Lugh continued to offer his assurances of a speedy turnover on Mykeser, even as he began to lead them on an incredibly awkward tour of the centre of the colony. He effused madly about the competency and efficiency of their tech crews, and just how quickly they’d be back in the air.

Elena and Thaddeus had joined them, but had made the decision to hang back, respectfully out of the radius of the conversation. Well, being totally honest, Malan thought it much more likely Elena had realised she could simply allow Malan to absorb all of the man’s nervous energy and avoid the trouble of the conversation for herself.

She was listening though. Carefully. Her brown eyes tracked each speaker like a hawk, and more than anything, they tracked the grey-clad man with the dangerous eyes. Seeing them both, Malan saw a lot of similarities in how they moved. Assured. Two predators moving through herds of prey.

The man, though, lacked any of the warmth his former Captain had. Elena was a hard woman, but a good one, at heart. A long time veteran, and plenty dangerous, but still someone you could find yourself enjoying the company of. The man was the antithesis of that. Cold as steel, and about as feeling as it, too.

He set Malan’s teeth on edge just by being close, and he found himself unable to relax his arms, his body instinctively keeping them ready to throw up in self-defence.

Lugh rumbled through explanations on the production facilities at Caezo, gesturing over-proudly at cargo shuttles hauling loads of farm produce out of the jungles to the freighters in the port. Caezo, the Administrator explained, produced food for all the colonies in the system as well as their neighbours, making it the most crucial to the survival of humanity in this area of space.

Added to that was their sister outpost on Mykeser—also ran by Lugh Talorcan—which produced a swathe of medicinal products from the unique flora in Mykeser’s jungles, and it added up to one of the true success stories of Independent Space.

That is, of course, if he was being truthful.

If his continued level of anxiety was anything to go by, he almost certainly was. He tugged relentlessly at his sweat-soaked collar, eyes shifting between all of their company when he wasn’t distracted by waxing lyrical about his own colony management successes.

This hyper-aware anxiety evidently led to him realising just how on edge his steely eyed companion was keeping them all, and he paused just outside the main colony structure and gestured to the man.

“Apologies for my unimaginable rudeness, my friends,” he said, pressing his hand to his chest like his heart might stop from the horror of having potentially offended them. “But this is my…Head of Colony Security, Julian Standarr. He is a stern man, but only out of necessity. He has kept myself and this colony safe from threats for a great many years,” he said, chuckling.

Julian offered them all a terse nod, which all but Elena returned, and Lugh obviously considered the matter settled, as he led them inside.

“Welcome to the Caezo Principle Building,” Lugh said with an overly grandiose sweep of his arms. “Across the floors of this building, you will find our central trading hub with a small number of merchants who will be able to take care of your supply needs. Above, is our hospitality sector, where you will find somewhere to your taste to eat and drink. The top floors are administrative, where the actual work of running the colony is done. My office is there, I will show you to it so that you may able to find me should you need anything, before I have someone show you to the rooms we have had prepared for you.”

To give the man some credit, he had a right to be proud. Malan had moved around a fair bit in his time. His parents both being UGC researchers had necessitated a somewhat nomadic attitude towards life. He and Isolde had spent their childhoods jumping from research satellite to outpost, both within and without UGC space. As a result, he had a pretty good grasp of what to expect from certain kinds of places.

Caezo was on the small side—a few thousand people at most—and despite its importance to this system’s network of colonies and outposts, it can’t have been operating with an excess of resources at this size.

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At least, that’s what Malan would have assumed.

Instead, when Lugh led them through the automated steel doorway, he found his jaw dropping reflexively. The outside of the building was vast, if utilitarian. Function over form, and meant to be easily repaired at the cost of its aesthetic. Once inside, Malan felt as though he should make sure they were still on the same planet.

Sparkling, pure-white walls rose on all sides through layers of balconied levels that all looked down upon the building’s central plaza. And what a central plaza it was. Most Caezo’s ground floor was taken up by a sprawling park, verdant green and lush with plants and trees that did not belong to this planet, and well-trimmed lawns dotted with what appeared to be marble fountains.

People walked lazily through the park, and ate and exercised. Some worked at small benches and tables, suited administrators tapping away at screens whilst they ate or sipped on coffee. Around the edges of the park, Malan could see scattered shopfronts, busy with people browsing and buying.

Lugh’s anxiety had entirely fallen to the wayside now, replaced with smug pride at their blatant speechless awe.

“It is impressive, is it not?”

Malan nodded slowly. “How could you possibly finance this?”

“What can I say? The people of Caezo are an industrious bunch. Perhaps the safety of UGC Space has led to complacency? I will confess to being proud of my—of our—achievements on Mykeser.”

Elena, too, had registered the dodge of the question. The jab at the UGC to distract from the lack of answers. Her eyes had narrowed only slightly, and realising he was looking at her beneath his helmet, she subtly shook her head.

She was right, of course. Corruption of some sort was far and away the most likely explanation here, but there was no way to prove without prying that Mykeser’s food and medicinal production wasn’t just that profitable. He could investigate, but doing so without being formally recognised as Starbound would be diplomatically disastrous for him and the UGC. Even if he were official, interfering on Independent worlds was complicated at best.

“You’ve got a reason to be, all things considered,” he said, carefully. “I’ve seen my share of colonies in UGC and occupied space, and few have achieved what you have. It’s remarkable.”

“It is hard work, and an awful lot of sacrifice.”

Malan peered at the man as he led them round the outskirts of the plaza, past several groundskeepers and shopfronts selling a variety of things the visitors and inhabitants of Caezo might need. His gut told him there was an undertone to those words, but they’d quickly moved on, up to the next floor in a crystalline elevator.

This floor, like the others above ground level, was built in a loop around the edges of the main structure, designed to look down upon the plaza in such a way that the shopfronts were hidden below, displaying only the stunning gardens.

“This is our hospitality suite. Our residents and visitors are able to relax and socialise in their choice of restaurants, bars and cafes, with several locations offering accommodations for short-term visitors. We have had rooms prepared for you at the Citadel,” he said, gesturing towards an entranceway with tinted windows and delicate golden lettering.

Finally, he led them upwards once more, to the floor dedicated to the work of running the colony, and the myriad of businesses that ran out of it, and traded with it.

Here, glass walls separated offices filled with well organised desks, the doorways marked with the trading logos of the companies renting the space. He was surprised to see he recognised a few of those in the larger offices, including Cel-Tech. Most were pharmaceutical companies to his eye, which went some way towards explaining the lavishness of the interior.

Some, but certainly not all.

Finally, they arrived at Lugh Talorcan’s office itself. Located at the northern head of the building itself, it was easily the largest and most richly decorated of all. Glass walls separating it from the walkway revealed a crisp interior of white workstations, with royal blue clad aids moving to and fro with devices and documents, or working diligently at screens.

“This is where I spend most of my time, seeing to the affairs of the colony. Should you need anything during your stay, I trust you will come and find me, Tanwen. I will personally see that you have it, as long as—”

Malan could only describe the noise that cut Lugh off as a howl, fraught and visceral. It shattered the quiet business of the top floor like glass, drawing the attention of all around.

It had come from a woman. She appeared on the younger side of middle age, with honey coloured hair tied into a loose bun and wearing the simple brown clothes of a worker, likely out on one of the colony’s farms, given the signs of wear and tear on her clothes. She stormed forward, face tear streaked and knotted into an expression of the purest fury.

“After everything—you took my boys!” She snarled as she stalked toward them, and the people around began to really take notice, standing from desks and beginning to move away.

Malan didn’t realise he was moving until he was already three steps forward in her direction. His display had quickly provided him with her level—2—and some small details from its scan, none of which had moved him.

What had moved him was the hidden gun, which was now being swung around to aim directly at Lugh Talorcan’s head.