John was having dinner with his host, Captain Drake when one of the captain's men walked in with a data slate and a sense of urgency. He whispered urgently in his ear. Drake's usual carefully cultivated persona cracked as he all but shouted, "She did what?"

The man handed him the slate, and the captain began furiously reading, his jaw clenched in a way that promised violence in the near future. After several moments, he angrily responded. "Double...no Triple the escorts for the Steller Banking Group and round up a hunting group..." Then he hesitated and seemed to calm down. "No, wait...belay that."

The messenger seemed confused as Drake sat in thought for a moment. He then fiddled with his slate a little. "I want three strike groups set up in centralized locations here, here, and here. The fastest, most heavily armed ships we have. Then, reroute all the trade lanes through these regions. Inform the captains in charge of escort that in the event of her appearance, their only job is to talk and delay her as much as possible."

The man looked confused. "But, sir, won't that be too obvious of a trap? She'll just avoid the trade lanes while you spend a fortune keeping those ships at the ready."

Drake smiled. "Yes, that's the point. It will undoubtedly dig into my pocketbooks a little, but my pockets are much deeper than hers. If she can't provide income to her new coalition, it'll break apart before it's fully formed. So now she'll have to choose between attacking the core systems and starting a war on two fronts...or try something more ambitious."

The messenger, who was evidently at least high enough ranked to speak his mind somewhat to Drake, still looked confused. "Sir?"

Drake laughed. "Don't worry, I know my daughter and what she's capable of. She's certainly at the top of her game, but I taught her that game. It's time to close the net, so to speak!"

With that, Drake returned the slate to the man, who took it and saluted before leaving. Drake sat in thought for a moment before apparently remembering John was there. "Sorry about that interruption, my boy! Your wife causing quite a stir! My daughter certainly knows how to hit me where it hurts, but that just convinces me all the more that I've made the right choice bringing her back into the family business!"

Perhaps he was growing overconfident with how things had been going, but John couldn't help but respond with a slight jab. "Are you sure she won't cost you more than you can afford? Lacy was never one to do anything halfway..."

Drake laughed. "My boy, who do you think taught Lucy, my daughter, how to strike someone where they are vulnerable? The thing about complicated plans is they are liable to unravel at a moment's notice. The person who ends up on top is the one who can adapt the quickest!"

-

Cleo felt as if everything she'd observed and understood until now had just gone up in a puff of smoke. What was this place? Scott said they were still on a ship, but if that was correct, this was unlike any ship she'd ever seen or heard about. Hell, there weren't even any space stations that could boast a vista like this! Then, it turned out one of the weird spider monsters, the biggest and scariest one so far, could speak? And it had designed this part of the ship? Was it really intelligent enough to build or expand upon spaceships? The part Cleo had been staying in until now had been like any standard ship, but this...this was so alien that she was willing to believe Alice's claims.

But then what? If this Charlotte species wasn't genetically engineered, would that mean they were an alien race? Not like the animals they found on some worlds, but actual thinking and feeling aliens, capable of everything humanity was capable of? What did this mean? What if they went to war with humanity? What if..?

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Scott interrupted her thoughts. "Um, Cleo? Did we lose you there?"

Cleo shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Um, yeah, sorry. This is all, just...a lot..."

Scott shrugged. "Yeah, you're not wrong. That's part of why I wasn't going to introduce you to all this... But Alice seemed to have other ideas."

As if the mention of her name was the catalyst she'd been waiting for, Alice grinned and laughed. "See? Isn't this place pretty? I told you that you'd love it!"

As the girl spun around, dancing in place on far too many legs, Cleo couldn't help but feel the surreal nature of everything was just a little too much. "I just... This is all... I don't know what's going on..."

The giant spider insect hybrid leaned down as if examining Cleo closer, and for a moment, she became worried the thing would eat her before it turned to Scott. "I believe this one is overwhelmed. Perhaps we should return her to the more familiar environment of her room?"

Alice was quick to cut in. "No! Cleo will be fine! She just needs some time to process! Come with me!"

Alice reached out, and Cleo hesitantly took the young girl's hand as the spider girl led her to the creek. Once they were next to the water, Alice turned back to Cleo. "Now, take off your shoes and socks!"

Cleo was confused. "Um, I'm sorry, what?"

Alice huffed. "Take off your shoes and socks! Trust me!"

There was something more than a little odd about a young girl in a giant spider body telling Cleo to trust her. In any other place or time, she'd belong in a horror movie, but despite that, Cleo found she did indeed trust the girl and did as she was told.

Soon, at Alice's direction, Cleo was sitting on the creek's banks, dipping her feet in the water. She closed her eyes and listened to the water flow. As long as she could remember, Cleo had always been on board a ships or a station, never really touching down on a planet for a significant length of time. She'd only experienced "large" amounts of water in showers or the occasional bath. Sure, she'd seen water like this in dramas before, but to actually sit with her feet dangling in the water, listening to the sounds around her, it was easy to forget she was on some absurd spaceship instead of living on a planet somewhere. She wondered what she would have been like growing up on a farm back in humanity's old planet-bound days. Would there have been many relaxing moments like this? Who would that Cleo have become? Would she even recognize herself?

A loud splash next to her made Cleo open her eyes, only to see Alice wading about in the water next to her, grinning like the kid she was. "See? I told you! This place is great!"

Cleo couldn't help but smile at her girlish response. "Yeah, it is..."

Looking up into the oddly filtered star-filled sky, Cleo didn't know what she was experiencing, but she felt like she'd been hungry for it for a long time without realizing what she'd been missing. When she blinked, Cleo was surprised to learn her eyes had filled with water at some point. She wiped away the tears before they could fall, then turned back to Alice with a smile. "It really is."

Alice giggled and splashed at Cleo, though most of the water didn't actually hit her. "It's more fun if you get in silly!"

Cleo looked dubious for a moment. "Are you sure it's safe? Like there's no spiders I could step on in the water, are there?"

A voice from beside her made Cleo jump as Charlotte answered her question. "I have ensured the water is perfectly safe for humans and Alice alike." How the hell had that giant spider monster snuck up on Cleo like that?

Alice didn't seem bothered by her and, in fact, actually seemed to chide her. "Charlotte! Give Cleo some space! She's still getting used to everything! You don't have to worry about me! I'm perfectly safe, right Cleo?"

Cleo looked up at the spider monster and nodded hesitantly. "Uh, yeah, right!"

The spider, Charlotte Cleo reminded herself, though it was hard to think of this one as the same as those smaller spiders she was more used to, seemed to hesitate a moment before responding. "Very well..." It then backed away a dozen paces but continued watching. Judging by the burning on the back of Cleo's neck, Scott was doing the same, though at least he was a little less overbearing about it.

Another splash in Cleo's direction drew her attention back to Alice, who had a mischievous smile. "Don't worry about Charlotte; she won't hurt you. But I'll get you all wet if you don't do it yourself first!"

Another splash and Cleo had had enough. "That's it! You're in trouble now!" Hopping into the water, Cleo splashed back at Alice, who was giggling as she tried to defend herself.