Shocked at her words, you just stare silently at the view screen for a long moment; you are equal parts incredulous and furious that she would even think you would agree to such a thing after what she had done to you. You suck in a deep breath to unleash a furious stream of vitriol at her but then pause as the elements of a plan begin to come together in your mind.

“Join you?” you repeat slowly, your thoughts racing in your head.

“Yes, I would like that very much” you lie as smoothly as you can “I am so very tired of the subtle sneers and the whispers of these so-called nobility and then even worse, after everything I have done for him, to receive this... this veiled contempt from ‘His Majesty’ is unbearable” you invest the King’s title with a sneering contempt that although far from your true feelings seemed to be rather convincing for Doe’s smile had grown even wider.

“Good” Doe’s voice broke into your drifting thoughts “Meet me at...” she looked off camera for a moment before looking back at you “...Spatial co-ordinates 231.194.009, the Chintoth system, within the next three days” her pale green eye glitters brightly as she stares at you through the screen “I will be waiting for you” she adds before the screen goes blank.

“I hope you are” you whisper coldly at the blank screen.

Returning to the comm. panel, you send a message to the Palace asking to speak with the King as soon as possible and then contact the Durandal’s bridge, asking your First Officer to join you in your quarters. You are pacing up and down in your small quarters impatiently, still waiting for your view screen call to the His Majesty, the King to be put through when your first officer arrives as a few minutes later. Commander Lucille Henrietta Belle was a tall, voluptuous woman with short, curly platinum blonde hair, large eyes of a deep, rich, amethyst colour and a wicked scar crossing her left check from a battle long ago.

“Admiral” she said, offering a snappy salute as she entered; the soft chime of an incoming transmission at your comm. panel cut off your reply and you quickly gesture for her to be silent as the image of the King resolves on the view screen before you.

His Majesty, King Darius Jerome Kantor Guillamn, Defender of Humanity and Sovereign of the Thousand Colonies was a surprisingly average looking fellow; with thick, black hair falling to his shoulders and big, long lashed eyes of a deep, sky blue but his bulbous nose and bushy black eyebrows kept his face from being more than average in looks.

“Admiral” he said coolly “What can we do for you?”

“I have information on a possible pirate fleet within our space, Sire” you say “I request permission for the Durandal, the Jeffer and the Shocklance be detached from your fleet and sent to hunt them down.” You hesitate a moment before adding “And on a more personal note sire, I am requesting a few months of personal leave to deal with some ...personal matters”

You notice the way his dark eyes flick down to your swollen stomach before he nods in assent “Of course Admiral John, take as much time as you need, We will inform the Vice Admiral of this news and of his promotion” with that the comm. screen goes black.

Commander Belle cleared her throat softly “Pirates, sir?”

You turn to face her “Yes, I have reliable Intel that there may be some in the Chorrel system or perhaps in one of the neighbouring systems like Chintoth, the asteroids there make it hard for us to scan for them. The fleet will arrive just outside the sector and begin searching the area; you will be in command of the fleet while I will personally scout the Chintoth system.”

She raises one delicately arched, platinum brow ever so slightly but is too well trained an officer to protest or openly question your unexpected decision “Very well, Sir” she says, no hesitation in her voice “Shall I have the new course plotted immediately?”

“Yes, I expect the fleet to be underway within the next half hour”

She nods and leaves with another salute; you are left alone with your thoughts and barely notice the way the faint, ever present throb of the Durandal’s engines quicken as the ship lurches into motion, cutting smoothly through the depths of space, away from the gravity of the planet and with a pair of smaller ships trailing in her wake..