jealous and envious of Tanna's beauty. Other days, I just want to kill her for it. She looks like an elven goddess, with long brown hair resting on her sexy bronze shoulders, amazing large breasts and perfectly curved waist shown off in a dark pink corset top, and long lithe legs flowing out of a short pink skirt. If she wasn't my best friend, I'd absolutely hate her. Dragons be damned, some days I hate her anyway. My skinny elf ass doesn't look anything like that. Sure, okay, I guess I'm pretty, but I'm not that kind of pretty.

Having the gorgeous hunk of man-meat that is Lieutenant Commander Aelon Onoviel follow her in doesn't do much for my jealousy either. His thick shoulders and muscular chest are easily visible under a tight grey UCST t-shirt, with his strong legs and firm ass in a pair of very form-fitting jeans. Yes, since he's my Chief Tactical Officer, I can't officially get into a relationship with him. I know that. But the regulations can't stop Tanna. Regulations be damned. It's also a fairly weird situation, since Tanna's my best friend. We share stories about everything, including their love life. So I know exactly how tactical Aelon can be when he's trying to maneuver into Tanna's pants. It sometimes makes for an odd working relationship, but I can usually succeed in not thinking about him naked. Usually.

They half-salute and take their seats. Tanna turns to me. "We're all here, boss. Sorry Aelon and I were late. We had a lunch meeting that was unceremoniously cancelled."

I nod. Tanna and I are friends, but we know when to keep it to business. I might actually get on her case about that comment later, as it was slightly unprofessional. For now, I'm just going to leave it where it is. "No problem, Engineering," I say, and the use of her department title seems to snap her back into the professional officer I need her to be. "I understood that the meeting was going to mess up plans when I called it, but it had to be done. In fact, a lot more of our plans are likely to need reworking after this meeting. Everyone needs to be thinking about what you absolutely need to be able to leave Terra as soon as possible. We'll have to get some urgent orders through."

At my comment that we need to leave as soon as possible, everyone's eyes open wider – with the exception of Calgonnel's, affirming my previous assurance that he already knows what's happening. Gimmir clears his throat. "But Ma'am, we've only just begun the battalion skirmishes. This could cause some serious problems if we need them while we're out." Simon nods his agreement, and I raise a hand to stop them.

"Your point is noted, Major. I can't be certain, but I'm expecting that we're going to get the rest of our dock time back when we return, and I'm going to lobby the Admiralty for it. So we may just have to put those skirmishes on hold until after the mission when we can hopefully run them in full. In the meantime, the battalion should continue their individual and squad training."

Gimmir and Simon look at each other, then back to me and nod their acceptance. I nod back at them and turn my attention to Tanna. "Engineering, what are your requirements for getting us off-world as soon as possible?"

Tanna turns on her terminal and brings up some reports, scanning over them quickly. "Without the time to run full recharge maintenance on the main mana battery core, we can safely run the ship for three months or so of full flight and life support, but we'll start showing spell wear after that. We can ramp up our regular ship maintenance to try to extend that while we're on mission, but I can't guarantee much more. If we're going to dock on a high-mana-bleed homeworld, that span will lessen considerably. If we could requisition a brand new fully charged secondary battery, we could move some secondary spells to that to save main battery power..."

Tanna drifts off as a whistling sound fills the room. I stop taking notes immediately and all officers at the table stand, turn to the doorway, and salute. The Captain has a unique passphrase for doors which causes the whistle to sound, announcing his presence. After a second, the door fades out and Captain Elthen Gravelhand, Commanding Officer, UCST Corsari, enters the room. He's wearing his full dwarven battle armor, minus the helmet, and carries a pole-axe that's longer than I am tall, obviously coming straight here from the High Admiral Council where he learned of our mission.

Captain Gravelhand walks to the head of the table and waits for the door to fade back in. He nods at us. "Sit. We've got a lot to do, and this horse ain't gonna take itself to market, so we better get started."

# CHAPTER THREE

I probably couldn't have requisitioned a better captain than Elthen Gravelhand. When it comes to walking into a room and taking charge, I've seen admirals who don't do it as well. When Captain Gravelhand walks into a room, it's just understood that he's the one to make the decisions, and he's going to make the right decisions, so just sit and wait until he's done talking. Cap's tall for a dwarf at about 135 centimeters, but that's still a bit shorter than all of the elves and most of the goblins. Regardless, he doesn't seem to look up or down when addressing someone. I don't know how he does it, but his presence just makes you want to meet him at his eye level, even if that's tactfully or gracefully impossible. It's much easier when we're all sitting in the conference chamber.

Cap's also one of the smartest folk I know. Sure, he's about a hundred years older than I am, but the time still seems too short for the amount of wisdom behind that furry beard. Per regulations, dwarven beards have to be kept at chin level for officers (and fully shaved for the non-commissioned) which rankles some of the traditionalists, but Cap wears it smartly and proudly. I can't imagine a dwarf elder ever trying to pull rank on Cap due to beard length. When Cap talks, _everyone_ listens.

Cap tries to sit down, then remembers he's in full battle armor and not really able to move his joints like that. Lada and Gimmir don't even wait for a signal. They both jump up from their chairs and quickly move to help Cap remove his armor. I'm sure Cap had a steward help him put it on earlier, but there's no hesitation from my dwarven senior officers in helping their boss back out of it. No one would even suggest waiting until the steward came to help. There's not a crew member in this room that wouldn't do anything Cap needed of them... although none of the non-dwarves in the room would ever touch his battle armor unless he was gravely wounded while wearing it.

As each piece is removed, Lada and Gimmir set it reverently on an unused chair, being extremely careful not to scuff or scratch a single piece. Dwarves are incredibly particular about their battle armor, and its formality and importance is never forgotten. When they're done, Lada pushes the chair full of armor to the side of the room while Gimmir accepts custody of the pole-axe and carefully lays it along the length of the table, between the terminals.

Now in only a long-sleeved woolen undershirt, long black underarmor slacks and stockings, Cap is standing in front of his senior officers in his underthings... but there's not a soul in this room bothered or embarrassed by it. Cap would lead this crew naked if he had to, and we'd all just pretend his clothes were invisible. He grabs his chair and sits down, stretching his legs as he does. "Thank you, fellas, for helpin' me out of my steel skin. It's much appreciated." Lada and Gimmir stand tall and salute, then sit back down with smiles on their faces.

Cap turns to me. "Thanks for callin' the group together, Rylae. I forwarded the message to ya as soon as I got out of the High Admiral Council, and I'm glad to see ya got it early enough to beat me here. Test go well?"

I nod and shrug at the same time, which makes him laugh. "Rylae, ya ridiculous dung beetle. I'm sure ya did fine. I passed Railmaker in the passageway as I was draggin' my overly heavy self out of the Admiralty, and he looked pretty happy. Not that that means anything, really. Railmaker's always happy." My eyes get pretty wide at that. Sure doesn't sound like the VA Railmaker I spent the entire morning with, but dwarves are a bit weird. Cap grins at me and looks to the table in front of him.

"Was I interruptin' somethin'? I see Tanna's terminal is up."

I nod. "Yes, sir. We were just getting an Engineering report on our readiness." I nod towards Tanna to continue, and she does.

"Sir, I was just reporting that we have about three months on our main battery without our docking recharge. I was looking at ways to save some power, and had the idea to requisition a fully charged spare secondary battery to make up the difference."

Cap nods and looks at me. "Do it. Whatever emergency reqs ya need to get off the ground in two days, put 'em together. Send 'em to me, and I'll send 'em straight to the warehouse XO. We've got Priority One for this one, and costs are bein' covered by Stenchstone. Not that they entirely know that yet."

With that revelation, everyone sits up a little straighter and pays more attention. Even already knowing what I know, the fact that the Admiralty is going to make the goblin homeworld cover expenses means they're not taking a light hand with this one. Goblins hate parting with money, and the Admiralty knows that hitting them in the purse is as bad as taking food away from a dwarf.

Cap smiles in his beard. "I love testin' operational security! Rylae, Calgonnel. Excellent work." I smile a bit to myself. It's nice to be recognized for things. Cap looks at the room and continues. "Alright, time to read ya all in to the mission. If ya haven't guessed it's important from the context clues, this one's Level 0 Confidential. Ya don't share it outside this room.

"The Admiralty received a communication this mornin' from the Enforcement Overseer on Stenchstone. A UCST Lieutenant Commander by name of Spazkin Darkmuck was arrested and is bein' held for tryin' to assassinate King Damnation. Since it's an officer, they of course immediately declared war against the UCST." The older two goblins at the table start nodding in agreement, like that actually makes any sense at all. The goblins immediately think it was a sanctioned hit on their king? I mean, really... that's goblins for you.

Cap continues with the details. "Obviously, there were no official orders from the Admiralty to assassinate the king. Admiral Bax Shockpaw is goin' to Stenchstone to tell them that directly and stop all this war nonsense. The Corsari is the only ship currently on Terra, which means we're the lucky ones that get to escort him. The Admiral will be on the ship in two days, so we need to be ready to go by then. A week and a half there, a week and a half back, and a couple weeks on-world, I figure we'll be gone around a month or so. Maybe two at the most."

Tanna starts to say something, but Cap waves her off. "I know, Engineering. Stenchstone is high mana bleed. That's why I already agreed to the spare secondary. With that, we should easily have enough for two months if we need it, even if we bleed it dry on the way back. Good idea, that." Tanna smiles and relaxes a bit. See what I meant about Cap being smart? He somehow did the math in his head for the mana batteries and didn't even flinch at it. I hope I'm that good when I get my chair.

"Sir." All eyes turn to Simon, who continues, "if Stenchstone has already declared war against the UCST, I assume we're going to need the battalion. Is our goal to strike first and hard, and burn the villages behind us so they can't regroup?" Sitting there in his skirmish armor, Simon looks ready to take down the entire goblin world and put the king's head on a pike. There's no problem a goblin can't somehow solve with violence. Weird, evil little folk.

Cap grins. "Absolutely not, Simon. This is a diplomatic mission. Admiral Shockpaw's gonna talk them down. We're not gonna go in with axes and spells at the ready. We're gonna need the battalion to stand guard in front of the ship, as a show of force against the Stenchstone army, but yer orders are to act in defense only, and only fully engage those stupid enough to break ranks and come after ya." Simon and Gimmir look at each other, then reach out arms to pat each other on the back. Two weeks on world will probably create a lot of 'training skirmishes' for the battalion, thanks to battle-hungry goblin soldiers who can't sit still and follow orders.

The room goes quiet, but I can tell by looking around that Zaxn wants to say something. That boy has to find himself some more confidence somewhere. Smart as a whip, but not really willing to put a foot forward, especially to ask for something. Must be what Sen likes in him. Not often you find a goblin 'bottom'. Anyway, I know what he's thinking, so I'll just say it. "Captain, Sir. Zaxn's originally from Stenchstone, and his family works for the royal family. Since this is just a diplomatic mission, and there won't be much for Science to do while we're on-world, I'd like to ask on his behalf if he can visit the palace after tensions have been broken."

Cap smiles a big smile and looks at Zaxn, who looks like he's trying very hard to melt into his chair. "Zaxn, buddy, you're startin' to sound a lot like a female elf. Might wanna get that checked. We have an excellent hospital ward on-ship. They can do all kinds of things, as I'm sure you already know." At that, Zaxn's eyes get large and he looks to Sen, who now has the most evil goblin grin on her face. Cap starts roaring with laughter, and Zaxn looks like he's wondering if running out of an official meeting to hide under his bed would be considered treason.

Cap takes a deep breath to stop laughing and wipes a hand at his eyes. "Don't worry about it, Zaxn. Ya know I'm just messin' with ya. Ya have permission to visit home once things are cleared up, but if ya want my advice, ya probably don't want to take anyone with ya to meet the family." Sen chuckles, and Zaxn looks even more embarrassed. Cap knows everything that goes on in his ship, and he won't shy away from any topics. As he likes to say when you first come on his ship: we're all friends here, just some of us are more boisterous than others.

Cap looks around the table, and his eyes land on Calgonnel. "Alright, back to business. We have two coordinatin' missions while on-world. Admiral Shockpaw and I will go to the palace and speak with the King to talk him out of this war stuff. Lada will go with us. While we're doin' that, a separate diplomatic mission will go to the Overseer's office and find out what's goin' on with the assassination attempt, and get LC Darkmuck released into our custody if he's not guilty. Calgonnel and Rylae are gonna handle that. Take Simon with ya. Not that I need to worry about ya, but I know how... uh... 'difficult' is a good word... how 'difficult' the Overseer's office is likely to be, and Simon can help out with that."

Lada and Simon look thrilled, but Gimmir looks like someone just shot his horse. Not that dwarves ride horses, but you get the idea. Cap notices and makes a 'tsk' sound. "Major, have ya already forgotten about the battalion that's gonna be defendin' the ship against a royal goblin army?" He obviously had, because Gimmir immediately looks happier, and now Simon looks a little dejected. I'm thinking tonight's an alehouse night for those two.

Cap chuckles and looks at me. "That about sums up the mission, XO. Continue with the meetin' and figure out how to get this ship in the starfield in two days. I'm just gonna sit back and listen for awhile." That's another thing I like about Cap. He really will just sit and listen, unless he thinks of an important point. He likes to know what's going on, but he also likes to let everyone else handle the things that he doesn't have to handle.

I look back to my terminal, then look down the table. "Battalion Major. Master Sergeant. Let's talk about battalion readiness for a minute."

# CHAPTER FOUR

Tanna's smiling as we walk towards the landcraft storage area. We were able to get out of there pretty quickly after the battery requisition was complete. Tanna delegated most of the remaining work to her staff, and most of my work doesn't start until the morning after everyone else submits all the other urgent requisitions. I'd feel bad about it, but I know that the dung pile will eventually roll uphill straight to my desk while the rest of them get a break, so they can deal with it tonight.

I just wish Tanna wasn't smiling so much. I can tell she's up to something, but I can also tell she's not going to let it out. I'll just have to wait patiently and watch out for goblin hit squads she may be hiding on the way to the restaurant. Or worse – potential boyfriends.

My best friend loves to try to find men for me whenever we're on-world. It's both really sweet of her and really annoying at the same time. Tanna's idea of 'the perfect man for Rylae' is a beautiful elf with money who can't otherwise string two words together. She says that's important, so I can be the elf-in-charge in the relationship. In reality, Tanna prefers 'big, sexy and dumb' more than I do... which, sadly, LC Aelon Onoviel generally fits the bill for. He's a genius pilot, an excellent navigator, and a great department head, but I don't think anyone would ever consider him to be the brightest officer in the room, though... even if he's alone in the room. Not that Tanna leaves him alone in a room very often.

We get to the landcraft and climb in. Tanna sets the direction, we close the doors, and the craft starts rolling along. Whoever invented the first landcraft probably had no idea what some dwarven engineering and goblinite backwards spellcraft could do to the poor simple machines. It's hard to imagine these used to be pulled by horses and mules back in the old days, instead of controlled by navigation and momentum spells. Now you just set the direction in the holoterminal and the landcraft drives itself. I wonder what we still use horses and mules for.

With the landcraft on its way, Tanna turns to look at me. I think she's finally about to burst with whatever she's hiding, but then she chuckles and turns away. I hate when she gets like this, because there's no chance of conversation until we get there. If she tries to talk, she'll just blab whatever she's hiding. She's terrible with secrets. But then she'll be mad at me for making her give it up, so I let her have her fun.

With the work done until tomorrow, and the mission not starting for two days, I have nothing to really think about. It's not often I get to ride around Terra and not have anything urgent to think about while I'm going somewhere. Normally I'm going to official events and thinking about them in advance, or going back to quarters and thinking about them afterwards. Dragons be damned, now I'm thinking about how I don't have to think about things! I'll just look at the city instead.

Admiralty City is exactly what it sounds like – a city built around the UCST Admiralty and the Academy. It's a modern city, full of buildings forty and fifty levels high made from metal, stone and glass. Offices, residence halls, schools for children, shopping centers, factories, warehouses, and more beyond that. Landcraft aren't exactly filling the roads, but there are a few going in our direction and a few going back the other way. It's nice without feeling overcrowded.

I wonder what it used to be like back before technology. I'm a student of technology, but not much of a scholar for history. I've heard some of the same stories all the kids know, of course. Small villages popped up here and there, with maybe a couple hundred folk in each living in small huts or wooden shacks. Blacksmiths worked the iron, bakers made the food, innkeepers ran the inn, soldiers patrolled the town, and adventurers in armor would show up every so often with gold to spend and tales of faraway places to spin. It was a special time where everything was new and everyone was willing to fight for whatever they could find.

Looking out now, I'm glad for technology. Sure, there's less forests around for the elves, but there's also less need for mining dwarves to live underground and for goblins to attack villages for food and profit. There's thousands of folk living in Admiralty City, and there's dozens of other cities on Terra . And between those cities is all the rest of the world.

No two cities are close to each other, requiring hours of landcraft travel from one to another. In the middle are forests enough to satisfy any elf, empty mines and caverns to satisfy any dwarf, and abandoned villages which can be sacked by fake goblin war parties. And if that's not enough to satisfy someone, that's what all the other worlds are for.

The folk that couldn't easily get along with other races in cities packed up and left. Early starfield travelers quickly found worlds that were habitable, and groups started leaving in colony ships for the new worlds. Adventurers never became completely obsolete after all, as they led groups of their folk on new adventures to new worlds. Now folk are all over the starfield inhabiting a few dozen worlds.

I check the time on the holodisplay of the landcraft, and it's a decent time for a late dinner. It also reminds me that I need to double-check what the hours on Stenchstone are before we leave. All ships have to tweak their day/night schedules to match the worlds they're going to. It's easier to twist around a couple shifts during flight than it is to get to a world and find out that you're just waking up when they're getting ready for bed. By the time we get there, our morning will sync up with the world's morning.

We should be at the restaurant in a few minutes, and I'm bored thinking about history and time changes. Time to poke the dragon. "I can't wait to get to House of Ryvvik. It's been a long time since I've had good homestyle elven cooking. It's been too long since you and I have been out alone together, too. Remind me to thank this goblin on Stenchstone for getting arrested and giving us the night off!"

Tanna bursts into laughter. "Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly why he did it. He knew they'd declare war on us and we'd be the only ship around to pick up the slack, so after a long meeting the two senior officer best friends could have dinner. I'll be sure to remind you. That's a conversation I want to hear!"

She stops again after that comment, obviously remembering whatever she's trying to hide. I know her too well, though. Before my joke, when I had just made the comment about being out alone, her eyes got shifty. She's up to something, and there's some other folk joining us for dinner. Dragons be damned. She probably had these men ready at lunch, and made them come back for dinner when I cancelled for the meeting. I'd kill her, but I'd never find another Chief Engineer quickly enough to replace her.

The landcraft slows as the restaurant gets near, eventually coming to a stop inside a local storage area. We get out and walk toward the front door, with Tanna on my left still smiling. As we get near, we come up to a large reflective part of the steel wall, where Tanna stops to adjust her clothes. I walk up next to her to take a look at myself as well, now that I know we're going to be meeting someone.

Miss short-pink-skirt-and-long-legs standing next to me makes me feel like a dwarf, but the top of my head still comes up to her nose, so it's not that bad. I run my fingers through my shoulder-length black hair, shaking it out so it looks a little fuller and covers the points on my ears which I think are too high. Since I was just sitting for my test all morning, I didn't bother with any color around my green eyes, so the reddish freckles on my cheekbones seem to stand out even more than usual. I brush my hands down the uniform, adjust my small breasts under the fabric, pinch it out around my hips so they don't look quite so shapeless, then sigh, shrug, and smile. I am what I am, even if what I am doesn't seem like quite as much next to Tanna.

We turn to leave the storage area, and I can see the restaurant across the road. I'm just about to make another comment when a hand comes down on my right shoulder. Instinct and training kick in. Drop the shoulder, kick the right leg back and out, sweep to the front to take the knees, continue the spin and drop knees-first on my face-down attacker.

I hear wheezes below me and I'm scanning for more attackers when I notice Tanna laughing so hard she's down on her knees. The male elf under my knees turns his head and gasps out, "Nice to see you too, Little Sister."

I finally recognize the man as Srindin Aldamiel, Tanna's brother, and I know now what Tanna was hiding the whole ride over. She knew exactly how I'd react if I didn't know he was here, and since Srindin is younger than Tanna, the older sister had to get the younger brother using me as the device. Again.

I've known Srindin as long as I've known Tanna, however long that's been. He's 130 years old, nine years younger than Tanna but six years older than me, so he's taken to calling us Big Sister and Little Sister. Tanna's family lives in Admiralty City, and we spent a lot of time with her family during our academy days, since mine live on Tir Tairngire. Srindin is a supply lieutenant in one of the dock warehouses, so it's nice that he was able to come out to dinner with us – although a little warning from Tanna would have been nice.

I climb back to my feet and offer a hand to Srindin to help him up. Again standing, he brushes off his uniform and sees Tanna still laughing on her knees. He punches her in the shoulder, then offers me his arm. Taking it, I stick out my tongue at Tanna, which only makes her laugh even louder. Arm-in-arm, we skip to the restaurant, leaving Tanna behind on the ground. She'll catch up eventually.

Srindin opens the door for me, then bumps shoulders with the host before leading me to a table. He was obviously here before us and knows the elf at the front door. We come to a round table with five chairs, and he sets me in one before sitting on my right. I look at the extra chairs and give him a questioning look.

Srindin sighs. "Big Sister didn't tell you anything, did she? Can't take that elf anywhere nice. At least that explains why you attacked me. Nice leg sweep, by the way. You've been practicing. Never got me down so quickly before."

That makes me giggle. I hate when I giggle, but I only giggle around family so that makes it okay. "Lada would have my head if I wasn't able to take out a single attacker in two seconds. And that's a real attacker, not some weak-kneed warehouse sitter!" I wink at him, but he knows I'm playing. "But no, she didn't tell me anything. Two more chairs... are Mom and Dad coming too?"

He points back to the door where Tanna's walking in with her parents. Noticing her mother in uniform, I'm standing again just as the elf at the door speaks a word to cause a whistle to echo through the restaurant – the same whistle from the ship. All UCST-uniformed diners, and a few in casual clothes, quickly come to their feet, turn to the door, and salute.

Most buildings on worlds with UCST stations will sound a whistle for uniformed admirals. Most only see uniformed admirals if they're visiting officially or are high-ranking family members. Admiralty City obviously sees more uniformed admirals than most, but it's still a rare occurrence for most folk in the city. Admiral Maeralya Aldamiel, Tanna's Mom, salutes the room and gestures them to be seated. Everyone returns to their seats, but Srindin and I remain standing.

Tanna's Dad, Adamar Aldamiel, is also with the women. Smartly dressed in a blue shirt with red-striped tie under a grey jacket with grey slacks, he looks good with the uniformed woman on his arm. Adamar is a popular local engineer and architect, having designed a lot of buildings within the city. The new Admiralty building holding the High Admiral Council chambers was designed by him. He's not personally much of a celebrity, but everyone knows his work. Tanna learned a lot from him, and between the two parents it's no wonder Tanna is where she is on the Corsari.

I've known Mom and Dad long enough to call them Mom and Dad. I hope we get the chance to spend more time on my homeworld so Tanna can get to know my parents as well as I know hers. It's nice that I have Mother and Father back home, and Mom and Dad here. And it's a much nicer surprise than the "parade of potential boyfriends" that I was expecting to be waiting for me!

Hugs are exchanged before we all sit down. I'm really glad to see them, which must show on my face because Mom seems to notice. "Rylae, dear... Tanna didn't tell you I called her about dinner, did she?"

Tanna starts chuckling, so Dad reaches up a hand to flick her ear. "Ridiculous girl. Probably got her brother on the ground again, didn't she?" Srindin nods, Tanna chuckles louder, and Dad flicks her ear again. Srindin and I share a glance, and I giggle again. Dad doesn't care how old Tanna is. He'll gladly remind his daughter to behave, even if it's just a flicked ear. They're a good family. I love them all.

"No, Mom, she didn't tell me anything, but I'm glad to see you all! Is there an occasion? Were you already planning to eat here when we got out early?"

Mom touches the insignia on her collar pointedly. "I know you two are leaving again in two days. It's urgent, and it could be dangerous, so I wanted to pull everyone together tonight. Adamar wasn't busy, and I may have called in a favor with Srindin's LC to get him out today." She winks at her son, who salutes and chuckles.

I smile. "Thanks for thinking about us. Honestly, I'm not that worried about it. It sounds like cut-and-dry diplomacy, and between Cap and the Admiral they should get it all sorted out. We'll be back before we know it." Tanna nods in agreement.

The waiter comes over, and we place our orders. The conversation through the rest of the meal is light and fun. We talk about Srindin's recent terrible girlfriends, Dad's newest building designs, and a bit about Tanna and Aelon. There's not much about myself to talk about, and Mom doesn't bring up any more about work.

I do notice Mom glance at me quite a few times during dinner with a pointed look. It's not something I can describe, but it looks an awful lot like she's telling me to pay attention to the mission, and that things might not be as simple as they appear. As soon as I'm thinking that, she looks content and doesn't give me any more weird looks.

I wonder how that works. It's like some type of command intuition or telepathy or something. We just make weird motions and think things really hard at another officer, and they pick up on it. Only works for command situations, though, and only with senior officers. I'd tried it with ensigns before and it just doesn't come across the same. It's like they don't think the same way we do, so they don't even come close to understanding.

Beats me. I'll think about it more tomorrow. Right now I want some of those delectable cherry crème puffs they serve here. At least two or three. Maybe I'll save one for the morning while I'm doing paperwork. Or maybe I'll just eat all of them here. I haven't decided yet.

# CHAPTER FIVE

Oooohhh yes! There's nothing like the deliciousness of a cherry crème puff from House of Ryvvik to take the sting out of urgent paperwork. I'm so glad I decided to keep one from last night. It's the perfect reward for getting up early, cleaning up my on-world quarters, packing my stuff, and getting the urgent requisitions completed. Now that the paperwork's done, I can drag my bags to the landcraft and move myself back into my ship quarters. But not this crème puff. No, it's too heavy to drag around. I should finish it here. It's the sensible thing to do.

Losing the on-world quarters after only a week is sad, but I've lived on-ship long enough to be used to those accommodations. Imagine a fifth-century dwarven feasting hall on the bottom level of a really boring fifth-century inn, and you can probably imagine what the on-ship quarters are like. Cap has better quarters, obviously, and the Admiral's quarters will be nice, but the rest of us all have basic inn-style rooms. At least most LC's and above get individual quarters instead of the bunk rooms that lower ranks and NCO's get.

Individual or not, on-ship quarters aren't much for privacy since anyone can find you at any time. On-world quarters are larger and more private, so a lot of senior officers prefer to "vacation" in them when we're docked. I know I do. Not that I really need the privacy or the additional space, but I like the fact that it feels different, so it's about as close to a real vacation as I'll ever get.

Vacation's over now, so back to the ship it is. I check my messages before I leave, and I see a new one from Admiral Mom. In Mom's official capacity, she's Admiral-in-charge of the personnel office of UCST, which easily explains why she knows about our mission. I'd think being arrested for an assassination attempt and causing war to be declared on the Corps would likely bring a black mark to the LC's record, so of course it would come to Mom's attention.

The message from Mom is marked Level 2 Confidential, which is pretty standard for items from the personnel office. Level 2 is able to be shared on an as-needed basis with any officer of rank, but should generally still be protected. I open it, and I see it's the personnel record and history of Lieutenant Commander Spazkin Darkmuck. That will probably come in handy while talking with the Overseer on Stenchstone. Thanks Mom! I'll read it later on-ship.

I shut the terminal down and drag my things out the door and into the landcraft. The standard size of these vehicles can hold six folk comfortably, plus room in the back for packages, so there's plenty of room for one skinny elf and her two small bags of things. I know Tanna can fill one of these things to the rim with her stuff and not have any room for herself, and that's just for an overnight trip! I love her, but I don't always understand her.

The ride back to the ship is uneventful, and I spend most of the time in a food daze over that last crème puff. Once the landcraft comes to a stop, I pull my bags out and start the short trek to the docking pad. Rounding the last corner, I can see the new secondary battery is already sitting at the back of the ship waiting for the large bay doors to open. Cap wasn't kidding when he said we had urgent priority!

The battery is about standard elf height at 170 cm, but it's width in either direction is about the size of four dwarves standing shoulder-to-shoulder. It's diamond-shaped, like a large crystal, on a square base, and has a slight greenish-bluish hue to it. It's actually a crushed-and-shaped composite of multiple types of gems and stones, developed specifically to hold mana and slowly deplete it only as it's used. I honestly don't know exactly how they work – my study of technology doesn't include knowledge of battery maintenance. Tanna knows, and that's good enough for me. I'm sure I'll learn when I get my captain's chair, but right now there are more important things that need my attention.

One of those important things is the fact that there's a giant secondary mana battery sitting outside of my ship, and the bay doors still haven't opened. It takes me another five minutes or so to get the rest of the way to the ship, and those doors really should have opened by now. The bay doors require senior officer approval to open, or in their absence the storage bay chief and Engineering LCs can authorize the door opening. Everyone knew this was coming, so there's no excuse for the closed door.

I walk up to the two delivery guys – one dwarf and one elf. They see me and salute. I salute back, then look pointedly between them and the ship.

"Gentlefolk, you've been standing here a long time. Have you notified the storage bay chief to get door approval?"

The dwarf steps forward and hands me a manifest scroll, detailing the delivery. There aren't any portable holoterminals yet, although I understand there are a few research departments on different worlds which are getting close. Until then, portable data is still written on parchment in scroll form with ink or spellsand. I unroll the scroll while the dwarf speaks. "Aye, Ma'am. Contact is for Senior Chief Ironhammer in the storage bay, but there's been no response yet. It's been an hour, Ma'am."

My eyes get wide. An hour is completely unacceptable. I return the scroll and extend my hand. "On behalf of my ship, please accept my apology for your wait. We'll resolve this issue immediately." The dwarf shakes my hand. Dropping his hand, I walk to the door charm and touch it. It beeps.

"Door authorization, Westiel-seven-nine-star-one-zero-zero-four-five."

The large back panel of the ship fades out, leaving an opening big enough to put a battalion through... which, of course, is one of the primary functions of the bay door. I take a step inside and look around, but the large staging area appears to be completely empty. We sort deliveries here before taking them to where they need to be. We also prepare the battalion here before deploying them to where they need to be.

I motion to the delivery guys to come forward. They each step to one side of the battery, move their arms and appear to speak a few words. The battery and platform slowly rise to about 10 cm off the ground. Each man grabs a handle on the platform, and they walk the battery inside the ship. They speak a word to slowly lower it to the floor, and that's when I notice that my bags are sitting on the back of the platform with the battery!

I walk towards the battery, but the elf delivery man is faster than I am. He scoops up my bags and brings them over, gently handing them out to me. "Commander, Ma'am. I saw you were bringing these back to the ship, so I thought I would save you the trouble of carrying them inside."

I give the elf a good look, and I like what I see. Not too tall, not too short; strong without looking ridiculous; thoughtful and nice... I'm starting to miss my on-world vacation quarters and the rest of our docking time. "Thank you, sir! That was very thoughtful and I appreciate it. I'd like to send a note to your boss about how helpful you are. What's your name?"

Did he just blush a little? That's adorable! "Thank you, Commander, Ma'am, but that's not necessary. It's part of our job to be helpful where we can." He gives a salute and turns to walk away, then stops and turns back quickly. "My name is Iandril Falanae." He turns back to his delivery partner as they both leave the ship.

I watch them go, a little dumbstruck. Why'd he leave so quickly? I didn't even get to give him my name! Ugh. Now I feel fat and ugly. I shouldn't have had that crème puff this morning. Oh well. Enough of being lovestruck Rylae and back into being XO Westiel. They probably had to leave because they were stuck here for an hour and behind schedule. Where's that dragons-be-damned storage bay chief?

I close the door, grab my bags and set them at the edge of the door from the staging area to the ship hallway, then continue down the hallway to the storage bay. It's not a long walk, which is part of the point. Should be easy to get stuff from the doors to the storage bay, or there's not much point in it. I turn into the storage bay and see the dwarf chief arguing with my Chief Science Officer.

Well, it's more like 'arguing at', since Zaxn doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot of arguing himself. He looks worried and frightened. He's about 20 cm taller than the dwarf, but with his hanging head and hunched shoulders, he almost looks smaller than the senior chief. His green skin looks pale, and his pointed ears are sagging a bit. He's twisting his gnarled hands around each other like he's trying to rub his knuckles off. When we get back from this mission, I'm signing him up for leadership classes. Maybe I'll even teach him some things myself. Maybe I'll start now.

"Lieutenant Gloomfire!" I make sure my voice booms across the cavernous storage bay, and it has the desired effect. The goblin looks like he's about to jump out of his skin, and the dwarf shuts up fast. They both turn to see me in the doorway. Zaxn salutes quickly. The dwarf takes a second longer, and it almost seems like an insult, but I have larger issues to chew on.

I stride over to the pair. "Lieutenant. Would you care to explain why the delivery team with the secondary battery was standing outside the bay doors for an hour? While the battery was delivered faster than I expected, it was still expected and should have been no problem."

Zaxn looks horrified. He looks at me, then to the storage bay chief, then back to me, then back to the storage bay chief. Then he seems to find his courage and turns to me. "I'm sorry, Commander. My storage bay chief should have taken care of it, but I neglected to inform him of the urgent deliveries to the ship due to our new mission."

For all his nerdy faults, Zaxn certainly has plenty of courage when it comes to admitting mistakes and taking responsibility for errors. If he'd just stand up more forcefully to his teams he wouldn't have to accept so many errors. I nod to him. "Okay, so the Senior Chief wasn't aware of the deliveries. That's still no excuse for not accepting that battery when it arrived. I saw the delivery scroll, and it was obvious that it had Commander Aldamiel's approval, along with mine and Cap's. If the Senior Chief had looked at it, he would have obviously let it in." I turn to the senior chief. "Any chance you want to explain to me why you didn't look at it, Senior Chief? I'm listening."

Did the dwarf just snarl at me? He's obviously angry, but there's really no reason for it. He looks like he's about to snap at me, then abruptly stops. He takes a breath, but it doesn't seem to help much. "Commander. As I was telling the Lieutenant, I sent both of you a status update on the remaining room in the storage bay a few days ago. We are over capacity by fifteen percent, and there's just no room for something the size of a secondary mana battery! I can't accept it because I have nowhere to put it!"

I look around the storage bay. "Senior Chief. I'm currently standing in the storage bay, and I see plenty of room for storing things. Based on the size of this room, I'd say it's only about 30% full of science equipment and backup tools for Engineering. For the sake of those who find math difficult, that means it's 70% completely wide open. I plan to familiarize myself with the storage bay capacity regulations later, but right now, it doesn't matter much. We have an urgent mission, and we launch in a little over one day. The mana battery is in the staging area. Move it to the storage bay immediately, where it will stay until Engineering is ready for it, and inform them that it has arrived. Those are your orders, Senior Chief. Do you have a problem with completing them?"

The dwarf looks like he absolutely has problems, but he's smart enough to not say anything. "No, Ma'am," is all he says as he salutes and walks off.

That was exasperating. Sometimes folk just get too big for their helmets and need to be reminded who's in charge and calling the shots. I'm thankful we don't have very many of those difficult folk on the ship. Most of the officers can handle their difficult folk, though, so I don't have to get in their faces like I had to with the Senior Chief. Which reminds me...

"Zaxn." He jumps a bit and turns to me. "I know. I know you're not a leader. You're a damn good adept, but you're not a leader... and that has to change. You'll never make LC at this rate, and if you can't control your department I'll have to bump you from the ship." As that last bit hits him, he staggers like he was physically hit in the face. His head and shoulders sag again. Poor nerdy science kid.

I walk closer to him and put my arm on his shoulders. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be hard on you, but there are requirements to your position and this is one of them. I've been sheltering you for too long. I want you to start talking to the other senior officers and get advice from them. Specifically, talk with Simon and Gimmir to learn how to deal with difficult folk, and talk to Tanna and Aelon about having a proper leader attitude. After you've worked with all of them, we'll get together and talk about what you learned and how to apply it. Can you do that?"

He's shaking and seems like he's about to cry, but he nods with his chin on his chest. "Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am. And thank you, Ma'am." He takes a breath, then looks up at me. "Thank you, Rylae. I really didn't know what to do with him, and I'm really glad you showed up when you did. He just kept yelling at me about his capacity and wouldn't listen."

I pat him on the shoulder and lead him to the door. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Simon can give you some good tips, goblin to goblin, on how to handle difficult dwarves like that. After all, he works with Gimmir all day long."

That brings a chuckle out of him. He'll be fine. We get to the door and I point to the staging area. "If you really want to thank me, though, you can carry my bags to my quarters for me. They're right inside the staging door." He nods and takes off towards the staging area. He's a good kid. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. We're the same age, but he's a good kid and I haven't been a kid for a long time now. It's amazing to me how that works sometimes.

I should walk around and do a general check of readiness since Admiral Shockpaw will be here tomorrow. I know goblin admirals have a higher tolerance for mess than elves or dwarves, but I still want to make sure everything's in order. The happier the admiral is, the happier Cap will be, and the happier the rest of us will be.

# CHAPTER SIX

I love my job. Truly, I mean that. However... sometimes it just isn't very glamorous. The times when I get to pass out command decisions are pretty glamorous. Being the face of the ship to admirals and planetary dignitaries can sometimes be glamorous. Resolving issues before they become major catastrophes is usually glamorous. (Although resolving major catastrophes before someone dies is more fun and tends to get more attention... not that I'd ever wait on purpose for something to explode before I resolved it! I'm not as 'efficient' as the Admiralty.)

The rest of the time, being Executive Officer of a starship is doing paperwork and cleaning up messes no one will take credit or blame for. There's nothing glamorous in that. Especially when the mess is actually in the mess hall, and the crew that would normally handle it is busy cataloguing inventory so we can know we have enough to actually be able to eat during this mission. Feeding almost six hundred crew members for even just a few weeks takes a lot of food. Some days they don't seem to have enough flavor to go around. Food you can survive on, yes; flavor, not as much.

I'm not even sure how long this mess has been here, since it's in the sectioned-off room reserved for visiting captains/admirals/other VIPs. We haven't had to use the area in months, which someone on the crew obviously took as freedom to use it for their own purposes. Ale stains on the walls and floor, bones from some edible creature stacked up in the corner, and... is that cake on the ceiling? How does that even happen? I'll have to ask around to see if I can find out what happened. I wish I had some way to monitor who comes into this area. I'll submit a report to the Admiralty to see if they have any solutions.

In the meantime, the solution is Commander Rylae Westiel on her hands and knees with a rag and bucket. Not at all glamorous. These are the things that have to be done, though. And I'm the only one who would even think to look in here to verify cleanliness before an admiral comes on-ship. At least everything else on-ship seems to be in working order right now, and everyone's generally too busy preparing for the mission to cause any more issues.

You're probably wondering why I don't just use a spell to clean the room. You're wondering that because you forget that we have to reserve our mana for things like travel and life support. Non-essential magic is one of the daily luxuries we have to give up when we join a ship. When you're out in the starfield, the only mana available is in the batteries, and that's all being carefully managed. Even adept crewmembers can't access it without authorization. The security and monitoring of the mana flow is one of the most important aspects of Engineering. Tanna isn't going to let her best friend siphon off some of our necessary mana just to clean ale and cake off some walls. Her best friend would absolutely fire her senior officer ass if she did allow it.

Some adepts do bring their own batteries for their own personal use, but personal batteries only hold enough mana for a handful of high-level spells or a double-handful of low-level spells like cleaning or light. Most adepts are able to refill their own batteries on-world, so it's not much cost to them, but for regular folk the cost of that kind of battery can be immense. It's much easier to just train yourself to do things the manual way.

There is that story about the one adept who tried to chain together a bunch of communicators and spellshooters to tap into their batteries. Small tech batteries are designed to only be able to use the spells that normally run that piece of tech and nothing else. Not only did the adept burn himself up when all the spellshooters released fireballs, but at the exact same second all the communicators connected across the ship so everyone could hear him scream in agony as he died. I'm still not sure if that story is a legend or if it actually happened. I've known enough stupid folk that it absolutely could be true, but it sounds too much like one of those stories-with-a-moral to have actually happened.

Regardless, I don't have access to my own battery and wouldn't know how to really use it if I did. I know some basic spells, and as an elf growing up I was expected to learn some basic magic for everyday use. I couldn't have written my school reports if I didn't know how to use spellsand. However, I am absolutely not an adept. Using magic just doesn't feel right to me, and even on-world I'd rather clean by hand than use a spell. As adults, we try not to discuss magic usage because it's a highly personal matter, so I don't know how common it is to have your feet and hands itch when you cast a cleaning spell. With my luck, it's probably super-rare and they'd want to study me in a lab somewhere.

I'm really involved in one particularly difficult ale-and-cake stain on the floor when my communicator beeps behind me. I left it up on the table, which I pushed to the edge of the room so I could clean. I don't have anything to dry myself on, and I don't want to grab the communicator with wet-and-dirty hands, so I shout "Connect, Audio Only, Full Volume!" to the device. It beeps.

"Commander? Are you there?" Calgonnel's voice comes out a bit loud, but it's okay since I am halfway across the room. The walls in this room were made to block sound anyway so VIPs can have private meetings over meals.

"Hey, Calgonnel. Currently at long range on the communicator. Can you hear me okay?" I speak loudly, but I try not to yell. The long range pickup function should get me at a normal tone of voice, but I'm also facing the floor so I don't want to risk it.

"Indeed. It's picking you up just fine. Are you on-ship right now? I'd like to come talk to you for a minute."

I nod, then remember that audio-only doesn't come with a holographic head that can show that response. "I am. I'm in the VIP area of the mess hall trying to clean up a mess. I'll be here for a bit if you can meet me here."

There's a moment of silence where I'm sure Calgonnel just nodded and remembered like I had. "I can. I'll be right down. Ambassador out." With that, the connection closes and it's just me and a rag again. I figure it'll take Calgonnel a few minutes to get down here from Command or his quarters, so I'll just keep scrubbing until he gets here. I could clean off instead, but that seems silly if I'm just going to have to get dirty again afterwards.

The door chime startles me. I managed to get so involved in cleaning again that I wasn't even thinking. I have no idea how much time passed. Calgonnel might have stopped for lunch or had a meeting or two before coming down to see me and I wouldn't have noticed, but it's probably only been a few minutes. I turn my head as far as I can to see it from the corner of my eye as it opens.

The door fades out and Calgonnel comes in. It always amazes me how regal he looks, even when in just a basic ship uniform. He's handsome enough, for an elf twice my age, but he always looks like he's in control of the situation. I suppose that's what makes him a great diplomat. I'm not sure I'd be that composed if I had to talk to kings and sit in meetings to determine the fate of worlds. For Calgonnel, that's just the way he normally looks, no matter what. I should learn that.

It also amuses me that the age difference sometimes makes him uncomfortable. I'm still on my hands and knees on the floor. He looks around the room at the mess, sees me, notices he's looking directly at my ass, and turns away. I chuckle to myself and push myself off the floor.

Calgonnel seems to have taken a lot more interest in the mess in the room. He glances around, then looks up. His eyes get wide. "Is that cake on the ceiling?"

"That's what it looks like to me, too. I'm going to have to ask the mess hall staff if they have something that can scrape it off. They might have a spellshooter for stuff like that, or maybe just a long garden implement that would work. If we had more time, I'd find whoever made the mess and make them clean it."

He stares at the cake spot for a second, then turns to me. "I know who did it. I didn't know it would be this bad when I agreed to it, though. Ensign Tker Scumstick in Tactical and some of his buddies were throwing a bachelor party and wanted a place to hold it. They said you were too busy to help them and asked if they could use this room. And I'm sorry I forgot to check on it afterwards. With all the docking details, it slipped my mind."

"I remember that request. I wasn't 'too busy' for it. I specifically responded to him that he should wait until we were docked and use an on-world location. I'm a little irritated that the Ensign took the 'Mommy said no so let's ask someone else' approach."

He nods. "In that case, he did lie to me about your status, and I should have checked with you. I apologize."

I wave my hand in a motion for 'brushing it off'. "Don't worry about it. I'll have a word with Aelon about his Ensign. What did you need to speak about?"

He motions to the table, so we walk over and grab a couple chairs to sit, turning them to face each other. "I wanted to check with you about the upcoming mission; specifically our part of it. The addition of this spectacular screw-up on my part," he says as he gestures to include the dirty room, "makes my questions a little more relevant."

I nod. I know where he's going, but I'll let him get there, as that's part of the point anyway. He continues, "I know the roles of XO and Ambassador can be weird at times, and this is the first time it's been weird with us. Normally when I'm working, you're still on-ship managing that, so we don't have any questions about command. This time, we'll be working directly together on-world, and I want to make sure we're clear on how we're going to operate."

I nod again. I can be a good little girl when I need to be one, and this is one of those times. I could make some quick comments of reassurance and maybe a joke, but regardless of the informal setting this still feels like a very important meeting about very important matters. That's another thing Calgonnel does well that I wish I could learn. How does one go about learning charisma?

"I understand, Ambassador. I've given this a lot of thought over the years, and I've researched other XO-Ambassador relationships. I fully recognize that when we're on the mission, you outrank me and your word is my rule. As of yesterday, I follow your lead on anything mission-related. I am support for you, just like I'd be support for the Captain. I do recognize the seriousness of what we have to do, and who we have to work with on Stenchstone to make it happen. You're the expert in diplomacy. I only step in where you want me to."

He smiles and reaches out to pat me on the shoulder. "Thank you, Rylae. I was worried about that. I'm still going to be a little worried about it, because I know how you like to jump in things if you get ideas, but it's very comforting knowing you're going to have my back. It's been about seventy-five years since I've been in a mission this sensitive, and while I'm not talking to the King, I'm still aware about how we can cause a lot of problems."

I chuckle at that. "I'm glad you're aware of those problems, because I'm not. I just want to yell at folk until they let the LC go, then lock him in a room on-ship where he can't start another war."

That makes Calgonnel chuckle. "Once we're back on-ship with him, I promise not to have any more recommendations or requirements. You can lock him up wherever you want." He looks around the room again. "Maybe we could have him clean up this mess for you."

I sigh. "That won't work. I have to have this clean before the Admiral comes on tomorrow. Maybe we'll make a new cake-on-the-ceiling mess specifically for the LC."

He stands up, so I do as well, and he shakes my hand. "That sounds like a good plan. If we get out of this one, we'll have enough cake to fill the storage bay and have everyone throw some on the ceiling. I'll get with you again when we're off-world so we can start planning the mission."

I nod, and then I remember. There's a holoterminal in this room, so I walk over to it and log in. "I just remembered something important that I need to send to you. I spoke with Admiral Aldamiel, and this morning she sent me the LC's personnel file. I'll forward it along to you. You'll probably get more out of it than I will."

I enter the commands to forward the message from Mom, then log off. Calgonnel smiles. "Excellent thought, Rylae. I hadn't yet considered details on the LC. I was focused on the Overseer. Goblins are rather 'neutral evil' at the best of times, but the Overseer... I'll catch you up on him later. He's a handful." He throws me a half-salute, which I match, then leaves the room.

I look back up at the ceiling cake, then the rest of the room. I should really go bug the mess staff about something to take care of this. Then I need to send LC Onoviel a note about a certain Ensign who broke the command chain after a certain XO denied his request, and how that certain Ensign left a certain mess which would have been seen by a certain Admiral if a certain XO hadn't cleaned it herself. I am sending it to Aelon, though, so I should probably be a little more straightforward than that or he won't understand it. Maybe if I acted it out with two toy starships instead... Ha. Now I'm just being mean.

# CHAPTER SEVEN

"Commander Westiel. Please report to the Captain's office. Commander Westiel to the Captain's office, please. Thank you."

The voice wakes me. I wasn't sleeping all that well, but I know I didn't sleep the whole night. I tap the holoterminal, and it confirms my suspicions. It's still the middle of the night in Admiralty City. That can't be good.

A second more of thought and I'm fully awake. The voice was my communicator, relaying a message from Cap's yeoman. All captains and admirals have a personal yeoman to do their easy paperwork and manage their scheduling... and to call and wake Executive Officers when they're needed. At least this elf girl has a nice voice. Cap's last yeoman was an older dwarf who must have had gravel permanently attached to the back of his throat. That's not something you want to wake up to very often.

I grab my communicator and touch the blinking spot. "Commander Westiel acknowledged. ETA five minutes. Out."

I sit up in bed and start to get to my feet when the communicator beeps. "Commander Westiel. Fifteen minutes. Formal dress. Thank you." Her sweet little elf voice stops me cold. Formal dress? In the middle of the night? Right before an admiral is supposed to come on board? Wait... oh. Oh! The admiral's staff must be on-ship and finalizing details. But formal dress? The admiral's staff must be high-ranking. Captains and above. That's no problem. It's still my ship, and they'll still respect my authority on it... unless I show up in my robe.

I reach for the covered hanger holding my dress uniform – the same colors as our jumpsuit uniforms, but admiral-style with a jacket and slacks instead of one piece. I'm now extra glad that I cleaned myself last night before falling asleep. Finishing that cake-and-ale mess completely wiped me out, and left me a bit disgusting. I was incredibly thankful that the mess staff had something to get the dried cake off the ceiling – a long staff with a bent metal bit on the end that was able to scrape the ceiling. They didn't even seem surprised by it. I need to commend them later and find out exactly how often things end up on the ceiling that they actually have a tool specifically for it.

I'm also thankful that I didn't have a lot to unpack and put away. I don't know how someone like Tanna can constantly shuffle all those clothes and cosmetics and things around. Only having two bags is nice. It all comes back out and goes back where it belongs in a few minutes, so it's no effort to reach for my clothes and hair supplies to get myself back in order. A quick application of some face cream and some color for my eyes, and I'm ready to go.

Senior officer quarters are all located on level six, one level above the command rooms, specifically so we can get to them quickly. There are still four levels of quarters above us, designed so if something big falls on the ship and crushes it, senior officers in the center should still be safe. Same reasoning applies in the case of a battalion coming in at the bottom and working their way up, but I'm not worried about that. They'd have to get through Gimmir and Simon. Then they'd have to get through Lada. I don't think there's an army strong enough.

Walking down the stairs between levels six and five, I can see some guards standing outside of Cap's office farther down the hallway. That's interesting, but not unheard of. Some admirals have their own security teams. Considering the mission, I guess it's not surprising. But why are they here? Protecting the admiral's staff because it's the middle of the night? Something's not right.

As I get closer, one of the security officers turns to me and blocks my path. He's a goblin in silver chain mail, carrying a long pike. His angry eyes look me over, determining if I'm a threat. "Name. Rank. Father's name."

Standard security protocol. Cap's yeoman would have given security this information to authorize me, along with the rest of the senior officers and some of the service staff. I come to a stop and look him in the eyes. Anything less than a show of confidence can get you skewered and an "Oops. Sorry." sent to your family. Goblins. "Commander Rylae Westiel. Executive Officer, UCST Corsari. Daughter of Jakobian."

The goblin nods and moves back to his place guarding the doorway. I touch the doorway charm to sound the door chime in the office, and only a second passes before I hear Cap's voice. "C'mon in, Rylae. Been waitin' for ya."

The door fades out and I step into the office. Cap's office isn't as large as our discussion room, but it's enough to hold Cap's desk, some chairs, and a small round table which can seat six. Cap's sitting at the table with two goblins, and all three of them turn to me as I enter. They're all wearing dress uniforms, which explains why I needed mine. From the insignia on his uniform collar, the goblin closest to me is a Captain. The one behind him... dragons be damned! I snap to attention and salute.

The three officers at the table return my salute without standing, then Cap waves me off. "Ease, Commander. Admiral Shockpaw, Captain Darkmuck, this is Commander Westiel. Rylae, grab a chair. Sorry for wakin' ya, but, well..." He motions at the two officers across from him and shrugs.

I grab a chair next to Cap and take a seat. The Admiral's already here, in the middle of the night, with no fanfare, and with some high-ranking relation of the LC in custody on Stenchstone. There's obviously more going on than I originally thought.

The admiral's staring at me. "Commander. I trust you remember this is Level 0. Not only are a lot of the details of the mission Level 0, but my 'appearance' on your ship is Level 0. Captain Darkmuck's entire visit is Level 0. Beyond us, no one will know he's even here. Understood?"

I nod. "Understood, sir. Multiple members of the crew know you're going to be on-ship, and I assume we won't have to keep you a secret after we're off-world, but your arrival and the Captain's existence won't leave this room." The admiral nods in acceptance.

Cap turns to me. "The admiral's yeoman and steward are already on-ship settin' up the guest quarters, and ya've already met his security detail. Apologies for not gettin' with ya earlier today, and nothin' personal o'course, but we had to keep this one 'Captain's Eyes Only'. "

Captain Darkmuck nods. "Yes. Our office has a report of a possible attempt on the Admiral's life tomorrow when he comes to the ship. Some elements on Terra seem to want this war to happen. We do not have a full explanation yet."

An attempt on the Admiral's life? That's interesting. "Captain, I assume then that you're a member of the Office of Intelligence?" Another nod. "Can I also ask how you're related to LC Darkmuck?"

A scowl crosses Captain Darkmuck's face. His demeanor changes from giving-a-formal-report to obviously-disgusted. "That idiot is my brother's son. Our family is from Stenchstone. Spazkin took an assignment there as a weapon maintenance technician. I don't know how he got involved in this pile of rotted traitor brains. It's all dark enough to hide bodies."

"Commander, this is why I wanted to bring the Captain with me. He was the one who brought the assassination plot on me to my attention, but he also has nothing else to add. I thought it best for you to hear that directly from the Captain to truly understand the details." I glance at the admiral while he's talking, and he's still staring at me. Has he been staring at me the entire time? That's awkward. Almost as awkward as bringing someone along just so he can tell us that he has nothing to tell us. Goblins are so damn weird.

There has to be more here. I know they didn't wake me up just to tell me nothing. "Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate the information from Captain Darkmuck. I'm thinking there's more to this meeting, though. Is there more information I need to know?"

Captain Darkmuck looks at Cap. "You were right, Gravelhand. She is good, even when she's half awake. No wonder that hit squad on Firefork had trouble with her a few years ago. They probably didn't even know she knew they were there. Stupid troll-lickers. They deserved what they got." I'm not surprised he knows about that, since he's in Intelligence. I'm also not surprised he feels nothing for the goblin hit squad. They failed, and goblins don't treat failure nicely.

Cap grins and pats my arm where it's resting on the table. "Rylae's a good XO. Can't do much better, unless she was a bit shorter and could fill out a miner's outfit. But she'd look kinda dumb with a beard." They all laugh. I chuckle so they know I get the joke, but thinking of myself as a dwarf just doesn't seem very funny. Probably just still too tired. Maybe I'll get it in the morning.

Admiral Shockpaw straightens in his chair. "Commander, we have reason to believe that the planned attempt on my life tomorrow will not be the only one. We are expecting at least one more assassination attempt to occur on Stenchstone. This may be against me, or against your captain, or against your ambassador, or against you. They may even come after Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck. We do not have any intelligence about this, but we have an expectation. Obviously, with the travel time between worlds, we have no way to validate this expectation, but there is something happening that someone does not want us interfering with. If it has already included an assassination attempt against King Damnation, and against myself, then it is reasonable to assume there will be more, as they have not yet been successful."

At least now I understand why they woke me. I suppose I'll forgive them this time. But... "Cap, why isn't Calgonnel in this meeting? Shouldn't he be here to know about this as well?"

Cap grunts. "We argued for a bit about that one. I wanted both of ya here, but Intelligence didn't want either of ya to know! I finally insisted that an assassination attempt could get in the way of launch, and the Captain agreed to let me bring ya in. I think he also wanted to see a face to put together with all those reports he's read about ya! He kinda had a glint in his eye when I brought up yer name. I figure he must like 'em tall, pale & bossy!" He ends with a smile and a wink.

I repress a sigh. I'm definitely too tired for Cap's jokes. But, looking closer, I can tell he's really tired too. He may not have scraped cake off a ceiling, but he's been dealing with mission details and Admirals non-stop the last few days. I can let him have his jokes.

Nodding, I smile back. "Thanks, Cap. You can just admit that you wanted to see my pretty face tonight and not have to make up all the rest of it." He chuckles while I continue, "I assume I can let Calgonnel know after launch?"

Cap looks at me. "Calgonnel, Lada, Simon and Gimmir are the only ones who will be informed. The admiral's security detail and staff don't know, and we won't share with the senior officers. If too many folk know, then whoever is behind all this could figure out that we know they're comin'. We wanna catch 'em off-guard to learn more of their game. Keep yer eyes open at all times, and notice the things that aren't right. Maybe we'll find the bigger plan and more of the players."

Captain Darkmuck nods. "We need your staff to gather intelligence while also trying to stop a war. With the Admiral and Gravelhand working with Damnation and his staff, you and your ambassador should get what you can from the Overseer and keep your pointy ears open for anything else."

A chime sounds, and Cap turns to the holoterminal. "It's startin' to look like bedtime. We're off-world in twelve hours and should really get some rest before that. Captain, Rylae will show ya off the ship through the bay doors where ya came in. Admiral, I'll show ya to yer quarters. On the way, we'll stop by the mess hall and grab some grub. I understand the VIP room was just cleaned by hand in preparation for ya." Cap looks at me from the side of his eyes, and I suppress a response. I don't know whether to be impressed that he knows, be proud that I finished it, or sigh in exhaustion from all the work it took.

We stand, replace the chairs, and walk to the door. Captain Darkmuck and I exit first, then Cap and the Admiral leave. The security goblins fall in step with the Admiral, one in front of him and one behind. We split up at the crossway, and I lead Captain Darkmuck down the stairs and halls to the bay doors. We don't speak, since hallways are insecure. I have some questions, but I don't think I'll have the chance to ask them.

Halfway to the doors, the captain chuckles. I turn to look at him, and he's looking me over while he chuckles. He sees me looking and grins a big, evil grin. "That Firefork squad never even saw it coming. Now that I've met you, I can hardly believe it either. You look so easy to kill, and you don't look devious enough to set traps. They were dumb to underestimate you. I hope they were thinking that while they burned."

I smile, but I don't offer anything in return. The official report is that I heard them coming and rigged the door with spellshooters. With all of the goblins in the hit squad dead, there was no one to contradict that report, and no one else claimed to be behind the failed attack. I know they weren't coming after me, and I know that it wasn't spellshooters they got hit with, but I won't give up any more than that. She's still relying on my protection.

As we get to the staging area, the goblin grabs my arm to stop me, and pulls me closer. "Commander Westiel, I don't know what Spazkin is up to, but that side of the family is incredibly stupid. I want you to take care of him for me."

I nod. Goblin families are very close, but they won't accept screw-ups at this level. It's not loyalty to King Damnation, or shame of failure, but there's shame of getting caught failing at something stupid. If the LC is innocent, his family will take him back. If he's released and guilty, the family will kill him before he gets home. I'm not sure if the Captain wants me to kill him first, or just wants me to take him home. Either way will take care of it.

I speak the command code to open the door and walk outside with the goblin. A landcraft is waiting by the door with two goblin security types waiting in it. Without another word, Captain Darkmuck walks to the landcraft and gets in. I take a quick look at the surroundings to ensure no assassins are sneaking onto the ship, then go back inside and close the bay doors.

I start back to my quarters, thinking about the mission. It's possible someone may try to kill me, or Calgonnel, or LC Darkmuck. It's possible they may even succeed. Once that completely sinks in, I shrug. I didn't expect anything less from a visit to a goblin world. If you're surrounded by goblins and they're not trying to kill you, it's probably because you're already dead.

At my quarters, I let myself in, strip off my uniform and carefully place it back on the hanger. I was clean, and I only wore it for an hour, so I'm sure it's fine. I think I'm already asleep before I'm completely on the bed.

# CHAPTER EIGHT

How exactly does a starship work? That's a very interesting and very technical question. The short answer that every child learns in school is that they're propelled by a bubble of magic, but that's far from specific. The long answer takes a bit of technical knowledge and a bit of adeptness. LC Aelon Onoviel, Chief Tactical Officer aboard UCST Cosari, is incredibly adept, even if he supplies almost no technical knowledge. But one of the things I've learned in my life is that you can pretty much only have one or the other. Just like some kids are good at sports and some are good at math, you're either a technical genius or have really great hands.

Um. Dragons be damned. I'm usually a lot better at this, but it's been a long few days and I was awoken by an admiral last night warning me my life might be in danger. I have an excuse. Okay... stop thinking about Aelon's hands... stop thinking about Aelon's hands... that's not helping. I'll switch thoughts and come back to this in a minute.

The Engineering staff is monitoring the mana flow of the main battery as they prepare for launch. Three main systems running on the main battery are the reason starfield travel is possible in the Ugly Dirt Box. The first system is the Life Support Bubble. The Bubble is exactly what it sounds like. A greenish colored bubble appears around the ship, sealing us inside a small pocket dimension.

This pocket dimension orients us so up and down still mean the same thing when we're in the air. It also protects the ship from damage. If you throw a stone at us while the Bubble is activated, the stone disappears when it hits the green field. I'm not sure where the stone goes, but it doesn't go through the Bubble.

Finally, the Bubble helps us keep clean air and water inside the ship. Honestly, I have no idea how that part of it works. Tanna told me once that the air comes from the pocket dimension, and the water is somehow created out of the air. I'm not very good at understanding the extra-dimensional aspects of the process.

The second important system is the Flight Spell. The Flight spell is exactly what it sounds... dragons be damned. I hate repeating myself, even in my own head. But these things really are simply named for a reason. I think that reason is because science mages worry about much larger things than what to call their spells.

Anyway, the Flight spell affects the Bubble directly, not the ship. So it's not really the ship that's flying – it's the Bubble that flies, and carries us along with it in the pocket dimension. Tanna told me once that, in relation to the outside of the pocket dimension, we're not actually moving. If you were to stand in the other dimension when the Bubble forms the pocket, you'd see a starship appear out of nowhere and sit there for a few weeks before disappearing again after doing nothing exciting.

Folk in that other dimension must get really confused. I suppose that is assuming there are folk in that other dimension. I don't really know. I'll ask Tanna later.

Okay, yes, Tanna is my main source for everything about magic adeptness. That's why she's the Chief Engineer, and I'm XO. She knows this stuff, and I know I can rely on her for it. And yes, she tutored me during Academy so I could pass those tests. But that was a fair trade for my tutoring her on leadership tests. She never would have made LC without my help all those years ago.

Anyway, the third system is the Propulsion System. This is the one that propels us in any particular direction. It "pushes" the Flight spell in certain ways to move us up, down, left, right, or any direction around a sphere. This is where the Tactical department comes into play. As long as Engineering is monitoring the spells and mana flow, the Bubble and Flight systems will just work automatically. But Propulsion needs to know where to go, and Tactical is in charge of making sure we get pushed in the right direction.

Cap and I take turns whenever we begin flight to another world. One of us oversees Engineering, and the other oversees Tactical. Both departments need to be in-sync when we're first launching the systems to avoid any problems with system failure. Activating Propulsion when the Bubble fluctuates can cause a lot of unhappiness for those folk who aren't immediately killed by being thrown against a wall as fast as a dragon can fly.

Today is my turn in Tactical, and I'm watching over Aelon and his team as they prepare their terminals and consult their starfield maps. A terminal in Tactical looks different from a standard one anywhere else. They have a spherical replica of the Bubble with numbers around it. They can spin the sphere and target specific points to which they apply the Propulsion spell.

The starfield maps give them exact directions to follow to get from any one world to another. All of the directions are previously mapped out by the explorer ships, and it's just a matter of following them. The terminals are set with timers and warnings when direction changes have to be made, but the actual change in direction must be done by hand after verification from Engineering that everything is working properly.

When they first created these systems, they made them automatic like landcraft. Then when a ship reached its destination with no living crew members aboard due to a Bubble failure, the Admiralty created a new 'efficiency' and gave new jobs to folk who are both good at following directions and good with their hands.

Sigh. Um. Excuse me. Hiccups. Yeah, hiccups. I'm better now.

Lieutenant Commander Onoviel's flight team consists of twelve folk total, but only four are in the Tactical room currently. They take shifts so someone is always awake to make the directional changes at the proper times. There are always four folk on-shift at any given time – one main pilot in charge of directional changes, a copilot who verifies the changes before they're locked-in, and two monitors who watch for alarms and verify the maps and timers. Overall, it's a rather boring job for long periods of time. In total, there might be twenty directional changes that have to be made over a week of travel. The rest of the time is staring at alarm signals and talking, and none of the talk gets very deep. It's a great job for folk with better reflex precision than mental precision.

I look at Aelon's back and chuckle a little inside. Yeah, those "hiccups" are gone now. I focus in on the discussions to find out where we are in the process.

Tanna's voice comes over the communicator in Aelon's pilot terminal. "Bubble is holding steady. Mana flow is good and stable. Flight activating... now. Flight is now active. Tactical, prepare launch procedure."

Aelon's hands fly across his terminal. He looks to a goblin Ensign on monitoring duty, who taps some keys on a terminal before signaling to Aelon. He speaks into the communicator in a rich baritone voice, "Tactical copies. Preparations complete. Launch procedure ready for activation."

"Engineering copies. Mana flow to Flight is stable. Spells are holding, waiting for Propulsion activation. Tactical, you may activate when you are ready."

"Tactical copies. Activation in ten seconds." Aelon's hands fly across his terminal, and he aligns the sphere in front of him so he's looking directly at the bottom of the ship. A timer counts down the ten seconds, until "And three, two, one. Launch activation," he says and touches the sphere with two fingers.

Internally, we don't feel anything. We also have no windows to see anything outside of the ship, so there's really no way we can know if we're moving or not from inside. This is where the ground crew comes into play. They have a communicator which can reach into the pocket dimension of the Bubble within a certain distance, which they use to tell us we're actually moving. Should be coming on any second now...

"Ground Control confirms launch activation. Timing is synchronized. You are airborne, Corsari. Safe travels." The ground control chief signs off, and a green light goes out on the communicator terminal.

Aelon manipulates his sphere and terminal options again. "Engineering, please confirm stability of Flight and accuracy of Propulsion."

"Engineering confirms. Flight and Propulsion are stable with solid mana flow. Propulsion verification alert shows 99.2% accuracy, with the point-eight percent towards coordinates 19, 127, 4 from zero."

The monitoring team goes nuts on the math to figure out what needs to be adjusted in their directions. Aelon seems to think it over for a second, then turns the sphere to a certain point and waits. When the two folk in monitoring finish their math, the copilot verifies their solution, then turns to Aelon. She checks Aelon's terminal against the solution and gives him a smile and nod. He may be slow at a lot of things, but he knows his directional math better than anyone on the ship.

He turns to the communicator. "Tactical confirms point-eight percent at coordinates 19, 127, 4. Directions have been adjusted and we're ready to make our first directional change in one minute, seventeen seconds."

"Engineering copies. Awaiting the first directional change."

Everything goes quiet while we all wait for the remaining minute. Numbers are triple-checked, timers are re-verified, and I watch. Aelon doesn't seem to do anything, but I can see his head move as he constantly checks his terminal to make sure nothing is out of place.

Shortly, he speaks again. "Tactical preparing first directional change in ten seconds. Five. Three, two, one." He touches the sphere with two fingers. "Direction change complete. Engineering, please verify accuracy."

"Engineering copies. Verification complete. Accuracy remains point-eight percent at 19,127,4. Tactical, please verify remaining directional change times."

Aelon gestures to his copilot, who begins reading the timers and direction points from her terminal. A male voice in Engineering begins responding, telling me that Tanna passed this task onto her shift assistant as well. That's fairly standard. Shift leaders usually manage launch and landing procedures, whether they're the Senior Officer or another step down the chain. Those are usually the only two folk on-ship who are qualified in all of the procedures that need to be followed, and each one works a different shift for those reasons.

Aelon turns his chair to look at me behind him, smiles, leans back and puts his hands behind his head while stretching his legs out as far as they'll go. He may be an idiot, but he knows what he's good at, and he's very smug about it. I find it easiest to just play into it and keep him happy.

I smile at him. "Well done, Tactical. Another successful launch under your belt. If you keep this up, we'll have to give you to the Academy to teach all of their kids how to fly the Aelon way. I'll be sure to add this to your record." I turn to take in the rest of his team. "And congratulations to the rest of your team for their skill in accurate directional planning. Cap and I are always fighting off the other ship commanders who want to steal you away. You'll just have to be happy being stuck on the Corsari with the rest of us."

The tactical team cheers and starts congratulating themselves, and Aelon turns back around to focus on his team. I'm sure the next few minutes are going to be filled with scintillating conversation and very deep thought, but I'll never know because I don't have to stick around for that. Now that we're on our way, I'm out of here. I head for the door and exit into the hallway.

It's a short walk to Cap's office. I let myself in and take a seat in a chair by his desk. Since Engineering's three levels down and Cap has little dwarf legs, it'll take him a bit longer to get up here for our post-launch meeting. Still a little tired, I grab the chair next to me and turn it around to put my feet up on it.

I'm dozing a little when I hear the door chime. I open my eyes and Cap strolls in. He sees me laying in his chairs and laughs. "Damn, girl. I got less shut-eye than you did. Only got an hour after the Admiral's staff finally got his quarters organized enough for the 'everythin' must be in its proper place' bastard to be able to sleep without movin' crap around again."

I grin at him. "Sorry, Boss, but at least you didn't have to clean cake off the ceiling of a VIP mess area that was supposed to be clean until some goblin ensign decided to have a bachelor party in there after stealing Calgonnel's permission. It's one of Aelon's team, but you know you can't tell that elf anything after a successful launch except 'Aelon is great'."

Cap sits at his desk with a sigh. "Alright. Alright. Both our jobs suck goblin toes. But we're damn good at 'em, so I guess we'll keep doin 'em. Aye?"

I sigh. "Aye, Boss." I smile. Exchanges like this are why I love working for Cap. "Tactical was perfect as usual for the launch, and Aelon is as smug as a goblin baby that just stole its first toy. Engineering?"

Cap laughs. "You know that new elf kid Tanna just got down there? Ensign... uh... Labrinien, I think his name was." I nod. Brand new elf boy fresh from the Academy. He joined us right after we docked, replacing an older Lieutenant who retired. Cap continues, "He's sittin' close to the battery monitorin' terminal watchin' everyone work, and Tanna comes over, steps in front of him to check somethin'. Her ass right in his face. Swear on my armor, he actually reached up like he was gonna grab it! Right before he touched it, she bounced away to another station and he put his hands back in his lap before anyone noticed. Crossed 'em across his groin like he suddenly had to hide somethin'. "

At this point, I'm laughing so hard I can't see through the tears in my eyes. New ensigns are always funny, but this is awesome. Cap takes a drink from a water cup on his desk and continues. "It was all I could do not to make fun of the poor kid right then and there. But I'm a good captain who would never embarrass his brand new friends on their very first launch." He nods at me and smiles.

I choke down another laugh. "Absolutely, Boss. You'd never do that on a kid's first launch. You'll wait a day until you come up with a good one-liner for it."

He grins, holds up his cup in salute, then takes another drink of water. "Well, elf, if we're both done here and our folk are holdin' the ship, I say we go take a nap. We've got a week of flying to get done, plenty of paperwork that can be avoided, and a few hours before we let the Admiral out of the bag. He's likely slept through the whole launch. Lucky bastard."

I chuckle, salute, and head for the door. A nap sounds like a great idea, and it was Cap's idea, so I'll just have to follow orders.

# CHAPTER NINE

Introducing the senior officers to Admiral Shockpaw was rather uneventful. It seemed like everyone except Calgonnel and Lada forgot the Admiral was even joining the mission, due to being too busy with the accelerated schedule. During the quick meeting, I tried to scan the faces and responses of the goblins on staff – Sen, Zaxn and Simon – but I didn't get much to work with. Or did I? All three of them were very quiet and respectful, with no evil grins or sharp movements or anything. I suppose the Admiral must be highly respected in the goblin community. I'll ask Calgonnel in a bit when I get to his office.

With the Admiral introduced, and his security staff now able to recognize all of the senior officers, that finishes off the list of 'Admiral tasks' in my head. The Admiral's staff would have already taken the initiative with the cook staff , and Lada left the meeting at the head of his security detail, so everything else is in someone else's responsibility matrix from here. I have to get back to ship management details later, but right now I'm heading to start talking mission details with Calgonnel – especially the new ones I just learned last night.

I get to the Ambassador's office and touch the door charm. The door fades out immediately, so I step inside and see Calgonnel sitting at his table. He doesn't have a true desk in here, because "an Ambassador shouldn't be separated from those he's speaking with". He's very particular about things like that. Everyone's equal in the Ambassador's office. Just one round table with eight chairs. All the chairs are padded and extra-comfortable, and Calgonnel has one just like the others. His chair is only recognizable by the scrolls surrounding it and the additional wear in the padding.

He looks up from a scroll he's reading. "Hey, Rylae. Grab a chair." I do, and he motions me closer to look at his scroll. "Looks like Tir Tairngire is going to open their hospital training center to non-UCST exchange students from the dwarven worlds. In exchange, the dwarves are going to share some of their new caregiver technology with all the elven worlds. Arlien Westiel is listed as one of the key signatories of the agreement. This is an excellent trade agreement. You and your mother should be proud of this."

Mother's work as Chief Caregiver at the Academy Hospital puts her in situations like this regularly. She's as much an expert caregiver as she is an interstellar activist. The council on Tir Tairngire respects her previous work with the Corps, as well as her excellent work with the Academy. She has a major voice in any hospital agreements between worlds. I smile. "Thanks, Calgonnel. I'm always proud of her, and I know Father is too. They're pretty awesome parents."

He smiles and rolls the scroll. With important documents that an Ambassador may need to reference in meetings, like trade agreements, they always disseminate them in scroll form. Holoterminal report technology is secure, but reliant on mana batteries. No one wants a war to break out because a battery went dry and no one could pull up the details of the agreement during a dispute. I'll just say it's another 'Admiralty efficiency' and leave it at that.

He sets the scroll on the top of a pile of them and turns to me. I hope he knows his filing system, because that pile doesn't look any different to me than any of the other piles. So much easier to file reports in a terminal! Calgonnel taps his chin in thought. "I wonder what the goblins think about that agreement. Maybe they're working on one as well. The races will never be in harmony, but it would be good to see everyone agreeing on things like this."

I chuckle a little bit. "I'm sure Mother's working on it, but it may not be something she really wants to do. She did personally graduate Sen from the Academy hospital, and that's likely not an experience she wants to relive dozens or hundreds of times with non-Academy goblins."

Calgonnel's eyes get wide. "Oh. That poor woman. Your mother has my sympathies. On the other hand, imagine how much more _healthy_ folk would be if there were more goblin caregivers. Enough to have some on every world. No one would get sick, because no one would ever want to be 'helped'. Sometimes the cure is worse than the sickness. I know I save all my sick days for when we're docked so I don't have to visit the hospital ward on-ship!"

I sit up straighter and pretend to be offended. "Ambassador. You should be ashamed. Sen Foulmuck is an excellent caregiver and performs her duties admirably. In fact, I think I heard her say something about checking out the Admiral himself." I shake my head and put on a fearful expression. "I should probably follow up on that and verify the number of limbs he currently has versus the number he started the voyage with."

Calgonnel laughs. Goblin medicine is a lot different from anyone else's, and hasn't progressed much over the years even though research and technology has. Get a rash on your hand? Better take your arm off at the shoulder to keep it from spreading. Sen is constantly threatening to remove limbs. Sometimes she laughs about it afterwards. Sometimes she doesn't.

Since we're already on the topic... "What's the short story on the Admiral? The other goblins almost seem to respect him."

Calgonnel nods. "Admiral Bax Shockpaw held the title of King Damnation himself when he was a Battalion Major, around a hundred years ago. During a skirmish between the royal army and Shockpaw's UCST battalion, the king tried to cheat, sending four hit squads in UCST armor through the ranks of the battalion to kill the Major. Shockpaw killed them all, leaving one goblin alive for an explanation. He then dragged the wounded goblin through the battle to King Damnation and killed the king using the wounded goblin as his weapon.

"He put the King's crown on his head and called for the fighting to end. Sixty years later, he handed the crown to his chief enforcer and just walked out, went to Terra and took an Admiral rank and position over the War department. The current King Damnation is that same advisor that the Admiral gave his crown to forty years ago."

Wow. That's one hell of a story. At least it makes sense why he's on this mission now, and the reverence from the goblins on my staff. Also why someone might want him dead. "Thanks. That explains a lot and puts some pieces together in my mind. It also leads into some news I received when the Admiral arrived."

"I was wondering about that. Normally I'd be on the greeting party for an Admiral, but I didn't know he was on-ship until after launch. I was surprised by that, but figured there was a reason behind it."

"There was. The Admiral arrived in secret with information from the Office of Intelligence that there was an assassination attempt planned for his arrival to the ship. They contacted Cap, and Cap helped sneak him here. They didn't know who the assassin was or where they were planning to strike, so they didn't immediately trust anyone on the ship crew either. Since we still don't know, this information is Level 0."

Calgonnel nods and is quiet. He looks like he's processing the information. I don't want to jump right into the other bits yet, so I give him a minute. Eventually, his eyes refocus on my face. "Understandable. Thank you for the information."

I nod, then look down at my hands. My left hand is pinching the knuckles on my right hand. It's a bit of a nervous tic that I have when I don't want to talk about something. I don't think anyone else knows I have it, but I know I have it. "Correct, and that's not the only piece of information I have. The Office of Intelligence thinks two assassination attempts on one mission is just a start. They have no more data, but they're expecting more attempts on Stenchstone. Likely on Cap or the Admiral, but just as likely on you and I."

A smile spreads across Calgonnel's face, which is exactly the response I wasn't expecting. He must see that in my reaction, because he chuckles a little bit. "Sorry Rylae. In fact, I was already starting to realize our trip to the Overseer was going to be a bit more dangerous than we might have originally thought. An assassination attempt on us would just fit in with what I already know."

I sit back in the chair and cross my arms. "Okay, Ambassador. You have my full attention now. It's not every day I get to surprise you with news of our impending run from death, and you just steal my thunder away. What makes you think we're not just going to get the LC out and hum a tune while skipping back to the ship?"

He chuckles again. "Aside from the fact that goblins just don't make things that easy? Firstly, the LC's personnel file was interesting reading. His record is perfectly clean. He's never been in trouble, never failed duty, and never had a single problem with any other folk in the UCST. I can't imagine someone with this kind of record would suddenly try to assassinate a king."

That's interesting. I bet that's why Admiral Mom sent it to me, and why she wanted me to pay attention. She had already found a hole in the mission. Thanks Mom!

Calgonnel continues, "Additionally, after reading more about the Overseer, I realized one very important thing: if you're guilty of a capital crime, he won't bother keeping you around. If LC Darkmuck was really being held for attempted assassination of the king, he wouldn't be in custody. He'd be fertilizer in the fields."

Dragons be damned. How many dung piles is this mission going to throw at us? "Okay. Let me see if I understand this. We get a declaration of war because LC Darkmuck attempted to assassinate King Damnation in the name of the Corps, but the LC doesn't seem like the kind of goblin to attempt assassination at all. We're told LC Darkmuck is in custody, but if the assassination attempt had actually happened, he would be dead instead of being held.

"On our end, we cut short the docking time of the only ship on Terra, stick previously-King-currently-Admiral Shockpaw on board after avoiding an assassination attempt on him, and fly him to Stenchstone to make his-former-advisor-currently-King Damnation stand down from war. When we get there, they're likely to shoot or stab one or more of us, while our battalion stands toe-to-toe with their royal army throwing dirty looks at each other. This is starting to sound like a bad adventurer drama. What's the end game here? "

I receive a shrug in response to that one. I didn't expect him to surprise me with an answer, but I had secretly hoped for one. "Could be anything. At this point, I'm not sure we know who all the players are. Could be the whole Damnation Kingdom really just wants to start a war with the Corps, even though the Corps isn't some kind of interstellar army. Could be specific against Shockpaw. Could be a surprise retirement party for me. Pretty sure it's not that one, but at this point it's as valid an idea as anything."

Okay, that deserves a chuckle. "Point made, Calgonnel. We don't know anything, so the next plans are to figure out how to learn something. We'll have to report this to Cap so he knows it's all some kind of ruse and doesn't walk in expecting things to work out."

I run my fingers through my hair and stand. "If you can report to Cap and the Admiral, I'm going to go talk to Lada, Simon and Gimmir. They need to know we're walking into a wasp's nest. I also want to set up a couple hours of training every day this week for you, me and Simon with Lada assisting. If we're going to be dodging fireballs, I want to make sure we're in sync. Deal?"

Calgonnel smiles up at me. "I knew you'd eventually want to take charge again, but I agree. The training is an excellent idea, and we should definitely get it in."

I shrug and walk to the door. "Yeah, I took charge again, but we're still on the ship. I'll be a good little girl when we're talking about mission parameters and not about protecting your ancient elf ass." I smile over my shoulder at him so he knows I'm kidding, then leave. I'm sure this new development will make the day of the two dwarves and one goblin I'm about to go discuss details with.

# CHAPTER TEN

The good thing about sandwiches is that even the mess staff can't screw them up. It's easy to just throw some meat and cheese and vegetables between two slices, maybe add some sauces and spices, and eat it with some salad. The bad thing about sandwiches is we don't have any decent bread. There's no way to bake fresh bread for six hundred folk in the confines of a starship. So our sandwiches are on crackers instead of bread. I personally see nothing wrong with that, but I do get complaints from the crew on occasion. At least it has flavor, which is more than I can say about some of the stews the mess staff has created.

I grab my sandwich from the server line and walk over to one of the tables in the corner of the mess hall. I try to eat in here as often as I can, both to be accessible to the rest of the crew and to make the point that I'm not any better or more privileged than they are. I know there are a lot of senior officers who eat in their offices or their quarters, but I find that to be very unfriendly. Senior officers should be role models for their crew, and I try my hardest to fulfill that. Cap would probably be down here as well, if he didn't have an admiral on-ship to spend time with.

I take a seat at the corner table by myself. The mess hall isn't very busy right now, with only a dozen or so folk here. It's a little late for lunch, and still early for supper, but different crew members have different shifts so the mess hall is always available to grab a bite. It certainly fits my schedule that way. I never know when I'm going to be hungry, or when I'm even going to have a chance to eat.

"Commander. Would I be imposing if I was to sit with you?"

The voice startles me. I sit in the corner so I can see everything and everyone that's in the mess hall, but I was completely engrossed in tearing my sandwich apart. Yes, it's weird, but I'm a picky eater. I like to eat some of the sandwich parts before others. There's nothing wrong with that! Besides, sometimes the mess staff puts very strange things between those two crackers. It's much safer to tear it apart than to just eat it blind.

I look up, and Admiral Shockpaw is standing across the table from me with a sandwich on a tray. I'm surprised enough that he's here in the mess hall, but I'm really surprised he has a pre-made sandwich. Admirals have their own staff for a reason. I fully expected him to have his own food in his own quarters. But here he is.

I gesture towards the chair across from me. "Please, Admiral. You're most welcome. "

"Commander. I thank you for your hospitality." He sets his tray down and takes a seat in the chair.

I turn back to my sandwich and finish picking the pieces apart, then look back to the Admiral. He carefully twists himself around in his chair, a small segment at a time, until he appears comfortable with the angle he's sitting at. Next, he moves the tray a little bit to the left, then the right, then straightens it so it's in line with both his chair and the table. Once he's done with the tray, he slowly starts organizing the items on it – the sandwich is slid slightly to the left, the mug of ale is moved slightly to the right, the mug is turned slightly so the handle is exactly lined up with the top of the tray, the silverware is lined up precisely... this continues for a bit of time, and the Admiral is completely engrossed by getting everything just right.

I try not to stare. I also swallow anything I want to say. Now doesn't seem like the proper time for small talk. With the attention he's showing to his process of aligning all of his items, I'm not completely sure he'd hear me anyway. I stuff a piece of lettuce in my mouth and chew.

A couple of minutes go by before the Admiral looks over his tray and appears satisfied. He rubs his hands together, then sets them down on each side of the tray and smiles, looking at me. "Commander. May your meal fuel the vengeance in your soul."

I raise my mug in salute of the goblin meal blessing, and speak the response: "May yours stoke the fire of your marauding spirit."

Admiral Shockpaw raises his mug, and we both take a drink. I set mine down, and he carefully replaces his exactly where it previously sat. We each start on our food, knowing we're not going to speak again until we're done. Once the meal blessing has been spoken, there's nothing more to say until everyone has finished eating. Goblin meals are serious business.

I pick at the pieces of my sandwich. I may be strange, but I especially love the crackers. They're a dwarven recipe, and I think they're much more flavorful than elven flat bread. I suppose that's not quite as important to someone who eats the entire sandwich without taking it apart first, but it's definitely important to me. I always finish a cracker first, then leave one for last so I can savor them. That's a sandwich to me – a meal eaten between two crackers, across time instead of physical distance.

Occasionally I glance back up at the Admiral, but his entire attention is on his food. I'm not normally bothered by close attention, but the way he was staring at me the last time we were together was just unsettling. I had a bit of a fear he was following me or something. I'm glad it was just my half-asleep mind that put together that conspiracy theory. The Admiral seems to be very... specific... about certain things, and I'm glad I don't seem to be one of those things.

Finished with my sandwich, I grab my spoon and dig into my berries and cream dessert. If you ask me, one of the greatest things ever invented is the walk-in icebox. The cold spell which keeps the unit at a low temperature uses very little mana, and the unit works on its own battery. The battery has a life span of twenty years of constant cold before it has to be replaced. The ship's pantry contains twenty of these, allowing us to keep plenty of perishable foods like meats and cream. We also have plenty of salted meats and such that don't require cold storage, but it's always nice to have some standard on-world foods as well. Berries and cream is one of those little luxuries we can have in the starfield to make us feel like normal on-world travelers.

Once the dessert is filling a happy place in my belly, I sip my ale and spend some time looking around the room. I think the appearance of the Admiral scared off everyone else in the hall, and they may have told their friends about it, because we're now the only two folk in the entire place. This is unfortunately one of the problems with trying to appear like a normal member of the crew to everyone else – it doesn't quite work for Admirals. That's why they have a separate section of the mess hall.

Thinking about it again, though... the Admiral's security staff isn't in the mess hall. They're probably standing outside of the doors. If they're outside of the doors, they may not be letting anyone past them into the mess hall. They may also have 'coerced' crew members already here into leaving. That's a problem, and I won't let it happen twice. That is, if it's happened. I'll wait to verify before I confine the Admiral's security staff to quarters for the rest of the trip.

Admiral Shockpaw makes a sound, so I turn to him. Finished with his meal, he wipes some crumbs from the corners of his mouth with a gnarled green thumb, sighs contentedly, and takes a sip of ale from his mug. "Commander. That was a truly excellent meal. Please share my satisfaction with your mess hall staff. A long time has passed since I was last on a ship, but I don't remember off-world food being this good."

I nod and smile. "Thank you, Admiral. I'll pass that message along to the crew. They work very hard to keep us fed well. But, I am surprised that they didn't bring a specially-prepared meal to your quarters or to the VIP area. Was there something we didn't have available for you?"

The Admiral opens his mouth to say something, then looks around the room. He closes his mouth carefully. A sadness appears in his eyes, and he tries again to speak. "Commander. In fact, I wanted to come to the mess hall and have a meal like a normal member of the crew. It has been so long since I have travelled on-ship that I am not accustomed to the VIP area or having special meals in my quarters. When I saw that you were sitting here, I simply assumed everything was normal. Now, however, I believe my appearance has scared everyone away. I'm terribly sorry for that."

At least now I know it wasn't intentional! I should still say something to his security staff, though, since this is likely to happen every day. But how do you accept the apology of an Admiral who didn't mean to scare away your crew? My job can be so strange at times. I smile and shake my head. "Please, Sir, don't let this bother you. The crew wasn't expecting you here, and likely assumed I had asked you to join me. I'll be sure they know we didn't intentionally plan to frighten them, and that they have no reason to run if you want to have meals with them in here every day."

A smile appears on the Admiral's face. "Commander. I thank you for this. I know many admirals in the UCST prefer to be treated with a certain respect and privilege. There have been many times on Terra and Stenchstone where I enjoyed that respect and privilege. However, this return trip to my old home after so many years has created a nostalgic feeling in my soul. The last time I was on a ship, I received no respect and privilege, as I had no rank. Part of my soul wanted to recapture that feeling."

No rank? So the last time he was on a starship was before he became an Admiral, meaning... _after_ he gave up the crown of King Damnation. Forty years! He hasn't been on a ship since before I joined the Academy! I have to know. "Admiral Shockpaw, Sir... do you mean to say that the last time you were on a starship was when you last left Stenchstone forty years ago?"

His eyes lock onto my face. That's the same look he was giving me the other night, like he's trying to see something hidden behind my nose. "Commander. Captain Darkmuck and Captain Gravelhand have both been very correct in their assessments of you. I am pleased and grateful that you deserve their high praises. I see you have done your research on me, and you are correct. When I left Stenchstone, I had nothing – no rank or staff. I travelled to Terra as a noncommissioned crew member, helping with the inventory of the battalion's weapons. When I arrived in Admiralty City, the UCST was kind enough to offer me an Admiral position, and I have been on Terra since that day. This will be the first time I have traveled to my homeworld since that day."

Forty years, and he's never been home. I love the UCST Corsari, and it is absolutely one of my homes. However, the city of Corsari on Tir Tairngire, which the ship is named after, will always be my true home where I was born and raised, and where my parents still live. I couldn't imagine being gone from there for forty years. I wonder what his reasons are... but he's still my superior officer and I'll never actually ask him questions like that.

I grab my mug of ale and raise it. "For the Corsari and its crew, I am honored to be the ship to return you to your homeworld after a long time away. Until such time as you depart, the Corsari will be your home, and the crew will be your family." It's a modified elven blessing of transitional family. I don't know of anything in goblin culture that would be similar to it, but I don't appear to need to worry as Admiral Shockpaw also raises his mug and shares a proper response.

"Commander. I am honored to join this family, however temporary it may be. I will be your kin from this moment on, and will forever remain your friend after we part." We tap our mugs against each other, and take a long drink.

I set the empty mug on my tray and look at the Admiral. It seems some goblins can still surprise me. Shockpaw is definitely strange, and has some quirky bits, but he also seems genuinely nice. In fact, he reminds me a bit of another young goblin I know. In fact again...

"Sir, I have a question for you. Do you know of a family by name of Gloomfire? They work for the royal family on Stenchstone."

He smiles again, and turns to the right to look at the door of the mess hall. "Commander, indeed I do know of the Gloomfire family. I also know of young Lieutenant Gloomfire who is currently on your ship, although he likely does not remember me as well as I remember him. Lieutenant Gloomfire's mother, Bmundn Gloomfire, is a seamstress for King Damnation. She makes the most beautiful chest pieces and capes. I do hope the Lieutenant has the opportunity to visit while we are on-world, and that his caregiver woman does not leave him chained in her laboratory for the entire time."

Did the Admiral just make a joke about Sen and Zaxn sleeping together? Did Cap tell him that, or did he find out while researching the nerdy science kid who he last saw as a youngling? I know how to handle those comments from Cap, but I have no idea how to handle them from an Admiral!

I don't even know how to begin to respond, so I think I'm going to deflect instead. I gather my dishes and tray. "Admiral. I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but I have a meeting soon to discuss mission security measures with my Master Sergeant and Chief Ambassador. May I collect your tray for you?"

He looks back at me with very friendly eyes. "Commander. Thank you for clearing my table. I truly appreciate it. Also, thank you for your wonderful company during the meal. I hope we can do this again on another day."

I collect his tray and stack the pieces together with my tray. "I'd be happy to share a meal with you again, Admiral. Your yeoman can call my communicator any time. Thank you for the company and conversation, Sir. If you'll please excuse me?" He nods, so I walk over to the tray replacement area and sort out dishes and cutlery into separate containers. My hands now empty, I walk to the door and turn back to the Admiral, snapping into a full salute. He raises his hand to salute back, and I touch the door charm to open it.

In the hallway, the admiral's security goblins are on each side of the opening, and a number of folk from the crew have gathered to get in. I turn to the goblin on my left. "Security Officer, if you please." He turns to me, and I continue, "I will make new security arrangements with the Admiral concerning his desire to spend meal times in the Mess Hall with the crew. However, you must let other folk use the Mess Hall as well. Please take positions directly at the Admiral's table, and not outside the doors of this hall."

I turn my eyes to the crew in the hallway and spot two members of security who also happen to be goblins. "Officer Oozemuck. Officer Miredancer. I apologize for taking you away from your meals, but please take up posts at the door where these two currently are. Verify each crew member that enters the hall, and explain to them that the Admiral is a welcome member of our crew and should be treated as such. Also inform them that the Admiral has his own security team, and not to approach the Admiral's table suddenly. I will talk to Lieutenant Commander Axesmith immediately about a permanent detail at this door and see you properly relieved." The two goblins salute and walk to the Admiral's security goblins, who walk inside to take up closer positions by the Admiral.

My crew members in the hallway immediately look relieved. They also look hungry. Without any further speeches, I wave them towards the doors and turn towards the stairs to level three, which contains the Security and Battalion offices.

# CHAPTER ELEVEN

"FLOOR!"

I hear the command from Simon and drop to the ground, flattening myself out face-down. To my right, I see Calgonnel do the same thing. I grab the spellshooter at my hip with my right hand and remove the clip that holds it to my belt. Looking past Calgonnel, I scan the area to my right for movement and threats. I see Calgonnel looking past me to see the area to my left.

A dwarf carrying a battle-axe and wearing chain mail comes into my vision from behind a stack of boxes. He's at least five meters away but using the cover in the storeroom to sneak closer. He goes behind a taller stack of boxes, then comes back out and ducks low behind a table. He's gained about a meter.

If I can't see him behind the table, he can't see me. I raise my spellshooter and point it at the table over Calgonnel's back. The dwarf's head appears at the far right edge of the table, and I think he's going to move to that other stack of boxes. I adjust my aim just as he pops out from behind the table and goes right where I'm expecting him to. I pull the trigger.

A small flash of light appears in front of the spellshooter, and a small green pebble flies out of the flash of light at a speed of a few meters per second. It's fast enough to catch the dwarf in the back while he's in the open, and I hear him grunt as he drops to his knees.

Just then, I hear a grunt behind me. I don't know if that was Simon killing an enemy, or an enemy killing Simon. I need to check. First I look at Calgonnel's face. He doesn't seem to be tracking any enemies to my left, so I should be safe to roll over. I roll on my left shoulder so my spellshooter stays free and rotates upwards as I go.

Now on my back, I can see two goblins in chain mail going after Simon, with another two goblins lying killed on the floor. Simon raises his pole axe sideways to deflect a blow from the battle axe on his left, pushes with his weapon to shove the goblin back, then swings to the right to stop the advance of the other goblin. I take that second to aim and pull the trigger again, and another pebble shoots out and hits the goblin on the left. That goblin grunts and drops to the floor, leaving only one, and Simon has him.

I turn and look at the area to my right, which I hadn't looked at yet because Calgonnel was watching it. I see an elf in the far corner with a spellshooter, and another with a short sword. I don't know if Calgonnel just didn't see them or what, but I can deal with them.

I get to my feet. As I do, the elf with the spellshooter leans out from behind cover to shoot at me. I dive quickly behind a table and look at the nearby cover. There's a few stacks of boxes between me and the elves, and I jump out from behind the table to run for one of them. Right as I do, I feel the impact as a small stone hits me in the center of the back. Dragons be damned. I drop to the floor, killed.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?" Lada's yell fills the room and everyone stops. I stand and walk back to Calgonnel and Simon. The 'attackers' reset themselves on the far side of the training room.

I look around at the three officers. "Who got me in the back? I was going after the two elves, and I thought the other side was clear after I dropped the dwarf. Did that other goblin get by Simon?"

Simon gives me a look that feels like he's trying to melt me where I stand, but doesn't respond. Lada responds by smacking me hard in the left shoulder with a training sword. "Simon had his side just fine, even the one you took the liberty of killing."

Another look of death from Simon. He's really upset with me for taking out one of his enemies. "Sorry, Simon. I was in the moment. I heard a noise and flipped over to cover the front because I thought you were gone. When I had an opening, I took it, then moved on to the far side. I saw the two elves where Calgonnel couldn't see them, so I went for them."

Lada smacks me with the training sword again and nods. "So who was watching the other side?"

Calgonnel sighs. "I wasn't fast enough. I was trying to see someone on the side I was covering, and before I knew it, Rylae was over there. I had just realized I was supposed to switch sides when she got shot."

Lada pokes Calgonnel in the gut with the training sword, a lot more gently than she hit me with it. That doesn't seem fair at all. But he is older, so I guess it's fair in its own way. "Elf, I know you're ancient, but you gotta pay more attention to your surroundings. Once you saw the girl start moving, you should've turned yer head because she wasn't watching that side anymore. I know yer used to talkin' for days at a time, but you gotta move as well."

She turns back to me. "And you..." Lada hands the training sword to Simon, who smacks me in the left shoulder. He hands it back to Lada, who smacks me again as well. "First, I didn't hear you say you had contact on either side. If I didn't hear you, then Calgonnel didn't hear you, so he didn't know where to look! Second, keep yer shots away from yer betters. If that had been a fireball shooter, Simon would have been toasty."

My arm is really starting to hurt now. "Got it. Sorry, Calgonnel. I'll warn you next time. And, sorry again, Simon. It won't happen again unless you're on the ground."

Simon nods. "If I'm on the ground, shoot me too. Area effect is the best way to get rid of the hundreds of troops that it took to knock me over."

Lada swings the sword above her head and whistles. "ALRIGHT! SET UP AGAIN!"

Calgonnel, Simon and I go back behind the two stacks of boxes that are representing the door to the Overseer's office. The whole training room is set up to best approximate what a goblin overseer's office should look like, with sideways tables as counters, boxes stacked up as walls, chairs and desks, and a boxy set of holding cells in the back. The scenario that Lada and Simon set up is that the assassination attempts are sanctioned by the Overseer, so taking us out inside his office would be the easiest place to hide it.

We line up, with Simon going in first, Calgonnel in the center, and I'm in the back. We give Lada's enemy team a few minutes to reset to a new configuration. We'll have to set up an appointment with the Overseer, so if we are going to be attacked there, they'll know when we're coming and be prepared for us. We have to give the training scenario the same consideration.

Eventually, Lada steps around the door boxes. "The Overseer will see you now." She says, then grins and steps off to the side of the room.

Simon pushes the stack of boxes to the side, creating an opening for us to walk through. He takes a step inside and yells in anger.

At the same time as his yell, I hear a sound behind us. I spin around just in time to get a spray of red fluid all over me. I also yell in anger, then drop to the floor.

Calgonnel drops to the floor, which was exactly the wrong thing to do in the situation. The two goblins on either side of our group walk past my and Simon's dead bodies, aim their spellshooters at Calgonnel, and pull the triggers. A double-spray of red liquid covers him, and the goblins laugh hysterically.

"END!" Lada yells, and steps out to us from behind the boxes.

I stand up, and Lada smacks me with that dragons-be-damned training sword in my dragons-be-damned left shoulder again. "Hey! How is this my fault?"

Lada grins. "Simon had a door in front of him. He had no chance. You weren't watching the back. You should have been able to take out the goblin with the acid shooter before he sprayed you. So yes, it's yer fault that you and the ancient elf ended up covered in tomato sauce." She smacks me with the sword again – that's really hurting now – then starts laughing as she wipes the wooden blade off on her leg. "I really love those acid training shooters. Tomato sauce. So funny!"

Simon stamps his foot on the ground and takes off at a run towards Lada. Lada turns and runs away from him into the showers, yelling "Training Dismissed!" and laughing. At her command, the "enemy troops" we borrowed from the battalion go into the showers themselves.

Calgonnel and I are left standing there, covered in tomato sauce. I rub my left shoulder, which makes my white uniform shoulder turn a bright pink. We look at each other and start laughing. Lada's right – it is pretty funny. And it could be worse. Uniforms are easier to clean than battle armor. Our uniforms are much easier to clean, since we don't have to clean them personally. The senior officers share a seamstress who tailors and cleans our uniforms for us. It's a nice benefit.

"We should probably get these uniforms to Halder so he can clean them before the red spots stain."

I get a nod in reply. "He'd probably appreciate that." We walk to the door. Calgonnel glances at me. "Sorry for getting you shot that time."

I shrug. "Sorry for getting you melted by acid that time."

We laugh again and enter the hallway. A pair of young elves in battle armor sees us and starts to laugh, then realizes who we are and quickly cover their mouths with their hands, stand to the side of the hallway to let us pass, and salute. Once we're past, they run down the hall as quick as their legs can carry them. That just makes us laugh harder, and we continue laughing the entire way from level 3 to level 6. We get to Calgonnel's quarters, and I half-salute as he goes in and I keep walking to mine.

Changing my uniform hurts. Getting my left arm out of that sleeve isn't fun. Putting it in a sleeve of a clean uniform is less fun. Lada really hits hard with that training sword. I don't want to seem like a baby who can't handle a little pain, but I think I'm going to go down to the hospital ward and get something to relieve the major ache that my shoulder is now in. Halder's seamstress room is also on the 4th level anyway, so I'll just pretend it's because it was convenient.

I go down to level 4 and drop my uniform off, then walk farther down and enter the hospital ward. There are twenty beds with curtains between them, and ten chairs in a triage area. Three members of the caregiver staff are treating folk every shift, three shifts per day, and Sen comes in to work the more difficult cases when they present themselves. Anyone who was still considered a difficult case when we docked was transferred to the Academy, so the ward is mostly empty right now. Three folk are currently in beds, probably with injuries from falls or battalion practices.

Sen is sitting at her desk in the far corner of the room and sees me walk in. She stands and starts to walk across the room towards me, brushing her long brown hair back over her shoulder with one hand. An elf caregiver tech also sees me and darts over to get to me first. He crosses Sen's path a little too closely, and the goblin throws her left arm out, catching the elf in the throat and knocking him flat on his back. He groans on the floor, and Sen chuckles as she keeps walking towards me.

I look at the elf, then at Sen, then back at the elf. Sen shrugs. "He should've stayed out of the way. We're not so busy that he had to rush right out. Besides, he knows that I handle the important folk. Last thing I need is a lieutenant burning off a captain's limb or something. The paperwork's a pain in the ass. Killing the lieutenant never helps with the paperwork, but I always try." She looks back at the elf on the floor and smiles a huge, evil smile. The elf climbs back to his feet and runs to a storage area to find something better to do.

I shrug, wincing in pain. Sen sees my wince and walks closer. "Which limb needs to be removed?"

I chuckle. "You can't remove it. Training injury from Lada's sword. Left shoulder. Just hurts like hell to move it. Got anything for the pain?"

Without a word or any other warning, Sen rips open my uniform and pushes it down off my shoulders. My breasts are now out for everyone to see, but no one's looking. None of Sen's staff wants to watch her work, in case they're called to a court to testify. She looks over the area, making small noises to herself. Every so often she pokes me in the arm and appears to take note of whenever I wince in pain.

Finally, she nods and starts to walk to the supply area. I'm not just going to stand here half-naked and wait for her, so I cover myself with my hands and follow. I can't tell if she's enjoying this or not. It's really hard to tell with Sen. She finds humor in other folks' discomfort. It's an odd trait for a caregiver, but she is a goblin, so... yeah.

Getting to the supply area, she pulls out a tub of ointment and opens it. She takes a huge glob in her long green fingers and sets the tub down. Without hesitation, she turns and slaps the ointment on my shoulder. Dragons be damned, that hurts! She rubs the glob of stuff that smells remarkably like orange jam until it covers most of my upper arm and shoulder, then wipes her hands off on her uniform.

"Better?" she asks, looking me over.

Rather quickly, the pain starts to disappear, and my shoulder starts to get tingly. A warm feeling spreads across the area. I attempt moving my arm, and it definitely doesn't hurt anymore. "Thanks, Sen. That's much better. I appreciate it."

I start to pull my uniform back on, and Sen slaps my hands. "Can't. Takes about twenty minutes before it's fully absorbed. If you cover up now, you'll lose most of it inside the uniform. You have to leave it out for awhile." She looks in my eyes and smiles that huge goblin smile of hers. It's like she does this kind of thing on purpose just to satisfy her own sense of humor.

I sigh. "Fine. But give me a towel or something, please, and I'll go sit in one of the chairs. I'm not going to hold myself the entire time."

Sen winks. "Lieutenant Bellas will bring you one. Lindlir!" The elf boy she knocked on the floor jumps and turns to her. "Bring a towel to Commander Westiel, and help her cover herself with it. If it's not long enough to tie in the back, you'll have to stand there and hold it for her." The Lieutenant's face turns a bright red, but he runs for the towels.

Sen turns to me, and I smile as big as I can. "I will get you back for this." I turn and walk towards the chairs, and Sen chuckles behind me.

# CHAPTER TWELVE

We're five days out from Terra, with about five days to go before we reach Stenchstone. The last day-and-a-half or so since my 'training accident' were mostly filled with paperwork and meetings. Cap and the Admiral are making their plans for the summit with King Damnation, Calgonnel's been working on our plans for the Overseer, and I've been trying to manage the ship while everyone's busy. It's mostly been paperwork, which has allowed me to rest my shoulder enough that the pain has finally disappeared. Sometimes, however, I still have to run some problems down the old-fashioned way.

Today's problem is that dragons-be-damned storage bay chief again. Tanna sent me a note saying they've been ready for the new battery for a day now, but it hasn't arrived and they've received no word from the storage bay. Senior Chief Ironhammer and I are going to have a bit of a talk about this, but I don't want that to distract me from getting the battery, so I'm heading to Engineering first to recruit some additional hands.

I turn into Engineering and weave through the workspaces to get to Tanna's desk in the back. Just like Tactical isn't really an interesting room to sit in, Engineering's a rather uninteresting room if you're just looking at it. It's a bunch of holoterminals and workspaces, and looks like almost any business office you visit on a homeworld. The only minor differences are the constantly-changing graphic reports at strategic areas for everyone to see, and the huge three-dimensional graph to the center of the room constantly showing the output of the main battery. That's a neat thing to sit and watch, with all the jagged lines and circles and sideways bars and vertical bars all constantly moving around. I think there's an entire semester-long class at the Admiralty on how to read that graph. If I want to be a captain, I should really learn it, if I learn nothing else about the department.

Closing in on her desk, I see Tanna engaged in an animated discussion with one of her LCs, a female dwarf. They're looking at a graph between them, with hands and fingers constantly shifting, pointing, poking, pinching, moving up, moving down, and otherwise molesting the holoreport in dozens of ways. I don't want to interrupt, so I stand back out of Tanna's eyesight and take a look around.

Being in full flight and without having had the required dock time, Tanna's double-stacked her shifts to get in more spell maintenance time. That means there are twenty-two folk in this room, sharing desks, bumping elbows, and validating the tiniest requirements while another eight folk are with the batteries themselves using special tools and chants to regulate the crystals. It's cramped, but it's quiet, which tells me it's running efficiently. Tanna is very particular about her department, which she has to be to keep us all alive. If someone misses something, any number of life support spells can be affected by it.

I look back over and Tanna's alone in her office now, with no sign of the LC. Her eyes are closed, and she's pinching the bridge of her nose with her left hand. Work's obviously getting to her a little bit. I should be a good manager and find out what's wrong. And I will... after a small bit of fun.

I hurry over to a wall corner off to the side of her desk and hide behind it before she can see me. I wiggle my nose a bit to try to get my voice to be more nasally, and take a shallow breath so it comes out a little squeaky, like an annoying child in school. Cupping my hand by my mouth to direct the sound toward her, I say in my whiniest voice, "Commander, ma'am. One of my reports doesn't look right. Can you help me with it, please?"

I peek around the corner in time to see her put her face in her hands and shake her head. She stands up, stretches, and turns toward me. As she starts walking closer, she says, "Yes, Ensign. I'm coming now. I told you not to do that impression of the XO. One day she's going to hear it and I'm not going to save you."

What?? That's... that's not even funny! Which ensign would dare?!? I'm going to... ... I turn to see Tanna come around the corner and smile at me. She stops and salutes, still smiling. "Oh. Excuse me, Commander Westiel. I didn't see you come into Engineering. I was just about to go work with one of my more difficult ensigns. I sure hope no one on my team is bothering you."

So not funny. Okay then, if that's the game she wants to play. I snap to a salute. "It's no problem, Engineering. I'm sure that ensign just needs something to keep their hands busy. Maybe you should ass-sign them more work."

I know I scored a point when her eyes open wide and her salute staggers. I hold mine for just a couple seconds longer to make her a tad more uncomfortable, then put my hand down. Her hand comes down, but her eyes are still huge. It's all I can do to not chuckle. I manage to keep a straight face while I give her a way out. "I'm here to help resolve your problem with the storage bay. Would you care to come with me so we can figure out what needs to be done?"

Tanna nods. "Aye, Ma'am. After you, please."

I turn towards the exit and start navigating through the workstations, while Tanna follows. I get to the exit and turn down the hallway towards the stairs to the bottom level. We walk a bit, with neither of us saying a word. Just as I notice how far we are from Engineering and that there's no other folk around, I get punched in my left shoulder. Why is it always that shoulder?

I turn around, and Tanna's eyes are still huge. I can't hold it in anymore and start giggling. I get hit in the shoulder again, but that just makes the giggles worse. Looking up at her, she sighs and sags a bit. Still giggling, I grab her in a quick hug and squeeze, then let her go. She's starting to look like she's coming back to normal.

Tanna looks around, verifies we're still alone, then shakes her head. "Damnit, Rylae!"

I shake my head. Still a few giggles left, but I'm keeping them quiet. "What? You're the one that made the joke about that whiny voice being an imitation of me! I couldn't let you just have it for free! Besides, I haven't made fun of you yet for your..." I forcibly cough a bit, "misadventures with your new ensign."

She sighs and looks at me. "I know you haven't, and I'm not mad at you. But Cap... Okay, as far as I know, Cap was the only one that saw anything. I heard about it from Lada, and I was so embarrassed! I haven't been able to look the poor kid in the eye for days. I passed him off on my LC for training. And Cap..." She shakes her head again and goes quiet.

I put my hand on her arm. "What did Cap do? You're not normally one to get so worked up over something like this."

She looks at me, and there's a little sadness in her eyes. "Cap was just being Cap. He was joking around with Aelon the other day, and I guess he said that Aelon needed to keep an eye on me or he might lose me to a younger elf. Aelon's too stupid to think it was a joke. He's not talking to me."

In Cap's defense, that is pretty funny. I'll bet the actual line was more like 'keep an eye on yer assets 'cause a younger elf wants to grab 'em'. That's more Cap's style. But Tanna's right. Aelon's too stupid to reason through the joke. Cap's too busy to bother him with something like this. I'm too close to the problem and resolving it would be awkward. That leaves only two potential solutions.

I wrap my arm around Tanna and push her to start walking again. "Someone needs to tell that elf to get his ears out of his ass, but I'm not sure if it would be funnier coming from Lada or Sen."

That makes Tanna chuckle a little. "Can't be Sen. He's stupid enough to think she wanted to do something hospital-related on his ears or ass. Lada would just kick him in it. I'll see if Lada will go talk to him for me, since she knows the real story anyway. Thanks, girl."

"Sure thing. Solving problems is what I do." I give her a quick side-hug and drop my hand so we're walking professionally again. "And, speaking of solving problems... you've heard nothing from the storage bay chief? I told him directly to work with your folk to get that battery to you."

She shakes her head. "Doesn't return my messages, doesn't answer his communicator when I call, won't talk to my ensign runners when I send them down. It's a bit infuriating."

"Sadly, infuriating is a good word for the Chief. He treats every square meter of that storage bay like it's made of gold or something. Poor Zaxn was at the end of his rope, and I'm pretty sure the Chief doesn't like me all that much."

She chuckles. "Girl, no one likes you. Your job is to tell everyone 'no' all the time. "

I smile and nod. That is a lot of my job. Folk ask for ridiculous things, and I turn them down. I don't expect everyone to like me, as long as they respect me.

She takes a breath and continues, "Zaxn did come by the other day to talk to me. Said you sent him to learn how to be a leader. I felt all warm and fluffy that you would send him to me for that. Then I asked him about his storage bay and my battery, and the kid got flustered and left. That's why I finally came to you."

While walking, I quietly relay to her the story of the storage bay and the secondary battery, complete with cute elf delivery boy bringing my bags in, and ending with who I told Zaxn to turn to for leadership. I'm just finishing the story when we come up on the staging area door, putting us close to the storage bay.

I grin and decide to take it just one step further. "I'd have told you sooner about all of this, but you've been busy with launch and your tight department. And I'm sure that new ensign is a bit of a handful."

She gasps and shoves me with her shoulder, knocking me into the wall. I straighten up, smooth out my uniform, then look at her and shrug with a grin before walking on.

We get to the storage bay and walk in, and I think I might now understand a little bit of what the Senior Chief was complaining about. A few days ago, this storage bay was mostly empty. Now it's crammed full of crates stacked on crates stacked on crates, almost to the ceiling. I can't actually see the battery from here through all the crates. I also don't recognize the markings on most of those crates. I wonder what we requisitioned that came in so many crates. I'll have to go back through my report logs to see if I did something wrong.

I turn and walk over to the workstation, but the Senior Chief isn't here. There's a piece of parchment with ink scrawled on it sitting on the table, that says "Out. Find me later." Probably the most unprofessional out-to-lunch sign I've ever seen. I look around from the new angle, and it's still just a landscape of crates. Finally, I notice a small green glow around the other side of the crates.

I point to the glow. "Hey. There it is, way in the back there, probably because it came in before all these crates."

Tanna looks, following the line of my pointing finger, then nods and looks back at the crates. "But how do we get to it?"

That is an excellent question for which I have no answer. "No idea. I don't know what kind of float devices they keep back here for moving stuff around. But it has to move somehow, because it came down the hallway."

I go behind the workstation and turn on the holoterminal. A few commands later and I'm looking at the schematics for the storage bay. Highlighted, I can see the equipment shed. It's not far from the workstation. I also see that it should have four float units in it. That gives me an idea. I pull out my communicator, push the charm, and say, "Gimmir Giantbasher".

After a couple seconds, Gimmir's disembodied head appears in-front-and-to-the-left. "Yes, Ma'am. What can I do for ya?"

I smile. "Any chance you have anyone down your way that deserves some punishment time? I've got a bunch of crates in the storage bay that I need shifted around."

Gimmir smiles behind his beard. "Of course I do. How many do ya need? I can give ya... um..." His face turns to the side for a second before turning back. "I got seven. Will seven do?"

"Seven will do just fine, Major, if one of them knows how to use a float unit. If not, can you find me an escort for them who does?"

"You got it, Ma'am. I'll have these idiots down to the storage bay in a minute." His face disappears and the glow of my communicator goes dark.

I walk over to Tanna, who's still inspecting the maze of crates. "Gimmir's going to send some hands to start moving stuff around. You can manage that on your own authority if the Senior Chief ever decides to come back from lunch, but you've got mine as well if you need to beat him over the head with it. Have Gimmir's folk move stuff down to the staging area until the battery is free, then take that out and put the stuff back. Plus, this gets you out of Engineering for a bit. You looked like you needed the break."

She smiles. "Thanks, girl. Just a lot that has to be done to make sure we don't all die in the starfield. But I'll oversee this to make sure it gets done right. My LC has Engineering for a little while. She could use the time overseeing a double-shift anyway. She's looking at promotion in a few years."

I nod, then stand with her in silence looking at the sea of crates. It's almost as majestic as a mountain setting if you really look at it the right way. After a short time, Gimmir's seven-plus-one comes in, with the plus-one holding tight rein on the others. I guess he's going to make sure it really is a punishment. Tanna and I turn to the group, and they stop and salute. We salute back, then turn and salute each other. I smile and wink, then head back to the hallway. She'll have that battery out in no time. I make a note in my head to hunt down the Senior Chief when I have some time. Still need to look up those storage bay regulations, too. I'm sure they'll move up my priority list sometime in the next few days.

# CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Two days of flight time left until we reach Stenchstone. It's thankfully been very business-as-usual on-ship, with almost nothing interesting or exciting happening – except in the mess hall. After the second time his security detail blocked the entrance, the Admiral dismissed them to Lada's team for 'reassignment'. Once that was sorted, Cap and the Admiral became regulars there, and I've joined them for a couple meals myself. There's a lot of similarity in those two old warhorses, and they've both regaled the staff with story time over meals and ale. For the first time, I actually understand the fifth-century dwarven feasting hall references.

I'm especially happy at how the crew has accepted Admiral Shockpaw almost like a favorite uncle. He truly is part of our weird starfield-traveling family now. Sure, he's a bit strange about some things, and he used to be a king and all, but that's not really much worse than any of the rest of us. Admittedly, none of the rest of us has killed a goblin king by beating him to death with a goblin assassin, but it's all about perspective.

I'm on my way down to level three to the battalion training area to meet Cap and the Admiral now. They wanted to validate the readiness of the battalion, which will be deployed as soon as we land to stand guard against the goblin king's army. The UCST isn't a military organization, but we carry along a battalion of almost four hundred armed-and-armored soldiers everywhere we go. Sometimes the only way to get diplomacy out of a group is to beat it out of them, and sometimes the only way to survive on a newly-discovered world is to have a large group of steel-clad ruffians tear apart the local wildlife.

When they're not actively squishing things, members of the battalion spend time fulfilling duties on the ship. Gimmir's in charge of all of the commissioned staff in the battalion, which is the group most likely to continue on into actual departments like Engineering and the hospital ward, and they perform simple functions in these departments. These folk usually join the ship as a way to advance in their schooling and career choices, and joining the battalion is a cheaper way than going straight to the Academy. A little hard work covers a lot of the basics, and UCST offers battalion members lowered rates for the rest.

Simon's in charge of the non-commissioned folk, which are mostly members of the battalion. There are a few, like Senior Chief Ironhammer in the storage bay, who have ranked high enough to move out of the battalion and into full-time positions in other departments. Most, however, start and end in the battalion. They fill their ship time cooking and cleaning in the mess hall, or managing laundry, or repairing the facilities. After they put in their ten-or-so years, they normally move off the ship and take up trade work on a homeworld. Most folk on-world look favorably on workers who started in a UCST battalion. There are always a few criminals and miscreants which sign on, but they never really last very long. You rarely hear about a ranked criminal.

Gimmir and Simon work together to manage the entire battalion, though, regardless of whose folk belong to whom. Gimmir manages strategy and his elite squads, while Simon handles tactics and individual squad training. They also occasionally pull Lada in for training exercises.

Coming up on the training room, the sound of clashing weapons grows louder. I turn the corner to the large open area and see dozens of folk sparring with each other. Swords, battle axes, flails, morningstars – the actual trade of war hasn't changed much with the developments of other technology. A few inventions, like the spellshooter and the automatic crossbow, have been adopted into standard war parties, but otherwise not much is different because the motivations of war have changed.

War is considered more of an honorable and political tactic now, with most kings and governors using it as a way to settle a dispute or prove themselves "better" instead of using it to actually take over someone else's land or protect against usurpers. The creation of other homeworlds always gives a group somewhere else to go if they don't like where they are. Without the threat of war, folk on every world are safer, and only have to worry about regular street crime.

A voice behind me interrupts my contemplation.

"Ya see what I gotta deal with, Bax? Can't turn a corner without stumblin' into a senior officer standin' around like she owns the place! Move yer skinny elf ass, Rylae! Important folk are tryin' to walk here!" A burst of loud dwarven laughter follows, with a small sound of goblin chuckling.

I turn to see Cap and Admiral Shockpaw standing behind me. Cap's laughing like he's about to fall down, and the Admiral has his smile hidden behind a hand. I put on an indignant air and confront them with my hands on my hips.

"You probably shouldn't double yourself over with laughter, Captain. You're close enough to the ground as it is. Any shorter and we'll have to have our meetings sitting on the floor. And where are these important folk? Did you bring someone invisible with you?"

Still laughing, Cap reaches up and gives me a light punch to the shoulder – I'm starting to think Sen or Lada told _everyone_ about my left shoulder – then turns to the Admiral. "See that, Bax? That's why I keep her around. Tells me like it is and doesn't hold back. I've ruined her for any other captain, so she's stuck with me now."

Admiral Shockpaw chuckles more behind his hand. "Elthen, I believe you're correct. However, you should be in the business of ruining more executive officers. We'll need to promote this one so you can make room to ruin another one. Then she can be a difficult officer to the Admiralty, just like yourself."

That comment gets Cap laughing again, and the two of them walk past me into the training room. I take a second to compose myself after that comment – Did Admiral Shockpaw just say I should be promoted? Does he know I already took my test? Gasp! – and follow them.

A couple of privates standing casually against the wall near the entrance – a male elf and female goblin – stand attention and salute quickly, then run off into the back of the training room. Those two were obviously stationed here to let Gimmir and Simon know when Cap and the Admiral arrived, and that's confirmed for me when the two senior battalion officers appear at the far end of the room and start walking toward us.

When they're about five or so meters away, Cap, the Admiral and I snap to attention and salute. Cap speaks in a thick voice, "Major Giantbasher, sir. Requesting permission to enter the training area." Similar to how the Ambassador and XO have conflicting seniority at specific times, both Cap and Gimmir are ranked as Captains. A ship can only have one Captain, however, so Gimmir is instead called Major and is directly in control of the battalion's areas of the ship. When Cap visits them, Gimmir is his superior officer, and a formal recognition of that authority transfer takes place.

Gimmir and Simon finish walking toward us, position themselves in front of us, and salute. Gimmir smiles, breaks salute and extends his hand to Cap. "Permission granted. Captain. Admiral. Commander. It's good to have ya visit."

The line of handshakes occurs, then Gimmir speaks up again. "Alright, enough of that formality crap. Get yer asses in here so I can show off my battalion!" Everyone chuckles, and Gimmir takes the lead with Simon at his side. Cap and the Admiral follow, and I follow them at the back of the procession.

I hadn't really noticed it before, but watching Gimmir and Simon walking together in front of Cap and Admiral Shockpaw, I see a lot of similarity between the two pairs. Cap and Gimmir both have the same self-sure posture, as if daring an opposing army to attack them. Simon and the Admiral both walk proudly through the room, heads turning back and forth like they're taking in every single detail and looking for an opening from which to strike. These four men absolutely belong here... and I'm suddenly a bit self-conscious of being the odd one out. I can hold my own in a fight, but I'm no warrior. These men are warrior leaders.

We reach a sparring area near the center of the room where a handful of chairs have been set up off to the side wall. Gimmir leads us over to the chairs, and we each stand in front of one. No one sits, out of respect for the battalion. Simon picks up a whistle from his chair and blows a two-note sound which echoes across the room. Immediately, the sounds of fighting stop. Everyone turns to the center of the room, snaps to attention and salutes the officers.

We return the salute, then Gimmir takes a step forward. "Troops! Captain Gravelhand and Admiral Shockpaw are here to see your readiness! Squads will come forward when announced!" The announcement goes on to cover some of the rules of the training skirmishes, including which squad plays aggressor or defender and when a squad is 'defeated'. Gimmir steps back when finished.

Simon steps forward. "Goblins! You know who's watching you today! You know what he's done and why he's better than you! You WILL make us proud, or we'll feed you to the Stenchstone army as a pre-battle snack! I also have a message from the Chief Caregiver that all goblin failures today will not receive treatment for injuries, and will be sent to the Stenchstone hospitals as training dummies! Burn it down, or don't come home!" Once his... inspirational? ...message is finished, Simon steps back, looks at the Admiral, and nods. Admiral Shockpaw nods back. I'll never understand goblins.

The next few hours pass as one huge cacophony of battle. Gimmir and Simon take turns calling squads, who come to the center of the room and fight each other. Some folk fall with injuries and are carried off by battalion medics. Some are caught fighting dirty and are called out by squad commanders (or Gimmir and Simon, who relieve the offenders from duty on the spot). Some do exceptionally well and are recognized by Cap and the Admiral directly.

All the while, I'm just sitting and watching like I can follow any of it. The battles are so nuanced that untrained folk like me can't really tell what's happening. It's rather like watching elves at ice dancing competitions. Triple toe? Triple lutz? They all look like spins to me.

Eventually, the skirmishes come to a close. Cap and the Admiral speak a few words to each other, then huddle with Gimmir and Simon. The two battalion leaders take a step back and look at each other, apparently dumbfounded. Then Simon smiles an incredibly evil-looking goblin grin and Gimmir chuckles. They look back, nod, and turn to the rest of the room.

Gimmir clears his throat. "Troops! You did well today! Our visitors are impressed! In fact, one of them is so impressed that we got him all worked-up! He wants a turn! Captain Gravelhand will choose a squad that has already won their skirmish with no losses, and that squad will fight the partnership of Admiral Bax Shockpaw and Master Sergeant Smonz Darkrender!"

WHAT!? Dragons be damned! These old loonies can't be serious, can they? They sure look serious, and the way Admiral Shockpaw and Simon are putting on training armor, they sure seem serious. I feel like I should jump out there and stop them somehow... but I have absolutely no idea how I'd actually do that. I guess I'll just stand here quietly and freak out entirely on my own while my Captain, visiting Admiral, Battalion Major and Master Sergeant continue doing something completely unheard-of.

Cap calls out a squad number, and nine soldiers move to the center of the room. Admiral Shockpaw and Simon walk out to meet them. Simon is on the Admiral's right side, carrying a two-handed pole axe. The Admiral has a small shield strapped to his left arm, and in the opposite hand holds a flail with three chains coming off the top, each ending in a spiky ball. These are training weapons, so they're not pointed or sharp and are made of a softer metal, but they still hurt if you take one to the face.

Standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the squad, the two goblins look frightening, but it's nine against two. Yes, I've seen Simon fight, and I've heard the stories about Admiral Shockpaw, but still. The Admiral hasn't fought in a long time. I hope Simon can cover for him!

Two dwarves with battle axes break off from the squad and go after Simon, while two elves and a goblin with short swords turn towards Shockpaw. An elf with a spear and a goblin with a spellshooter follow the dwarves to Simon, while a dwarf with a pole axe and an elf with a spellshooter follow their friends to Shockpaw.

With only two members on their team, the action is a lot easier to follow. Simon stabs the pole axe at the dwarf on his right, making the dwarf take a step backwards, then immediately changes direction with the axe to swing into the other dwarf. The dwarf takes it full in the midsection and drops. The first dwarf sees his mistake and charges in, only to get tagged with Simon's axe against the side of his head on a backswing.

Shockpaw blocks the swing of an elven sword with the shield, and uses the flail to deflect and twist up the sword of the goblin. Pulling back, he disarms the goblin, and then smacks the second elf in the face with the flail/sword combination. The elf goes down and the sword becomes dislodged. The shield blocks another swing from the first elf while Shockpaw kicks out at the goblin, catching the side of his leg and dropping him to the ground. Squatting quickly, Shockpaw smacks the prone goblin with the flail, then spins around to the last elf, wraps the chains around his knee and, with a flick of his wrist, sends the elf to the ground on top of his own sword. A flail to the head, and Shockpaw stands again.

The five attackers went down so quickly that the second row of the squad didn't have a chance to prepare. Simon's pole axe quickly knocks away the spear, and he charges directly into the goblin with the spell shooter, punching him in the face and dropping him. A spin with the pole axe drops the weaponless elf.

On the other side, Shockpaw charges inside the range of the dwarf pole axe, grabs the dwarf's right arm, and spins him off balance. The elf tries to take aim and fires the spellshooter, but Shockpaw spins the dwarf as a shield to take the hit from the small melon that emerged to simulate a fireball. The melon explodes on the dwarf's back. While that happens, Shockpaw spins under the dwarf's weapon arm, coming out on the elf's side, and a flail to the elf's head ends that confrontation.

Simon and Shockpaw stand alone among the battle, with the entire squad of nine on the ground. The battle was over in less than a minute, and neither goblin took a single hit. A few seconds of silence are quickly broken by a room full of cheers and clapping. Gimmir and Cap are clapping and cheering as loud as the rest.

Simon turns to the Admiral, and the two clasp hands. Turning back to the room, Admiral Shockpaw raises his flail and the room goes silent. He turns back to Simon. "Master Sergeant. Thank you for your assistance with this training exercise. It has been a long time since I battled, and never with someone at my side as dangerous as myself. The next time, we will have to fight a full platoon to keep the fight fair."

The room explodes in laughter, and we immediately get swept up in the crowd as everyone in the battalion wants to talk to Cap and the Admiral. Thankfully, no one wants to talk to me, so I sidestep most of the crowd and hug the wall to make my way out of the training area. Back in the hallway, I shake my head and walk towards Engineering. After all that machismo, I need a little girl time with Tanna. She won't believe the story when I tell her.

# CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The tactical math involved in launch procedures is difficult, but generally unchanging. There are some initial calculations to be made, which are easy if you're on the ground at the time. Everything else is just following instructions. Docking, however, is a lot more difficult.

For one, things when you arrive aren't always necessarily in the location you expect them to be. It's possible that you follow your directions perfectly, and a world turns out to still be a full day's travel away. Or there's now a volcano where you'd planned to dock the ship because the world spins and the docking area is actually on the other side right now. The UCST learned early on that the directions are never one hundred percent correct, because worlds move unlike stationary cities. Adepts of all kinds have been attempting to figure out why they move around, and what the patterns are, and if it's possible to put math to it. So far, nothing has been proven to work every time.

That brings us to the secondary problem with docking. It's impossible to dock blind. Taking off without seeing outside of the ship is just a matter of math and relying on the docking station folk to tell you what they see. Docking blind is one part math, one part ingenuity and two parts suicide. The only way to take out the suicide bits is to remove the blindness. This is where Zaxn's department does most of its work.

The Tactical department is good at maps and math and figuring out the best way to move the ship. The Engineering department is excellent at mana and spell maintenance and knowing how to keep things running that are already pre-programmed spells. The Science department is a handful of genius adepts who not only know how to modify and adapt magic in theory, but can do things like dock a ship safely through ingenuity and fast thinking.

Cap, Admiral Shockpaw, Tanna and I are sitting with those genius adepts in the Science office's docking chamber. The office is slightly larger than our Operational Discussion Chamber, with space for ten senior officers to sit while the four main science adepts and an Engineering representative are able to work at their own stations around the perimeter of the room.

The ship reached the end of the directions an hour ago, mid-morning by ship standard time, and Tactical brought it to a complete stop. Now it's up to Science to find the world, figure out where we need to go on it, and relay the coordinates to Aelon's team in Tactical so they can push the Bubble properly to get us there.

Each member of the Science docking team is a different type of adept. The dwarf alchemist in the front is a master at scrying, and will create the magical window between the bubble dimension and outside to allow us to see. The elven mage nearest him will cast the location spells through the scry window to find the world and calculate the exact math between it and us. Once she has that, Zaxn's job is something he calls "physics math", where he spells the knowledge of which way the world is facing, where the docking area is, and how we maneuver the ship to get there.

The other goblin theorist in the room, a junior-grade lieutenant where the others are full lieutenants, is in charge of a communication spell once we know where the world is. Then we'll be able to speak with folk on the ground to help us dock properly. If things are as bad on the ground as we expect them to be, that will be the least fun part of the already-not-really-fun procedure.

While the Science team is literally working their magic, Tanna's monitoring a terminal in the room with a holoreport similar to the mana battery output report in Engineering. It's her responsibility to keep the Science team on-track with available resources. This is the third problem with docking – mana bleed. Terra has normal mana, so when we're docking on Terra the Science team can augment their spells with Terra's natural mana and drain less from the batteries on-ship. With a world like Stenchstone, there is very little natural mana, so all of the spells Science has to run to let us dock have to come straight from battery power. Because they're more powerful and modifiable, they can be a huge drain on resources, or what we call "high mana bleed".

As the senior officers, we have a handful of different jobs while all of the Science adepts and Engineering are working. Firstly, when communication is finally established with the docking station on-world, Cap will announce us and our reasons for visiting. Normally I would then coordinate the docking details, but with our mission today that will fall to Cap and the Admiral. My job is to ensure proper communication between the departments and keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look right. In reality, all three of us only really came here for one reason – looking at the starfield through the scry window.

With no windows on the ship, it's easy to lose perspective of where we are and what we're doing every day. The ship is just the building we live and work in, and we don't get to go outside for days or weeks at a time. Intellectually we know we're flying through the starfield, but most folk only get to see it if they go on a tourist cruise which specifically goes out a little distance and opens scry windows for viewing. Those folk get to see one small part of the starfield. Senior officers on-ship get to see it every time we dock, and it's always amazing.

Tanna's voice starts the proceedings. "Mana flow window opened on secondary battery. Window access created for each Science team member. Please access the window using your authorization codes."

Each adept enters a command on their holoterminal, then speaks their personal code. This opens a connection between the holoterminal and the new window in the mana battery, and also a connection between the holoterminal and the adept officer sitting at it. As each adept feels the mana connection open, they inform the room.

Tanna checks her charts and verifies as each adept is connected. "Four connections confirmed. Mana flow is stable. Lieutenant Gloomfire, you may begin."

Zaxn nods. "Lieutenant Runeshadow, the scry window please."

Runeshadow, the dwarf alchemist, taps a few commands into his terminal to activate the mana flow, then shifts to the left to a desk covered in runestones. He slowly moves the stones, switching from one complicated geometric pattern to another, while chanting under his breath. After a minute or two, the stones appear to glow under his hands as he expertly moves them from one position to another.

A few more minutes pass, and a small sparkle appears on the large blank wall of the chamber in front of us. Twinkling, the sparkle grows from a pinpoint to the size of a child's hand, then splits into two smaller sparkles which appear to be connected with a thin line of light. These sparkles slowly grow until they're large enough to split again into a total of four sparkles. The sparkles slowly move away from each other, and the lines of light connecting them separate to create a dark spot in the center – a hole through the Bubble to see the starfield beyond.

As the scrying window opens, we get our first glance of the starfield around Stenchstone. It always amazes me how different things are around different worlds. Stenchstone has two suns – one blue and one yellow – which are visible as small orbs in the corner of the window. A blue-and-purple glow stretches across part of the starfield that we can see, covering the stars behind it in a transparent sheet of color. A large brown spotted rock appears in the upper-left corner, so close it looks like it might hit us.

I look around at the other officers and take in their reactions. The other members of Science are all preparing their spell components, but each one of them stops and stares every few moments. Tanna's transfixed by the sight, probably by the purple glow since I know that's one of her favorite colors. Admiral Shockpaw just looks completely happy and satisfied. I can't imagine what he's thinking right now. He hasn't seen this for 40 years! I'm glad we could bring him home.

And then there's Cap. He notices me looking and grins, then slaps the arm of his chair. "Right. Pretty. Good job, Runeshadow. But next time, try to focus on a concert or a puppet show or something! All the things in the starfield, and ya gotta show me the same blasted stuff every time we come out!"

The dwarven lieutenant turns in his chair to face us. "Sorry Cap. Next time I'll get ya somethin' ya like! Maybe I can tune this window to some dwarf racquetball, or some elf ice dancing! Or maybe to another ship where ya can see a captain who doesn't make the same complaint during every scrying!"

Cap shakes his head. "Insubordination everywhere I go. Ah well. I know ya just did this for Commander Aldamiel anyway. She likes the pretty colors. Ya may be too old for her though, Runeshadow. She's got ensigns chasing after her now! Better work on finding racquetball on that thing instead!"

Both dwarves burst out in laughter. I notice the elf mage chuckle a bit, confirming that the story about Tanna's ensign has definitely made its way around the ship. I want to laugh, but I check on Tanna first. At first glance, she appears to have not heard the comment. But then, without taking her eyes away from the window, she twists her left hand and makes an obscene gesture to Cap. That gets all of us laughing for a good solid minute.

After the laughter dies down, Tanna turns back to her terminal. "Mana levels for the scry window appear to be stable. "

Zaxn nods and turns to the elf mage. "Your turn, Vanwen."

Lieutenant Vanwen Neltasyr smiles and touches her terminal, then turns to the space to her left where she's drawn a glyph in spellsand. In the center of the glyph is a small rock, originally from Stenchstone. The rock is the focal point of the spell, using the 'magical tether' between it and the world it originally came from to tie the two together.

She motions to the dwarven lieutenant. "Vico, the connector stone please."

Runeshadow says a few words under his breath, then carefully reaches down and plucks a glowing runestone from his design. He glances up to ensure the window is still open, then takes the stone to the elf. She places her finger in her design, and the dwarf lays the stone where she indicates, being careful not to accidentally brush her hand or any part of the sand design with the stone.

The girl's eyes open wider, and she chants the words to her ritual. Unlike with the runestones, she doesn't have to make any intricate motions or move anything around, but her eyes take on a glassy look as if she's looking somewhere other than here. The next few minutes pass in silence while she searches for Stenchstone in the starfield.

When she finds it, her right hand reaches up to her terminal and triggers a command. The mapping spell pre-programmed into the ship takes hold of her spell, and we can see the effect in the scry window. Suddenly, the view changes as if we were moving. The scry window follows the path of Lieutenant Neltasyr's location spell, and we get to watch as all of the stars and colors shift, turn, move, and disappear from the sides of the window until the view finally centers on a small red orb.

Stenchstone is not a large world; Terra is quite a bit larger in a lot of ways. From the window we can see dark spots on the red surface, a large area of blue water, and swirls of grey clouds. A small black orb and a small green orb, two of the six moons of Stenchstone, are visible as well.

I hear a small sound and turn to see Admiral Shockpaw covering his mouth with his hand. Cap nods and places a hand on the goblin's shoulder. "Welcome home, Bax."

The admiral takes a second to regain his composure, then touches Cap's hand. "Elthen. Thank you."

I smile. That weird goblin admiral is decent folk. I'm glad we could be the ones to bring him back home. I can't imagine what he's feeling.

Tanna's voice breaks the moment and brings us back to work. "Mapping spell successful, and mapping coordinates are recorded."

Zaxn smiles. "Thank you, Commander. I will begin the physics spell." He triggers the mana flow at his terminal, then turns to a ball sitting on his table.

Zaxn chants a few words, then takes the sphere in his hand and places it between his eyes and the scry window. He places a finger from his right hand at a spot in the air away from the ball which is supposed to be where the scry window is currently looking. A glowing point appears, and he moves his finger away.

Looking back to the sphere in his hands, he squints and scrutinizes it like he's looking for something on it that only he can see. Eventually, he finds what he's looking for and touches the sphere there with one finger, creating another glowing spot. Turning the sphere back to where it started, he uses his finger to trace an invisible line between the two points he marked. Satisfied, he reaches over and triggers the mapping spell on his terminal.

Seeing he's completed his initial mapping, Tanna checks her terminal, then activates her communicator. "Tactical. Mapping is successful. Initial coordinates have been mapped from our location to Stenchstone. Please confirm and calculate arrival time."

The voice of one of Aelon's flight lieutenants replies, "Coordinates confirmed. Calculating now. One moment."

With nothing to do until Tactical finishes their calculations, everyone's attention returns to the window. The room is silent while we all contemplate the view. To me, it's the best art ever. Anyone can paint a picture of another world, but this actually _is_ another world, far from my home but a place someone else calls home. You can't capture that feeling with words or paint.

Eventually, the communicator beeps and the flight lieutenant comes back on. "Tactical confirms complete mapping and arrival details. Time to arrival is 11 hours and 32 minutes."

Tanna nods. "Confirmed, Tactical. Thank you. Begin course."

Zaxn goes back to his sphere. This is the hardest part of the process – figuring out where everything will be in 11 hours and 32 minutes. Staring at the spot he marked earlier, he says a few words. The sphere lifts from his hands to float in the air in front of him, and starts slowly turning. It's hard to see with your eyes, but when you look really closely (or have it shown to you in a classroom) you can see that the sphere is turning at the same speed as the rotating world in the scry window.

After a couple minutes of watching the sphere turn slowly and calculating how many degrees it turns each minute, Zaxn speaks a few words to modify his spell. The sphere turns more quickly while he counts out loud. Once he reaches the proper count for the 11 hours and 32 minutes, he speaks another word. The sphere stops turning and his initial point now glows on a different angle than before. He triggers the mapping spell on his terminal again.

Tanna touches the communicator. "Tactical, mapping has been updated. Please confirm recalculation."

The reply is much quicker this time. "Coordinates confirmed. Updated time to arrival is 10 hours and 44 minutes."

Tanna confirms, disengages the communicator and returns to her chart. "Mapping spells disengaged, scry and location spells still active and steady. Communications can begin."

Zaxn nods. "Your turn, Nub."

Lieutenant JG Nub Sickshade triggers his mana flow on the terminal, then retrieves a visual of the mapping data already collected. He reads through the coordinates while chanting softly, then looks up at the scry window. A soft beam of light seems to appear in the window, flowing around the curve of the planet.

After a couple seconds, the goblin nods. "Communications connected."

Cap nods and touches a charm in his chair. "Ground Control."

There's always a delay in these communications. After a couple minutes, we receive a reply in an oily male voice. "Stenchstone Ground Control. Please identify and provide arrival estimate."

Cap gestures to Admiral Shockpaw, who takes over. "Ground Control. This is UCST Admiral Bax Shockpaw on the UCST Corsari with Captain Elthen Gravelhand, estimated to arrive in 11 hours. Please ask the Palace representative at your location to speak with me."

A few minutes pass before the reply is received. "Excellency! It is an honor to have you return to Stenchstone. I will alert Ambassador Dreadthief immediately! Please wait a moment, sir!"

Cap turns to the Admiral and shrugs. "Good to know ya still have fans back home, Bax! Guess it's a good thing we brought ya after all!"

Admiral Shockpaw nods, and we all wait quietly for the ambassador. This is the point we're all worried about, and no one really wants to say anything about it. After a handful of minutes, a smooth female goblin voice comes on the communicator.

"Excellency! This is Kesn Dreadthief. This visit is a wonderful surprise! We were not expecting a UCST ship for some months yet, and certainly not one carrying you! His Majesty will be excited to hear this news! He was actually just talking about you a few weeks ago. What are your plans upon arrival? His Majesty will definitely want to see you and relive old stories!"

The chamber is quiet while we all turn and look at each other. Wonderful surprise? Unexpected? Relive old stories? That's certainly not the arrival speech we were expecting! What about the war they declared on us?

Cap and the Admiral stare at each other for a minute before the Admiral speaks. "Elthen. Kesn Dreadthief is a valued advisor to the throne. She should know why we're here."

I speak before I can stop myself. "Are we sure _we_ know why we're here?"

# CHAPTER FIFTEEN

About 11 hours later, evening by the ship's clock, Cap, the Admiral, Calgonnel and I are waiting in Cap's office for Ambassador Dreadthief to arrive. Aside from a quick discussion with Calgonnel and Lada, we've kept our confusion of the situation from everyone else while we finished docking procedures and confirmed that the Ambassador can visit the ship for a conference. Eventually, the door chimes and fades out, and we all turn towards our visitor.

Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief is easily one of the most beautiful goblin women I've ever seen. She walks proud and straight-backed as she follows Lada into the room, her curvy body accentuated by a flowing blue dress hanging from shoulder to knees while showing plenty of the light green skin on her chest and arms. Thick black curls flow down her head and frame her smooth face. She has a bounce to her step as if she's happier today than she has been in years.

Her eyes scan us each in turn before alighting on Admiral Shockpaw. When she sees him, she smiles a large goblin smile which feels like it's full of love and adoration instead of the weird evil grins most goblins have. Walking up to him, she drops to her knees and prostrates herself in front of him, with her forehead on the floor and both arms at her sides with palms raised.

"Excellency! My service is yours, lest my head become yours in failure."

Admiral Shockpaw kneels before her, lifting her head gently with his fingertips on either side of her face. "Kesn. It is wonderful to see you again, my friend, but please do not pledge yourself to me. You belong to the King, and I am no longer him. I am a visitor and a friend, but I have not been your ruler for a long time."

Kesn's eyes are wide in shock. "Excellency..." she starts, but a look is shared between them and she stops. Taking a deep breath, she sits up on her knees and reaches her arms out to touch the Admiral's shoulders. "Bax. We have missed you greatly. He has done a wonderful job in your absence, but it isn't the same as having you here. Many have hoped you would return home soon. I can't possibly express how happy I am to see you!"

"Kesn. And I am happy also to see you looking well. We will hopefully have time to catch up, but we have important matters to discuss with you first. Please sit with us a moment and let us explain what brings us here." He takes her hand and they stand together. He walks her toward the rest of us at the table, making introductions before taking their seats.

Cap and the Admiral look at each other. There's been a lot of discussion between those two during the last ten hours before docking. I hope they finally figured how to begin sorting this situation out! After a few seconds, Cap nods and sits back, letting Admiral Shockpaw take the lead.

"Ambassador Dreadthief," he begins, and the female goblin suddenly snaps to attention. Her facial features become more solid and professional. I'm slightly amused that the trick of calling someone by their department title works on more folk than just the ones on my staff! Once the Admiral notices he has the female goblin's attention, he continues.

"Ambassador, a declaration of war was received on Terra around twelve days ago, sent from the Overseer's office on Stenchstone. This declaration indicated that an assassination attempt on the King had been thwarted, and as the assassin was a UCST officer the King was declaring war against the UCST. Ambassador Telathyr has a true copy of the original message."

He gestures to Calgonnel, who passes a scroll to Kesn. She accepts it with a nod and unrolls it to read the details. As she reads through the message, her eyes grow wider. At one point, she stops to shake her head. She appears to finish reading, then readjusts the scroll to read it over a second time. Very thorough, this ambassador!

When she finishes reading, she rolls the scroll carefully and places both hands on it in front of her, then looks up at us. "Bax, I..." she stutters, then stops and breathes deeply. Shaking her head, she starts over, "Admiral. Captain. On behalf of the Kingdom of Stenchstone and its ruler, King Damnation, I can verify that this document is, without a doubt, completely false. There is no declaration of war between our kingdom and the United Corps of Starfield Travelers. There has been no assassination attempt that the throne is aware of, and there are other inconsistencies in this message tell me it was not properly authorized by our current Overseer."

I turn to take in the other officers at the table. A feeling of relief spreads through the group, as if a collective sigh was released. Shoulders relax, deep breaths are taken, and a smile spreads across Cap's face. He turns to the Admiral and chuckles. "Gimmir's gonna be mighty unhappy when I tell him that he can't take the battalion out to fight the royal army now! I should send Lada to give him the news."

A small chuckle goes around the table. Leave it to Cap to completely destroy a moment by adding a joke! I regain composure quickly and bring us back on topic. "Ambassador, if that message is a fake and we're not at war with your world, then that leads us to our biggest question: why would someone want us to think we are and have the Corsari immediately sent out here with Admiral Shockpaw aboard?"

She turns to me and shakes her head fiercely, curls of black hair bouncing around her neck. "I have absolutely no idea, Commander. As I said over the communicator, you were completely unexpected. Our next expected UCST arrival is the trade ship Compost VII in two months. Whoever wanted you to come to Stenchstone didn't bother to warn Ground Control or the Palace."

I turn to Calgonnel, who nods and takes over the conversation. "Thank you for that, Ambassador. In that case, it seems we may have to investigate and track down the reasoning on our own. Can we ask you to schedule an appointment for our team to have a meeting directly with the Overseer to discuss the message?"

Kesn nods. "Of course, Ambassador. My office will work with you and the Overseer's office directly. He'll be especially interested in this forged document supposedly authorized by the previous Overseer!"

Calgonnel sits up straighter. "Are you saying Gak Bonedread is not the current Overseer?"

Another nod. "That's correct. Bonedread was removed from office for treason around fifteen years ago. Nex Darkraider is the current Overseer."

The Admiral taps his chin in thought. "Kesn. I think I remember Nex. Son of Zabx, correct? Zabx Darkraider was the head of palace security many years ago."

Ambassador Dreadthief grins. "You remember correctly, Excellency. Zabx has unfortunately retired, but his son Nex was already experienced as a justice enforcer and was the perfect replacement for the Overseer office. He still remembers his days in the palace with you and his father, and I'm sure he'd do anything at all for Your Excellency's contingent!"

The angle of the Admiral's head changes, leaning to the right while he gives the female goblin a questioning look. "Kesn. Can you please explain why you are calling me that?"

The Ambassador's eyes grow wide for a split second, then she bursts into a bout of laughter so huge I'm afraid she's going to fall out of her chair. After a minute, she gains control of herself and takes a few deep breaths. "Oh, Bax. I completely forgot that you had no way of knowing! That's your title now, your Excellency! As ordered by the King himself on the occasion of the erection of the statue in your honor!"

She stops as her words sink into the Admiral, and she chuckles a bit more as she watches his eyes grow wider. "Of course, you had no way of knowing about the statue, either! Wait until you see it. It's awe-inspiring!"

Cap bursts into loud dwarven laughter and claps the Admiral on the shoulder. "A statue! They actually made a copy of ya that's more hard-headed than yerself! Sounds like either yer folk still love ya, or they love to watch birds sit on yer shoulders. Maybe both!"

The Admiral raises a hand to his mouth to chuckle behind it. "Elthen. I will request that they add a statue of yourself to provide my stone self with constant paperwork to read and respond to. I would not want him to be bored."

Leaning back, Cap responds, "And well ya should! 'Stone Me' would regularly send updates on how much of 'Stone You's ass has eroded every day!"

The two of them chuckle for a bit, then regain their composure and look back to the rest of us. Calgonnel takes advantage of the opportunity to get back to work. "Ambassador, our original plans were to have Commander Westiel and myself visit the Overseer while our Captain and the Admiral visit with the King to discuss the terms of war. Knowing now there is no official war, it may be even more beneficial for a visit with the King and his staff. Do you believe it would be safe for the two of them, with escort, to travel to the palace?"

The Ambassador nods emphatically. "Absolutely! His Majesty has already been informed of His Excellency's arrival and has said, and I quote, 'Tell that troll-licking ass-toad to come see me! Unless he wants this chair back. In that case, take him out to the village where we run fireball tests, lock him in a hut with a huge target painted on the side and laugh as you leave."

Admiral Shockpaw nods, his expression serious. "Kesn. Please tell the elf-kissing son of dragon droppings that I will come by for a visit, but I am sure his enormous ass has already ruined the padding on that chair so there is no way I could possibly want it returned." Calgonnel and I look at each other, eyes wide. It sounds like there's a lot in common between the way Cap and the Admiral get along with their friends!

The female goblin chuckles melodically. "I'll absolutely pass that along, Excellency! He'll be happy to hear it. No one insults him like that since you left, and it's made him surly and impossible to deal with."

Shaking his head, the Admiral replies, "Kesn. Xarm was surly and impossible to deal with _before_ I gave him the crown. I can't imagine he's become any more pleasant since then."

The two goblins chuckle, then Kesn smiles again. "Well, that's settled then! I'll set up a security detail and escort for you to the palace!"

Calgonnel looks at me, and I can tell he is having the same thought I am, so I nod. He turns to the female goblin. "Ambassador, it is incredibly kind of you to offer, and we're thankful for all of the support you and your office will be providing to us. However, in this case, I'd like to request that we handle security and scheduling for the Admiral's visit to the palace internally, with only your direct support." When he finishes, Cap and the Admiral both nod their heads as well. I'm not sure if the speech reminded them, or if they had also already thought of it themselves.

Her expression drops immediately into confusion and sadness. "But why? His Excellency is an honored guest, and his homeworld would love to do this for him! I know he's never been one for fancy showings, but he's been gone for so long!"

Admiral Shockpaw places a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention. "Kesn, I had to leave Terra in secret because of an attempt on my life. As we no longer know why we're here, we have to assume those elements are still hostile and may hurt my friends or myself."

Her eyes go wide and she reaches up to her shoulder to grasp his hand with both of hers. "What happened!? Did you get hurt!? We'll prepare a war party immediately to hunt down the assassins!"

He smiles at her kindly. "Kesn. I am fine. I was not attacked, as I received warning from our Intelligence Office before the assassination attempt and was able to avoid it."

Sometimes, I really hate being the one to think of the 'alternative viewpoint' questions, but it's part of my job as XO to think of these things when no one else seems to. I suppose I'm just glad that I'm good at it. "Admiral... are we certain there actually _was_ a planned attempt on your life? That information could have been falsely planted as well. I don't know why that information would have been fake, but I don't know why an _actual_ assassination attempt would have affected this 'fake war' situation either. It just seems like something to consider."

Cap nods and sits up. "A fair point, elf, but I think we can all agree that it's safer to assume we'll need to manage security ourselves, just in case it turns out the information was accurate. Lada and Gimmir can pull a solid security force out of the battalion elites, and we won't have to worry about losing the Admiral to some pansy hit squad. In the meantime, we'll add the authenticity of that assassination to the list of things we need to sort out"

The Ambassador nods. "I can agree to that on behalf of the palace. I will speak with His Majesty directly to make the plans, and keep them as secure as possible. No other folk in the Palace's employ will have any details. His Excellency's safety is paramount."

Calgonnel smiles. "Thank you, Ambassador. I think it's best if we conclude for now to get some rest before beginning the hard work tomorrow."

Ambassador Dreadthief nods. "I agree. It will take me only a brief time to set up the meeting details with the Palace and the Overseer, but it's been a long and emotional day. Some food and rest sounds really good right about now."

The Admiral stands and offers his hand to the female goblin. "Kesn. Allow me to escort you to our mess hall, where they can provide you with an excellent meal. I would love to have your company for a while longer."

She stands and takes his hand. "It's been a long time, Bax. Of course I want to spend time with you. Lead on, Excellency."

As they head to the door of Cap's office, the rest of us realize that we've been completely forgotten. The two goblins might as well be alone on the ship right now. We watch as the door opens and the Admiral leads the beautiful goblin woman into the hallway.

Once the door closes again, Cap chuckles. "Bax Shockpaw, you old dog you!"

# CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next morning, we pull the senior officers together to tell them what we now know. Admiral Shockpaw joins us, as does Ambassador Dreadthief, who happened to still be on-ship this morning. When they arrive to the discussion chamber together, she's wearing the same blue dress from last night. I notice Cap grin and give the Admiral a quick wink before inviting them to take seats.

We quickly relay the new information that we have to the staff concerning the lack of a war and how the declaration message was faked. As expected, Gimmir becomes quite sullen when he finds out the battalion won't be needed after all, and only slightly brightens when he's asked to build the security team for the visit to the palace. I feel slightly sorry for the battalion members who are going to have to deal with an unhappy Major today.

The meeting comes to an end, and Ambassador Dreadthief stands. "Before I go, I again offer you welcome on behalf of Stenchstone and the King. I hope these issues can be resolved quickly, and I'll make the appointments with the Palace and the Overseer immediately. I also invite your crew to please visit the city while you're here. My office can provide recommendations and reservations for activities."

She smiles and looks down the table. "Zaxn, I'll tell my sister that you're here. She'll be so happy to see you! We'll have dinner at my house tonight and catch up!" Zaxn smiles back, and the Admiral leads the female goblin out of the chamber.

When the door closes, Sen's left arm flies up and smacks the younger goblin in the face. Without looking at him, she scowls. "You're going to have dinner tonight with that beautiful goblin's sister?"

Zaxn's eyes pop open as wide as saucers. He rubs his face. "Yes, of course! You already knew I was going to see my family when we arrived!"

The scowl fades and Sen's head turns to face him. "Your family?"

He nods, then panics as he notices the rest of us are still in the room and this conversation is the center of attention for all of us. Cap's grinning like an idiot, Tanna's looking at me with her 'juicy gossip' face, Gimmir appears to be betting with Lada and Simon on the outcome, using Calgonnel as a witness. No one's able to stop Aelon before he speaks. "Zaxn, buddy... you're related to that gorgeous green girl?"

That gets Tanna's attention instantly, and she swivels in her seat to glare at him. "Excuse me!? 'Gorgeous green girl'!?"

Now Cap's chuckling and Zaxn looks like he wants to crawl under the table. I guess it's time for XO Westiel to save the meeting again. "Ambassador Dreadthief is Zaxn's mother's sister." Thankfully that was in Zaxn's personnel file, which I read when I was looking for information on the Ambassador before the meeting last night.

Lada chuckles at the end of the table. Gimmir and Simon both look dejected. I guess she must have won the bet. Aelon gives Zaxn a thumbs-up, which Tanna rewards with another glare. Sen smiles and pats Zaxn's hand. "Oh. Her sister is your mother. I suppose I won't use my special flail on you then. Too bad."

That gets the whole table laughing, except Zaxn who can't seem to figure out if he's allowed to look relieved or not. After a minute, Cap speaks up. "Alright, fellas. So, the good news is we're not at war, but there's still bad news. We don't know why we're here or what's happenin'. For now, we're gonna stick with the original plan with the trips to the King and the Overseer. Lada and Gimmir, put together a two-squad security team for our trip to the palace. Try to keep it dwarves and elves only. Since we don't know why we're here, I don't wanna risk any backstabbin'. For now, the only goblins we can trust are in this room."

The dwarves nod, and Cap turns to Calgonnel. "I'm thinkin' yer group is fine with just Rylae and Simon. Yer still less likely to get attention that way, even if ya don't have to sneak through a war now."

The three of us exchange glances, and Calgonnel nods. "I agree. I don't know this new Overseer, but if he has Ambassador Dreadthief's recommendation then we can assume he won't be hostile. We'll stick with a small non-threatening group and see what kinds of questions we can get answered."

Cap looks around the room. "As for the rest of ya, I know the offer to visit is a good one, but I want to make sure things are ok before we let anyone out for visits. Tanna, verify our mana reserves and maintenance. Aelon, work with your team and Science to keep updated coordinates ready in case we need to launch with no warnin'. Sen, prepare one of your folk for the field in case we need somethin' quickly."

Those orders passed around, he turns to the youngest goblin. "Zaxn. I need you to do somethin' too. Go see yer mother. Also, reconnect with folk who may remember ya and see what they know. Find out what's happenin' on-world and listen for gossip and rumors. See if someone says somethin' important."

Zaxn glances at me, and I can tell he's a little scared. I give him a look that I hope is reassuring and nod. He looks back at Cap. "Aye, sir. I'll see what I can find out."

Cap claps his hands once. "Excellent. Then we know what we're gonna do. Let's get to it."

««»»

Shortly after the meeting, we receive a call from the Ambassador letting us know the arrangements have been made. Cap and the Admiral are going to the palace at lunchtime to spend the rest of the day with the King. Kesn tells us that His Majesty completely cleared his appointments for the rest of the day to accommodate their visit, and he's also inviting other important folk join them for a card game after dinner. Definitely doesn't sound like a war party.

Our meeting with the Overseer is scheduled for an hour before lunch, and it'll take us a little while to get there from the docking pad, so we'll be the first ones out. I finish putting on my dress uniform and making myself look pretty, then start down to the armory on level 3. We've decided to still carry weapons until we find out exactly what's happening.

Simon's waiting outside of the armory when I arrive, wearing leather armor over a standard uniform. We half-salute to each other, then he hands me a belt with a holster and some sheaths on it. I put it around my waist with the holster on my right hip and the sheaths on my left, then buckle it behind me. The entire thing is unnoticeable under my uniform jacket.

Calgonnel walks up at that point, and Simon hands him a different belt. This one buckles in the front, and has a single holster in the center. Once he puts it on, the holster sits at the small of his back. Since he's not a fighter, we decided in training that the single spellshooter was Calgonnel's best option, and this lets him look like he's unarmed during discussions to keep everyone at ease.

We walk over to the cases of spellshooters. Simon picks one out for each of us and hands them to us. "Calgonnel, if you need to shoot something, we're in deep trouble. But you're not as well-trained as I'd like you to be for an area-effect spell to get us out of that kind of trouble. This shoots force missiles. Aim for center mass and pull the trigger. Should hit hard enough to cause some damage and knock back anything smaller than a dragon. Your main job is to keep yourself safe, not us.

"Rylae, you're trained better but you haven't been in a real fight since Firefork. If things go bad, you need options. Your spellshooter has two spells – a spike shot and a lightning ball. The spike shot is precise and sharp. It'll puncture most armor. Use that when you want to take someone out. The lightning ball is area-effect. It'll stun anyone in the blast, and hurt anyone wearing or holding metal. It's not lethal, though, so use it when you think it's best." He points out the switch on the side just above the trigger to change the spell.

I place the spellshooter in my holster and notice Calgonnel does the same. Simon then hands me two daggers from a box I know well, as I keep it down here for my own use. Each is about 8 cm across, with a 10 cm hilt and 15 cm blade. One has a wide flat hilt and was made for throwing. The other has a round hilt with a slightly curved crosspiece for parrying. Both hilts are wrapped in leather straps. I place them in the sheaths on my left hip.

Simon then grabs a brace of daggers, which he straps across his chest. He follows this with a belt that has a short sword scabbard on the left, two spellshooter holsters on the right, and a clip next to the buckle at the back. He pulls a sword from the rack, tests its weight in his hand, then places it in the sheath. Next he reaches for a short mace and attaches it to the clip behind him.

He grabs two spellshooters and turns to us. "Acid and Fireball. If we're in it so deep that I need to shoot something, get the hell behind me." We nod and he holsters them.

Satisfied that we're ready, he turns to us. "Let's be clear again. My job is to protect Calgonnel and Rylae. Rylae's job is to protect Calgonnel and Rylae. Calgonnel's job is to protect Calgonnel. It is no one's job to protect Simon. If Simon can't handle it, then Rylae and Calgonnel get the hell out of it. Understood?"

I turn to look at Calgonnel with a grin, and I can see we're thinking the same thing. I turn back, and we both snap into a full salute to Simon. "Yes, sir," we say in unison.

Simon scowls, then grunts. "No need to be so flashy. Let's just not get into trouble. Think you two can do that?"

I nod and smile. "We can try. Thanks Simon."

He shrugs. "Whatever. Let's go figure out this Overseer crap." He walks off toward the bay doors on the first level. I turn to Calgonnel and shrug, then walk off to follow. I can hear him trying to hold back a chuckle behind me.

When we get to the staging area, I see that the bay doors are already open and two squads of fighters are outside of the ship. Lada is in front of one squad while Gimmir is in front of the other. Each squad of nine is a mix of dwarves and elves, with no goblins in the group. The twenty fighters look formidable, dressed in full steel battle armor while practicing formations. The red coloring of the Giantbasher Elite is on each of them.

Lada sees us, motions to Gimmir, and the two break off from the group to come into the ship. They stop and salute, which we return. Lada grins. "We had this idea to help cover ya when ya leave. You're gonna walk with our squads while we walk over to the landcraft storage area nearby, then ya can grab one and we'll walk back. We don't need to hide ya from an army anymore, but we don't know what else is out here."

Gimmir chuckles. "Even if something is out here, it won't mess with my elites! You're safer today than you've ever been before!"

Simon rolls his eyes and shoves past him. "Obnoxious dwarf. Get your kittens to form up. We'll play along with you now, and be safer after we're not surrounded by a bunch of jokers who only _think_ they can fight."

Gimmir turns to the squads and whistles. Instantly each squad of nine forms a tight square with three on each side and one in the center. We follow Gimmir to the space between the squares, where he lines up at the front, Lada lines up behind, and the three of us left form up between them as best we can.

After a fast survey of the area, Gimmir stomps. "Half-march!" At his command, we all start walking slightly faster than a normal walk. I try to match my steps to the elites, which is only a bit of a challenge while we're only moving a bit quickly. About five minutes of marching and a few turns later, we arrive at the landcraft storage area, an open field with about a dozen landcraft of multiple sizes and a small metal shack where a goblin is seated at a holoterminal.

Simon steps out of formation and walks to the shack. He exchanges a few words with the goblin in charge of the area, who leaves and quickly returns with a standard-size landcraft. Simon checks it out, puts his approval in the goblin's terminal, then waves us over. Gimmir gives a quick look around, then steps out of the way so Calgonnel and I can pass.

Once out of formation, I turn to the group and salute. The entire formation salutes back. Gimmir stomps again. "Reverse march!" Each warrior in the formation spins in place to face the opposite direction and begins marching faster than when we arrived.

Simon motions us into the landcraft. Calgonnel and I take seats in the back, while Simon takes the control seat. After looking for traps under and around the seats, he sets the destination in the terminal and the travel to the Overseer's office begins.

# CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

This is my first time on Stenchstone. An ambassadorial entourage doesn't regularly come out here, and there's been no need for a show of force since then-Battalion-Major Shockpaw overthrew the king, so sending a ship like the Corsari out here would be a waste. Trade ships still come through with items and personnel, and the smaller message ships pass through to pick up and deliver, but nothing else.

All of the UCST briefs about the world are years out of date, either from before the Admiral became King Damnation, or were written by Admiral Shockpaw himself in answer to queries from other admirals. I read through them, but there wasn't really enough to get a firm idea of what the world was like after the Admiral became King, and nothing at all starting just before the time he left. Stenchstone likes to keep to itself.

Of course, the briefs about the climate and layout of the world are accurate. It hasn't been long enough for those to go stale. They're only briefs, though. The written word can't truly capture what a world is going to be like once you're on it.

No two worlds are the same. Tir Tairngire is very similar to Terra, except for more appearances of blues and oranges in nature, a few carnivorous bushes and some explosive fruit. Firefork is almost completely covered in swamps, which suits their goblin population well. The Trollish world of Von'Sorra constantly has a layer of ice coated by three or four layers of snow, and is home to angry cats almost as large as dragons.

Ice cats be damned? Hmm. Doesn't have quite the same feeling to it. I'll stick with dragons for now.

Stenchstone is almost completely red and orange. It looks like some of the huge quarries of clay I've seen on Terra, except this color is _everywhere_. The plants and trees are all tinged with orange. The birds and deer-like creatures appear to be coated in reddish dust. The buildings look to have been crafted from the clay, so they're all reddish-orange.

The only other colors are in the sky. The sky itself is a light yellow, with brown clouds hovering above us. Stenchstone has six moons, and some of them are always visible. Currently, the green and purple moons are easy to see, and the black moon is peeking over the horizon. From the briefs I know the yellow and white moons will be visible in the evening, and the blue moon will be prominent during the dark night.

From the PoundFlat docking station, it's a 25-minute ride to the far side of Vengeance Vista. The palace is on the near side of the city, but the Overseer's office is way out on the opposite edge. At least we get a nice ride to take in the sights before we arrive and have to start working again!

Like most worlds, Stenchstone only has one major city with a few small surrounding villages. Some of the older worlds, like Tir Tairngire, have more cities, but it takes a few thousand years for a world to build a new city far enough away from the original one for it to truly be separate. Some worlds also just don't have any easily-accessible habitable areas to build a new city in. Stenchstone is one of those. Landcraft travel beyond the large red mountain range on the horizon has proven impossible so far.

Vengeance Vista is a good-sized city, with about 200,000 goblin residents at a density of about 450 folk per square kilometer. That makes it a little more crowded than Admiralty City, which has more space and only around 300 folk per square kilometer. As such, there are many more landcraft on the packed-clay roads, and our landcraft has to go slower to avoid bumping into anything.

Being in close proximity to other landcraft does make it easier to look at the other folk riding around, and I find myself surprised by a lot of what I see. For one, the goblins here all seem to be happy. There's a few landcraft with folk inside that seem to be yelling at each other, but it's mostly groups of folk chatting, laughing, and even singing! The landcraft with single occupants seem mostly filled with folk taking naps, or smiling and waving at folk in other vehicles!

Friendly, happy goblins? This definitely isn't Firefork. It feels a little unnatural.

Calgonnel sees me folk-watching and chuckles. "I assume you've noticed?"

Looking past him at a family vehicle, the older goblins laughing and using toy landcraft to play with the young ones, all I can respond with is a nod. I'm completely speechless while looking at a city full of normal folk that happen to look exactly like goblins!

The older elf puts a hand on my shoulder. "I didn't quite believe it either, but I was expecting it. During our flight here, I noticed the lack of information on this world. Then I realized that I know a goblin born and raised on Stenchstone, and he's nothing at all like most other goblins we've met."

It clicks in my mind. "Lieutenant Zaxn Gloomfire, nerdy goblin boy."

"Bah. Little magic twerp." I glance over, but Simon isn't even looking at us while commenting. I never really thought about him and Zaxn being different, but I guess they really are nothing alike and have no real reason to spend much time with each other... until I recommended Simon as a leadership mentor. I should follow up on that later.

Calgonnel nods. "Exactly. He was still small when Shockpaw took over as King Damnation, so he doesn't remember much about the world the way it was before – mostly wars and strife with gang lords fighting for power. What I've pieced together from Zaxn is that Shockpaw changed a lot. The gangs were mostly disbanded, the constant fighting ended, and the world came to know peace in a very short time.

"From the look of things, the current King has been continuing that trend. We're actually on a peaceful goblin world. I wasn't sure that could actually be true. I thought Zaxn, growing up in the palace, must have been sheltered from it. Now, though, I can see it for myself. "

I can't believe I never thought to ask myself if Zaxn's behavior was because of the world he grew up on! When I think about him in context with the Admiral and Ambassador Dreadthief, it starts to make perfect sense. All three of them are well-adjusted and seem rather gentle. Amazing that it all started when a goblin Battalion Major beat a goblin King to death with a goblin assassin. I guess sometimes war does bring peace.

As that train of thought continues, I realize that peace brings stability, and stability brings fear of instability, which... "That could explain why Stenchstone doesn't associate with the other worlds. Not only would elven and dwarven worlds not believe this at all, but associating with other goblin worlds would bring them back in contact with dangerous elements that they don't want."

The older elf smiles. "I think that's it exactly. That's why Shockpaw didn't give up much information about it either. He's using his position as Admiral to continue protecting his world. The less folk know about Stenchstone, the better off everyone here is."

In the front, Simon snorts. "Peace creates complacency. Complacency causes folk to grow soft and make mistakes. Mistakes leave holes in defenses which rogue elements can exploit. And thus, the happy goblins are destroyed."

Calgonnel shrugs. "I concede that point to you. However, it's the role of government to make sure those holes don't exist, through proper laws and enforcement. We'll know more after our meeting with the Overseer, but it seems to me that everything is currently being handled well."

Simon doesn't reply, so we let the topic die. It does, however, open up another thought process about our mission. "How does this change our approach plan for the Overseer? I'm thinking we're not likely to walk into a sanctioned hit squad now."

Another snort from the front. "Doesn't change anything."

Our ambassador nods in agreement. "Exactly. While I no longer believe that the Overseer is involved, and I plan to change my talking points considerably based on how we're received, I think we should continue to be prepared for anything. We still don't know why we were brought out here, or by whom."

I grin. "Still think it's a retirement party for you?"

That gets a chuckle. "I think we can safely rule that one out."

Our landcraft starts to slow as it nears the storage area in this part of the city. It looks a lot like the storage area at the docking pad. The open field has more landcraft inside it, and there are four small structures for attendants instead of just one, but otherwise that's all there is. The landcraft storage on most worlds is inside a steel structure or covered with a wooden shelter. I expected a similar design here, now that we're in the city.

I take a good look around at the buildings, and realize that it's quite a bit different here than on most worlds. Almost all of the buildings appear to be made of the red clay, and are two levels high at the highest. There are no fifty-level buildings made of metal and glass. In fact, I think our ship might officially be the tallest building on-world now! I wonder what Adamar Aldamiel would have to say about that!

Then I realize why. Stenchstone has almost no natural mana, so there's no way to run large construction equipment or cast spells to float materials to that height. There's no way to use a spell to ensure the structure is level, or that the floors will hold properly. Just recharging the landcraft and holoterminals must be difficult! They may even have to import batteries from other worlds. Since they can't import buildings, they have to work with what they have.

None of the buildings stand out as particularly beautiful, so I suppose goblin design aesthetics haven't changed with the peace and prosperity. There truly is no accounting for taste, I guess.

We leave the landcraft with the attendant, and Calgonnel asks for directions to the Overseer's office. The excited attendant is more than happy to help, and even offers to walk us over there. Simon immediately responds to that with a gruff, "No," which sets the goblin back, but Calgonnel thanks him for the offer and he's all smiles again.

The office is a short walk away, but now that we know where to look we can actually see it from here. It's the only building in the area larger than two levels. It may only be three or four, but it's easily noticeable as the largest building in the area. A few minutes will put us right in front of it.

Simon looks at the streets full of folk. "I don't like the attention we're getting."

Attention? I scan the crowd, and see it's slowing as folk walk past and notice two elves in UCST uniforms. This is something we didn't consider, because we hadn't realized how much Stenchstone had cut itself off from the rest of the worlds. Elves and dwarves are practically non-existent to these folk. We're rarer than a landcraft collision!

We form up behind Simon and are about to start walking when a voice cuts across the crowd to our right. "Ambassador Telathyr! Commander Westiel!"

Simon pivots toward the voice instantly, right hand on the hilt of his sword and left hand twitching behind his back where the mace is hanging. Seeing him turn, I spin in the other direction to scan the left side. My back is to the voice when it speaks again, obviously female.

"Ambassador! I am Rsadun Stonebeast from the Overseer's office. We've been expecting you, and the Overseer asked me to come find you when the attendant here called our office to tell us an elf was asking for directions."

I hear Simon cough. "Clear right."

"Clear left," I reply, turning back.

A young female goblin, probably close to my age, wearing a peach blouse and thin black skirt is standing near the edge of the crowd, waving us closer while breathing heavily, as if she was running. Simon steps forward first, which causes the girl to gasp and take a step backwards. Calgonnel reaches out a hand to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Stonebeast. I am Ambassador Telathyr, and this is Commander Westiel. Also with us is Master Sergeant Darkrender. I promise he's not as scary as he looks."

Simon grunts, and the goblin girl runs her eyes over him. "He doesn't look that scary. And, please, call me Rosa." She takes Calgonnel's hand and shakes it once, then reaches across to shake mine. Glancing back at Simon, she winks and shyly smiles instead of offering her hand. That's one to share with Tanna and Lada!

Calgonnel smiles, and I can almost see a physical change as he goes into 'Ambassador Mode'. "It's wonderful to meet you, Rosa. Thank you for the escort to the office! We'll be happy to walk with you."

Simon glances at the crowd again, which is still moving although still slow. "I'll be at the rear," he says as he steps back behind me.

I just barely catch the goblin girl smirk and mutter, "Tease," under her breath. Definitely story time with the girls later!

Rosa starts walking with Calgonnel at her side, chatting about the city. I'm directly behind them, and Simon's directly behind me. Remembering the tomato sauce during our training, I keep an eye out in front of us while Simon's watching our backs. Calgonnel may be able to have a light conversation with our escort, but I shouldn't drop my guard.

Rosa walks us at a more leisurely pace than Simon was planning, but we still reach the building in a matter of minutes. It seems like most of the crowd either heard her initial comment about being with the Overseer's office, or knows her from the area, because they give us a little more room than we were initially worried about. It could also be due to the well-armed goblin walking with us. Or maybe they're just nice folk who don't want to crowd us. Regardless, we arrive without any problems.

The Overseer's office is four levels and as wide as the three other buildings across the walkway. There are hard clay steps leading to the main doors, where two goblin men wearing black leather armor are standing on either side. The one on the left turns to us. "Rosa, are these our guests?"

She nods. "Yes. These are the elves from the UCST, along with their Master Sergeant."

The officers step forward and pull the doors open for us. "Please convey our respect to His Excellency."

Calgonnel nods. "I will inform him personally. Thank you for your assistance."

Rosa leads us up the stairs and through the building. There are a number of desks and offices, and more goblins in black leather or standard business attire walking around. They all stop and notice us as we pass.

On the fourth level, we come to the doors of the Overseer's office. The doors are made of dark wood, with frosted glass in the center. Brass knobs and hinges shine in contrast to the clay walls surrounding them. Rosa raps on the doors twice before walking to an unoccupied metal desk beside them. "This is my stop. The Overseer will be out in just a second."

Calgonnel smiles and reaches out to shake her hand again. "Thank you, Rosa. It has been wonderful having you as an escort."

She shakes his hand, then purposely looks at Simon as she replies, "It's been my pleasure." This story just keeps getting juicier!

A second later, the door to the office opens, and a tall goblin wearing a black business suit, white shirt and black tie steps out. He looks us over before extending his hand.

"Friends, I am the Overseer. I understand we have much to discuss."

# CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Overseer has a _really_ nice office.

Now, I'll be the first one to admit that I really don't get out much. Not to important business offices, at least. Outside of the Admiralty, I don't have any reason to visit any other important folk. When we're on missions, I'm usually on-ship during the 'visiting important folk in their offices' part of the trip. I meet folk in Cap's or Calgonnel's offices occasionally, and I've visited Tanna's Dad in his office before, but they don't hold a candle to this place.

The room is huge. It must take up most of the entire fourth level of the building. The floor has plush brown carpeting, which makes me bounce slightly with each step. A large desk that looks from here like it's made from dark brown stone adorns the far wall, with four large plush chairs on this side. Four places in the room contain small conference tables with chairs, each positioned to be near a different area of surrounding artwork.

The walls, which I know are made of red clay like every other wall in the building we just walked through, are covered with dark wood panels that look exactly like an actual wooden wall. Hanging from those walls are important documents, large painted pieces, and shelves containing trinkets, sculptures, and other knickknacks.

On one wall, displayed prominently, is a portrait of King Damnation, done in vibrant paint colors. On the opposite wall, displayed equally prominently, is a portrait of a goblin in UCST battle armor, holding a crown aloft in his left hand while a flail hangs from the right hand at his side. Beneath his foot is a figure lying on the ground, covered in a red robe with adornment along the hem – obviously a royal figure.

The Overseer leads us to a table and chairs directly beneath this portrait, and chuckles when he looks at us. "I see you've already noticed His Excellency's portrait. I assume you haven't seen the statue yet, but the pose is remarkably similar. Obviously, though, the statue isn't in color." He chuckles at his own joke, and I hear Calgonnel chuckle as well. I can assume that the 'diplomacy' part of the mission has indeed begun.

He gestures to the chairs, so Calgonnel and I take a seat. Simon remains standing at our backs, facing the door. The Overseer takes a seat across from us, relaxing into his chair. "Ambassador Dreadthief informed me that you've arrived as part of His Excellency's contingent, and that you have a very urgent falsified document for my direct attention."

Calgonnel nods. "Indeed, Your Honor. We appreciate your time in meeting with us under these circumstances. Before we begin, can I please ask which folk in your office have details of our visit? Part of the urgency of our visit is to validate and assess a potential threat to His Excellency."

The Overseer becomes more rigid in his chair. "Of course. The Ambassador initially contacted me directly, on my personal communicator, informing me of your names and that you are with His Excellency. I informed Rosa to be on the lookout for you. One moment." He touches a communicator charm on the table, and Rosa's face appears above the table between us.

"Rosa. Please give me the exact details of when you learned that our guests had arrived and everyone you spoke with about them."

The goblin girl smiles. "Of course. You initially informed me of their names and ranks. I informed the main door guards, and only the main door guards, to be on watch for two elves who are working directly with His Excellency and to bring them up immediately. When the office received a call from the landcraft attendant mentioning two elves, the confused receptionist brought it straight to me. I dismissed her and left without another word to anyone. I assume the call created some gossip about elf visitors, but nothing more."

Calgonnel nods. "Thank you, Rosa. You have been very helpful to us today! My sincere thanks."

The Overseer disconnects the call. "Rosa is a trusted assistant, and works with many of my confidential matters."

Our Ambassador removes a scroll from inside of his jacket. "I understand. Thank you for indulging my request, Your Honor. Upon our arrival, all of our information changed drastically, so we need to validate everything we can. As you will see, we began this journey under quite different circumstances."

He passes the scroll to the Overseer, who opens it and begins reading. Upon reaching the bottom, he stops, hands shaking. With obvious effort, he slowly rolls the scroll and gently lays it on the table in front of him. I can tell he's incredibly angry at what he read. He takes a few deep breaths to regain his composure, then looks back at us.

"Friends," he begins, taking another breath before continuing, "I am stunned into confusion with this document. I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that this document is falsified. For one, there has been no assassination attempt on His Majesty, may there never be one through his reign." He bows his head and places a hand to his forehead for a second in reverence, then looks back at us.

" Secondly, Gak Bonedread has not been Overseer for these last fifteen years, and has no ability to authorize anything from his holding cell. Next, if this Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck had indeed attempted to assassinate our King, and was not already killed by the Palace guards, he would be held in the Palace holding cells, not the ones I control.

"Finally, a war declaration would be created directly from the Palace, not from this office. The Overseer has many abilities, but war declaration is a power strictly held by His Majesty. My office's charter is to maintain peace and punish those who threaten that peace, not to declare war."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Calgonnel's face doesn't change, but I'm sure he's internally relieved as well. He nods in acceptance of what we just heard. "Thank you, Your Honor. It's comforting to know for certain that this message is false. As you can imagine, it was disturbing for us to receive it, and we were sent out immediately to verify its authenticity."

The goblin nods. "Immediately? I assume you received this on Terra? Can you tell me the exact day?"

Calgonnel turns to me. "Commander, you had the information before I did. Can you please provide an answer for His Honor?"

In our discussions about these meetings, we decided that Calgonnel will handle the niceties and most of the discussion, but specific details will be addressed by me. That provides him with occasional breaks, reminds everyone that I'm still here, and gives me a chance to piece together an analysis.

I smile my prettiest smile. "Certainly. We received the message on Terra in the afternoon fourteen days ago, Your Honor. The Admiralty passed the mission along to the Corsari the next day, we made immediate preparations to depart, and launched eleven days ago, arriving at Stenchstone yesterday evening."

The Overseer nods, staring over my head in thought. "Fourteen days... so it would have left here on..."

I feel a brief flashback to my Captain's test. I do the dragons-be-damned nav-math in my head as quickly as I can. "Assuming a standard message ship on a direct course to Terra, the message would have left Stenchstone twenty-five days ago."

The goblin touches the communicator on the table again, and Rosa's head appears. "Rosa, can you please find the last time a message ship visited Stenchstone?"

The female head nods. "Of course. One moment. As you know, Stenchstone doesn't communicate very often with outside worlds, so we don't have message ships visit regularly." She grins. "Ah, here it is. The last message ship was the Bookkeeper, three months ago."

Calgonnel and I look at each other while the Overseer reaches to the communicator. "Thank you, Rosa. Can you please have lunch for five delivered from The Burning Hut? I'd like to ask that you please join us for lunch to help in case we have need of more information." Rosa's head nods and he cuts the connection.

Looking back at us, the Overseer places his hands together on the table and leans on them slightly. "Three months is a lot longer than twenty-five days. I think I can say with certainty that this message did not originate on Stenchstone. Even if I pretend that it originally came from this office, and from the previous Overseer, and was somehow found in an archive and sent so many years late, I know that there was never an attempt on His Majesty's life by a UCST lieutenant commander, so the message is still invalid."

I look at Calgonnel. "That makes me remember something. The message was received by the Admiralty fourteen days ago, and they called Cap in immediately as the Corsari was the only ship on-world. We were there for a week, and I only remember one irregular message ship docking in that time, four days before Cap was called in."

Calgonnel touches his chin in thought. "Interesting. The math doesn't make sense. No one in the Admiralty would leave a message like this sitting around for four days. Certainly not Admiral Shockpaw, who's in charge of the war department and would have been the first to see it. Does that mean the fake message actually originated on Terra?"

I shrug. "It could have. The message would have gone straight from the message ship to the Admiral otherwise, four days earlier. But that still doesn't really make sense. Why would someone on Terra fake the message? Were they just trying to get us off-world for some reason? Who gave it to the Admiral? Did Admiral Shockpaw create the fake message himself? But why would he do that?"

I stop as I realize I just thought all of that out loud. Calgonnel's eyes are wide as he's looking at me, but that's not what got my attention. The Overseer snapped up straight in his chair to look right at me, a scowl on his face.

"Commander," he says icily, "are you suggesting that His Excellency created this forged document?"

Dragons be damned! I'm not! ...am I? No, I'm not! I didn't mean to! I... damn it! "Your Honor, I apologize profusely! I absolutely was not honestly thinking that Admiral Shockpaw would do such a thing. I have no idea why he would! I was simply thinking about possible scenarios, and it entered my mind. I truly don't believe he would do anything like this! I am so sorry I said it!"

The goblin relaxes in his chair, and his expression returns to normal. "I accept your apology on behalf of His Excellency, Commander. I understand how difficult it can be to solve the clues of criminals. Sometimes you have to think of the impossible just to rule it out."

I sigh. Just dodged _that_ arrow! I can see Calgonnel out of the corner of my eye, and I can tell he's less than pleased. Oh well. It happened. All we can do is move on from here. Sorry, Ambassador. "Speaking of impossible things to rule out, what about the content of the message? If the message originated on Terra – or, at least, didn't originate on Stenchstone – then why does it specifically name Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck as the assassin?"

The Overseer looks at me and nods. "That, Commander, is an excellent question." He touches the communicator again. "Rosa, can you search our files for the name Darkmuck?"

She nods. "Of course. A quick search of names shows that we do have records for multiple Darkmucks. Do you have a given name?"

I can provide that. "Spazkin. Lieutenant Commander in the UCST. Certified as a weapons technician."

Her head bobs as she scans the names. "Found him. Lieutenant Commander Spazkin Darkmuck, registered with the UCST weapons warehouse in quadrant 2. Not far from where I live, actually. His record with us looks clean, though. No trouble, no association with criminals. If it wasn't for the weapons registration, he wouldn't even be in our records." She stops, then her face brightens. "Oh! Lunch is here, sir. I'll sort it out and bring it in momentarily." Her face disappears.

I smile. "Well, our message, the war, and the assassination may be fake, but at least our accused assassin is real. That's a step in the right direction."

The Overseer nods. "Very true, Commander. It might be wise to interrogate this Darkmuck and see why someone would frame him for a royal assassination."

I hear Simon chuckle behind me. "I like interrogations."

While the Overseer laughs at Simon's comment, the door opens and Rosa comes in carrying a tray with five mugs and a large pitcher. She sets it on the closest table, leaves, and immediately returns carrying a second tray with five covered bowls. We watch as she moves two bowls off of the tray, replaces them with three mugs, and fills the mugs from the pitcher. She brings the tray over to our table and sets a bowl and mug in front of each of us.

The tray empty, she turns to see Simon standing, and glances back at the table by the door. "Master Sergeant, you'd be more comfortable seated while eating. Maybe you can join me at the table by the door?"

Time for this elf to help a girl out! "Simon, if someone attacks through the front door, you'll be better sitting there than back here with us. Think of the reaction time!"

Simon grunts. "That's a decent idea. Tired of standing and listening to you talk anyway." Rosa looks around him, flashes me a grin and a wink as thanks, then takes his arm and leads him to the other table.

I turn back to the table as the Overseer uncovers his bowl. "The Burning Hut makes the best pork noodle casserole, and the bizzonberry juice is unique to Stenchstone. Please, enjoy."

I reach for my mug and glance at Calgonnel as I raise it. His comes up a half-second behind mine. "Your Honor, may your meal fuel the vengeance in your soul."

The Overseer smiles, pleased. "May yours stoke the fire of your marauding spirit." We drink – the juice is tart, but flavorful like multiple kinds of berries and citrus at the same time – and he lowers his mug. "Well done, Commander. I assume you've had meals with His Excellency. He loves that blessing. A bit outdated these days on Stenchstone, but a good one nonetheless."

I nod and smile. "The Admiral is a welcome new member of our ship family. He's become a bit of a wise uncle to us all."

"I'm pleased to hear it. I can't wait to see His Excellency again at the Palace card game later today. It's been a long time. Now, please, enjoy your meal."

I look in my bowl. Chopped pieces of roast pork, small flat noodles, some vegetables that look like corn and onions, and a creamy sauce. I don't see anything I want to pick out of it, which is good. It smells just a little spicy, but otherwise delicious. Dipping my spoon, I scoop out a mouthful and dig in.

Oh my! I may have to bring Tanna out to The Burning Hut tomorrow! I may also have to bring the ship's cooks out here to learn how to make this!

# CHAPTER NINETEEN

The rest of the meeting is a lot calmer as Calgonnel takes over again. We decide that the best thing to do next is visit the warehouse LC Darkmuck works at before it gets late, and that way we won't keep the Overseer from his work or from his appointment at the Palace. I have an additional thought that we should maybe read through the records of the other Darkmucks, just to see if there's some connection to our LC, and the Overseer agrees and promises to put Rosa on the search after escorting us back to the landcraft storage.

As we prepare to leave, Calgonnel picks up the scroll with the fake message on it, looks at it for a second, then puts it back down. "Your Honor, I think I'll leave this true copy in your hands. If you get a chance to look at it later, maybe something small will jump out at you as another clue."

The Overseer nods and reaches out to shake Calgonnel's hand. "Excellent idea. It's always good to look at something again with fresh eyes after a break. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Dropping Calgonnel's hand, he turns to me and takes mine. "Commander. I'm truly sorry for our misunderstanding earlier. I recognize you now as true family to His Excellency, and that you're only looking out for him. I pray you find the answers to this puzzle and that nothing terrible happens to you in the search."

He raises my hand to his lips briefly, then lays it gently on my breast before taking his fingers away with a light brush against my shoulder. My heart flutters a little. The Overseer may not exactly be my type of man, but I can't deny the total sexiness of that gesture!

It takes me another second to find my voice again. "Your Honor. It's been a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your assistance and hospitality. I hope we have a chance to share another meal before we leave your world."

He smiles at me, then looks past me. "Master Sergeant, I return your crew members to your care. Please be careful with them, especially in the industrial district. Quadrant 2 is a fairly safe area, but there are a lot of blind alleys in the district which some of our few criminal elements like to use."

Simon nods. "Understood. Thank you for the advice, Your Honor."

Rosa opens the office door and we follow her out of the building. Some goblins still slow to look as we pass, but we're no longer as unique as we were before lunch. Reaching the front door, the guards again open both doors for us to pass through. We thank them and walk to the bottom of the steps.

Now that lunchtime has passed, the path is much less crowded than earlier. My mischievous streak kicks back in, and I have an idea. "Simon, we have less cover now. I'll take the rear while you lead, as we practiced. Rosa can walk behind you and give you directions."

Simon nods and steps in front of the girl. She looks at his back for a second, then looks down. She turns to me with wide eyes which turn into a huge grin as she gives me a thumbs-up gesture. I barely hold in the chuckle. Calgonnel turns to me and cocks an eyebrow. I put on my most innocent-looking face and shrug, blinking my eyes a lot. He just shakes his head.

We walk back quickly, as I scout behind and around us. Nothing jumps out at us, and the trip is uneventful. As we get to the landcraft area, Simon breaks off ahead to speak to an attendant and retrieve a vehicle. Rosa stares after him for a second, then turns to us. She shakes her head. "It's been a long time since I've seen elves. Maybe you can come back this way before you leave. Maybe... all three of you can." The shy smile from earlier returns to her face.

I chuckle and place a hand on her shoulder. "I'll see what we can do. I am Simon's boss, after all. Maybe I can order him to take you to dinner or something."

She winks at me as the corner of her mouth turns up to add a bit of evilness to the shy smile. "Or something."

I laugh and lean in closer to her as I lower my voice. "I don't think I can order him to do _that_. Some things have to be your responsibility!"

She laughs and we share a hug. "Thanks for the help, Commander."

I smile as I take a step back. "Rylae. Glad to meet you, Rosa."

"And I, you, Rylae!" She turns to Calgonnel. "Ambassador Telathyr. I'll send you those records as soon as I can collect them. Probably tomorrow."

He reaches out to shake her hand. "Thank you, Miss Rosa. If you come across anything that seems especially important, feel free to call me directly at any time. I'll be sure to tell His Excellency how helpful you are."

A light red blush colors her green cheeks. "Thank you, Ambassador. It's a pleasure to work with you."

At that point, a landcraft pulls up and the goblin attendant steps out of it. Simon looks it over and waves to us. The three of us walk over, and Rosa places a scrap of parchment in Simon's hand. "If you don't call me for dinner tonight, Simon, I'll have Rylae order you to show up on my doorstep with flowers." Her fingertips linger on his hand as she lets it drop, turns, and walks away without looking back.

I try to put my innocent face back on before he turns to me, but it doesn't work when I'm also trying not to laugh out loud. He gives me a dirty look and gets in the landcraft. Calgonnel's already inside, so I walk to the other side and get in. The craft takes off almost as soon as I close the door.

The ride to the warehouse district only takes about ten minutes on the mostly-empty roads. With Simon being sullen and uncommunicative, Calgonnel and I discuss the upcoming interview of LC Darkmuck. We agree that I should handle it from a command perspective, on the grounds that I "don't start another interstellar incident". I think he's joking when he says that, but he sure looks serious. I fixed it, so it should be okay! ...Right?

Yes, I get that I'm not the best diplomat. There's reasons why I stay on the ship and don't meet with Kings and Overseers regularly. I'll work on it when I get my promotion. Until then, I have a lot of other skills that I can, and should, be using instead.

We arrive in the industrial district, and the landcraft begins driving between the large buildings. These reddish clay buildings are all wider across than the Overseer's office, but are only one level with occasional second-level bits sticking out of the top at random spots like spikes – probably offices or storage areas. They have many doors where folk can enter and exit, and I'm sure many folk work inside each building.

At the corner of each building is a handful of smaller landcraft, and one or two large folk-mover landcraft. These corners contain their own landcraft beacons so vehicles can drive right up to the buildings. Most of the folk who work here will normally meet at a regular landcraft storage area, where these large folk-movers would collect many of them at once to bring them to the building. The smaller landcraft are likely owned by managers and owners of the warehouses, or other important folk.

Eventually, our landcraft rounds the corner of a building and pulls itself into a space next to other landcraft. Simon reaches over and taps a command into the terminal, which causes the vehicle to shut down and a small charm to pop out. Similar to the charms that work on the outside ship door, these charms allow the landcraft to work. The attendants take care of them most of the time, but in cases like this we have to keep the key charm ourselves.

Looking around, there aren't any folk near us. Across the walkway at the opposite building, there's a construction crew of six goblins sitting on scaffolding and pretending to work. Construction worker laziness must be a rule across _all_ worlds. They don't seem to notice us immediately, but one of them does finally realize that two of us are elves and gets the attention of the others so they can stare as a group.

Simon notices them and stands to face them while we round the corner of the building behind him. On this side is a door standing open, so we step inside. Simon follows us in and turns to survey the interior.

The building is a warehouse full of crates and boxes. A few folk are using float units to move the crates around, while other folk are making notations on parchment. A notation-taking goblin nearby starts turning to us while speaking. "This is a UCST storage facility. It is off limits to... Son-of-a-dwarf-licker! You're elves!" Once he's fully facing us, the last part is accompanied by a dropped parchment board as his hands fly to his face.

I step forward and look at his insignia. "Indeed, Lieutenant, we are elves. I need to speak to your LC. Now, Lieutenant!"

The flustered goblin sees my insignia and salutes. "At once, Commander! So sorry, Commander!" He drops the salute and runs off.

As much as I want to chuckle at the Lieutenant's antics, I'm fully in XO Westiel mode now. I bend down to pick up the dropped parchment board, straighten it, lay it on the nearest desk, and take up a stance which comes off as both bored and irritated at the same time – a 'command stance', if you will.

I'm glancing around the room when I notice another goblin in a jumpsuit uniform quickly walking towards us. He reaches us and salutes. "Commander, ma'am. I am Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck. I am currently in charge of this shift. How may I help you, ma'am?"

I return the salute. "LC Darkmuck. Excellent. You are exactly who we're here to see. I am Commander Westiel, Executive Officer, UCST Corsari. With me are Ambassador Telathyr and Master Sergeant Darkrender, also from the Corsari. Do you have someplace private we can talk?"

He nods. "Of course. Our conference chamber is in this direction. Please follow me."

We follow the LC through the maze of crates and boxes. He moves quickly, an obvious combination of knowing his way around and being completely terrified of his visitors. The other goblins in the warehouse eventually notice us and stop to stare as we pass – that is, until they see Simon and quickly return to their duties while pretending they didn't see anything at all.

As we walk, I glance around at the crates and start to recognize markings from our own ship stores. Gimmir and Simon are usually in charge of the armory, so I don't requisition most of these things myself, but I recognize some of the crates as holding different weapons, armor, and smithing tools.

We quickly come to a set of clay stairs which leads to a small room above us. The LC holds up a hand to stop us, then ascends to the room. We hear some indecipherable yelling, and a handful of goblins emerge from the room. As they grumble down the stairs, they notice us, snap a salute, then run away as fast as they can.

The LC returns at the top of the stairs. "Sorry about your wait, ma'am. If you would please join me?"

We climb the stairs to the room, a small space with a table and eight chairs. I take a chair at the end of the table farthest from the door, and Calgonnel sits next to me. I motion to a chair across from us, which the LC takes. Simon remains standing by the door.

I focus on the goblin. "LC Spazkin Darkmuck, correct?"

He nods. "Yes ma'am."

"LC, I want to start off by saying a few things. First, you're not in any kind of trouble. Your name is prominent in an investigation we're undertaking, but you're currently not in trouble. In fact, we just left the Overseer's office, and he clarified that you've never been in trouble on-world, so we have no reason to think you're personally involved in this."

He nods, but is still obviously scared. This next part won't help. "Second, the investigation we're conducting is regarding falsified Overseer-type documents which were sent directly to the Admiralty. In those documents, you are directly named as guilty of crimes against the throne of King Damnation."

He stops breathing as he looks at me, and I see his mouth start to quiver. Before he can say anything, I hold up a hand. "Calmly, LC. As I said, you're not in trouble. We don't believe you have anything to do with any crimes against the throne. But we do need to see if you know anything helpful that we can use to sort this out."

The LC breathes again, reaching a shaky hand up to wipe sweat from his brow. "Yes, ma'am. I understand. Please excuse my reaction. This is quite unexpected."

I nod. He seems like a nice kid. "I apologize. This mission is quite urgent, and we only arrived on-world yesterday. If I could have provided you with more notice, I would have."

He smiles. "This is the Corps. Why start warning us now?" That old line makes me chuckle softly, which helps the LC ease a little more. "What can I help you with, ma'am?"

"I'll get straight to the point, LC. Can you think of anyone who would use your name and claim you were an assassin?"

He jumps. "Assassin? I would never be an assassin! I don't have any friends who would even do that as a joke! That's really, really not funny!"

"LC. Please."

That gets his attention back. "Sorry, Commander. I don't associate with the remaining criminal elements on Stenchstone. Now that the world is at peace, I have a pretty nice job here at this warehouse – moving weapons crates around, keeping count of them, and trading old ones with new ones every few months when a trade ship lands. I don't want to risk that. So I can't imagine anyone I know who would tell the Admiralty that I'm an assassin!"

I nod and stand. Calgonnel and the LC stand with me. "Thank you, LC. I believe you didn't have anything to do with this." I see Calgonnel nod in agreement at the side of my vision. "However, your name was definitely on the forged document the Admiralty received. If you can think of anyone who might use your name for that, please contact me on the Corsari immediately. Until then, if you could show us out, I'd appreciate it."

He nods and walks to the door. We follow him down the stairs and stand for a second while he looks around, obviously wondering if someone in his warehouse could be the one who used his name. While he's collecting himself, I notice a stack of crates against a far wall that looks oddly familiar and begin walking to it.

Behind me, I hear Calgonnel's questioning voice say my name. Without turning, I motion for them to follow.

When I reach the crate, it comes to me where I've seen these markings before. I turn to see the LC. "Have there been any thefts from this warehouse, or any missing items recently?"

He shakes his head. "No, ma'am. All of our inventories have been at 100% for the last four years. We're very proud of that statistic!"

"Can you tell me what these particular crates contain and where they're from?"

He nods as he steps forward and lifts a lid for me to see inside. "Of course, Commander. These are crates of spellshooters from the dwarven weaponsmiths on Hallowforge."

That's interesting. Why is my storage bay full of crates of spellshooters from Hallowforge?

# CHAPTER TWENTY

Turning to Calgonnel and Simon, I still need to check one thing before I'm certain. "Simon, did you and Gimmir requisition a full storage bay worth of spellshooters from Hallowforge?"

That stops the Master Sergeant cold. "No, ma'am. The armory was fully stocked before our last mission, so we didn't need anything new. Certainly not more than a couple crates at most, and those weren't urgent enough to get immediately. Are you saying the ship has a storage bay full of dwarven-made spellshooters?"

I nod and turn to the LC. "LC Darkmuck, is it possible for you to come with us back to the Corsari and verify what I'm thinking? I _think_ I have dozens of crates like this in my storage bay right now, but I'd like your opinion on them if possible."

The goblin nods and pulls a communicator from his pocket. Another goblin head appears in-front-and-to-his-side. "Sir?"

"Foulburn, I need to check on something with the Commander. I'll possibly be gone the rest of the shift. You're in charge until I return."

The head nods and disappears. I nod to the group and the LC leads us toward the exit. Calgonnel looks at me. "Rylae?"

I shrug. "Not sure. I think I found a piece of the puzzle, but I still don't get it. We'll have to question that dragons-be-damned storage bay chief when we get back to the ship. I'm starting to think he knows something about this whole thing."

He smiles. "Simon should enjoy that. Nice catch."

I smile back, but my mind's working in overdrive. Why are those crates on my ship? The Senior Chief has to know something about them. He certainly didn't complain about his space when he filled the storage bay with spellshooters!

We get to the door and Simon looks out. "Clear," he states, then steps outside with the LC following.

As we round the corner of the building, I hear the LC speak, "That's strange."

Simon stops and looks around. I look past Calgonnel to the LC. "What's strange?"

Darkmuck points over at the now-empty scaffolding across the walkway against the opposite building. "Those construction workers have been there constantly for months. They're always there. _Always_. This is the first time I've seen it empty since they started."

The area's quiet enough that I can easily hear the 'kachunk' sound off to my left a split-second before a crossbow bolt embeds itself in Calgonnel's chest.

Dragons be damned! I pull my spellshooter with my right hand and my parrying dagger with my left. "Contact left!" I flip to the lightning setting, turn toward where I think the crossbow sound came from, and pull the trigger. A large blue ball of crackling lightning appears in front of me and speeds across to the far building. Hitting the wall makes it explode outwards. I don't hear that it hit anything, but maybe it did.

I hear Simon shout from behind me, "Contact right! Get cover!" Dropping to a crouch, I move behind the nearest landcraft, which covers me from Simon's side, but not from the goblins on my side. I switch to my spike shot setting and look for the crossbow operator. "LC! Check the Ambassador!"

A goblin head pops up behind a plant slightly to the right of where I'd fired the lightning. I drop flat to my back before he can fire, and hear the 'kachunk' followed by a satisfying 'clang' as the bolt hits the landcraft instead of me. The head disappears again behind the plant, but I'm ready. I aim directly at the center of the plant and fire.

A sharp steel spike about 10 cm long appears from the end of my spellshooter and flies true at the center of the plant. I hear a scream and see a hand with a crossbow pop up over the plant. With that confirmation, I fire again. The spike flies into the plant, silencing the scream. The crossbow drops.

A goblin wearing leather armor steps out from behind another plant to the right and runs at me carrying a small shield and a mace. I fire another spike at the new attacker, but he deflects it off the shield and keeps running. I don't have time to fire again before he's on me, so I jump to my feet.

The mace flies at my head from my left. I duck and use the dagger to push the weapon arm up and to my right, continuing the direction of the swing and messing with the attacker's balance. I use that opportunity to aim the spellshooter below the shield and fire.

The goblin screams as the spike hits his leg. Wherever it hit, it's bad enough that he topples over to my right and lands hard on the ground. I kick the mace away from his hand, point the spellshooter at his head, and pull the trigger. He stops moving.

I drop back behind the landcraft and scan the area, but I don't see another threat. I hear clanging behind me, and think that I should help Simon, but I remember training and know better than to stop looking at my side. I need to know what else is happening, though! "Simon!"

I hear a grunt, followed by another round of clanging. Obviously still alive. I need to give him an update. "Two down! Quiet left!"

More clanging, then Simon's voice. "One, two!" One down, two fighting. Got it. That makes five. Weren't there six construction workers when they were gawking at us earlier? That means there's one still out there somewhere.

I'm scanning the left when I see a hand reach up from behind another plant and grab the wall of the building. That's the area I hit with the lightning. Must have hit one of them after all! I switch back to lightning and fire again. The large blue ball flies out and explodes against the wall, directly on the hand. The hand twitches and drops.

What's the damn count code for 'down but still alive'? We never went over that! Should I repeat the two I already took down? Dragons be damned, I don't know! I'll make something up. "Simon! One new contact, down not dead!"

The clanging behind me is quieter. I wait, watching the spot with the remaining goblin attacker. After a few seconds, the clanging stops, and Simon coughs. "Three down." I hear footsteps as he steps around the landcraft where I am. When he sees me, I point at the spot where I saw the hand and he takes off to find it.

I stand and turn to look past the landcraft to where Simon just was so I can watch that side. Three goblins in leather armor are dead on the ground, and weapons scatter the area. It's not exactly a pretty sight, so I try not to look at it directly. Out of the corner of my eye to the right, I notice movement and spin toward it.

I see it's the LC crouched behind a different landcraft, so I lower my spellshooter. "LC Darkmuck! Are you hurt?"

He shakes his head, then glances off to his side. I follow his eyes.

Calgonnel Telathyr is lying next to him, not moving. The crossbow bolt is still in his chest.

Simon's voice behind me brings me around. "Clear left!"

I scan the area one more time and holster my weapons. "Clear right!" Now clear, I rush over to Calgonnel and drop to the ground, placing a hand on his neck. He's not breathing, and I can't find a heartbeat. His eyes are slightly open, but his face is slack.

I hear footsteps and the sound of something dragging across the ground coming up behind me. I stand and spin, reaching for my weapons, but it's only Simon dragging a goblin body over. I release a breath and drop back to the ground, checking Calgonnel for a heartbeat again. It's still not there.

I feel a hand drop on my shoulder. "Commander. The Ambassador is dead. You can't help him."

I can't help him. We actually were attacked by assassins, and they got Calgonnel.... Dragons be damned! Admiral Shockpaw! Cap! If we were attacked, they might be too! We're too far from the ship for our communicators to reach anyone there, and we're not tied into the local com codes. "LC! I need you to call the Palace and inform them that His Excellency's contingent has been attacked here!"

The goblin shakes his head, worried. "I don't know anyone there I can call. I could find someone inside who maybe knows someone at the Palace, but..."

The Overseer! "Simon! Rosa's number!"

He pulls a crumpled piece of parchment out of his pocket and hands it to me. I read the scrawled numbers on it and pull out my communicator, pushing the charm. "Rsadun Stonebeast, one-eight-five-seven-five-nine-six-one-seven!"

After a second, Rosa's head appears. "This is Rosa. ...Rylae?"

I look at her. "Rosa! We were attacked at the warehouses. Ambassador Telathyr is dead. The Overseer needs to inform the Palace immediately! There might also be a group after the Admiral... I mean, His Excellency!"

Her eyes grow wide, and her face fuzzes out and disappears. I hear the communicator hit the desk, then I hear Rosa's voice a little farther away, "Sir! They were attacked. His Excellency's ambassador is dead. The Commander needs you to call the Palace immediately!"

It's quiet for a few seconds, then her face reappears. "He's calling now. I'm bringing some enforcers and a caregiver wagon out immediately. We'll be there in a few minutes." Her face disappears as the call disconnects.

I pocket the communicator, then look back at Calgonnel's body. I'm so sorry!

A sound snaps my attention away from my sadness. I see the goblin at Simon's feet starting to move. Simon's tied his hands and feet together, so he's not going anywhere, and he's starting to realize that. I tap the LC on the shoulder and motion for him to follow me as I walk over.

The goblin looks up at Simon, then sees me and snarls. Simon kicks him in the head. He gets the message and stops snarling. I crouch down and look in his face. "Why?"

He snarls at me again, and Simon kicks him in the head again. "Answer my question and I'll stop him before he kills you." I don't really want to stop him, but I do want answers.

He looks at me. "Go ahead and kill me. We failed."

"Failed at what?"

"Failed at killing the bastard king's dangerous elf."

Dangerous elf? Bastard king? I turn to look at the LC, who sees my confusion. "The 'bastard king' is what criminal gangs have been calling His Excellency for a long time now."

That's at least part of an answer. I turn back to the assassin. "How do you know I'm with Admiral Shockpaw? And why are you calling me the 'dangerous elf'?"

He chuckles. "Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's the one over there. Doesn't matter to me! Our boss warned us that a goblin-killing elf might show up here, snooping around the warehouse. He warned us that you're dangerous, and he told us that you're with the bastard king. We've been waiting for you."

"Commander." I turn to face the LC as he's shaking his head. "These folk have been at that construction site for months. I'm not even sure how many months... just a long time!"

That raises my eyebrows. "They've been watching the warehouse for months, waiting for us?" Something doesn't make sense here. They've been waiting for the 'dangerous goblin-killing elf' – obviously referencing me on Firefork, not Calgonnel – for months, so they knew specifically that we were coming here months ago? But we didn't even know we were coming here until fourteen days ago!

Dragons be damned! That's what doesn't make sense! They knew before we did! I turn to Simon. "Whoever faked that document sent instructions to this gang, probably on the last message ship months ago. They specifically waited to fake the war message to make sure the Corsari was sent out here."

Simon kicks the goblin in the head again. "Why?"

The goblin just laughs. "We don't care why. Our boss wanted an elf dead. We waited for an elf to show up here. It's that simple. You don't get into the Black Tongues by asking questions!"

I hear the LC gasp. "The Black Tongues?"

The goblin on the ground laughs again. "Don't worry about it, Spazkin. Another group will finish the job we started, and you can go back to your stupid warehouse job."

The LC stammers behind me. "You're all supposed to be dead! There are no Black Tongues anymore!"

I hear landcraft coming as the goblin on the ground smiles at the LC. "The Black Tongues never stopped, elf-bait! You should know that as well as anyone. After all, you're family."

I really want more of an explanation to _that_ comment! I turn to the LC and start to speak, but at that second three landcraft come to a stop in the area we're standing in. One is a larger folk-mover, out of which a dozen goblins in black armor appear and move into a circular formation, scanning the area. Out of another large landcraft, two goblins in caregiver robes emerge. Finally, out of a standard-size landcraft, Rosa appears with the two guards from the Overseer's office door.

Rosa points to us and says something to the guards with her, who turn to the group in black armor and start giving out details. She then points at the caregiver goblins and back at us, and all three of them rush closer.

Rosa gets to us first. "Rylae! Are you hurt? I have caregivers here!"

I shake my head. "LC Darkmuck and I are okay. Simon?"

He shakes his head. "Not a scratch."

Rosa looks relieved, and starts to look around. Before she can, Simon reaches over and places an arm around her shoulders, keeping her from seeing anything. "Commander, please let the caregivers check out _all of you_." He gives me a look that makes me realize he's including Calgonnel's body in that count. Then he continues, "I'm going to have Miss Rosa take me to the enforcers to discuss what to do with the prisoner." Without another word, he turns her around, using his body as a shield to keep her from seeing any of the dead bodies, and walks her back across the lot.

I look at the LC. "Please show the caregivers Calgonnel's body and let them look you over. We'll discuss this more at the ship."

He nods at me and leads the caregivers away. I'm alone with the tied-up goblin, who's still smiling. I crouch near his face so I can talk quietly. I only have one more question for him, then the enforcers can have him. "How do you know Spazkin Darkmuck?"

The goblin laughs. "You don't know much, do you? Spazkin's in the family. The Black Tongues keep up with the family."

Two sets of booted feet enter my vision, and I look up to see two enforcers in black armor above me. The one on the left bends down to pick up the goblin while the one on the right offers me a hand up. "Commander, we'll take the prisoner from here. Are the other two goblins with you?"

I nod. "Yes. The Master Sergeant and the Lieutenant Commander will be returning to the ship with me." It's a stupid thing to think about right now, but diplomatic immunity is a nice thing to have at a time like this.

He grabs the other side of the goblin, and the two enforcers carry him away by his elbows. I walk over to LC Darkmuck, who is watching the caregivers work with Calgonnel's body. I place a hand on his shoulder. "LC, I think it's time we go to the ship. We have some more things to discuss."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Rosa insists on taking us back to the ship in her landcraft. She explains that the enforcers will take care of everything else, and bundles the LC and I in the back. Simon pulls the key charm for our borrowed landcraft from his pocket and tosses it to an enforcer before putting Rosa in the front. He waits until she's distracted with the terminal and not looking out the window, where he's still standing between her and the carnage, before he walks to the other side and gets in the front as well.

That type of protection is such a sweet gesture from him! He also kept her number in his pocket. Maybe he was actually going to call her tonight! That's sweet! I should...

"Who are the Black Tongues?"

What? The... oh. Yeah. Right. Dragons be damned, what the hell was I thinking? I should be focused on the gang that just tried to kill us, not stupid things like matchmaking. Of all the dumb...

"Rylae?"

I snap back. Simon's looking at me from outside my door. The landcraft isn't moving. I look around, and it looks like the landcraft storage area by the ship. I guess we made it back already. Why do I feel so disoriented?

I shake my head to clear it and look back at Simon. "Sorry. I think I was somewhere else. Are we at the ship?"

Simon nods and takes my hand, pulling me out of the landcraft and to my feet. "I think you're going into squadmate shock. You haven't said a word since you got in the landcraft. I'm going to take you to Sen."

I nod and look to my right, where LC Darkmuck is standing. A bunch of things hit my mind at once. I turn back. "Simon, has anything happened to the Admiral?"

He shakes his head and starts walking, pulling me along. "Nothing. The Overseer's call put the Palace into lockdown. Cap and the Admiral are both still there with Lada, Gimmir, and his kittens."

Good. They're both protected. What are the other things I need to do? I look over at the LC again. I know it's all surrounding him. If I look at him long enough, I'll remember. Like at the warehouse... the crates! "Lada's still there? Then you need to get a security team and find the Senior Chief from the storage bay. Lock him in a room until we can talk to him, and take the LC to check out those crates!"

Simon nods. "Will do, Commander."

Excellent. That'll teach his obnoxious dwarven self to mess with XO Westiel. Who does he think he is, complaining about that space and then filling it with crates like it's _his_ storage bay and not _mine_?

"Is Rylae going to be okay? She doesn't look too good."

I turn toward the voice. Oh, hey! It's Rosa! I smile at her. She reaches over to me and touches my head. "She feels kinda cold and clammy."

"She'll be okay. Just needs to rest. I've seen it with some battalion members when they lose a squadmate. Our caregiver, Sen, will know what to do. No need to worry about her."

That's Simon again. Of course Sen will take care of it. She's weird, but she's my Chief Caregiver. Mother graduated her, and Mother knows. Calgonnel should apologize for making jokes about her.

Oh. Dragons be damned. That's right. Calgonnel. "Rosa." She turns to me and smiles. "The caregivers that were with you. Are they coming straight here?"

Her face turns sad as she nods. "They are. They're bringing the Ambassador with them."

I nod. Calgonnel. Someone needs to tell Cap. I should do that. It's my responsibility. How am I supposed to finish this mission without Calgonnel? I already got the Overseer mad at me once! I'll have to come up with new plans and...

"Simon! What happened to the Commander?"

That's Sen's voice. Are we already in the hospital ward? I'm losing focus again, aren't I? Dragons be damned.

"We were attacked. Calgonnel fell. Rylae's unhurt, but she's in squadmate shock."

"Get her in a bed. I'll go grab some things."

I get picked up, and look over to see Simon's face. He's carrying me. I hope Rosa doesn't see that! A few steps and he lays me in a bed. Regulations! No... this still isn't right... why can't I think straight?

Sen appears over me and lays something warm across my forehead, then lays something cold across my nose. It smells a bit like moss from those large trees back home. Father has one by the gazebo...

««»»

Ugh. That has to be the worst sleep I've ever had, _including_ those academy nights bar-hopping with Tanna. I feel horrible. Where am I?

I open my eyes and look around. I'm in a bed in the hospital ward. That's not good. Was I hurt in the fight? Patting myself down, I don't feel hurt anywhere. I'm still wearing my dress uniform and the weapon belt, but the weapons have been removed. I hope that was Simon.

I'll try sitting up. "Owwww!" My head doesn't feel very good at all.

"Commander? Commander Westiel! Don't sit up!" Who's voice is that? Sounds like a good idea, though. ...yeah, laying down feels much better.

I open my eyes and see a young elf. Oh. Yeah. I wonder if he's allowed to treat me today or if he'll take another hit to the throat from Sen. "Hey, Lieutenant Bellas. How long have I been here?"

He speaks a word and his finger glows with a bright light. He shines it in each of my eyes, then turns it off. "About a day, Commander. The Master Sergeant brought you in yesterday afternoon, and now it's today afternoon."

A day? I guess that's not too terrible. "Do you have anything for the pain in my head? I need to get back to work."

He shakes his head. "Sorry, Commander. I can give you something for the pain, but Caregiver Foulmuck said I'm not allowed to let you leave this bed today, even if I have to strip you naked and strap you to it."

That sounds like something Sen would say, alright. I sigh. "Okay, Lieutenant. I won't go anywhere. But I need something for my head, and I need to know which senior officers are on-ship right now."

He opens a jar and a berry scent falls onto my nose. Using two fingers, he scoops out a small glob of ointment and rubs it on my forehead. It's cold! "The Master Sergeant and Commander Aldamiel both wanted me to inform them if they weren't here when you awoke. I'll go call them now."

Another voice floats over as he wipes his fingers on a towel. "I'm already here, Lieutenant. I'll call the Master Sergeant. Thank you."

I turn my head and see Tanna sit in a chair next to my bed. "Hey, girl. Simon told us you had a bit of a terrible day yesterday."

I can't bring myself to chuckle as the memories slowly start to come back to me. "Yeah. Yesterday wasn't very good." I flash through the fight, then Calgonnel, then the prisoner, then Rosa showing up with help, then bits and pieces of coming back to the ship. "My memory has some holes in it, but I think I remember all the important things."

Tanna lays a hand on my arm. "Simon said you were in squadmate shock yesterday, after losing Calgonnel."

Yeah. That. "That would explain my memory. Did they bring Calgonnel's body back to the ship? Has Cap been informed?"

She nods. "Yeah. That girl from the Overseer's office that was with Simon, she took care of getting his body back here. Simon called Cap. Everyone that went to the Palace yesterday is still there, and plan to stay for another few days while the King's guard investigates, but he knows. We all know."

I nod. I can't bring myself to do much more than that. "And LC Darkmuck? Is he still here?"

She rubs my arm a bit. "Yeah. He said you wanted him to stay until you could ask him some questions. Said that he's 'only a warehouse sitter and it won't blow up without him'. Sounds a lot like Srindin!"

Okay, that makes me chuckle a bit. Then I remember all the other things. "What about Simon? Has he done what I asked him to?"

Tanna pulls out her communicator. "You'll have to ask him. Hang on." Pushing the charm, she says, "Smonz Darkrender". A second later, his face appears. Before he can say anything, Tanna says, "She's awake," and ends the call. "He'll be here in a minute. He refused to explain what he was doing, or why, and insisted to only report back to you."

That's interesting. I wonder what he found that made him make that decision.

The pain in my head is down to a dull throb, so I try to sit up again. Before I can move, Tanna's hand on my arm turns into a death grip and pushes me back down. "Not happening, girl. Sorry. You'll get up tomorrow and not before."

Sighing, I relax. There's too much to do to just lie here, but I guess I don't have any options. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Fine, then. Tell me how the ship is doing."

"No major problems. Docking used up a lot of mana as expected, but the new secondary battery took most of that hit. We're still good for about a month of just sitting here, if we have to, but then getting back home will be tough. Recharge maintenance doesn't work as well here as I'd like it to, but I'm hoping Zaxn can help with that when he returns."

"Returns? Where's Zaxn?"

I hear her sigh. "He's locked in the Palace with everyone else. He left to meet the Ambassador and his mother for dinner, and has been in the Palace since the lockdown. I've tried to talk with him over communicators, but he insists that tapping mana here is too difficult to explain. So I'm waiting."

"So the only senior officers on ship are you, Sen, Simon, and Aelon?"

She pats my arm. "It was just me, Sen and Aelon until you and Simon returned. Imagine how much fun that was! Sen was hiding in here, and Aelon was, well, being himself. Being you is difficult, even for only a day! But I didn't let the ship explode. Just that one part of the mess hall." My arm tenses up under her hand, then relaxes as I hear her chuckle. Very funny, Tanna.

"Rylae." Simon's voice comes to me as I hear his footsteps walking closer. I open my eyes and look as he sits next to Tanna.

"Simon. Thanks for getting everyone back to the ship. And..." I stumble as I look at his face. "Sorry for messing up."

Tanna's hand grips my arm tighter as he shakes his head. "No. You did well yesterday. Calgonnel wasn't your fault, and you couldn't have changed it. But you did avenge him _and_ capture a prisoner. That's good work, soldier."

I smile. "Thanks, Master Sergeant. What about the storage bay?"

He shakes his head again. "You said the storage bay was full, right?" I nod, and he scowls. "That's what I thought. It's not full anymore. From what we can tell, about half of the weapons that were in there are already gone. Darkmuck checked the other crates, and you were right – they match the dwarven spellshooters from Hallowforge."

Half? "What about the Senior Chief?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, I found Ironhammer, the scumbag. He may pretend to be tough around others, but I'm tougher. He's locked in the battalion cells right now. Claims he doesn't know anything, and was just paid by a goblin on Terra to move some merchandise.

"I did a little digging, though, and it's more than that. Ironhammer's file points directly to contacts he personally has on Hallowforge. He's an illegal weaponrunner, and he was using our storage bay to do it."

I shake my head. "That's why he kept making up numbers and telling me the storage bay was too full. Every time I put stuff in there, he couldn't carry as much! I'm going to enjoy sitting through his trial."

Simon nods. "Yeah. And about half of the spellshooters he brought to Stenchstone are already in the hands of a gang. The Black Tongues. He moved them off-ship right after Cap and the Admiral left for the Palace."

Dragons be damned. "Those are the guys that attacked us. The ones that hate Admiral Shockpaw and the current king."

He nods again. "Yup. The good news is they didn't get the entire shipment. The bad news is they still got some of it, and we're the only ones who know they have it. I haven't told anyone in Cap's party yet, for fear of starting a panic."

Tanna's looking back and forth between me and Simon, and finally focuses on me. "Rylae, am I hearing this right? Did we just unknowingly run illegal weapons to a goblin world?"

I sigh. "Yeah, and we need to find them before the gangs can use them against the peaceful goblin citizens." I can almost feel her shock at those words through her hand on my arm, and I chuckle. "Right, you haven't been on-world yet. It's a trip. Peaceful goblins. Honest."

Speaking of peaceful goblins... "Simon, where's Rosa? Is she okay?"

I can't read the expression on his face. "She's fine. I made her stay on-ship overnight while we sorted through everything, but she's back at the Overseer's office today. She said she'll get you those records she was researching by tomorrow."

Overnight? Really? Hmm. "Good. Thanks Simon. She's a nice girl. Can you take her to dinner tonight as thanks from me?"

His eyebrows rise. "Is that an order, Commander?"

I raise mine. "Does it need to be?"

Without another word, he stands and leaves. Once he's out of the hospital ward, I start laughing. Tanna's just looking at me. My laughter dies out and I pat her hand on my arm.

"Girl, you're going to _love_ this story!"

# CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Time passes slowly in the hospital ward. I have to stay on my back most of the time to keep the pain in my head from coming back, so I can't do much of anything. Tanna did bring me a trashy romance story to read, which is about all I can do when I'm not thinking about the mission, but it's difficult to really get into it when Sen keeps coming by and asking me if the girl in the story has killed her man yet.

I spend most of my time watching Sen's caregiver techs working. While growing up, I spent a lot of time with Mother in the Academy Hospital, so I've seen a lot of things. The really traumatic injuries were always difficult to watch, but she insisted that I needed to understand how badly folk can get hurt, especially if I want to be a captain someday. Someday those folk that get hurt could be directly because of choices I make.

The hospital ward on the ship isn't as busy as the hospital always was, but that's because no one's outside fighting right now. Cap's group is still in the Palace and no one else has left the ship. Simon's kept up squad training, though, so I occasionally have something to watch when someone is brought in with a training injury.

Most of the injuries are superficial, like my wounded shoulder was the other day, and only need some cream or ointment. These smaller first-aid cases are easy to resolve in a few minutes. A couple of cases during my day in bed are a little more difficult than that, though.

One elf is carried in with a broken leg. A larger dwarf had fallen on him during a training exercise. The bottom bone was obviously snapped, as the foot stretches unnaturally to the side. That will require a little more than ointment, so Sen and a dwarf tech that works with her prepare to set the bone with magic.

Half of medicine is alchemical and uses ointments, potions, and other means of transferring the healing properties of plants and animals to the patient. The other half of the science is careful magical rituals. Every caregiver is an adept who trains for years learning those spells and rituals, knowing how to perform them quickly and which times to use them. Since some of these situations are emergencies that could save a life, each ship hospital ward contains its own large mana battery which only caregivers and techs can use.

Sen and the tech first lay the elf out on a bed, then carefully twist the leg back to straight. That causes the elf to scream in pain, but there's not much that can be done about that. Once the leg is lying out properly, the dwarf brings a potion to the elf. He drinks it, and the dwarf tech pushes him to lie back down. After a few seconds, the elf goes rigid, paralyzed and numb from the potion.

Once he stops moving, Sen places some runestones around his leg and begins chanting while laying her hands on the injured leg. When Sen completes the spell, the leg appears to be back to normal, but I know it's not 100% usable yet and needs to rest while the body fixes it the rest of the way. Mother had to do this to my arm once when I was little and attacked by a near-wolf in the forest around our home.

The dwarf tech brings her a large stone boot, which they strap around the elf's leg so he can't move it. Once the boot is on, the dwarf pours a small bit of another potion into the elf's mouth, which slowly undoes the paralysis and numbing. An hour or so passes as the elf slowly wakes up and comes back to reality.

I'm always fascinated by watching my staff do their jobs, but watching Sen is a little different because of all the comparisons to Mother. It's easy to see a lot of Mother's training in Sen's work. She's very fluid moving from task to task, quick to diagnose the correct problem, and good at providing the proper solution. Really, the only time she doesn't seem like a normal caregiver is with her bedside manner.

Sen has a weird habit of walking past all of the beds and pinching everyone. She calls it 'bed check' and insists that it's just to make sure we're all still alive. Most of the time, we're obviously awake and sometimes even talking to her, but still she pinches.

I watched as one dwarf, who had been in a bed since before I woke up, kept complaining about being in pain and needing another day here. In response, Sen poured a mug of water on his face. When he sputtered and sat up cursing, she shrugged and said that he was obviously doing better, so he should go now.

The worst part of watching things like that is knowing that something worse than pinching or a mug of water could easily happen to me if I stay in the hospital ward for too long.

Eventually, Lieutenant Bellas comes over. "Caregiver Foulmuck says you're allowed to leave. Technically, those weren't the words she used, but I'm paraphrasing." He smiles and puts out a hand. I take it and lift myself off the bed.

Standing again for the first time in two days sucks, but I'll shake it off. "Thanks, Lieutenant. I'll bet you never knew you'd be learning such valuable diplomatic skills working in the hospital ward."

He grins and shrugs. "The caregiver's weird, but she's a good mentor. She's just a goblin, ya know? Goblins will be goblins!" He salutes and walks off, leaving me to find my own way out.

I start walking to my quarters while thinking about that. Goblins will be goblins? Will they really? After meeting the Admiral, then Kesn Dreadthief, then Rosa... I'm not so sure anymore. I never thought something like Stenchstone was possible, but these goblins really aren't like the ones we're all used to.

Well, some of them are, or we wouldn't have been hijacked to bring illegal spellshooters to a gang of assassins that killed my Ambassador and still have other plans we don't know about. I really need to go talk to LC Darkmuck and get some answers.

I run my fingers through my hair, which I'm sure is a mess and tangled and nasty, but answers come before getting clean. On level 5, I change direction and walk to Cap's office since I know it's empty right now. I open the door and enter, walk behind his desk and log into his terminal. A few commands later and I see that the LC is staying in Guest Officer Quarters A just a few doors down from my quarters.

Leaving the office, I continue the walk up to the next level and stop in front of the door for the guest quarters. I touch the charm and prepare to wait, but only a few seconds passes before the door fades out and I see the LC standing there.

He snaps into a salute. "Commander! I'm glad you're okay! Please come inside!"

I return the salute and walk in. "Thank you, LC. I'm feeling a lot better after a couple days of rest. Sorry for keeping you away from your job for so long."

He grins. "Are you kidding? These quarters are almost nicer than my rooms at home, especially since I don't have to share them with my younger siblings! If it wasn't for the circumstances, it would almost seem like a vacation."

I chuckle. It's good to know not everything about Stenchstone is different from regular goblin culture. Goblin families live together for generations until one side of the family gets too big for the space and has to find a new house. It's not uncommon for a single house to have four generations of goblins in it.

I gesture to the table in the room. "Sorry to take you from your vacation, LC, but we really do need to talk about those circumstances."

His shoulders slump slightly, but then he straightens up as he looks me over. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to clean yourself first, ma'am? You can use my washroom if you don't want to go all the way to your quarters and back."

That's interesting. I think he's trying to deflect the conversation. All the more reason to have it now. I shake my head and take a seat. "Thank you for the offer, but some things are more important. I'm sure you understand that."

He sighs and takes a seat across from me. "Yes, ma'am."

I set my hands on the table and clasp them, placing my elbows on the chair arms. "LC, you know who the Black Tongues are, and the prisoner said that you are 'family' to them. I think you've come up with an answer to my question from before, so I'll ask it again: Do you know who would use your name and claim that you attempted to assassinate King Damnation?"

He nods. "Yes, ma'am. I do know, but they're all supposed to be dead. The Black Tongues aren't supposed to still exist, and the 'family' should be gone as well. Let me explain.

"Before 'the last goblin king' – that's what we call the terrible king before His Excellency took the crown – before he was killed, the folk of Stenchstone had to deal with the tyranny of multiple gangs. The worst of these was The Black Tongues. They controlled everything and had members in every place you can imagine. The higher-ranking members of the gang, and the ones given high positions in society, were called 'the family'. It's said that 'the last goblin king' was a member of 'the family', but no one can prove it.

"But 'the family' didn't just contain those folk directly working for the gang. They called it a 'family' because it included the closest blood family of all members. Multiple Darkmucks were in the gang, and a couple of them were in 'the family', including my father. Therefore, I'm technically also in 'the family'.

"When His Excellency killed 'the last goblin king', the Black Tongues went crazy and started a war with the throne. His Excellency culled all of the bad goblins from the Palace and rebuilt the staff with good folk. Over the next years, he worked outward across the city and destroyed all of the gang influence he could find.

"The Darkmucks who were in 'the family' were killed, or thought to have been killed, and the gang members were hunted by the enforcers. The last member of 'the family' was supposed to have been captured fifteen years ago – the previous Overseer, who had used his office to hide who he was while still working for the King.

"With no actual members of 'the family' remaining, and all of the gang influence destroyed, the Black Tongues should be gone. They shouldn't exist."

I'm nodding as I'm following his story, and I think I already know what the answer will be to my question. "But they do still exist, and they still say you're in 'the family'. If all of the real 'family' gang members are gone, why do they think you're still in it?"

His head lowers, looking at the table. "There's only one way, and it also explains why my name was used as the assassin. I'm still in 'the family' because at least one of the original Darkmuck 'family' members is still alive and running the Black Tongues. They used my name because they could blame that weapon shipment directly on me as well. They would have said that I used my position in the warehouse to cover 'extra' shipments of spellshooters which I supplied to the gang."

I nod. "So we need to find whichever Darkmucks are still alive and working for the Black Tongues, figure out what they need the weapons for, and stop whatever it is they're planning."

The LC looks back up at me. "But they're all supposed to be dead! We saw their bodies after the raid on their central planning operation! My father, my father's father, my father's brother and his wife, my father's two sisters, and..."

I stop him. "Wait. Your father's brother?"

He nods. "Yes. Grovr Darkmuck. He was a Lieutenant in the UCST, but deserted to do tactical planning for 'the family' along with the rest of my father's side of the family."

"How long ago was that?"

"Let me think... I'll be 144 this year, and they died in my 80's, so... 60-ish years?"

Dragons be damned. "Sixty years. More than enough time for a Lieutenant to become a Captain."

The LC snaps to attention. "Captain? What? Are you saying my father's brother is still alive and is a Captain now?"

I hold up a hand to stop him. "That's exactly what I'm saying. I met Captain Darkmuck when he brought the Admiral – I mean, His Excellency – onto the ship because of an 'assassination attempt'. He told me you were his brother's son and that I had to 'take care of you' because 'that side of the family is stupid'. I guess what he really meant was that your side of the family wasn't in the Black Tongues."

He shakes his head violently. "That doesn't make sense! Why would he be promoted to Captain? He's a traitor and a killer!"

I start reasoning it through in my head, and let the thoughts fall out of my mouth as I go. "Captain Darkmuck is in the Intelligence office. There isn't much information about Stenchstone since His Excellency took over as King. It's possible that information about the Lieutenant's desertion never actually made it back to the Admiralty, or was purposely hidden by Captain Darkmuck, allowing him to stay a Lieutenant when he got to Terra. He then used his position to cover up everything about Stenchstone, while also gaining in rank so he could eventually set up the Corsari to bring both the Admiral and a load of weapons back to Stenchstone."

A look of shock appears on the LC's face. "That... that sounds exactly like the kind of plan that 'the family' would put together for the Black Tongues. He must not have been killed. He must still be running the Black Tongues from Terra!"

I nod and stand. "Thank you, LC. If you don't mind, I'd like to keep you here for now, and I need you to keep this information between us. I trust that you're not involved, but I want to keep this information as closely guarded as possible. If you'll excuse me, I need to get word to my Captain and His Excellency."

I have to put together a report quickly and get it to Cap and the Admiral so they can inform the King of all of this. This can't just stay in my hands any longer. I leave the LC's guest quarters and walk toward mine while pulling my communicator out. I open my quarters, walk inside, and close the door before pressing the charm. "Tanna Aldamiel."

Tanna's head appears. "Glad to see you out of bed!"

I nod, but now's not the time. "Tanna, do you have Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief's com code?"

# CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I call Ambassador Dreadthief, and her head appears in front of me. "Commander? It's good to hear from you. Are you doing okay?"

I nod. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you for asking. Ambassador, are you in a private location at the moment?"

Her head shakes. "Not currently. Do you need me to be?" I nod, so she continues, "I'll go to my office. Call me back in ten minutes."

Since I have to wait anyway, I strip off my dirty dress uniform and pull my robe off its hanger. I'll have to take the uniform straight to Halder so I can use it again as soon as possible. I really should get one or two more of them, but I spend most of my time on-ship in a jumpsuit. Maybe Halder can throw something together quickly for me. I'll have to ask.

After around ten minutes has passed, I call the Ambassador again. Her head appears in front of me. "Commander, I'm in my office now with the door closed. How can I help you?"

I smile. "Thanks for the privacy. I've come across some important information, but we need to keep it secure. So secure that I need to give it to Cap and the Admiral directly."

Her head shakes. "The palace is on lockdown until at least tomorrow due to the attack on your group. Can this wait?"

I shake mine. "I don't think so, Ambassador. This is big. Black Tongues."

Her eyes grow wide. "Impossible! But... no, you wouldn't call me over something impossible."

"Correct. I need you to come to the ship so I can give you and my senior officers the details. Can you get out of the Palace? Possibly bringing Zaxn with you?"

Her brow furrows while she thinks, then a grin appears. "I don't think I can, but I think Zaxn can. He had a secret way to get out of the palace to burn things when he was young and learning to use magic. Maybe that way isn't locked down. I'll ask him."

I chuckle. "Zaxn was a firebug as a child? Doesn't quite fit with the nerdy science goblin I know now!"

She smiles. "He's a lot more interesting than he lets on. We can share stories later. For now, I'll go get him and see what we can do. I'll call you when we get out." I nod and she cuts the call.

I'll call the rest of the senior officers together when I know she's on the way. I guess now's a good enough time to get clean. I hang my robe back on the hanger and go into my washroom.

I spend most of the time thinking about what to do next. It would be nice to have a plan when I go to Cap and the Admiral (and the King! Yikes!), but I'm not sure what we can do next. We need to find out what the gang is planning, but I don't know how we're going to do that if everyone thought they were completely wiped out.

I step back out of the washroom and step into a clean uniform. A minute or so passes, and my communicator beeps. I push the charm and see Ambassador Dreadthief's face. "Ambassador. Are you clear?"

She nods. "Indeed. I have Zaxn, who showed me the way out. He'd actually forgotten all about it until I mentioned it, so it was quite stressful sneaking through and not knowing if it was truly still an open pathway!" She chuckles, then continues, "We'll be at the ship in five minutes or so."

"Excellent. I'll have Simon meet you outside and bring you straight to the meeting. I'll have everyone else in there when you arrive. Thanks, Ambassador." She nods and I cut the call. I quickly call Tanna, Aelon, Sen and Simon to have them show up.

Then I call Halder. His shaved dwarf face appears. "Commander. I heard you were hurt and in the hospital ward. Are you doing better now?"

I nod. Apparently everyone's going to ask me that for awhile. Guess I should get used to it. "I'm much better now. Thanks. Can I ask you for a favor? I was in my dress uniform for days, and I need it cleaned urgently so I can use it again. I'm about to go into a meeting and can't do it myself. Can you take care of it for me?"

He nods. "Of course, ma'am. I'll pick it up in your quarters shortly and bring it back in about an hour. I'll also start working on a second one for you. I figure you might need it."

I smile at him. "Thanks Halder. You're a dear."

I cut the call and leave my quarters, stopping at the LC's quarters. I press the charm, and the door fades after a few seconds. The LC looks at me, still obviously a bit stricken by our earlier revelations. "Yes, ma'am?"

I wave him into the hall. "We're going to meet with the senior officers. Walk with me down to the discussion chamber."

He nods and follows me down to the 5th level. I take him into the chamber to find Aelon already there, standing by his chair. We salute, then he sees the goblin and gives me a questioning look.

I wave him over and step out of the way. "LC Spazkin Darkmuck, this is LC Aelon Onoviel, my Chief Tactical Officer."

They shake hands, and Aelon takes a step back to give the goblin an appraising eye. "Darkmuck, eh? You don't look like much of an assassin to me!" He chuckles at his own joke.

I'm just about to step in when Darkmuck stands up straighter and looks Aelon in the eye with a grin. "That's because you haven't seen how I kill my inventory numbers every week. You sure don't look like much of a pilot to me, though. Flown anything lately, or do you just have Lieutenants do it all for you?"

Aelon laughs harder. "I flew your mom last night. Does that count?"

Darkmuck chuckles. "It'd take more than you have to get my mom off... the ground."

I roll my eyes. Of all the things I was expecting, Darkmuck getting along with Aelon was _not_ one of them. "Boys, please. This is a starship, not an Academy bar."

They both look at me, then back at each other. With a shrug, Darkmuck follows Aelon to the other side of the table. I guess I'm glad Darkmuck at least seems happier than he was a few minutes ago.

Tanna walks in, and I introduce them. I notice Darkmuck's eyes look her up and down, and he grins. He turns to Aelon and nods. Aelon responds with, "I know, right?" then points to himself and grins. Darkmuck gives him a thumbs-up.

I look over at Tanna and see her giving me a questioning glance. All I can do is roll my eyes again and shrug.

Sen comes in just then and I turn away to give introductions again. She gives Darkmuck a once-over and smiles. "Commander! I didn't know you were going to bring me back a present when you went out! But I don't have anything for you! Want me to give you back the pieces when I'm done breaking it?"

The confused-and-terrified look on Darkmuck's face is priceless. Tanna and I both break out in laughter. If that doesn't completely make up for the last five minutes with these two male idiots, I don't know what does!

I take a couple deep breaths to stop laughing and regain my composure. "Okay, everyone. I need to catch you all up on everything that's been happening, and make sure I'm not the only one who knows all the pieces. We're just waiting for Zaxn and Ambassador Dreadthief, who are on their way from the Palace now."

Tanna turns to me. "What about the lockdown?"

I shrug. "I asked them to circumvent it. They agreed."

Darkmuck gasps, and I turn to him. "You have folk that can sneak in and out of the Palace when it's locked down? Are you sure you're the good guys and not with the Black Tongues?"

"LC, those bastards killed our Ambassador, remember?" I must be scowling, because he wilts in front of me. Tanna sets a hand on my shoulder and I take a deep breath to calm myself.

That kills conversation for the next few minutes until the door opens again. Simon enters, leading Zaxn and Ambassador Dreadthief behind him. Zaxn's wearing a red shirt with an Academy logo and a pair of jeans, while Kesn is wearing a purple jacket and slacks with a yellow blouse underneath. The blouse is unbuttoned far enough to show off what she has while still looking professional.

I make the introductions, and Kesn turns to me. "Darkmuck? Like from the message?"

I nod. "The one and the same. He's not involved, but he was able to help us figure out who is." With that, I go into the entire story, giving them everything we've learned so far – the timing of the fake war message, the illegal weapons, the attack, the Senior Chief weapon smuggler, the Black Tongues and Captain Darkmuck.

When I get to the end, everyone's quiet. I sit and give them some time to process all the information. We've been in the middle of some odd things before, but never something quite at this level. I'm glad to get it all out of my head and shared with the folk I trust.

Kesn speaks first. "So, a notorious gang leader who's supposed to be dead tricked you into bringing His Excellency back to Stenchstone, along with a cache of weapons. It sounds like they're obviously going to target His Excellency while he's here to make a point. We need to find out what they're going to do, but until now they weren't supposed to still exist. That traitorous Overseer was supposed to be the last one!"

I shake my head. "I know they hate him, but why would Captain Darkmuck, who's been on Terra for sixty years, still care about His Excellency and revenge? I know goblins don't forget, but why?"

A few seconds of silence goes by, and LC Darkmuck speaks. "The raid killed his entire family – father, brother, sisters, and wife. That would be a good reason for wanting revenge."

The other goblins at the table nod, but Kesn holds up a hand. "If he just wanted revenge, he could have killed His Excellency on Terra at any time. He wants something bigger than revenge. He wants the Black Tongues back in power. He brought enough weapons to kill both His Excellency _and_ His Majesty, along with a number of enforcers. The gang's numbers must be high, and we missed it."

She turns to me. "Commander, we need to inform His Majesty immediately."

"I agree, Ambassador. However, I don't think that's enough. We can warn them, but warn them of what? Aside from knowing the gang exists and has weapons, we don't know when or where they're going to be targeting. We're the only ones on-world who know about all of this right now. We need to use that to our advantage and find out more information somehow. Any ideas?"

She turns away, puts her elbows on the table, and rests her face against her hands with her thumbs under her chin while her fingers pinch her nose. The room is quiet while we think. After a few minutes, I hear LC Darkmuck's voice. "I think I might have an idea."

We turn to him as he continues. "As the Commander said, I'm technically in 'the family'. I know some places where gang members used to meet that might still exist. If we could send someone in, they could spy and get information."

I shake my head. "I'm not sure that would work. They know you, and they'd never let you in to spy if they haven't brought you in before now. Simon's obviously not someone they'd normally have in the gang, so we can't send him, either, and I don't want to risk sharing this information with anyone else."

A small voice says, "I can do it."

We all turn to look at Zaxn. He takes a deep breath, stands up, and says it again, stronger. "I can do it. I'm from Stenchstone, and know how to act here. I won't be suspected. I can tell them my family's from the Palace and I can provide information. I'll tell them I helped the Senior Chief smuggle the spellshooters. I'll tell them I'm deserting the UCST and want to remake Stenchstone like the other goblin worlds I've seen."

He looks over at me. "Rylae, I'm the best option. I can also be a secret weapon. If things get bad, I can call the fires to burn the gang down. I can do this. I _need_ to do this to help my world."

Sen chuckles. "That's the sexiest thing I think I've ever heard you say, Pincushion. Maybe I'll get to use my special flail on you after all."

I glance around the room, and I think _everyone_ was made uncomfortable by that comment. Kesn's eyes are wide as she looks questioningly between Zaxn and Sen. But that's not the topic right now.

I look over at Darkmuck. "LC, do you think you can get Zaxn to one of the meeting places?"

He nods. "I can disguise myself as a driver and take him to a few until we find one with gang members at it. If my father's brother is running things from afar, then he has to be using some of the same protocols he used to use when he was here. We'll find someone."

"Okay. Zaxn, if you're certain you want to do this, then you have my approval, on one condition. Simon, I need you to prepare the battalion. Get a large folk-mover from landcraft storage and be prepared to drop a mobile unit anywhere. If Zaxn gets into trouble, he's to call you directly, and you drop the battalion on that gang as hard and as fast as you can."

Simon grins and nods. "Yes, ma'am! Sounds like fun. It's a shame Gimmir's going to miss it."

I look at Darkmuck and Aelon. "Since you two have hit it off so well, I want you to stay in constant contact with each other. Darkmuck, if anything happens that seems even slightly odd, call Aelon immediately. He'll be your connection to Ambassador Dreadthief and myself.

"Aelon, I need you to sit in the storage bay and keep counting crates over and over. Darkmuck will show you which crates I mean. Make sure nothing else goes missing. You're in charge of that area until we launch." They both nod.

I turn to Sen. "Are your techs prepared to go mobile?" She nods. "Excellent. I want two techs with Simon's unit at all times. If Simon goes mobile, they go with him." She nods again, so I turn to Tanna.

"Commander, the ship is yours. Think you can handle it without blowing up more parts of my ship?"

She chuckles, but then stops. "I can take care of things here, but where will you be?"

Grinning, I point over my shoulder to Kesn. "The Ambassador's going to sneak me back into the Palace so I can talk to Cap and the Admiral while she talks to the King."

Tanna nods for a second, then stops and looks at me like I grew another head. I hear the Ambassador behind me exclaim, "What!?"

Turning to her, I smile. "They need to know. I'm the only logical choice to go. Zaxn already showed you a secret way past the lockdown. We go back in that way. No problem."

She holds up a finger. "One problem, Commander. You're a bit of an obvious elf in a place where there are no other elves."

I shake my head. "Not true. Gimmir's elites have some elves in their ranks. I just need to look like one of them. Simon can help me get armored before we go."

I look around the room and no one seems to have anything else to say. Smiling, I nod. "Okay then. Meeting over. Let's go save the world!"

They look at me like I grew a third head next to the one I grew earlier, and we all start laughing. Yeah, that was kinda stupid, but I thought it was at least a little inspirational!

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

On second thought, this was _not_ a good plan.

I had absolutely no idea how heavy steel armor actually is! It weighs as much as I do! It's cumbersome, doesn't move well, and is incredibly hot. I'm not sure if I can actually manage it, but my choices aren't very expansive.

"What if I just go in my uniform and say I took my armor off while I went for a walk?"

Simon shakes his head. "No. Elites on-duty only take their armor off to sleep, and sometimes not even then. No one would believe you were 'just going for a walk'. Also, without your armor, you look nothing at all like a muscular Elite. Third, Elites don't wear a uniform under their armor. Fourth..."

Sigh. "I get it, Simon. Hey Kesn, what if there's a way to bring Cap and His Excellency out to me?"

Kesn also shakes her head. "The Palace is on lockdown. No one in, no one out, everyone checked constantly. If you think that's rough on everyone else, imagine how many eyes are on His Majesty, His Excellency, and your Captain. They can't sneak to the washroom without an escort. I could never get them out of the Palace."

Double sigh. "Can we get Lada or Gimmir out?"

She shakes her head again. "Those two won't leave the sides of their charges since the lockdown. At least once that I was there for, the female physically sat on your Captain when he tried to leave a room without her."

Triple sigh. "Sounds like Lada, alright. So, I can't just walk in the front door, I can't get them out to see me, the information has to be kept so secure that I can't risk a com call where anyone could overhear, and if anyone from the Palace Guard realizes that I'm not supposed to be there, I'll be killed on sight. It sounds like the armor is my only option."

Kesn cocks her head. "Yeah. Sorry, Commander. I'd say you could wait another couple days for the lockdown to be lifted, but we need to get this information to them immediately. I think you're stuck with wearing the armor over your uniform."

Quadruple sigh. "Okay. I don't know how convincing this is really going to be, but I'll wear the armor. I'm going to try walking around to get used to it for a few minutes. Ambassador, can you tell me what we'll expect when we get inside? Checkpoints and such?"

We start walking slowly, while Kesn talks. "The secret way happens to be a space between two of the out-buildings that Zaxn found when he was little. That path leads to a door no one uses, probably because it opens onto a blank wall and a tiny pathway between two out-buildings. That door leads to the cheese cellar, which is dark and contained.

"That cellar leads out into the kitchen staff quarters area, which is not patrolled during lockdown. The kitchen staff quarters area has a door that leads to the small dining room, which is almost never occupied. Behind that is a ballroom which hasn't been used in years. In the corners of the ballroom are hidden alcoves for soldiers to watch without disturbing the guests. Those alcoves have tunnels which lead to the old guard barracks, which is also never used. From there, there are no checkpoints to the apartments or offices, but there will be two between us and His Majesty."

That's one heck of a route. I haven't even made it across the room and I'm already tired wearing this armor. This isn't going to work the way I've planned. Not that it was much of a plan anyway. Maybe I should just give up and make a com call. It won't be secure, but maybe if I can get them to go somewhere private...

Somewhere private like the Ambassador's office?

I stop and wait for Kesn to notice and turn back to me. "The offices are on the other side of the checkpoints? Ambassador, what are the chances you can get Cap and His Excellency to follow you to your office?"

She taps her finger on her chin as she ponders the idea. "If I just ask those two for a conference in my office, I could bring them through the checkpoints. It could work. Their guards are going to want to search it first, but none of the Palace guards should follow us that far."

I nod. "Their guards will be Lada and Gimmir. I can work with that easily. We'll try that. Can you wave Simon over to help me remove this steel?"

She waves, then looks at me seriously. "You do realize that you will be killed if you're caught, right? And I can't be caught with you, so I'll have to always be a room ahead of you. You'll basically be on your own."

I smile. "Make sure I have directions to your office, and I'll get myself there. All you have to do is get Cap and the Admiral to follow you to me. I'll worry about myself."

Simon starts unlacing the straps holding my armor on. I think this idea of sneaking into the Palace is easily the stupidest idea I've ever had, but my options are to either do it, or risk that the Black Tongues will be helpful and wait until the lockdown is ended before doing anything. I can't risk that. Risking my own life is better than risking any other lives. Besides, it's not the first time I had to sneak around a goblin world and risk losing my head. I just really need to stop making a habit of it.

Once the armor's removed, I stretch and wipe my brow. I'm already sweating from that armor and I only wore it for a few minutes! Plan B is definitely a better idea than Plan A was, although neither of them are really great.

I roll my head and move my shoulders, then look at the goblins. "I guess we should get this started. Simon, take care of Zaxn for me. Kesn, let's walk to your landcraft."

Simon puts a hand on my shoulder. "Wait. Stupid elf. If you're going to do something this dumb, then I need to give you something in case you screw it up like I figure you will. Follow me."

I follow him into the armory, around a corner, and to a crate. He grabs a nearby belt and passes it to me. As I buckle it, I see that it has two small pouches on it. Opening the crate, he pulls out a box and hands it to me. I move to open the box, but he lays his hand on it. "These darts are coated with sleeping poison. If you end up in trouble, jab one in their neck and they'll fall in two seconds. Don't stick yourself with them, or you'll fall instead. They'll be asleep for two days, and they'll be missed, so only use one if you absolutely have to, or use _all_ of them and get the hell out of there. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks Simon." I open the box and see the darts, painted black with black tips. Assassin weapons, basically. I carefully pull them out one at a time, and stick them in the belt pouches. Once I have about eight of them, I hand the box back.

We walk to the desk at the front of the armory, and I find a piece of parchment and pen, which I hand to Kesn to write directions on. Once I have those and am sure I can read them right, we leave the ship and head for the landcraft storage. She pulls a key charm from her pocket and points to a small two-seat vehicle, which we get in.

During the ride to the Palace, Kesn turns to me. "Commander, thank you for finding out all these details and figuring out my world is in danger. If not for you and your Ambassador, we wouldn't have any idea about the attack, and many folk could have been killed. You've saved a lot of lives today, even if we haven't yet finished everything. Stenchstone thanks you, and I thank you."

That makes me smile. "Thank you for the kind words, Ambassador. There's still a lot of hard work to go, though, and I'm relying on you to manage the Stenchstone side of that deal while I and my crew do what we can. Many of us will deserve equal thanks when everything is said and done."

The ride to the Palace doesn't take long, and as we get close I start seeing all of the squads of Palace Guard that have taken up positions around the grounds. Every door we pass has a guard squad positioned outside of it, and probably another squad directly on the inside. I slowly slide down in my seat, hoping none of them see the landcraft with an elf inside of it getting closer.

We turn at a side of the building and ride to the back, where a large storage area is. There aren't any guards back here. I guess they don't feel the need to worry about landcraft if they're checking everyone who comes into and leaves from any one of the regularly-used Palace doors. They probably assume that folk will come to the Palace, not be able to get in and will then leave. When all this is done, I hope Kesn says something to them about their security holes, but right now I'm glad for them.

Exiting the vehicle, I follow Kesn around a corner towards some outbuildings which appear to be simple storage sheds. Everything is still made of red clay and only one level tall, and I'm suddenly grateful that I don't have to climb anything! The outbuildings all have space between them, just wide enough for a single goblin or elf to walk through.

We come to two at the end of a line and stop between them. Turning, we walk between the buildings until we reach a door halfway through. The door was obviously put here when this building was the last one in the row, and then the new building was added making the door a bit useless. Kesn wiggles the old style handle, and the door slowly creaks open.

I follow Kesn through the door and pull it behind me, immediately dropping the interior into darkness. I feel Kesn's hand on my arm and take it in mine. She leads me through the darkness carefully. A set of stairs takes us down under the building, then we twist and turn through a small room. We stumble a few times while she tries to remember the way through the darkness, but we eventually find another stairway leading up. At the top, we come to a stop and I hear her working another door handle. The door cracks open, and some light spills into the room.

She turns to me and gives me a smile that I assume is supposed to be comforting, but the obvious worry and fear in her eyes colors it a bit. "Good luck, Commander. I'll go ahead of you. Wait about a minute before you follow. I'll see you in my office." She quickly steps outside the door and pulls it until it's mostly closed.

Looking through the open space, I see her walk down the passageway a short ways, stop at the third door, and go through it. That matches what she wrote for my directions. I wait for a minute or so, check that the passageway is still empty, then step outside and close the door behind me. Walking quickly, I reach the third door, open it a little, shift inside the room and close it.

The small dining room is large enough that I'd call it the 'large dining room', so I can only wonder how large the 'large dining room' actually is. I'm standing behind a tapestry meant to shield the kitchen staff door from the diners, and see a pathway around the room behind more tapestries for staff to walk unnoticed. I follow that around to another door and open it, stepping quickly inside.

I can tell this ballroom used to be fairly extravagant, but has fallen into disrepair. The large wooden dancing floor is covered with a many-years-old layer of dust, and the tapestries on the walls have holes in them. The doorway between these two rooms wasn't covered, probably for the guests to go between the dining room and the ballroom during parties.

I notice some footprints in the dust to my left, probably from Kesn and Zaxn as they passed through. I follow the footprints to a corner, where a small guard post exists. It's large enough for one guard with a crossbow to stand behind the arrow slit and monitor the room. I step inside and see a wooden door situated behind where the guard would be standing. I push it and it swings easily, opening into a small passageway.

The small passage comes to a stairway down, leading under the other rooms. I find other passageways connecting to this one – probably from the other ballroom corners – but continue down this main passage until I come to another stairway up, which leads to another door. The door swings when I push it, opening into a barracks room. This must be the old guard barracks. The bed platforms are almost as dusty as the ballroom was.

I check my directions on the parchment, then see the door out of this room. Once I leave the room, there are only open passageways between here and Kesn's office. That could be tricky if anyone is in those passageways while I'm in them, but now's not the time to get nervous. I should have done that before I left! Besides, Kesn went first, and if she saw someone in the passageway, she would have distracted them. ...I hope.

Opening the door, I stick my head out and check the passageway in both directions. No folk in sight, so I quickly exit and fast-step down the left passage. Coming to a corner, I slide up against the wall and peek around it. No one there, either. I jog down that passageway to the first left, and peek around the corner again. This passageway leads to a four-way crossing at which I need to make a right, but I won't be able to easily sneak that corner like I could with these. I'll have to just hope for the best.

I jog quickly to the intersection, look in all directions, and see no folk. I continue to the right, jogging the corridor until I reach another right-hand turn. I look quickly and jog that passageway, stopping at the fourth door and quickly duck inside the room that should be the Ambassador's office.

Thankfully, there's no one here. The office is a good size, set up like Cap's office with a desk and chairs to one side, and a small table with eight chairs on the other. I quickly walk around the desk to make sure no one's there, then take a seat.

I can't believe that actually worked! I successfully broke into the Stenchstone Palace! I remember what Simon said in the landcraft the other day – peace leads to complacency. I wonder if breaking in was so easy because the guards are complacent and no longer noticing security holes. Then I wonder if maybe those rooms are unused because they changed everything after the 'last goblin king' was killed and are relying on new procedures to cover all eventualities while considering these to be part of the 'old security structure' and therefore able to be ignored. Just like they cover the doors but not the landcraft area, because 'no one can get into the Palace doors so monitoring the landcraft is pointless'. I hope Kesn can straighten them out about this.

Looking around Kesn's office, I notice the same painted portraits of the King and Admiral Shockpaw that the Overseer has in his office. The Admiral's portrait really is an inspiring reminder of the day the world first started to see peace. I hope we can stop whatever this gang plot is so folk can still believe in it.

Around fifteen minutes pass in silence before I hear clanking steel coming closer to the outside of the doors. It's funny how you don't really notice the noise of the steel armor when there's a whole platoon in it moving around, but when there are only two dwarves coming down an otherwise-empty passageway, there's definitely no 'stealth' involved.

Just in case, I get behind the Ambassador's desk and crouch down, peeking out from the side until I can see the door. There's always a possibility it's not them, so I should be prepared.

The clanking gets closer and louder, stopping right outside the door. After a second, there's a knock, followed by another knock. A few seconds of silence pass, then two more knocks.

I really hope they don't think I'm dumb enough to open that door. How stupid would that be? I wonder how many stupid criminals get caught just because they're hiding in a room but still answer the door when a guard knocks. I'd like to think I'm smarter than that!

Another few seconds and the door opens wide. Two squat bodies covered head-to-toe in steel armor block the doorway while they look inside. Nothing happens for a minute, then I hear Kesn's voice behind the armored dwarves. "Commander?"

I release the breath I was holding. "Behind the desk, Ambassador."

The two steel bodies step out of the way to let Kesn, Cap, and Admiral Shockpaw cross into the room. Standing, I wave them to the table while Kesn closes the door, leaving Gimmir and Lada outside to guard the room.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Once the door is closed, Cap looks at me and shakes his head. "Unbelievable. Only _my_ Executive Officer would be dumb enough to break into a locked goblin palace to have a sit-down with an Admiral. Why, Rylae? Were ya bored? Didn't get enough excitement when there wasn't anyone attackin' ya?"

Admiral Shockpaw lays a hand on Cap's shoulder. "Elthen. I do not believe the Commander would have come here for no reason. I also do not believe Kesn would have helped her unless there was an absolute emergency that required such drastic measures. Let us hear them out."

I nod. "Thank you, Admiral. I have a lot of details to go over, but the short version is that the Corsari brought smuggled weapons to the Black Tongues and we're the only ones on-world who know about it."

The Admiral's eyes open wide and he looks to Kesn, who nods. A look of hopelessness crosses his features, and he lowers himself slowly into a chair at the table. I notice he doesn't shift around in it, or scoot it around to find some special angle to sit at like he would on the ship. He just sits. I wonder if that's changed since he came back home, or is entirely because of the news we just gave him.

Cap's reaction is slightly different. "Smuggled weapons?" He stands up straight and tries to stare me down. "How many folk are involved and have ya killed any of 'em yet?"

I motion to the table as I take a seat. "Cap, please sit. I'll explain everything I know."

Cap sits, and I look at Kesn. "Do you want to go tell the King while I'm telling these two?"

She nods. "His Majesty has to know this now. I'll be back as soon as I'm done with him."

Standing from the table, I walk over to her, smile and take her hand. "Thank you, Ambassador. I'm glad you're on our side."

She grins and gives me a hug. "Let's just hope we get through it." She walks to the door and leaves.

Following her to the door, I hold it open and look outside. "Gimmir. Lada. Only the Ambassador comes in this room. She's the only one we trust right now. I'll give you more details later." They both nod with a small 'clank' sound when their helmets tap their breastplates.

Closing the door, I return to my seat. "Sirs, we're in an interesting pile of muck with this one." I lay out the entire scenario from the beginning, finishing with Zaxn's infiltration plan and my sneaking job. There are a lot of question-and-answer breaks as the two experienced officers dig deeper into the details to learn as much as they can.

Eventually, we get to the end of the story. "And that's what we know. We don't yet know what the attack will consist of, or what the target is, but hopefully Zaxn can help us find that information quickly. So, aside from the steps I've already taken, what do you recommend we still need to do?"

Cap shakes his head. "One thing ya said is botherin' me." He chuckles to himself, then looks at us again. "Okay, a _lot_ of what ya said bothers me, but one thing in particular. It was a good point about bein' able to kill His Goblincy here any time he was on Terra but waitin' to lure him back here first for some bigger reward. Bax, we've been here a few days now. If we assume that Captain Darkmuck is as smart as he'd need to be to come up with this mixed-up mess o' worms 'n potatoes, then he'd know we wouldn't stay long once we got here and found out there was no war. Whatever he's plannin', it's gonna happen soon. It must tie to somethin'."

The Admiral lets out a heavy sigh. "Elthen. I think I know what it ties to. I think your young Lieutenant Gloomfire may have an idea as well, which is why he agreed to be a spy.

"Forty-five years ago, while I was still here as King, there was a massacre. Thirty-two men were killed. These men were important members of society or important to the Palace. Thirty-two men to match the thirty-two members of the Black Tongues' 'family'. Each of these men had families of their own, and were killed in their homes. No other members of their families were killed or harmed, even the ones who witnessed the crime. Every murder happened on the same night."

He turns to me. "Commander. Xanm Gloomfire was a powerful adept who was killed that night. He is Lieutenant Gloomfire's father." I nod in acceptance of that fact, and he continues.

"We were unable to find a single one of the killers. We had brought multiple suspects in front of the Overseer – Gak Bonedread, who was recently imprisoned – but every suspect was released for lack of evidence. No one was ever imprisoned or executed for the thirty-two murders. There were suspicions at the time that our Overseer was manipulating the cases, but we had no proof. As the years passed, we were no closer to an answer.

"Forty years ago, I received a message envelope in the royal bedchamber, lying on my pillow. It contained a note, which said that the women and children would be next, unless I left Stenchstone. Only my abdication of the throne would save these families, and it was promised that we would have even less luck finding the killers than we had with the first murders.

"I spoke with my chief enforcer, Xarm Darkhowl, and only him, about that message. We discussed the previous murders and our lack of justice for the families. We discussed our suspicions about the Overseer. We discussed all of that... and we came up with no solution except to do what the message required. I called multiple witnesses into the room, passed the crown to Xarm, and left to pack my things. A UCST ship, the Draconia, was preparing to leave the world that next day. I joined their crew and went to Terra.

"I received a personal message from Xarm to inform me that the murders did not happen, and the families were safe. I then saw a young Gloomfire enter the Academy years later, and knew that everything was good. I monitored information coming in from Stenchstone, but everything had gone quiet. I thought I had made the right choice by leaving.

"When I received the message from Captain Darkmuck, I assumed that Gak Bonedread had somehow removed Xarm from the throne and placed a new king to declare war against us. When we arrived and found Bonedread had been imprisoned, I spoke with Kesn. The Palace thought the Black Tongues were officially destroyed with his incarceration. Now that we have the information about now-Captain Darkmuck having survived and keeping 'the family' alive, I can almost say with certainty that he wants to finish what he started.

"The anniversary of the thirty-two deaths is in three days. I believe he is going to again kill folk in prominent families, and claim that it is due to my return to the world, which only we know was also orchestrated by him."

Dragons be damned. That's a lot worse than I was expecting! "Did the witnesses say how many goblins were there to commit the crimes?"

He shakes his head. "Commander, the answers were not clear. Sometimes there was one, sometimes there were two, sometimes there were as many as five. We believed at the time that these numbers were intentionally hiding the number of true assassins."

Math is a pain when you're in a hurry, and even worse when you're working from spotty memory. Five spellshooters to a crate, some of those stacks were maybe ten crates high, maybe probably sixteen stacks, and we lost sorta around half of those... this is the most approximate number ever! "Admiral, I estimate that around four hundred spellshooters were passed to the Black Tongues before we were able to contain the Senior Chief. Even if we assume five goblins in each hit squad, that's more than thirty-two targets."

Admiral Shockpaw's face falls. He puts his elbows on the table and uses his hands to cradle his head. I'm not sure what to say now. I feel like he needed to know that number, but at the same time it killed him to hear it! He looks lost, probably reliving the same feelings he had when he had to give up the crown to save his subjects forty years ago.

I hear Cap cough, and turn to see him shaking his head. "I don't think that number's accurate. Think about it for a second. Darkmuck is runnin' this gang from Terra via messages that only get passed every six months. He doesn't know how many folk he has that can run assassinations anymore! He also doesn't know he lost half his shipment. He had eight hundred spellshooters that were gonna go out. Ya don't need that many weapons for a handful o' murders.

"I think he was gonna use this as a startin' point, probably stick to the same thirty-two, then have a bunch o' weapons in reserve for when the gang started gettin' more recruits after the murders and the blame. I think this is about blamin' Yer Goblinship and His Damnationness on the throne for more killin', and usin' that to build the gang's influence back up."

Nodding, I give him a sarcastic smile. "A dwarf told me a few days ago that it's safer to assume that someone is out to kill us than to assume they're not. As much as I don't want to think they're planning four hundred murders, assuming they're only planning thirty-two isn't helpful. I think we need to hope Zaxn can get some kind of confirmation from his visit to the gang."

Cap rolls his eyes. "Ya got me on that one, elf. I just don't see how we can randomly protect a bunch o' folk when there could be hundreds o' targets. Even with the battalion, we can't be everywhere."

I pull out my communicator. "I have an idea." I push the charm and say, "Aelon Onoviel."

Aelon's face appears. "Rylae! Glad you're not dead. Tanna would cry, and that would seriously cut into..."

"Lieutenant Commander!" Thankfully, that stops him. "I'm with Cap and Admiral Shockpaw. Have you heard from LC Darkmuck? What's happening with him and Zaxn?"

Aelon nods. "Spazkin called awhile ago, said the first place they looked had gang members there. Zaxn talked his way in and is there now. Simon knows the location and is prepared to pounce if he gets a call. Spazkin then went and checked out a few other places he knew. As far as he can tell, all the old places his family used to use for managing the gang are active. He said if it's really his father's brother running things, then he probably doesn't know any of the other leaders' hideouts to use them. Probably only using the ones he knows."

I smile. "Thanks, Aelon. Please get the list of locations from LC Darkmuck and send them in a message to Ambassador Dreadthief. Call me immediately if anything changes."

Disconnecting the call, I turn to Cap. "We may have found some luck if we can successfully tag every single one of their operating locations. We need more information from Zaxn first, but once we get him out we can drop the battalion hard on all of LC Darkmuck's confirmed locations."

The Admiral taps his chin in thought for a second, then speaks. "Commander. We sent enforcers into many Black Tongues locations years ago to clear them out. I believe we may be able to find a copy of that location list. We may not know all of them, but we can at least begin checking to see if any of them are active. I believe that's something we can do rather quietly."

At that second, a clanging noise comes from outside the door, almost as if to mock the Admiral's words. The three of us tense and wait for some signal from Lada or Gimmir as to what's happening. After a few seconds, another clang happens, and the door opens. Kesn steps in, followed by King Damnation.

Cap and Admiral Shockpaw both stand, and I follow their lead. Kesn closes the door. Two heartbeats pass without anyone moving, then Cap and the Admiral return to their seats. The Admiral turns to the visitors. "Xarm. It's about time you showed up. I was wondering if something more important was on your calendar. Then I remembered you don't do anything, so I assumed it was just laziness instead."

The King makes no response as he's looking right at me. Dragons be damned. I'm not even in my dress uniform! Yeah, sure Rylae, because the uniform style you're wearing is what matters when you're caught by the King of a goblin palace on lockdown which you're not supposed to be in. Good job prioritizing, elf.

After a second, the King extends his hand to me. "Commander. Ambassador Dreadthief has said a lot of good things about you as she was telling me everything you have found out. Stenchstone owes you a large favor for this. You have our thanks, and my personal appreciation."

I reach out and shake his hand, just as I hear Cap speak behind me. "Wonderful. Now she's gonna have a bigger head about this than she already does. Thanks so much, Yer DamnGoblinShipNess."

The King smiles and looks at the officers behind me. "Kesn, can you remind me why I haven't had these two lowlife armor polishers taken out back and shot yet?"

The Ambassador chuckles. "Your Majesty is simply showing restraint by listening to the counsel of all folk, including armor polishers."

The King nods and winks at me. "I had a feeling it was entirely because of my benevolence."

Everyone starts laughing... except me. I have no idea exactly what I just witnessed, but I feel like I shouldn't be laughing in front of a goblin King, even if he did make the joke.

He walks past me to sit at the table with Cap and the Admiral, so I walk over to Kesn. While the three of them start talking, I catch Kesn up on the things we discussed in here. She doesn't seem shocked, so I'm thinking she and the King came to similar conclusions. The only new news I have for her is Zaxn's successful infiltration and the gang locations. She walks to her desk to check her messages, so I follow and take a seat in front of it.

Leaning over, I whisper to her. "So, I'm assuming we're not in trouble for breaking me into the Palace?"

She shrugs. "I might have been in a little trouble at first, but I think the information absolved us of our crimes."

That's comforting... I think. I sit back in the chair with a sigh. At least I can now switch my worrying to other things, like Zaxn currently in a gang compound pretending to be joining their assassination attempts.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Now that the King, Admiral, and Cap have been discussing options for a couple hours while Kesn and I are just sitting here, I'm starting to realize exactly how long today has been. I just left my bed in the hospital ward this morning, then gathered information from LC Darkmuck, then explained everything to my staff, then that whole thing with the armor, then sneaking into the Palace, then explaining everything again to Cap... No wonder I'm getting really tired now! That pain in my stomach is reminding me that I haven't eaten anything either except the soup while I was in the hospital ward yesterday.

I turn to see if Kesn has any ideas about food, but she's asleep in her chair. Can't blame her for that! She had to sneak _out_ of the Palace before helping me sneak _in_! Sometimes we high-ranking flunkies have difficult jobs. I still love my job, but it's easy to get lost in it and forget that you have to also take care of yourself when super-important stuff is happening. I'm sure the goblin behind the desk would agree with me! If she was awake, that is.

I'm just about to give up on keeping myself awake and lay out on the floor when I hear the King's voice loud and clear, "It's decided, then. Let's get started." I look over to see him stand at the table. Cap and the Admiral stand with him after a second.

Glancing back over the desk, I see the King's voice didn't wake Kesn. I reach out and lightly touch her hand, causing her arm to jump slightly. The motion brings her out of her slumber, and her eyes slowly open. When she sees the men standing, she stretches her neck and stands, yawning slightly. I also stand, using the opportunity to stretch my legs out and get the blood flowing again.

The King turns to us. "Ladies, my apologies for the late night. Commander, you're returning to your ship with your Captain and his guard. His Excellency will be staying here with us for now, working closely with the Ambassador."

I nod. "Thank you, Your Majesty. May I ask exactly what the plan is? I understand you three have discussed it, but the Ambassador and I have been respectfully not paying attention."

Admiral Shockpaw lays a hand on the King's shoulder. "Xarm. Do you see what I meant? Again I see the Commander tired, and again she's still directly on top of everything. You have no need to worry about this crew. They will perform admirably."

The King nods. "I see that. Commander, it's very simple. The Admiral and Ambassador Dreadthief are going to work directly with the Overseer and manage the visitation of enforcer squads to every Black Tongues hideout we're aware of. It's been many years since we raided them originally, but they should still be empty, based on Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck's knowledge. We're going to verify that. However, we're going to be very loud and showy about it. The Overseer's office will be involved, the Palace Guard will be involved, and it will be known that His Excellency is leading the raids directly under my authority.

" We're assuming that there are leaks in both the Overseer's enforcer ranks and the Palace Guard. We expect that information to get to the gang quickly, and even if there are folk in those hideouts, they're going to move quickly out of the way. They're going to go to the only hideouts that aren't on our list and appear to still be safe – the ones on Darkmuck's list of active locations.

"If the entire gang scurries to the same hiding places, it'll be nice and full of stuff when your unexpected battalion lands on all of those locations at once. The list your ship sent to the Ambassador had five locations on it. Based on your numbers, you should easily be able to drop 2 platoons on each location. 72 of your soldiers should be more than enough to take care of anything the gang has been able to put together in any single location. You and your Captain will be coordinating that effort.

"If everything goes right, then tomorrow night we'll be able to wipe out most of the problem, and get enough intel to sort out anything that remains."

I nod. "Tomorrow night? That's very quick. There's no way they'll be expecting it. I like it. I only have one worry – Lieutenant Gloomfire is still in there. We won't be able to get him out before the attack."

Cap holds up a hand. "Right. That's one reason why our team is takin' care o' the live hideouts. Our folk know Zaxn and won't cut 'im down. Especially since you'll be leadin' that unit yerself."

I really hate these important mission revelations when I'm not fully awake. I should make a formal complaint later. "Excuse me? I'm leading a unit?"

He nods. "We need five unit leaders. We've got Gimmir, Simon, and Lada. That's three. Since we need folk who can make quick decisions and control two platoons at once, there's only really two more valid options – yerself and myself. Since we have to get Zaxn out, and he'll be helpin' fight from the inside, ya get to take that one while the rest of us can be ruthless against the other hideouts."

Dragons be damned. I really hate how much sense that argument makes. They're right – Cap and I are the only logical choices unless we borrow a leader from Stenchstone, and we can't trust anyone we borrow. I guess I'm about to learn the hard way how to become a warrior leader. I should check the UCST job description for Executive Officer later and see if it contains a paragraph about platoon leadership that I missed or something.

I start to open my mouth to say something agreeable, but that makes me have to yawn so I turn my head. When I turn back, the King looks sympathetic. "Ladies, the meeting is adjourned. Planning can start tomorrow. Get something to eat and sleep well tonight."

He takes the lead to the door, opens it and leaves the room. Two steps past the dwarves standing guard, he stops and turns. "Battalion Major. Lieutenant Commander. It has been a pleasure hosting your group these last few days. It's mostly through seeing their strength that I was able to trust your crew to help us. Please collect your soldiers and escort your Captain and Commander back to your ship. You will all be needed for the operations tomorrow."

From inside the room behind them, Cap voices his agreement. "That's right, fellas. Get the elites and meet us at the gate for important folk visitors. His Damnationship is gettin' us some large folk-movers for the trip, and I'll explain everythin' when we're on the way." As one, they nod, salute the King, and march off, clanging down the passageway.

Admiral Shockpaw turns to us. "Elthen. Commander. Kesn and I will take our leave now. Xarm will take you and your crew to the exit and release you from the lockdown personally." He reaches out and shakes both of our hands, then walks to the doorway.

Kesn shakes Cap's hand, then grabs my shoulders and looks closely at me. "I'll call you in the morning when we start the planning so we can stay synchronized. Be careful tomorrow night!" She gives me a tight hug, then follows the Admiral out of the office.

I hear Cap chuckle behind me. "Looks like ya made a new friend, elf! Yer good at makin' friends with attractive lady-folk. Ya should find a gorgeous lady dwarf to fill out yer friend circle. Someone yer Captain might want to meet!"

I pretend to be insulted. "Sure thing, Cap. Finding a lady dwarf _you_ want to meet should be easy. Finding one that wants to meet _you_ , however... that's the challenge."

He guffaws, smacks my shoulder, and walks past me out of the room. I follow, closing the door behind me. The King is still waiting in the passageway for us and starts leading us to the exit. He puts his right arm around my shoulders as we walk and chuckles. "The cheese cellar. I wonder how young Gloomfire found that way past the guards in the first place. It's almost a shame to close off such an old and closely-treasured secret path, but I'm sure he's old enough to understand."

I shrug. "Actually, the Ambassador told me he'd completely forgotten about it over the years. If it wasn't for her remembering that he used to have a secret way out, it would still be a security hole that no one knew about. I think Zaxn will be happy to see it closed after today."

The King nods, staring down the passageway. "Kesn Dreadthief is a good woman, and a good Ambassador. If she helped you break in, then you've got a friend for life in that goblin. I'm glad she's finally happy again. I'm going to miss her."

He must be talking about the obvious relationship between her and the Admiral. I wonder how many goblins on-world tried and failed to connect with Kesn after he left for Terra, and what it must be like to wait forty years for someone and never be sure if they're ever actually coming back. If we can resolve this Black Tongues business, I hope the Admiral is planning to stay here once his folk are safe. Or at least plans to come back as soon as he reports to the Admiralty and resigns his position on Terra.

We arrive at the entrance for visiting dignitaries, and the guards posted snap to attention when they see the King. When he waves them off, they turn to salute Cap. After he returns the salute, they turn to me, and their eyes go blank as they reach for swords.

"Hold action!" The King's voice stops them immediately. "This woman is Commander Westiel. She works for Captain Gravelhand. We'll discuss at a later time why and how she's in the Palace, but for now she's under my protection. She is a welcome guest, and will be treated accordingly."

The guards stop, turn and salute me. I return their salute, and they return to attention. After a few minutes, the sound of clanging metal comes down the passageway toward us. Turning back, I see Lada and Gimmir leading the eighteen elites that came with them when they left the ship initially.

The King nods to the guards. "Call your Commander and have two large folk-mover landcraft delivered to this gate for our UCST guests to use. This group is allowed to leave, although the Palace is remaining on lockdown for now. I will explain more in the morning." One of the guards walks to the small guard shack to make the call while we wait.

A few minutes pass, and two large folk-movers come to a stop in front of the gate. Two guards get out of the landcraft and take up positions at the gate while the inside guards open the gate for us. Gimmir barks a command, causing two soldiers to break off from our group to inspect the landcraft. After a minute of checking, they stop, turn to us, and salute. Gimmir returns the salute, and another command gets the group moving.

Once our folk are in the landcraft, Cap turns to the King. "It's been a pleasure, Yer Goblinship."

The King turns to Cap. "Interesting. Does 'pleasure' mean something different to dwarves? Please forgive my cultural insensitivity. I've spent a long time ruling a goblin homeworld, you see."

They both laugh and share a handshake. Turning to me, the King takes my hand and presses it to his lips. I smile and curtsy (well, some exaggerated and likely-ridiculous-looking version of one, at least), then follow Cap out of the Palace and into the first landcraft.

Climbing in the door closest to the front, I look over at the elf in the front compartment designated as our driver. He's busy familiarizing himself with the layout of the terminal. Being a military design, these landcraft can either automatically drive to beacons like standard landcraft, or be manually driven to any point. I'll have to get Aelon's team to figure out local directions for each of the locations.

Once we're seated, Gimmir tells the driver to go, and the landcraft starts moving. Aside from the elf driving, only the four senior officers are in this vehicle. The two squads of elites are in the trailing landcraft. This gives us a chance to update Lada and Gimmir on the situation. It's only a ten-minute trip back to the ship, so Cap shortens the tale considerably, just giving the two dwarves the high points – bad gang, smuggled spellshooters, kicking their behinds into the space between their shoulder blades. Based on the expressions on their faces, I'm thinking this is all the explanation they really need.

The landcraft stops, and the driver steps out to scan the area. Stepping back in, he motions to us, and we file out of the vehicle into the empty field directly behind the ship. The landcraft directly behind us empties and the elites enter formation while waiting for orders. As Gimmir walks to the ship to open the bay doors, I look at the landcraft. Large and black, made from steel, and has two doors on each side with a large door on the back. Each can hold 25 armored soldiers, two in the driving cabin, and has room for additional equipment.

It suddenly comes to me that I'm going to need a whole bunch of these for the mission. Three to a location, five locations... yikes! I hope Kesn can help me with that! I think giving us two tonight was a sneaky way for the King to give us some early.

Once the bay doors are open, the elites move into the ship. Cap and I follow, closing the doors once everyone is inside. While Gimmir leads the elites away, I motion to Cap to follow me down the hallway toward the storage bay. It may be late, but there's something I have to check on.

Stepping inside the storage bay for the first time in days, the first thing I notice is the empty space where I know there used to be spellshooter crates. It still bothers me that this happened on my watch, but there's nothing I can do now to change it.

I walk up to one of the crates and point it out to Cap. He gives it a once-over and turns to me. "Yep. That's Hallowforge. Maybe we'll get a bonus from the Admiralty for returnin' all the ones we still have."

I shake my head and scan the rest of the storage area. Finding what I'm looking for, I walk over to the workstation. Aelon is sitting there, parchment and pen in hand, head on the desk sound asleep. Grinning, I touch his shoulder. "Lieutenant Commander Onoviel. How many crates are there?"

He flinches a bit, snorts, and snuggles his head back down. I touch his shoulder again. "Lieutenant Commander Onoviel. I need to know the number of crates. Now, LC!"

Still asleep, he sighs. "Seventy-eight crates, Commander. Seventy-eight crates. Seventy... eight..." With that, he's back to sleep.

Grinning, I pat his head and walk away. I should be thankful that his count rhymed, or he likely never would have remembered it in his sleep. It's also good to know that he's been counting. I can see Cap trying not to laugh, so we head out of the storage bay and up to the 6th level, stopping quickly to grab something from the Mess Hall before heading to our quarters for much-deserved rest.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Some days, as I wake up, I wonder exactly how my mind works. I haven't been awake for a full five minutes, and yet I already have the plan for my day laid out in my mind. I swear I organize tasks in my sleep.

Heading into the washroom, I start thinking through everything on my magical sleep-designed schedule to make sure my unconscious mind didn't miss anything. Get the senior officers together for a meeting, sort out mission timing with Kesn, get thirteen more landcraft, verify tactics with the other four mission leaders, get tips from Gimmir or Simon on the best way to run two platoons, grab Sen's mobile tech for my team, prep the mission, run the mission.

I emerge from the washroom and open my wardrobe to grab a clean uniform. Reaching in, I notice the covered hanger with my dress uniform is there. I feel kinda bad now for making Halder rush on it, but at the time I wasn't exactly planning on sneaking into the Palace! Oh well. I'll give him some extra thanks when we leave for Terra and have some time to breathe.

Once I'm dressed, I log into my terminal and scan through messages. I already see a few from Kesn with forwarded mission briefs and location details. I guess she and the Admiral started early today. I send out an alert to the senior officers to meet in the discussion chamber in thirty minutes, then put together a request for the landcraft and send it to Kesn. Once sent, I set my communicator on the table and press the charm. "Kesn Dreadthief"

A few seconds pass, then Kesn's face appears, but it's turned to the side and not looking at me. "Ambassador Dreadthief speaking. How can I help you?"

She's obviously working on something and not really paying attention to me yet. I can't help myself. Lowering my voice, I reply "Yes, Ambassador. Would you care to comment about reports that you were locked in an office with three handsome men last night?"

Her eyebrows go up as she turns. When she sees me, she laughs. "I don't remember three handsome men in that room. One... one and a half, maybe, but not three. And you didn't mention the sexy elf girl, either. Therefore, your report is totally inaccurate!"

I laugh. "Spoken like a true master of politics, Ambassador!"

She grins and turns away. "Good morning, Rylae! I suppose you want to know what we've already done this morning."

Turning on the notepad in my terminal, I prepare to take notes. "Indeed. I saw you were already working, and I'm going to pull my staff together shortly, so I thought I'd get an update from you first."

She nods. "We have twenty-two locations to raid, not including the five that are on your list. We're sending squads of four to each location to do a quick scouting run. Since we're expecting them to all be vacant, it shouldn't cause much of an issue. The key is making sure everyone knows we're doing it, so that the information leaks like we want it to."

Excellent. "Do you know the timeline for when they'll start the raid?"

She nods again. "I have that here somewhere. Hang on a moment. Ah! There it is. The enforcers are starting their raids in three hours, and the palace guard is... wait... where's that update... Got it! The Palace guard is starting in three-and-a-half hours. They should both be complete eight hours from now."

I smile. "I take it this is your first time coordinating a large-scale military operation?"

Laughing, she turns back to me. "I think Bax forgot that I'm an Ambassador, not an Executive Officer. This isn't something I'm used to doing, but I see why it has to be me. There's only a few of us who know all the details, and I do have to use my skills to coordinate between the Overseer and the Palace Guard. Thank Damnation that I can at least rely on Rosa and Luis to handle the actual planning for their sections!"

My terminal beeps, and I check the time. "Rosa's fun. Tell her I said hi. After we're done with all this, I'll have to get us all together for drinks or something. I have to run, but thanks for the updates! I'll connect with you when the meeting's over. Oh, and I sent you a message about landcraft a bit ago."

She nods. "I got it. I'll see what my folk can get done for you. Talk to you in a while."

I cut the connection and leave my quarters. As I pass the mess hall, I grab a few pieces of fruit and continue down to the 5th level. As I pass the 'up' stairway, I see Aelon coming up. He looks tired, and his hair's a bit of a mess. I guess he didn't sleep well at the storage bay workstation. I stop and wait for him. When he reaches the 5th level, I nod at him. "Hey, Aelon."

He snaps to attention and salutes. "Seventy-eight crates, Commander!"

I'm just barely able to contain the chuckle. "Thank you, LC. I appreciate that you kept track of all of them. I'll be sure to tell the Admiralty about it in my report."

With that, he seems to shift back into his normal over-confident obnoxious self. Grinning, he struts down the hall to the meeting, leaving me to just stand there and once again wonder if his body is really worth putting up with him all the time. I'll never understand Tanna's thinking on that one.

I get to the discussion chamber and salute Cap, who's already there. Eventually, everyone gets there and Cap starts the meeting. He explains the strategy behind our raid and how the Admiral is coordinating his parts, then turns it to me for detailed bits. I task Aelon with putting together driving directions for each location, Sen for preparing the battalion medics and her mobile tech for my team, and Tanna with the rest of the ship... again. She just shrugs. I can tell she's really not enjoying doing my job, but it's only a few days overall. And think of all the supervision time her LC is getting in Engineering!

The meeting ends, and Cap releases those three, leaving the five mission leaders in the room. I look around at Simon, Gimmir, and Lada as they log into their terminals. Cap and I also log into ours. Simon's the first to speak. "Our standard platoon structure is still good, and I've sent you a list of the platoon command ladders for each of your missions. I've also informed the squad leaders to shift focus to include more range in their weapon plans. We know the enemy has a dragon's-loot load of spellshooters, and isn't afraid to shoot someone with a crossbow, so we need to be prepared to shoot back."

Gimmir speaks up next. "I looked at the list of locations, and I'm not too happy with it. The warehouse and the temple are easy. Cap's unit is gonna take the warehouse while Lada's unit assaults the temple. The underground bunker is Simon's, and looks to be a tight battle. More face-to-face fighting in that one. The farm's not gonna be much fun either. They're gonna see my unit comin' from kilometers away and be prepared for us. I'm expectin' a long-range setup there. The only good I see in that one is that we'll see if they run, so they have no way out."

He turns to look at me and continues. "The one that really bothers me is the one Rylae's takin'. It's in a shoppin' area. I know it made sense at the time you were sendin' Zaxn in there, but I don't like it now that we're assaultin' it. Cap, are you sure we shouldn't change this around so someone else takes this one?"

I glance at Cap, and he's thinking it through. I wonder what he's going to say. I obviously can't take the bunker or the farmhouse – too much assault for me to handle. The temple and the warehouse are easier straightforward battles, but they're larger and likely to have a lot of enemies. They'll require tighter coordination of the squads, which I can't do. The shopping area... there'll be a lot of regular folk there. A lot of chance that I could get someone hurt who's innocent. We'll have to be quieter, more controlled, with more individual squad management.

Just as I realize how it's going to be difficult, I also realize it's the best one for me to manage. I excel at separating out and assigning tasks, and prioritizing items quickly without losing track of the bigger items. I'd be horrible in an all-out assault situation, but in a scenario like this, I might actually be able to do it.

Cap still hasn't said anything, so I look over at him to see him looking at me. Dragons be damned, he's waiting for me to decide! He knows he could just order things to be whatever he wants, but he also knows I've already thought it through and made a decision about myself. I nod at him, silently thanking him, then turn to Gimmir. "I think the shopping area is still the best option for me. The squads will be able to manage themselves individually without waiting for me to figure out what they need to do, and I'll be able to direct multiple processes simultaneously. I'm more likely to fail in one of the other four location scenarios."

Simon looks at Gimmir and nods. The Battalion Major sighs. "You have a point about failin' at the other locations. I guess we can't risk that. Best to leave things where they are and hope you don't accidentally kill any families while they're out buyin' food for their little ones."

I roll my eyes. "Thanks, Gimmir. I'll do my best to limit my family killing." Deep down, though, I don't feel like that's a joke. That's a valid worry, and I'll need to be extra careful making sure I'm pointing my soldiers at the gang members and not regular folk.

The others start discussing strategy while I take notes on things that are important. I can't follow most of the terminology they use, or the specifics of how one of their tactical changes affects someone else at a different location. If I had ever spent any real time in a battalion, things would be different, but I haven't. I have to rely on an entirely different type of focus for this mission. I really, really hope I don't screw it up.

Once their strategy session is complete, Cap looks at me. "How much time until mission start?"

I check my terminal. "Seven hours from now. The Admiral's side should be finished by then, and we should be good to start."

He nods. "Okay. Battalion will be ready and deployed outside in six hours. Let's go down and take command of our units. Rylae, have your platoon leaders get ya fitted for leather armor and set aside some weapons for ya. Get 'em to show ya how the helmet communicators work, too. I don't think ya've ever used 'em before, have ya?"

I shake my head and try very hard to stay calm. I've never worn actual armor in actual combat, or worn a helmet at all. Well, I guess if I want to be a captain, I should have actual combat experience. I just wish I had more time to sort everything out before rushing out as a unit commander in just a few hours! All the missions I've been on, I've never had to run into a large combat zone.

Then again, I've never lost my Ambassador before this mission, either. A lot of things can change based on the circumstances. I know that all too well already. Guess I should get over it and get moving instead.

We walk down to the battalion area and Gimmir calls the platoon leaders together, then assigns them to unit commanders. My leaders are a female elf, LC Alayna Rhuviel, and a male goblin, Sergeant Storx Bigstink. Looking at the LC, I can see now why Simon said I wasn't built to masquerade as an elite. Alayna's built like a brick shed with short blonde hair. Storx isn't small either, about 10 cm taller than I am and with shoulders about 20 cm wider than I am.

I'm not normally intimidated by anyone I'm supposed to be in command of. I handle command situations rather well. These folk, though... they intimidate me a bit. I need to get control of myself, and I need to do it right now. I push intimidated Rylae aside and pull out XO Westiel again. Rylae's good at being friends with everyone and can use that for a lot of command situations. XO Westiel, however... she just gets things done. Now's a good time for that.

"LC. Sergeant. Before I brief you on our target, let's get some personal logistics out of the way. I need a set of armor and weapons, and I need you to show me how the helmet communicators function."

LC Rhuviel's eyes narrow. She turns to Sergeant Bigstink, and they share a look. I know exactly what they're thinking – if I've never used a helmet communicator, then how am I qualified to lead their platoons? I need to stomp that flat quickly. "Lieutenant Commander Rhuviel. Is there a problem?"

She doesn't back down. She nods and looks directly at me. "Yes, ma'am. I'm concerned about your readiness to lead our folk in battle." Sergeant Bigstink nods in agreement.

I also nod in agreement. "Your concern is valid. I've never led a platoon in battle. Additionally, our target is potentially in an area full of non-combatants, and we have a crew member to extract. It requires our unit to be prepared for anything, and ready to do what needs to be done. As such, I'm going to rely on you and your squad leaders to make effective decisions where I can't. My job is to direct and plan. Your jobs will be to alter the plan as circumstances require. I don't plan to overrule your decisions. My job is to help you do your jobs as best I can, not to fight with you about details I don't fully understand."

The LC's eyes soften slightly. "I can accept that answer, ma'am. If you can trust us to do our jobs, we can trust you to point us at the enemy."

I smile back at her. "Thank you, LC. Now, let's go through the armory and I'll brief you while I'm trying on armor."

# CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I joined the United Corps of Starfield Travelers because I wanted to be a starship captain. Such a noble, worthy goal to have as a child. Travel the starfield, visit folk on lots of worlds, find new worlds and make them safe for folk who want to move there... help folk everywhere do all sorts of important things. Ten-year-old Rylae Westiel only imagined the happy parts of the job.

I grew older and started basic schooling, and I began to learn how the world worked. School is boring, and there's lots of work to do that isn't fun. Adults have to do work that isn't fun all the time, so being a starship captain obviously would come with a lot of times where the work isn't fun. Sometimes being a captain is probably as boring as watching rocks dry after a rainstorm. But it would still be a starship captain's job, so it would still be awesome even when it's boring.

Transferring to the Academy, I still held out high hopes. I was finally done with all the boring schooling, and was ready to learn the exciting things – all the awesome magic used to run a starship, all the interesting folk it takes to run a starship, all the exciting folk to meet on other worlds, all the wonderful things to see and experience. By this point, I knew the job was pretty much a choice between running a diplomatic ship, a message ship, a trade ship, or an exploration ship. Some of those choices didn't sound like much fun, but I would still be a starship captain.

I learned about the battalion in Academy, and have spent a lot of time training and learning how to fight. I understood that, sometimes, the only diplomatic solution was to send a bunch of ruffians to stand firm and hold the line. I accepted that, as a captain, there were times I'd have to make a call to a battalion major or master sergeant and give the go-ahead to start the fighting. I accepted that responsibility as important to the reasons we had to do it.

Once I joined the Corsari, I started learning that things aren't exactly like you're taught. For one, I didn't realize exactly how often a battalion is used in diplomatic missions. Turns out, it's used a _lot_ , and for a lot of different reasons. Over the years, I accepted those reasons, as most of them were beneficial to our overall missions. I was still okay with deploying the battalion when required.

As I worked my way up through my ranks, I met many battalion members and heard their stories. I recognized that they were folk just like me, but with different stories and situations. They're members of the ship as much as I am. And sometimes they die in battle. I've seen a lot of battalion members die on missions. However, I again accepted that as part of the cost of the missions. Not a cost I enjoyed knowing had to be paid, but a cost that sometimes was required. The battalion members also understand that, so while I still get sad for each individual member lost, I know each of them accepted that potential cost and is okay with being part of the mission.

I've had to be in a lot of fights myself. That's something I never expected when I first joined the Corps, but it's something I recognized as being just as much a part of the mission as deploying the battalion. I've been attacked by 'opposition groups' who objected to our presence as mediators on-world. I've been attacked by assassins aiming either for me directly or someone else on my ship. I've been attacked by hit-squads attempting to hurt dear friends. Every one of those times, I was defending myself or someone else, and I understood that sometimes you have to kill to defend. I accepted that, and added it to the list of things I didn't realize I had to do to be a starship captain.

Just a week ago, I recognized the 'warrior leader' mentality of Cap and Admiral Shockpaw. I knew that both of them were Battalion Majors in their pasts, and I saw how that mentality has helped them. I never thought about how they got that mentality, though. I've always known there were two ways to get to be a starship captain – through the battalion or through the executive officer track – but I never really considered the difference before.

Thinking about it now, I realize that all of the captains and admirals I know which chose the 'paper trail' route are different. They're more bureaucratic, spending more time at a desk than in the field. They worry more about the paperwork and regulations, and about what's 'proper'. Folk, like Admiral Longbow, who fret more about the language you use than the specifics of the mission.

The officers I've always respected, however, are the ones like Cap and Admiral Shockpaw. The ones who know how hard it is to achieve a mission. The ones who know that sometimes diplomacy and discussion can only be fully achieved after bloodshed. The ones who recognize when we're doing good work for good folk, but who sometimes need to help protect those good folk from bad folk.

I didn't join the UCST to fight in a battalion and kill folk. I didn't join the UCST to lead a battalion into a battle where they would fight to rescue a world essentially held under siege by power-hungry warlords. Ten-year-old Rylae, School-age Rylae, Academy Cadet Rylae, and even Ensign/Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Rylae didn't really understand all of the truths of the job of a starship captain.

As I sit in the driving compartment of Unit 5 Section B's landcraft, preparing to assault a shopping area building containing an unknown number of gang members, weapons, and my Lieutenant who needs to be extracted, I realize that Commander Rylae Westiel, Executive Officer of the UCST Corsari who took her captain's test a couple weeks ago, may be learning a new lesson today in the truths of being a starship captain.

It's a stunning realization, really. I should talk with Cap about it a bit more, when we all get back to the ship. _If_ we all get back to the ship.

I check the time on the terminal and look at the armored dwarf driving. "Five minutes, aye?"

He nods. "Aye, ma'am. On schedule."

Excellent. "Platoon leaders. Five minutes, confirm." The opening phrase connects my helmet communicator to my two platoon leaders so they receive the message. LC Rhuviel is in Unit 5 Section A's landcraft, and Sergeant Bigstink is in Unit 5 Section C's, both behind my leading landcraft. I hear them both confirm, and turn back to my tactical plan.

Based on LC Darkmuck's information, the shopping area contains four stores – a home supply store, a food and farming store, a landcraft sales store, and an off-world trading post, in that order. The off-world trading post, on the end, is our target. The Black Tongues use that store as a sales front for a lot of their smuggled merchandise, as well as a storage and recruiting location. It's where the raid sixty years ago killed most of the Darkmucks in 'the family'. Supposedly, the store was sold to another party after the raid, but I guess that was just another member of 'the family', or possibly Captain Darkmuck himself.

It doesn't do much business these days with most of the gang's off-world trading suspended, so we're hoping there are no non-combatants inside. Being close to the landcraft store, we're hoping that business there is slow today as well. There are two sets of doors on each of three sides, so we have a lot of area to cover. LC Rhuviel will be covering the front, Sergeant Bigstink will be covering the back, and I'll be on the third side, farthest from the landcraft building. Each landcraft has almost-three squads of nine folk. Some creative movement put some extra ranged soldiers in my craft to fill it out.

As our landcraft roll up to the shopping area, I can see a number of folk by the home and food stores, but the landcraft store between them and our target is practically a wall protecting them. Approximately two dozen landcraft are sitting in the area in front of the store, thankfully separating where we'll be fighting from the folk at the food store.

As we get closer to the target, I can see a handful of goblins standing outside the front doors, casually chatting. Once they notice us, they break for the doors like they're being attacked by monsters. I suppose that's a fairly accurate analogy, actually. "Platoon leaders. We've been noticed. Expect heavy defense." I hear their confirmations and return focus to the scene.

My driver goes past the front and turns the corner, swinging around and coming to a stop parallel to the building. As we stop, I can see Sergeant Bigstink's landcraft cut past us and round the corner to the back, coming to a stop. LC Rhuviel's team will be behind us at the front.

As soon as the landcraft stops, everyone jumps out. I take a position at the front of the landcraft, where I can see the action on all three sides. The squads in each section form up between the landcraft and the building, with only about 35 meters between us and the doors. I pull my spellshooter from its holster and hold it lowered at my right side, holding my combat shield up with my left arm to cover most of my body from shoulders to knees. Pressing the charm activates a magical resistance spell, coating the shield in a blue glow.

Kesn wrote us a small thing to say when we got here, so things are legal and there can be no question as to our intentions. "Activate amplify," I say into my helmet com. A small tinkle sound lets me know it's working. Every command helmet has an option to amplify voice for cases like this.

"Members of the Black Tongues. This Unit has been ordered by His Majesty, King Damnation, to raid and occupy this location. You may exit peacefully, lay down your weapons, and surrender, and you will be treated kindly. Otherwise, we will attack. You have one minute."

A few seconds after I stop talking, another tinkling sound lets me know that the amplify spell has ended. I begin counting in my head. The area's quiet, if you can ignore the clanking of steel armor.

As I get to fourteen, a flash of fire from the back of the building catches my eye. "All squads, contact rear. Begin attack."

I look ahead as the squads in my unit advance on the side of the building. An instant later, a dozen or so goblins with crossbows and spellshooters pop out of the doors and fire. They're frantic, disorganized, and don't appear to be aiming at anything in particular. A few bolts skitter along the packed clay ground where they fired too low, and a couple fly past to the side. Only one or two hit the advancing squads, and those bounce off harmlessly.

The goblins with spellshooters are a different matter. A fireball and three green-glowing force missiles hit the squads in varied positions. The foremost squad members are equipped with shields like mine, and are able to take the brunt of the fireball without much damage. The force missiles hit two soldiers on the left and one soldier on the right, knocking them backwards and on the ground. The medic with our group rushes to check on them while the holes in the formation are patched by nearby soldiers.

Our return fire begins. A lightning bolt cracks loudly between a spellshooter and the goblin it hit, sending him flying back into the wall of the store. He drops to the ground and appears out of the fight. I see another two goblins fall with crossbow bolts in their chests, one drops from a green force missile, and three on the left take a fireball straight on, taking them out.

The rest of the goblins fire again, except for one who ducks back inside, probably to alert the remaining gang members. My squads are about halfway between the landcraft and the building now, giving the goblins more accuracy. Four more squad members take force missiles and drop to the ground, and two take hits from crossbow bolts but don't fall. I see another fireball hit the front rank and dissipate.

Another handful of goblins run outside to take up positions and shoot at us. At that second, I hear LC Rhuviel's voice in my helmet, "Platoon leaders, contact Lieutenant, front." I glance to the front of the building just in time to see a large wall of fire appear between our attackers and the defending goblins. After a few seconds, the wall disappears and LC Rhuviel's attackers charge the doors.

I see a goblin turn the corner from the front to my side just as I hear Rhuviel's voice again. "Unit Command! Lieutenant cleared front enemies and is advancing on your sector!"

I look closely at the goblin on the corner, and it's definitely Zaxn. "Section B, contact Lieutenant Gloomfire left!" I get the command out to my team quickly, hoping no one shoots Zaxn by accident. Just then, I see him raise his arms to his chest like he's carrying something. Suddenly, he's holding a large ball of fire in his arms. Taking it in one hand, he swings his arm up and around, releasing the ball in the direction of the enemy goblins. The ball extends out, between us and the goblins, into a huge wall of fire.

Once it's fully extended, he swings his arm toward the building, and the wall of fire crashes into the goblins as it smashes into the wall behind them. When the fire dissipates, all of the gang members on our side are on the ground.

Wow. I shake off the surprise as quickly as I can. "Section B, advance into the building!" My squads take off at a run, quickly clearing the rest of the empty lot and rushing the doors. Three soldiers are still on the ground, and the medic is bouncing between them.

Once the soldiers are inside, Zaxn walks past the doors and continues to the rear of the building where there's still fighting. "Platoon leaders. Lieutenant cleared section B enemies, advancing on section C!"

I start running toward him as he reaches the corner and cradles another ball of fire in his arms. He throws another wall out and smashes it against the enemies in section C. I get to him as Sergeant Bigstick releases his squads to rush the building. Neither of us could possibly hear anything over the clanging armor, so I wait until it quiets down before I announce my presence to him.

Turning back to my section, I see two of the soldiers on the ground are gone, probably back up and inside the building now. There's still one soldier on the ground with the medic, but everyone else is inside clearing that out. I hope that one soldier is okay.

A hand taps the shoulder of my armor. I turn to see Zaxn standing next to me and smiling. "Hey, Rylae. I told you I'd bring the fire. I guess this means my spying job is done?"

Smiling, I nod back. "It is. Go grab a seat in the landcraft. We'll discuss things back at the ship."

He shakes his head. "I have to grab some evidence from inside. I'll help the soldiers while I'm in there, if they need me." He walks toward the closest set of doors, straight-backed and with his head held high. He doesn't look anything at all like the nerdy goblin boy I remember from a few days ago.

I wonder if that's good or bad.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The rest of the night passes quickly, and is mostly a blur of debriefing and trying to stay awake. First the mission unit leaders compare notes, then we bring in the rest of the senior officers for an update. After we dismiss them, Cap and I call the Admiral and Kesn to give them our report.

We only lost ten soldiers in total. Simon's team lost three when a squad was hit from behind while searching a tunnel in the underground bunker. Gimmir's team lost four to long-range fire while getting across the fields to the farmhouse. Lada, Cap and I each lost one to, as Cap succinctly put it, 'the law of averages'. I'm not altogether sure how I feel about that yet.

The Black Tongues lost a whole lot more than that. Sixty-four surrendered across all five locations. Another two hundred or so were killed. Those numbers were higher than we were expecting, but not higher than we were able to handle.

The evidence Zaxn found helped us tie the pieces together nicely. The goblin in charge of that storefront kept meticulous records. Every message from 'the family', every message between the locations, a nice list of all the assassination targets, and even an inventory of the illegal equipment at that location was all neatly filed and easily referenced. I suppose when you're an off-world crime lord, you have to make sure your commanders' record-keeping skills are top-notch.

The Admiral thanks us and asks us to send the evidence to the Palace immediately. I call Simon, who agrees to take a squad with him to deliver the documents. With that completed, Cap and I look at each other across his desk. He looks tired, and I'm sure I look rather wiped-out as well. Leaning back in the chair, I sigh. "Does this mean we can go to our beds now?"

Standing, he stretches his arms. "Aye, girl. Gotta be fresh for His MajesticDamnNessShip and Lord All High DontCallMeThat tomorrow."

I chuckle, which makes him smile. We walk through the ship together, stopping at the mess hall to grab some fruit and crackers. When we get to my quarters, Cap stops as I open the door.

"Ya did good today, Rylae. Nice job runnin' that unit."

I shrug. "LC Rhuviel and Sergeant Bigstick did all the real work. And Zaxn's fire magic. I just helped write up the plan."

He punches me in the shoulder. "Dumb elf. Ya got 'em to follow yer plan. There's a lot to be said fer that." Turning, he walks to his quarters without another word.

Huh. Never thought of it that way. I'll think about it more in the morning. Closing my door, I throw my uniform on the floor and drop into bed.

««»»

Checking my messages in the morning, I see one from the Admiral. He informs me that the meeting today with the King will be a lot more formal than it was before, and I need to bring all of the ship's senior officers along with all battalion platoon leaders from last night's mission. He also requests the full name of each of the battalion members lost in the mission, as well as Calgonnel's. No mention of what they're for, but I think I have an idea.

I send the names, then grab my communicator and start making calls. I tell Gimmir and Simon to bring the platoon leaders, and to have everyone wear formal attire. I don't know if I've ever actually seen what the battalion considers formal attire off-world, so that'll be new to me later.

With a couple hours before the meeting, I start catching up on ship details that I've missed over the last few days. Thankfully, while docked and busy with missions there hasn't been a whole lot going on. Engineering's still behind on maintenance, but still has enough battery to get us home. The food stores are starting to run low, but we won't starve. Maybe I can requisition some of that casserole from The Burning Hut. I'll call Rosa later to chat and see what she thinks.

Most of what we're running low on is equipment with smaller tech batteries, including communicators, caregiver tools, and cleaning tools. Those weren't really vital to launching the ship, so I had to let that slide. It's going to take a lot more time to get us back to full when we get back to Terra. I'll have to run a full tech inventory, including mana levels. Sigh. Full inventories are really boring.

I check through the handful of reports Tanna sent me while she was covering for me, and I don't see anything spectacular. One quarters fire (you'd be surprised how often that happens, actually), two security lapses while none of the senior officers were around to catch them, and... one ensign reprimanded for impersonating the XO's squeaky nasal voice. Very funny. I should requisition special ass-grabbing gloves for all of her ensigns.

The timer on my terminal beeps, warning me to get ready for the trip to the Palace. I finish looking through the current report, shut off the terminal and grab my dress uniform, changing quickly. I glance at the belt full of sleep darts, which is still hanging in my wardrobe, but I'll be leaving the ship unarmed for the first time since we arrived. It's a nice feeling. I close the wardrobe and head to the staging area.

A few folk are there when I arrive, and the rest of our group files in quickly. The platoon leaders are each wearing black leather armor with insignia and medals attached to straps across the chest. The senior officers are wearing standard dress uniforms, except for Gimmir and Simon who have adorned theirs with insignia and medals similar to the platoon leaders, marking their positions as battalion leaders. Once all nineteen of us arrive, Cap opens the doors and waves us to a folk-mover. We can all easily fit in one, so we climb into the large back compartment and grab some seats on the benches. Cap sits up front with Gimmir, who's driving.

I decide to take a seat at the end of a bench closest to the front. Sen slides into place beside me. I turn to say something, but her eyes are on Zaxn. He takes a seat at the farther end of the craft with Sergeant Bigstick, the two having an animated discussion about something. Every couple words, the Sergeant smiles and slaps Zaxn on the shoulder. Zaxn's laughing while talking, and looks more relaxed than I've ever seen him before.

Sen turns to me and scowls. "Hey, Pointy Ears. What did you do to my Pincushion? He won't talk to me since you brought him back, and he's different now. Almost like he's happy. This is because of that whole 'naked thing' I did to you, isn't it? I don't like it. Fix him back."

Sometimes, the hardest part of my job is to listen to the problems of my crew members without laughing my ass off. Sen is legitimately angry with me for Zaxn's personality change. I'm not really sure what I can say to defuse her, so I guess I'll just tell her the facts and let her figure it out from there.

Looking in her eyes, I manage to hold back a smile and tell her in a serious voice, "During the mission last night, Zaxn killed more enemies with walls of fire than my two platoons of soldiers combined, then instructed the platoon leaders on where to dig up the juiciest information stashes. I didn't do anything to help change him, but I'm also not really in agreement that he's broken."

She looks like she's about to argue with me, then I can see a bit of confusion cross her face instead. She turns back to look at him and doesn't say anything else to me for the rest of the short trip. I feel a little bad for her – she did lose her goblin 'bottom', after all – but I'm happier with the obvious changes in my Chief Science Officer. I need to have a chat with him within the next couple days.

When we arrive at the Palace, we step out of the landcraft to see a full honor guard waiting. There must be a hundred soldiers lined up. Seeing them, the platoon leaders form up in a two-line formation to our right behind Gimmir and Simon, and the senior officers attempt to create something resembling straight lines behind Cap and myself. It's not pretty, but this isn't exactly a practiced maneuver for us. Maybe I should create something and drill us on it.

Once we're organized, the commander of the honor guard shouts a command, and the entire guard drops to one knee, lowering their heads toward us. They hold that for a few seconds, then stand in one motion. I'm absolutely floored by the respect of that gesture.

In response, we snap to attention and salute. We didn't have a command, and I can't see anyone but Cap out of the corner of my eye, but I doubt a single member of my crew took longer than half a second to decide to do it. A show of respect like the one we just received deserves a reply.

We drop the salute as a guard with additional decorations breaks formation and walks over to Cap. "Captain Gravelhand. Commander Westiel. I am Captain Lusz Sourstrike, commander of the Stenchstone Palace Guard. On behalf of the Guard, I welcome you and your crew to the Stenchstone Palace. His Majesty, King Damnation, is waiting to receive you inside. The Guard will escort you, if you will please follow me."

Cap and I salute in reply, and Captain Sourstrike turns to his soldiers. With a gesture, they form rank around us, and we begin the walk inside. The path through the Palace winds us down large passages wide enough for six or seven folk shoulder-to-shoulder and the Guard use that space to keep from crowding us while still formed around our group.

Looking around, I realize I wasn't really paying attention to the building the last time I was here. Something about first sneaking in and then being led out personally by the King might have distracted me a bit. This time it's difficult not to notice the immense tapestries covering the red clay walls between the passageway openings. From flora to fauna, they depict numerous outdoor scenes and events. Many are simply woven together from artistic colors, and some are obviously representations of stories containing heroic goblins of history.

I notice groups of goblins gathered in the adjoining passageways, separated from us by additional guards. As we pass, some of the goblins raise their hands in salute while others bow their heads. These must be other workers and families in the Palace.

The Captain of the Guard takes his time walking us through the Palace. I assume that's to let more folk see us as we pass. I find I'm caught up in the spectacle myself, looking at the folk in the passageways and smiling. These are folk who haven't interacted with off-worlders in many years, but they seem happy to see us instead of fearful and isolationist.

As we walk farther into the Palace, I notice more and more folk in the side passages. I'm starting to wonder exactly what we're walking into. This is a much larger event than I originally expected it to be. I was expecting a small meeting with the King to go over the evidence and accept condolences for our fallen soldiers. I definitely wasn't expecting something the whole world was invited to!

I glance at Cap, but he doesn't seem any different. Small meeting, large meeting, stand-in-front-of-the-world meeting... he's generally unconcerned by it. I wonder if this kind of thing happens to him often. I knew I wasn't fully prepared to be a starship captain as soon as 'tomorrow', but this mission keeps pointing things out to me that I really hadn't thought of as prerequisites. Center-of-attention exhibition management is definitely on that list.

As we turn a corner, I see this passageway ends at large doors made from red clay. A contingent of Guard is stationed outside of the door, along with a few other goblins. Coming closer, I immediately recognize the two in the center of the group as Admiral Bax Shockpaw and Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief. The Admiral is dressed in a dark red tunic over tan slacks, with a chest piece woven in a geometric design similar to some of the tapestries we passed. Over his shoulders is a dark blue cape with white embroidery and tassels. Kesn is wearing a tight black dress with short sleeves and a modest neckline. It ends at her knees, showing her green legs ending in black shoes with a small heel.

Standing next to Kesn, Lieutenant Commander Spazkin Darkmuck looks incredibly uncomfortable in a UCST dress uniform which doesn't appear to fit perfectly. I doubt he's had to wear it a single time in the last twenty years. Looking at him again, though, I'm not entirely sure that his comfort problem is because of his wardrobe. I remember him saying previously that he didn't know anyone at the Palace, so I wonder if this is his first time here.

Then I realize that I didn't actually know he was going to be here, so Kesn or the Admiral would have had to call him with the invitation. I think I now know exactly why he's uncomfortable! If the mission up to now hadn't made him uncomfortable yet, being invited to the Palace by the previous King certainly would do it! _And_ he's part of the center of the entire spectacle, which is quite a bit different for someone who's normally in a warehouse all day!

Nex Darkraider, Stenchstone Overseer, stands to the far left, wearing a tan business suit over a white shirt with a matching tan necktie. As I'm looking in that direction, he turns to me causing our eyes to meet. He smiles brightly, with a hint of sadness and condolence in his eyes. My heart twists briefly over the shared memory of Calgonnel, and I return the sad smile briefly before looking away in an attempt to hold back the emotions.

I don't recognize the older goblin woman standing between the Admiral and the Overseer, but she's beautifully covered in a dress that matches the colors the Admiral is wearing – dark red across the shoulders, arms and upper-chest, and tan with beading down to a flowing skirt that reaches her feet. The red area is embroidered with many designs, and the entire dress was obviously made by hand. On her head rests a red scarf with the six colored moons of Stenchstone embroidered on it, covering her silvery hair.

The Admiral steps forward. "Captain Gravelhand. Commander Westiel. Senior members of the crew and battalion of the UCST Corsari. It is with great honor and appreciation that I welcome you to the garden of His Majesty, King Damnation the fourteenth. His Majesty awaits your company inside. If Captain Sourstrike agrees to transfer you to my care, I will escort you inside."

The Captain nods, barks a command, and the Guard steps away from us smartly to take up positions along the walls. As he does this, Admiral Shockpaw takes the opportunity to lean forward between Cap and I and whispers to us, "Friends, please do not comment on it. I know you have seen the paintings, but the real thing is quite embarrassing."

As he steps away, Cap and I share a glance but nothing more. The large doors are opened, and we look into the garden at the center of the Palace. Not that our eyes immediately notice a garden, as our attention is captured by the ten-meter-tall statue in the center.

The first thought I have is how the Overseer told us that it wasn't in color, and I just barely hold in a chuckle.

# CHAPTER THIRTY

The statue of UCST Battalion Major Bax Shockpaw truly is awe-inspiring, even cast completely in reddish-orange clay instead of the multi-colored paintings hanging in offices. It's five times larger than he is, with an arm permanently raised and holding the crown of King Damnation. A flail with three spiky heads is in his right hand, and the 'last goblin king' is face-down on the ground below his left foot.

I look back at the regular-sized Admiral in front of me, and I can easily understand why this would be so embarrassing for him. But he's also the warrior who brought a hundred years of peace to Stenchstone, and he has a world full of folk who recognize him for it. He deserves the statue, even if it is very large and a bit embarrassing.

Our path takes us straight to the base of the statue, where I can see the King standing alone. A number of Guard members surround the statue area, where multiple garden paths full of goblin folk branch out. I don't know if they are the same ones who were in the passageways earlier or if these folk have been here the entire time. I generally don't want to think too hard about how many local folk are here to watch us!

The Admiral stops us a few steps from the King, then takes his group another step forward, where they split to the sides – Kesn and LT Darkmuck on our right, the Overseer and the other goblin woman on the left. Admiral Shockpaw takes an additional step forward to the King's feet, then kneels in front of him.

"Your Majesty," the Admiral begins, the effects of an amplify spell filling the garden with his voice, "it is my honor to escort the crew members of the UCST starship, the Corsari, to this audience. Will you speak with them?"

The King bends slightly, extending both hands to place his fingertips against the sides of the Admiral's head. "Indeed," he says, also using an amplify spell, "I will speak with these honored guests. Thank you, Your Excellency, Admiral Shockpaw, for your assistance. Please stand with me as an honored advisor and accept these guests with me."

The Admiral stands, bows slightly, then steps to the King's right and turns to face us. At the sight of the two standing together, the crowd erupts in cheers and applause, which lasts for several minutes. No one attempts to stop them or request silence, instead waiting for the atmosphere to revert on its own. The folk of Stenchstone haven't seen their previous King for forty years. They deserve the time as much as Admiral Shockpaw deserves the attention, even if he is embarrassed by it.

When the cheering subsides, the King looks out to the crowd. "Folk of Stenchstone. As depicted by the statue above me, this world of peaceful goblins began almost one hundred years ago with the fall of the 'last goblin king'. His Excellency's actions that day, and throughout his reign as King, were a notice to the gangs and warlords of old that this world was not theirs, and would never be theirs again. This world belongs to the peaceful goblin folk of Stenchstone, not to tyrants!" A few cheers rise, but he continues on.

"During my reign, I have worked to complete that which my predecessor began. With the capture fifteen years ago of the goblin we believed to be the last true leader of the infamous Black Tongue gang, our world has seen a peace like no other. We have been free of gang terror and warlord tyranny.

"Unfortunately, that was not to last. The arrival of His Excellency on the UCST starship Corsari led us to begin a new investigation. The investigation unearthed many things, which I will make public to you now.

"Many of you remember the Black Tongue Massacre. The forty-fifth anniversary of that painful day is tomorrow. Thirty-two of our folk lost their lives that day, and His Excellency vowed revenge on the tyrants for those lost folk.

"What no one knows is that a follow-up massacre was planned five years later. His Excellency was given the choice to save the folk of his world by relinquishing the crown and leaving Stenchstone permanently. There was no hesitation in his decision. He left his world and his folk that day to save them." He turns to the Admiral and places a hand on each shoulder. "I'm glad to finally have the chance to let him know, directly, how much the folk of Stenchstone thank him for that painful decision."

Releasing the Admiral's shoulders, the King drops to one knee, takes his crown in his hands, and bows his head. "Your Excellency, on behalf of the peaceful goblin folk of Stenchstone, I personally thank you for the sacrifice you made to protect us that day."

The Admiral, and indeed the entire crowd, is stunned into silence. After a second, Admiral Shockpaw lays a hand on the King's shoulder. "Your Majesty, it has always been my place to do what is necessary for the folk of Stenchstone. This is why I chose you to lead them in my absence. I would change nothing, and would sacrifice again if it was required."

The crowd roars in cheers and applause as the King stands, replaces the crown upon his head and shakes the Admiral's hand. When the noise level drops again, the King turns to the crowd and continues his speech. "Forty years later, His Excellency, in his capacity as Admiral with the United Corps of Starfield Travelers, received a message requiring him to return to our world. The contents of the message were false – simply a lure to blame another massacre on his return to Stenchstone."

At this, he turns and gestures to our group. "The crew of the UCST starship Corsari, upon learning the message was false, began an investigation on their own initiative, led by their Executive Officer, Commander Rylae Westiel. Commander Westiel's crew was able to piece together all of the information necessary to lead an assault on the hidden remains of the Black Tongue gang, which was completed last night. Because of these folk in front of me today, the Black Tongue gang is finally and truly destroyed, and the folk of Stenchstone are safe once again!"

As the crowd again begins cheering, I try to process exactly what was just said. The King, in a speech to his entire world, just named me personally for leading the investigation and saving their world from the planned assassinations. I'm extremely proud of myself and my crew, extremely embarrassed for being publicly mentioned like that, and extremely aware of a thousand or more goblins looking at me right now. It's a lot of feeling to process at once.

This time, instead of waiting for quiet, the King raises his arm as a signal, and the loud cheering immediately drops into silence. With a somber demeanor, he begins speaking again. "Freeing the folk of Stenchstone was not without cost. Eleven members of the UCST Corsari's crew lost their lives during the investigation and the assault. We cannot reverse that cost, but we can honor their sacrifice for our world by forever maintaining their names in this garden!"

Stepping to the side, he turns away from us to face a red cape with embroidery similar to the Admiral's. Removing the cape, he reveals a large red stone directly at the feet of the statue of Battalion Major Shockpaw. Engraved on the stone, I can easily read the names of our fallen crew, including Ambassador Calgonnel Telathyr.

I see Cap turn to look at me, and turn to meet his eyes. I nod, and we snap to attention and salute the stone. As one, I can hear the rest of my crew behind me salute, while Admiral Shockpaw and LC Darkmuck salute as well. We hold the salute for about a minute, until the Admiral lowers his hand.

The King turns back to us and smiles. "I have one last gift to bestow upon you all, as we honor your crew today. I would like to present each of you with a royal chestpiece, as a token of thanks from the folk of Stenchstone, and from myself personally. Each of these has been crafted by hand by the royal seamstress for Stenchstone royalty, which now includes the crew of the Corsari. I now ask the royal seamstress, Bmundn Gloomfire, to present them to our new family."

The goblin woman I didn't recognize earlier picks up a basket filled with small tube-shaped packages and steps forward to us. She solemnly hands a package to Cap, who accepts it with a smile, then steps behind him to work her way down the line of crew members before coming back up on my side. When she reaches Zaxn, fourth behind me, she stops to give him a big hug before continuing.

She stops in front of me with the last package and smiles. "Thank you for taking care of my son, Commander Westiel."

As she hands me the package, I take her hand for a second. "Mrs. Gloomfire, it's been my honor to have him as a friend and member of my staff." I release her hand, and can see tears start to form in her eyes as she steps away. Dragons be damned, that makes _my_ eyes start to tear up!

Admiral Shockpaw steps forward and turns to face the King. "Your Majesty. On behalf of the crew of the Corsari, I thank you for your gifts, and especially for your recognition. It is our duty to assist in the betterment and safety of all worlds, and we were happy to perform admirably for the folk of Stenchstone during this visit. There is still work to be completed, but I can say with certainty that this will be the end of the Black Tongue influence on this world."

A cheer is raised, and the crowd applauds for a minute before the King raises his hand for silence. "Thank you, Your Excellency. Additionally, I would like to make one final announcement before calling this gathering to a close. For over two thousand years, Stenchstone has kept itself away from other worlds, with only light trade between us. This was first to allow the gangs of previous kings to retain power, while the last hundred years of isolation has been to help us rebuild and maintain our safety.

"With His Excellency's return and the visit by the crew of the UCST Corsari, we have realized we need to again be active with other worlds. As such, we will begin to increase trade with other worlds and races, increase the local presence of the UCST, and continue to welcome His Excellency, Admiral Bax Shockpaw, to regularly return to Stenchstone. It's time to show other folk that peaceful goblin civilizations can exist!"

The cheering and applause grows loud again for multiple minutes as the King and the Admiral stand shoulder-to-shoulder and look out over the crowd. When the crowd starts to calm again, the King raises both arms.

"I wish you all a peaceful day as you return to your jobs and families. Thank you for coming to the Palace today. It has been an honor to see so many of you!" Dropping his arms, the crowd appears to begin to retreat down the paths they have been standing on while the Guard guides them to other exits from the garden.

Once the crowd has thinned a bit, Admiral Shockpaw returns to his group while the King comes to ours. Smiling, he reaches out a hand to Cap. "Captain, if you don't mind, we're going to take you and your crew for lunch in the large dining room. I considered using the small dining room, but your Commander has seen that it's not really in a condition for guests."

Cap shakes the King's hand. "Works for me, Yer Majesticness. And thank ya for remindin' me that I never apologized for the elf sneakin' into yer fancy home here."

Chuckling, the King winks at me. "I think I can forgive her, considering the circumstances. I have a feeling she makes a habit of things like this."

I roll my eyes. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not having me locked up. Your kindness is the reason your folk adore you."

He laughs and turns to lead us out. As we reach them, the Admiral's group merges with ours. Kesn steps up next to me and grins. "Congratulations, Commander Westiel. With all that direct mentioning of your name, by tonight you'll be in all the gossip stories as His Majesty's newest concubine. And his first elf! You should be proud!"

Laughing, I put an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think proud is the right word, but who am I to ruin the fantasies of the common folk? Mostly, I'm just wondering why I'd be interested in being a concubine for any of them. You said one and a half out of three, and I'm still trying to figure out which parts of these three stuffy old men you had to add up to find _that much_ attractiveness among them. If we include the Overseer, I can almost see it, I guess."

She pokes me in the ribs. "If we add Nex, then my count changes, because he's one-and-a-half by himself!"

That makes me laugh again as she steps away. "Speaking of Nex, I need to go find Rosa so she can join us for lunch. Save us seats so we can chat more." She turns away, then turns back quickly while grinning. "I'm glad you're awesome. Having a friend will make the whole transition easier."

I walk about five more steps before her words really hit me. What transition?

# CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

It amuses me when I'm right, even if I'm the only one who knows I'm right. The large dining room really is so extravagantly oversized that it blows my mind. You could easily fit a thousand folk at the tables in this hall, and still have space for six or seven musical groups to play at the same time while a few hundred folk are dancing.

Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but if it is, it's not by much. There are twenty or thirty tables in here, and each table looks like it can seat thirty or forty folk comfortably. The area surrounding the tables is large enough for a landcraft to pass through without bumping anything. I could probably throw a ball and not make it completely across the room in any direction. These Stenchstone Kings sure know how to build a palace!

Along with my crew, there are another forty-or-so folk that are joining the lunch party. I notice the Guard captain among them, so I assume they're all important folk in one way or another – probably other important officials that work in the Palace, but possibly also reporters and rich businessfolk. I also notice a few goblins that seem to just be normal, regular folk. The King appears to leave himself open and available to his subjects, which is probably quite a bit different than the previous warlord kings before 'the last goblin king' fell.

The King sits himself, Admiral Shockpaw, Cap, and the Overseer at the head of one table, then gestures for the rest of us to take whatever seats we choose among the tables. The seats nearest him, both at his table and the tables on either side, fill up quickly with local goblins as well as some of my goblin platoon leaders.

I see Sergeant Bigstick choose a seat directly behind the Admiral, then hold the two to his left against all takers. When the commotion dies down slightly, he waves to someone. I glance in that direction to see Zaxn wave back, then begin to escort his mother toward the empty seats. When they get closer, the Sergeant pulls the closest chair for Mrs. Gloomfire, while Zaxn sits on her left side.

Needing to find my own seat, I give Tanna a questioning look, and she gives Aelon a questioning look. Aelon doesn't notice, though, as his eyes are on LC Darkmuck at the farthest table. He turns to Tanna, shrugs, pinches her ass, then strides off to sit with the LC. Tanna looks back at me with wide eyes, but all I can respond with is a shrug and a hand gesture to follow me. Once it appears everyone is settled, I walk to the closest table and grab two seats farthest away from the King. Just as I get comfortable, I see Kesn escorting Rosa into the room, and wave her over to take the seats opposite us.

A few seconds after we're seated, a steward approaches and offers to hang our jackets. Rosa hands over the light blue suit jacket she's wearing, revealing a dark blue top with her pink skirt. Tanna and I both remove our jackets, and the steward takes them to a rack which mysteriously appeared a few meters behind us.

The steward is immediately followed by servers with glasses and carafes of light red wine. We each receive a full glass as the workers move down the tables. Once everyone has a drink, the King stands and raises his glass. "To peace, prosperity, new friends, and old friends!" We all raise our glasses to his toast, then drink. The wine is sweet and tastes a bit like cherries. This is another thing I need to see if I can requisition for the trip back to Terra!

As the servers immediately come back around to refill our glasses, another set of workers begin moving carts filled with food to the tables. The servers finish filling glasses, set their carafes down, and start circling the tables again to pass out food. A male goblin approaches us and bows slightly. "Ladies, might I have your requests?"

I gesture to Kesn and Rosa to go first, as I fully plan to just copy their choices. Rule number one of eating at a new place is to trust the regulars! Rule number two is to trust your girls to know what you'll like. I've only known these two for a few days, but I've noticed patterns in the folk I tend to become friends with, and I expect the same here.

Sure enough, as Kesn makes her food requests – a small salad, bowl of cobblestone casserole, and slice of bizzonberry pie – her eyes dart to me as she chooses things she thinks I should try. Rosa does the same thing with her requests, suggesting a bowl of antlerbeast stew and two small fruit tarts. A quick look to Tanna, and we're sorted. She copies Kesn's requests and I copy Rosa's. We then spend the next ten minutes sampling bites of everything from each other's dishes.

Once I finish eating, I have a drink of wine and sit back with a happy sigh. The other girls finish within a minute or so, and we sit comfortably. The servers come back around to refill our glasses and remove our dishes. When they leave, Tanna sits up and looks across the table. "Okay, Rosa. Rylae told me the whole story about the other day, so you know we're dying to know what happened during your night on the ship and dinner with Simon!"

Kesn sits up straighter. "Which one's Simon?" I point him out at the other table, and she chuckles. "Oh yeah! I met him at the door of the ship the other day. Swoon!" She turns and pokes Rosa in the ribs.

"Ow!" Rosa giggles and smacks Kesn's hand away, then turns to Tanna. "If you must know... sadly, nothing happened. Simon's hotter than a freshly baked fruit tart, but he's not the friendliest goblin I've ever met. All business, that one. The night on the ship, he set me up with a guest quarters, but wouldn't stay with me even though I was a bit of a mess after seeing the fight and Ambassador and stuff. He had your caregiver check on me, but that was all.

"He never did accept my invitation for dinner. He called me after Rylae woke up and told me she thanked me for the help, but that was all. I tried to chat with him and invited him out again, but got nothing from him. I'm glad I gave him my number, because that worked out for you when you needed me, but there was sadly no connection for us."

Tanna sighs. "Stupid goblin. Rylae told him to take you to dinner! I'll kick his ass later when we get back to the ship."

I chuckle and pat Tanna's shoulder. "I've seen him fight, girl. I don't think you're capable of kicking his ass. Get Lada to do it for you." She laughs and I turn to Rosa. "Sorry, babe. He'd have to be as stubborn as a dwarf to not be interested in you. I tried to help as much as I could!"

Rosa shrugs and takes a drink. "I'm not bothered by it. I have plenty of local men to pick from that I wouldn't have to wait to see only once a year or so!"

I grin and cock my head to look at Kesn. "Once a year, or, say... once every forty years?"

Her eyes fly open, and I can see Tanna and Rosa perk up as they focus in. No one says anything for a few seconds, then Kesn smiles a big ambassadorial smile and lifts her glass. "No comment, Commander," she says, then takes a drink.

Tanna gives her a look. "I don't buy it. Even Aelon commented on how beautiful you are. There's no way you don't have a line of men at your door every night!"

Kesn laughs. "Please, ladies! I never said I was chaste! But I also never said I 'waited' for anyone." Her eyes dart between the three of us. "I'll admit to... hmm... 'reconnecting with an old friend with whom I had a close working relationship', and even 'taking advantage of an unexpected situation', but never to 'waiting'. And before anyone has the idea, those points have nothing at all to do with why I'm leaving with you!"

All of our eyes go wide, and Rosa gasps. I shake my head. "No one told me about that! When was that decided?"

Kesn's brow creases, and she turns to stare at the men sitting closest to the King. "Your Captain was supposed to tell you days ago! I made the request when His Excellency arrived at the Palace on the first day, and it was approved by him and your Captain... the next day after we were in lockdown. Oh."

I nod and smile. "Yeah, it's been a busy week since we've been here. Aside from direct mission details, I haven't talked with Cap about many things. And there were those few days where he was locked in the Palace while I was in the hospital ward. It's possible it slipped his mind. Maybe we should remind him before you show up at the ship with your bags?"

She nods, then stops and shakes her head. "No, I know things are okay. I confirmed it with His Excellency yesterday after the missions were complete, and he's technically your Captain's boss anyway, so I know if he knows then your Captain knows."

I nod in agreement. "Yeah, those two talk constantly. Well, then, I guess it's just the rest of us that didn't know! Why are you leaving? What are you going to be doing on Terra?"

She smiles. "Rylae, I've been an Ambassador for 55 years on a world that doesn't communicate much with other worlds. Most of my job has been validating messages between the King and the few worlds we trade with, checking with message and trade ships that dock, maintaining communication between the Guard and the Overseer, and helping local folk with representation. It's not a complicated job, but His Excellency gave it to me when he was working on his reorganization plans for Stenchstone, and I was happy for it. It's just grown a little stale, and there are other assistants that I've already recommended as my replacement to help the King with his new 'interstellar community' plans."

She pointedly nudges Rosa with her elbow, which makes the younger goblin girl tense up in surprise. I smile in agreement and wink at her. Rosa would make an excellent Ambassador.

Kesn chuckles at her reaction and continues. "As for what I'll be doing..." Her smile takes on a hint of sadness. "It wasn't originally in my plan, but when His Excellency and your Captain agreed to my request, they made me a very specific offer. After I fast-track through some training on Terra, I won't be staying on Terra. I'll be joining the Corsari as the ship's new Ambassador."

I look at Tanna, but her face is as blank as mine must be. I don't know how to respond to that. So many things running through my head with that revelation. On one hand, I'm thrilled that my new friend is joining my ship. On another hand, I'm glad to know the open position on my staff is being filled with someone I can trust. On yet another hand, I know that senior officer hiring decisions are the Captain's to make, but I'm disappointed that I wasn't consulted. On one more hand... Calgonnel.

I push the bad emotions away and let the happy ones win. Smiling, I extend my hand across the table. "Ambassador, it's an honor to welcome you to the Corsari, and to have you on my team."

I see her release the breath she was holding. I guess my warring emotions were a little too plain on my face. She smiles and reaches out to shake my hand. "Commander, it'll be my pleasure to work with you... eventually... after my training period."

Releasing her hand, I take another drink. "When are you coming to the ship?"

She shrugs. "I think it'll take at least another four days. I still need to break in my replacement, which will be best to do while helping the currently-docked starship's Executive Officer with resupply needs. And I'm pretty sure His Majesty hasn't even offered her the job yet, so I need to get on him about that while her boss is also here today."

Rosa tenses up again, which makes Kesn laugh. Looking around, I notice some folk have started walking around to have conversations with others. Kesn also seems to notice, and stands. "Ladies, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go ask His Majesty about that point right now." She winks at Rosa and walks away.

Once she's out of earshot, I pick up my glass and turn to the goblin. "It sounds like a lot of things are about to start changing on Stenchstone. I sure hope the new Ambassador is up for the job! But I can't imagine anyone Kesn recommends would be unprepared for it." I raise my glass to her and take a drink. She just stares back at me, too dumbstruck by the entire situation to reply. I smile as Tanna chuckles beside me.

I hear footsteps approaching and turn to see Cap and the Admiral walking toward us. I tap Tanna's shoulder and we stand to meet them. The Admiral smiles at us. "Commanders. From the questions I just heard Kesn ask of His Majesty, I assume she has informed you of the details of her transition."

I nod and smile. "She has. I wish I had known sooner, but we've been a bit busy so I understand. I'm glad to have her." I turn to Cap for the next part. "We'll have to discuss what this means for our departure time, along with other details I know the two of you have already worked out."

Cap grins behind his beard. "We'll get the work done, elf. No need to ride me like a borrowed landcraft! We still have a few days to get things sorted before launch. Tonight, though, we're gonna take a much-needed break and have some fun. His Damnationcyship over there has been goin' on all this time about the damned card game we didn't get to have the other day and how we're doin' it today instead."

The Admiral chuckles. "Rylae. Indeed, Xarm would like to have you join us. I believe he has some folk he would like to introduce you to."

Before I can reply, Tanna wraps an arm around me. "Are any of them tall, attractive and single? This girl still needs a boyfriend bad, and I didn't have time to find one for her on Terra."

I punch her in the shoulder as Cap rolls his eyes and the Admiral chuckles behind his hand. Behind them, I see Kesn and the Overseer walking toward Rosa. I gesture quickly to draw everyone's attention to them instead of me. I'd much rather hear and see that conversation happen than continue this one!

The squeal of delight that Rosa had been keeping bottled up for most of our after-lunch conversation is totally worth it.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I wish I could say I enjoyed the card game, but that would be a lie. I'm mostly just glad it's over. There were ten folk there total – me, Cap, the Admiral, the King, the Overseer, that one guy from the thing, that woman who owned something-or-other, the man who knew that one other goblin the Admiral also knew, the woman who once did something and was involved in something else, and the other woman who used to do something with starships. I honestly don't remember any of them.

Overall, it was just another wonderful reminder of why I'm not an Ambassador, and why I need some kind of study into how to deal with that kind of situation in the future. If these are the things I'm supposed to do as a captain, I need to work on them. I doubt I did a good job of pretending I had fun, although no one ever called me on it. I just wanted nothing more than to go back to the ship.

Now that I'm in my own quarters and done with it, I feel a little better. Today was a good day. Standing less than a meter from my own bed, I can see the good in a lot of things. Especially that pillow.

I log onto my terminal and send a meeting notice to my staff for mid-morning. After setting an alarm for myself, I toss my dress uniform on the chair and crawl happily into bed. Everything's better when you know the next few days are going to be normal.

««»»

The beeping wakes me from a pleasant dream. I feel good today! Ready to get back to work and get the ship organized! Well, maybe in five minutes.

I reach an arm out to tap the holoterminal and instead hit something soft and decidedly not like a chair or table. Opening my eyes, I look over to see a certain Chief Engineer of mine wearing a robe and snoozing in my chair with her bare legs up on my table between me and my terminal.

The beeping finally wakes her as well, and she opens her eyes to find and tap the terminal to stop it. Looking around, she sees me and smiles. "Hey, girl! Have fun last night? Bring anyone home? Got any indecent marks on any indecent body parts?"

Rolling my eyes, I sit up and drop the blanket so she can see my uncovered top half. "Check for yourself. Nothing happened last night. It was just a bunch of diplomatic weirdos who wanted to be able to say they met me."

She checks my neck and ears, then my chest, then lifts and looks around my arms. I'd be more irritated if she hadn't been doing this to me every morning after I spend a night out without her for the last thirty-some years. Finally, she clicks her tongue and sits back in the chair. "Shame. That Overseer was kinda hot. I was hoping you wouldn't pass on that one."

I sigh and get out of bed to grab my robe. "That's what Kesn thinks, too. I have this scary feeling I'm going to start waking up to both of you in here checking me!" Pulling my robe on, I turn around to her. "Maybe I should check you, now!"

She laughs. "Nah. Aelon was out with Darkmuck most of the night drinking. Came back a few hours ago, came in my quarters, and started snoring so bad I had to leave. If his quarters weren't always such a mess, I'd have gone in there, but I finally decided your chair was better than that oaf's snoring in my ear. So there's nothing to check. Sorry for that."

I shake my head, turn my back on her and go into the washroom to clean myself. I've been hearing about the drunken snoring and messy quarters for three years now. Sometimes I wonder if she tries so hard to find me a boyfriend just so she can distract herself from Aelon. But I learned long ago that there's no value in arguing with Tanna about her boyfriends, so I just shrug it off. She is the way she is.

Once I'm clean, I step back out and see Tanna using my terminal. Opening the wardrobe, I grab a clean uniform that I keep in the back just for days like this and toss it over to the bed by Tanna. The sound of it hitting gets her attention, and she looks over and smiles. "Thanks, Rylae! I knew it was a good idea to always keep one of my uniforms in here. Yours just don't fit properly!" She logs out of the terminal and heads into my washroom.

Once I'm dressed, I log onto the terminal and send a quick request to Kesn about the wine and pie from lunch yesterday and the casserole from the Burning Hut. I also let her know that I'll send her a resupply list by the end of the day. Since we can't get most of what we need until we reach Terra, I don't expect it to take too long.

I stand and stretch my legs, then see my dress uniform on the other chair. I grab it to toss it in the basket by my wardrobe, but it feels heavier than it should. That's when I remember the packet Mrs. Gloomfire gave each of us and fish it out of the inside pocket of the jacket.

It's about 20 cm long and maybe 2 cm thick, with a piece of parchment wrapped around it. I carefully tear the parchment and pull out a piece of fabric, rolled tightly to take up less space. When I unroll it, it's about 30 cm long by 20 cm across. Similar in design to the chestpiece the Admiral was wearing yesterday, the weaving is done in red, silver and black, and makes multiple patterns of diamonds and angled waves. It's truly beautiful.

I hear Tanna's voice as she exits the washroom. "Wow! I like yours! Mine is green, blue and silver. They must all be unique! I can't believe Zaxn's mother made them all!"

I smile and hang it from a corner at the top of my wardrobe. "She must have been making things like this for years. I can only imagine how many she's created in her time as seamstress. It's an amazing gift. I'll have to thank her again before we leave."

I see Tanna finish closing the front of her uniform, so I gesture to the door. "I'd like to get something to eat before the meeting. Coming?"

««»»

The next four days are blissful business as usual. We put together a resupply list, which is mostly foodstuffs, and submit it to Kesn. I tell my senior officers about Kesn joining the ship, and everyone is happy to hear it, if still sad for Calgonnel. We talk briefly about his memorial service when we get back to Terra, but otherwise leave the discussion for a later time.

Zaxn agrees to help Tanna with the recharge maintenance for the rest of the time we're on-world. She questions him again about why he couldn't just explain to her how to use local mana so she could have started days ago. In response, he holds out a hand and creates a small ball of fire instantly in his palm. Showing it to her, he gives her simple instructions to do the same. She holds out her hand for two minutes before finally giving up and saying that she can't feel any mana. Zaxn just nods.

That small act of defiant argument is more backbone than I've ever seen him have against other officers. The mission changed him a lot. Or being home changed him a lot. I'm not sure what it is, but _something_ changed him a lot. I don't think I'll be calling him a kid any longer.

I give the crew freedom to visit Stenchstone for our last four days. Half of the crew disappears almost immediately, including Sen, Tanna and Aelon who have been stuck on the ship for almost the entire time we've been here. It'll be good for Stenchstone, too, to start getting used to seeing UCST elves and dwarves again. Not to mention the money that the crew spends on-world.

Kesn and Rosa invite me out to dinner one night, and we talk about work stuff for a bit before mostly chatting about Rosa's new Ambassador job and her incredibly long list of local goblin men she has to choose from. She offers to share it with us, but we just laugh. Kesn doesn't need a list with a body like hers, and I've been outed as the King's elf concubine so no one wants to even ask me out. Unless you count that one drunk goblin. But, seriously, all three of us? He'd have to be a lot more sober (and attractive) for that! We'll laugh about that one for a long time.

I have dinner at the Palace once more the night before we launch. Cap and the Admiral have been here the entire time, making plans and sorting out details with the King. From the bits and pieces I get out of them, it sounds like they've been making quite a few plans. Admiral Shockpaw's going to come back for six months with a few other admirals to help negotiate trade details and train additional ambassadors to work with Rosa. The city is going to get a permanent UCST station to handle docking and resupply, and there's mention of seeing if LC Darkmuck wants a promotion to Commander so he can be in charge of it. The Overseer is offering enforcer positions to non-commissioned battalion members that finish their UCST contracts, and a number of businesses have expressed interest in both hiring folk who want to migrate as well as expanding their offices onto other worlds.

The more I hear, the more it sounds like Stenchstone, the first ever peaceful goblin world, is interested in becoming a peaceful _mixed-race_ world, similar to Terra. The way I see it, no one has ever heard of a peaceful goblin world before, so who can say that a mixed-race world with a goblin king won't work? I think they have the right folk working on it, so anything's possible.

As dinner comes to a close, Cap and the Admiral disappear to finish packing their things so they can leave with me. The Guard Captain, Luis, also mentions other plans and prepares to leave. He walks over to me and shakes my hand, then gives me a dangerous look. "Commander, I hope I never again hear of you sneaking into the Palace during a lockdown."

In response, I snap to attention and salute. "Yes, sir!" Lowering the salute, I give him a dangerous look in return. "Captain, I hope I never again find such a major security hole in your lockdown checkpoints that would allow an untrained elf to infiltrate the Palace unseen."

He smiles, then snaps to attention and salutes. "Yes, ma'am!" We laugh and he shakes my hand again. "Thanks for everything you've done, including pointing out my security holes. It's been an honor having you here." With a nod to everyone else, he turns and leaves. I'm left with Kesn, Rosa, the Overseer, and the King.

The Overseer comes over to me next. "Commander Westiel. I'm going to take Rosa to her home on my way to mine, so we're going to leave you as well." He takes my hand, kisses it, and lays it across my breast while looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry we weren't able to spend more time together. I hope you're able to return for a visit soon."

My heart flutters again. Apparently, a shot with the Overseer was never entirely out of the realm of possibility! I'm just about to respond when another voice cuts in. "Hey! That's my favorite elf concubine you're making a pass at, Nex! Don't make me call the gossip papers and tell them of your insubordination!"

We all laugh at the King's joke. The Overseer turns to him and bows. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I will wait until she stops being your favorite before again attempting to woo her away from you." Turning back to me, he winks and steps away. "Hopefully that's not too long from now."

I don't have any time to think before I get attacked by a female goblin hugging monster. I wrap my arms around Rosa and squeeze her back tightly. I hear her in my ear as she tries to reassure herself, "I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. Damnit, I'm going to cry!"

She lets go and drops in front of me. I can see the tears starting to run down her face, and I'm sure she can see the ones starting to run down mine. Smiling through them, she steps forward to hug me again. "I'm glad I met you, Rylae. I already miss you! Promise me you'll send messages! I'm going to get ships coming out here monthly, and I better get messages from you! You'll get them from me!"

Hugging her back, I try not to cry harder. "I promise, girl. You'll get replies to all of your messages, and you better come visit me on Terra or Tir Tairngire sometime! Unless you're too busy being an Ambassador, that is." She punches my back as we both laugh. Eventually, she lets go and Kesn takes her arm to walk her out, but not before I see tear marks on Kesn's face, too.

Looking around, I realize that leaves me alone with the King. With a smile, he gestures me toward a chair near where he's sitting. I walk over and take it, hoping I don't say or do anything stupid. It's obvious when he laughs that he can see my discomfort. "No reason to be nervous, Commander. Just because the gossip stories say you're my concubine doesn't mean I actually think you are. You're not really my type anyway. Too elf-y."

I chuckle. "That's good! I was wondering what the proper diplomatic protocol was to refuse having sex with a king. I'm not trained in this sort of thing, you know!"

He shakes his head. "There's another reason I'm not interested. I like when my women are trained in exactly those sorts of things." He sees my eyes grow wide and laughs. "Commander, it's just me in here now. You have to remember that I wasn't always King. I wasn't raised to be King. Bax literally just handed me the crown one day and walked off... and he was never raised to be King either! Neither of us thinks we're better than anyone. We just make more important decisions, is all."

Smiling at him, I nod. He turns to look at a tapestry to his side and starts talking again without looking at me. "Commander, I know we talked a little before the mission, and I had that big speech by the statue and all, but I wanted to take a minute to again give you my sincere thanks for saving my folk. We had no idea those troll-humping bastards were still in existence and preparing another attack. None at all. If not for your investigation, more of our treasured goblin folk would have been killed."

He turns then and looks at me. "I've talked at length with Bax and Elthen, and they've assured me numerous times that it was entirely your investigation. The accolades rest solely on your shoulders, and I don't think I can sincerely express my thanks enough for what you've done."

Standing, he offers me a hand so I'm standing with him. Without letting go, he looks in my eyes. "Commander, we owe you a tremendous favor. If you ever need something that we can assist with, it's yours. I hope you never forget that, because we never will."

I smile and hold his hand between both of mine. "Thank you, sir. I'll keep that in my thoughts. Just know that I didn't do anything for a reward. I did it because your folk needed to be saved, and that was reward enough for me."

He laughs. "And you say you're not an ambassador!" He stops then and shakes his head. "I almost forgot something! This is kinda important, too. Elthen told me you're trying to become a UCST Captain. I decided that you don't need to wait. You're officially Captain Rylae Westiel of the Stenchstone Palace Guard, equal to Luis. You have no duties, and you get no pay, but you're on the roster."

I'm absolutely speechless. It's probably against protocol, but I jump forward and wrap my arms around the King in a hug. A second later, I step back and attempt to regain my composure. I still don't have anything fancy to say, so I just smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty. That means a lot to me."

He laughs and lays an arm around my shoulders to lead me out. "I'm glad you like it. Now, I think I need to get you back to your Captain and Admiral before we get another lead headline in the gossip stories."

# CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

On the morning of our launch day, Kesn arrives at the ship with a landcraft-load of documents and personal items. She also brings her sister, Bmundn Gloomfire, so they can have a big family goodbye. I call Zaxn and get Gimmir to send us some extra assistance to move Kesn's things to a guest quarters. Even with the help, it takes us a couple hours to get everything out of the landcraft and up to the 6th level. I thought about comparing it to Tanna's overnight bags as a joke, but then I saw the important difference. Tanna's packing is always just for overnight. Kesn's packing is much more long-term.

When we're done moving things, I dismiss Gimmir's folk and wait while the three goblins say their goodbyes. After a couple minutes, Mrs. Gloomfire waves me over. I notice none of the three look sad, which is good. I've had all the sadness I can take recently!

They all look at me, but no one speaks. After a few seconds, Mrs. Gloomfire smacks Zaxn in the back of the head. "We're not going to stand here all day, son. Say what you need to say."

For a second, Zaxn Gloomfire, nerdy science goblin, returns in full force. His shoulders slump, he looks at the ground, and the tips of his ears curl over. But, as quickly as it happened, it disappears. He straightens and looks me in the eye. Zaxn Gloomfire, badass fire adept, smiles at his mother before turning to me.

"Commander. I've decided to resign from the UCST after we return to Terra. I'm going to be coming back home to take care of my mother and pick up where my father left off in his research into Stenchstone's mana reserves."

I'm stunned for a minute. I look between the three goblins and shake my head, smiling. "That figures. Right as I was thinking that this new version of Lieutenant Zaxn Gloomfire was going to actually be able to move up to LC and take control of his department, you take away all my hopes and dreams."

He lays a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, Rylae. I know I was difficult for you, and I appreciate all the help you gave me. But I recognize now that I was never really the right goblin for that job. Now that I've been back, and with the mission..." He smiles. "You gave me the opportunity to avenge my father, and I also want to be able to finish the work he started. If Stenchstone is going to be part of the interstellar community, we need more local adepts. I can do that. I need to do that."

Nodding, I touch his hand on my shoulder. "I understand. I'll need you to submit a resignation to me once we're off-world, and I'll make sure it goes through the proper channels. I'll also make a recommendation to Admiral Shockpaw to bring you back with his diplomatic envoy, which I don't expect will take very long to put together."

He takes a step back and smiles at his mother. She reaches up to pat his head. "Good job, son. Now, go find me something to drink, won't you?" With a nod, he darts off. When he's out of the staging area, she sighs. "Thank you, Commander. With my sister leaving, I was worried I'd be alone for a long time, but knowing Zaxn is coming back home... that makes things better for me. I can wait for that. I'm sorry to take him from you."

I shake my head and smile again. "Nonsense, ma'am. I'll miss the nerdy science kid I've known for the last few years, but this new Zaxn is a much stronger goblin than the one I had on my team when we arrived. I'd rather have him somewhere that he can be his best, even if that's not working for me."

She smiles and turns to Kesn. I take a few steps back to give them some space and wait. Zaxn rushes back in after a minute, carrying a drink for his mother, and joins the two women. Eventually, the sisters hug, and Kesn walks toward me while Zaxn escorts his mother off the ship. I can see the tear trails on her face, so I don't say anything as I walk with her to her guest quarters.

She steps inside and turns to me. "Thanks, Rylae. How long will we have before we arrive at Terra?"

I smile. "Lots of time. It's about ten days of travel time, plus whatever we need for docking. Don't spend too much time unpacking, though. I'll make time to work with you after we dock to set up a quarters for you on Terra, where you can stay while you're working with the Admiralty. So we'll just have to move everything again when we get there."

She chuckles, so I continue. "Try to make yourself comfortable for today. The mess hall's at the other end of this level if you want something to eat. After we launch and I finish my verifications, I'll come back and find you. I want to get you into the Ambassador office as soon as possible. We haven't changed anything in there, and none of us know Calgonnel's filing system, so there's lots of unlabelled scrolls you can read through for the next ten days."

She smiles and reaches for my hand. "Thanks, Rylae."

I glance at her hand and cock my head questioningly, then snap to attention and salute. "Welcome to the United Corps of Starfield Travelers, Ambassador Dreadthief."

She stands stunned for a second, then stands up straight and lays the side of her hand against her forehead. "Thank you, Commander."

I drop the salute and laugh. "I'm just messing with you, Kesn. You don't have to worry about saluting for some months yet. And you'll get better at it, I promise! I'll come find you in a few hours."

She laughs, and I give her a hug before leaving. Walking away, I map in my head the best way through the ship to stop in each area and get them started on a tech inventory. I stop in the Mess Hall first and get the Lieutenant there started.

Heading down to level 5, I stop in Science. Zaxn isn't here, but Lieutenant Vanwen Neltasyr is reading at her terminal. I decide not to say anything about Zaxn leaving until I receive his official resignation, and instead just ask the Lieutenant to work with her team on the tech inventory. She agrees and goes back to reading. As I walk away, I consider that response. Technically, Vanwen's next in line behind Zaxn, but I wonder if it's truly to my benefit to replace a nerdy science goblin with a standoffish science elf. I'll have to think hard on that one.

Level 4 takes me to the hospital ward, and Lieutenant Bellas comes over to me when I walk in. I give him the details about the tech inventory we need to complete, and he takes the information to his boss. Sen still isn't speaking to me, and that's something I've let go on for more than long enough. I make a mental note to sort things out after launch. Halder's seamstress room is on this level as well, so I stop in to have him start an inventory.

On the next level down, I find Simon and Gimmir in the battalion office and give them the news about the tech inventory. They agree to not only complete the inventory on the armory and training area, but also the storage bay since it's currently half-full of spellshooters. Gimmir says he'll pass the word to Lada when she's done reorganizing security around the Admiral again, so I leave that to him.

When I finally get to level 2, I head into Engineering, which is my final stop. It's my turn to monitor it during launch while Cap takes Tactical. Walking in, I see Tanna at her desk in the back, so I navigate my way through the workstations and folk to get back there myself. Dropping into a chair, I watch her scan through monitoring reports.

After a few minutes, she notices me and points out a spike in the graph she's looking at. "This is where we are after only three full days of using Zaxn's theories to pump Stenchstone mana into our battery. We had enough to get us back to Terra without it, but in three days we've almost added enough to cover the entire trip! They should manufacture batteries here. They'd likely make a fortune."

Interesting. I wonder if Zaxn knew that already, or if that's part of the research his father was working on. Shrugging, I reply, "That might be something they can work on when the Admiral comes back. You should put together a report for him."

She makes herself a note in her terminal and turns back. "We have less than an hour until launch. Did Kesn make it on?"

I nod. "She did. We're ready to go on schedule. Everything ready here?"

I get a shrug in response, which isn't all that encouraging even if she is smiling while she does it. "Um... excuse me, Engineering? That wasn't really the response I was hoping for."

She chuckles as she shrugs again. "Technically, I don't know if everything is ready. LC Pikeforge is managing this launch. I'm just verifying numbers." She gestures at a female dwarf standing by the large holoreport graph, pointing at things and sending other engineers scurrying around.

"In that case, you obviously can't help me, so I'll go ask the LC how things are going. I also need to figure out how to word my suggestion to have my Chief Engineer moved off-ship to a teaching position..." I duck as a parchment ball flies at my head. "Also need to add insubordination to that request..." Another ball misses my head by a meter and hits the wall instead.

Looking over, I see Tanna preparing another one. "One of these days, girl, I'm going to figure out why I continue to work for you instead of some hot male Commander who knows how to treat his Engineering assets."

I cock my head. "Are you sure you mean 'assets' and not 'chest sets'?"

She smiles and adjusts her breasts in her uniform. "Whatever works!" She laughs, which is all the time I need to snatch a parchment ball from the floor and hit her in the face with it.

A cleared throat sound draws my attention to LC Pikeforge a few steps away. "Ma'am. If you're done assaulting my boss with parchment, I can give you an update on launch readiness."

Smiling, I stand. "Thank you, LC. Tell me, do you think Commander Aldamiel would be better teaching a second year Engineering class, or a first year class?"

The LC shrugs. "Second year, ma'am. She'd never graduate anyone out of first year after they all quit or change specialties. At least by second year they're committed and won't easily leave to avoid her."

I nod and tap my chin. "Excellent point. I'll add that to my recommendation. Thanks LC." That earns me a parchment ball to the back of my head, but I ignore it and follow the dwarf woman to her readiness station.

She takes me through the details, and I sit with her as she finishes her preparations. Time moves quickly as I watch the department work, and we reach imminent launch. I focus in on the conversation with Tactical and verify the work being done.

"Tactical copies. Preparations complete. Launch procedure ready for activation."

"Engineering copies. Mana flow to Flight is stable. System is holding, waiting for Propulsion activation. Tactical, you may activate when you are ready."

"Tactical copies. Activation in ten. Five. Two, one. Launch activation"

The department goes nuts as they start shouting details back and forth to each other. The LC stares at the holoreport in front of her with a confused look. I step closer to her. "Problem, LC?"

She points at the chart. "I've never seen an anomaly like this before. I need to grab the Commander."

She runs off to Tanna's desk while I look at the chart. I still don't know exactly what I'm looking at, but I notice patterns easily. That spike looks decidedly familiar.

Tanna jogs up when the communicator goes off again. "Engineering, please confirm stability of Flight and accuracy of Propulsion."

Tanna scans the report and replies swiftly. "Tactical, we have an anomaly. Full stop while we investigate."

A second passes. "Full stop successful. Ground Control, please verify."

"Full stop verified."

"Thank you. Engineering, please confirm anomaly."

During that exchange, Tanna and the LC went back and forth and agreed on a course of action. The LC runs off again while Tanna turns to me and points to the spike I already noticed. "Do you see that, too?"

I nod. "It looks exactly like the spike you showed me earlier. What happened?"

She rotates the graph. "We had a mana overflow into the Propulsion spell. It spiked at 116%, exactly the same spike as the amount of mana we added to the battery. Short version, we were going faster than expected, and the LC's going to see if we can contain it."

Tapping the communicator charm, she speaks to Tactical. "Tactical, we have a mana overflow at 116%. Please factor this into your directions up to the point of full stop. We're working to contain the overflow now. Propulsion verification report shows 94.2% accuracy at coordinates 115, 98, 94."

"Tactical confirms five-point-eight percent at 115, 98, 94. Adjustments in progress for accuracy and overflow. Awaiting result of maintenance. Please advise when ready."

Five minutes pass before the LC Pikeforge returns. "Ma'am. Commander. My results are strange." We both turn to her as she continues, "We tapped the mana flow to create a steady drain. That drain was still at 116% into a simple light spell. We attempted to siphon off the extra 16% into a different spell... and ended up with two streams at 116%. I didn't think that was possible."

I grab my communicator. "Zaxn Gloomfire."

# CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

"Zaxn's in there now, teaching Tanna what he did to contain the overflow. I'm going to make sure he documents everything so we can understand this phenomenon better. Stechstone mana seems to have a different overall makeup than any other world's mana we've documented so far."

I finish my report to Cap and the Admiral and wait for their reactions. Launch is normally a standard practice, worked out to a perfect system. This 'supercharged' mana threw a major kink in our system, but at least it looks to be resolved so we were able to continue the trip.

Admiral Shockpaw nods. "Commander. This is interesting. For many years, no one has studied the mana on Stenchstone. Few adepts are able to work with it, so it's been ignored. I'll have to see if I can add a research team to my return trip. Xarm will be happy to know that he is in control of such a resource. It will give him a lot of trading power once it can be controlled."

Nodding, I smile. "Maybe it's for the best that you take Zaxn with you as well, since he seems to be able to control it." I haven't received Zaxn's resignation yet, but I share the details anyway.

Cap nods in understanding, but the Admiral taps the table while he thinks. "Commander, do not accept Lieutenant Gloomfire's resignation. I am going to assign him directly to the research team on my return trip, and will station him on Stenchstone for the foreseeable future. He will not need to resign, as he will continue working for the UCST in a different capacity."

I nod and make myself a note. "When I receive his resignation, I'll forward it to you so you can lead that discussion. I'm sure he'll be happy to know he can continue his father's research and be with his mother while also continuing to work for us."

Cap looks between us. "Well, if we're done worryin' about the ship explodin', we should move on to talk about the mission. His Excellentpants here and I have been waitin' to talk about any details until after launch."

I sigh while nodding. "Captain Darkmuck?"

Sitting back in his chair, Cap nods. "Precisely. Before we start, I gotta ask ya somethin'. Have ya written any reports about, well, anythin' yet?"

"No, sir. I was putting that off until we were in the starfield and I knew I'd have some downtime. "

My senior officers glance at each other and smile. That can't be good news. The Admiral turns to me. "Commander. We believe we have a way to mislead Captain Darkmuck in a way that will make him both vulnerable and easy to capture. Unfortunately, the plan relies very heavily on your actions. If you would prefer, we can give up this plan and develop a new one."

Wonderful. They're up to something 'crafty'. "Sir, if this plan seems like it will be the easiest way to capture that lowlife traitor and warlord, then I'm perfectly fine with doing whatever needs to be done."

Cap grins. "Well, Bax, ya heard the elf. She'll do whatever we want her to do. Doesn't even ask what it is, first. Maybe she already knows! For all I know, she's been wantin' to kill me for years and just waitin' for the right time to do it!"

I start to chuckle, then completely stop as the pieces of that statement fall into place. "Kill you?!"

The Admiral hides his smile behind his hand. "Commander. Indeed, during the great battle of Stenchstone which happened three days ago, on the anniversary of the previous massacre, many folk were killed. His Majesty, myself, Elthen, the Overseer, and everyone else on the list of targets Lieutenant Gloomfire liberated from their central location. While attempting to help, your ship lost half its battalion, and a few senior officers including your Ambassador, Chief Science Officer, Battalion Major and Master Sergeant. You were barely able to get away, and hid on your ship until it was safe to launch."

I nod along, but stop him there. "He knows I wouldn't hide on the ship. He specifically pointed me out to the assassins as your 'dangerous elf'. But we could have been captured and I led an escape with the help of LC Darkmuck, who was also killed."

Cap laughs. "I love how quickly ya bought into this idea, Rylae! Even rewritin' our story to fit better!"

Shrugging, I turn to him. "It's not the stupidest idea you've ever had. If we give him the story he wants to hear, he'll believe that he was successful and move to do the one thing that needs to be done – kill the only witness who can put together all the details: me. That'll bring him right to us."

The Admiral turns to Cap. "Elthen, I think I'm glad the Commander is on our side. Just this week she has stopped a major assassination plot _and_ broken into the Palace. Now she's figuring out how our sneak attack works before we even give her all the details."

Cap nods. "I know. If Rylae had been the one smugglin' weapons instead of that dumb dwarf, we'd all be troll food!"

Grinning, I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. "And don't you forget it, sirs!"

We laugh, then a thought pops into my head. "How exactly is this supposed to work? If I message Darkmuck directly with my report, he'll know I'm specifically aware of his involvement."

They look at each other, then back to me. "Yeah, that's the tricky part. Ya see, the only way it works is if ya send in yer report like normal, to the Admirals. The Admirals will get the report that we died and Stenchstone's a total loss. Darkmuck's in Intelligence. He'll see it anyway, but he'll see it through his normal channels. _He_ will contact _you_ , which lets him think you're working on his terms."

I'm having no trouble following this convoluted plan. I wonder what that says about me as an elf? "In that case, I should make an initial report verbally to Ground Control as well. They'll immediately call the Admirals. If Darkmuck's really waiting for us, he'll find a way to intercept me before the Admirals get a chance to debrief me. I'll still write the report, and send it as soon as we're connected to Terra's routers, but the verbal report of trouble will be expected."

Admiral Shockpaw smiles. "Commander, that is an excellent deduction. I had not considered Ground Control in our plan. I worry that this will expedite the situation and mistakes can be made when things move too quickly, but you are right that it must be done this way."

I nod. "This will make everyone move quicker, but I think that'll cause _Darkmuck_ to make mistakes and fall more easily into our trap."

Cap grins. "She's got a point, Bax. It does make more sense to rush him so we're not just sittin' around pretendin' to be dead while waitin' for him to get the hint."

That's a good point. "Speaking of folk getting the hint... how do we deflect the Admirals when you're not actually dead? This is going to seriously irritate quite a few of them, regardless of the sting operation."

"Commander. We've actually considered that already, but we have no simple solution for the problem. With Captain Darkmuck in Intelligence, we can't easily trust any standard messages or communications to get through to an Admiral without alerting him. I have thought of sending certain messages to certain admirals directly, but I don't know what the Intelligence office is monitoring."

We think in silence for a minute, and I get an idea. "Admiral Mom! I mean, Tanna's mother, Admiral Aldamiel. I can call her communicator directly. She's family, so I know I can trust her. Better yet, I can call Tanna's Dad, Adamar, and have him inform the Admiral so there's no way Captain Darkmuck can intercept it. She can then inform the other Admirals face-to-face about the false report while we're working to capture the goblin."

Cap chuckles. "Good thinkin', elf! She's in charge of personnel, too, so everyone will listen to her when she tells 'em we're not dead."

The Admiral nods in agreement. "Commander. I knew we were right to bring you in on this. The only question now is what happens when you confront Darkmuck. I would prefer to keep you from being in danger if possible."

I shake my head. "It won't be possible. If so many of you are dead, then he'll have to kill me as well. I can prepare for that. I am the 'dangerous elf', after all! I think I have some ideas on how to handle it, but I'll work through some scenarios with Simon just to be sure."

Cap leans back in his chair. "Good thinkin', Rylae. I think we've covered everythin'. The two of us'll talk to the rest of the crew and set the environment all proper-like. Since most of 'em have to be dead, we should let 'em know that! While we're doin' that, you work on yer report and talk to Simon. We'll get together again in a few days to see what we've got before we get to Terra."

««»»

Writing a completely falsified report is difficult! So many details I have to make up as I go along, and the farther into it I go, the more I have to modify lies I already told so they match the later lies better! I thought writing out the real report first, so I had something to refer back to, would make it easier... but it only makes it worse! I refer back to reality, then realize something couldn't have happened that way because other things didn't happen and then have to completely break it down backwards to what it should be, but isn't, and shouldn't be, but needs to be, because... ARGH!

It takes me five entire days to get a first draft of my falsified report completed, and reading through it again proves that it's still not right. I had the real report written in two hours! This is obscene. I briefly think that maybe it's good enough, and maybe I'm just being too much of a perfectionist about it. Then I remember I'm trying to trick a goblin that has been in Intelligence for the last sixty years, and I put my nose back in it and rewrite it again.

I finally get it done, almost eight days after I started it, and read through it a final time just to be sure it makes sense.

"Upon arriving at Stenchstone, initial contact with the Ambassador in Ground Control informed us that the war message had been falsified. There was no war, and relations with Stenchstone were normal. Knowing this, we began our own investigation into the troubles. Admiral Shockpaw and Captain Gravelhand took two squads of Elite battalion members, along with Battalion Major Giantbasher and Lieutenant Commander Axesmith as personal bodyguards.

"The details of this visit remain mostly unknown, as no crew members returned.

"Meanwhile, Ambassador Telathyr and Commander Westiel visited the office of the Overseer, along with Sergeant Major Darkrender as bodyguard. The Overseer was able to confirm that the received message was signed by the previous Overseer, Gak Bonedread, and not the current Overseer, Nex Darkraider. Upon confirming the message was falsified, the Ambassador received information concerning the location of the suspected assassin, Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck. The return to the Corsari was uneventful.

"Day 2 – Ambassador Telathyr and Commander Westiel visited the workplace of Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck, along with Sergeant Major Darkrender as bodyguard. Upon arrival, an ambush unit of enemy forces overwhelmed the group, capturing Ambassador Telathyr, Commander Westiel, and Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck. Sergeant Major Darkrender was lost in battle.

"Day 3 – An attack on the Corsari captured Commander Tanna Aldamiel, Lieutenant Commander Onoviel, and Lieutenant Commander Foulmuck. Lieutenant Gloomfire was lost in battle. Initial estimates were that 50% of the battalion and other crew members also fell during the attack.

"Day 4 – Ambassador Telathyr attempted to negotiate with our captors, insisting to speak with the King. The leader of the goblin captors agreed to take Ambassador Telathyr to the King immediately, but instead shot him with a crossbow in the chest. Ambassador Telathyr was lost.

"Day 5 – Commander Westiel, Commander Aldamiel, Lieutenant Commander Onoviel, Lieutenant Commander Foulmuck, and Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck attempted escape. Capturing an enemy soldier with a knife, rope bonds were destroyed allowing free movement. A battle began with the captors, eventually creating an opening allowing the captured crew to escape. Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck and Lieutenant Commander Onoviel were lost in battle. Upon exiting the location, the remaining female crew members found themselves at a farmhouse, unsure of how to return to the ship. After walking through the night, an operational landcraft was located and allowed a return to the ship.

"Day 6 – Enemy forces attacked the city. The Palace was destroyed, and no survivors were found. It is believed that King Damnation, Captain Gravelhand, and Admiral Shockpaw were lost in battle, with all guards. The Overseer's office was also destroyed with no survivors, as were many prominent buildings. A large group attacked the ship. Remaining battalion forces were deployed. Many were lost in battle.

"Day 7 – A small enemy group was able to infiltrate the Corsari. It is believed that the bay doors were opened from the inside. Battalion members, along with a handful of engineering adepts siphoning power from the mana battery, were able to repel the invading force.

"A statement from the enemy group was released to the public, detailing how the attack was on the anniversary of a previous assassination, and was due to the return of Admiral Shockpaw, who they referred to as 'the bastard king'. The enemy group named themselves as the Black Tongues, and claimed victory in the name of 'the family'. They released a list of high-profile targets which they say were all successfully assassinated. I do not have a copy or verification of this list to add to my report.

"Day 8 – With no word from any missing survivors, Commander Westiel makes a command decision to take flight to Terra with the remaining crew. With many crew lost, and battery power siphoned for defense magic, this caused delays in travel time, lengthening the trip to twelve days. Expected arrival on Terra is 20 days after docking on Stenchstone."

The capture neatly covers for the days between arrival and the scheduled attack day, and also eliminates Calgonnel, Aelon and LC Darkmuck, leaving only female crew members. I thought that was a nice touch, having all the men die in battle and leaving only the 'poor helpless womenfolk'. The timeline matches properly with the anniversary date. It makes no mention of knowing that we were actually the ship to bring the spellshooters to the enemy, making the 'inside job' on Day 7 plausible. It contains just enough specific references – 'bastard king', 'the family' – to prove that the Black Tongues actually did operate the plan, without being specific about all the details. It also covers for any missing days by killing vital crew members and burning extra battery causing the travel time to run long.

According to this, there are very few crew members still on the Corsari. Less even than Cap and the Admiral originally left alive in their plan. I'll have to make sure they do a thorough job of informing everyone to play dead so the ship is quiet when we dock. But, otherwise... this just might do what we need it to do.

I pick up my communicator to call Cap. We have two more days. That's just enough time to finish.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"Ground Control! Terra Ground Control, this is Commander Rylae Westiel of the UCST Corsari. Please respond!"

"This is Terra Ground Control. Welcome back, Corsari. Please provide arrival estimate."

"Ground Control! Emergency docking situation! We have reached as far as our directions can bring us and require docking assistance from your end. We no longer have the proper crew to dock!"

"Understood, Commander. We are contacting the Admiralty now to have science specialists expedited to this location. Are you able to keep communications open?"

"I believe so, Ground Control. Thank you! There are very few of us left up here!"

"We copy that, Corsari. Can you describe your situation? We will transmit an emergency message to the Admiralty."

"We were sent to stop a war on a goblin world. We were unsuccessful, and many crew members were lost, including Captain Gravelhand and Admiral Shockpaw. I am currently the commanding officer with only around 10% of my crew. As soon as we are connected, I will be able to transmit a report before we reach Terra."

"Understood, Commander. Emergency protocols have been authorized. We'll have you down here as soon as we can. Keep this communication open!"

"We will. Nub... can you please keep talking with Ground Control? Ground Control, Lieutenant JG Nub Sickshade is our communications theorist. He'll work with you to keep this connection open."

I leave the Science office and close the door behind me, breathing a heavy sigh. It's difficult to project that much drama in my voice! It sounds like he bought it, though, so step one of this mutli-step messed-up conglomeration of a plan is complete. Just need to wait for everything to be connected now.

The door opens again, and Tanna exits. Once the door closes, she grabs me in a hug. "Good job, girl! I almost even believed that we were in serious trouble out here!"

I smile. "Thanks. I needed that reassurance. But get back in there and make sure Nub has the proper lies in order! I need you keeping an eye on that!"

She snaps to attention, salutes, and goes back inside. I sag against the wall and think. Now that we're in it, I need to keep it going.

The door opens again, and Nub steps out. Once the door closes, he talks quickly. "The second connection is open. It'll take them awhile still to get the specialists in, so they won't see it if you can make your call quickly. Let me know when you're done." I nod, and he goes back in.

Pulling out my communicator, I press the charm. "Adamar Aldamiel. Audio only." The connection takes a minute to connect, but eventually I get a reply.

"This is Adamar speaking. Who is calling?"

"Dad! It's Rylae! I need you to find privacy _right now_! It's urgent!"

"Rylae? Hold on." I hear some shuffling and something slam closed, then his voice again. "Rylae, I'm alone. What's going on? You're supposed to be off-world! Is Tanna okay?"

I lay out the quick version of the scenario to him – most everyone is fine, pretending to be dead, goblin warlord infiltrator in the Admiralty, luring him out, have to let Mom know my report is falsified, this is the only trustworthy way to communicate.

A second passes, then I hear him take a deep breath. "Understood. I'll wake Maeralya and give her the details. You and Tanna are okay, though, right?"

I smile. "We're both fine, Dad. Honest. But we have to lay this trap and it's going to make a _lot_ of noise. Mom needs to know it's _just_ noise."

"I'll make the call now. Be careful with both of my girls! Neither of you is allowed to get hurt!"

"I promise. Thanks, Dad."

I tap the charm to disconnect the call, then walk back into the Science office. "Nub? Ground Control? What's our status?"

Nub turns to me and I make a slashing motion across my neck. He nods and begins undoing the second connection spell. I look up at the scry window to see two glowing lines reaching out of it. The one on the right starts flickering, then disappears as Ground Control responds. "Commander, we've received confirmation that emergency docking specialists are on the way, estimated two minutes. We'll get you mapped and on your way as soon as we can."

"Excellent. Thank you, Ground Control! But, before determining our mapping, we need a router connection. Right now, this report is more important than we are!"

A short pause, then a reply. "Understood, Commander. The emergency adepts have arrived. I'll explain to them about your needs and we'll see what we can connect for you. Hold tight one moment."

I look to Nub, and he gives me a thumbs-up gesture to let me know the connection was destroyed, so the emergency adepts shouldn't see it. One minute turns into two, then five, then ten. I'm about to get really impatient when the voice comes back. "Corsari, your connection to a router is established. Please attempt to send your report now. We'll need to break that connection to complete the mapping."

I tap a few commands in the terminal next to me and wait. After a minute, the report closes. "Ground Control, it appears to have sent. Can you verify mana flow through the connection?"

Another short silence, then "Mana flow confirmed, Commander. It appears your report has been sent to the High Admiral Council. We'll begin dismantling this connection and building a new mapping connection now. While they're working, I need to ask you more details of your situation so we know how to properly respond when you dock. Can you give me an estimate of your remaining crew?"

"Of course. There are fifty-seven of us remaining. All of our battalion and security officers have been killed. The only remaining senior officers..." I add a slightly disturbing giggle that makes me sound a little messed up by the situation. I worked hard on this giggle! "The only remaining senior officers are myself, Commander Aldamiel, and Lieutenant Commander Foulmuck. All female. Our remaining crew members were all lucky enough to be off-shift during the assault, or working in places like Engineering which were passed by the assault team. We have no caregiver emergencies – LC Foulmuck is our caregiver, so she was able to keep us going."

"Understood, Commander. I'm sorry to hear about your trouble. It sounds like it was bad. I'm going to have a trauma team meet you at the ship so your crew can be evaluated properly. They'll take everyone to Admiralty City Hospital."

Perfect. I was hoping for that! Just had to make sure I sounded like we've all been through hell. Sometimes it's nice knowing how all the protocols work so I can use them to our advantage!

"Thank you, Ground Control! I'll prepare my crew to go with the trauma team as soon as we dock. Have the adepts provided a rough estimate of our arrival time? And what time is it there, right now? I forgot to modify the ship's clocks." That's a total lie. I not only modified the clocks, but with math help from Aelon and Zaxn's physics magic, we were able to figure out exactly what time it is in Admiralty City. We even held position for a few hours before opening communication with Ground Control.

"Commander, it's currently hour 26 in Admiralty City. Rather late in the evening. It's a shame about your timing, or we could have had Admirals available to meet you immediately as well."

Yeah. Such a shame. Such a perfect, well-planned and organized shame.

"Dragons be damned! Um. Sorry, Ground Control. I didn't mean that."

"It's no problem, Commander. No Purists here tonight, and you've had it rough. You can damn anything you want."

That brings an honest chuckle out. "Thanks, Ground Control. I needed that laugh."

"Glad to help, Commander. It looks like the adepts have found you in the starfield, and have triggered the mapping spell. We'll wait for our navcalc to spit out a response and read you directions and an arrival estimate."

It's awesome being prepared when you have to lie through your teeth. We already have this data as well, so it's no surprise when the response comes back, "Commander, you should be able to arrive in four hours, nineteen minutes. We're going to read you the directions and course changes now. Are you ready?"

I glance at Tanna, who nods. She's the 'ensign' who's taking the notations and validating them against the directions we already have. Then I look to Nub, who also nods. He's technically 'in charge' of this process as far as Ground Control is concerned. "We're ready, Ground Control. Nub and an ensign are standing by. I'll prepare my crew. Thank you for your assistance!"

Leaving the room, I head to Cap's office to give him the update and sort out the final details of the plan.

««»»

Admiral Mom actually came to the ship with the trauma team! That's a bonus point in our direction. One of the tricky parts was going to be explaining to the trauma team that I had to stay on the ship while the rest of my crew was taken to the hospital. I had a decently contrived reason, but it still might not have worked. Thankfully, Mom and Tanna were able to talk privately for a minute (because Mom was 'overjoyed that her daughter came home through this terrible ordeal') and she received more direct details than I was able to give Adamar, so she knows I need to stay here while Tanna takes 'command' of the 'remaining crew'.

Once the fifty-six 'remaining' crew members are loaded on landcraft, Mom brings me a notation board. "We'll have all of your crew members evaluated tonight. I'll be leading a conference in the morning with the High Admiral Council, who will expect you to attend."

I scribble a signature on the notation board. "Thank you, Admiral Aldamiel. I'll be in my quarters making sure I have all of the information."

With a nod, she walks to the landcraft, and I watch them leave. I resist the urge to look around at the darkness of the docking area. I'm sure I'm being watched, but I have to play things right. I walk back inside, close the bay doors, and head to my quarters. Once there, I check my terminal. I had previously set a command to take note of every door opening and closing. It should give me all the warning I need.

I see a handful of door messages from the upper levels, from the 'deceased' crew who are all hiding in their quarters. The 'lost' senior officers are up there in spare quarters as well. All sharing, in fact – Cap, the Admiral, Aelon and Zaxn in one, while Gimmir, Simon and Lada are in another. I tried to give Lada her own quarters, but she insisted she could "hold off the sexual advances of two battalion worms".

I don't know how long I'll have to wait before the hit squad comes for me. The waiting is the hardest part, really. I was in a similar scenario on Firefork, but with more running and less 'waiting patiently'. A small beep from my terminal tells me it won't be as long as I was worried about, though. The bay doors just opened. Before I can count to five, I get another beep telling me they closed.

I log off of the terminal and walk to the washroom. On the way, I knock twice on my wardrobe. Walking into the washroom, I grab the small item I left by my face cream and step back out.

Another minute or two passes while I wait. My door chime startles me. I was expecting him to just walk in! I walk to the door and touch the charm.

Seeing who's there, I open my eyes wide. "Captain Darkmuck? Can I help you?"

The goblin smiles in a way I think he hopes is charming. "Commander Westiel. I'm glad to see you're safe. When I heard the news of your troubles on Stenchstone, I wanted to check with you personally. I was worried about all of you when you left, but I had a feeling in my bones that you'd be the one to make it out alive if anyone did."

I sigh and walk to my table, taking the chair farthest from the door and waving him to the other one. "I wasn't so sure of that myself. We lost so many. Calgonnel died in front of me. Aelon and LC Darkmuck were lost distracting our captors while we ran. When you said there was an assassination plot, I had no idea it was going to be so deadly."

He steps over and takes the chair. "Spazkin died?"

I nod. "He did. He sacrificed himself to save us during our capture. I'm not sure we would have made it out without him."

A scowl crosses his face. "He always was an idiot. But sacrificing his life to save the only truly dangerous elf on the entire world? I should kill that whole side of the family for their incompetence."

I hold back my smile. Thanks for that confirmation, Captain! I screw up my face like I'm confused and see if I can get just a little bit more out of him. "What?"

He stands, pulling a spellshooter from a holster on his belt. "You heard me. I went through a lot of trouble to kill that bastard king and the new lackey king he gave his crown to, and to set up the ambush which should have killed you. But, no, my wonderful brother had to have a stupid son who gets in the way. I was hoping that message would give the enforcers another false lead to play with, but no. He had to screw everything up instead. I hate having to do things myself."

During his little rant, the door on my wardrobe slowly opened, and a small figure crept out behind him. As he's saying his last line, a green hand comes down at his neck. Two seconds later, Captain Darkmuck falls on the floor, asleep. "That's for trying to destroy my world, you armor-licking dragon humper."

I smile at my rescuer and set the sleep dart I was holding on the table. "Thanks, Kesn! I'm glad you're small enough to fit in my wardrobe!"

She stretches her neck. "Just barely. At least I wasn't in there for very long. And I'm glad your seamstress keeps your clothes so clean! Not much air flow in there, you know?"

She sets the sleep dart she used on the Captain, along with the belt of remaining sleep darts that was still in my wardrobe, on my table as I grab my communicator to call Cap and Tanna.

# CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The plan was absolutely executed perfectly. The problem, of course, is that I still missed some details which turned out to be somewhat important.

Missed Detail of Importance, The First: Captain Grovr Darkmuck slept through the High Admiral Council meeting.

The sleep darts were the perfect weapon for the situation. The sneak attack was performed flawlessly. The poison did what it was supposed to do. What I _may_ have forgotten about was that the poison put him to sleep for two entire days. So, four hours after the capture, when the High Admiral Council came together and started to question everything, Captain Darkmuck was drooling on the floor of a holding cell, which made him slightly unavailable to add any insight into the meeting.

I did get lucky here, though. Because Darkmuck had to manage so much of the Black Tongues business long-term through remote messages, he was meticulous about his record keeping. When the High Admiral Council checked his office, they found all sorts of nicely-organized evidence to sift through.

Darkmuck had tapped the communications of the Admiralty completely. They found my report on his terminal, along with a transcript of my conversation with Ground Control and the report from the science specialists on our docking procedure. Intelligence Office or not, he wasn't supposed to have any of those things. That was a quick point to help the meeting along, even if he wasn't there to explain himself. I'm sure he'll get his own personal trial after he wakes.

Missed Detail of Importance, The Second: The rest of us were _not_ allowed to sleep through the High Admiral Council meeting.

Four hours after the capture, I was, of course, still awake. So were Cap and the Admiral. At that point, we'd been awake for easily 35 or 40 hours between preparing for the mission and executing it. They might have been able to catch a nap while they were hiding in a quarters room pretending to be 'missing in action', but a certain elf commander who was the baited trap certainly didn't get to sleep.

By the time the High Admiral Council stopped talking, it was dark again in Admiralty City. We had to sit through the entire meeting. I think it was about 12 hours long, but I honestly don't know. I'm not entirely certain I was actually awake through the whole thing. I'm not entirely certain Cap and Admiral Shockpaw stayed awake through the whole thing, either. But none of us were snoring, so if none of us were caught, then I guess it all worked out.

The bad news is that I really don't remember much of it. Twelve hours is a _lot_ of talking. I remember Admiral Longbow did most of the talking – complaining about misuse of emergency docking protocol, complaining about falsifying a report, complaining about allowing the use of untested Stenchstone mana, complaining about our inability to properly catalog the illegal weapons shipment to verify if we had indeed recovered all of them, complaining about many aspects of how I handled the investigation, complaining about using myself as bait... _So much_ _complaining_ from Admiral Longbow.

There are two things I do remember happening during his complaining, however.

Admiral Longbow was in the middle of a tirade about the fight where Calgonnel was lost, and started complaining that our Master Sergeant was obviously not trained well enough to be a proper bodyguard and should be demoted or removed entirely. Admiral Shockpaw interrupted him with a comment.

"Khiiral. If you doubt the ability of the Master Sergeant, I will set up a training exercise between him and yourself so you can prove to him where his failures lie. You can have a fireball spellshooter and a fully-loaded repeating crossbow at one hundred meters, while he has only a short sword and a blindfold. I will also submit it as a budget improvement idea, as I plan to sell tickets to any folk in the city who want to watch a talkative Admiral get thoroughly pounded by one of the most dangerous fighters I've ever seen in action. I'm sure we'll earn a lot of money through that venture."

Two or three of the other admirals had absolutely no problem with laughing out loud at that remark. Longbow was offended, and dropped that particular line of complaining, but he still had many more.

The second thing I remember was when he finally stopped complaining. He wasn't going to stop. In fact, I'm sure he had at least three or four days of complaining to go. Admiral Mom, however, had grown tired of listening to it. She logged into the terminal at her Council seat and tapped a few commands.

Longbow saw her and turned his attention. "Maeralya, that is very rude and unprofessional. What are you doing that's so important that it cannot wait until I finish speaking?"

She shrugged. "Updating personnel records, _Captain_ Longbow. Your pay should be restarted in six to eight weeks. Oh, and I think you need to leave this room. Only Admirals are allowed to be on the Council during official meetings."

The room went immediately into a stunned silence. For a second or two, no one reacted. Then Longbow brought up his terminal and tapped a command which stopped him cold. Looking from his terminal to the personnel Admiral and back to his terminal, he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He logged out of the terminal, stood up, and walked from the room.

For a number of minutes, no one said anything. I'm sure some of the admirals were debating in their heads whether she had the authority to do something like that. Some of us were in amazement that she would have that kind of power at all. Some dwarven Captains were so stunned they didn't even have a joke for the moment.

Finally, Admiral Mom tapped a few more commands into her terminal and logged out. "That silence sure is nice, isn't it? Admiral Longbow is reinstated, so he can come back any time if someone wants to call him back in." No one called him, but the meeting resumed and was completed within the hour.

As she escorted us from the Council Chamber, Admiral Mom chuckled softly. I looked at her, and she shrugged. "I've been holding that trick for a long time. There were a lot of times I wanted to use it, but I always held myself back. Today, with you in there, and not getting a full night's rest myself... I just wanted him to shut up. I'm sad I won't be able to use that particular surprise attack again, but I have more." All I could do was hug her and laugh.

Thinking about it now that I'm fully rested and able to fully consider things, I'm going to have to set aside time to talk to her about that trick and what kind of consequences she'll receive from it. I haven't really thought too much about how the Admiralty works, so I don't know what the hierarchy is between the admirals. As far as I'm concerned, _all_ admirals are in charge, but I don't really know which admirals have more power than others. I wonder now if Mom's powerful enough to avoid any kind of repercussions from that trick, or if Admiral Shockpaw is powerful enough to help shield her. I'll need to find out so I don't worry.

For now, there are a lot of things to do for the ship, which is good because none of the senior officers are allowed to leave it until we get word back from the Council. I fill out the report about Senior Chief Ironhammer, who is currently awaiting trial in a cell in the Admiralty. I find a note that says they're going to bring in his contacts from Hallowforge for trial as well to stop the entire smuggling operation. That's going to take at least two months, and they would like us to stay for it.

I look at the detailed reports from Engineering which, with notes from Zaxn, tell me we're going to have to fully drain the main battery before we can remove the stint that Zaxn placed on the mana flow, then recharge the battery from zero. That's going to take three-to-four months, minimum. I'm sure some of the adepts will have fun using the mana to play with, though.

One of the things that I'm not officially supposed to know they can do is burn battery power by playing 'light tag', where they create balls of sticky light to throw at each other. Children play it all the time with large, soft balls. Adults, however, tend to shoot the light faster, use harder balls of different sizes, and infuse the balls with lightning to shock their targets. I'll recommend other spells they can use to burn battery power, but I expect a light tag tournament bracket to be developed.

I send in a request to Admiral Mom about Kesn, and about my soon-to-be-vacant Chief Science position. She sends a reply informing me that the Corsari will have to remain on-world until the new Ambassador is ready, which will take six months. We can replace the Chief Science Officer in less time, but the transfer process for someone at that level, if I don't have anyone on-ship to promote, will still take time. I've thought about it, and I don't think Vanwen is ready for the position, so we'll spend the time to bring in someone proper. It sounds like I have lots of time available anyway.

I send the update to Cap about how long we're going to be on Terra, but he doesn't send me a reply. I'm sure he has his own piles of dragon droppings to deal with, so I'll ask him about it in person in a few days. He's probably helping Admiral Shockpaw plan things for his envoy to Stenchstone. Of all the things I need to worry about, I know Cap's not one of them.

Calgonnel's memorial service is scheduled. A fair number of local folk are expected to attend, along with Cap and I. I'm a bit disappointed to learn he won't have any family in attendance, but then I look through his personnel file and realize he doesn't actually have any family. He's from Terra, but he never married, has no brothers or sisters, and his parents have been gone for awhile. I'm disappointed in myself for not knowing that about him, but even though we were on the same team for a few years, we never really worked together. It never came up.

However, I'm not surprised that he wasn't married. Working on a starship makes finding a relationship difficult, especially when you're in a higher position. That's why folk like Tanna and Aelon end up connected, or Sen and Zaxn, or Lada and Gimmir. Folk find whatever they can find in their situation, whether it's good or bad. Most of those won't last, but they're convenient for our jobs.

Sadly, folk like Cap, Calgonnel and I are in leadership positions over too many others. Relationships on-ship are impossible for us. That's why Tanna spends so much time trying to find me a boyfriend. But she doesn't understand that our jobs are important enough to us to make the sacrifice acceptable. Although it does become a little depressing when there's no family to show up at your memorial.

I attempt to check on the results of my captain test, but they're locked because of the Council meeting. I'm curious how one will affect the other, but I'm not very anxious about it right now. I have a lot of other things to worry about, and recognize a few more skills I need to work on before I'll truly be ready for my own chair. Besides, I'm already Captain Rylae Westiel of the Stenchstone Palace Guard. It's not a starship, but it does fulfill the requirements of the spellsand on the gazebo floor all those years ago.

I start a message exchange with Mother and Father. Since Tir Tairngire is so close, and Mother's hospital is so important to the Admiralty, a message ship leaves here and is back in three days. I let them know that I'll be on Terra for at least the next six months while we refit, and I plan to request time off to visit home and bring Tanna.

I tell them about my new friends Kesn and Rosa, which leads into telling them about Calgonnel. I relay the story of his reaction to Mother's newest agreement with the dwarves, and how one of the last things he told me was to "try not to start another interstellar incident".

I can't give them any mission details, but I tell them I met a goblin King, and a goblin Overseer was spending _incredible_ amounts of effort to flirt with me, and that I may or may not have broken into the Palace while it was on lockdown. I also inform them that the King himself forgave me for it, but that's much later in the message, so Father spends some time worrying about what 'That Rebellious Daughter' has done this time. I do sign the message as Captain Rylae Westiel of the Stenchstone Palace Guard, so I'm hoping they notice and comment on it.

I just like saying it! I've had "Captain Rylae Westiel" in my mind for over a hundred years, and busted my elf butt trying to make it come true, and it has. I still want a starship as a UCST captain, but I can be very happy with what I have now. After the Council comes to its decision about us, I should discuss with them about how often I can visit Stenchstone, since I am a Captain of their Palace Guard. Maybe I'll send a message to Admiral Shockpaw about it, since it does fit with his envoy plans.

Three or four work-filled days pass before we receive word from the Admiral Council. The Council isn't happy with the way we perverted protocols and sent falsified information upon return to Terra, but the evidence was obvious that communications were compromised, so it was determined to be a justifiable action. They absolutely did not like the fact that an executive officer was used as bait for an assassination attempt to capture a criminal, and they were very unhappy about using a non-official crew member for the sneak-attack, but Admiral Shockpaw and Cap shared the blame for the creation of the plan and will have censures placed on their records. Knowing those two, I'm sure neither of them even has the tiniest amount of caring for those censures.

I'm sure I would have received an official censure for breaking into the Palace, but since the King forgave me _and_ gave me a leadership position in the Guard, I may have considered it a fact too trivial to mention to the Admirals.

On the reverse side of the coin, we did receive official praise and notification for the main points of the mission. Cap and Admiral Shockpaw received commendations for reopening official channels with Stenchstone and resolving the 'war' situation. I received multiple commendations for my actions, including revealing the smuggling operation, finding and terminating the enemy plot to attack the folk of Stenchstone, and capturing-without-killing a major intelligence leak in the Admiralty. Those of us who led the assault on the Black Tongue locations also received commendations for that. Zaxn even received a commendation for his spying work and collection of vital intelligence.

Overall, the Admiralty is very happy with what we accomplished. I'm glad for that, because I know we're very happy with our accomplishments. This mission was nothing at all like we originally planned, but we not only got through it, we excelled at it. I need to spend a few days evaluating individual members of the crew for their actions over the course of the mission so we can make recommendations for promotions and reassignment.

While thinking about promotions, I check my message box again. There are three new messages. The first two are from VA Railmaker, and I tear into the first one quickly. Let's see... "apologizes for the delay in sending my results"... blah blah locked blah blah Council blah blah resolved... "Information from the resolution of my most recent mission caused a reevaluation of the initial results"...

"Congratulations. Commander Rylae Westiel has been approved as a captain candidate and will be added to the Official List for Future Starship Command."

I'm giggling so hard I can't read the rest of the words. I need to read the rest of the words, but I can't see them! Deep breaths, Rylae! Okay. I think I'm good. Where was I?

"As new candidates are added, location and placement on the list may change. A current list can be accessed at any time through your terminal while connected to the Admiralty. As of the 19th day of the 9th month of Terra Year 7401, the list contains 292 candidates. Commander Rylae Westiel has been added to the list at position number 6."

Wait. I need to read that line again. The 19th day of the 9th month in 7401 is today. With 292 candidates, the top third of the list would be about 100 folk. So I'd be perfectly fine with anywhere up to 99. Right. But... this says 6. Position number 6. That has to be a mistake. Doesn't it?

I tap a command in my terminal and search for the current Official List. It appears after a second, and I look at it. I don't even have to go to the second page. It's right there, near the top. "6. Commander Rylae Westiel."

I stare at it for a very long time. I'm not only on the list, but I'm number six. If I was number 99, I'd likely get a ship in 30 years. If I was number 50, I'd likely get a ship in 20 years. At 25, I'd probably only have a 10-year wait. At 6... I could have a ship in less than five years, unless something happens to my position on the list.

Just then I remember there was a second message from VA Railmaker, and I switch to open that. It's a short message that isn't a form letter like the last one.

"Congratulations on your placement. You were originally at position 27, but your current mission accomplishments changed that. You made quite an impression on a number of Admirals. Well done.

"As you know, the list changes based on what positions candidates accept. If you're interested in a message ship, I can get you placed in one tomorrow. If you're interested in a diplomatic ship like the Corsari, that will take a bit longer. Candidates on the list below you may take positions you pass up.

"However, aside from the Starship List, I have been asked to forward you another opportunity. A Captain's position has just opened at the Admiralty, in the Intelligence office. VA Goldencloak has asked me to offer it to you directly, for a few reasons I'm sure are obvious to you.

"If you choose the Intelligence position, you'll be moved back to your initial list position of 27, but you can be a Captain in the Intelligence office after four months of training. The decision is up to you, but please let me know soon. We will hold the position for a time while the trials are commencing, but will need to fill it eventually.

"Kindest Regards, Vice Admiral Gorin Railmaker"

Dragons be damned! They're offering me Captain Darkmuck's position? I don't even know what to say! I'll have to spend some time thinking about that.

In the meantime, I'll open the third message. It's from Mother! That was fast! Well, it's very short...

...oh. Saeralyn is staying with Mother and Father. Dragons be damned. She must be hiding out on Tir Tairngire, which means she's in trouble again. I need to get home as soon as possible.

### End – Rylae's Storm, Ugly Dirt Box Universe Book 1

### 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 sci-fi/fantasy 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

