As Lucy sat down to eat, she considered using some of the utensils as weapons to attack her father. However, he'd probably consider it not only expected but a welcome return to form. When she'd still been a kid, attacking her father when he was supposedly unprepared had been one of their primary father-daughter bonding activities. If she was particularly imaginative or got "close enough," she'd get rewarded somehow. If not, she usually had something taken away. Somehow, using forks and butter knives as ranged and melee weapons didn't seem like it would catch the old man off his game, even if the years were starting to show their impact.

Nowadays, the great "Captain Drake" leaned much more heavily on his old cane than he used to. Lucy was reasonably sure he was exaggerating to throw off any would-be assassins or family members; he always enjoyed pretending to be more vulnerable than he was. However, she was also confident it wasn't all for show. After all, she had been gone almost twenty years. A lot could change in that time.

However, Lucy noticed one thing hadn't changed. He still liked to put on a show to impress his guests. Right now, his servants were laying out a "welcome home" feast, as though he hadn't just sicked a literal private army on Lucy and her family.

There was a spot for Lucy, himself, and one other. Who the third spot was set for didn't take too long to figure out as John was wheeled into the room. Realizing why he probably wasn't moving under his own power, Lucy shot to her feet. "John! What did he do to you?"

John smiled back. Unable to stand up for a hug, he reached out and took Lucy's hand. "Oh, it's not so bad as it looks... Well, no, it's exactly as bad as it looks, but I've gotten pretty used to wheeling myself about when your dear old dad isn't issuing a mandatory invitation."

Lucy shot a look at her father that had cowed some of the scariest pirates she'd worked with. "What is the meaning of this? How could you allow this to happen?"

Old Captain Drake sighed but nodded in recognition of her accusation. "Well, this didn't happen in my care. Rather, it was your ex that did this to your husband. I would punish him for his behavior, but well, I understand you took care of that in a rather somewhat permanent fashion."

That didn't really placate Lucy. "You always said, 'It's a poor commander who blames his underlings.' You are responsible for this!"

Her father nodded. "Yes, and I accept responsibility. That's why he's been receiving the very best in physical therapy, and if worse comes to worse, I'll pay for the very best in augmented replacements. However, the medical staff tells me they believe he'll make a...mostly full recovery."

Lucy looked around, indicating the now very full table. "And all this for what? Because you just couldn't let me and my family go? I wanted out of this life. All I wanted was to give my kids something you never gave me, a chance at a normal, happy life!"

Her father scoffed. "A normal, happy life? That doesn't exist. It's a lie that small people tell themselves to try to make their petty existences more bearable. But you are not small. Didn't you see how you never really fit in with the people around you? From the day you were born, you were destined for greatness, not to waste your time attending meetings with your children's teachers! The galaxy should know and respect your name!"

Lucy rounded on her father, wielding her hand like the knife she wished she held. "Oh, this is all for my sake, is it? You permanently injured my husband, endangered my children, and chased me halfway around the galaxy for my own good? Have you lost your mind in your old age?!?"

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The great and powerful Captain Drake sat down with a bit of a sad smile. "Well, my mind hasn't deteriorated that far...yet."

Something in his voice sounded off. Like he was, in a way, confessing something. Lucy narrowed her eyes. "What's really going on here?"

Her father looked up, his old confident grin mostly replacing the more vulnerable smile he'd had a moment ago. "Well, I'm afraid you were closer to the truth than you probably knew. I'm getting old, and my age is catching up with me. Looking around, I see no one to inherit my empire."

The old man held up a hand to forestall Lucy's comment. Standing to pace in place as he rambled on an explanation. "Oh, there's plenty of people who would like to inherit my empire, but none of them would know what to do with it! I have a few diligent hangers-on who are good at doing what they're told and doing it well, but they lack the spark it takes to come up with anything great on their own. If I left everything to any of them, they'd be slowly picked apart both from without and within. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, I have several captains who are so aggressive and bloodthirsty that without a leash, they'd likely go and start an all-out war with the core systems! In all my years, only one person had the wisdom, ferocity, and spark of insanity to do something truly remarkable with all this power and wealth! And if I had any doubts, the tenacity with which you fought back against everything I threw at you proves you're the only one for the job! You managed to build an army out of nothing, then bring the war to me! In all my years, no one has ever threatened me so much, starting from so little. And with what? A twenty-year-old name most people have probably forgotten, a little confidence, and an iron will? You were remarkable!"

Having made his point, Captain Drake sat down with his typical large grin spread across his face. "In short, I want to retire, take a little time to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor, and leave all the rest in your capable hands!"

John and Lucy looked at the old man like he'd gone insane. Lucy shook her head, sure she must have misheard something. "What?"

-

Scott was pacing back and forth, obsessing over everything he'd said and done in speaking with Charlotte's people. "I shouldn't have threatened them with war! What was I thinking? 'We'll come at you with billions of warriors!' Yeah, that's a great way to make galactic friends!"

Charlotte, who seemed content to watch him pace, shook her head. "Well, that's not quite how you said it. All you implied was that if my people came at you in force to take away your tools, you'd respond in kind, which is not an unreasonable response."

Scott was not mollified when he turned back to her. "But why bring it up at all? Not to mention, I just showed them our weapons not long before that! Hell, I even killed one of them! Well, okay, I just blew up one of her thousands of bodies, but still, any actual diplomat would have a heart attack if they heard about it!"

Cleo seemed more than a little amused. "Oh my god! This is the best! I didn't know you had it in you, Scotty! There might be a little bad boy in you yet!"

Scott rolled his eyes while Charlotte again clarified. "It was not you who blew up the representative; it was me, and we did so only at her explicit request. Besides, the 'death' of one of our appendages has a very different connotation than death does to you. To us, it's more akin to trimming your nails or cutting your hair."

Cleo wasn't done laughing. "Yeah! It's like you sat down a foreign ambassador and gave 'em a buzzcut against their will, that's all!"

Charlotte, apparently missing the context of how that was a bad thing, agreed. "Exactly."

Scott groaned and shook his head in his hands. "Neither of you are helping!"

A moment later, Alice walked in, all happy and bouncing around like she was having the time of her life. Scott was glad to see at least one thing was going well. "You look like you've had a good day!"

Alice grinned and nodded. "Uh-huh! Dotty and I were having fun playing checkers!"

Scott chuckled. "Maybe we should teach you Othello so you have more variety in your board games."

However, Alice was too focused on her story to get distracted. "So then, I was telling her all about how Cleo and I play checkers all the time, and how often I beat her!"

Scott looked over at Cleo, who shrugged. "What? Alice is surprisingly good at the game, okay? Though I do put up more of a fight these days! I swear!"

Scott just chuckled, but then the last thing Alice was saying ripped his attention back to his sister. "So anyway, she said she wants to meet Cleo!"

Playing over the last bit in his mind to make sure he heard right, Scott was suddenly filled with dread as his mouth got a little ahead of his thoughts. "What?"