Grimthorn bristled.
"An alliance?" he said. "Are we splitting up into factions, now? Dividing the Imperium? I'm not some court flunky who's angling for position."
The two Cryptographers chittered between each other, rapid and low.
"Poorly... worded..." one of them said. More chittering and squeaking between them. "We... help... you... save... the... Imperium. You... help... us... to... survive. You... protect... yes?"
Grimthorn's jaw clenched.
"Yes. I protect the citizens of the Imperium." He took a deep breath. "I didn't even know your kind could be killed."
"Possible... but... complicated. Very... inconvenient."
Grimthorn's lips twisted wryly.
"Understood. What would you need from me? And what would you do to help?"
The Cryptographers chittered excitedly to Brangwin. He reluctantly opened his notebook to a new section and began reading.
"We will keep you apprised of our suppositions as we deduce what is occurring. You will provide information as you uncover it. And you will save the Imperium."
"Oh, is that all?"
"According to our deductions, you are the only one in a position to address this conspiracy." Brangwin's reading voice was shaking now, running out of steam as he crumbled under the Cryptographers' extended presence.
Admiral Stonefist stood slowly, and nodded.
"Very well. I will join you to crush this conspiracy. I will share my information, and I will save the Imperium, or die trying."
He reached out and grasped their taloned claws, one in each hand. A shock of revulsion swept through him as the terror of the Cryptographers reached a heady peak as he had never before experienced. He cried out in anguish. They released him, and he collapsed on the table.
Admiral Stonefist felt that, even if he had been inclined to welsh on the deal, he would now no longer be able to. The agreement was burned into his soul.
"The accord is completed. All hail the Imperium," Brangwin read, his voice on the verge of weeping.
Grimthorn shakily righted himself and saluted.
"All hail."
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Iluna Dabrini loved her job. She liked the easy work and low responsibility of shuttle piloting. Other people were welcome to deal with excitement and politics and major crises. She was happy to do her work, collect her paycheck, and watch her dramas in the evenings, never thinking a thing about work outside duty hours.
Once Admiral Stonefist was back on board, she carefully undocked the shuttle from the Cryptographers' ship and navigated back out through the spires. She breathed a little sigh of relief as they cleared the ship. Navigating a trapped dock on a Cryptographer ship was not at all what she'd signed up for.
Admiral Stonefist was pacing in the back of the shuttle. Technically, she should have required that he sit down and strap in, but his stormy face and the residual aftereffects of the Cryptographer's presence made her not care very much about proper protocol.
She watched on her monitor as the Cryptographers' ship turned slowly and began lumbering back to the jumphole they'd arrived from. The mood lifted the further they traveled away from the Cryptographers.
Well, her mood lifted. Admiral Stonefist still looked pretty grouchy.
They traveled in silence for a bit when the Admiral's scanner alerted. He pulled it out and stared at it disapprovingly, then put it to his ear. Iluna tried to watch him from the corner of her eye without making it obvious.
"Grimthorn here," he said. The voice on the other end spoke inaudibly for a minute, and the Admiral's face turned beet-red.
"She's in prison again?" he yelled.
More inaudibile buzzing.
"She shot who? Why?" He paused. "What do his electronics have to do with anything? Forget it. I'll be back on board in..." he looked at Iluna, and she held up one finger, then two. "...in twelve minutes. Is forensics on the scene? Well, for the Emperor's sake don't let anybody touch anything else until they get there."
He blipped off his scanner and fumed and paced some more.
Yes, Iluna loved her job, the one without all the responsibility and stress.
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Kinnit sat quietly in her cell. She didn't weep, but tears flowed steadily down her face.
The cell was comfortable, for what it was. The slim bunk was as comfortable as the one in her quarters. The walls were bare, but done nicely in a soothing color, and the floor was carpeted. One wall was simply a stasis shield. The haze of energy was visible, but only just barely. She'd tried touching it the first time she'd been imprisoned, and it was unpleasant but not painful, like sticking your hand in slightly too-hot water, or getting a static zap. And it absolutely stopped any movement dead.
The cell was also roomy. A little too roomy, perhaps. She felt very small in such a large cell. She wanted a narrow, dark cave to crawl into. And a pile of warm Kobolds to burrow into.
A sound in the hallway outside her cell caught her attention, and she looked up to see Admiral Stonefist standing there, his arms folded, glaring down at her. She tried to shrink into an invisible little ball. He turned and nodded to someone out of sight, and the stasis shield flickered and vanished. He strode in.
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"I'm sorry, sir, I'm sorry--" she began, her breath hitching. He held up a finger, silencing her.
"Wait to apologize until we know if there's something to apologize for. Now tell me from the beginning what happened."
She tried a few times to speak, but her sobs overcame her, and her sentences came out in a hiccupy mess.
It slowly dawned on Grimthorn what she needed. He got down on one knee in front of her and opened his arms. She looked at him in disbelief, hesitating. Then she flung herself bodily into him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. She wept heavily, sobbing and leaking all over his crisp, powder-blue uniform.
"They tried kill you," she bleated in between sobs, "and they were gonna do it again! Why do they hate the Imperium? Why do they hate you?"
"Shh. It's okay." He stroked her back and murmured soothing noises as best he could.
"I can't lose you!" she cried.
And for just this moment, this one moment, as she cried and held him, he could forget about Admiralty and SSes and society and the law, and they could just be a man and a woman, comforting and comforted.
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After the torrent of tears had passed, Kinnit sat back down on her bench. Admiral Stonefist set next to her, wishing he'd thought to bring a handkerchief to offer her.
She explained everything that had happened as he listened gravely, nodding. When she'd finished, he stood.
"Thank you, Kinnit. I'll get you to write up a full report later."
Her eyes were downcast.
"Am I going away to prison, sir?"
He looked at her in surprise.
"Prison? Nonsense. There will be an investigation, of course. There may be a censure, depending on what they find. But they certainly can't sending you to prison for doing exactly what I would have done in your place. You handled a traitor exactly how they should be handled."
"Sir?" she said, her hopes rising.
"Well... maybe not exactly what I would have done. It would have been good to interrogate him."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"And you should never have gone to confront him by yourself. That was dangerous."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"They've already killed two of their own people. They would not have hesitated to add you to that list."
"Yes, sir."
He took her hand gently.
"I can't afford to lose you," he said. "You're very important to me." He colored and cleared his throat. "My work, I mean. And the Imperium. Very important to the Imperium. You must take care of yourself."
"Yes, sir." And she gave him a sly smile.
"Now, they're going to release you into my custody until the investigation's done. That means I'll need to escort you wherever you need to go. Which I am happy to do. You just contact me and I'll come get you right away, okay?"
She nodded quietly.
"Kinnit," he said. She looked up at him, her eyes still sparkling with tears. "I'm glad you're okay. Now let's get you back to your quarters."
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Kinnit lay on her own bunk in her own quarters, staring at the ceiling.
Admiral Grimthorn Stonefist.
He was her hero. He was her Admiral. But he was also a man.
And, she had to admit, a well put-together one. Scars notwithstanding. And so strong. Not just physically, but he had a strength of will like titanium armor and honor dense enough to bounce neutron star off of. But it was simply not possible: relationships between SSes and full citizens were strictly forbidden.
Yet Lucy's comment stayed lodged deep in her mind like a tiny splinter.
Was he trying to get her attention?
She knew it was silly, but she indulged herself, allowing herself to imagine what that would be like. She didn't know much about Terran relationships directly, but she read enough in her novels to grasp the basics.
Maybe he would be the kind to bring her flowers? But the likeliest plants they'd encounter would be something carnivorous on their next away mission. Or he might cover her with his coat in the rain? Though any rain they'd be in together would probably be an acidic or toxic precipitation on the surface of another world. Or he could make a dramatic confession at twilight in front of their special cafe. Though she supposed she'd have to settle for a dramatic confession in front of the mess hall after lights out.
She rolled over and gnawed her pillow in frustration. All her novels and stories were proving utterly worthless for her situation.
Well. She had other ways of learning about these things.
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Kinnit and Admiral Stonefist sat in his office a few days later, working.
Grimthorn had gotten the cast off his arm, and claimed he was feeling much better.
The investigation into Lieutenant Dol was proceeding apace. Grimthorn forwarded her everything the investigators found, so she could forward it to the Cryptographers, and also scan it herself to glean any clues.
The wire had been discovered and removed from the office; the entire ship had been swept for bugs and wires once it was discovered they'd had a traitor on board. It was nice to be able to talk freely in the office again.
And she had finally (finally!) gotten the console she'd ordered months ago. It had taken Admiral Stonefist going down to the supply office and yelling at them until they gave her one. It sat on her desk, sleek and shiny and so much easier to use than her scanner. Now she felt fully like a part of Admiral Stonefist's office.
As lunch approached, Kinnit gnawed her lip. Her plan had seemed so easy when she'd made up her mind last night, but now, faced with Grimthorn's dour expression as he glared at the messages on his console, her courage abandoned her. Maybe she'd been overthinking things. Lucy had probably been joking.
And yet... the firm and confident way he handled himself in every situation, and the way his broad shoulders stood out when he crossed his arms crossly, his strong features and his strong morals... the more she thought about him, the more Kinnit was drawn to him. Was this what it felt like to like somebody? Or was it just respect? Or was she just being silly? She felt jittery, like she'd had too much coffee.
The ceiling flashed.
"Lunch," Grimthorn muttered, still typing.
"Yes, sir. Should I bring you anything?"
"I'm good," he said. "You enjoy."
She stood and walked to the door, and paused. She turned back.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Assistant?"
"I... have this friend. She has this guy she maybe likes. But she doesn't know if he's interested in her. How can she find out?"
Admiral Stonefist looked up at her, shocked.
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, my friend. She doesn't know how to read men," Kinnit said, feeling more awkward than she had ever before in her life.
"I suppose she could just ask him," he said stiffly.
Kinnit laughed, too brittle, high and loud.
"Ha ha! Yes, that's a good approach!" she said, embarrassed beyond words. Then she walked out of his office on stiff legs.
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Admiral Stonefist stared at the closed door for a long minute after she left. He turned her question over in his mind. Her question that was, transparently, about herself.
Then he slowly laid his head on his folded arms.
He was such a fool. Of course there was someone else she was interested in. Someone of her same social class. Someone closer to her age. Someone handsome.
Someone who wasn't so much of a mess.
And she deserved someone better than him.
He'd heard of a broken heart before, but he'd never realized that there was actual physical pain associated with it.
He took a deep breath.
Well. It was no less than he deserved for filling his own mind with such foolishness. He'd just have to stiffen up and carry on. She didn't know anything, and she would never have to. He'd just swallow the pain and pretend nothing had ever happened. That he'd never opened his heart. That he'd never had hope. Just... put on his mask and carry on.
But he was very glad, for this little time at least, that he was alone in his office.