The sun took a while to set this evening since the imperial shuttle had been chasing it over two time zones. They were over the Gulf of Mexico by the time it finally ducked behind the horizon. Now the world outside the windows was pitch black. Since the shuttle had a built-in repulse field nullifying turbulence in the cabin, Winnie wouldn't even know they were moving if not for her mind showing her the little shuttle soaring along like a dot in a void.

Helena whispered her speech to herself while Victoria worked on her tablet. Winnie passed the time with her visualizations. The shuttle was nearly to Cuba, judging from her satellite-eye view. Far ahead, dots of light marked the start of the coast. Cuba a small province compared to the others in the empire, with a minuscule population, but Winnie still hadn't located the Starlight Auditorium.

A light tap came on the divider leading to the cockpit. It rolled down to reveal Madeline. "Your Majesty, a priority alert just came in."

She handed a phone to Victoria.

After the queen scrolled through the messages, she looked to Melanie. "Reverse course. I need to return to the tower."

"What? No." Helena sat up. "We can't go back. We're almost there."

"We must. This is an emergency. Melanie, turn us around."

"No. You can't. You can't back out now. You promised you'd come."

Victoria ignored her. "Inform Intermil to connect the control room at the tower with the Orinoco as soon as possible."

"The Orinoco?" asked Helena.

Again, Victoria talked over her. "And keep me posted on any more messages coming in from Admiral..." She glanced at the phone. "...Medina. No. Call him. I want to talk to him."

"Understood," said Melanie.

Victoria pressed a button to raise the divider, but half way. "Oh. And Bishop. Get him on the line. No. Never mind. I'll call him. Is this phone secure?" She held up the phone bearing the message. Melanie nodded.

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"Good." Victoria closed the divider.

"What's going on?" asked Helena. "Is there a rebellion?"

"No."

"What is it, then?"

Victoria tapped through the phone. "It's classified."

Helena erupted. "Classified? What the hell, mom? What could be so important that you have to put this off? We've had this planned for months. You can't just bail out now."

Victoria held up a silencing finger as she spoke into the phone. "Bishop? This is Victoria. Where are you?... It's Josephine... Yes... The Orinoco?... Yes, she has... Is it nighttime there? What time is it in Nigeria?... Then yes, do it now. You'll have clearance before you land...Right... I'm headed back now... No. Just keep your phone near you... Very good." She hung up.

"The Orinoco?" Helena said. "The citadel? What the hell is so important in Nigeria?"

"I can't tell you."

"This is bullshit, mom."

"Watch your language." Victoria words were an automatic response. Her attention was on her phone.

"I'm supposed to host the charity."

"As soon as we drop me off at the tower, you can head straight back."

"That will take hours. We're already late."

"Then cancel it."

"The charity? Of course we can't cancel it. I've been planning this for months. It was your stupid, fucking idea. We have to go."

"Then we call the auditorium and tell them you'll be late. I do this all the time. They'll understand."

"No they won't. We'll be hours late."

Victoria's attention was on a message she was typing.

"Why don't we just go to the charity first," Helena said. "We're only twenty minutes away. You'd still have to fly for hours, anyway. It's not going to make a difference for you."

"No."

"Are you trying to ruin this for me? Because you've won. The whole charity is ruined. People will be going home by the time I arrive, and nobody is going to donate any money if neither of us are there."

Victoria breathed sharply through her nostrils. Her patience was running low, though her focus remained adamantly fixed on the phone. "I'm not trying to ruin anything," she said "An emergency has come up. I had no control over this. If you want to make a fuss and let it ruin the charity for you, then go ahead. I can't stop you."

"I'm not ruining anything. You are. You never wanted to do this in the first place. Admit it. You don't care at all about this charity. Do you? Do you even care about how what this event meant to me, about how much time I put into preparing it?"

The shuttle phone mounted beside Victoria rang. Before answering, Victoria looked at her daughter. "Frankly, Helena, your right. I don't care."

She then answered the phone.