Furlough

A Banner of the Stars Story

Chapter 7 – Parting Shots

Lafiel usually removed her wristband when they used the whirlpool out on the deck outside their living room. Jinto noticed that she still was wearing it on the arm she had resting against his chest. He thought maybe she had just forgotten about it, but now this was the third time he had seen her check it since they fixed breakfast and came out here to soak. Far from being worried about anything, she gave an air of eager anticipation. "I thought maybe you were checking the weather reports," he said. "They usually don't change that often, you know."

She just smiled and snuggled closer. "I'm not checking the weather."

Jinto got the feeling he was not going to be getting any more answer for the moment. Last night she had made vague statements that she would like to stay around the house this morning. Maybe she was expecting somebody. They had been getting out and about meeting more people in the past few days, but Jinto had to wonder whose arrival she would be anticipating this eagerly.

A little while later she stood up from where she had been lying next to him in the whirlpool and looked out onto the bay. Jinto admired the view. I sure hope nobody across the bay has a telescope.

She smiled and turned to face him. "Jinto, let's go out to the pool deck."

"Okay." Before he followed her into the lounge, Jinto glanced out at the bay. The only thing he saw that might have caught her attention was the daily delivery boat run turning in toward the house. Usually that was just a routine delivery of supplies handled by the maid-robot and the walker.

Jinto walked into Lafiel's bedroom, which was now the bedroom. They toweled each other dry and got dressed. Once again she was putting on a new swimsuit that he had not seen before. He had stopped commenting on that a while ago. Jinto put on his old swimming trunks. Lafiel had got him a pair something like what Brint liked to wear, but Jinto would not step out of here with those on even at gunpoint.

They walked down the corridor and emerged onto the pool deck. Geith and Chisha were over on the covered section with the baby, so of course they had to go play with Lee for a while. When Lee started to look unimpressed they made their way onto the sun deck where Emery and Shyori were lounging.

Shyori sighed. "Lafiel, your new swimsuits keep getting smaller. You are driving us crazy!" She turned to face her girlfriend. "Emery, if we do her together there would be no hard feelings, right?"

Emery shrugged. "I'm game, but you'd better ask Lafiel."

"Okay. Lafiel, I am declaring my lust."

Lafiel smiled down at Shyori. "Sadly I must decline," she deadpanned. "I am very fond of you and your form is most pleasing to my eye. But I am not attracted to women that way and my heart belongs to another."

"We did warn you about this," Emery said. "And for the record, the lust part applies to me too."

Lafiel sat down on a lounge chair beside them. "Oddly, I don't mind the attention when I am here. People openly admiring each other just seems to be part of the background. I see no harm."

"Would wearing that in public be illegal back home?" Shyori asked.

"No, but it would be frowned upon."

Jinto sat down. "Lafiel scandalized our crew just by stripping down to her military-issue swimsuit at a party," he informed them. He was in the process of relating that story when Mari walked out onto the deck. Uncharacteristically, she looked a little bit nonplussed. Everybody picked up on it. She wished them a good morning and Emery asked if something was wrong.

"A man from the delivery boat is at the door. There is a... package which has arrived," she said. "It is addressed to us, but..." her gaze shifted to Lafiel. "They say an authenticated signature from Abriel Lafiel is required. Something about authorization to deliver restricted goods."

Lafiel smiled and stood up. "I know what it is. I'll come sign for it."

"Will you need any help with it?" Jinto asked.

"If you mean carrying it, no," Mari said.

"Something small?"

Her familiar ironic smile returned. "They said it should be able to fit onto our walker."

A few minutes later everybody who had been on the pool deck was down on the beach, watching Lafiel and the boat crew use the boat's crane to load a shipping container onto the walker. The walker platform was wide enough but not long enough, so the front and rear railings had to be taken down to accommodate the long, narrow container. As it made its way slowly up the pier the walker did not seem to be straining as much as Jinto would have thought. Whatever was in there, it was light.

Thom showed up next to Jinto. He looked slightly worried. "Mom said something about a package. Is it from Lafiel?"

"I assume so. She's being very mysterious. That's a non-standard shipping container, it must be made specially for whatever is inside."

"I've seen those plenty," Thom said. "They're for transporting items that need to be deployed rapidly in the field."

Jinto frowned. "What sort of items?"

"Launchers, usually," Thom said, keeping his voice down.

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds. "Let's both go talk with Lafiel," Jinto said softly. Thom nodded. The two of them walked over to where Lafiel had brought the walker to a halt on the wide boardwalk that split the beach. She had just ordered the walker to go down on its folded legs, turning it into a stable platform. Now she was happily lowering the side railings. Clearly she was planning to open up the container right here. Unobtrusively, Jinto and Thom positioned themselves to either side of Lafiel. "You're really going to open this up right here?" Jinto asked casually.

"That's right," Lafiel said brightly. She worked her wristband, presumably sending the signal to unlock the container. A moment later there was a click. The top opened up, then the front, back and side container walls all came down together, flattening out and forming a wide platform.

Jinto just stared for a couple of seconds. "I'm... not sure what I'm looking at here." He turned to see Thom's reaction. He looked puzzled. Then some realization came and he laughed out loud. "Lafiel, did you actually buy this?"

"Yes. It's a gift for the family. I want you to have it."

"What is it?" Jinto asked.

"It's a surveillance drone," Thom said. "Or it was, until somebody went to work on it."

The way the parts had been folded up had thrown Jinto off, but he could see that it was a small aircraft. The others came to gather around, even Chisha holding Lee came to get a closer look. Lafiel hopped up beside the thing and pulled out a few large pins that had been holding parts in place. She worked her wristband again. Slowly, silently, the thing unfolded and the pieces locked into place. It had a very long, narrow fuselage. The section ahead of the wing was all glass, and Jinto could see inside there was room for two people to lie in tandem. The wings were incredibly long and mostly narrow. Only the wing roots supporting a pair of large ducted fans were wider and thicker. It was done up in two colors, black on top and light blue-gray on the bottom. It sat on top of two appendages that Jinto decided he would call landing claws.

"Lafiel, is this... legal?" Emery asked, looking as if she still did not believe what she was seeing.

"I've heard of these," Geith said, also sounding as if he could hardly believe it. "It's a Fremin Industries civilian mod for their military vehicles."

Lafiel beamed a smile. "That's right. All the military comm and surveillance gear has been removed to make room for the cockpit, but it still has commercial grade sensors and autopilot. It can be flown manually too, either by stick or by Froth and glove interface."

"It has a Froth interface?" Jinto asked.

Lafiel nodded. "Yes, that's what I had to sign for. Everything else is standard commercial gear. It's within the weight and power limits for use on the island and it's a stealth aircraft, so there's no problem with noise. Both Emery and Geith are certified for this class of aircraft."

"I've flown both gliders and ultralights," Emery confirmed. "You don't see either of them used much on the island because the air currents are tricky around the volcanic plugs."

"This has active control surfaces governed by software that can compensate for that. The drone was intended to be able to fly under the radar, or in much more hostile environments like planets that are still being terraformed. I'll show you." She grabbed Jinto's hand and smiled. "Let's take it up!"

"Um... sure."

"It's ready to fly?" Geith asked, sounding skeptical.

"I asked them to pack it for rapid deployment," Lafiel said. "Naturally I'll do a systems check first." She touched something on her wristband and the entire glass-enclosed front of the fuselage tilted up ninety degrees and opened out, exposing the harnesses within. It was possible to just step into it. Almost before he knew it Lafiel had coaxed Jinto into the upper harness and strapped him in. The Kamrau clan were regarding this just as dubiously as Jinto was regarding it from inside. Lafiel stepped in front of him and strapped herself in. She plugged her tiara into the Froth interface and slipped her left hand into the control glove. A moment later, the clamshell glass bottom enclosed them and tilted back down to its locked position. Lafiel put on a pair of visors and held out another set. "Put these on," she said. "There are no fixed instruments, everything works by HUD."

Struggling a bit with the confined space, Jinto slipped on the visors. There was a HUD display currently going through a systems check that looked very much like the one done by a Space Force shuttle. He could hear the soft hum and whine of machinery. Control surfaces were being taken through their paces and air was now being circulated around them. He could just barely hear the ducted fans behind them to either side being brought up to speed. "Can we really take off from here?" Jinto asked nervously. He noticed that everyone was stepping well back in anticipation of Lafiel doing just that.

"The landing claws have a high-speed muscle that acts as a launcher. The acceleration is short but very high. You should hold on to me, it will help stabilize us." Jinto did so, and a moment later the plane was thrown violently forward and out over the water.

Then all his anxiety melted away and it became magical.

They were flying in almost perfect silence over the water. It felt as if the aircraft was not even there, it was little more than a shadow chasing them in his peripheral vision. They just flew in a bubble of still air, slipping effortlessly across the sky. They continued to climb higher. The plane banked and turned to fly up the length of the bay. Jinto had seen a view like this before when they went tandem water-ski paragliding. But this was something different, both thrilling and peaceful.

He stroked her hair gently. "Lafiel, you knew it would be like this, didn't you?"

"I knew it would be wonderful," she said. He could not see her smile but from her voice it was as if he could. "Jinto, I want to take it into the clouds."

She wanted to take it through its paces. And now so did he. Jinto bent his head down. "Take us into the clouds, Lafiel," he said softly into her ear.

She reached out with her free hand to squeeze his. Without a word, she turned the plane around and headed back in towards the center of the island, still gaining altitude. The seemingly impenetrable ceiling of the cloud layer became more misty and intangible as they approached. But once they hit it, they were lost in impenetrable white. "How's the Froth sense?" Jinto was moved to ask.

"Better than I thought, even with the low-power radar. There's a visual if you want."

Jinto had heard of it but had never seen it. There was software that could render an approximate visual representation of what the Froth sensors were showing. Jinto directed his gaze at the visor menu and soon found it. He made the selection. His visors went opaque and projected a holographic image.

Jinto was stunned. How is it that I never asked her to show me this before?

The holo display leveraged his depth perception to give him a three dimensional map of the space around him. It was a highly distorted fish-eye view set up so that all the space around them could fit within his visual field. The level of detail was overwhelming. How could anybody make sense of this?

The answer came to him quickly. He had heard Lafiel describe this to him before. He was seeing this through his eyes, which could only really focus on one part at once. She was not seeing this, she was feeling it in a way he could not fathom. It was more like a tactile sense extended into the third dimension. She did not need need to shift her focus, there was nothing to focus. She felt it all at once.

"Can you see it?" Lafiel asked. She seemed to be wondering why he was not saying anything.

"Yes Lafiel, I see it. Even if it's just a pale image, I feel like I'm seeing it through you."

"I can see perfectly, Jinto. I will steer us true. Where do you want to go?"

"Can you land us on top of one of the volcanic plugs?"

Her voice held a smile. "I was hoping you would say that."

They continued to climb, spiraling between the pillars of rock. The ride was not quite as silky smooth as it had been out over the bay. The plane was working overtime to compensate for all the eddies and currents in the wind. In the projected image, there was some wispy color-coding in the air above and between the solid land. "Lafiel, is it showing you where there are updrafts?"

"It can't show me, but it is predicting. It is doing a good job, too. I am mostly flying as a glider with the fans in passive mode."

Jinto was getting more used to the distorted image. He could see that they were getting level with the top of the volcanic plugs. They approached the top of one. The wind was strong enough so that they could just hover right over it. Lafiel dropped them down and the landing claws got a hold of a small outcrop of rock. The nose dipped. "It looks like the claws got a good grip," Lafiel said. Jinto glanced at the icon that would turn off the holo. He was surrounded by white again. He could see the rough rock face for just a few feet all around them, with wispy clouds sweeping over it and obscuring anything more distant. There were just hints of blue sky above. The cockpit tilted upright and opened up. The wind blew damp, saturated air across them.

Lafiel released her harness and stepped out onto the rock. Jinto did likewise. He took her by the shoulders and kissed her. "Thank you for this, Lafiel. It is a wonderful gift, for me and for them."

She looked very contended. "I really wanted to leave something behind, a sign of my gratitude. If they start having more Abh guests, this will be a popular thing to do." Her smile grew wicked. "When you and Thom laid eyes on this, your relief was palpable. What exactly had you been expecting?"

"I don't know, maybe a missile battery for taking out the House on the Hill?" Jinto tried his best to make it sound like a joke.

Lafiel did not lose her wicked smile. "Don't be ridiculous, that would be unspeakably rude. I do have plans for this plane. It will be a gift for the Kamrau family. But before I hand it over formally, I am going to want to borrow it."

# # # #

Ranef Duben always took his afternoon tea at exactly the same time, in the lounge next to the picture window. He had never adopted the planetary time schedule, so today it coincided with early morning by local time. His daily schedule falling in and out of sync with the planetary rotation was a good way to mark the passage of time, and to keep the proper distance with his surroundings. In a way he preferred to be out here in local night. He would surround himself in a live image built by the light-enhanced cameras all around the outside of the house. The sensitive parabolic microphones would bring in the gentle sounds of the night. It would sometimes amuse him to observe neighbors who thought they had privacy.

Today was a cloudy, blustery day, with scattered rain. There was not much happening outside. This was the time of day when Ranef would focus on nothing in particular, letting the particulars of the day's work fade into the background. Most often it was just an opportunity to relax and regenerate. Sometimes, this fugue state would lead to surprising insights. More than one miscreant in the galaxy owed his incarceration to lines of inquiry that traced their origin to Ranef's afternoon tea.

Today, for the first time in a while, Ranef found his thoughts going out to the Princess Abriel Lafiel. The days of her furlough would be drawing to a close before long. She was still on the island, he knew that much. Her only movement had bee a couple of short stays in Oakuri. The Princess had promised to come see him before she left, and he was quite certain that she would keep her promise. That one was driven by duty above and beyond all else. It was clear from her service record, her correspondence and her associations. Meeting her had removed any doubt on that point. Her one real indiscretion had in fact been her way to resolve conflicting obligations. Less careful observers might accuse her of sentimentality, but Ranef knew better. She was Abriel through and through. Above all else the Abriel were dedicated to protecting those who served them. He was certain that she would do whatever she needed for those who looked to her for protection. Ranef admired her greatly. The Empire needed more people like her, people who were always asking themselves what is the right thing to do. It was rare to see such character in one so young. And such a beautiful girl, too. Really a lovely young lady.

Ranef really wanted nothing more than to lift the burden that she had taken upon herself.

The Empire's short-sighted reaction to the Mimic rebellion was very predictable. In one regard Ranef was in complete agreement. Letting these creatures run about in their robotic bodies was utter folly, anyone could see that. But when Ranef had read of the Collectives laboring in their virtual worlds while all the while being nothing but neural nets suspended in coolant... the possibilities were breathtaking. Not the gestalt minds of course, that was clearly no less dangerous than free-ranging Mimics. But kept in their virtual worlds, kept isolated, they could be easily contained. How much more easily yet when nobody else even knew they existed.

The Mimic that the Princess had taken custody of on Hania was such a fascinating case. The woman Miriam Hender had been an aged lander when her brain was scanned for download into a neural net. From all accounts the Mimic who took her name and her memories was no less intelligent and resourceful than the woman herself had been... in some ways perhaps even more so. She had learned Baronh on a highly accelerated schedule. Her earlier keepers had demonstrated she had the ability to acquire and retain technical skills. Just imagine what else she could learn!

The one thing that most people did not understand about intelligence work was just how labor-intensive it was. Everybody focused on the computers and the data, and the automation certainly was valuable. But just like an experiment required a scientist to interpret the result, the data required a trained analyst to get anything really useful out of it. Ranef had a very large data crystal full of encrypted data delivered here from Lakfakalle on every relay ship that made the regular run to the capital. Over the years he had got better at training the automation to look for what he wanted, and it had yielded great results. But that process was quickly reaching an asymptote, probably an impenetrable one.

What he really needed was thousands of skilled analysts. Or millions. Or billions. What he needed was to take Miriam Hender as his disciple, to teach her everything he knew, to train her to a state of perfection. Learn to exploit the unique properties of the Mimic neural net to let her focus on her work to the exclusion of all else. Then copy her into a vast array of neural nets and let her loose upon the data. Only then would the Empire be safe under an umbrella of total information awareness. By the time the Space Force won the war and the Empire encompassed all of humanity, he would have that umbrella ready for them to unfurl.

Ranef returned his thoughts to the more immediate. The fact that the Princess had delayed this long in returning here suggested she was unsure whether to trust him. If she came here and was not yet resolved, he would show her the quarters he had already set aside for receiving Miriam. His plan for the house had called for such guest quarters but they had never been used. Showing the Princess something concrete would set her mind at ease. And he had a further idea that might surprise her. If Miriam lacked companionship then why not use her backup to give her a twin sister? The transcript of her interview with Admiral Spoor clearly indicated she would be amenable to that idea, in fact she might very much appreciate it. And Ranef was not lying about letting Miriam and any sisters she wanted live here as they please. For his own purposes all he really cared about was getting a backup of her neural net. They need not ever know. And once everything had been arranged, covering his tracks would be a trivial exercise. It was what he did, after all.

Ranef saw his manservant enter the room and approach. He walked quickly and looked rather out of sorts. Ranef did not bother asking if something was wrong, he would find out soon enough.

"Excellency, her Highness Abriel Lafiel is here. She is asking to see you if it is quite convenient."

Ranef frowned. "Her Highness is here? I saw no boat approach."

"She has landed on the roof with a... small aircraft of sorts. She pounded... excuse me, she knocked on the terrace doorway to gain the attention of the staff."

Ranef stood up, really alarmed now. The roof terrace did include space for landing aircraft, but it was just for emergencies. This was a very bad day for the sort of civilian aircraft that were allowed for use on the island. "Did her aircraft crash? Is she injured?"

His servant hesitated for just a moment. "She landed... without incident. She is unhurt."

Ranef resisted the urge to call up live camera images of the roof to see for himself. Such an action would be disrespectful, and he needed more than anything else to place himself in a respectful frame of mind right now. He was not ready to properly receive a guest right now, he was just dressed casually in slacks and an open shirt. The question sounded absurd but he could not help but ask. "Is she dressed formally?"

"No, Excellency." Ranef got the impression he wanted to say more. But Ranef could not be seen to keep his guest waiting, there was no time to start interrogating the staff.

Ranef waved him away. "Show her in directly," he said curtly. "Have housekeeping bring tea service for two. Be quick about it." He usually was not so brusque with the staff, but he was not used to being taken by surprise like this. He really needed for this meeting to go the way he wanted it to.

In less than a minute a man from housekeeping brought in the tea service with commendable speed. Almost as soon as he left, somebody else entered the room. Ranef frowned. Had the Princess brought a local servant with her? Why had he not been informed, and why was she here alone?

It took a few seconds to realize that his guest had in fact arrived.

The Princess strode into the room as if she had been here a thousand times before and nobody belonged here more than she did. She was practically naked, dressed in shorts that had been rolled up to make them even shorter and a sleeveless shirt that had been tied up in front to leave her midriff exposed. Her skin had been scorched black. Her hair was gathered up into a high ponytail. As she approached, Ranef could not help but notice the tiara she wore. It had been embellished with the image of a silver sea-serpent that coiled all around and stared at him from over her forehead with tiny ruby eyes. But it was The Princess' own eyes that captivated him. They had none of the reserve and wariness she had shown upon her first visit. Her smile was warm, friendly and inviting.

Ranef found himself in a state of paralysis. Normally the guest must be allowed to speak first, but that was when the guest appeared at the door requesting entry. This was more of a chance encounter, so perhaps he could break protocol without giving offense. "Your Highness, what an unexpected pleasure."

"Your Excellency, thank you for inviting me in." She stopped rather too close to him. "I am sorry for dropping in like this." She bowed her head, closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I told Jinto that was such a bad joke, but he made me promise." Her warm smile returned. "May I sit?"

"Of course!" Ranef said perhaps a little too forcefully. They both sat down on the armchairs that flanked the little serving table. "I feel compelled to ask, are you in good health, Highness?"

"Oh, this," the Princess said, running fingers across her face. "I got rather too much sun, but it is nothing serious."

Ranef speculated that she wore so little because her skin was still recovering and any more contact with clothing would be uncomfortable. "I have tea, is there anything else I can bring to make you more comfortable?"

"Tea will be fine."

He poured for both of them. After they had both taken a sip, Ranef asked the first question that courtesy required. "Have you been enjoying your stay on the island, Your Highness?"

The Princess spoke enthusiastically of the many things she had been doing since she arrived. She would often preface a new story with an inquiry of whether Ranef had ever been to the same place or done the same thing. After receiving several answers in the negative, she politely refrained from asking further. For his part Ranef had little interest in most of what she had been doing. For somebody of her potential to be spending so long in idle play seemed rather a waste. But she had clearly been keeping her eyes open. It appeared that she had now come around to his point of view regarding how fundamental the familial relations were among the landers. He had felt certain that given the opportunity to observe them in their natural habitat, she would come to understand this. Her experience with the hybrids was also intriguing. Teaching pride to such abominations was ultimately a futile gesture, but anyone this young could be forgiven for wanting to try.

"You seem to have a great desire to set things free," Ranef observed.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "The only other person ever to make that observation about me is somebody I trust completely. I have been giving a great deal of thought to the question of whether you are also somebody I can trust. I believe the answer is yes."

Ranef smiled. "I am gratified to hear that, Your Highness."

"I have thought much of why you are really here," the Princess said. "Or rather why your superiors wish for you to be here. I believe I understand now. Here you are beholden to nobody. You are allowed to do the one thing you have ever wanted to do, with complete impunity. Anybody wanting to even see you needs must go to great lengths." She smiled and her eyes went up as if hinting at the aircraft sitting on the roof. "Nobody can just casually come here to bribe you or threaten you or even make a friendly suggestion. You can be trusted because you are pure. If you have information that can destroy somebody or save somebody, it is all the same. You will make the information known, or you will make it disappear, whatever is required. You will always do what is right for the Empire."

Ranef was taken aback. Just how much does she know? "I can tell you there is a great deal of truth in what you have said, Highness. The isolation frees me not only from distraction but from temptation, at least in the eyes of those I serve. Beyond that, there is little I can say."

"I quite understand," she said. "I have found out there is something I have to thank you for. The Kamrau family became part of Count Hyde's education on your recommendation. He benefited greatly from that. On his behalf, you have my gratitude."

Ranef smiled. "It was such an obvious fit. Two generations of the family produced such fine citizens, what better place for the young man? I felt certain they would be a good influence."

"A much better influence than his father."

Ranef felt he needed to tread carefully here. The way the Princess had taken Count Hyde under her wing, she clearly was very fond of him. If she thought he was lying about his involvement in the boy's development, then her trust would be lost. "It was important that he be seen to be making a clean break. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that he was under very close scrutiny by the government. With my proximity, I was the obvious choice to analyze the observations. His succession to the title was by no means a certain thing, not up until he proved himself loyal and trustworthy."

The Princess nodded. "There is one thing I am compelled to ask. Rock Lin died without a friend in the world. From our perspective what opinions he held are no longer of any concern. But he did have some influence on his son for a few years. Did he have pretensions of his son working for the independence of the planet Martine?"

Ranef understood why she had to ask. The Count no doubt knew about Miriam and had been part of the conspiracy to hide her. Lafiel was close to him, but she needed to know whether he had ever come under a bad influence, whether he could really be trusted. Ranef felt comfortable giving her the assurance she wanted. "No. The letters we intercepted all encouraged him to accept his destiny within the Empire. It was a shame I had to advise those letters be kept from the boy. But even the suggestion of any influence from his father could have undermined his position. Rock Lin was a hard man but not a duplicitous one. I understand he had only a small part in his son's upbringing, but there is no reason to think that he was a corrosive influence."

Her expression was difficult to read. It looked as if she had resolved herself to something. "You understand the importance of family to landers," she said softly. "You understand what it would mean to Jinto and his father to be fooled into thinking that they had abandoned each other. Yet that is what you recommended, and that is what was done. I am very sure of one thing now, Excellency. I can trust you to do what needs to be done. I can trust you with Miriam."

Ranef smiled, genuinely moved. "You honor me, Highness. If you will forgive me, the earlier we get things in motion the more likely it is we can arrange everything without any trouble arising. I will need to instruct you on how we will be arranging transport."

"There is no need, Excellency," she said calmly. "I have already taken care of everything."

Ranef frowned. He stopped himself before he could blurt out What have you done? Surely she had not transported the Mimic here by regular channels? "Have you made some... preparations?"

"I believe you are taking delivery as we speak," she said in a voice utterly devoid of inflection.

A few minutes ago, by a casual glance out the window Ranef had taken note of the fact that the daily delivery boat was pulling in to dock at his pier. He was expecting a new data crystal, so that was entirely expected. What was not expected was the large package he saw being wheeled up the pier by his manservant. "Did you send something?" he asked, managing to keep the dread out of his voice.

"One maid-robot, one encrypted data crystal, and one neural net modified for fitting in the robot," the pitiless voice said.

Ranef's heart was racing. She would actually dare to do this? His mind raced as he watched the cursed items being brought into his house. His manservant would have signed for them already. That fact would already have been sent all the way to the local government office to be backed up and stored. It would go out to Lakfakalle as part of the data feed on the next transport, to become part of the permanent record. That was the price he paid to the Service in exchange for his freedom and power: everything coming in and out of his house was recorded. He had ways around that, but the Princess would not know about those ways.

He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see the Princess stepping right up to the front of his chair, her legs coming between his, effectively trapping him here. She glared down at him with a look of utter contempt.

Her voice was no longer expressionless. "The crystal contains nothing, just random data. Still, this will be investigated. It will be noted that I was on the island. It will also be noted that you delivered a very expensive gift to my host family, nothing less than a bottle of limited edition Lakfakalle brandy with its own unique number. The investigation will be extended to me. If they find out about Miriam, the connection will be obvious. I have made it my job to protect Miriam and her friends. I am now making it your job. You have your ways of making this go away, and now you have a good reason for doing so. Make it go away, and we can pass this off as a tasteless joke a young officer decided to play upon one of her elders in a rival service. I know you will do the right thing. And in case you think that I am playing your blackmail games, let me make my position very clear."

She leaned down, put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a Smile that froze his blood. "If I ever hear that Miriam or any of her friends have disappeared or have even received a visit from internal security, I promise you I will come back here with my frigate and I will drop a kinetic round right on top of your house. I do not even care if anybody really believes it was a meteorite impact."

She stood up straight and stepped back. "You need not get up, I will see myself out."

Ranef sat in stunned silence for a while. He cried out when a monstrous bird with great claws swept down from his roof and out across the bay. The glider sheathed its claws and plowed into the gale-force winds without a care.

In the years to come, whenever Ranef saw that glider, he would remember.

# # # #

Most terraformed planets had some equivalent of the Incorporation Day, marking the day when the terraforming project was officially ended, the papers were signed and the planet was opened for colonization. In typical fashion, islanders ignored Delktou Incorporation Day altogether. Instead they celebrated Principality Day, the day when Moruweka Island was granted autonomy as a self-governed principality. Of course the biggest parties were in the Village, but each of the nine bays also had their own dos. The Geibera Bay civic center at the apex of the bay always hosted two parties, an afternoon beach barbecue followed by a traditional bottle party after sunset. When Jinto asked Lafiel which one she wanted to attend, naturally she had said both.

The barbecue was the one sort of island cooking that Lafiel had mixed feelings about. It seemed like a waste of good meat to plaster it with sweet sauces and then incinerate it to blackness. There was one kind of barbecue she found that she could more or less live with. Simply called a "stick", it had pieces of meat and vegetables skewered all along a very long, very thin ceramic stick with a handle and cooked over an open flame. It tended to be a little more subdued both in the sweetness of the coatings and in the amount of cooking. The method of eating from it without utensils was somewhat vulgar, but if everyone else was doing likewise then there could be little complaint. Lafiel also reasoned that if she did ever need to really beat off admirers with a stick this pointy one would do nicely.

Lafiel had lost track of Jinto in the crowd a while back when she had got caught up in a conversation with one of the neighbors, so when she retrieved her stick she went to find a place to sit down. She spotted Mari waving at her. She waved back and made her way over to where she was sitting on the low seat that the boardwalk formed where it met the top of the beach. There was a woman seated with her, somebody Lafiel had not met. She was unusual in a couple of respects. Most everybody else, including Lafiel and Mari, were in swimsuits and sandals. This woman was in a semi-formal calf-length long-sleeve light green dress with matching hat and closed beach-walkers.

It might not have been obvious to some people since the hat artfully hid both her hair and the froth organ on her forehead, but she was clearly Abh.

"Lafiel, I would like you to meet an old, dear friend of mine," Mari said.

"I am Tethanos Parej," the woman said politely. "Please call me Parej if you would."

"I am Abriel Lafiel," she said. In deference to her informality, Lafiel did not give her title. She was certain Mari must have told Parej who she was. "Please call me Lafiel if you would. May I sit with you?"

Parej smiled and gestured to the space beside her with her free hand. "Please do. I see you have gravitated to the same choice of barbecue that I did long ago." She and Mari each had a stick of their own. It should have looked awkward with Parej dressed as she was, but somehow she looked more comfortable than anyone here.

Lafiel sat. "Most barbecued fare seems to mirror the assault on the senses I was warned to expect were I to venture to the mainland."

Parej had a seemingly perpetual little smile that would just grow incrementally now and then. Her eyes were sharply focused, but still had a faraway look as if contemplating a great vista. It was a look Lafiel had seen before. It was the look of somebody who was reaching their twilight years and had much to look back upon. Parej was very old. "Mari has told me much about you during our regular talks, Lafiel. I must say, very few people have made such an impression on her since your young friend had been staying at their house."

Lafiel did not need to ask that she was referring to Jinto. "I have been here for several weeks, it is a wonder we never met before."

That smile grew just a little. "Mari and I converse by holo conference. I don't get out of my house much, I'm afraid. I am one of the mysterious recluses in the bay. But I always make a point of coming out for the Principality Day party." As she spoke she sent a fond glance over to her old friend. "It is a chance to meet with Mari, and sometimes with whatever interesting house guests she has brought with her."

"Had you met Jinto when he was here?" Lafiel asked without quite knowing why.

"Oh yes, it was my role as a woman to initiate him into the mysteries of love." Lafiel's eyes went wide. Her two companions laughed... in a remarkably subdued, gentle way. "Oh dear, if that one has a roving eye he is going to be in such trouble. You are already looking out for rivals."

Lafiel really wished that she could deny that. "I feel that you have me at a disadvantage, Parej."

Her smile became apologetic. "You are right to call me out, we are being very unfair. Let us eat, and I can tell you all my secrets."

Eating did not take long, but hearing of Parej's life took a bit longer. Lafiel had taken her for a first or second generation peer, but she was from an old family that Lafiel knew by name. She was an artist of some renown who had grown dissatisfied with the standards and prohibitions imposed upon her works by the Abh art schools and the associated critics. Lafiel could see where she and Mari would have much in common. Parej had come to Delktou to study under a man whose work she had come across and greatly admired. She had been describing some of her own works, but Lafiel was unclear on what media her new teacher worked in.

"It's not a media the Abh would really ever be involved with," Parej explained. "You see, he was an architect."

That took a bit of explaining. Lafiel understood there were aesthetic considerations to the design of space habitat interiors, but this was something a bit different. Not tied down by the requirements of the space environments, landers were much more free in the design of their living structures. The entire building could become a work of art whose only restriction was the function of the living spaces. Lafiel discovered that architecture could be a collaborative effort since it had some overlap with engineering. Parej and her teacher collaborated on many projects over a period of years. They became partners in the same practice.

"We always talked about designing our own dream house," Parej said. "We finally did design one on the mainland and moved in. It was a city house, and we liked it. But we had started designing a lot of country houses and decided we wanted one of our own. When properties on the island started coming up for sale we grabbed one and used most of our accumulated money to build the house. My teacher passed away many years ago, but I still live there. I have a particular fondness for the Kamrau house, it was one of the last projects that the two of us worked on together."

Lafiel was astonished. "You designed that house? It's so beautiful!"

"That beauty was the result of much very long argument and negotiation," Mari said.

"That is putting it mildly," Parej said. "Both Mari and Ernst had their own ideas about the house, and now you had two architects being brought into the mix. I think that house nearly broke up two marriages."

Lafiel frowned in puzzlement. "Two marriages?"

Parej looked a little surprised, as if Lafiel had questioned something obvious. Then some realization came. "Your pardon, I kept referring to him as my partner, out of habit. He was not just my business partner. We were married for sixty-eight years."

Lafiel felt like she had just been hit by another hurricane-driven wave.

Parej shared one thing in common with her friend Mari. If somebody needed time to think, she gave it to them. Lafiel's mind went in so many different directions at once, it was hard to put it all together. Behind it all, there was one unavoidable truth. I am seeing my future.

Her mind reeling, there was one question Lafiel did have the presence of mind to ask. "I had been wondering about your change of family name."

"I followed the tradition of taking my husband's family name." Her smile became impish. "Or you could just say I adopted the name of his architectural practice."

Lafiel looked into the ancient woman's eyes. "Parej, if I may ask... were you both happy?"

The smile grew a little more than it had before. "What a question. Of course we were. I still am." She pointed. "When I fall asleep for the last time, it will be with this smile. The one he gave me."

Lafiel felt herself returning that smile. "Parej, Mari, would I be imposing if I asked for us to find some place more comfortable where we can talk?"

"Not at all," Parej said. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

Hours later, as the sun was setting and the bottle party was beginning, Mari and Parej excused themselves and caught a ride back home on a neighbor's boat. The character of the gathering was starting to change. The bottle party attracted a younger, noisier crowd. Lafiel went to retrieve her wineskin and shoulder strap from their locker in the civic center. In her wandering she ran into a couple of different people she had met before and got drawn into conversations where she was introduced to people she had not met. Eventually she spotted Jinto sitting at a campfire talking with Isu and a number of people, a couple of whom she recognized as being from the park service. She just stood and watched from a distance for a while.

I have always known that one day Time and Fate will take you from me, Jinto. But now I realize just how little that matters. On the day that you close your eyes for the last time, I promise you will be surrounded by our grandchildren.

A while later when the two of them had a moment alone, Jinto looked curiously into her eyes. "Lafiel, what is it?"

She just smiled and shook her head. "Nothing important."

# # # #

It occurred to Jinto that this was the same thing they had done their first morning on the island. They were sailing out to do snorkeling in the reefs. But there were a few differences. It was just Lafiel and him this time. In place of the cruiser they had borrowed the family's small sailboat. And of course, since then there had been the seismic shift that changed everything.

Lafiel had been quiet today. She was gazing out across the ocean and into the clear blue sky. It was as if she wanted to open up and drink in every last drop of the place that they would be leaving soon. Jinto could understand how she felt.

The same mood overtook them after they brought down the sail and started diving. Rather than frenetically chasing after every pretty looking fish they saw, Lafiel just languidly swam beside him. She would always be the first to surface, correctly gauging Jinto's limit. The variety of life on the reef was vast beyond measure, and they still found things that they had not seen before. But for the most part this was now a familiar place to them.

After a good long while, they returned to the boat to eat and drink. That was a bit more challenging than Jinto had anticipated. When the little boat was dead in open water, it bobbed and swayed around quite a bit. As well as being much smaller it lacked the active control surfaces of the cruiser. "Maybe we should have gone out to one of the platforms," Jinto said. There were a number of anchored platforms scattered along the reef that were popular with divers.

"I like being at the mercy of the sea for a while," Lafiel said. Her eyes gave the real answer, she wanted them to be alone for today.

In response to gentle pressure from his hand, Lafiel lay down on the padded deck. He kissed her gently. He ran his hand along the strap of her swimsuit. "It occurs to me that since we're alone we don't really need these."

"Don't you like my new swimsuit?" Lafiel asked playfully.

"There's one thing I don't like quite so much about this one." He put his fingers over the tiny clasp at the front. "This kind takes two hands to undo."

She smiled. Her hand came obligingly next to his. Now that there were two hands, they made short work of the clasp. He moved the fabric aside and kissed her again, this time more deeply.

A rogue wave rocked the boat. They both had to brace themselves. Lafiel smiled up at him. "This is going to present a challenge."

"Do you think we're up to it?" Jinto grunted in surprise as she groped him.

"I can see that you are up to it. Are you even going to be able to take that off now?"

"If you help me."

Lafiel slipped her hands under both sides of his swimming trunks. Her wristband chimed and she cursed. Jinto grinned. "Forgot to turn yours off?"

"I did not forget." Before she was even finished speaking Jinto's wristband also chimed. They looked at each other and shared the same thought. That could not be coincidence. And Jinto knew that he had set his to block all but emergency calls. They both sat up. Jinto saw that his was an emergency text message from the military network. It just had the code phrase Barbarians at the Gates. "Lafiel-"

"I know. Acknowledge the message." Jinto did so. His mind was racing. They were being recalled to duty five days early and that message meant the enemy had launched an offensive. Just how bad was it? Almost immediately his wristband chimed again. Jinto just stared in shock. "Lafiel, are you seeing this?"

"Yes." The message wanted them to confirm they were at the same location and could be picked up together. "I will respond for both of us." A moment later the flashing red on Jinto's display disappeared. Further communication would be through Lafiel. Her band chimed again. "That was from an inbound shuttle."

"Where is it landing?" Jinto started weighing options, trying to think what was the quickest way to get them to shore and onto a shuttle.

"They are landing here. Estimated splashdown five minutes."

"What?" Even if it had come straight from the Gate at speed the shuttle or its mother ship must have been in-system for several minutes at least. "Why are they only contacting us now, and still by text?"

"All comm is at the highest secrecy level, encrypted text only."

That made no sense. If the enemy had launched an offensive, the government could not possibly hide the fact. It would be obvious that all leave was being canceled, why would that need to be a secret? Something else occurred to Jinto. "Lafiel, if they will be splashing down nearby we need to get the boat away from the reef."

Lafiel nodded. Without a word, she helped him hoist the sail. The boat did have a small electrodynamic motor, which Jinto engaged, but it would be much faster used in conjunction with the sail. Without being asked, Lafiel took the tiller. That made sense, Jinto was more experienced with the sail and she had a better idea where they needed to go. "I see it," Lafiel said, pointing. Jinto could see it now too, just a black speck high in the sky. It quickly grew and resolved itself into the familiar shape of a Space Force shuttle. Jinto called up the GPS on his wristband. They were just coming off the reef, which was good. It gave the shuttle more leeway in where to land, and the splashdown wave was not going to break in the deeper water they were now sailing into.

The shuttle grew at alarming speed. The rumble of its jets was getting louder. The ship now seemed to be heading straight for the bridge of Jinto's nose. "Are they kidding?"

"They don't understand that we are in a small boat," Lafiel called out, her tone implying that was an oversight on her part. The pilot could probably see that now but it was far too late, they were irretrievably in final descent. The shuttle hit the water and disappeared behind a wall of spray. Jinto's heart sank as he saw the oncoming wave.

"Jinto?" She was asking what they should do.

"Steer straight into it." As the wave loomed over them Jinto threw himself forward and wrapped himself around the mast. The boat tilted up to near vertical. They were in virtual free-fall for a second. Miraculously, the nose dipped and they fell down the back of the wave. Water sloshed across the deck, but not enough to endanger them. Jinto glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Lafiel still safely at the tiller. The shuttle floated slowly out to meet them, carried by its momentum. Something else just occurred to Jinto. "If we are under a secrecy order then we can't even call back to say what's happened."

"Maybe we can," Lafiel said. "Thom is still officially part of the reserve. If he's wearing a wristband it should have military grade encryption. Technically that would be in the bounds of allowed emergency communication. Let me try."

Jinto slaved his wrisband to hers so that he would also receive any response. It came almost immediately. "Kamrau Thom," the familiar voice said crisply.

"This is Lafiel, I am calling from the boat," Lafiel said from behind Jinto.

"We saw a shuttle come down in your vicinity," Thom said. His voice was distorted slightly by the real-time encryption being done.

"We have gone through the wave, the boat is still afloat and undamaged."

"Hang the boat, are you and Jinto okay?"

"We are unhurt," Lafiel said. "The shuttle is here to pick us up. It is operating under secrecy, I am not even supposed to be telling you this much." Jinto found that somewhat ironic. Anyone on this side of the island would have seen the shuttle land.

"I understand," Thom said. "Nobody outside the household will know that you have left early. We will wait until your original departure date then ship your things by the regular channels."

Lafiel gave no immediate reply. Jinto turned from his place manning the sail and glanced at her. She seemed to be agonizing over what to say. "Thom, I am mortified beyond words that we have to leave you this way. You have all given us more than you will ever know."

"I understand. It has been our great pleasure, Lafiel. Keep Jinto safe and make sure you both come visit us again one day."

"We will, that is a promise. Thom, we will be coming alongside the shuttle shortly, I have to go now."

"That's fine. Don't worry about the boat, we'll come pick it up. Go make the galaxy safe for decent folks like you always do."

Lafiel looked full of regret over all the things she did not have time to say. "Acknowledged," she said in a thick voice. She broke the link. Her expression immediately hardened into the mission-centered resolve that Jinto knew so well. Only now did it sink in that they were really leaving. He looked forward again to see that a hatch was opening in the side of the shuttle. A crewman emerged and rolled down a ladder. "We'll have to swim," Lafiel said.

"Right." As they came alongside they both dove over the side into the water. In less than a minute Lafiel was scrambling up the ladder and Jinto was right behind her. The crewman handed them both up. Both their wristbands and the ship intercom gave the audio signal for authentication of authorized personnel. Jinto found it odd the crewman had not asked for verbal confirmation of their identities. Lafiel went straight for the cockpit. She leaned in. "Make your takeoff east by northeast, that will put both your path and the backwash clear of the reef and the boat."

Jinto could glimpse the pilot's confused face as he looked in through the hatchway. "East by...?"

"Sixty-seven degrees off planetary north!" Lafiel barked, translating the archaic directions she had picked up while she was here.

"That is not the optimal-"

"Just do it, pilot! If you need to make up lost time, go straight into a vertical climb. You know how to do that don't you?"

"Yes... ma'am." He said. It occurred to Jinto the poor man might not even be aware of who he was supposed to be picking up and who it was giving him orders. He did not appear inclined to inquire.

Jinto followed Lafiel back to the cabin to get strapped in, allowing the copilot to resume his own seat in the cockpit. Jinto sighed. Might as well get this over with. "Lafiel?" he said softly.

"Yes?"

"You should do up the top of your swimsuit."

Lafiel looked down. To Jinto's great relief, she just muttered a curse under her breath and moved to do up the front of her swimsuit top. Uncharacteristically she was being rather clumsy about it.

"Would you like me to help?" Jinto asked softly.

"I would like that very much," Lafiel said, finally driving the clasp home. "But we are pressed for time at the moment."

As if to punctuate that statement, the jets lit up and they were pressed back into their seats. The pilot quickly demonstrated that he did in fact know how to go straight into a vertical climb. They were buffeted violently by the rough ascent through the ever-shifting layers of atmosphere. Gradually the ride became smoother and the view out the view-ports became darker. Artificial gravity was engaged, and the green light came on. Immediately Lafiel unstrapped herself and walked forward. Jinto followed quickly behind. "Do you know where we are being taken?" Lafiel asked the pilot.

"Ma'am, I don't know the name of the ship we're taking you to. I don't even know who you are. We were just given authentication tags and told to transport two people matching those tags. We'll be docking in eight minutes."

"Very good, carry on." Lafiel marched them to the back of the cabin. "I guess we'll have to be satisfied with emergency pressure suits for now." She threw open the locker and stared in horror. Her expression immediately became one of rage and she practically bowled Jinto over running back to the cockpit. "Pilot, the emergency locker is empty! Do you have any idea how many safety regs you are violating?"

"This shuttle hasn't been released for active duty yet, ma'am," he said. "It's only been released for delivery to deployment site."

"You did splashdown and extraction in a shuttle that hasn't even been released for use yet?" Lafiel asked, sounding utterly scandalized.

"That's not the half of it, ma'am. Every ship in the sector is operating at the highest secrecy level. I don't even know the name of our mother-ship or its commander. You won't find any equipment back there at all, the ship has been stripped down for quick transport."

By that he meant quick transport across long distance through Plane Space. Traveling speed through that two-dimensional space was governed by a brutally simple formula, speed was inversely proportional to mass. To get maximum speed, you stripped a ship down to minimum mass. If the ship they were headed to was in the same state, somebody wanted them to get somewhere far and somewhere fast.

"I suppose we are under radio silence?" Lafiel asked as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry but-"

"You need to seal the cockpit when docking under secret orders, I know." Lafiel turned back into the cabin and walked over to the view-ports on the port side, where the docking would be done. It appeared she wanted to get a look at the ship they were docking with. It came into view shortly. "That a Devastator-class frigate," Lafiel said.

As they approached, another thing became obvious. "There's no paint," Jinto observed.

"I noticed. This ship just came off the assembly line."

"How much would you care to bet this is your new ship?"

"It makes no sense," Lafiel said. "Why send it out here? If we are going to the front, it would make more sense to send us by relay ship and meet up with our own ship there."

Jinto had already come to that conclusion. Wherever they were headed so quickly, it was not the borders with the Triple Alliance. He spotted something else. Oh, she is not going to like this. "Cruiser." He pointed. It was far enough away that it was difficult to even make out the exact class of ship. Only two things were obvious. It was a heavy cruiser of some sort. And more to the point, it was painted red.

The dread and anxiety in Lafiel's face vanished to be replaced by something less ominous but more immediate. Lafiel looked profoundly irritated. "Jinto, I have a very bad feeling about this." She was no longer angry, but she sounded very annoyed.

Jinto could only agree. "I feel like we are about to replay a scene from our past."

Lafiel sighed. She gazed back into the cabin. "You don't suppose we could rip off the seat covers and fashion some clothing out of them, do you?"

"We have nothing to cut it with."

"I wasn't being serious, Jinto. I just felt the urge to express my profound bitterness."

"Go ahead, let it out."

"Whoever is ultimately responsible for having us fished out of the ocean and brought here is going to die soon, die slowly and die screaming."

"That's the spirit."

They waited in silence as they came alongside the bare ceramic curved hull of the frigate. As the shuttle approached the umbilical, Jinto put a hand on Lafiel's shoulder. "Lafiel?"

She looked at him. "Yes?"

"Own the room."

She appeared confused for a moment. Then she smiled. "Who do you think you are talking to, Jinto?"

"The one in charge."

The green light came on over the hatch, and it slid open. They floated through the umbilical and into the airlock of the frigate. The umbilical was fully pressurized, but they had the airlock inner door closed for safety. As soon as the outer door was sealed, the artificial gravity was slowly engaged and the inner door opened. They both stepped out into the open space formed in front of it by the intersecting corridors.

The two people Jinto had expected to see were waiting for them. Lafiel saluted. "Hecto-commander Abriel Lafiel, accompanied by Vanguard Flyer Lin Jinto, both here in response to summons. Admiral Spoor, Chief-of-staff Cufadis, we are at your disposal." She immediately went into parade rest.

Jinto saluted and smiled. The two people facing him were exactly as he remembered, save for the stunned expression on their faces. Spoor was a strikingly beautiful woman with red eyes and long dark blue hair in a thick braid draped over her admiral's cape and across her shoulder. Her chief of staff was an ever worried looking man with short wavy blue hair. "Admiral, Chief-of-staff, it's good to see you again. It's been a while." He also went into parade rest, ready to receive their orders.

Spoor brought a hand to her face, still appearing to be in utter shock. "Your Highness... are you quite well?" she asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"We are both in perfect health and uninjured, Admiral," Lafiel answered.

"I am at a loss for words," Admiral Spoor said, which could be counted as something of a first. A moment later she found her voice again. "Have you both been floating at sea under a baking sun the entire time you were here?"

"No Admiral, we happened to be on a boat excursion when the summons came," Lafiel said, just a hint of annoyance starting to enter her voice. "Your pilots have gone to great lengths to bring us here quickly, I assume there must be a reason."

"Yes, indeed," Spoor said, looking very disappointed that they had to get down to business. "I will keep this as brief as I can. The Triple Alliance has launched a major offensive centering on a thrust towards Lakfakalle."

Jinto had been expecting to hear this, but his heart raced all the same. It was what they had all been dreading, the appearance of the force they were certain the enemy had been holding in reserve.

"If this is my new ship, may I ask what it is doing here so far from the front?" Lafiel asked.

"A valid question. At the moment we are adopting a posture of defense in depth against the enemy's offensive."

To Jinto's ears, defense in depth was a euphemism for retreat. He thought bitterly of all the hard-fought ground they had won being lost all over again.

"So we are not headed for the front?" Lafiel asked.

The Admiral smiled. "Not to that front, no. Our counteroffensive is going to be mounted through the Hania Federation. It has not been announced yet but they have agreed to become a protectorate of the Empire pending full integration. We have been forward-positioning supplies in that area for months now. I will be commanding one of the fleets assembling there and your squadron has been assigned to us."

"I understand," Lafiel said crisply. "I look forward to serving under you." Jinto felt dizzy. It was as if the whole galaxy had been turned upside-down while he and Lafiel were on the island.

Spoor nodded. "To confirm, this is your new ship. You currently have a skeleton crew. They have been informed of the assembly area you are to make for, there you will regroup with your squadron and the remainder of your crew. We would like you to make best speed."

"I understand," Lafiel said. "We will depart immediately."

"There is one more matter left to us then," Spoor said. "It regards Kilo-commander Atosoryua. Her father's health has taken a turn for the worse, so with regret she has resigned her commission and returned home to care for her father and manage their estate."

"I am very sorry to hear that," Lafiel said gravely. "She will be greatly missed. Has a new commander been assigned for the squadron?"

Spoor smiled brightly. "Indeed. My last order of business today is to inform you that you have been promoted to kilo-commander and given command of the First Devastator Squadron. Congratulations."

Lafiel came to attention. "Thank you, Admiral," she said. She held on to her poker face perfectly. Jinto was proud of her.

"With regret, we must keep the ceremony to a minimum," the Admiral said. "Cheif-of-staff, if you would please do the honors?"

"Yes, Admiral." Cufadis picked up a metal case that Jinto had absently noticed resting next to the wall behind him. He lowered a tray from the wall, set the case upon it and opened it up. From a small envelope in the lid, he pulled out the crest of a kilo-commander. He cleared his throat. "Ah, normally this would be pinned on the tunic-"

"Oh Chief-of-staff, do learn to improvise," Spoor said testily. "We don't have all day."

"You need not concern yourself, Chief-of-staff," Lafiel said with just a hint of gentleness and sympathy in her voice.

Cufadis hesitated for just a moment. "Very well." He stepped up. "Abriel Lafiel, we bestow upon you the rank of kilo-commander." He fastened the crest to the front of Lafiel's bikini. He used a degree of care that one would usually expect to see reserved for defusing warheads. When he was done he stepped back and saluted. "Congratulations."

Lafiel returned the salute. "Thank you." The poker face was still there. Jinto was so proud he really wanted to kiss her.

Cufadis returned to the case and retrieved two other items, a dark blue cape and a command baton. He walked over to Lafiel, smiled and held them out. "You can just accept these for now, kilo-commander."

Lafiel took the cape, unfolded it, threw it over her shoulders with a flourish and fastened the decorative clasp around her neck. She pulled out the cord that had been tying up her ponytail and flared her damp hair out with her hands. Lafiel took the command baton, which in fact looked more like a short-sword. She tucked it into the side of her bikini bottom. It looked rather precarious there, but it stayed in place. Lafiel directed her gaze back at the Admiral. "If there is nothing else, I would like to get my ship underway."

"Very good, your bridge crew might even recognize you now," Admiral Spoor said. The look on her face suggested that after witnessing this sight she could now die happy. "I will release the ship to your care, then." She and Lafiel worked their wristbands. Authentication was confirmed, and access to the ship systems granted. Cufadis did the same for Jinto. "Nobody can regret more than I that we lack the time to savor this delicious reunion," Spoor said with what sounded like real disappointment. "When in transit I suggest you read up on the specs for the new pocket battleships, you will be working very closely with them. They gave me a new toy too, the latest battle-cruiser class for my flagship and four new squadrons of them for our reinforced fleet. Read up on those as well. And finally you will need to choose a chief-of-staff."

Lafiel glanced at Jinto and smiled. "Chosen."

Spoor gave Jinto an appraising look. He wondered if she were questioning Lafiel's decision, but that was not the impression he was getting. "We have at least given your new commander her cape, it pains me to have to send you to duty looking like that. I know we have stripped these ships to the bone for transport but I wonder if we have anything you could wear."

Jinto was ahead of her. He smiled regretfully. "I have already accessed the ship inventory. We do not have anything much bigger than a dishtowel."

"I see. Well, perhaps I can help." Spoor unfastened her cape, removed the decorative clasp, and folded it back so that only the black lining was showing. "I don't think anyone can accuse you of impersonating a flag officer this way." She smiled and stepped forward. "Allow me-"

Lafiel interposed herself between them, extending her hands. "Allow me, Admiral. I have gained some experience with this."

Whatever the Admiral saw in Lafiel's face clearly brooked no argument. She handed over the folded cape without complaint. When Lafiel turned around to drape it over Jinto's shoulder, Spoor smiled playfully and gave him a wink. Jinto tried very hard not to react in any way.

Lafiel stepped back to inspect the result. "Will that do?"

Jinto smiled. Some time ago Thom had told him that Roman senators used to dress something like this, he was glad there had been somebody in history who did not think this looked ridiculous. "It's fine. Thanks. And to you, Admiral."

"Not at all, I have spares. Well then, I will dismiss you both and return to my flagship," Spoor said. She paused just long enough to bask in the sight of them one last time. "Congratulations again, kilo-commander. I am expecting great things from you."

Lafiel saluted. "We shall teach you to expect the impossible from us, Admiral." She turned on her heel and marched down the corridor to the bow of the ship. When they were out of earshot she sniffed. "Time and Fate," she muttered. "We are gone for a few weeks and the whole galaxy goes to pot. Jinto, would you do me the honors?"

"Of course." He preceded her onto the bridge. In his best commanding voice he called "Commander on the bridge!"

The bridge officers did what they were trained to do when they were on standby and heard that. They all came to their feet and faced the back of the bridge. Ekuryua stood up from the command chair and stepped back. Lafiel strode out in front of the command chair. "At ease, everyone. You knew me as commander of your ship but as of today I have the honor of being the new commander of the First Devastator Squadron. This is now my command ship and you are my staff. It is good to see you again. Regretfully, I lack the time to greet you properly since our first order of business is to regroup with our squadron as quickly as possible. To that end, we need to get this ship through the Gate right now."

While she spoke, the look on the faces of everyone on the bridge changed from confusion to realization. It really had taken them this long to convince themselves that they were being addressed by her Highness the Viscountess of Paryun Abriel Lafiel. Ekuryua had caught on just a little earlier, giving her a chance to fix Jinto with a withering stare. The message could not have been clearer were it written across her forehead. What have you been doing to our commander?

"Adrian, I see you have your pilot's rating now, congratulations," Lafiel observed. Jinto had also noticed his presence at the helm. Had Ekuryua really been spending these past weeks on Lakfakalle giving him pilot training? At any rate, he looked fully healed.

"Thank you, kilo-Commander," Adrian said. "With your return, I would like to yield that position to the XO and take up the weapons console."

"Permission granted. Ekuryua, can we do maximum acceleration from here and hit the Gate at speed?"

"There is a great deal of military and civilian traffic in the intervening space," Ekuryua pointed out.

"Will that be a problem?"

Ekuryua's eyes appeared to shine all the brighter. "No Commander, that will not be a problem at all."

"Then let's get this ship ready to depart."

Jinto took his place at the systems console. He noted that as Ekuryua and Adrian passed each other to take their new positions, they exchanged a fond look and a quick clasp of hands. Jinto's first order of business was always to contact the engine room. He put on the headset and made the call. "Gurinshia here," the chief engineer's familiar voice came over the earphone.

"Lin Jinto here, checking in," he said quietly into his microphone.

"Welcome back, sir," she said brightly.

"Thanks. Did they have to drag you off the beach?"

"Kicking and screaming," she said. "And you?"

"You don't want to know where they dragged me from. How do things look down there?"

"The cupboard is bare but the essentials are humming."

"Good to hear. Fair warning, you might want to take your meds."

"Ekuryua getting wet?"

"And how. Lafiel just gave her the helm."

"Thanks for the heads up. It's good to have both of you back, sir."

"It's good to be back," Jinto said, surprising himself by how much he really meant that. He signed off. A moment later, he got a signal at his station. "Commander, the shuttle has detached and the umbilical is secure."

"Thanks, Jinto," Lafiel said. She sat with hands resting on the armrests and her legs crossed. The bare, sun-browned foot that dangled in the air was bobbing like the head of a thoroughbred racer waiting for the starting gun. She spoke in a clear voice. "My fellow pilots, these Triple Alliance fools have interrupted our furlough. Let us go make our displeasure known to them. Ekuryua?"

The pilot looked eagerly back at Lafiel. "Yes commander?"

Lafiel wolf-grinned to her XO. "Permission to take us through the Gate, best possible speed."

Ekuryua licked her lips. "Thank you, commander."

Jinto settled into his chair and braced himself to feel the new Frikov's deflowering.

The End

Author's Postscript

For the music soundtrack as end credits roll, think Sarah Brightman "Once in a Lifetime" followed by AC/DC "Back in Black".

The island of Moruweka is not something from the BotS canon. It emerged from my own speculation about some of the things Jinto might have been up to during his seven years of schooling on the planet Delktou. It seemed reasonable that the school would have some kind of seasonal break. Since Jinto was learning a new language, a language immersion program was a plausible option for his summer holiday. That got me to thinking of why there might be an enclave of Baronh speakers on the planet. The rest followed from that.

The Abh genetic modifications removing receptors for certain neurotransmitters is also something not from the BotS canon. Since the Abh have no concept of marriage, I speculated there must be something beyond their culture to explain this anomaly. We know that the Abriel in particular put great importance in maintaining an appearance of impartiality, and in showing no favoritism towards family or lovers. It did not seem much of a stretch to think they would have genetic modifications to encourage this behavior. Even more than their extended lifespan, this is something that would put a strain on a romantic relationship an Abh might have with somebody lacking the same genetic modifications.

Okay, so let's talk about the elephant in the room. As the Abh would put it, Jinto asked for Lafiel's genes and she said yes. BotS has a familiar setup with two main characters, a man and woman who share a close friendship and also a close professional relationship. This situation inevitably gets fans speculating about will they or won't they. Fans of my generation sometimes refer to this as the X-Files syndrome, where we spent years wondering whether the unresolved sexual tension between the two leads will ever be resolved. BotS fans have spent much time asking the same question about Lafiel and Jinto. Well, now you know where I stand on the question. Revealed, my opinion is.

My thanks to Mark Engels, who spent a lot of time beta-reading every chapter of this story, pointing out many errors and suggesting many improvements which became part of the final version. His observations and insights have made this a better story.

Thank you for reading this far, I hope you have enjoyed the story.

Ken Wolfe