As she stepped off of the KIS Bonaventure, Seraph watched the other passengers; mostly various degrees of irate; heading off, splitting off into a dozen different directions. Aside from the known Alliance operatives they'd all gotten tickets refunded, and for those like her, here for the convention, they still got just about where they were going; but that didn't make it any less inconvenient to now be dealing with all sorts of alternate travel arrangements.

She looked back at the airlock as it slid shut... and then around the maintenance terminal, where dozens of men in skinsuits, carrying packs loaded down with tools and spare tanks, were waiting for all the passengers to offload... undoubtedly here for a very thorough examination of the ship.

She glanced at the man beside her; a Corporal Morris, who she hadn't met before, but was just about two meters tall and looked intensely frightening if she hadn't known he was on her side. The red skinsuit, the black carapace armor, the handgun... definitely looked ready for a fight. "...How bad is this going to be for Captain West? Losing this many credits?"

The soldier glanced down at her... and shook his head. "It'll triple his odds of promotion, or more, and the ship's share of the salvage rights on the 'Shriek' will more than make up for lost ticket revenue and repair costs. You didn't hear this from me, but that merc ship had a few million credits worth of nukes on it... which is just crazy. Fortunately, the Bona isn't owned by him anyway, but by the Imperium, so none of the usual rules would apply."

With the carrier on one side, and the heavily armored Morris on the other, she stepped up to the counter, where a harried man was going through passengers, one by one, directing them to shuttles, searching up itineraries, trying to get his share of the hundreds of passengers to their destinations.

He looked at the two of them. "Destinations?"

She inhaled deeply. "Both of us and the carrier, for the United Worlds embassy."

He stopped for a moment... and studied the two for a few seconds. "Nobody's going there specifically, but its in the Embassy district, and the shuttle in bay... seventy-three... is going there in five minutes. I've got another shuttle heading down in an hour and a half to the old terraforming platform, which is right next door, and another direct to the Embassy district in three hours."

"Five minutes is perfect. Sooner is better, obviously I'm already loaded."

"Hatch shuts in five minutes. I'd advise hurrying; its that way." He pointed off to his left... and Corporal Morris gave the man a nod... before starting to barrel through the crowd; not trying to hurt anyone, but not letting anyone slow him down. Seraph and the carrier both trailing behind the larger man like a trail of ducklings... and a few other passengers started moving in their wake.

When they arrived at bay 73, a man in a grey utility suit, looking ready for vacuum at a moment's notice, was talking to a couple at the door... and when they entered, turned to the two. "Five seats left. If you want to take that thing, it'll count as three seats. Not that it matters, all of these tickets are covered by the Bonaventure. Heading for the Embassy district?"

Morris nodded. "Yes, sir. I've also got a 1000-credit tip for you and the pilot if you land directly at the dub embassy... either before or after." He held up a small metallic sliver; the worker looked at it, then at Morris... his expression unreadable through the helmet... before he snatched the chip. "Done. It'll have to be after, though, and you'll have to jump quick... some of these folks might get arrested if we land at the dub embassy first, and if they do, it'll be my job."

As the two headed into the shuttle, all of the seats were taken by the time the two had strapped in; and Tyler's carrier simply kept its magnetic feet firmly attached to the shuttle floor, standing in the spot of one rack, leaving the seat folded up.

As the shuttle disconnected... and started to drop through the atmosphere... she glanced at Morris for a moment, then at the seamless grey wall of the shuttle. No windows. No displays. This wasn't something fancy, or made to stay in for long. Just... a drop shuttle. She could feel it shaking, feel it warming up.... and hear the hiss of cool air flowing through the room trying to keep the passengers comfortable.

When the sound of the rocking and buffeting of the air started to die off, she relaxed... and when she felt the shuttle settle down, and the hatch open... she turned to Morris. "Shouldn't we just... get out and walk the rest of the way?"

He glanced at her, then outside. "There might be a whole team of assassins out there, hiding in the crowd, knowing this was the first shuttle to the district; these things are scheduled hours in advance. If its the pilot and his co-pilot here, I can take them out, but it'd be hard to swap pilots that quick, so..... Walking is riskier. The cap asked me to get you to the embassy, if thats where you wanted to go. I'm getting you to the embassy."

***

"Alright, so. We're not supposed to be landing there, but its not a big deal... for us. For you, it will be. I've let them know you're coming, so they won't shoot us down, but I can see you've got a gun on you. My advice... drop it the moment you touch down, or stow it in the luggage. We're not quite gonna touch down... if we do, that counts as landing in UW territory, and that has consequences. So. Be ready. Billy there can get us less than a meter off the ground, so it won't be much of a drop."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"How much extra to actually land?"

The man shook his head. "No, thanks. We're not landing again til we're in orbit."

As the shuttle gave a gentle bob, shifting, and the hatch popped open... Seraph could see a round landing pad, two men in heavy combat armor in a vibrant navy blue... and at least a dozen combat drones surrounding the shuttle.

She unstrapped, looked down... sure enough, not even half a meter, though it was bobbing up and down a bit.... she hopped off, stumbling a few steps as she did... the place just felt... wrong for some reason.. and glanced back to see first Morris, then the carrier step down; Morris already placing his handgun on the landing pad.

The two guards both approached; one keeping its weapon aimed at the carrier, the other with his gun lowered, as the helicopter started to lift off. The guard looked them both over for a moment. "The pilot warned us he was dropping you two off. As of right now, if you don't give us a good reason for you being here, you're trespassing. What the hell is going on here?"

Seraph closed her eyes... and slowly stood fully upright. She felt... lighter than she should. Was the gravity lower here? Did she need... no, she didn't need to worry about muscle loss if she stayed here too long.

"My name is Seraph Glass. I was an Alliance Intelligence agent, and am wishing to request asylum. The Alliance tried to have me killed or captured, and Corporal Morris here was kind enough to escort me til I reached you."

The man looked them both over... and nodded. "The ambassador will wish to speak with you both, and I'm sure they'll provide you a place to stay. The drone can't come in... I'm detecting at least three weapons in it."

She glanced at it. "... That's not too big of a deal, but its got the brain-chip of a former ASU member controlling it, and I don't want to leave it out of my hands, though I guess having you guys hold onto it might be fine. Can I take the controller, and the computer, out of my luggage with me?"

"If its gonna go inside, I have to scan it for weapons. If there's no weapons in whatever you're wanting to bring, go right ahead."

***

She looked down at the tiny mass in her hand; a poorly made brain-chip, a tiny fleck of dried blood still visible... and then beside her, at Corporal Morris her computer in his arms, as the guards escorted them through the embassy... and to a large, ornate door; beside which read 'Ambassador Cricket'. She blinked. Cricket... like the animal? Good lord, was there going to be a bug-person on the other side?

After a firm knock, the door opened... and as she walked in... there was a massive wooden desk, with the United Worlds logo on it; a star cluster on a blue circle over a black flag; and behind it, a bald, extremely tall, pale man in a lime green suit, wearing a headset of some sort wrapped around his head and gesturing at the air.

He turned to face them, and made a 'come here' gesture, pointing at the seats in front of him... and smiled.

"Hello there! Name's Cricket, ambassador to Tybalt! Sorry if I don't take off the headset, I'm actually blind at the moment and seeing you through the cameras. My guards tell me you're a defector from the Alliance? Intelligence, even?"

Seraph blinked. Blind... at the moment? Did something happen, or... nevermind. "Ahem. Yes, sir. My name is Seraph Glass, formerly Alliance Intelligence. I worked for a program that created simulated worlds for use in intelligence-gathering purposes; I was a computer programmer, looking to go into sims and games, and this program was pretty much brand new. I don't think I was the only one doing it in the Alliance, but I was the only one on my homeworld."

The ambassador nodded. "Very nice! We have our own program, with similar functions, and didn't know the Alliance had copied it. Good information. Well, just to be clear, so long as you cooperate and give us a little information, and it doesn't have to be alot, you can become a UW citizen, and we'll make sure you get into our space and outside Alliance reach. Is there anything else you're looking for?"

"Honestly... a house and a job would be nice. Maybe a bit of help hiding who I am, some gene-tweaking or similar. I like what I did, just not who I did it for, and I would be in a unique position to help the ASU do the exact same thing with any Alliance minds they acquire. I've got tons of scan data from an Alliance city and the Alliance Intel headquarters there, encryption codes... all sorts of things.

He gave a nod. "That's a bit expensive of a process... but we'll consider it. Some cheaper plastic surgery is definitely on the t able, though. And, well. Homes are a question, it'll depend on where you'd like to settle."

He focused on nothing for a few seconds. "As for the job... Well, while the ASU is not part of the United Worlds or its military, we do have contacts with them, though I'm not sure about putting an Alliance Intelligence...."

She interrupted him mid-sentence. "I've also got a stack of brain-chips of captured ASU members, one of whom was a United Worlds citizen, and one for an Alliance marine we should probably send back."

He stopped. turned to the brain-chip on the table, then the computer. "....There's at least a dozen people here. Do you have names, IDs?"

"For a few. The others I asked not to give any info until someone from the UW or the ASU could verify they weren't still in a sim somehow."

He smacked his hand into the desk, and rose to his feet, extending a hand. "Young lady.... Thank you. I can't speak for the ASU. I'm not their boss, they don't work for me. But the bounty for freeing ASU members from Alliance captivity... lets just say you don't need to worry about the price on the gene-tweaking, or for the house. We're looking, at minimum, a couple hundred thousand credits. I'll have these minds passed to my IT department so they can get started getting them in contact with friends and family, and I'll have the sequencers start up an adjustment for you, but you need to do some thinking."

Seraph was a bit confused, but shook his hand, listening... and shrugged. "Okay. Thinking about what, exactly?"

"Gene-tweaking is the same price, regardless of what sort of template we're adding, and the United Worlds have an extensive catalog. If you're willing to become an augment... well. You need to decide what you want to be."