Admiral Stonefist walked stiffly down to the conference room on level three. His scanner sat in his pocket, dragging like lead.

He was trying hard not to think about it, but no message that came in like that ever meant good news.

He had a terrible sense of what was coming.

He arrived at the conference room and took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He walked in, marked the room as occupied, and sat at the table.

Calm. Cold. He needed to be the Granite Admiral. Whatever fear he had was pushed down, tucked away. His features flattened, as did his emotions.

He was Admiral Stonefist.

Now he was ready. He pressed the button on his scanner to contact Commander Ordren.

The scanner only beeped a couple times before Commander Ordren's voice came online.

"Admiral Stonefist," Ordren said. "Are you in a private location?"

"I am."

"Please bring up visuals."

Grimthorn raised his eyebrows. That was unexpected. He pressed the visual mode on his scanner. A small holograph popped up and hovered over the table. Commander Ordren stared at him from the holo. On either side of him sat two severe-looking men, both wearing the jagged logo of Naval Investigators.

"What can I do for you, Commander?" Grimthorn asked, keeping his voice carefully level.

"For your information, this session being recorded. I'm reaching out to inform you that your Assistant Kinnit has been put on administrative leave, effective immediately. You will revoke her access to all parts of the ISS Swordheart and deactivate her system accounts."

Grimthorn's jaw clenched as he worked out a response while clinging to his temper.

Calm. Cold. That's what he needed to be right now.

"Respectfully, sir," he managed to get out through gritted teeth, "you don't have the authority. Kinnit reports to me, I'm responsible for discipline, if I feel it is warranted."

"Kinnit the Kobold is now under investigation for treason to the Imperium," Commander Ordren said.

Grimthorn's control slipped.

"To Geina with you!" he barked. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Kinnit is the most loyal person in this Imperium!"

"Which is exactly what a traitor would have you believe," Ordren said coldly. "Somebody leaked the plans for the Oryndrax invasion to the enemy, and she is the prime suspect."

Grimthorn seethed.

"Regardless of this outrageous 'investigation,'" Grimthorn said, "you still don't have the authority. She reports to me, and I say you can talk a walk out of an airlock."

"Actually, Admiral, you don't have the authority. Your authority over her has been revoked. You, also, are under investigation."

Admiral Stonefist's face went perfectly still.

"Choose your next words carefully, Commander."

"Your juvenile threat aside, clearly your operational security has been compromised. No one suspects you of treason, of course, but you seem to have some kind of blind spot around this Assistant of yours. Your reaction here makes the wisdom of this separation clear. Until the facts around Oryndrax have been established, she no longer reports to you. She is too great a threat to the Imperium to be allowed access to the most sensitive areas of our Navy."

Grimthorn struggled to maintain his composure, but all his brain could come up with was a laundry list of every oath and curse he had ever heard. He struggled to breathe, so great was the crushing fury in his chest.

It was all the worse because he knew Ordren had outmaneuvered him. There way nothing he could do about it right now, short of open rebellion. And with the session being recorded and witnessed, anything he said or did would be used against him during the investigation.

Calm. Cold.

"When will she be reinstated?" Grimthorn asked in a strangled voice.

"Once the investigation concludes, if she is found innocent of any wrongdoing, she may continue her Naval service. Though she will need to find a different role, something further away from operationally sensitive areas."

Grimthorn stared at Commander Ordren in stony silence. Ordren continued.

"Given the importance of your current position, you'll continue carrying out your duties until otherwise informed. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes. What political gain are you getting out of this? Cozying up to the anti-SS crowd? Or are the conspirators paying you directly?"

Commander Ordren colored.

"I've tried to be kind about this, Admiral. I even sent you a replacement Assistant. But you're not getting the message. Get rid of her. Put her back on her homeworld where she can't do any more damage. That is my command. Ordren out."

The holo vanished. Grimthorn sat staring at the scanner, every muscle in his body clenched to its utmost, his face bright red, his body screaming to unleash his rage.

He stood slowly, gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his joints crackled. He moved his crushing grip to the back of the chair. He wanted to smash it into the wall, into the display, flip the table, smash the room, scream his rage and his hurt until his lungs burst.

But Kinnit wouldn't like it. And it wouldn't do any good anyway.

With a powerful effort of will, he swallowed his impotent fury, willing his face to stone again.

He nearly succeeded.

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

Senn smiled with genuine delight as he listened to the conversation between Admiral Stonefist and Commander Ordren. He steepled his fingers.

Phase 1 was complete. Now phase 2 could begin.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

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Broca Brangwin stood among the crowd of Cryptographers. He silently stared at the wall as they chittered among themselves.

He no longer even remembered how long he had left of his six-month assignment. Being the handler for the Cryptographers had started as a grueling, mind-breaking duty, but now he was numb. The terror of their presence was still there, it still raged through him ceaselessly. Death seemed to loom over him every day, sinking steely fingers of horror into his flesh.

The more Cryptographers there were around, the worse it got. He'd grown indifferent to the terrible, oppressive feelings washing through him.

They were only feelings. They could be set aside. Everything could be set aside.

His skin had grown pale, his eyes hollow, darkly circled. His movements now were slow, almost ethereal. When not in use, he could easily stand and stare at a spot on the wall for hours, thinking.

There were thirteen Cryptographers today, as many as he had ever seen together at once. Something important was happening.

They were on board one of the few Cryptographer ships. The Cryptographers' chittering continued, their weird face tentacles sliding unnaturally through space-time. Dark goggles hid their eyes, and their flowing black robes swung loosely around them as they gestured with their taloned hands.

Broca had started picking up some of the Cryptographer's language. The clicky, chittery syntax was simple, but their mode of speech was incredibly difficult to follow. Every sentence, every expression was full of nuance, obfuscation and misdirection, a puzzle to solve.

Cryptographers loved nothing so much as a good puzzle.

He couldn't quite follow their conversation. With so many conversationalists, the complexity of their communication exploded well beyond Broca's ability to parse. But he could tell that they were eager, full of anticipation.

One of them turned to him.

"Are... you... excited... to... meet... the... Emperor?" it asked.

"Oh," Broca said dreamily. "Is that where we're going?" He thought for a long minute. "That will be nice, I suppose."

"We... approach... the... jumphole."

Broca took a bracing breath. This was the one thing he still hadn't acclimated to yet. Traveling in jumpspace was a feat of mental fortitude at the best of times, but traveling in the presence of a Cryptographer was beyond imagining. His first jumphole trip with a Cryptographer had left him weeping and screaming on the floor of the ship. And now he was going to do it with thirteen of them.

The Cryptographer ship tipped into the jumphole.

Space and time unwound around Broca. Size and distance no longer had any meaning. Broca felt himself expand, his heart enclosing the galaxy, while at the same time he became the heat death of the universe. His body no longer had any form or meaning, and he collapsed like the heart of a neutron star, he became the star, greedily devouring all matter.

The Cryptographers around him did what Cryptographers always did in jumpspace. It was hard to come up with a decent metaphor for the activity, but after so many trips with them, Broca had settled on the closest thing he could think of.

It was as though they spread their arms in jumpspace and sang.

It was an imperfect metaphor; bodies and voices didn't exist in jumpspace, not the way they did in real space.

Nonetheless, all thirteen Cryptographers aligned themselves with each other and sang out in jumpspace, a chorus with no voices, no throats, and no sound.

Broca heard them, felt them. Their language, so rough and strange in real space, seemed perfectly suited to this broken realm.

Slowly, Broca Brangwin spread his arms and began to sing.

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

"Has anybody seen Admiral Stonefist?" Kinnit called, looking around the mess hall.

Lucy the Velspyn server scuttled over. Once she was out from behind the counter, her spider-like form tended to loom, but she and Kinnit were old shipboard friends.

"I saw him storming by about an hour ago, hon," Lucy said. "He looked pretty upset. I'd check the gym."

"Thanks, Lucy. I'll go take a look."

Kinnit walked to the gym at a fast pace. Grimthorn had left the office suddenly, a few hours ago, and hadn't been back since.

She frowned worriedly. It wasn't like Grimthorn to run off like that without saying anything.

She entered the gym.

It took her a few minutes of casting about to find him. He was lying on one of the weight benches, stripped to his undershirt, drenched in sweat, heaving.

"Grimthorn!" she said. "There you are! What are you doing here?"

"Combat sims are broken," he said. He sat up and turned away from her, wiping his face.

"Grimthorn, what's wrong?"

He sagged on the bench.

"We need to talk," he said.

Her heart dropped. She felt as though she were spinning through space.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

He stood, facing away from her, and started putting on his uniform.

"Let's discuss in our... our usual place."

She nodded, waiting impatiently for him to finish putting on his jacket. With her heart thudding, she followed him out of the gym, trailing him as he walked. His shoulders bowed uncharacteristically.

They arrived at their nook. Grimthorn barely even glanced back for anybody that might be around before he slipped in.

With mounting fear, Kinnit followed.

"Grimthorn, what's going on?" she asked, her voice verging on panic.

He faced the portal, staring at the stars.

"Kinnit I..."

He paused for a long moment, his Adam's apple working silently.

"Just tell me, please!" she cried.

He turned to her.

"CenCom is putting you on administrative leave," he said finally. "They're investigating the Oryndrax leak, and they're-- they think you're involved."

She turned her face up to him, her luminous eyes suddenly sparkling with unshed tears. Her face was filled with anguish.

"M-me?" she said in a small voice.

Grimthorn hated CenCom more with each passing second. He felt willing to smash the whole galaxy, from the Emperor down, if it would only remove that look from her face forever.

"They've taken it out of my hands," he said shortly. "I fought it, but--"

"Do you think I did it?" she asked in a tiny, quavering voice, her lips trembling.

He stared at her for a moment in open shock. Then he snatched her roughly into his arms, crushing her in a powerful hug.

"I could never," he said fiercely, clinging to her with all his strength. "I could never believe you would betray the Imperium. It would be easier to believe I myself was a traitor."

She sobbed into his chest, soaking his uniform. Her arms crept around him, holding him like a lifeline.

He held her while she cried out the shock of the news.

Her sobbing tapered off after a good long cry.

"I'm sorry, I made a mess of your uniform," she said, scrubbing ineffectually at the wet spot on his jacket.

"It's fine," he said. He stilled her hand by taking it in his.

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked, tears filling her eyes again.

"I'm required to return you to your home planet until the investigation is over."

She laid her head back on his chest, closing her eyes. A hiccuping sob escaped her.

"How long will it take?" she said quietly.

"No telling. It's clearly not about the investigation. It's about getting you away from the service. The investigation is just the excuse they're using."

"They're taking the stars from me," Kinnit said quietly, her tears flowing freely. "They're taking you from me. They're taking away all the things I love."

Grimthorn stiffened with rage.

"We'll run away," he said. "To Geina with CenCom, the Navy, and the Imperium! We'll find a place to escape, to--"

"No, Grimthorn, no! Please!" She turned her face up to his. "I can't bear the thought of being branded a traitor!" She buried her face in his chest. "I love the Imperium!"

"I know you do. I know."

He held her close. He would promise her anything right now.

"I will find out where the leak came from," he said. "I will clear your name. I promise you. The galaxy will know your love for the Imperium. Anyone who ever thought otherwise will forever be branded as fools."

She clutched his jacket, holding him close.

"Thank you, Grimthorn," she said quietly. She looked up at him longingly. "I... I can't bear to be apart from you. But I'm not a traitore. Knowing that you'll be working to bring me back is a comfort."

"Everything in my power," he promised. "I love you, Kinnit."

She held his gaze.

"I love you, Grimthorn. I want..."

She trailed off. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, stretching her neck to bring her face closer to him. Grimthorn hesitated only a moment before he captured her lips with his.

As first kisses went, it was clumsy, it was awkward, and it was a profoundly sincere expression of their love and desire.

After a long moment, they broke apart and stared deeply into one another's eyes.

"I want to do that with you forever," she said breathlessly.

"Everything in my power," he repeated.

Their lips met again, and time whirled away as they spent the evening lost in each other's presence, robustly breaking the law.