Sheloran rushed into the cargo hold of The Paper Tiger.

"Bunny?" she called out.

"Yeah?"

"Is Gloria around?"

"Nah, she went out shopping about an hour ago," Bunny replied, "Did you have a nice date?"

"It wasn't a date… um… I don't think it was…." Sheloran replied with increasing uncertainty, "It wasn't a date, right?"

"You tell me," Bunny chuckled.

Oh, it was definitely a date.

"We just went out into the woods and looked at trees," Sheloran said nervously, "Nothing 'datey' happened."

"You can go on a date and not fuck," Bunny snickered. "But, you're the expert. You would know," she said, knowing full well that Sheloran was about as far from an expert on dating as you could get.

"Oh, Prophet!" Sheloran gasped, "Was it a date?!?… Did he think it was a date?!?... Was he… was he expecting, you know… date stuff? Should I have done date stuff?!?"

Bunny said nothing for a few moments.

This was fun!

"Like I said, I'm just an AI and don't really have much ' hands-on' experience with this sort of thing," she said with a falsely supportive tone, "but, based upon my knowledge of the various customs and laws and whatnot you were not obligated to do anything you didn't want to… He didn't try anything, did he?"

"No!" Sheloran exclaimed, "Dwight is really nice! We just looked at all of the trees, and he told me about them… and we did a little foraging… that's all!"

Sheloran shifted uncomfortably. Was it a date?

"Do you think it was a date?" she asked uncertainly.

"How the fuck should I know," Bunny replied, "Meatie meatiness is weird enough as it is before weiners and… whatever you have going on under that dress is concerned. If you really want to know, you'd have to ask Dwight."

"I couldn't do that!" Sheloran gasped.

"Well," Bunny said after letting Sheloran twist for a few seconds, "after reviewing a few thousand dating advice articles, I think it is more important to decide if you had fun and if you want to do it again."

"I did have fun!" Sheloran exclaimed, "And we are doing it again! We're going to go see a big vertical farm tomorrow!"

"Well, that's the big thing," Bunny replied, "I mean, it's not like we're staying here or anything. As long as you have some fun for a bit, that's all that matters."

"Yeah…" Sheloran said with a bit of disappointment.

"So, what did you want Gloria for?" Bunny asked, "I have a list of things to watch out for, and you two putting your heads together is definitely on it… It's specifically on it."

"Oh, nothing really," Sheloran replied, "I want to get started working on her nukes and maybe take a look at her ship. I know I don't have to, but she's done so much for me, and I really owe her. So I want to make a few improvements for her before I leave."

"Aren't you pardoned for everything?" Bunny asked, "If you do something now, wouldn't that just toss all that out of the airlock?"

"Oh pish," Sheloran scoffed, "Who is to say when I did what?"

"You got a point there," Bunny laughed, "I can't give you permission to play with Gloria's toys, but I can get her on the phone. Do you want me to call her?"

"Yes, please!"

***

The Prime Minister sat at her desk as the woman in the green blazer walked in.

"You… you wanted to see me, Momma?"

"What the fuck was up with Glenn Maxwell?" the Prime Minister demanded, "He was barely holding together during that last briefing."

The woman in the green blazer grimaced.

"He's unraveling," she said matter-of-factly. "He's been running far too long after the alteration. We usually have already triggered them before now."

"People are starting to notice," Augustine said calmly, "He is getting… weird."

"We stuck an egg-beater in his brain," the woman in the green blazer replied. "Of course, he's getting weird."

"Well, exactly how much weirder is he going to fucking get?" Augustine snapped, "He's the fucking head of Republic Intelligence! People are starting to worry. What if he gets a medical exam or something? How detectable is what we did?"

"It will slip past a normal exam," the woman in the green blazer shrugged, "but if someone who actually knows what they are doing starts really looking into things, they'll find it."

"Shit," Augustine grumbled.

"Why don't we just get rid of him?" Green blazer asked.

"Exactly how are we supposed to do that?"

"He could, you know… have a heart attack… or a stroke?" the woman in the green blazer smiled, "If it's big and quick, he'll be dead before anyone can do anything about it."

The Prime Minister tapped her lips thoughtfully.

"Start making plans," she said calmly, "I like the stroke idea, but hold off on it for now. He is still a potentially useful weapon even if we have extracted all of the useful information out of him already."

"Even if we lose Glenn, we still have Mark," the woman in the green blazer said without a shred of concern, "Anything we could use Glenn for, Mark can do."

"I'd rather not go that route," the Prime Minister said, "Mark's wife is… influential. I have absolutely no problem burning Mark, but I would prefer not to burn Karen. We don't want to be on her bad side, trust me."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The Prime Minister paused to take a sip of coffee.

"Can you do something to stabilize Glenn, make him, I don't know, less flaky?"

"Not really," the woman in the green blazer replied, "It's already scrambled eggs in there. It's like Lao Tzu says, 'The more you turn a fish, the more it falls apart.' I go digging in there again, and there's no telling what will ooze off of the table. I honestly did not expect he would be alive this long."

"Neither did I," the Prime Minister replied, "but this situation has been nothing but a hassle since the beginning. I suppose one more complication is only to be expected… Patrica Hu had better pray she does not survive long enough for me to get my hands on her."

She smiled at the woman in the green blazer.

"If she does, you get another toy."

They both laughed quietly and evilly.

"So," the Prime Minister said after another sip of coffee, "I understand that you had something you wanted me to review?"

"That I did," the woman in the green blazer said triumphantly as she slid a tablet across the Prime Minister's desk.

"What's this?"

"Good ol' Lilith, or should I say Tartarus, came across big time," the woman in the green blazer smiled. "What you are looking at is an analysis of signal traffic going into and out of the Barnard's Star system."

"What has your favorite toy found for us?"

"There have been a number of transmissions from the Nakamura system," the woman in the green blazer said, "It is always highly encrypted, but Tartarus cracked it. The transmissions concern medical treatments, bio-science, and requests for information. Most importantly, they are asking after a certain researcher who has recently been reported missing."

"And who would that be?"

"Doctor Stefan Arval," the woman in the green blazer said smugly, "He is a noted biologist specializing in retroviruses and genetics. He also has received large amounts of money from sources that we now suspect are connected to Patricia Hu. Furthermore, he disappeared shortly after everything became public."

"Interesting," the Prime Minister replied, "and this implies that Patricia doesn't have him. I wonder who does."

They both grinned wickedly.

"Should I call her and ask?" the woman in the green blazer snickered.

***

"Well, this isn't terribly promising," Jessica Morgan said to Dr. Arval's haggard, pale face on one of her OLED screens. "With your considerable reputation, I had hoped for more from you. I'm sure your family is."

"Please…" he begged, "They had nothing to do with this. Please…"

"Neither did millions of others, doctor," Jessica Morgan replied, "and they now have everything to do with it. All of them are infected. So if you want to save your family… and get your wife back… I suggest you deliver."

He broke down into tears.

"I suggest you get a move on," Jessica Morgan said with an evil little smirk, "When Marcus told me that he wanted your wife, I assumed he was going to kill her, not use her as a replacement."

"You whore!"

Jessica smiled and took a sip of tea.

"Oh, that reminds me," she smiled pleasantly, "Marcus sent me a video. Here, let me play it for you…."

She pressed "mute" as Dr. Arval's face contorted in pain, anguish, and rage.

"Terrence,"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Have that little video play on loop in Dr. Arval's office for the next six hours."

"Yes, ma'am," Terrence said, raising his eyebrow slightly, "Excuse me, ma'am, but isn't that counterproductive?"

"How so?"

"If you want him to actually produce useful research, isn't it best that he not absolutely despise you? Are you not concerned that he may try to take his revenge somehow, possibly by tainting his research?"

"Terrence, if he had anything to offer us, he would have given it to us by now," she chuckled, "he doesn't have anything and hasn't had anything for a while, far longer than we have had him. Everyone pretty much agrees that he doesn't have anything to offer, and his research is going nowhere."

"So this is all some sort of sick joke?"

"Yeah," Jessica replied, sipping her tea, "pretty much. I thought it would be amusing. One uses the right brass bull for the job, and I thought this one was particularly appropriate."

"Isn't that a terrible waste of resources?"

"Not really," she shrugged, "It's just one lab. Who knows, maybe he will pull it off. Desperation and insanity sometimes prevail where reason does not."

Terrence looked at Dr. Arval's silently screaming face.

"Perhaps we should allow him to talk to his wife," he said, "while she is entertaining Mr. Black…."

Jessica looked up at him and smiled.

"I like your style, Terrence."

***

The door to Crimson's quarters opened, and Jon, flanked by several of his people, walked in carrying a tray and a beer.

"Hello," she said pleasantly as she set down her tablet. "Thank you for the reading suggestion."

"Glad you like it," he said as he set her tray on a small table. "Oh, I just received a call. Does the name 'Morrowdale Plantation' mean anything to you?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," she said as she sat down to eat. "Should it?"

"Certain people seem to think that it may be a major research center concerning the longevity treatments."

"Anything concerning that was above my position," Crimson shrugged. "You would have to ask Monarch, Marrow, or the queen bitch herself about that."

"Well, we'll find out one way or the other soon," Jon replied.

"Paying them a visit?" Crimson asked.

Jon smiled.

"Something like that."

"Smart," Crimson nodded, "If you guys make the hit, it looks like you waging your own private war, and 'certain people' don't tip their hand."

She smiled.

"So much for 'staying out of trouble', huh?"

She chewed thoughtfully.

"If I were you, Jon," she said as she reached for the beer, "I would be seriously planning your exit. You are entirely too problematic and far too disposable."

"I'm not concerned about that," he replied, "Dying for the Republic is something that I made my peace with long ago."

He smiled.

"However, I do always take care of my men… and if it comes to that, I might as well tag along, right?"

Crimson smiled back and sipped her beer.

"I hope you keep another 'traitor' in mind when that happens."

"I don't see why not," Jon replied.

"Thanks," she said. "I don't know how long I have, but I do know I don't want to spend what little time I have left at the mercy of your Prime Minister."

"You've done good by us," he said, "I'll take care of you best that I can."

"Hey," Crimson said hopefully, "when you do this raid… do you want any help?"

"Not on the ground," he replied, "but if you keep a tablet on you during the fun, it would be appreciated. Maybe you'll see something or know something helpful."

Crimson raised her beer and smiled.

"I'm always happy to take another shot at that bitch."

***

Beth was kicked back on the bridge wearing grey sweatpants and a dancing neko holographic t-shirt on the front when Jon walked in.

"S'up… Terran?" she idly asked.

"Not much, porkie," he smiled. "Where's Scales?"

Beth pantomimed jerking off.

"He's off duty," she replied, "Which means he's cranking himself blind."

"Good to know… I guess," Jon laughed.

"What brings a fucking marine to my bridge?" Beth snickered as she offered him the comically large bong sitting on the deck next to her. "Did you want to look at the pretty flashing lights or something?"

"Actually," Jon said as he fired up the bong and took a hit. "(exhale), We have a mission."

"No shit?" she asked.

"No shit," he replied, "I need you to take us to Nakamura and do a combat insert and extract."

"Cool," she replied. "How hot is the approach going to be?"

"Not sure," Jon replied, "It's way out in the middle of nowhere, so we don't have much to worry about as far as the Republic goes, but we have no idea what the site will be packing. They are sniffing around it now, so hopefully we will know more before we get there."

Jon passed the bong back to Beth.

"You guys up to it?"

"(Inhale)…. Yeah," Beth said as smoke billowed around her, "We've done this sort of shit before."

"Have you now?"

"Yeah," Beth laughed.

"Against us?"

"You know it," she smiled.

"Good," Jon replied with a chuckle.

"Nakamura is cake," she said, "The only real hassle is the patrols. We get past them, and we're home free."

She got up and stowed the bong.

"I'll start working up the jump now," she said, "I'll give you an ETA when I get one."

"Are you sure you should be preparing a jump now?" Jon snickered, only pretending to be joking.

"I do my best work stoned," she chuckled, "besides, the navcomp does all the work. I just gotta push a few buttons."

"At least try to hit the right system, porkie."

Beth flipped him off.

"Get the fuck off of my bridge before I cut you," she laughed.

"Yes, Captain," Jon replied.