“Ms.
Veriley,” Dern June says, appearing in my office. 

“One
second please, Mr. June,” I reply, bookmarking my thought and letting my vis
windows go transparent.  “Please,” I say,
gesturing to a chair.  “You have
something to report, I expect?”

“Yes,”
he says, the A.I. hologram chuckling as he sits.  “Always with your little games at humanizing
me.”  He clears his throat and
grins.  “Two flagged individuals have
entered the city.”

“Who?”
I ask, well able to get the information myself, but enjoying the
discourse.  “Officials?  Criminals?”

“Personal
interest,” he says with a grin.

I
raise an eyebrow.  “Who flagged them?”

“Why, you did.”

“I…?” 

June
chuckles and takes a sip from a teacup that materializes in his hand as I forgo
further conversation.  The video feed
appears along with the two profiles. 

“It
has certainly been a while, has it not?” Dern asks.

“Almost
a decade.”  I lean back in my chair,
staring.  It’s amazing, but they’re just
like I would imagine—memories all grown up. 
Sol walks, slouched forward, hands in his pockets, brown hair just as
disheveled as always; I switch the feed and see those dark bored eyes….  I grin, bored or alight with excitement, his
mind is only rarely anywhere else. 
Danther, short and striding to keep up with Sol, still retains his
customary air of bemused irritation.  The
sight makes me feel young again.  “What
could they be doing here, I wonder?”

“Perhaps
they seek you?”

“If
that were the case, I suspect they would have contacted me first.”

“Then
they do not know you are here?”

“Not
inconceivable, as far as coincidences go,” I reply absentmindedly.  He says something, but I only just
realize.  “Pardon, what?”

He
chuckles again.  “I shall put the rest of
the day’s schedule on hold.”

“What
you obviously don’t understand, Ms.
Veriley,” Mr. Khal says, intoning my name with an altogether irritating
mixture of thirst, amusement, and patronization, “is that one does not
interfere with a superior’s business.  I
spent quite’a’bit’a’time—.”

“If
I may?” I interrupt and the assembly stares at me.  “As you can see, I leveraged my personal assets to fulfill Mr. Minth’s
debt, namely because this, to me at least, is a personal matter.”  Viron
Dowin—the CEO, for stars’ sake—regards me, interested.  “I grew up with those two… they are family.”

“Then
why have you not told them?” Mr. Viron asks, his emotionless, piercing eyes
boring into me.  

“They…
well, they are the independent sort and….”

Mr.
Khal snorts.  “Well, she certainly seems
to know them well enough—very well…,” he says, waving a hand dismissively.  “I withdraw my claim.”

Mr.
Viron’s mouth flickers a brief, strangely emotionless smile.  “It is refreshing to see a smooth resolution
to this conflict.”  His gaze comes to
rest on me again, this time severe and empty. 
“Though perhaps, young lady, you will have the foresight in the future
to approach Mr. Khal with your concerns before jumping into action.  The time of this council is valuable.”

“I-I—yes,
sir,” I reply, bowing.

He
leans back, taking in a great long breath through his nose.  “We do not need a vote on this matter; it has
been resolved.  Go about your business,
ladies and gentlemen.”

He
waves a dismissive hand and the holograms dissolve.  I collapse to the floor, shaking.  It takes me several minutes to regain my
composure.  I won’t use chemical aid; I
shouldn’t—don’t—need to rely on it
for something as trivial as—.

“Hello,
Luna.”  Shuttering, I turn, seeing Mr. Khal leaning
against the door frame.  He raises an
eyebrow.  “You look good on your knees… distracting, I dare say,” he says and I
scowl, scrambling to get up.  “Ow, come now; I meant that as a
complement… after all, is distraction not a useful tool for a negotiator such
as yourself?”

“What
are you doing here?  —in Red Heaven?”

His
amusement dies away.  “I was here to oversee the last stage of a
plan I set in motion—painstakingly, I
might add—come to fruition.  That is…,”
he says, spreading his arms, “until one of my associates deemed it her business
to interfere.”

“He
was going to kill himself!”

He
waves his hand.  “Nao,” he says, accent flaring.

I
shake my head, moving to walk past him. 
He presses himself out a little and I’m forced to choose between staying
in the room or brushing up against the man. 
I refuse to let him affect me, pressing forward.  I begin walking away.

“I
could have pressed for more, of course, but that’s not sporting.”

I
stop.

He
chuckles.  “My, it’s so easy to
manipulate you.”  I turn, staring at
him.  “One carefully crafted sentence and
I can push you wherever I want.”  He
reaches up, stroking his goatee.  “Yet you’re
a smart one—always seeing through—always fightin’
back,” he says, the drawl in his voice more pronounced.  “That’s…
what makes you so fun.”

I
shake my head; anything I could say is just more of what he wants.  I begin walking away again.

“I
like our little chats—feels like foreplay.” 
I can almost feel his grin.

I
close my eyes, trying not to show my disgust. 
“Your unprofessionalism is becoming more and more pronounced, Mr. Khal.”

He
grows silent, but I hear footsteps behind me. 
Having taken a couple steps, I instinctively turn, regretting it.  The cold expression on his face makes me
shiver.  He grins.  I clench my teeth.

“You’re
oh, so easy to predict, Luna.”

“Ms. Veriley,” I correct.

“Ms. Veriley,” he replies.  He looks away, aloof and a bit bored.  “One of these days, you’ll indulge me.”

“Excuse
me!” I ask, the unprecedented forwardness insulting.

“One
of these days, I’ll have something you want and it’ll be important enough for
you to trade.”  He grins, staring back at
me.  “And we both already know what I
want.”

“I
think we’ve both seen today that I can protect my interests,” I reply with ice
in my voice; I can only hope he can’t tell just how much he terrifies me.

He
stares, the weight of his amused leer making me shiver.  “The only thing, Luna, that I saw today, was a delectable specimen of a woman
showing me exactly where she’s vul-ner-a-ble.”

I
freeze.  “I…. i-it’s Ms. Veriley!”

“Tell
you what, Ms. Veriley,” he drawls,
stepping up to me—close enough that I can feel the warmth of his body—looking
down to meet my eyes.  He reaches down,
fingers unfastening the top button of my blouse. 

I-I
freeze. 

I-I do nothing.

“Don’t
stop me… that’ll be enough—” he unfastens another “—to distract my attention
from your… family… for, hmm…,” he
moves for the third, “a week, say?”

“I…,”
I reply, my hand shaking as I push him away. 

He
laughs.  “You’ve already showed you’re
willing to sacrifice to protect those two. 
It’s only a matter of time until—.”

“Fuck
you, Khal!”

“Ah,”
he says, laughing.  “It seems we have the
same idea.”  

I
glare at him, seething.

But
then his demeanor cracks.  He sighs,
almost sullen.  “I apologize.  That was a bit too far—more than a bit to far.”  He
looks out the window, growing still. 
“Not the comment, but using this…,” he twirls a hand.  “I should not have relied on such underhanded
blackmail to get what we both want. 
Sometimes I just get lost in the game and just….  I’m sorry.”

I
stare at him, trying to….

“Family…,”
he says, almost as if thinking to himself. 
He turns, eyes meeting mine.  “I
don’t expect you to understand, but… well… let’s just say I have my reasons for
failing to realize and appreciate how important family should be.”  As smile
flickers on his face for a moment, but then disappears.  “What you did was sweet.”

I
look away.

“Well, I’ll be off.” 
I can almost hear his grin.  “Got scheming to do.”

“Pardon,
what?” I ask, getting into my express transport.

“You
have been reassigned to Lanver Station for the day,” Mr. June says, as my
transport alters course, beginning toward Dowin’s corporate shuttle bay.  “A client of Dowin needs a clandestine negotiator,
I expect.”

“Hmm,
any details?”

“None
listed.”

I
make my way to the nearest shuttle when I arrive, Mr. June taking care of all
the details as I prep the ship for planetary egress.  A minute later, I’m off.  Opening a holo window, I look down on the
planet as I ascend.  Whoever first called
them “jewels of the void” was inspired, the phrase so apt.  I just love the way Delan III’s oceans
display that deep, ultramarine where it’s deep, lightening its way to
aquamarine at the shores.  I adore the
greens of the forests: rich, verdant, and dark in the boreal regions and alive,
tropical, and light near the equator.  Even
the white at the tips of mountains and the poles are magical.  Yet, almost as soon as the sightseeing has
begun, it ends, final approach notice coming over neural. 

I
leave the shuttle, but keep the holo window open, passively following my neural
nav to what I assume must be a briefing; it has been quite a while since I have
had such an undocumented assignment, the only logical explanation some sort of
cooperative project either with sensitive security concerns that bears only a
single explanation in an isolated room or perhaps something last minute.  I reach my destination, entering what appears
to be… a posh suite.

Khal
stands before me. 

“Ms.
Veriley,” he says with a grin.

“Mr.
Khal,” I say, not entirely annoyed with him, remembering the chocolates,
Champaign, and roses.  “I should have
expected this.”

“Should
you have?” he asks, grin growing to a smile. 
“Have I become that predictable?”

“I
suppose not.”

“Furthermore,
do you know what this is?”

“I
should have expected you,” I correct,
narrowing my eyes.  “What are you up to
this time?”

“I
noticed you haven’t taken vacation since you began working for Dowin.”

“And
are you my vacation?” I ask,
unamused.

“Not
exactly,” he says though a laugh. 
“Though I would not be averse to the notion.”

I
don’t reply. 

“A-ney-way,” he says with that annoying
way of his where he breaks up a word’s syllables.  “Mr. Starwind and Mr. Minth are in today’s
race,” he says and my annoyance disappears.

“They’re
what?”

“Yeah,”
he says, amused.  “They got their hands
on a ship and I sponsored their entry.”

I
narrow my eyes.  “Why?”

He
shrugs.  “Hmm, motives.”

I
roll my eyes, grinning despite myself; I try to turn away, but a glance his way
shows me he’s already seen.  “You’re so
determinedly vague.” 

“Well,
what can I say other than your mind’s worth the effort.”

I
flush a little.  “Why have you brought me
here?”

“To
watch, sweetheart.”

“Don’t
call me—.”

“Yes,
yes, Ms. Veriley.”

“I…
I wasn’t going to say that,” I say,
hoping he gets the hint.

He
sighs and I stop myself.  “I meant that as a complement.”  He pauses. 
“You want to see those two succeed. 
I…,” he begins, but smirks, looking away.  “I think that’s sweet’a you.”

I
blush more, but this time I don’t think he sees.

“I
pulled some strings and put you on ‘assignment’ to ‘observe the races’ as Dowin
has assets—yaddi-yadda—but, in reality, the point is to just, well—to just have
some time off… enjoy yourself.”

“That’s…,”
I begin, thinking.  “That’s rather sweet of you.”

“Don’t
go calling me sweetheart, now.”

I
roll my eyes. 

He
walks past.  “Well, enjoy.”

“Khal?”
I ask before I realize what I’m doing.

“Yes?”
he asks, a twinkle of knowing pleasure in his voice.

“Could…,”
I begin, trying to think of something. 
“Could you show me… how to set up the feeds?”

“Of
course,” he says, coming back.  He walks
over to a plush couch and I sit as he brings up a number of holo screens,
announcers, pundits, and other spokespersons appearing near feeds of ships,
diagrams of engines, and other various things. 
A moment later, he looks back. 
“Good?”

“Perfect.”

He
begins out.  “Well—.”

“You’re
going already?” I ask, accidently interrupting him, though continuing on
anyway.

“I
was.”

“You…,”
I begin and he tilts his head.

“I…?”

“You’re
not going to make this easy, are you?”

“When
have you ever made things easy for me, Ms. Veriley?”

“L-Luna,”
I say, shaky.

“Pardon?”
he asks, grinning ear to ear.

“Just
call me Luna, you insufferably difficult—!” I say, sighing.  “Man.”

His
grin becomes a smirk as he sits.  “I
suppose I could stay a while,” he says through that stupid expression.  I try to pay attention to the holo screens,
but I can’t keep his annoying smirk out of my peripheral gaze. 

“Stop,”
I finally say.

“What?”

“Stop
grinning.”

“Do
me a favor first?”

“What?”
I ask, despite myself.

“Stop
being so adorable.”

I
catch a rather unladylike comeback before it reaches my lips and shove him
instead.

“Oh,”
Khal says, interest caught.  “The, uh, ENS Legacy has given itself clearance
for takeoff.”

“Did
you just say ENS Legacy?” I ask,
staring at him.

“Yeah.”  He turns, giving me a significant look.  “And neither of them has any idea.”