The Cerberus was noisier than usual on the way to a hidden planet within the November Victor sector. Civilian families, science personnel, who remained of the Gambit's crew, the crew of the Cerberus, and two whole squads of rebel Agents. But they had escaped, not just one hit squad, but three. Relief was easy to see wash over the faces of everyone aboard.

Ian and Jacqueline were sitting in Ian's office off the bridge. Maeve remained in command on the way to the hidden world, because Jacqueline needed to tell Ian exactly where he was going.

'This isn't just a hidden rebel base, Ian,' Jacqueline said, watching Ian sip his glass of whiskey. 'This is a homeworld.'

'A homeworld?' Ian said quizzically. 'I was told the Realmic Concord was just a rebellion. Soldiers and volunteers.'

'You'd do best to forget everything you were told by The Agency,' Jacqueline continued. 'The Realmic Concord isn't a rebellion, it's a government. They split off from The Alliance of Three because they disagreed with how the president was running things. They even came to November Victor to be far, far away from all Alliance land, but President Frost declared war, labeling them as terrorists responsible for multiple attacks over Alliance space.'

'Where was her evidence?' Ian said and was granted a laugh from Jacqueline.

'Evidence? This is The Alliance, Ian. They make their own evidence. They control the media, they control the military, they control everything that you can't even trust the words of your best friend.'

'Then how do I trust you?'

Jacqueline pulled her PDA out, placed it on the table, and opened "The Truth" once again. She focused on a digital imprint in the files.

'This is a unique code only President Frost's correspondence can use. I matched it to public addresses, black operation reports and her video streaming account. Same code, very hard to fake. Not impossible, but for all of this to be fake, it would take decades to fake. President Frost is 39."

Ian understood. Though the technology had advanced since his time, the principle was the same. Intel from enemy territory.

'Alright then. So we're going to a homeworld. Civilians, private sector, all of that.'

'Correct,' Jacqueline said. 'When we land, Lee will handle the civilians with your crew, but White and Olympus will need to go see Jonathan Love. Olympus is, after all, still considered an enemy force. But with us vouching for you, it shouldn't be more than doing one mission to prove yourselves.'

Ian understood. Even without their chips, Olympus could still be a deep cover force and this could all be an elaborate ploy by Captain Nevada to discover Realmic Concord secrets.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Speaking of which,' Jacqueline said quietly. 'I need to delete your navigational log when we arrive. It's standard procedure.'

'Go for it,' Ian said. 'But there's a few things I need to know as well.' When Jacqueline didn't speak, Ian continued. 'I need to know Apollo will be ok in our medical bay. I need to know Phil is going to be ok since it's thanks to her we're even here. And I might need a little hint as to what mission we'll be doing.'

'Well,' Jacqueline said. 'Apollo's encased in ice, so as long as he stays that way, until we're sure we can or can't save him, it shouldn't be a problem.'

Ian was relieved. This time they wouldn't fail Apollo.

'As for Phil, I have no idea how she managed to shut down your A.I, and I get the sense it's a trade secret. As long as she isn't a threat, there shouldn't be an issue.'

Phil was safe, too, though Ian made a mental note to ask just how Phil had taken the ship. He was curious as well, now that he thought about it.

'No hints, though. White Squad had to steal weapons plans from The Alliance, but Jonathan burned them in front of us. He's an interesting man, but his paranoia and caution is warranted.'

Ian nodded and sipped his whiskey again as the intercom sounded.

'Yo, boss lady,' Kaiden said. 'We'll be arriving in half an hour.'

'Thank you, Kaiden.'

Jacqueline stood up.

'Ian, I strongly recommend you ensure your squad and crew are aware of what is to come as well. You're responsible for everyone on your crew, just as I was for mine.'

Jacqueline left the room. Ian could hear Maeve say hello to her before the door closed. Jacqueline was right, though. Just because Ian agreed, didn't mean Aaron would. Or Thanatos. He needed to set the rules down.

'Belle, can you-' Ian said, before he remembered. Belle was offline, part of the plan to rebel. He sighed. 'Alice, are you there?'

Alice appeared in the chair Jacqueline had sat in before. She looked different to Ian. Almost healthier. He ears were perked and her tail swished through the chair. Good thing she was a hologram.

'Hello, Zeus. I mean, Ian. Wait, which one did you want?'

'Look, it's a little confusing even for me.' Ian said with a smile. 'Ian's preferred, but I'll take Zeus too. Alice, I need all Olympus members and department heads in my office.'

Alice nodded. She showed a holographic panel beside her, which showed Philicia Faransai and Riley Wilson were incapacitated. But she alerted everyone else, then displayed as estimated time of 6 minutes for all of them to arrive.

'Ian, are we going to fix Belle?' Alice suddenly said, catching Ian off guard.

'Fix Belle?' Ian asked.

'Belle's programming. We could re-program her but keep her identity chip. She's one of us, too. Like Apollo.'

Alice's words rung true. If Ian was willing to go to all these lengths to save Apollo, he should be willing to do the same for Belle. Belle had been with them since fighting the Klisk on Set Station. It felt almost a lifetime ago.

'Who would you recommend I put on reprogramming Belle?' Ian asked seriously. Alice straightened up.

'Oh. Well. Junior and Riley are probably the best ones for it. But Minnie could also help. She separated data from Belle on Set Station, remember?'

'Actually, you're on to something. When we land, the crew will be under scrutiny, except Minnie. Minnie's already Realmic Concord. Let her know I want her to work on helping Belle, and that she can give the mission a skip since she probably already knows everything I plan to say.'

Alice smiled. 'Thank you. You and Aaron, you're wonderful people. You really are!'

Ian smiled back, though he believed he'd need to do more to be worthy of that praise.