Lyra set the SoroSuub Skywagon down at Rho-277's permacrete landing pad, careful to avoid the droids that roamed the airfield seemingly at random. She shut down main power and idled the repulsors.

As Taz reached for the door release she put her hand over his. "Can we… keep last night to ourselves?"

"Sure, if that's what you want." Their lovemaking had left him feeling better than he had in months. He'd felt a closeness to Lyra that he wasn't even sure he'd shared with Tess during their years together. Maybe it was the influence of the temple and the strength of the Force that flowed there, or maybe it was that he'd had such intimate contact when he touched her within the Force.

Then there was Lyra herself; her smooth creamy brown skin, warm, expressive lips, and her intoxicating scent. When she fixed him with those bright coppery eyes he felt helpless, and when her soft hair brushed across his bare skin… He shook his head to dispel the intense, arousing memories of the previous night.

This isn't just a rebound, is it? His breakup with Tess had hurt badly. He couldn't deny that at some level he was taking comfort in Lyra's arms. His lingering feelings for Tess nagged at him too; despite all of the pain, he knew deep down he still loved her. Maybe he always would. Was it so terrible that being with Lyra eased the ache left by Tess's absence? Without that would he have surrendered to her surprising advance so readily?

Taz decided he had no answers to those questions. He also decided it didn't matter. The deep emotions she stirred in him were real. And even if she was still figuring out what their night together had meant, just like he was, she'd seemed to enjoy it as much as he had. That felt like its own answer.

A tech droid painted in standard Imperial black met them on the pad and moved the aircar into the hangar. They returned their guns to the arms locker in their ship, showered, and got a change of clothes. Then he and Lyra slung their packs and walked back to the camp's domicile section. The ever-present sentries watched them with the kind of bored curiosity Lyra had come to expect from Imperial security troops but they passed by unimpeded.

Children bounced a hoverdisk from hip to hip in the park, shepherded by a run-down EPO droid whose upper half had been grafted onto a platform surrounded by repulsor vanes. They followed the steel grate walkways back to the rows of terra-cotta roofed bungalows, dropped off their bags and headed to the Daros.

They found everyone in the parlor drinking sarna. A four-year-old holovid episode of Sector Rangers: Ryloth played on the projector table in the corner, but no one was paying attention.

"Hello, Lyra and Taz, come in, come in!" gushed Amanda, rising from the sofa as they entered. She kissed them both on each cheek and they let themselves be ushered into the parlor.

Jerric shook both of their hands. He offered Lyra the slightest lilt of his thick, dark brows. "I hope the survey went well for the two of you."

Tess regarded them evenly. Lyra wasn't sure but she might have glimpsed a hint of jealousy in her fellow pilot's dark eyes. Sera nodded a greeting, looking vaguely amused. Reiko wore a huge smile, her eyes dancing and mischievous.

Lyra sighed; Taz's explanation had fooled no one.

When they'd sat Amanda asked, "How was the exploration? Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I did, thanks," Taz returned with a secret glance at Lyra, who was talking with Sera and determinedly not looking his way. Bixy wheeled over with cups of sarna and he took one from the short droid. Her yellow photoreceptor flickered unevenly on her round face. To Taz it seemed like she was winking.

"Archeological research always seemed so exotic, getting to travel to wondrous places in every corner of the galaxy."

"It's mostly rummaging through old records," Taz offered. "Mineral analysis, now that sounds like exciting work." He grinned at Amanda and winked.

"Oh, you're a saucy one, aren't you Doctor Oktos!" She gave him a little chuck on his shoulder.

He lit up with a winning smile. "I told you, it's Taz, Amanda, and I'm completely serious," he said, taking her hand. "A lovely, intelligent woman like you would never content herself with boring work I'm quite sure. I'd just love to see how you go about measuring the quality of the crystals you're mining. TaggeCo has operations all over the galaxy but I've never been to one. I don't suppose you'd let me take a look, one researcher to another?" He kissed the back of her hand and met her gaze with a suggestively raised eyebrow.

"Oh, well Doctor, if you ask like that, I'll have to see what I can do to arrange a little tour for you."

Lyra cleared her throat. "Thank you again for the use of your aircar, Mr. Daro." She stirred five lumps of unbleached driftcane into her sarna before taking a sip.

"I do hope it didn't give you any trouble." Amanda glanced sharply at her husband. "A certain someone keeps neglecting to replace the turbine intake manifold."

Jerric held up his hands. "I'm sure it's nothing an experienced pilot like Miss Nimor couldn't handle."

"Everything was fine, really," Lyra assured them.

"Well you're all welcome to stay but we have to report for our work shift. Will we see you for dinner?" Amanda asked, her eyes wide and eager.

"Mom, really," Tess mocked a complaint.

"Amanda, let them have some time to themselves."

"We haven't seen our daughter in ten years, Jerric. There's so much catching up to do."

Tess smiled and squeezed Varun's hand. "We aren't going anywhere, mom."

Amanda looked a little crestfallen but she relented. "Oh, alright. But call if you need anything, anything at all!" With that Tess's parents left to change.

Varun asked Bixy to bring him a carafe of sarna and more cups. They filed out of the house to find the sky crowded with clouds, portending a rainy afternoon. Taz pulled the musty smell deep into his lungs. He'd rarely seen real, natural rain, and the thought that he might made his mood even better. Reiko was busy doing the same, and the two desert-dwellers shared excited grins.

They walked to the small park and sat at a long table. The children who'd been playing there were gone, hustled back to class by their teacher droid, no doubt. Varun handed around the cups and poured. "To paleology!"

Lyra picked up on his angle. "To moldy old stones."

They lifted their glasses, then Varun began a nonsense conversation with Tess and Taz about dig sites. Sera looked at Reiko, who reached into her pocket and thumbed the masking switch on her comlink. She nodded to Numarkos, who finished his story.

"Did you get your little adventure out of your system, Oktos-grasha?" Varun asked without preamble.

"I found what I was after, if that's what you mean," answered Taz.

"Good. We came here for a reason, and it wasn't sightseeing."

"Cataloging ruins" Taz corrected, flashing a frown. "It was a good way to reinforce our cover," Taz returned, "and I learned some things that might prove helpful, Numarkos-grasha."

"Like what?"

"Well, the ruin we visited was a Dai Bendu temple. The Force is really strong there. I'm sure it's what led me to choose that site. Also, those crystals can speak."

"What do you mean, speak?"

"They're alive, or at least they have sentience. One of them sang to me last night."

Varun scoffed. "Sounds more like a fever dream."

"I heard it too," Lyra put in.

"You did?" Taz and Varun exclaimed, nearly in unison. "You didn't mention that," Taz followed. He was sure he'd only heard it because of his sensitivity to the Force. Could that mean Lyra was...

"There was a lot on my mind," said the pilot, wearing an expression that would have worked perfectly at a high-stakes sabacc table.

"I'll bet." Reiko made a noise behind her hand that might have been a snicker.

Sera patted Rei's arm in mild reproof but gave her a wink. She looked around, leaning back casually on her hands. "We should be careful, even with the masker. No telling who might be watching."

"Our room is wired. Yours probably are too," Tess groused, looking sour.

"So what do singing crystals have to do with anything?"

"Not the singing, the sentience. They know things. The one at the ruins showed me its entire history, thousands of years worth. Maybe the crystals they're mining could tell us what's going on here."

"Maybe." Numarkos looked decidedly skeptical.

"That aside, what's our next move?" asked Tess.

"Your parents seem like great folks, sweetheart, but they're not being straight with us. This whole place doesn't make sense. I've never seen an Imperial installation run this way."

Lyra nodded vigorous agreement. "He's right. This isn't like any Imperial base I've been to. Your father said the workers were brought here as forced labor but freed a few months after they started the operation. They've intermingled with the staff ever since. That never happens, as far as I know."

"I guess Tafo's not your typical overseer," Taz interjected.

"Maybe. What I don't get is the lack of a military presence. Other than the TIEs I saw in the hangar and a few security guards, there don't seem to be any troops here. For an operation like this I'd expect a company of regular army troops at least, if not stormtroopers. And almost no one's in uniform."

"My parents aren't in any hurry to leave here either," said Tess, looking disconsolate. "They think they're doing important work to bring order to the galaxy. As far as they're concerned, the Alliance was a bunch of terrorists. They don't even know about the New Republic or that the Empire surrendered."

"Their media access looks tightly controlled," said Varun. "The holos are standard news programs and dramas, at least three or four years old, and all selected to reinforce COMPNOR propaganda."

Sera tapped the table with her finger. "Listen, they're out here in the middle of nowhere, cut off from the rest of the galaxy. They don't even have live holofeeds, and to judge by what we can see they're genuinely committed to their work. Maybe everyone here is like Tess's parents. They're here because they want to be."

"What's your point?" Tess challenged.

"I'm just saying that we thought we were coming to a place where the people might want to get out from under the Empire. If that's not the case, it could be a lot more difficult for us to learn what's going on here."

"Well, I don't care what's going on. I'm getting my parents out," Tess stated flatly behind her cup.

"Sweetheart, If you try to force them there's no telling what might happen."

"But Varun," she pleaded, "even if they think what they're doing here is right, they've been lied to! They aren't being told the truth of what's happening in the galaxy."

"I know that, sweetheart and we'll look for a way to introduce them to the truth. I'm just saying we have to be careful about it. Even though you're their daughter and they love you, that might not be enough to keep them from turning us in if we say the wrong thing, or pick the wrong time."

"Mom and dad would never do that!"

Sera cut in. "No offense but we've got bigger nerfs to herd. Like finding out exactly what this facility is for and where all those crystals are going. The radiation readings we found earlier probably mean that someone's weaponizing the ones they're mining." She nodded vaguely in the direction of the industrial building tucked against the nearby hillside. "If that's a factory over there, what'd you wanna bet they're building some kind of superweapon?"

"Well, that place is way too small to build the kind of lasers they put on the Death Star," Varun said.

"You don't need a Death Star to do a lot of damage."

"You're right, Captain Rendix," Numarkos said, giving Tess's hand a reassuring squeeze. "We need more intel on this place." He looked at Lyra and Taz. "Did you get a look at the mine entrance?"

"It's about half a klick from here," Lyra reported. "Looked like there's some kind of processing facility and power station nearby. The shield generator, too. We won't get out of here if that thing's running."

"When you went sightseeing—" He shot a glance at Taz, who frowned in response, "did you see any weapons?"

"Just the lasers and missiles we saw when we made planetfall," Taz stated.

"We know they have at least a flight of standard TIEs, plus a Striker and an armed shuttle," Lyra added.

Varun turned to Tess. "Do you think your parents would agree to show us the operation?"

"I don't know. Everyone seems pretty guarded about that. Maybe Doctor Oktos can get my mom to show us the lab." She fixed Taz with something of a frown. "You never flirted with me like that."

The medtech looked uncomfortable. "I'm just trying to make a good impression. And if it gets us somewhere… By the way is your dad the jealous type?"

Tess laughed at him. "I think he knows where mom's affections lie, Taz."

"Strange that the director hasn't been too inquisitive, though," Reiko opined. "I would've expected a more serious grilling."

"That's because he's leaving it to Ruatha. She has ISB written all over her," Varun pronounced. "An operation like this, far away from Imperial space and out of regular contact for years, would need someone like her to keep everyone in line and reinforce their loyalty to the Empire."

Lyra wore an ugly look. "The political officers on our ships were either corrupt or fanatics. If Ruatha's anything like them she's one to watch out for."

Varun agreed with a nod. "Oktos-grasha's flirtations aside, I think we're going to have trouble convincing anyone to let us just walk around the facility. If we're going to get in there, it'll have to be a stealth job." He thought for a second. "Okay, standard ops. They're likely to be more alert since we've just arrived, but they've been isolated out here for years, with nothing to keep their security team especially sharp. After we've been here for a few days they should revert to their previous habits. So while Doctor Oktos finishes his survey work, Tessa and I will learn as much as we can about the operation here—Shift changes, entrances and exits, and who comes and goes from each of them. What security measures are in place—secured areas and who has access, cameras and sensors."

He reached for the carafe and refilled his sarna, then passed it around. He took a long, thoughtful drink. "This is really good. I'm going to have to see if we can get it back home." Varun smiled over his cup. "I want the rest of you to learn all you can at the port and the nearby installations. Look for anything that might be problematic like fuel, weapons, shield generator controls, whatever you can find." He looked around, smiling and casually pointing to one of the stocky trees in the park with spiky fleshy spines growing from its branches in every color of the rainbow. "Don't record anything. That way if you're caught or searched there's nothing to incriminate you. Assume you're being monitored at all times; don't go sneaking around unless you can back it up with a legitimate reason for being where you are.

"If you see someone who might be helpful—troublemakers, lazy workers, liars or gamblers, heavy drinkers—let me know. There's always a few in any population, even one this small. We might be able to make their vices work for us.

"Last thing. Even though it looks like these folks have been isolated that could be some elaborate ruse. Lie as little as possible—the truth is your friend because it's easy to remember. But avoid saying anything about the Empire, its defeat, or the Emperor's death. We want them going about their normal lives and anything we say about the war or the rebellion might contradict what the workers are being told by Tafo and Ruatha. Questions?"

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

When there were none he began another casual conversation about the weather and gestured to Reiko, who turned off the masker. They spent another hour in the park, talking about the planet and how fantastic it was that they'd found Tess's parents so quickly.

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"Bring me the tachyon injector probe, will you Yuzu?" Rei called. She stood on a ladder, half-hidden inside the ship, and worked on the quantum field stabilizer coils. She felt Yuzu come up the ladder behind her and she reached back. The knurled handle of the probe went into her hand. "Thanks, Yuzu."

There was a scuffling noise from below and a woman's voice snapped, "Watch where you're going, tinny!"

"I beg your pardon, madam-nagrasha."

Reiko looked out from the access hatch just in time to see Yuzu, his arms raised apologetically. The older woman he was speaking with was having none of it.

"What did you call me, you good for nothing pile of scrap?" she carped. "That restraining bolt should be permanently welded to your brain!"

"Hey!" Rei shouted, sliding down the ladder. She stalked over. "Yuzu, go and check the quantum flux map for me, will you?"

Yuzu looked at the woman berating him, then at Reiko, whose face was redder than it had ever registered on his optical co-processor. "I'll be happy to, mistress Reiko-nagrasha." He trundled off, pelvic servos buzzing.

"Look," Rei said, wagging the probe under the other woman's chin, "I don't know who you think you are but you can't talk to Yuzu like that, especially when he was just being friendly and trying to apologize."

"Oh? Who's gonna stop me, girly?" challenged the wiry-haired woman, pushing Rei's tool away with the welder in her hand.

A couple of people turned to watch the altercation. One of them yelled, "Give 'er hell, Archeson!"

Reiko realized the way she was waving around the probe might be misinterpreted. She also recognized that she was outnumbered. Sera was on Allegra, a shout away. But despite Sera's vow to always protect her, Rei knee she couldn't depend on her lover for everything.

She dropped her hand to her side and adopted a less confrontational tone. "Look, Archeson, is it? We're just trying to get our ship tuned up. It was a long trip out here."

"Nobody asked you to come, did they?"

"Actually they did." She tapped the patch on the shoulder of her coveralls. "See? Rixon Charter Service. We run a charter business. We were hired to come here." She smiled, trying to look friendly.

Archeson crossed her arms over her abundant bosom. "So you're saying this place isn't worth coming to unless you're paid?"

The woman was being deliberately obtuse. "No, that's what you just said, not me." So much for the friendly approach. "What's your problem with Yuzu, anyway?"

The question seemed to catch Archeson off guard. "It's not just that one, it's any of 'em." She pointed her welder at some of the droids. "They get in the way, steal work from honest folks, and act like they're as good as us!"

"Yuzu didn't steal anyone's job. He's my friend."

"No it's not," she retorted. "It doesn't have feelings. Those are just pre-programmed responses. That thing's got no more feelings than this does." She wagged the welder in her hand.

"That's not true and you'd know it if you didn't digitally lobotomize your droids when you memory wipe them every couple of weeks."

"You don't wipe them, they go haywire, girly."

"I don't know where you got that stupid idea from but you're wrong. Droid brains are just like people's. They grow new neural connections as they gain experiences. They develop feelings and emotional intelligence just like we do."

"Hah!" Archeson scoffed, pointing to the boxy GNK power droid connected to her welder. "You telling me that this fusion reactor with legs has feelings?"

"It has a pretty basic brain and personality matrix, so it can't form complex emotional responses, but—"

"You droid lovers are all the same," Archeson cut her off. "You give 'em pet names, you treat 'em like people, but they ain't, girly. You might think they're intelligent or feeling, but they ain't neither of those things." She aimed her welder at Rei. "You want to pamper it that's fine, but you keep it away from me and my people or I'll scrap it."

The threat made Reiko's blood boil. She nearly blurted a threat of her own, but was interrupted.

"Mistress Reiko-nagrasha, I've finished the analysis of the quantum stabilization flux map."

"I'll be right there Yuzu, thanks." She wheeled on Archeson. "If I'm ever in a scrape I know I can count on Yuzu to be there for me. Not because I programmed him to but because we're a team. Try relying on one of your poor droids when you're in a tight spot." Then she turned away from the bigoted woman before she said something that might force her to remember how to use the hand-to-hand combat training she'd learned back at Arclight Academy all those years ago.

She tromped up the ramp expecting to see Yuzu but Sera was standing there, arms crossed casually, leaning against the bulkhead. She had a big smile on her face. "Everything okay, Rei-sha?"

"Just a little disagreement with some anti-droid bigots, that's all."

"I saw," said the former commando, wrapping her arms around Rei's waist. "You handled it great. I'm really proud of you."

Reiko smiled. She loved the way Sera's arms felt. "I… didn't want you to have to come and save me, Sera-sha."

"You know I will, though, right?"

"I know, and that's just one of the million reasons why I love you."

"That's my girl," Sera smiled and gave Reiko a little kiss. The engineer headed inside to join Yuzu in the engineering compartment. Sera looked down the ramp at the people who were making a show of not watching the two of them. "Hands off, folks, she's all mine." Sera grinned broadly, but she grabbed a big breaker bar that hung on the wall. "Rei's a wonderful woman, so be nice to her. I'm not nearly as forgiving as she is." With that she hefted the tool over her shoulder and went back to the cockpit.

"My, what an intimidating display, Captain Rendix," Kallista commented. She had her finger probe plugged into the main computer, running an optimization routine on the memory core.

Sera leaned the bar against the wall. "They're bullies, Kalli. I'm just letting them know how things stand."

"So I saw. Should I even ask what you might do if they don't take the hint?"

Sera grimaced, cold and steely. "I'll probably kill every one of them."

Kallista showed as much surprise as a BD-series was capable of. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, Captain."

"I'm sure I'll never have to worry about that, Kalli," Sera stated confidently.

Rei popped her head into the cockpit. "Quantum stabilizers are realigned."

"Nice work. While you were making friends did you get a look at their ships?"

Reiko nodded. "An Eta—probably for the Director, and a Rho-class shuttle with a freight module. They're both armed. There's a handful of civilian airspeeders, too. Most look like the Daros' Skywagon; old but in decent shape."

"What do you think of their fighters?"

"The TIEs look like they've seen better days. Not surprising under the circumstances but half of them were stripped down and the others looked like they were being overhauled way beyond standard maintenance. The Striker seems like the best of the bunch."

"Usually there'd be regular fighter patrols over an Imperial facility but the skies have been quiet since we arrived."

"Lack of fuel or consumables?" Rei suggested.

"Perhaps they think the security situation doesn't warrant frequent patrols," Kallista added.

"Could be any of those," Sera said, tapping the console with her fingernail. "We'll let Numarkos know. He can figure out what it means."

----------------------------------------

While they waited for dinner, Jerric, Varun, and Taz went down to the sublevel under the Daros' home where Jerric had a little workshop. An idea had formed in Taz's head when he remembered the kyber crystal in his pocket. Now he sat at the workbench and fished through Jerric's bins of bibs and bobs on the wall in front of him.

"That's a nice little kyber fragment. May I?" asked the older Daro.

Taz handed it to him. Jerric held it up to the light. "Hmm. Plenty of inclusions and fractures. Not much good for anything."

"Maybe a pendant," Taz thought aloud.

"For my wife, or that pretty pilot you pretend not to pay any attention to?"

Taz didn't answer but he couldn't quite repress a grin.

Varun upended his bottle and gave Taz a curious look out of the corner of his eye. Is he playing up his cover or did something really happen out there?

Jerric smiled broadly and sipped his ale. "Looking for anything in particular?"

From Lyra? Maybe. "Some wire."

"Try that drawer up there."

Taz opened the one Jerric pointed to. Spools of copper, brass, and nickel wire of different gauges lay inside. "I made pendants for my sisters and mother in crafting class, back when I was a kid."

Daro chuckled. "I've got news for you, junior, you're still a kid."

Taz smirked and drained half of his bottle. "I suppose it's a matter of perspective." He selected some copper wire, grabbed a pair of pliers with a long slender nose, and set to work. He bent and twisted the wire, coiling it until he'd formed a little cup. He set the crystal into it, then continued winding, twisting, and looping the copper.

"Mind if I ask a question, Jerric?" Varun asked.

"Of course. Another ale?"

"You read my mind." He handed the empty bottle to Daro and took the ice-cold one that Jerric extracted from the cooler sitting on the workbench. "This place is pretty isolated. From what I've seen you don't have live holonet feeds or regular communications. There've been a lot of changes in the past few years."

Jerric shrugged his broad shoulders. "The isolation was hard to deal with in the beginning. It still is for some. But most of us are used to it. To be honest there's something to be said for not getting caught up in the problems of the galaxy."

"Ever thought about going back? Tessa wants you to, you know." Varun knew he was taking a risk by turning the conversation in this direction. Jerric looked thoughtful but didn't respond.

Rather than press, Numarkos took a drink and peered over Taz's shoulder at the work he was doing. Wonder if he ever made anything like this for Tessa? He was all thumbs when it came to that kind of thing.

Taz kept working until he'd built up an amorphous net that enclosed the blue kyber crystal. He twisted the ends of the wires together at the top, then tapped the twisted section with light hammer blows to flatten it a bit before looping it into a bail. He held it up to the light, turning it this way and that.

"Nice work, Professor," Jerric said. "Say, how'd you like to shine it up a little?"

"Can we do that?" Taz inquired, handing over the pendant.

Jerric drained his ale. He took a little cylindrical device from a shelf, then grabbed a bottle of pinkish liquid beside it. He opened the top of the cylinder, dropped the crystal into it, and filled it with the liquid. Replacing the lid, he pressed a switch. The mechanism emitted a little hum. "I remember the Republic. A quarter-century ago I was in the war against the Separatists."

"Oh? What did you do?" Varun asked, sounding interested.

"Flight deck maintenance on a heavy cruiser, fighting for the Republic against the Confederacy and their legions of droids. Even learned a little piloting from some of the clones."

"Wow," Taz intoned, pretending to hear Daro's story for the first time. "Did you see any action?"

"More than enough, believe me. Want to know what I learned?"

Taz glanced over his shoulder at Varun. "Sure."

"The Republic fought a disastrous war over a trade dispute that should never have come to blows. How many millions died, how many trillions were spent, because the Senate couldn't rise above their petty factions and corruption? They took Jedi 'peacekeepers' and turned them into warlords. Warlords! I knew a few Jedi. They were good people but they were completely out of their depth executing a war. Imagine, actually plotting the Chancellor's assassination! Well, they had to be hunted down didn't they?"

Taz kept his face impassive. The war had happened before he was born. He disagreed with Jerric's feelings about the Jedi but at the same time, he'd never known any of them, so maybe the older man's point of view was worth some consideration.

"That was about the time I decided I didn't want anything more to do with the Republic. When the Chancellor reorganized the government into an imperial model I thought he was just grabbing power. I didn't like it at first but after a while I started to see the advantage of the system Palpatine enforced as Emperor. He sidelined the Senate but that meant he also sidelined everything that was wrong with it. Order and efficiency replaced chaos and incompetence."

"TaggeCo believes as you do, Jerric. Our business has thrived under the Empire, with none of the chaos the Republic tolerated."

Taz didn't frown but he felt like it. "Didn't I hear that you and your salvage crew were arrested by the Empire and brought here as slave labor?"

"They picked us up on permit violations and suspicion of transporting contraband. It felt like harassment at the time but the law is the law and we weren't in compliance. And yes, we were prisoners here at the beginning," Daro admitted. "But you know what? As soon as the director figured out we worked better when we didn't feel like prisoners, he had all of our records expunged. Every one of us who hadn't committed a violent crime."

"What about being used for slave labor? Didn't that bother you?"

"Nobody wants to be a slave but there were slaves in the Republic. The Senate didn't do anything about it for dozens of centuries. And Director Tafo treated us fairly, then freed us after a couple of years. You'll find no slaves here, Doctor. None."

Taz nodded slowly. "Mm."

"You don't agree with the Emperor's approach?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Taz lied. "I'm interested in all kinds of history, not just paleology. Someday our time will be studied. Sometimes I wonder what the historians of the future will have to say about the New Order."

"That it brought stability out of chaos," Varun pronounced, tossing back a swig of his ale.

"Hmph. I'm happy to say I'll be long dead when that happens," Jerric grinned. He shut off the machine, uncapped it, and took out the pendant. The copper wire was bright; the blue kyber crystal smooth and glistening, catching the light on its flats and casting dazzling reflections. "There, that looks nice!" He handed it to Taz, who admired it for a moment while the volatile polishing liquid evaporated away.

"Hang on," Jerric said, rummaging through his bins. "Ah, here it is." He handed Taz a length of black silk cord. "It'd look great on a chain but I think this'll work."

Taz threaded the cord through the bail, then tied it into a loop with a pair of sliding knots to adjust the length.

"Looks good, Doctor Oktos," Varun admitted.

"Want a little box for it?" offered Jerric. "Pretty sure I can find something around here."

"No, I want to keep it casual. Don't want to scare her off." He wasn't lying about that. He looped the silken thong a few times, tied it back on itself, and slipped the bundle into his shirt pocket. "Thanks for your help, and for the company." He lifted his bottle to Jerric and Varun before draining it.

"You're welcome, both of you. It's nice to have company. Come on. Dinner ought to be ready soon and Amanda'll give me an earful if I keep her from your flattery for too long, Professor. He laughed and clapped both men on the shoulders as they ascended the stairs.

----------------------------------------

They sat around after dinner, drinking sarna and eating little cakes. Jerric produced a flask of local liquor and poured some into his sarna. He waved it at Varun who accepted it and did likewise. Sera took out her own flask of smoky Lithingow. Varun tipped the flask over Taz's cup, pouring him a healthy portion with a roguish look before handing it back to Jerric. Amanda harrumphed but called for Bixy to bring eberricot brandy and little glasses for the others.

When they'd settled around the parlor, Amanda said, "So, Doctor Oktos, Tess tells us that you've been working in the, cultural conservation project, was it?"

"Cultural Preservation Initiative," Taz quoted.

"That's it," Amanda said. Tess says you've been there for eight years? You must be quite a prodigy."

"Nothing like that," he demurred, sipping his sarna. The spirit Varun had poured into his cup added a sharp punch to the already fermented beverage. He used the delay to recall the briefing notes from his cover identity. "My parents wanted me to study engineering and follow them to HyperDyne, but I wanted to do something different."

"The son finding his own way?"

Taz shrugged. Varun's notes had also warned against saying too much. "How about you, Amanda? What led you to become a mineralogist?

"Oh, it was serendipity, wasn't it Jerric? While Tess's father was deployed with the Navy, I lived on this old drafty Golan defense station in the Garos system. I didn't have much to do since I wasn't in the military, so I attended some remote courses that were offered by the Republic Science Academy. I suppose the course on mineralogy just caught my eye for some reason, and before I knew it I'd graduated. When we started our business we'd planned on asteroid mining, so I thought my degree would be useful for that."

"It was hard for an independent operation like ours to compete against the big players like Czerka and Tagge, though," Jerric added. "Strange turn of fate that our daughter works for a mining company now." He smiled at Tess and gave her hand a squeeze. "Salvage was more lucrative, anyway."

"Mom, you never told me that you and dad started out as asteroid miners."

"Oh, it was only a few months, dear." She looked over at Sera and Reiko. "What about you two?"

"Us?" Rei answered. "You know how it is," she began, scrambling for a suitable response. "A few years working on a big ship, you kind of want a change."

"We thought running charters would be a good way to get around, see the galaxy," Sera finished.

"And you, Lyra? How long have you been flying?"

"Mmm, seven or eight years I guess, Mrs. Daro."

"Freelance?" Jerric asked.

"I was with the Customs office… until recently."

"Hmm, we used to get harassed by Customs patrols out in the Rim," Jerric smiled.

The wall chrono chimed the hour. Taz looked back at it over his shoulder. He finished his cup of spiked sarna and got up. "I'd love to stay and talk some more but we're on a tight schedule to get those other sites surveyed. Think I'll hit the rack—turn in."

"Ha!" Jerric laughed. "You sound like a Navy man!"

Taz kicked himself mentally. That was a phrase only military personnel used. "I had a friend who served. He used to say that all the time." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'd like to get an early start tomorrow if that's alright with you, Miss Nimor?"

Lyra nodded and set her empty glass down. Bixby swung through the parlor, whistling and collecting the cups and glasses on her tray. "No problem, Doctor." To the others, she said, "It sounds like I have my marching orders, so I'm going to get some sleep too."

"Good night, you two," Reiko said with a lilt in her voice.

Lyra scowled at the engineer but she and Taz said their farewells and walked back to their bungalows.

It had indeed rained earlier in the evening and Taz inhaled the loamy fragrance. "Is it okay, leaving early tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Reiko thinks we have something going on," Taz suggested. I'd like to think we do, too.

"I guess we have her fooled, don't we?"

Taz chuckled. Reaching Lyra's bungalow, she keyed the unlock sequence on her door. She was about to go in when Taz stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Do you have a second?"

"What's up?"

"I, um, wanted to give you something." He dug into his pocket for the kyber pendant and held it out to her.

"Is that the crystal from your—that you found at the ruin?" she corrected herself, in case they were being monitored. She let it dangle from the silk cord, then lowered it into her palm.

"You said it was pretty so I thought I'd, you know, make it into something you could wear. If you want to, I mean."

Her mouth twitched in a smile while her stomach churned. He was giving her a gift; and not just any gift, but jewelry. Something like that didn't have any particular significance in her culture, but she had no idea what it might mean to a Filvian. He told her he wouldn't push her into anything, but this felt at least like a nudge.

"Taz, it's really nice, and I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not—I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept something like that from you."

"Oh," he said, looking like he'd been caught off-guard.

"How about you hold onto it for me?" She put it back in his hand and closed his fingers around it. In a bright voice she continued, "Like I said, I appreciate the gesture, really."

"Okay, sure, I understand." He sounded a little crestfallen.

The silence grew awkward after a few seconds. "See you in the morning?"

"Yeah," he grinned weakly.

"Good night, Doctor Oktos." She went inside, closed the door behind her, and breathed out a long, unsteady sigh. Her heart was fluttering. Did I do the right thing? It was hard to tell in the dim light of the planet's small moons but his smile seemed forced.

It's his own fault. She'd warned him not to push too hard. But as she undressed and slipped into bed Lyra couldn't help feeling unsettled.