[b]Dun Ara, Paardveid[/b]
"Seneschal Vigdis, Ma'am!"
Vigdis looked up from the report she was writing and sighed. She had been trying to get this done for the past three days but she wasn't getting anywhere. The more she tried to write, the more distractions came her way.
"Yes? What is it, Astrid?"

The maidservant waved a file about "It's about the probes! Another one's come back positive!"

Vigdis sat up. Another one? In so short a time? Did this mean there was even more intelligent life out there?

"Have you informed the Chancellor?" she asked, temporarily forgetting Innes wasn't with them anymore. 
"No, Ma'am. I thought with her being away and all that it was best I take it to the Patriarch. He says that I should take it to you."
Ah, of course. Weyss had sent the girl away. A shame - she would have loved to see the expression on her face when she found out there was more than one kind of alien out there.

"Thank you, Astrid. Leave the report with me and return to your duties."

"Cheers, Ma'am. I've been told it's mighty interesting."

The report was a strange one. The more she read, the more fascinated she became and eventually her old report slipped out of her mind completely.

The probe had come back damaged but functional. The engineers didn't think it was down to space dust or asteroids either. They concluded that it had been caught in a firefight and had taken some stray shots. That meant two or more factions were fighting on whatever path this machine had been down.

It's discoveries were inconsistent, however. It had been down a path of planets that once may have held life, but had been stripped of anything of value. The path was systematic and calculated, probably not just some galactic barbarian's warpath. Paardveid was well out the way of this path, and it was moving in the opposite direction, but the presence of such entities sent shivers down the Seneschal's spine.

There was also signs of a mechanical presence on whatever path the probe had been down. Whether they were friendly or not, the Republic couldn't afford to meet with them - the EM in the air would be unbearable.


There was more hopeful notes. Details were scarce, but it had picked up on a heavily colonised planet ripe with life. Whether such life was intelligent and friendly or not was questionable, but it wouldn't hurt to check the planet out, meet the locals and possibly discuss the future with them. It was possible they hadn't discovered space travel yet and may be willing to negotiate over it.

This planet seemed the most interesting. She would like to see the locals and assess whether or not they were worth her time. But she knew she couldn't call a council - it would degenerate into another talk-shop without any real progress being made.

She thought it over for a while, weighing up pros and cons, before finally asking herself 'what would Innes do?'
That was question she knew the answer to.

Vigdis pulled out another piece of paper, picked up her pen and got writing. In a few hours, an ambassador would be on it's way to this new planet and it would be too late for anyone to oppose her, whether it be Temair, the Council or even the Patriarch himself.

Sometimes, being the top level of a bureaucracy had its perks.
-----

[@Forsythe]

Innes couldn't sleep. She tried her best, but it wasn't happening. It wasn't the bed: it was perfectly comfortable. It wasn't her clothing: she always had these pyjamas. It wasn't even the EM, though she could still feel it tickling her. Was it the foreign environment? The atmosphere? Something she ate? The lighting?

No. She couldn't sleep because she was caught up in thought. She was thinking about home - more specifically, she was thinking about her old home, the one she lived in before she met Weyss. Whether she tossed, turned or curled up, it wouldn't leave her mind. She tried distracting herself, playing mind-games, counting Schapen, even singing herself a lullaby. Nothing was working.

Every time she thought she would doze off, the old house entered her mind. It was subtle, but distinct. She turned one way and she thought she could smell Mama cooking. She turned the other and she cold hear Cousin Pyrrha's laugh. It was disturbingly real. It almost felt like if she could roll over and go to sleep she'd be back with them, in that old, run-down house, Mama, Pyrrha, Aela and her. They were waiting for her, she told herself, all she had to do was close her eyes and drift off back to the place she once knew. But she couldn't.

She wasn't going to have it all torn away from her again.

Sometimes, it wasn't a laugh or a sweet smell, it was something crueller. The smell of burning, a horrified scream, the feel of sweat, tears and that wretched 'purifying oil'. And then she'd feel the pain all over again.

Knowing full well that it wasn't going to leave her alone until she confronted it, she thought about it a bit more. She focused on Weyss, just a boy, coming into that dark room and seeing her. She remembered the anger and sorrow in his face, the way he trembled with rage, the gentle way he spoke to her and the fury with which he denounced the priestesses. He was just a child himself, but he was her hero. She could still feel the cloak he wrapped around her shoulders, warm and soft, no doubt made from the finest materials. And even at that young age, he was so authoritative, demanding that Innes be taken to the physician at once and to have a room prepared.

He stayed by her all night. She felt asleep with him watching over her and woke up with him passed out on her lap. And from that day on, Innes swore to pay back what she owed. And she never, not even for a moment, resented him finding her.

But what really got her was the look on Temair's face when he told her the situation. She looked so angry and confused and ... hurt. Even though he wasn't blaming her, she looked so ashamed of herself, like it was her who had done all those horrible things and not the priestesses.

Temair never knew what went on in her own church.

The realisation made Innes sit up. She was fully awake now, no longer interested in trying to doze off. 
It all made so much sense. That was why she was so resolute in her faith. That was why she was so zealous and angry. That was the reason she looked so upset when Innes left - by the Gods, she [i]kissed[/i] her! Temair, who was so anti-homosexual she would probably cry if she saw a rainbow, kissing another girl. She felt like she had to conform. She wasn't leading, she was following. The whole system was backwards, with Temair being the one to hold the whole thing up.

And Astra looked furious with her. If Astra ever saw Temair again, who knew what would happen?

Oh gods. Astra was a rear admiral now. She had authority. And they both knew that she only needed a sliver of what she had at her command to completely crush Paardveid.

Innes shot out of bed, giving herself a rudimentary check-over. Hair? Not a problem. She'd even braided it at the front. Face? Clean. Clothes? Well, with sleep being so foreign to these people, a set of white cotton PJs shouldn't look too ridiculous. Smell? She'd been for a bath not even an hour ago - she could still smell the vaguely honeyed scent of the soapwort.

All in all, she was in a perfectly acceptable state to conduct a diplomatic meeting.

The labs, she had said. She should be in the labs, getting her equipment checked out. No, wait, her quarters. She said that before sprinting off. Damn, she wished she had put a little more thought into what she was doing before she ran off.

She left the room, making her way up towards Astra's bunk. A deck up and three on the left.

Of course, in her haste, she had neglected to put on the helmet and suit that were supposed to guide her. The signs were all foreign and though the translator helped decode what others were saying, she didn't want to interrupt anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.
 
What would she say to her? Exactly what she realised. It wasn't Temair's fault. This wasn't a wild animal - if you cut off the head, the rest would not die. This was more like a batch of fruit. If you didn't take the good ones away from the bad ones, then they would all start to turn. If Astra disclosed what Innes had said to her to anyone else, they'd probably do more damage than good. It was vital that any confusion was cleared up immediately.

When she arrived at the door she believed to be Astra's - not having her suit meant she couldn't know until she entered - she knocked on it. But the door was thicker that what she was used to and she was unsure whether any sound got through. She needed to talk to the Captain-stroke-Admiral now

What title should she use? Captain? No, she had been promoted. Admiral? Maybe she didn't want anyone to know of the promotion yet. Screw it, there were more important things at risk here than Astra's embarrassment.

"Astra! Are you in there? We need to talk!" Innes called through the door, ignoring any passerby. "It's properly urgent!" She prayed she wasn't interrupting anything crucial, but this was mega important