"Do you know what happened to us?"

"Do you know what happened to us? I can't remember anything after we entered that escape pod..."

"The pod's computer logs say that we experienced up to seven gees when the pod made its evasive maneuvers, and one by one we just passed out in our crash seats. We were then placed into stasis by the medbot when the computer couldn't discover any rescue ships nearby."

"I guess that explains my memory loss. Never liked to be tossed around like a wh-"

"Our encrypted beacon signal was then picked up by an automated Empire cargo ship last week, and it brought us to the nearest, allied space port, which happened to be Tasim-4."

"Wow, talk about luck!" he said.

"Well, I think we would have been found eventually, but it could have been years or even decades before a friendly ship passed close enough to hear the signal. So, yeah. Lucky us."

"You don't seem happy?" Stan asked.

"No. The computer recorded sensor readings from the immeditate surroundings, which included the apparent destruction of my ship. Probably the self-destruction."

Serrah clenched the sheets in her hand and looked away, as if trying to not reveal the sorrow in her pretty, green eyes.

"Meea... she was the only one with the clearance. She always followed protocol, that stupid, stupid woman. She must have seen us leave, and then blown herself, the crew and the fucking Yzikians to smithereens."

Serrah felt strongly about the loss of her long-time second-in-command and naval girlfriend. Surprisingly strong. She knew she'd had feelings for her, but had she actually loved her?

"What a waste!" she mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Stan said, and hugged her briefly.

"At least we fulfilled the mission. We got the Princess here safely. Sort of. The Emperor has ordered us to assist Her Highness until he can send new servants and companions to replace those killed on Queen Seleza. He doesn't think the king's people are good enough for his beloved daughter. Unfortunately, the Yzikians are blocking this quadrant off at the moment."

"Alright..." Stan muttered, "so what do we do now?"

"The main issue is the King," Serrah continued, a grave look on her face.

"The King?" Stan said and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Yes. I've been talking to some of the locals, including a soldier called Sarantos. He's been very helpful."

"Sarantos? What kind of name is that?" Stan interrupted, but received no answer. Instead, Serrah continued to explain.

"King Assertos is a major problem. Middle-aged, overweight, and obnoxious, he also treats everyone like shit, even his own people. Princess Yulia is probably terrified about her marriage, and the wedding night in particular."

"Jeez, sounds bad."

"Yeah, but it gets worse. Sarantos says Yulia won't be his first wife. She'll be his fifth."

"Really? I thought he had been saving his marriage for political purposes?" he said, repeating what Serrah had explained on the ship.

"It's a lie. The Emperor will make heads float in the Galactic Intelligence Agency, because I don't know how the hell they missed this. Haruntos says it's well known in the kingdom."

"Haruntos?"

"Oh. He comes here daily to clean up the room, and keep our fridge stocked. Did he bring the meat? I've been begging him for days to cough up some real meat."

Stan looked around nervously. No visible cameras at least.

"No, I don't think so," he replied, and he could swear he heard his stomach turning.

Captain Joamo shook her head.

"I shall report to the Empire that this kingdom is seriously lagging behind when it comes to hospitality."

"Umm... let me talk to Haruntos first, and see if that helps," Stan said.

"All right," Captain Joamo continued, "Anyway, Haruntos told me that the king abuses his wives for a few years before they have so-called accidents and he's free to find a new one. It's common knowledge, but the king is ruthless and nobody dares oppose him."

"Shit, what an asshole!"

"Yes. We should, of course, be skeptical about such wild tales from the local grunts, but I've asked GIA to look deeper into it from their side, and preliminary reports seem to confirm that something fishy is going on."

She sighed and took a breath.