"-nd we have finally moved to practical testing of the improved warp computer, testing the jump capabilities of our experimental ships," came the end of the report.

Draro Tresk finally looked up from his desk for the first time since she'd walked in, away from where he'd been reading an article about the recent storms ravaging planetary surfaces in the Sector. Before him stood a middle-aged woman; a handsome lady, dressed in a white lab coat, wearing spectacles, and staring down at a tablet that listed off the research departments topics that she'd come to elaborate on. Dark hair, a golden brown pair of irises, slender build... not a bad woman, he mused. She was the head of their research division for this station, if he recalled.

'Tam... Tabith...' he thought, starting to wonder what her name was before realizing he didn't care.

Everything reported prior to the last part had been irrelevant to his cares as well, though, hence his distraction.

The warp drives, however, were another thing entirely.

"What brought inspiration for the improvements? If I recall, it's been over fifty years or so since the engine's efficiency or capabilities were last expanded upon," he pointed out, eyebrows risen slightly. "I remember you all saying you were going to be working on them... three years ago, I believe? I was planning on cutting funding to it at the end of this year if nothing concrete had finished, believing it to be wishful experimentation again," he stated.

The woman looked a bit panicked as she shook her head.

"Please, sir, do not. Ever since the Expansion, the recordings and fluctuations of the portal observed have been... difficult to accept, and even moreso to understand. It took an entire year before we were even confident to move forward with the knowledge to any practical application. We are finally in the final testing stages," she explained quickly, a look of excitement on her face. "We can have a workable model ready to show in-"

"The expansion, huh..." Tresk said, trailing off. "Four years, and not a single [Message] of any kind from Barillo or the other councilmembers... I wonder if he is truly alive."

"The ships... should be arriving near the planet within the year, if I remember correctly?" the woman asked.

Tresk shook his head, wondering if she was supposed to be privy to that knowledge, though it wasn't exactly a secret either.

"A bit further out than that," he corrected. "Luckily, [Senator] Barillo's position can still be pinged to give them a direction to follow, but at this point, with how many times we've already searched, even if he does finally pass away, I'm sure we could find the planet."

The woman nodded.

"Then, then back to my- Back to my report," she started up again, coughing a bit and clearing her throat. "Now that we have moved forward with the application, we-"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Tresk raised his hand, stopping the woman.

"It's fine. You may keep the grant. I will double it, in fact, after my aid views your tests. What are the projected improvements this will give our standard ships?" he asked.

"Ships not upgraded by the [System] will lose no speed when traveling inside a system, but it will increase the range of jumping by at minimum four times," she answered excitedly. "And that's only with preliminary designs. It would be the same as catching up to the ships you sent out all those years ago if leaving now instead while spending a fourth of the [Credits] for jump crystals to get there, not to mention the time and materials that would be saved due to maintenance after finishing each jump. We are-"

He nodded, then waved his hand away and cutting her off again.

"Spare me the details. See to it that it happens. I imagine you are getting close, or you wouldn't have reported this."

She nodded, and with a second wave of his hand and an irritating look toward the door, the woman jumped a bit and bowed before moving away from his desk with a sway he could admire.

Shaking his head, Tresk stood up with a sigh and a stretch. There were times he could and would have chased after a woman like that, easily had, but not any longer. There was much to do and for some reason, he'd lost the drive lately.

Busy work, perhaps.

Just then, another pair of footsteps entered the room.

"You look horrible, sir... father," came a voice of somewhat fake concern.

Lifting his tired eyes again, Draro stared into the steely blue eyes of the last remanents of that bastard child's influence on his life. Not a decidedly... horrible influence, either, yet it would be a lie to say that he did not feel disgust and happiness in equal quantities when he saw her.

"Annabelle. How go your studies?" he asked, slowly sitting back down.

"Fine," came the curt response.

He nodded. She was so short with her reports and words it was almost a breath of fresh air compared to everyone else he dealt with. The young girl had always been quite short of words, he recalled.

"Good. Your mother?" he asked.

"Cared for. Have you eaten?" she shot back.

He shook his head, at which point she lifted up two small sacks she'd been carrying.

"I figured as much. I picked it up on the way. I'll return after."

He stared at the small girl, or young woman now, fascinated and frustrated. She was nearing her twenties if he remembered correctly. At first, an existence akin to tangible revenge that swiftly lost his interest, and now... closer to a child of his, as detestable as that notion was, than any of his many sons.

She moved toward him and sat across the desk while he observed, wondering if he should just kill her as well to be done with it. As he always did. She reached across the desk and planted a small box in front of him, taking the top off to reveal a small sandwich, some chips, and a few vegetables. A standard, cheap meal that he would have immediately fired his personal chef for providing to him.

"... thank you, Annabelle," he replied instead, irritated and not at his own reaction.

"It is only natural after all you've done for us," she replied with a nod.

Draro looked at her face and nodded back. He wondered idly if he'd ever seen her smile, but didn't think he had. A strange child, through and through. Unlike his own sons in the sense that she never tried to earn his praise or affection, yet with a similar drive. He'd never heard of someone moving through the Academy at such a pace, yet here she was, nearly ready to be a Lietenant in the military herself. All those years ago, he'd even thought of putting the whining, sniveling twit she used to be on the ships that had left for the newly expanded section of their universe, yet for some reason he hadn't.

"You should smile more," he said, earning a confused look from her he saw out of the corner of his eye, looking back at the reports he'd been perusing while lifting one half of the sandwich up to his mouth.

He regretted not having sent her now.