The retreat back to the Addax went by without a hitch, and so did the separation from the station itself. Fredrak’s connections then opened some doors. Or airlocks, rather, and they had the best cover available as the allied fleet withdrew.

The big warship had a bit of a lounge close to the docking bay, and Gaylen was happy to just sit in silence for a while. The ship also had a surprisingly well-equipped and staffed medical bay, and their wounds had been tended to, right down to the damaged eardrums. With the Addax charging in the bay and the fleet in transit, there was really nothing to do.

“Have you heard any more than I have about the strategic situation?” Herdis asked from her own worn but comfortable seat.

“I just came off sedation an hour ago, so I doubt it,” he replied drowsily. “And at this stage... I doubt anyone actually knows for sure. On either side of the fight.”

“Kiris?” Herdis asked, looking to her left.

“Haven’t heard anything solid,” the Chanei replied. “But spirits are rather high, I would say. Over finally striking back. The crew, in general, at least consider this a victory to some degree.”

Gaylen nodded. That had been his impression. From what he could tell, the Authority had been driven away from the station. He thought the surviving ships were retreating. Perhaps they would fetch reinforcements and swing about once their engines had recovered. Perhaps the alliance would end up meeting them for a second round right by Uktena again. Perhaps one or the other would instead give pursuit, or perhaps both sides would wait in ambush for a while.

War was chaos, and Gaylen was too tired to think about it. Once the Addax was fully charged or the warship headed for another fight he would fly away. Whichever came first.

Herdis seemed to want more conversation, but got the message that she was the only one, and relented. Gaylen appreciated it.

Ayna was out and about, exploring non-restricted areas and presumably striking up conversations with anyone who would spare a bit of time. Jaquan was tending to the Addax, happily tucked away in its bowels away from strangers. Absurdly enough, Bers was indeed still alive, and with his own wounds tended to the big man was now simply slouched back in a comfy chair, silent and listless-looking. If anything, he seemed slightly disappointed to have made it yet again.

After a while, one of the doors opened and in walked Fredrak and an officer of some sort. Gaylen hadn’t inquired about the ship’s command structure, or indeed that of the fleet itself. He did notice that the woman looked old enough to shoulder significant responsibility, and so did her epaulettes. Then there were the two armed, more plainly dressed troopers who followed on her heels... followed by Pietr. The Warden was still dressed in his people’s distinctive red and black skinsuit, or whatever it was, and with his blades on his hip. Either the alliance soldiers hadn’t demanded he put them away, or the man had simply ignored them and left it at that.

Gaylen was well and truly into relaxation mode, but dredged up enough politeness to rise to his feet. It was downright painful.

“Greetings,” he said in Larin, setting his gaze on the woman.

“Yes, greetings,” she replied curtly in a lilting accent. “I am Commander Zakia. I have been going over the battlemap recordings with my officers. I would have preferred more direct participation on your part, but your ship both flew and fired skilfully.”

“I have a good gunner,” Gaylen replied, and pointed. “Although she is strictly temporary.”

“So is this conflict, hopefully. You can see plainly enough that this fleet is put together from whatever is available. We have need of good people.”

“I’m afraid I’m just adequate,” Gaylen told her. “And I run freight. I’m not a soldier.”

“Hm,” the commander said neutrally. “Well, there is sure to be plenty of opportunity for freelancers in the days to come.”

“I’m sure there is,” Gaylen said. “You do have my word that I won’t move a damn thing that’ll help those Authority bastards. If they know my name at all, they want me dead.”

“I am not worried,” Zakia said. “But do remember what I said. I’m sure you will be able to find your way to someone representing the alliance.”

“I’m sure,” Gaylen said, quietly hoping that no such thing would occur to him.

“Well, I have much to do,” Zakia said with a note of farewell. “I understand your crew has been made welcome. You are free to leave as soon as your ship is fully charged.”

She turned smartly, then looked over her shoulder.

“I should mention that some of my troops are celebrating victory in the lower deck mess, with beverages.”

A happy, rumbling chuckle came from Bers, and the man stood up.

“I think I’ll join you,” Herdis said to him as she rose, and the commander left the room with her two soldiers.

Gaylen turned to the next person in line.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I still owe you a payment,” Fredrak said. “I haven’t forgotten. But we still need to actually finish the delivery.”

‘The delivery.’ They’d agreed to maintain full discreetness about the nature of what they were moving, even on board an allied ship. Ears could be anywhere and so could careless lips, and with a matter this monumental to be dealt with there was absolutely no excuse for carelessness.

“Right,” Gaylen said. “We’ll see where things stand once the Addax is fully charged. I want to be well away from round two. I’m sure you have more than one possible route to your contacts.”

“I do,” the agent stated confidently.

Gaylen did indeed believe him, just as he believed that Fredrak, or whatever his name actually was, was more than a typical black ops go-between. But he didn’t ask, because he didn’t care. He looked at the little bulge in the man’s coat, where the fate of thousands waited to be decided. Then he looked back into Fredrak’s eyes.

“We pulled it off,” the man spoke, softly but intently. “Against significant odds, when the delivery should by rights have been lost forever. And this will make a difference. As the Federation should.”

“We did pull it off,” Gaylen replied simply. “You’re not going to start reciting the Oath of a Brighter Future at me, are you?”

“No,” the agent said and smiled a little. “I know you know it.”

The man turned and walked back to the Addax, as they’d agreed. For maximum security. That just left one person to face.

“Hello, Pietr.”

“Hello Gaylen.”

“I wasn’t particularly expecting to see you here, but I can’t say I’m surprised either. You all but admitted involvement with all this back on Uktena.”

“My people aren’t known for being duplicitous,” the mystic replied, before smiling a bit at himself. “Or good at subtlety.”

“No, I suppose not. I take it you’re why that heavy armour Authority ship opened fire on its own friendlies?”

“I aided in the battle, yes,” the Warden said. “Though I wish I’d arrived a bit earlier.”

“Things never work out perfectly.”

“I know. But... one thing, Gaylen,” Pietr said. “I... was talking to your charming young Dwyyk friend.”

He pointed to the door he and the others had emerged from.

“She told me about that woman who was on your ship for a little while. Saketa.”

“Yes,” Gaylen replied, and wasn’t terribly surprised at the issue being brought up. “She vanished from the cockpit as we had those damned pirates on our tail, at Wembella. If you want to go back and check things out.”

The man looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

“I think I am more valuable here,” he then said. “Helping turn this tide. And I do not think I would find anything anyway. She will probably have moved on by now. Saketa is... adrift. Troubled. And at risk.”

Gaylen didn’t know what lay behind the Warden’s distant gaze, but it was clearly heavy and important to him.

“Is it a problem?” Gaylen asked, for the sake of participating.

“An internal one, mostly,” Pietr said. “I will leave it at that.”

Gaylen nodded.

“Fine. She did aid my crew on Wembella, when she had nothing to gain from it. And then helped all of us shake the pirates. I just wanted to mention that.”

“Your friend already did,” the Warden said. “With fervour and fascination and many questions.”

“Did you actually answer any of them?” Gaylen asked with a crooked grin.

“Some of the simpler ones.”

The man beheld him during a brief silence. Gaylen was half-expecting some semi-condescending comment about having done the right thing. But while he was pretty sure that the man was thinking it, he evidently knew better than to say it out loud.

“How are you?” Pietr asked instead.

“Tired,” Gaylen replied. “Glad my part in this is done. And... well, I hope it does some good. The Hegemony needs to be fought.”

“It does,” Pietr said. “Well, I promised to sit down with the commander. Good fortune, Gaylen. Farewell.”

“Bye. And... good luck with this whole war business.”

“Thank you. The Fringe has seen worse, and I hope this can all be beaten down in a speedy fashion.”

The Warden left, and Gaylen and Kiris were alone. He slowly walked over to her, and the woman rose.

“Privacy at last,” the Chanei said. “And a moment of time.”

“Yeah,” Gaylen said.

There had indeed been neither time nor privacy since leaving Nokior. Not since that night at the hotel.

“So, where are we at?” he asked.

“Hm.”

The woman reached up languidly and put her hands on his shoulders. He in turn put his hands on her hips, and felt her lean into him.

“I got to relax,” she said. “And lower that shield I’ve conditioned myself to always carry around. And you got to take me, control me, without feeling like a bad guy for it. Because I let you.”

“I noticed... all of those things,” he said.

Moving slowly, testing the waters, he took Kiris’s wrists and moved them to the small of her back, holding them there. Her reaction was to further relax into him, submissively, firing off every naughty thought in Gaylen’s head.

“I think...” she said. “That you’re holding my leash now, Gaylen. Metaphorically, of course. You’re not going to parade me around.”

“We’ll work on that,” he said with a smirk.

For a moment he worried he’d misstepped, but her slightly angry eyebrow-raise was followed by a slightly angry smile. She tried to break free, but he held her fast, and Kiris chuckled. It was a delightful sound. Once the pretence stopped she relaxed again, and kissed him.

“We’ll... figure things out, and negotiate terms,” she said huskily, just before he kissed back. “As we... go along.”

“Sounds good,” Gaylen said, and kissed her again, more forcefully this time and she happily accepted it. Then he let her go and they shifted to holding hands. “But I have to admit...” he said. “I’m very tired. And I want to give these cuts more time to settle.”

“Yes,” Kiris said. “I could do with eight hours or so. And then... I think I’ll give you a hero’s reward.”

Gaylen was quick to almost remind her that he wasn’t some damn hero. He was just a crook who had somehow ducked the odds and gotten out. And then somehow tripped into a crisis. But they were playing a game anyway, so why not pretend otherwise for a little bit? It felt good, at least.

“Yes,” he said with a grin. “You damn well better.”

There was a tantalising promise in Kiris’s smile. They walked to the door.