Dealings done

It's done.

Married.

Again.

If you had asked me even six months ago whether this would have happened, I'd have laughed.  Though, in truth, Simon and I had talked about getting married just to enhance our covers on Dragon's Egg. Then it was just for the cover.  Wouldn't even have had to sleep together - not that I'd have minded.  While Haley was adorable and snuggly, a Beagle was no substitute for a Person to keep you warm at night.  Besides.  She snores.

Simon, fortunately, doesn't snore.  But I knew that already.  There were a lot of things I could have known, but consciously chose not to.  I've had an extensive file on Simon for some time, left filed, safely encrypted, and unread, by choice.  When he started courting me I started compiling information but, as time went on, I came to the conclusion that he was actually serious about us and that some things were best left unknown.  Which is probably why his dress uniform was a bit of a surprise.

I'd known Simon was part of the Intel community all along, though I hadn't pressed to find out exactly which unit was home.  I knew it was Alliance, rather than criminal or Indie, but not whether it was LEO, or MilInt, or State, or one of the even more obscure branches.  It was probably in the file.  Though my own unit was deep enough that I'd have to have been actively looking to find it - and I wasn't actively looking into Simon's past.

When I saw him at the alter, a lot of things came together.  His dress uniform was impeccable, perfectly tailored, and authentic.  My Spook turned Gentleman Farmer was a Fleet officer, rather than Ground Forces as I was.  But he also ranked me.  Several grades, in fact.  Ranked Silvermane too.  And Taggart.  Fact was, he was awfully young to be an Admiral with that many pips.

No wonder Grandfather had been willing to go along.  Simon was a ranking officer from a well placed family.  While my folks had been willing to accept Sabrina because I loved her, I doubt they'd ever been able to reconcile my getting hitched to someone with a Frontier background.  Except Uncle Elsoph, who couldn't have cared less about her background.  He loved her because she understood what he was about.  With Simon, they saw it as marrying closer to my station.  Not that I cared about station, but I understood the concern.

Dragon's Egg's small church was about right for the ceremony.  There weren't a lot of people in attendance.  Mostly local friends and a few who dropped in when they heard the news.  Silvermane sent a team from her personal body guard unit to provide some unobtrusive security, since there was no way I was going to let those Cerberus obez'yan be my honor guard or provide security.  That their leader "tripped" and almost dumped cake on Simon's uniform kind of reinforced that decision.  Fortunately, he and his team didn't manage to ruin the event for anyone.

My girls were surprisingly well behaved, though I think Lily was a bit taken aback when she realized she wasn't the one getting married.  But at least Abby gave her the bouquet when she caught it.  She and AuroraBlue didn't fight in public at least.  That they were both there was a kindness.  Though I did miss x0x0, and would have been happy if someone from my family had actually been on hand to "give me away."  Though that would happen at the second ceremony, on Ariel, when it finally happened.

The thing was, the wedding was ultimately more for show and to give the folks on Dragon's Egg something to smile about.  I'd decided to go through with it and marry Simon in spite of any misgivings.  The Shepherd's ceremony was right shiny, actually.  Some pretty words.  Vows that, in some cases, almost made me giggle.  Us standing initially on the wrong side, in part because the first time I got hitched I was the one in the Uniform.  It was all good.  Everyone happy.  Even me.

We didn't stay over long at the reception.  Neither of us had time of a real honeymoon just yet.  Too much to do, too little time.  But the wedding night would be . . . interesting.   While I would have preferred to have our first night doing more than actually sleeping be before we were wed, I was willing to train him up right.  Just had to hope he had the stamina and enthusiasm to make up for a lack of experience.

More then for cover
Affection growing to love
Married once again

Weddings and other complications

Two days.

What is that old saying about not having enough time to do everything you need to get done?  Tak mnogo sdelatʹ i tak malo vremeni , chtoby sdelatʹ eto.  Simon's return to Dragon's Egg, not long after my own, has set things in motion I hadn't quite been prepared for.  Not that I couldn't adapt.  It was just some unexpected details.

The wedding was actually the simple part.  Never mind I hadn't quite gotten what I was hoping for.  I finally understood just why he'd been so reluctant to take me to bed.  At least for anything but actual sleep.  While we had quite different views on casual sex, as any of the Companions I'd enjoyed over the years could attest, I couldn't actually fault him for it.  He was a good man.  A Spook like me, but still, deep down, a good man.

The ceremony here would be small.  Not quite a drop in on New Vegas, but close.  The Shepherd would officiate and we'd have at least one official witness.  Not that the legalities of it would be in question.  We could deal with that with a gesture or three.  There'd probably be another one on Ariel to satisfy my folks, much like the last time.  Only this time I'd be wearing the dress.  Simon's Grandmother's wedding gown, in fact.  Evidently on its way and already recut for me, though I have to wonder how much fabric got sliced out.

Doesn't help that I'm the average size of a ten year old girl.

Except for the curves.

Seemed likely that whoever was around would come to see the event.  While I wasn't much involved with the local goings on, there were still a fair number of folk who remembered the days on Hale's Moon and some of the colony elders still considered me amongst  their number. For better or worse, I was still part of the show.

Only thing I wouldn't want was those Cerberus ass clowns providing "security" at my wedding.  Last thing I needed was some combat happy mercenary making a nuisance of itself.  If I wanted actual "security" I could have a platoon of Alliance Marines as an honor guard, complete with a Brigadier General giving them their orders.  Or maybe a ranking Diplomat or too.  That'd be right amusing:  "Sorry.  Your services won't be required.  We will have actual soldiers in attendance."

The timing, of course, was the sticking point.  Or, rather, why we were on the two day timetable.

It seemed there were a few problems with trying to glean important information from the seas of my feeds.  Especially when the one entity that could hide things in the streams was making an effort to do just that.  It was something I'd well known Blue was capable of and, on some level, suspected he was doing.  At least in some circumstances.

The why of it I was yet to fathom. Unless I had grievously misjudged the big AI, he wasn't doing hiding some of these actions to hurt me.  In fact, given his previous actions, it seemed that if anything, he would be intervening to protect me.  But from what?  Or, who, rather.

Whatever was going on tied back to Lily.  That much I learned quickly from Simon's tour of x0x0's comms hub.  Whatever was going on, x0x0 was redressing the feeds between Lily's continuous transmissions and who, or what, ever was receiving them.  It was a relatively complex rouse and, for the time being, I didn't know who it was directed to.

That it was hidden from me attested to x0x0's own technical skills and Blue's intervention.  Though Blue himself was a product of x0x0's considerable technical skill.  When it came to AI, certainly, she was a good deal better than I was.

The who, though, I would deal with in short order.  With x0x0 herself out of action, Simon wanted me to step in and take her place - massaging Lily's feeds so whoever got them continued to find them, and thus her, useful to their needs.  Never mind that Mindo was dead, and his project dead with him.  Never mind that Blue himself, and x0x0, knew Lily's feeds were hoarked.  Someone was interested.  And as long as they remained interested, Lily would continue being.

Two days.

Two days before we'd gotten hitched, the 'interested party' was back to looking at these feeds, and Simon was back to an Op.

Coincidence?

No.

Not in our world.  Things like this don't just happen.  They happen for a reason, and someone was behind the scenes pulling the strings.

That was fine.  Soon enough I'd know who it was.  But, in the mean time, I had work to do a a wedding to attend, and a wedding night to show Simon just what he'd gotten himself into.  Just needed to get a few things from my boat and to set up a couple of tightly encrypted, and obfuscated, cross feeds of my own.

Reflecting in darkness

"Simon did not accompany you.  I had assumed he knew enough of our operation to join us here, especially with the impending wedding.  Was I wrong?"  Captain Hawke's voice was soft and proper, as always.  Almost a purr.  Both soothing and disconcerting at the same time, with an air of command.  He and my Grandfather would have spoken as equals.

"Simon was called away.  More business.  And, yes.  He knows enough to come join us here, even if we're not entirely on the same page with where I want this to go.  Why do you ask, Captain?"

He stepped up next to me in the observation blister above Saule Silencieuse's hanger deck, gazing out the port at the bright distant point of Kalidasa visible between two of the deployed baffles.  "You are unsure, Colonel.  Worried about the decision to marry again.  Worried whether we are doing the right thing.  I would assume, also, worried for your adoptive children."

I looked at him for a long moment, suppressing a frown.  He had called it distressingly close to the mark.  "I didn't know you were a Reader, Captain, or that my own self control had slipped that far."

A faint smile crossed his lips, not looking down to meet my eyes.  "Neither, Colonel Kawanishi.  I am intuitive, however, and have made something of a study of you over the time we have worked together.  You do not deny my assessment, which makes me believe my concern for you is justified."

"Concern for me?  I'm flattered, Captain."

"Colonel. . . Seana.  We have known each other for some years now.  I have grown to respect you both as an Officer and as a Person.  As an Officer on your executive staff, observing that you are troubled, I believe it is my duty to help you deal with your troubles.  As a Person . . . I do not like to see a friend in pain."

"We count as friends now?" I asked with a hint of amusement.  We were close professionally, but socially?

"Yes."

He stated it with absolute certainty, as if the fact was self evident.  I suppose, on some level, it was.  "Nous affirmons que ce qui est évident, eh?  Though you're right.  On most counts, anyway.  The wedding and the girls certainly.  The mission though?  I have no doubts.  I know we are doing the right thing.  Even with that sadistic old bastard."

"Good.  You know that is why remain, yes?  The Crew believes in me.  I, in turn, believe in you.  It is why we have dropped off the grid and effectively gone rogue.  In fact . . . " he paused again, waving his hand to bring up a ghostly image in front of the view port.  "I believe, we are very close to solving another issue before it comes up."

On the display, a series of orders and authorizations - not yet implemented - filled the display.  My own "official" retirement documentation, releasing me with the final rank of Colonel in an honorable discharge with full benefits.  Similar orders for Captain Hawke and several of his officers, and the piece de resistance, orders releasing Saule Silencieuse as an independent asset with an ambiguous disposition.

None of the orders had been filed, though my own retirement was just a matter of a signature at this point, and there were a few crucial signatures missing.  "Impressive.  Looks like about eighty percent of this paperwork is actually legitimate.  Nice work.  We're going to make a very expensive military asset disappear.  Though I see there's no authorization for the ship herself."

He nodded, bringing up more of the documentation, focusing on the authorization chain.  "There is none, as yet.  Unfortunately, we need someone to die before we can properly execute this."

"Someone who will conveniently be unavailable to answer for it when the Auditors ask what happened to this ship and her crew?"  His faint smile was as good as a yes.  "Taggart has probably known this was coming for a while, I'm sure.  Probably planned for it.  So who's span are we waiting for the end of?"

"There are several people with the authorization to release the ship who are also, potentially, looking at a short span.  We are watching, though, without your express authorization we do not plan to . . . expedite the process.  Once it happens, we can retcon our status as needed."

I had to laugh.  Assassination was almost always an option in the Intel community, but he know I wanted to keep our collective hands clean.  "Very well, Captain.  Let me know when someone dies, will you?"

"Of course, Colonel."

For a noble cause
Plans nested in other plans
Converging in time
 

Manipulations from the Deep Black

With her dampers deployed, Saule Silencieuse was effectively invisible.  Even floating in the middle of a gossamer parabolic dish five thousand meters across, the ELINT Corvette was a ghost.  She couldn't do much more than float there, of course, in a heliocentric orbit 3 AU out from Kalidasa, without increasing her signature.  But she didn't need to.  The big dish let her listen in to the Cortex, parsing the signal.  And, as they say, the signal went everywhere.

Getting to and from the ship was actually the biggest challenge.  Even Wave Equation, my ELINT Matagi, had to use some technical tricks to minimize my signature on approach and departure.  But it was all worth it.  An invisible cortex hub in the deep black.

Silent.

Watching.

I had crossed the New Year celebration here, aboard this little bubble of air in the void of space, surrounded by the flow of information and raw data that made up my trade now.  And the people.  The handful of men and women at the core of my operation, manning this ship, managing the feeds and the people, separated by several layers of abstraction, that did the field work and interfaced with other Intel organizations.

The web had grown since I started it.  The raw information was, ultimately, more than we could process aboard Saule Silencieuse.  While she was an enormously capable craft, dedicated to this sort of work, we'd outgrown even her exceptional capacity.  That was one of the reasons I was here now.  To plan for the future.  And, ultimately, to put some of the information we'd gleaned to use for a very special purpose.

The New Years party was . . . compact.  A bit of revelry, watching the 'ball drop' feeds from a dozen worlds, seeing my team enjoying the moment, even as I felt alone in their midst.  In a way it was funny.  We kept to the calendar of Earth that Was, though no world in the 'Verse actually shared its 365.25 standard 24 hour days.  It was just a tradition.  Like the Shepherd's "Holiday" celebrations having a winter theme, even though the local season might be something completely different.

That little celebration wasn't why I was here, of course.  Catching up on the projects was why I was here.  Getting updates on how we were warehousing our data off-board, securely and discretely, was a major theme.  That, and the acquisition of more working space for our future growth.  To that end, we had taken control of an abandoned transfer station and started the slow process of moving it to a better location, while at the same time removing it from the collective memory of the Cortex.

It helped that the facility had been mostly abandoned for decades.  Built to support trade between the Border and Rim colonies over a century ago, the changing face of interplanetary commerce had left it behind.  Literally.  Most navigational charts, if they even included it, showed it as "Abandoned: Non-operational.  No services."  During the war, it had served as a way point for refugees.  Since?  Nothing.  Which made it a perfect starting point for my project.

While I could have appropriated a modular station like the one we'd had above Hale's Moon, there would be a paper trail linking it to me.  The same would apply to any other modern facility we had to acquire and deploy.  By re-purposing an abandoned structure, we were both saving resources and making our actions harder to trace.

It would be some time before we were ready to occupy it with anything but the restoration crew, and several years before we managed to re-position it into a new orbit around Kalidasa with low signature tugs, but when it was done it would be perfect.  Large enough for our needs and completely off the radar.  My kind of place.

But that was a long term concern.  At the moment, I had something more personal to attend to.


Historically, we had let the data flow in from where it would.  Sometimes parsing down interesting trails to glean secrets that may prove useful, but often just gathering and cataloging.  Some of it, we sold to support the operation, but always with an eye to the effect it would have.  I wasn't doing this to get rich.  I was doing it because I wanted to do some right in the Verse.  Now, though, I had a purpose.  And a very specific effect in mind.

A right in the 'Verse.

Adelai Niska, in spite of his self proclaimed "reputation," was little more than a petty crime lord, and noted sadist, based in the Rim.  I'd dealt with his machinations before on Hale's Moon and sent a couple of his goons home in a box.  One box.  Saved on shipping.  He still drew breath because some people in power found him "useful" and I'd been specifically asked to let him keep breathing.  Since I didn't want to burn those particular bridges by ending the old goat, I'd acquiesced and let him be.

Now though, it was time to play the game a little differently.  First, I needed to know who found him useful, and why.  Then I could look to manipulating things to make him appear considerably less useful to his benefactors and, from there, proceed to grind his carefully groomed reputation to dust.

It was something specific to focus the team on.  Exercise our targeted information gathering and leverage our contacts, while practicing the fine arts of deception and obfuscation.  Information Ninja in the tangled webs of the Cortex.  It was something we'd been building for and, now, time to move into action.

He would expect me to fire a crowbar through his skyplex.

This, he would never see coming.
 
Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons.  
For they are subtle and quick to anger.
And you are small and crunchy and taste good with ketchup.