“Let us all meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

–Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

“Got’dang council. I was savin’ Atlantis back when half of ‘em were in diapers, and this is the thanks I get,” Darren muttered, sipping an Avalonian whiskey at a table in the restaurant, waiting for the reception to begin.

“You’re the Secretary of Defense,” Lysis said. “You’re on the station. What were they supposed to do?”

“Talk to you! Talk to Mr. Photoshop! Hell, I don’t know – you’ve gotta admit, this ain’t my skill set.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Zhan said with a grin.

“None of your back-talk, soldier; I still outrank you, and my wife does too,” Darren said. Zhan had known Darren long enough to laugh at that.

“My wife could probably buy your wife off, and Lysis outranks you,” Zhan replied.

“I’m SecDef, she ain’t,” Darren said. After Zhan raised an eyebrow, Darren sighed. “Yeah, she outranks me.”

“Besides, Pryvani wouldn’t have to do anything. I’d turn on him for fun,” Lysis said with a smile.

“Gah! Turnin’ on me is one thing, but don’t you dare do it without seeing what Punxsutawney’s willing to give ya. I’d kinda like my own walk-in humidor.”

People were filing in, and there were a few minutes remaining before the official start, giving Lessy just enough time to ask, “What injustice are you fighting, Darren?”

“The got’damn council has asked me to serve as special envoy to Earth, until we can get a permanent ambassador out here,” Darren said with a groan. “How do you think I’ll do, bright eyes?”

“Envoy? Um…oh, look at that, looks like Alex needs help, gotta go!” Lessy said with a grin. She probably could have turned Alex down when he asked if she’d help him out with service, but he’d offered a pretty hefty credit at his bar in Atlantis, and honestly, she didn’t mind. They needed at least one human-sized server. Someone had to step up.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Navarchos Bass said, bringing the room to quiet, “it is my honor to welcome Shang Xiao Xú Mùlán, and the crew of the Terran Space Ship Stanisław Lem.”

The room erupted in applause as the crew of the Lem entered; Xú gave a half-wave to the crowd as she led her small group to the antigrav lift that awaited them by the table. She took a moment as the lift began to rise into place to shoot Ted Martínez a slight smile. “Cutting a bit close, aren’t we, Lt. Col. Martínez?”

“Sorry, Shang Xiao,” he said with a dazed grin. “Got a bit distracted.”

“Did you,” Xú said. “Well. Try not to get too distracted during our stay here. We’re going to need you.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“So once the crew’s general leave expires in 36 hours, I expect you to be at the Lem to assist with securing the ship. Understood?”

Ted did a double take, and smiled wider. “Aye aye,” he said.

Xú motioned for her crew to step onto the table, which she was pleased to see had been set up at their scale, the round tables mirroring the set-up on the floor around them.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Aertimus said, “Ambassador Eyrn Bass.”

Eyrn walked in, and nodded to the room, making a beeline for the table where the Shang Xiao waited. A server brought her a glass of Kapavi at the same time Alesia brought one to Xú; Eyrn gave Lessy a wink, which she returned.

Drinks were passed out quickly to the crew of the Lem, Kapavi for most, mosaberry juice for those who did not drink; most everyone else in the room already had one. As Yelena Bobrova took the last glass from Alex, Eyrn raised hers.

“Shang Xiao Xú, at this point, I am supposed to toast you with words like ‘It is my honor’ and ‘look forward to dialogue’ and stuff like that,” Eyrn said with a smile. “Those words are pretty, and hollow. What I want to say, on behalf of those of us from the Empire, is thank you. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for your willingness to look past the worst of us to try to see what we aspire to be. It is my hope that in time, you will be able to say of us that we have repaid you in kind. To you, and your crew, and to new friendships,” Eyrn said, raising her glass.

The crowd responded, and drank, and then, Xú took her turn. “Ambassador Bass, Navarchos Bass, our new friends; you here have never faltered in your hospitality. Neither my people nor yours are perfect; I doubt there is a species anywhere in the universe that is. We can choose to judge each other on the worst among us, or the best, and I have seen the best among you. I am certain that we shall be great friends. To the Empire, to Earth, and to the future in which we stand as equals.”

The room echoed the toast, of course, but Mùlán smiled as she noted that well over half the room – not just those who had stood with them in the watch room, and indeed, quite a few who had attacked them – toasted equality emphatically.

“And now,” Eyrn said with a smile, “both the Shang Xiao and I share the same wish for you all.”

“Indeed, Ambassador,” Mùlán said. “We have had a difficult few days. It’s time to have fun!”

* * *

A pub in Tuaut was full-to-overflowing with the staffs of Rep. Armac, Rep. Zimm, Sen. Tarsuss, and half a dozen other members of the legislature, boisterously recounting the events of the day. Loona was chatting amiably with the Vorsha and Azatlia representative, while some of her junior staffers swapped war stories with other legislators’ junior staffers; for the most part, it was female and male staffers trying to one-up each other, but there was a significant contingent of same-sex couples, a few groups, and at least one Dunnermac-Titan couple that Loona regarded with a smile. There would be a lot of hooking up tonight, as usually happened when an important bill worked its way through. All that emotion had to find an outlet somewhere.

Ammer sat at small table on the corner of the bar, still speechless. This was everything he had worked for, the reason he’d gone to work on Loona’s first campaign against his better judgment. No, they weren’t done yet, but they were sitting on the precipice. One more good push was all they needed, and it would materialize from somewhere. It was almost everything he had ever wanted.

Almost.

“So, trying to get rid of me?” Inna said, grabbing the stool nearest him.

“Not hardly. Why do you ask?”

“Senator Tarsuss gave me a call,” she said. Ammer smiled; he could see that she was trying to pretend to be annoyed with him, and failing miserably. “I understand you told her I’d make a good policy director for the Tarsuss Committee?”

“No,” Ammer said. “I said you were the absolute best person she could possibly hire. Best policy mind I’ve ever seen.”

Inna found herself without words for a moment. “You…what did you really say?”

“That,” Ammer said. “Word-for-word.”

Inna looked down, blushing. “I…Ammer, you don’t have to sell me that hard.”

“Not selling you at all, Inna. It’s the absolute truth. It’s been a joy to work with you. But at some point, you can’t work for your boyfriend. Not if you’re gonna go as far as you can go. And you…you can do anything.”

Inna leaned down; she and Ammer had been very careful not to have any public displays of affection. It would be inappropriate.

She kissed him, with everything she had.

“I took the job,” she said, pulling back just a few inches from his face, the scent of her softly glowing drink bathing him and surrounding him. “Ammer…I love you so much.”

“I love you more than I can ever put into words,” he said. “I…you know I was always gonna go back home, right?”

“Yeah,” Inna said, quietly.

“I’m not. Not anymore,” he said. “At least, not for as long as the Policy Director for the Tarsuss Committee is here in the capital. And returning my calls.”

“Why would she ever leave?” Inna said, beaming. “I hear she likes Loona Armac’s majordomo far too much to go anywhere else.”

They kissed again. Inna sighed, happily. “I suppose this means I’m going to have to introduce you to my folks, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose it does,” Ammer said, swallowing hard.

“Don’t worry,” Inna said. “I love you. If they don’t…that’s their loss.”

She stroked Ammer’s hair with her pinky, and laughed. In a few years, she’d be able to marry him, legally and officially. She thought she’d hold off proposing until it was inevitable. And not a single moment more.

* * *

“Shang Xiao! Come on over here, I’m buying you a drink,” Ted called across the table. “Alex, can you get one for Tig, too?”

“’Course I can. But are you sure you actually tried this stuff? Really?”

“Are you calling my Tig a liar?” Ted said with a grin.

“Never,” Alex said. Then dropping his voice just a bit, he added, “Oh –don’t know if I told you – bumped into your…um…friends earlier tonight.”

Ted stared at Alex. “They didn’t….”

“No, no, I had Rix give them a talking-to. Trust me, nobody’s been on the wrong side of Rixie more than me. If they didn’t jump out an airlock I’d be surprised,” Alex said, pouring out three shots with his right hand, and sending a quick message to the bar with his left.

“You hear that, honey?” Ted said as his girlfriend walked back to the table. “Rixie had a chat with our friends.”

“She told me,” Tig said, beaming. “What’s honey?”

“Hmm…it’s made by insects. Very sweet. Tastes good. Like you.”

“I wasn’t made by insects,” Tig mock-complained, as a server dropped a glass at her side. “Wait,” she said, looking down. “Is this….”

“Just waiting on the Shang Xiao. Hey! You are gonna love this stuff, ma’am.”

“Am I?” Xú asked. “This is my last drink for the morning, you know.”

“Well then, I sure hope so. You remember when you took us out to that restaurant in Bangkok when we were training?”

“Sure. You and I were the only two who weren’t crying in pain.”

He handed her a glass. “You’ll like it.”

“So what are we drinking to?” said Alex, palming his own drink; he was quite fond of Hustain, which made him the only human he knew of who could say that; he was rather interested to see whether either of these crewmates could handle it.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Ted said, raising his glass, and bellowing loudly. “A toast!” he called. “To the finest captain any crew has ever served!”

“Here, here!” the Lem’s crew called, as did more than a few of the Titans at the table.

Xú downed it in a shot, and stared down at the glass for a good minute. “Oh. Ohhh….Ted, you’ve found my new favorite drink.”

“Thank Tig. She introduced me to the stuff.”

“Decanus Belfsec, you have excellent taste,” Xú said, with a grin. “Just promise me something.”

“What’s that, ma’am?”

“Don’t break Ted,” she giggled. “And don’t let him break you, either.”

Tig laughed. “Yes, ma’am!” she said, finishing off the remains of her drink. “That I can promise.”

A short distance, Oliver was talking animatedly with Izzy Ibanez and Dr. Geen, who had pulled up a chair. “Forty years of cryosleep, while infected? Amazing. Doctor, how did you stabilize her?”

“We use a suite of drugs to slow the metabolism even beyond regular cryosleep, and then we solidify the matrix,” Geen said.

“So you bring them to a true stasis! We’ve been wondering if that was possible. That would do it. Well, Izzy, I’m glad you made it.”

“Hmf. Still sore at Laurnya. ‘It’ll just be a few weeks!’ she said. ‘Just until they can synthesize a cure!’ she said. I wake up, she’s seven years older, been off having adventures without me.”

“You were always there,” Captain Gwenn said.

“On your dresser! In a cryopod! Probably had your dirty clothes laying on me.”

“Never! Well…once, but it was…look,” Lauryna said, sighing. “It was that or lose you, and I wasn’t gonna lose you, Iz. Not if I had another option.”

Izzy raised a glass to her partner and best friend. “I know, kid. And I’ve always been grateful you ignored me when I told you not to freeze me. But you’ve gotta let me complain a little bit, don’t ya?”

Laurnya laughed. “Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”

* * *

“This seat taken?”

Naskia sighed; she’d found a booth in the corner, and taken up residence. She didn’t really feel like mingling right now.

“Of course not, tuppy,” she said, barely looking up.

Sorcha sat down opposite her mother. She felt monstrous. It wasn’t the first time this week. Not even today. But that didn’t mean she was getting used to it.

“Mum, I —”

“Sorcha, you didn’t say anything that I haven’t said to myself ten thousand times,” Naskia said, picking at a bit of meat. She looked up at her daughter. “It really was horrible. Your father’s much more forgiving than I deserve.”

“That’s just it,” Sorcha said, reaching across the table and grabbing her mother’s hand. “I think I get what he means. I…what were you thinking when you bought dad?”

“I don’t know. It was a terrible….”

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” Sorcha said, softly. “I mean…what were you thinking about? Why did you do it?”

Naskia took a deep breath. “I…I was on my way back from studying Idala’s Pulsar. We’d stopped here for refueling, and to let some visiting students from Azatlia transfer ships, and then we had to go all the way from here to Archavia, which was another day even on the Merkron-7 the school had booked.

“I was stressed. Beyond stressed. I wasn’t understanding my homework; it wasn’t that I couldn’t hack the math, but I’d gotten to a point where it wasn’t coming easily, and I was scared, tuppy. Scared I was going to wash out of school. I had this vision of what I wanted to do, and I could feel it slipping away, and I didn’t know what to do.

“So we were here for refueling, and I ended up in the promenade, and I saw a bunch of humans on sale, and I started looking at them. I needed…something. Someone. Someone to talk to, someone to love, someone to love me. And I loved the way your father looked. He was tall, and strong, and handsome, and…I don’t know, he just…he stuck out to me. He was the one.”

Naskia smiled at the memory. “I…I was actually nervous before I even unfroze him. I wanted him to like me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think of him as a potential husband. But…I wanted him to feel wanted. I wanted him to feel like he was cared for – I really did, tuppy. I didn’t think of him like I should have, not like an equal. But I wanted him to be happy. What I got…was so much more than I deserved I still don’t believe it.”

Sorcha squeezed her mother’s hand. She hadn’t let it go since she grabbed it. “I bought a tree today,” Sorcha said, quietly. “I like it. It’s pretty. I want it to flourish wherever I end up planting it. And…that’s it. It’s just a tree. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s intelligent. Nobody’s ever told me it could be.

“So I bought it, and I’m going to plant it. Because it’s not like it’s a sentient being, not like me,” Sorcha added, looking across the table at her mum. “And unless it tells me different….” She smiled. “You never thought dad was really sentient when you bought him. Not like Titans, I mean.”

“Of course not!” Naskia said. “If I’d known what your father was – what all humans are – I would never have bought him, save maybe to set him free.”

Sorcha squeezed her mom’s hand again. “And when you did find out dad was sentient?”

“I got to know him, started to like him, fought with him, fell in love with him, fought with him some more, fell in love with him even more deeply. You know, I was in college, that’s what couples do,” Naskia said with a chuckle.

“Dad was right,” Sorcha said, quietly. “You shouldn’t feel guilty.”

“Tuppy –”

“No, really mum. You didn’t know. How could you? Dad, Nonah, Darren, Tapp, and all the others who’ve been slowly working to gain acceptance, since before I was born…even if I was a Titan – full-blooded, I mean – I’d know about the professor at Tannhauser Gate, the Tol-Bot champ, the novelist, the designer. It’s different now than it was when you were my age, and a big part of that is because you were able to hear what dad was saying, and help him.”

Sorcha smiled. “If you never buy dad…I don’t even want to think about it, and not because I wouldn’t be here. Dad needed you, mum, he needed someone to believe him. And you did. And all the humans I know are better for it. Especially dad.”

Naskia smiled, reached across the table, and ruffled Sorcha’s hair. “Now, why can’t you be this sweet and wonderful all the time?” she laughed. “Don’t answer that – if you were I’d wonder what happened to my daughter.”

Sorcha laughed at the gentle ribbing. “Yeah, I know. Now, mum, I’m pretty sure last I saw dad he was being fawned over by the crew of the Lem. Don’t tell me you’re going to let this opportunity go by to tell the diapering story.”

Naskia grinned, and got up from the table, and offered her daughter a hand. “Not a chance, tuppy. Not a chance.”

* * *

“So The Iliad survived as a folk story? Incredible,” Gustavo said.

“Not just that,” Ulala said. “Nonah Armac has written, what, thirty books? Almost all of them are based on stories she heard as a kid. The Journey is amazing.”

“My dad says it’s The Odyssey,” Sorcha said, overhearing the conversation. Her mum was in fine form, but there was no reason to stick around for the ending of the tale.

“It would make sense,” Gustavo said.

“Are they all Greek?”

“No, Maj. Kobayashi,” Ulala said to the young science officer. “I know in her preface to 99 Fables, she said there were…gosh, I forget all the cultures.”

“Greek, Persian, African, Japanese, Chinese, Australian Aboriginal, Native American, Indian, and Inuit,” the waitress rattled off from memory.

“99 Fables was my favorite as a kid,” Ulala gushed. “I loved ‘How the Araka Won the Stories.’”

“Ryan always liked ‘The Thumb-Sized Swordsman,’” Alex said. “When he was five, he demanded we call him Ishin-Bozh for two months.”

“Ishin…you’re talking about Issun-bōshi!” Yoshi enthused. “I loved that story growing up! It’s one of the most famous of all the mukashibonashi.” He looked up at Sorcha, and laughed. “I can see how we’d want to remember that one.”

“I loved that story,” Tig said, joining the conversation. “Always kind of wanted a thumb-sized swordsman of my own.” She looked at Ted, held out her thumb for comparison, and grinned. “You’re a bit tall, but you’ll do. “

“Ted can’t be the swordsman,” Lysis said, wandering over. “That has to be Zhan.”

“What about me?”

“I said you’re clearly ’The Thumb-Sized Swordsman.’”

Zhan laughed out loud. “Tiny soldier gets eaten by a demon, kills it from the inside, and marries a beautiful, giant princess? I don’t know how you could connect that with me.”

“So this writer – Noonah….”

“Nonah Armac,” Ulala said, with a grin. “I’ll have to get you guys a copy – I translated 99 Fables to English for a class project at the Academy, I’ve got it somewhere. She’s brilliant.”

“She is,” Sorcha said, pointedly. “Don’t you think so, Lessy?”

Alesia dutifully kept clearing the table. “She’s very good,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Very good.”

“That’s all you’re going to say? She’s the best writer on Archavia right now!” Ulala said.

“I won’t argue that,” Lessy said. “She’s very good.”

“Ulala, have you met Lessy?” Sorcha asked. “Tig? Ted? Gustavo? Yoshi?”

“Stop annoying your friend,” Lysis said, half-reproachfully, half-laughing.

Lessy sighed. “Fine. I was enjoying the anonymity.”

“Everyone, this is Alesia Nonahsdottir,” Sorcha said, with a grin. “Her mom….”

“…is Nonah Armac. Happy now, Sorsh?” Lessy said with a sigh, and a bit of a smile.

“Your…your mom….” Ulala said, eyes wide. “You’re Nonah Armac’s daughter?”

“Yup,” Lessy said. “And now you may commence telling me all the reasons my mom is awesome, which I’d be annoyed with, except…well, she is.”

“Obviously,” Yoshi said, with a wink. “Half the table is talking about her work. And yet it’s her beautiful daughter who’s here at Titan Station for first contact,” he added, raising a glass.

Lessy rolled her eyes at that…but she smiled as well. “Well, thanks, Major.” She looked over at Alex, who was signaling. “All right, everyone. Looks like it’s about time for last call,” she said. “Major Kobayashi, would you like anything?”

* * *

The room had cleared out. Rixie had taken Alex up to bed, despite his claim that he’d stayed up 36 hours straight lots of times, which would have been more convincing had he not dozed off before completing the sentence. Ted and Tig had disappeared shortly before things finished. Lessy had talked with Major Kobayashi for a good long time after last call, and though Sorcha doubted anything serious would come of it, they had headed off for the Terrans’ quarters, with Sorcha in tow.

Even the caterers and restaurant staff had broken things down. The room was quiet, except for one couple.

“So,” Eyrn said, “you think it went okay?”

“It was perfect,” Aerti said, rubbing her shoulders. “It was just what everyone needed.”

“I hope so,” Eyrn said. “I’ve got no idea what I’m doing, you know.”

“You’re in better shape than Darren,” Aerti said.

“Yeah, well, that ain’t saying much.”

“Teddy bear,” Aerti said, “I told you the other day – you know humans better than any Titan I’ve ever met. You aren’t going to screw up. You’re going to be brilliant. Like always.”

“I’m just worried about the kids. Your dad can’t watch ‘em full-time.”

“No, and I’m not letting my mom do it,” Aerti said with a chuckle. “It’s okay, though. Naskia and Niall told me they’ll take them for a while. They have room, and they’re on teacher’s schedules.”

“Well. That’s good,” Eyrn said, just enjoying the feel of her husband close to her, the sense that she always had when Aerti was around – that she was protected, that she was safe. That he’d always get them home in one piece. She needed this.

“All right,” Eyrn said, with a yawn. “I think we can safely say we’ll remember today.”

“That we will, my love,” Aerti said, helping Eyrn to her feet. “That we will. Now come on. I’ve gotta get an early start tomorrow.

* * *

Sorcha was aware of a banging on her door.

“M’sleep. Give me a minute.” She’d stayed up perhaps a bit late after the reception; Lessy had ended up going up to the suite with the Lem staff, and Sorcha had gone up after a while; all the full-blooded humans were pretty wide-awake, and Sorcha had managed for a while, but eventually she headed back, with Lessy in tow.

The banging grew louder.

“Sorcha,” she heard Lessy saying. “I think you need to get up. Now.”

She snapped awake as the door was forced open, and three security officers from the Gyfjon entered the room.

“Ms. Freeman, we’ve been ordered to detain you, and bring you to the magistrate for processing.”

Sorcha debated briefly trying to fight them – this was not probably the best way to wake her up – but she saw beyond them her parents and uncle, chatting amicably.

“Very funny, Uncle Captain!” she shouted.

“Nothing particularly funny about it,” Aerti said. “You attacked six guards and struck a flag officer.”

“The station was coming apart!”

“Not when you beat down our guards over their insult of Lessy. Sorry, kiddo, I’m your uncle, I’m not a miracle worker. When you see the acting magistrate, word of advice – if she offers you a deal, take it.”

“Mum!” Sorcha called. “Can’t you talk him out of this?”

“No, tuppy. Sorry.”

“Dad?”

“I’ll get you a good barrister if it goes to trial.”

“Gah. If this is a joke….”

“Seriously, kiddo,” Aerti said, coming closer. “Not a joke. You’re facing seven felony counts. I can’t make them go away just because I like you. Security? Let her get out of her pajamas. There’s nowhere for her to escape to.”

“Yes, Navarchos,” the squad leader said, closing the door.

“Well, I’m going with you,” Lessy said.

“I don’t need company,” Sorcha said, sullenly, as she threw on some basic clothing suitable for arrest.

“Company? No, Sorch, I just want to be with you to keep you from doing anything foolish.”

Sorcha gave her friend a death glare, but she still offered Alesia a hand. She told herself that it was because even though Lessy was annoying, she could use someone to talk to. She’d never admit that Lessy had a point.

She was shackled, and marched through the corridors, to a large room where dozens of officers and civilians were awaiting a chance to meet with the officer processing charges. She was unshackled, and shown to a seat, and told to wait her turn; she put on an awkward smile as she noticed that a good portion of the room was made up of guards she’d beaten up in the watch room. She hoped they weren’t too upset.

Time drug on. And on. And on. Occasionally Lessy would try to engage her in conversation, but Sorcha just glowered at her. She couldn’t believe that her parents and Uncle Aerti were allowing this, and she couldn’t believe she couldn’t believe it; it wasn’t like they were wrong about the charges.

At long last – maybe eight hours later – the room had emptied, save for Sorcha. So addled was she that it was almost a blessing when a security officer called her into the small office where the magistrate was holding hearings.

Imperator Rixie Tam sat at a desk in that office, idly looking at a pad. She’d had a busy day; as the JAG corps didn’t maintain a permanent court on Titan, Navarchos Bass had ordered her to adjudicate the several dozen felonies that had been committed during the previous day – with a strong recommendation to make everything go away that she possibly could. She’d already taken care of most of them with a simple downcheck; most offenses fell under the category of “things went badly awry thanks to unlawful orders.” She’d admonished folks politely, had a few nice conversations where she and they apologized for attacking each other – the only cases she didn’t handle personally were the direct links to Solis; those she simply passed along for prosecution.

There was just one case left on her docket, this one involving a civilian. She’d intentionally saved it for last.

“Empire against Sorcha Freeman. Ms. Freeman, please approach,” she said. Sorcha entered the room and sat down at her desk, sullenly. “You are charged with resisting arrest, six counts of battery on an officer, and one count battery on a flag officer. How do you plead?”

Sorcha looked at Rixie carefully; she’d been relieved to see her in the magistrate’s chair, at first, but she remembered that she’d been arrested by her uncle. There was no guarantee that Rixie would go easy on her. And so she mulled things over carefully. She thought her best bet was to fight this all out, claim provocation. She had been defending officers from the Lem, surely that had to count for something.

“I can see you’re hesitating, Ms. Freeman. These are serious charges. Let me suggest strongly that you accept responsibility for them,” Rixie said.

“Why should I plead guilty?”

“Well, for one thing, you are guilty. For another, if you don’t, this has to go to a full trial on Azatlia in two months, and I have to remand you to custody there immediately. And they will go for the maximum penalty. Bobb Arnil has that reputation. Based on the charges, that’s 25 years in a military prison, or 15 in a penal colony. Trust me, Sorcha, you’ll do better with me.”

Sorcha grumbled. “I’m sorry, I just…I mean, they called Lessy an animal. I….”

Alesia grimaced. She could see exactly where Sorcha’s train of thought was taking her. She climbed out of Sorcha’s pocket and fairly leapt onto the desk. Sorcha was about to do something transcendentally stupid; nothing good would come of ignoring Rixie’s olive branch.

“If it please the Magistrate, I am Alesia Nonahsdottir, I’m serving as civilian counsel for Ms. Freeman; she pleads guilty.”

Sorcha looked down in shock at Alesia, who looked back at her evenly.

“A wise decision, Ms. Freeman.”

“But – I’m not…” Sorcha said, but Rixie was clearly moving on based on Lessy’s actions.

“Ms. Freeman, you are ordered to complete 168 hours of community service, which you may serve by assisting Ambassador Bass between now and our visit to Earth. Provided you have no more altercations with military personnel over the next year, adjudication will be stayed, meaning this will not appear on your criminal record. I’m also directing you to write a letter of apology to each of the officers you assaulted, including your uncle. Now, I know that’s not fun, but as your likely alternative was Rura Penthe, I think you should thank Lessy for stepping in and speaking up.”

Sorcha was stunned; she looked down at her friend, closed her eyes, and sighed. “Thank you, Imperator. That is…that’s very generous. Fourteen I owe you, then, Lessy?”

“Yup,” Alesia said, as Sorcha offered her a hand. “And Sorsh, I know you; don’t you dare try to pay them back all at once.”

“Don’t know how I could,” Sorcha said with a weak grin.

“Me either, but I know you’ll try,” Lessy said. “Thanks for ignoring that I’m not an attorney, Magistrate.”

“You aren’t?” chuckled Rixie. “Maybe I should reopen the file….”

“No!” Sorcha said. “No, um…no. I’m quite happy. Thanks, Rixie.”

“One more thing,” Rixie said, severely. “I’m expecting you to show up at the Avalonian envoy’s reception tonight. We’re watching the Tol-Bot finals. No eye-rolling when we discuss strategy, either.”

Sorcha sighed. As she and Lessy left the room, she said, quietly, “I knew I wouldn’t get off that easy.”