Loud, hearty laughter from the Venusians filled the hall.

"Oh Melody Mullen, playing at being Empress over on her toy starbase." Raaden smiled and stood, radiating smugness. "You have no idea what you are doing, and have no concept of real power." Allow me to demonstrate to you what real power is." She touched her ear and after a moment she made a face. She touched it again and... She glared at me.

I did my best to look puzzled as I thought to Ava, "Good work, looks like the radio suppression field is working."

"Thank Omar, he found it inside Royal Dawn weeks ago. Looks like we were right, this place was for royals before it became a hotel."

Raaden snarled and reached down and tried to grab her pistol. Her her long fingers wrapped around it and she brought the weapon to bear on my face. With a manic grin she squeezed the trigger.

But she' couldn't. Her glee turned to confusion, turned to rage. "Melody! What did you do! What is going on here! Release us this instant!" The mask had completely fallen off. I pushed the pistol out of my face.

"You will refer to me as É̷̱͑͗̐̅͌͗̂̀m̶̡̡̡̜̗̭̥̯̬͍̉̇͐̒̒̓̌̀̈́͆̓̓̀͘͝͠p̸̡̨̧̡̞̦̙̪͌͐̀̇̈́̂̍͗͘ṟ̸͓͜͠e̶̲̮̞̬̱̝̗͓̭̺͑̈͗̂̈́́͘͜͝s̶̡͍̬̫͙̘̦̬̘͛̐̍͂̇̉͛̌͐̚ͅs̵̡̐͋̈́̾̒̓̆̂͋̈͘͘͠͝.̵̲̩̣̅̓͊͗͋̈́̌̈́̈́̊͒̔̚̕ͅ"

Raaden keept trying to get her pistol to bear on me while she was talking. "I will do no such thing, Empress. You are not an Empress, you are," she grunts with the effort, "just a girl who just found -ugh- some old junk and declared herself Empress! Ugh, why can't I call you Empress, and I keep calling you Empress instead."

It was my turn to be smug. "I told you earlier, you're mine now. You cannot refer to me as anything but Empress, I so order it. The Empress of the Holy Imperial Systems can not be disobeyed. The K'laxi knew it; The Empress was known as Tep'ra'fel in their ancient language. The Undeniable. You thought earplugs were enough to stop me? The moment you stepped aboard you and your entire crew became mine." I looked out at the assembled crowd. It seemed thinner than we expected. "In fact, call the remaining crew members here, we appear to be a few short."

"You're blocking the radio." Raaden said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, My apologies. Allow me." I connected to the Reach and found the radio signal for the Vengeance of Lavinia. On board, they heard the radio click and then my voice saying, "Go ahead Helen. Tell them to come out and come to dinner. I will have a runner show them the way. You can just speak, they will hear."

Raaden glared at me, and said nothing.

Ď̴̦ö̷̫́ ̸̰̆a̶̲̍s̴̘͝ ̸̥͋y̸͚̐o̸̲͋ǘ̵͙ ̴̳̇a̴̭̎r̶̮̅e̷̬̓ ̸̺̐ȯ̶̞r̶̞̉ḑ̶̈́è̷̦r̷̮̍e̶̘͋ḑ̴̽.

Her body flinched as if I had slapped her. "This is... Archduke Helen Raaden. Please... leave Vengeance of Lavinia and a runner from the Reach will... lead you to dinner." Her eyes went wide at the realization that she said it because I ordered it.

"Lovely. Thank you Helen." Only then, did I cut the radio connection to the ship. Everyone seated at the tables looked awkward as we waited. Some people toyed with the utensils, or took sips of water. Raaden stared straight ahead, her hands turning purple from the fist she was making. I looked at her hands, then up at her.

"Helen, you are going to injure yourself. You should relax."

She turns to look me straight in the eye - they're so pale - and then turned straight ahead again.

"I'm sorry Helen, I phrased that poorly. r̴͔̕ĕ̵̱l̸͎̈́a̸̩̓x̸̨̐ ̷͈̎y̴͇̓o̵̰͘u̶̲͊r̵̤͒ ̴͉̑h̸̢͌a̴̟͘ń̵͓d̵͔͘s̵̨̾.̵̳͊."

Instantly her grip eased and she began to massage feeling back into her hands. Omar leaned over and looked at Raaden and then me. "Empress..."

I looked back at him. "Yes, Omar? You lived on Starbase Picaresque when Raaden and the Venusians came to visit, didn't you?" Raaden's head snapped up at that and she stared at Omar. He doesn't meet her eyes.

"Yes Empress, I was there. I remembered when Venus shackled our AI, and then attempted to set up a puppet government out of the Administrators. I also remember how the residents blew up at least one whole platoon of troopers and then the administrators blamed it on Venusian carelessness and Raaden and the Grand Admiral bought it, because her troopers were of such poor quality."

At that Raaden turned her head slowly to Omar, her eyes wide. "I knew it. I knew it was you bastards on that cursed Starbase. Wellfleet was a fool from day one and I am glad I shot him and took over. I should have obliterated that Starbase the moment we linked in-system. I should have obliterated you the moment we went though that stupid Gate."

Omar was completely unsurprised at her reply. "Why are we doing this, Empress? We should just destroy them and take their ship for our own. Order them to kill themselves." Raaden was shaking with a fury that was only controlled because I ordered it.

"That is true, Omar. It would be easy to make this problem... go away, and then have a nice large dreadnought to play with and copy. But doing it this way?" I looked at Raaden and this time I met her eyes. "It sends a message." I looked out at the Venusians waiting for their colleagues to join us and I saw the fear, the worry. They thought that Raaden was going to show us what it truly meant when Venus came to visit. They were right, just not in the way they expected. I turned to look at Raaden again. "Helen. Look at me. Don't make me use the voice again." She turned and looked at me. Her eyes were red rimmed and her pretty face exuded pure hate.

"I. Am. Empress. You live, because I allow it."

She whipped her head away from my gaze as the stragglers from their ship arrived, confused. Ava was right, they looked like they were mostly guards. They were muscular, with darting eyes. With them though was a youngish man, tall and willowy who looked nervous. One might even say that he looked... noble. Interesting. Places are set for them and they are led to seats. Once everyone is here I clink my glass for silence. Everyone turned to look at me "Ah, now everyone is here. This is so nice, thank you for coming out. I, for one, am starving. We shall E̷̮̒a̸̤̋t̷̨̿.̴̫̀"

At my command the servers from the Royal Dawn brought out steaming plates of food. Just like I ordered, everyone began eating as the food was brought out. Everyone went all out, I could smell the food as it was served. I thought we're going to be served a meal to remember. I didn't want to waste everyone's hard work. The Venusians were trying to look at Raaden for guidance while also obeying my Voice. More than a few of them were struggling, their utensils shaking as they ate. One or two had tears running down their face freely.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Good.

Raaden was robotically eating, her fork tinkling a staccato against the plate with every bite. She was clearly trying to struggle against the orders the whole time. "Helen, you will have an easier time if you just accept the order and eat." I said after taking a sip of - local - tea.

"There has to be a way around this-" she struggled mightily before giving up "-Empress."

"We haven't found one yet, Helen."

Omar looked over at me and inclines his head and raises his eyebrows questioning. He wants me to ask her. Fine, fine.

"Helen, how did you learn about us? Who told you?"

"Fuck you, Empress."

Á̶̙͆ṉ̴̨͛͗s̶͙̒̈́w̵̯͉͆e̷̼̍r̵̢̙̊͑ ̷͇̿̊m̸̭͙͑͝ę̵́,̸̥̞̋̏ ̶̨̝̎H̴̖̄̿ͅé̷̹l̶̫̻̆̎ě̵̡̖͠n̴͈̿.̶̦̌͐

"...Someone from Far Reach got drunk and unloaded on a sympathetic ear in a bar...and a bedroom. The sympathetic ear linked a reconnaissance beacon back to us. The Emperor thought that I should go out and... get you to be our ally... one way or another. He wanted me to try and win you over with kindness and... by sleeping with you. The spy mentioned that they thought you liked women. I for one wanted to come in guns blazing and just either capture or destroy you." She gasped in surprise and glared at me.

I gestured with my fork before going for another bite. "I have to say Helen, your option probably would have worked better."

"I see that now... Empress, but I was under orders to dry diplomacy first."

"As well as seducing me? Do you find me attractive?"

She shrugged, still clearly upset that she's answering questions. "You're pretty enough, just not my type. I wouldn't have minded it."

"Melody." Ava said in my head, flatly.

Right, right. We ate in silence. It really was an excellent meal.

I finished my meal and delicately wiped my mouth with my napkin. I hoped everyone enjoyed it. I took a sip of the last of my tea and looked at Helen. She's not saying anything, but her eyes could melt starship hulls. "Helen. What are we going to do with you?"

"How about you let me go, and we pick up and leave."

"Tempting. I have a different idea though."" I turn and face the gathered Venusians finishing their meals. I pointed at the nervous young man. "Who are you? A̷̡̨̛̖̟̣̗̻̠͓̘͙̩̗̦̓̓̿̀͒̒̎̆͜n̴̡̨̺̝̩̩̣̯̣̜̗͓͙̙͌̍̏̊̈́͆̉̽͛͋͆͑̆͠ͅş̸̬̟͖̞̞͔̪̮̝̖̤͎̜̪͇̇͐̑̂͂́̄͊͗̋̍̓̈͗̇͜͝w̸̢̨͓̩͎͓̹̘̜͎̜̜̔̂̀͜͝e̵̢͓͕̤̼͍͍̯̰̳͐͑̎̍̾́̈ȓ̴̨̳̦͗̐̊͆͛͘.

"I am Crown Prince Emery, the Emperor's son." As soon as he said it his eyes go wide. I had a feeling he wasn't supposed to tell many people. I glanced over at Helen. She knew.

"Nice to meet you Prince Emery. Thank you for coming." I faced the rest of the crowd. "Who here was going to volunteer to stay behind and work with us?"

About half the hands go up."

"T̶̞̥͙̱̦̣͔̬̪̣͙͇̽̔̔̈́̃̆̄͘ę̶̻̺̰͙͕͓̫̰̙̺̩̬̺̫̔ͅl̶̨̠̠̬͉̹̮̩̟̤̜̤̜̖̻͔̒̀̅͑̎̍͐̋̓̏̈́́͂̇͗͌̕l̴̛̖̮̙̬͇͉̃͐́͐̂̀̎͘͠ͅ ̸̟̹͙͉͎̤̤͖̲͙͉͕̘̱̻̈́̎͐̅̈̾̌̀̕ͅm̶̢̗͖̼͓̲͓͚͉̱͐̏̋̐͊͆̇̅̄̋̀͘ͅe̶̙̠̟͛͐̆͌̕͠,̴̢̭̥͎̓̆̏͒̎ who was going to spy and report back to Venus?"

Not one hand went down.

"Is anyone here not in the Venusian Navy?"

One hand came up.

"Oh? Who are you?"

"My name is Will, I work in the Venusian Spy Corps." His eyes went wide and Will slapped his hand over his mouth as the people sitting next to him looked at him surprised. Looks like they didn't know they had their own spy either. I expected to hear someone from a starbase or colony world. Looks like Raaden was lying about that too.

I stood, "Thank you for taking this meal with me. I for one enjoyed it quite a bit. Venusian guests, please c̴͔͝ó̸̞m̷̢͗e̴̦̎ ̵̦̔w̵͇̾i̶̙̓t̶͎̚h̷̺͝ ̷̹̆m̵̲͊e̷̬̎. I have something to show you." There's a simultaneous scrape of chairs as everyone stood up at once. I reached out my hand to Helen, and she just glared harder. I glanced over at Omar and Um'reli and Omar rolled his eyes, wishing I'd lay it on less thick, but Um'reli was reveling in it. I imagine Ava enjoyed it quite a lot from her Builder chair as well. Well, except for the flirting. Raaden didn't take my hand, and I didn't force the issue. I led them out of the Royal Dawn and inclined my head to Wind as we leave. "It was an exceptional meal, Wind, with exceptional service. Please make sure everyone has a 20% bonus applied to their pay tonight."

Wind Rustled Leaves bowed low, "It was our pleasure Empress."

I exited the hotel and there was a temporary platform here that wasn't here before dinner. I carefully walked up the stairs and go to the front, where there is another, smaller platform. I stepped up onto the higher, smaller platform as the Venusians climb and looked out. As they climbed, they heard the roar of a crowd. Louder and louder as I climbed higher on my platform until I'm two meters over the Venusians and three meters off the ground. The Venusians turned and see... People.

Thousands of people.

Ava had called runners and used the Reach's address systems to ask everyone who was able - within this and the further two levels - to come down and witness a presentation from the Empress.

"This is perfect, thank you Ava." I thought to her.

"Putting the Venusians in their place is my pleasure, Melody. I am enjoying this."

I raised my hands for silence. "People of the Reach!"

Everyone went silent. They stared at us in that unnerving way a silent crowd can. "These-" I gesture "-are humans from my side of the Galaxy. They are not Builders. They have not taken the rites, they do not know the ways. They thought us weak. They thought your Empress was a fool. They thought that they could come in and take over with gifts and words and trickery."

The crowd shouted and jeered at the very nervous Venusians. Only Raaden still looked defiant, chin up as the crowd heckled them.

"We have shown them hospitality. We have taken them in, we have fed them, we have shown them our home. What do they do in exchange? They threatened us. They threatened me. They lie about volunteers who wish to stay with us."

The jeers and shouts got louder. If I'm not careful the crowd was going to tear them apart. I held up my hands for silence again. "So, I ask you, my people; the residents of Reach of the Might of Vzzx. What shall we do with these people? These spies. These interlopers." Over the screams and jeers, the Venusians could hear shouts for them to be killed. At least I assumed they could. Based on the fear they showed, they could understand the gist of it, if not the nuance. They didn't ask for an update to their translators, so I assume they got a copy of the one that Fer'resi was working on. I raised my hands for silence again. It comes, but slower. The crowd was bloodthirsty. I couldn't rile them up any more. "You demand their deaths, and you are correct in doing so. But! I am merciful. I do not call for their deaths. I will educate them on who their empress is and send them on their way."

At that, Omar, Um'reli, and the Venusians pivoted and stare at me wide eyed.

"What." Ava's voice was flat, unbelieving.

"Keep listening Ava, you'll see."

"I will send them on their way, without their crown prince and without their archduke. They will remain behind as our... honored guests. They will not be able to send a warship after us in retaliation as we have their second and third in line for their own throne. They will learn both that we are merciful and that we are not to be underestimated." This time, Raaden and Emery stared at me. Raaden was beyond furious, Emery just looked tired.

"But first, before they go, we shall strip their ship. We will leave them enough thruster power to traverse Gates home and enough environmental systems such that they will survive the trip. It will not be in luxury. We shall use their parts to retrofit our ships and make our ships formidable again!" Cheers and shouts from the crowd. Everyone loves to hear how we are going to have starships again, powerful ones. "I need volunteers! Come and see my Builder, Omar and he shall put you to work. I want their ship stripped in 5 days time. Thank you for coming out and showing these people what it means to be from Reach of the Might of Vzzx!"

More cheering for me; the crowd was chanting my name. After everyone realized the presentation was over, the crowd started to dissipate. A large group of people stayed and Omar walked over to them, determining how they could help.

"That was amazing Melody, but are you sure about sending them back?"

"Yeah, Ava. The only other option is to kill them, and I don't want to do that. Without Raaden and Emery, their Emperor won't send a dreadnought to just blow us up, they'll want to deal. They will be our hostages and will protect us. Plus, this way we get a leg up on ship refitting."

Empress, you are playing a dangerous game. Given how Raaden reacted, if there are more like her in this Venusian empire, we now have some new enemies.

Venus was always going to be an enemy. They do not want equals, they want subordinates. We are not subordinate.

Empress.