RavensDagger

  Chapter Sixty-Two - Long Distanunication

  'It could have been an email' was a sehat only grew more pronounced as humanity grew further apart.

  The distawo people had to cross in order to meet literally turned astronomical, a certain individuals heless insisted that important discussions happen face-to-fad in person.

  There were several reasons for this. To judge a person's siy--because scammers felt safest when they were a p apart--to gauge i, to see if the other was of means enough to afford the travel and time lost.

  Most of all, f a meeting to take p person is a show of force.

  You will e here, and you will bow to your superiors.

  The Martian navy had been fond of f young valkyries and wayward officers to meet the brass in person to be judged and reprimanded.

  Ivil now received such things as politely worded suggestioly deposited into her email inbox. It had been several years since she had to attend a formal meeting of any sort, and if it wasn't for present pany she would be avoiding it at all costs.

  The shuttle executed a turn and burn, then several hours ter, after time spent being squeezed into a terribly unfortable seat, they finally coasted to a stop. The shuttle was gripped by a standard dog arm and carefully swung around until its airlock lined up with a retractable one oation they'd reached.

  This wasn't their final destination, merely a yover halfway there. They were at least closer to Callisto here, in the same orbital band as the statiohe meeting would take pce, which meant that getting to their final destination would be retively simple.

  The shuttle shook, and then they were free to stand, at least acc to a green light above the doorway. A hostess forced the door open, and they were guided in a ge hurried fashion out of the shuttle and into the station.

  Ivil g Pepper, who was very studiously not looking in her dire and alking with a level of stiffhat would make everictest of Martian generals proud.

  "Miss Mint?" Aurora asked. "Do you have the name and dog station for the ship we're taking?"

  "Hmm? Oh, yes of course Miss Sterlingworth," Pepper said. She cleared her throat ached the appropriate papers from her pockets. "The shuttle will be departing in two hours. There's a lounge. I informed the fighter pilot serving as our escort about our deception, they should be arriving here soon. She was instructed to follow the decoy, theach from it when possible in as stealthy a ossible."

  "Impressive work, Miss Mint," Aurora said.

  "Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I o verify the status of gage." She bowed, then carried herself away.

  The station had no gravity, being much smaller and far more ordinary than Driftwood, so they pushed themselves off and floated on towards the padded entrao a waiting lou was one of those ercial spaces that were trying very hard to appear luxurious at the lowest cost possible.

  They had a bar though, and soon Ivil had pced herself o Aurora with Twenty-Six on the far side. "That was something," Twenty-Six said. "Gotta say, flying fancy is a whole lot more fortable than hitg a ride around Saturn."

  "That was ey," Aurora said. "It was cramped, the seats were unfortable, and we were squeezed in and out in a hurry. I doubt the s are even sanitised between trips."

  "Really?" Twenty-Six asked. "Sometimes I feel like we live in different systems."

  "Oh. I'm sorry," Aurora said, but Twenty-Six was shaking her head already.

  "It's okay! I'm probably the odd o, I think. I guess I've been kind of sheltered in my own way."

  "No, I think I say the same. Phobos hasn't always beehy, but retly it has and it feels like my parent's geion is doing all it to ehat mine is raised in the luxury that they cked. It makes it somewhat harder to appreciate the... real world when you are surrounded by new riches."

  Ivil smiled. She was just happy at the moment to be he two as they were getting along so well. She'd join in the versatiohere was a good moment for it, but she khat there was great value in silend presenbined.

  For example, Pepper Mint was unaware that Ivil was listening to her even from across the dog station while also masking her presence.

  The MINT agent was currently stuffed in a janitorial closet. It was the first small, private space she'd likely found and no one was to go looking for her there. Better yet, the room was sealed enough that she could talk without anyone hearing her.

  Unfortunately, she wasn't talking, she was screaming.

  First, she swung her arms around wildly and almost sent herself spinning in the room's zero-g, the her forefinger and screeched.

  Ivil wondered what that was about. Was it the tension of being stu a small with the Empress of Mars for a few hours, was it frustration at her work, or was it airely different sort of frustration?

  Ivil was good at reading people's bodies. She knew.

  Pepper Mint calmed herself, but her calm didn't remove all of the pent up emotions, instead, the calm ushered in a moment where all that aurned into another, more potent feeling. Anger. Anger which she immediately set to deploying.

  Pepper pulled out a small smart device from her pocket and dialled in a number. It rang twice before someone answered. "Wasserbasis Paint co, how I help you?"

  "This is Agent 2514, ame Pepper Mint," she snapped. "Toss me up the line."

  "Ma'am? I'm not sure what you mean, this is Jupiter's fi water-based paint manu--"

  The li dead. It icked up a moment ter by someone else, a suave, self-assured sounding man. "Agent 2514, report," he said.

  "Oh, I'll report all right," she seethed. "What the fubsp;was that intel?"

  "You're not being very professional, Agent," he said.

  Pepper Mint squirmed for a moment, and Ivil could almost imagihe very many expletives oip of her toill, she posed herself. "You seo ho the fug Empress?!"

  "Ah, you found out."

  "Of fug course I found out, it's... It's the goddamn Empress! She's the spitting image of her body double! Only, like, hotter!"

  Ivil shifted in her seat, then smiled as Twenty-Six gnced her way, but at the moment she was enthralled by Aurora who was describing the small flotil of some dozen ships her family owned.

  "Sending you was a calcuted risk," the agent on the line said.

  "You are bad at math," Pepper hissed into her device. "She found out, instantly. I thought Mint as a family name was a little on the nose, but seriously? She probably knew I had cores!"

  "Oh, definitely. That is well within her capabilities."

  "Then why?!"

  "The risk wasn't about the Empress disc, it was more about you disc that she is the Empress," the agent said.

  Pepper took a moment to pull the device away from her ear to stare at it in incredulity. "What do you mean? You wahe mark to know that I was a but not for yent to know that the mark khat's backwards."

  "The mission's primary objective would be easier to aplish were you unaware," he replied simply.

  "You still wao romance her? She's... she's a god amongst men. She's killed more people than are alive around some ps. She made ah fleet admiral piss himself whehought she'd show up, and she wasn't even in the same sector."

  "That st one is actually a rumour we created to demoralise the Earth Alliance. His suit merely had a malfun in a public pce, but we ran with it," he said with a chuckle.

  Ivil blihat was a strange revetion, she'd really thought that she had made that admiral wet himself. To think that she'd made light of him about it a year or so ter before killing him. No wonder he had been so upset.

  "I 't... I 't believe this," Pepper said.

  "You were ready to seduce the mark previously," the agent pointed out. "And you were aware from the briefings that she was the way she is. We never lied except by omission."

  "All lies are lies by omission because you're omitting the truth!" Pepper snapped. She groueeth, then tugged on a shelf so that her feet touched the ground. There was a click as her sensible shoes magised. "Fine. I imagine if I leave you'll just send the agent in?"

  "Or someone close. We need eyes on this situation, you uand? Seeing as how your circumstances are... extenuating, we will not be taking your current ent as a bck mark against you. Good luck, Agent 2514."

  Pepper hung up, slipped the phone away, then swore.

  Ivil was distracted by what she did whey-Six stood up with a gasp. " we, Evelyn?" she asked.

  "Hmm?" She repyed the st bit of the versation with Twenty-Six in her head. "Ah yes, I don't see why not. I'm sure Pixie wouldn't mind you taking a look at her ship once she's properly docked."

  ***

  RavensDagger

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