Rene lowered the pistol he had drawn from his belt till it was flat against his trouser leg. The grizzled old man in tactical armor clearly saw the weapon but didn’t seem too concerned. As the man had said, had they wanted to shoot them they could have done so before the sniper abandoned his, no her, perch. He was just jumpy. The hike from the manor had been largely uneventful, they had kept to garden trails and back roads as much as they could. There had been occasional Gid patrols in the distance, along the larger roads but Rene had the sense that they were in the eye of a hurricane. The locals were clearly locking down the spaceport, that much was evident from the crawling pace of traffic on the major roads they had skirted. Low wheeled trucks loaded with rice and other produce destined for the markets of Armistice, stretched out for miles. Clear evidence of roadblocks and lengthy searches. The searchers were also out ahead of them. Rene caught the distant flashes of aircraft and jumpers in the distance, doubtless supporting a search on foot. The stay at Armon’s manor had thrown the Gids off the scent but he wasn’t fool enough to think their good fortune could last forever. Although if what the fellow said was true maybe a little longer. The big man gestured at the gun with the nod of his chin.

“What do you think your chances are,” Min Ho asked speculatively. Rene’s eye flicked side to side, considering his options.

“Fifteen or twenty percent, depending on how much your partner likes you,” he replied, although truthfully, the optimum moment to strike had already passed.

“Twenty on a good day then,” the woman chortled, gesturing urgently at the entrance to the two story home. Rene let the pistol slip back into his pocket. Min ho relaxed slightly, although it was hard to say exactly what in his posture conveyed the impression.

The interior of the house was cool after the smouldering heat of late afternoon. It was simply laid out, a large kitchen and dining area with large bedrooms off to the side. Earthenware pots, some sealed with wax, lined shelves of knotty tropical wood on the entire length of one wall. Bundles of dried beans and herbs hung from rafters of the same dark tropical wood as the shelving, filling the room with a spicy exotic aroma. A small fireplace burned in a corner over which a pot of fire blackened iron hung simmering, a vegetable soup of some kind at a low rolling boil. A simple stairway led to the upper story and down into what was either a root cellar or an armory. Rene supposed there was no reason it couldn’t be both.

The woman bustled in behind them and closed the door, propping the improbably large rifle behind it so the weapon would be concealed to anyone entering that way. The make was unfamiliar, though it had the look of the big anti-material rifles that vacuum commandos used. She caught Rene’s glance at the soup and tsked.

“We have generators, we are just saving the power cells incase these fools burn down the whole city. In case you were wondering,” she commented with acid directed in the direction of armistice with a gesture. Rene hadn’t been wondering. He was so used to the peasant hovels out near the Rat Trap that it hadn’t even registered that there was no electric power on display.

“Ma’am,” he responded with neutral politeness. He glanced at Solae, though he wasn’t sure what he expected to find on the marquessa’s face. She too was diplomatically blank for the moment.

“You obviously know who the lady is,” Rene said, his stance still guarded but no longer coiled to strike like a Leshi viper.

“Who are you?” he nodded at the mans impressive armor, “concerned citizens?”

"I'm Hyun Tae Young," Min Ho replied dryly without any effort to conceal his deception. When the situation warranted it he could be convincing and enthusiastic about an alias. In this particular case, however, he was stating only what was absolutely required by direct imperial orders. Toeing the line was not a new concept to the assassin. His profession required a great deal of improvisation and latitude that was not afforded to others; the trust that was instilled in him was rewarded by results and unwavering fealty. So long as Solae and Rene were not privy to his history of classified assignments and his true identity there would be no formal reprimand. Min Ho and Oanh had been put to pasture but they were far from forgotten or dismissed as irrelevant- people with their skills were assets and liability that the Stellar Empire could not afford to purge from their memory.

"You can call me Oanh," she replied pleasantly. Technically on New Concordia she was 'Oahn Young' instead of 'Oanh Park,' but she had not bothered to change her given name. A request had been made during their debriefing to civilian life but she had tacitly refused. There was more than one Oanh in the universe (no pun intended) and her records were so highly confidential she did not believe that anyone could connect the dots even if they wished to. On the operations she was most involved with she had used an alias then; hell, her real name had been used less than any of her pseudonyms.

"I think what you mean to ask is what we are. Unofficially that's classified," he grunted as he leaned against a wall and kept an eye on a window across the room that faced the street. It was still outside; the local populace had learned their lesson. No one ventured out from his abode but they did not tolerate looters either. Min Ho and Oanh's neighbors considered them 'inhospitable shut ins.'

"But in a past life we pledged ourselves to a certain interstellar form of government," Oanh said with a wink. Placing her hands on her hips she continued. "It's too dangerous to keep you here more than a couple days, but we can make sure you have some supplies before you venture out there again." Min Ho rolled his eyes at how much his wife was divulging. Had the pair made any real imposition he might have objected at two days instead of a singular suggestion- but even Duke Tan couldn't pry open their files. He wouldn't know how to. As far as he and his wife were concerned no one could or would know they had hid the couple.

"And who are you?" Min Ho gestured to Rene.

"Are you wearing men's clothes?" Oanh interrupted.

Solae had gone mute since entering the home. Being among not one, not two, but three heavily armed individuals with raw efficacy in combat was humbling. Before the initial strikes of the rebellion she had very limited contact with the military. Most of her socialization was with fragile noble ladies or gentlemen who exercised for the sake of vanity (if they did not use technology to stimulate musculature). None had the raw efficacy of her current company who could, in their own right, take down small companies of local militia with little struggle. Rene had taken on three when he had rescued her. Solae wagered that Oanh and Min Ho were just as, if not more, deadly.

"Oh, yes," she replied hesitantly as she glanced down at her attire. "My clothes were ruined with..," Solae started to explain. A lump formed in her throat and she fought to finish with a smooth tone. "They were ruined at the Imperial Embassy. The manor we found was owned by a bachelor."

"We're not the same size but I am sure I can find you something a better fit than that," Oanh said as she visually determined rough estimates for the marquise's figure. "Hyun Tae, can you show Rene the room downstairs so he can put down his pack?" She didn't wait for a response before taking Solae's arm in a vaguely romantic manner and escorting her to the master bedroom where her wardrobe was kept.

As Rene had imagined, the cellar served as both cellar and armory. The whole room had been sealed with a plasticized chemical which mimicked stone in effect but was more like ultra fine concrete. Boxes of food ranging from ration packs to flash frozen local produce were stacked with a perfect neatness which would have made Lieutenant Van Heck’s heart glad. Barrels of preserved meat and salted fish were laid out in neat rows along side casks of what Rene presumed to be palm wine distilled from the plentiful Terran palms which grew all over the coastal region of New Concordia.

The other half of the room would normally have been concealed behind a false wall but the seamless access panel was currently slid open. A variety of weapons and equipment was stacked in neat storage bins. Rene didn’t recognise half of it, but what he did recognise ranged from the illegal to the very illegal. Any doubts he had of Min Ho being in the Imperial service evaporated at the technological cornucopia. No jumped up bandit could ever hope to see, let alone own half this stuff. He took off his pack and set it inside the door and then unslung the rifle and set it across the top of the pack.

“Keeping the pistol?” Min Ho asked, his voice neutral. Rene began reply intending to tell the stranger that he wasn't going to disarm himself so completely but the older man merely reached past him and took a heavy pistol down off the wall and passed it to Rene. It was a heavy calibre electromotive model, black and round rather than boxy. It was a standard issue naval piece that Rene was familiar with from his ship board rotation. He thumbed an activation stud and twelve led lights lit up behind the receiver, indicating the load. The marine cracked the chamber with a practiced motion and made sure the electronic read out was correct. It was, though the rounds were of an alloy of stabilized uranium rather than the ceramics usually found in such weapons. You did not fire an armor piercing round in a space ship unless you could breath vacuum or were really sure you would hit.

“Cautious, that's good, but don’t let it become paranoia,” Min Ho advised as Rene snapped the chamber shut and dropped the weapon into his pant pocket. He added two additional magazines to balance the weight.

“I’ve had enough luck these past few days that I must be close to using up my lifetime supply,” Rene replied honestly as Min Ho pressed a switch on the inside of the door. The concrete panel slid shut without so much as a whisper as though it had never existed.

“Thank you for the gun,” Rene told his host courteously, Min Ho had been making a statement by giving it to him. I know more about you than you think most likely, but it was a good choice.

“Easier to lie about if the Gids find me, not their equipment,” Rene said, earning a smile from the older man.

“Paranoid and smart, you maybe missed your calling,” Min Ho laughed, clapping Rene on the shoulder as they headed back across the supply room. The armored man grabbed several boxes and a cask seemingly at random. The spectacle of a man gathering food for dinner in tactical armor was disorienting.

“You came from the Rat Trap?” Min Ho asked as the pair ascended the stairs. Rene nodded though he really didn’t want to think about it. It showed a surprising amount of knowledge of the local situation that he referred to the post by its nickname, but then perhaps that shouldn’t surprise him coming from a man who had half an Imperial Guard Battalion worth of hardware in his basement.

“They hit us there yesterday afternoon,” Rene said, helping Min Ho lay out spoons and fill glasses with an unfamiliar juice of a vaguely purplish color. Instant bread appeared from some of the cartons as did cuts of preserved meat with a peppery crust.

“Wiped us all out in one fell swoop,” he went on because his host appeared to expect it rather than from any genuine desire. Min Ho noded, his face somber and craggy.
“The Marines, The Embassy, they even took out the two courier ships in orbit. According to the news broadcasts Duke Tan has declared a state of emergency, cracking down against a possible coup against the Empress.”

Further discussion was interrupted by a subtle trembling which shook dust from the corners of the rooms. It was an unpleasant thrum in the base of the chest. Both men paused and cocked their heads in near mirror images. You didn’t forget the sound of ships decent and both Marines and former assassin's logged more space time than most people. Spacecraft descended on jets of plasma which chopped the RF spectrum to hash and as such their arrival and departure was usually tightly scheduled.

“I think that is the first touchdown I’ve heard since this mess started,” Rene observed as the rumble rose in pitch momentarily and then died away. Min Ho continued to set the table, tugging the red and white checked table cloth back into place where the wind had pulled it up over one corner.

“It is, might be they are trying to open the port, get trade flowing again,” Min Ho suggested dubiously. Rene shook his head.

“Too many thrusters for a freighter,” he explained. Plasma motors used water for reaction mass and so fuel was cheap, but the process of decent ate away at the throats of the thrusters. Replacing a worn thruster was both expensive and time consuming and so merchant captains almost always landed with a minimum thruster configuration.

“Must be a warship or a fast courier,” Rene concluded hoping that it didn’t bode i’ll for the fugitives.

"All right, take off your shirt and shorts so we can try some things on," Oanh instructed.

Solae had been led into a bedroom that was a stark departure from the luxury of Lord Armon's estate. It was large and comfortable, with a bed that slept two comfortably, but it did not have the expensive drapes, plush rugs embroidered in metallic threads, brocade-upholstered antiques, or fine pieces of artwork. There was a small table in a corner by a window that was clearly for Oanh's exclusive use judging by the design and perfumes arranged by its large mirror. There were two nightstands, a wardrobe with a door half-ajar revealing men's clothes inside, and brackets mounted on a wall for safe weapon storage.

As the marquise undressed Oanh manually opened a walk-in closet that was filled with apparel. Most was blouses, skirts, slacks, dresses, and wear exclusively for woman, but Solae spotted a few unisex or masculine garments interspersed. The sniper wandered around as she plucked out options, measuring them visually against Solae, and then either draping them on her arm or shoving them back into the order. This took several minutes and left the noble beauty standing uncomfortably exposed as she waited patiently.

"I have some undergarments I haven't worn as well," Oanh said as she produced well over a dozen ensembles for Solae including vacuum-sealed unmentionables in their original packaging. "Only one of the tops might fit and I doubt the bottoms are your style, but maybe Rene will appreciate my taste."

"Oh, he's not... I mean to say we're not... involved," Solae stammered as she awkwardly shuffled off the rest of her clothing and began to try on the pile that had been given to her. Oanh waited quietly without judgment or further commentary which only made Solae feel compelled to explain. She did not want to appear to be lacking in social graces or lacking in gratitude for the generosity being displayed at this moment. "We just met and I'm the most wanted woman on the planet."

Oanh folded her arms. "I'll say," she remarked with a half-bemused smile. "I'll let you finish trying these on in peace. Pick one outfit to wear and one to take with you so you can alternate what is dry and clean with what needs to be washed. When you are on the move you need to pack light."

Before Solae could protest Oanh had slipped out the door and out of the room. Being alone sent a shiver down her spine but she focused on the task at hand so as to not let emotions overwhelm her. It was only after her hostess had abandoned the bedchambers that Solae realized that everything selected for her had been in blue or purple jewel tones to match the hues of her iris. Military women invoked a certain stereotype but Oanh had not let them define her judging by the overflowing closet.

----

"Still working on the clothes," Oanh said as she entered the kitchen where Rene and her husband were setting the table. "Now, before she comes out here we need to address the elephant in the room and I don't mean Hyun Tae's wretched attempt at facial hair." Min Ho rolled his eyes but didn't object. Discreetly he touched at the stubble of his jaw that had failed to fill in properly.

"The higher up you go with noble titles, the more genetically engineered they are. I can tell just looking at Solae her parents left absolutely nothing to a roll of the dice. Of course enhancements come at a cost regardless of what propaganda tells you. For women in particular they have a higher pain tolerance- because child birth is a messy affair even with our current tech- but they can't handle trauma as you, Hyun Tae, or myself. I doubt Solae herself has been made aware. There's no imminent danger judging by the two injuries she's sporting right now, but I am warning you that you might take a couple bullets and still have a chance to react, but she will have a lower threshold to into shock." Oanh's brows furrowed slightly in concern.

"Oanh can give you a crash course in how to react to medical emergencies," Min Ho remarked with a gesture. "Patched herself up enough."

"The hell I did. My job was to watch your back at a distance. I would have been the worst sharpshooter of this vector if I had waltzed out from under cover and engaged the enemy." Oanh sported a charming smile as she turned towards Rene. There was no doubt that between the two that Min Ho was built to destroy anything foolish enough to be within an arm's length of his person. "But my husband's right. I could give you a crash course if you feel so inclined."

"I'm going to sweep the perimeter before we eat," Min Ho stated as he started towards the front door.

"We also only have one guest bedroom. Is that going to be a problem for you?" Oanh asked Rene politely.

“One bedroom will be fine ma’am,” Rene nodded in greatful acceptance as Oanh began to spoon generous portions of soup into bowls with a large wooden ladle. It was thick and filled with a variety of vegetables grown in the local garden. The pair seemed prosperous in their own terms and by those of most of New Concordia. Rene wondered if that was a result of funds, or merely the natural translation of the kind of organizational skills that a covert life style demaded.

As a child of the nobility Rene had undergone his own regime of genetic manipulation as well as minor cosmetic surgeries after birth. The process was far less extensive for males with the primary changes being metabolic in nature. Rene’s body produced muscle much more readily than fat and burned calories less efficiently. The result was that his physique was maintained by only moderate exercise and he suffered slightly in cold environments. The Marine Corp medics had noticed the changes but didn’t feel them to be worth more than a casual mention. It hadn't occurred to him that Solae’s astonishing beauty might bring with it worse drawbacks.

“And I’d appericate anything you can tell me medically. It really would be a huge help,” he told Oanh who made an ‘its nothing’ gesture with her left hand.

“I had to remove…” he began but Oanh interuppted him.

“Yes I saw, not a bad piece of work for a grunt,” she said with the slight unconscious contempt for a professional for the work of amateurs, “though you were lucky the pain didn’t send her into shock.”

“We used drugs to put her under,” Rene admitted, slicing the loaf of instant bread into thumb thick slices with a large serrated knife. Little wheat grew in the tropical lowlands and most of the subsitutes were similarly temperate crops. Bread was an offworld style on New Concordia where rice agriculture predominated but he was glad for the presence of the familiar staple.

“What drugs?” she asked, cocking an interrogatory eyebrow.

“Candemamine,” Rene admitted somewhat uncomfortably.

“Cand…” Oanh trailed off in shock. Rene explained the details of the manor to her hastily and Oanh seemed to relax as he told her how they had taken the drugs from Lord Armon’s recreational stores. Towards the end of the discussion Min Ho returned, his arrival completely silent but given away by the blast of humid afternoon air. Storm clouds were already beginning to pile high on the eastern horizon, making the normally brilliant sunlight seem flat. The two constants on New Concordia were heat and rain.

“Seems clear,” Min Ho said, moping he sweat from his brow with an armored gauntlet. The layered ceramic and polymerized metal succeeded in smearing the fluid without actually wicking it away. Oanh made a clucking sound and dabbed at her husband’s forehead with a dish towel.

“Looks like there might be something going on at one of the Manors off west, saw a couple of jumpers headed that way, hard to tell with the heat shimmer this time of day but there might have been smoke.”

“Enough of that, take off the turtle suit, our other guest will be down for dinner in a moment,” Oanh ordered, with all the authority of a field marshall directing a very junior subordinate.

Solae emerged from the master bedroom just before Min Ho was about to knock and make certain she was decent- the bathroom he and Oanh shared was only accessible from their room. The fair marquise had pulled back her thick, golden hair and into a ponytail to elevate it off her neck and stay as cool as possible. Even arranged in this fashion it fell nearly to her waist. She was adorned in a tailored plum-colored tank top woven of a popular fabric for exercise garments as it retained heat and wicked off perspiration quickly. Coupled with this selection were tight-fitted chocolate brown slacks that contained a stretchy material for ease of movement. Neither piece had loose fabric that would be caught or snag on terrain once they left the Park's residence.

"You look lovely, Solae," Oanh said with a smile. And in Oanh's estimation Solae looked better than she ever could in the same outfit. The sizing was slightly off- Oanh was more muscular while Solae was delicate, busty, and incredibly thin at the waist by design- but the highborn noblewoman had picked more elastic attire that was more forgiving.

"Thank you, and thank you for your generosity," Solae said with a slight bow of the head. Such a gesture was proper etiquette for the courts but generally reserved for peers. That she did this sign of respect for someone below her station by several 'rungs' and had no concern towards propriety was telling of Solae's disposition. Unlike many of her peers, Solae was considered liberal and did not too highly revere the titled system. A count or countess that refused to converse with commoners was typical; someone that engaged them on their level was rare. Solae was one of the latter.

"How are you feeling?" Oanh said conversationally as Solae sat down at the table. There was a glint in her eye that spoke to a sharp, clever purpose to this innocuous query.

"I am a touch hungry, but otherwise well," Solae responded apparently oblivious to an ulterior motive.

Holding her hand up in a staying motion to Rene discreetly, Oanh closed the small distance between herself and Solae with astounding speed and injected her guest with a small dispenser no larger than her thumb. Solae almost startled out of her chair in alarm but relaxed when she realized she was not suffering from any ill-effects. If anything she felt better.

"It's easier if you don't know it's coming," Oanh explained. She unclasped her hand and revealed a small device with multiple sharp protrusions (akin to needles) exposed at one end. The liquid contained within the device had been inserted within Solae and was not visible, but a small droplet of milky white remained. "It stings but the infusion will help you heal a little bit better, enough walking won't be as painful tomorrow, but not enough to be taking out those sutures sooner. You'll have a rush of energy today and crash hard tonight, but it is worth the trade-off."

"What about Rene?" Solae asked as she absently rubbed the spot on her arm that was irritated from the injection.

"There are male and female versions because of the manner in which the drug affects hormones," Oanh shrugged, "but Min Ho should have some if Rene wants to help those bruises disappear a little faster. Min Ho will do watch today, I'll do watch tonight, but I didn't know if you'd want to rest or take a watch," she said as she turned towards Rene. "Resting increases your chances of survival after you leave here, so that is my recommendation, but I will not force you to sleep unlike my husband."

"Have you dealt with the Amber Horizon Encampment at all?" Solae asked as she took a slice of bread from Rene and began to eat. Oanh was not waiting on Min Ho to return to eat; she heard the sounds of the bath. He would be taking his time and not join them at the table for a while yet.

"The Syshin? Some. We do not bother them and so they do not bother us. It's an arrangement that has served us well. Why do you ask?"

"I speak Syshi. I was hoping I might be able to barter with them for refuge and safe passage off New Concordia."

Oanh raised a brow. She was obviously impressed. Learning any language took time, dedication, and a great deal of study. Few thought learning the tongue of the lesser Syshin was worth even the smallest amount of effort when most Syshin were forced to learn casual common. "You speak Syshi? That will definitely make them more inclined to help you. May I make a suggestion though, Solae?"

Solae dropped her piece of bread on her plate to give Oanh her full attention as was proper.

"You should consider how to mitigate that bounty against you if you do get caught. Hyun Tae and I can only risk so much and do so much. If you are captured they will almost certainly execute Rene immediately. You can't do much about the monetary reward, but there other actions you can take. Let your wounds scar. Relinquish your title. Give away some portion of your wealth. Marry someone even in a farce to make it harder for them to engage you. Take a Syshin lover. If you can the reward you offer inherently reduced it could do you a great deal of good."

Rene felt his pulse elevate as Solae came down the stairs. The ensemble hugged her every curve, the slight tightness across the chest emphasising her bust, the form fit trousers emphasising her waist and hips. Even the way her mane of golden hair was lifted made her face seem all the more elegantly proportioned. He tried to remind himself that she was in a vulnerable position and that he needed to focus on her protection but the argument rang a little hollow in his mind in light of what she had said back at the manor.

Despite Oanh’s gesture Rene instinctively went for his gun when she darted towards Solae. Fingers as strong as iron caught his wrist under the table. The impassive Min Ho showed no sign of strain as he pinned the younger mans hand long enough for the initial reaction to pass. The pressure slackened slight, and then, when the former assassin as sure the marine was at ease, vanished completely.

His face darkened slightly as Oanh made her suggestions. They did make some sense from a purely tactical point of view but he didn’t see that it would be much help. The monetary reward alone was sufficient to tempt all but the nobility and no few of them had less money than status. Her genetic access codes would make her invaluable even if she was as ugly as sin and with a body like that men would find a use for Solae even if she were a penniless beggar.

“You disapprove?” Oanh asked and Rene realised he had been scowling. A flush of embarrassment colored his skin for a moment. To cover his discomfort, and to give himself a moment to think, he dipped the bread into his soup and chewed. It was a long way from the elaborate food of his childhood, but to a man who had spent the past five years on Imperial rations it was ambrosia. He swallowed and met Solae’s eyes before giving his attention to their hostess.

“It isn’t really my place to approve or disapprove Ma.. Oanh,” he amended at the look of disapproval at the attempted honorific.

“Solae is her own woman and dosen’t need my approval or disapproval or anything. It is her path to walk, I’m just trying help her however I can.” He felt a mild irritation that Oanh had bought it up and by the look in her eye didn’t intend to drop it.

“Right, but you DO disapprove,” she challenged. Rene set his spoon down and shrugged his shoulders, though the gesture didn’t so much convey indifference as a surrender to the line of questioning.

“The marquessa shouldn’t have to renounce her titles to appease a bunch of spinward rebels who think they are somebody,” he declared, his tone conveying the contempt he felt for the Gids and their murderous master.

“Even if this thing is sector wide, once we get word out the Empire is going to come back in here and set things right,” he expanded. Set things right in a pretty permanent fashion if the pacification operations he had read about in the past were any guide at all.

“When that happens Solae will be the representative of her family and a representative of the Empire. People will need to look to her as an example of what we stand for, not see someone who she her burdens when they became inconvenient,” Rene concluded a trifle more forcefully than he had intended. The silence lingered a beat and he bought a spoonful of soup to his mouth.

“Listen I’m just a soldier…” Rene began only to be cut off by a hearty laugh from Min Ho.

“For ‘just a soldier’ you have an awfully long ranged view of the situation. Your manners are too good, you accent and your diction is off. You are from Cappela I take it?” Min Ho pressed, emphasising his point by waving his spoon in Rene’s general direction. The marine nodded, drawing a steadying breath, he was a guest and had no cause to be irritated if his hosts were curious about him, or if they wanted to make dinner conversation that was intentionally or accidentally awkward for him.

“Not the normal gutter sweepings that go for the Marines I’d judge. What is they say, too vicious to live, too stupid to die?” Min Ho suggested.

“Too crazy to live,” Rene corrected, the unofficial motto was too familiar to be particularly insulting, plus there was some truth to it. Most men who went into the marines were guilty of crimes ranging from grand theft to murder. Bowie had enlisted after knifing a man in a drunken brawl. By Imperial fiat once a someone ‘took the star’, so called for the star inlay on the recruitment screen, he or she was immune from prosecution. At the completion of ten years service they would be discharged with a new identity and no questions asked.

“It dosen’t really matter, I want Solae to be safe, that is what is important,” Rene went on, moving the conversation back to the original point. His lips twitched into the ghost of a smile.

“As she told me earlier today, she is more than capable of making her own decisions.”

Solae's lips were pressed together ever so slightly at the allusion to their earlier conversation. The marquise was not a shy wilting flower but she also did not make it a habit to impulsively kiss men to which she felt an attraction. While Rene had reciprocated the expression of desire, his passive non-reaction to her departure and then subsequent statement that he didn't want her to 'regret' when the subject was broached had left a sour taste in her mouth. It was undeniable she had put herself out on a precarious limb. Perhaps he would have apologized had she not cowardly severed the internal broadcast... but nothing had been resolved as of present. Revisiting the memories did not conjure positive emotions.

"While I appreciate the insight," she began in a quiet, calm, diplomatic voice as polished as the marble of Lord Armon's home, "I am not ready to make that decision over dinner. I don't consider this to be about 'appeasing' the men of the rebellion nor making choices so I can be the best symbol on New Concordia for the Stellar Empire."

"Point taken," Oanh said. Although she did not agree with delaying the decision indefinitely, it was clear from the way that Solae spoke and sat that she was immovable on the topic for the immediate future.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Oanh continued after a brief moment of silence. "We heard about your parents. Are there other branches of the Falia family on other worlds you are close to?" She was trying to more delicately touch on a point Rene had just made- that whether she meant to or not she would be a representative for her lineage and the empire on a whole. There were not many nobles left on New Concordia and she wagered very, very few that would not be executed as traitors once this was all over. Solae's survival was thrusting her into more of a spotlight than she realized.

"There are other branches, but we are not close. I have two cousins, Countess Marina Nowak and Count Constantine Falia. They are both quite a bit older than I am and we have never lived near one another or run in the same social circles," she admitted. Her tone was casual and measured to sound neither excited nor depressed, but there were nuances that indicated a frosty distance.

"If you can communicate with the empire, is that who you plan to contact?" Oanh inquired.

Solae laughed at the suggestion. For the typical person it would make sense to reach out to family, but hers had raised the cousins to 'compete' in a way to be the most 'true' Falia heir. Technically Solae was born to a slightly higher station as her father had been the eldest son of the previous Falia generation. As their mother was second born the cousins knew they were considered 'lesser' no matter how minimal the degree. This had pitted them against one another from an early age. Solae did not attempt to measure herself against the relatives since it seemed rather ridiculous and her ambitions did not lie in besting them, which only irritated them more.

"No, no, though I'm sure they would do everything expected of them if I did. I'm certain Rene would have someone more worthwhile to reach out to or I'd try to contact one of my peers in the sector," she said with a soft smile. There was a certain soft-spoken older man in an office connected directly on the relay that she was wished to meet in her lifetime. He sounded unusually calm and thoughtful, a true rarity in the bureaucracy.

"Well, if I am to be taking the night watch I will need a nap," Oanh declared as she finished her food, stood, and cleaned up after herself. "The guest bedroom is the secondary safe room, so it does not have an exterior window, is fire resistant, sound proof, and the floors and walls are reinforced. If you need anything there is a small blue button underneath both nightstand drawers that can alert us to an emergency situation," Oanh explained. "I can't imagine there is anything you will need but it's there. If for any reason we are breached, the first safe room is the armory downstairs. We only utilize the guest bedroom as a safe room if for any reason the cellar is inaccessible."

"Thank you, Oanh. I'm sure Rene and I will be fine," she reassured. The inflection in her words made Oanh raise a brow and she exchanged the briefest of looks with Min Ho. They both sensed the strange air between their guests but were, for the moment, too polite to intervene or comment on it openly.

"Is there anything you need, Rene, before I head to bed?" Oanh asked.

Rene nodded as he finished his soup. Outside the distant rustling of trees gave a few seconds warning before rain drops began to fall onto the clay roof tiles in their soothing tattoo. The sun was already hanging low on the horizon and the rain darkened the sky and mutd the light still further. It might have made more tactical sense to move out tonight after dark but Rene didn’t want to rush Solae’s leg, especially in spite of what Oanh had told him about her possible vulnerabilities.

“Thank you both for your hospitality,” Rene said, passing his bowl and plate to Oanh who stacked them in a tube of water filmed with some sort of harsh lye based soap. Min Ho nodded companionably and stood up from the table.

“You mentioned that you had some recovery boosters?” Rene asked when they were finished cleaning up the small meal. Lightning flickered outside, booming after several seconds delay. Rene judged that it wouldn’t be as severe as last nights storm, though it could be hard to judge. Min Ho nodded and led Rene down into the cellar. The bearded man opened a cabinet and took out a phial and a gas operated injector.

“You ever used one of these before?” Min Ho asked, fitting the phial into the gray plastic injector housing with a hiss and a snap. Rene nodded. Combat drugs of various kinds were widely used in the marines, mostly stimulants to keep awake and hyperglobins for operation in space where oxygen penetration was a problem. Healing drugs like these were less common. Battlefield medicine was quick and brutal, basic stabilization get a casualty back to an automated medical unit. The usual rule was to spray someone down with sealant and drag them to a medic. If they survived the trip, they were likely to make a full recovery. He took the injector from Min Ho and set it against the vein on the inside of his wrist. With a hiss of compressed air the injector stabbed icy needles into his blood stream, tingin as the mixture of drugs and hormones raced towards his heart from where it would be pumped to his peripheral tissue.

“You might feel a bit strange for a few hours,” Min Ho counseled, entirely too late to affect Rene’s choice.

“They normally give it with a stim but I think rest is probably more important than a little discomfort,” the older man continued, placing the empty phial and the injector back into the cabinet and pushing it shut with a click.

“Do you have family back on Cappella Rene?” Min Ho asked with a nonchalance so complete as to set off its own alarm bells. The marine shook his cuff down, ignoring the small drop of blood already hardening on his wrist. He gave Min Ho a guarded look.

“I don’t have family anywhere,” he said, his tone making it clear that it wasn’t a discussion he was interested in. His host merely nodded impassively as though it had been a subject of little interest and made a gesture towards the stairs. Rene climbed back into the kitchen to discover that Oanh and Solae were out on the porch discussing something. He nodded his thanks as the old man started to put his gear back on. Rene wondered how he would explain the tactical armor to the Gids if they came around. Likely enough he either melted into the bush before they could ask, or they didn’t go around anywhere ever again. It had been a stroke of luck to find them but Rene couldn’t bring himself to fully trust intelligence types.

The upstairs guest room had an attached shower and Rene stripped off and got under the water. It was cold, or more to he point it wasn’t hot, but the tepid water was still a relief to the impressive heat. He leaned his head gratefully against the plastic tilework and let the water run over him for long minutes trying to find some sort of equilibrium. He needed to plan, to think of what was to come and prepare but his thoughts continued to slip into images of golden hair. Rene was not a spiritual man but right then he could have used some of the meditation practices his mother had forever been trying to interest him in. Thunder boomed close by and he wondered if it were possible to be electrocuted while standing in a shower. Deciding he had enough excitement in his life without a side line in life or death physics experiments he turned off the water and stood for a minute, allowing the last rivulets to run to the drain before toweling himself off. Min Ho had left him a pair of knee length black pants and a shirt of dark grey cotton, common laborers garb for most of New Concordia. He pulled the outfit and tucked his pistol into the canvas belt where he could conceal it with the shirt.

Solae was in the room when he came out of the bathroom, as breathtakingly lovely as ever. He gave her a smile and sat down on the edge of the single large bed. It was nearly full dark now and the room was lit by flashes of purplish lightning as much as by the dim glow of the rapidly receding sun. He wanted to clear the air between them but he had only the cortiers dissembling to reference. Ignoring that chunk of his past he forged ahead.

“Look I’m sorry about what I said at the manor, you certainly don't need me to make your decisions for you. Your smart and you're tough, you must have been to survive what happened yesterday.” That was the Stars truth, he hadn’t been that far from cracking up at points and he was trained for this. He couldn’t imagine how she was keeping it together.

“I won't treat you like a porcelain doll again. I promise.”

"Not treat me like a porcelain doll again ever?" she inquired with a raised brow. When Rene had walked back into the bedroom after his shower Solae had been perched on the side the bed brushing her hair. Oanh had lent her a particularly ornately decorated brush of black lacquer and hand-painted flowers from a distant realm. The rhythmic, constant motions of stroking her hair from scalp to end was soothing. So many years of repetition meant it was done without any thought and thus her mind could wander over its vast landscape to find worthy topics of muse over.

"Truthfully that is what growing up a noble is, isn't it? People making assumptions and then, armed with those beliefs and perceptions, making decisions on your behalf." Solae rested the smooth surface of the brush in her palm before leaning over and placing it on a nightstand. The room was relatively barren except for the bed and nightstands; the marquise suspected it was barely used. Min Ho and Oanh were not the sorts to play host and hostess without exceedingly good reasons to do so.

"I know you don't really want to talk about it," she began delicately, putting a hand on his if only to stop him from rising from his seat out of anger. "But I know why people join the Imperial Marines. I won't ask you to talk about what led to it specifically, but I want you to know I'm here if you ever want to discuss it, or yell, or even cry- I won't judge a man who cries no matter what I'm sure the Marines say about that- and I want you to know I believe in you. Whatever you've been accused of I know it can't be true- because you've already shown me what character you possess. After this is all over I will do anything in my power you ask me to... assuming of course I am still alive. My cousins are righteous assholes who wouldn't lift a finger without at least implied benefit to themselves."

Solae was ignorant of the charge of murder that had been levied against Rene, but even if she had known her faith would not have strayed. In the split second the soldier had seen three Gids advancing on her he had reacted more out of instinct than calculation. No one willing to risk themselves so selflessly could have slain an innocent. No one so worried about her safety, so conscientious of her honor, so anxious about the dangers she faced was capable of great evil. These were not learned virtues. Heroicism was a lifeblood that coursed through Rene's veins for years no matter if had opportunity or not to realize.

"And while I won't correct you on the issue of my intelligence- it's been measured every year since I was old enough for the testing- I certainly don't feel tough. It feels as if the world is moving under my feet and I am simply trying to run with it but can't grasp what is around me. It's a surreal blur," she continued. "Do you know why I didn't die in the attack on the embassy? I was near the center of the floor. All the walls, the furniture, the people around me absorbed the worst of the impact and the shrapnel. They inadvertently shielded me with their lives," she murmured. This was a conclusion had come to her when she was studying Syshi with Mia. For the briefest minutiae of time she saw Marlene's lifeless gaze turned towards her.

"I don't know what kind of person I'd be if I fell apart now. They all protected me, against their will, Mia helped us, Oanh and Min Ho are hiding us away, and you're..." she trailed off. Solae cleared her throat as she realized during the entire time rambling she had not let go of his hand. It quite suddenly felt scalding hot to the touch and his presence overwhelming. Fortunately Min Ho had gifted Rene clothing that did not leave his chest entirely exposed or she would have been even more distracted.

Rene wrapped his fingers around Solae’s as she spoke, taking a measure of comfort from simple physical contact. Men, and soldiers particularly rarely touched each other outside of the bounds of duty or sparing and Rene wondered if anyone had touched him for more than a few seconds in the years since he had taken the star. The lightning flashed outside at pulsing intervals, the bursts of light illuminated the room in sharp momentary reliefs. The light made Solae’s hair flash a white gold that was almost painful in its purity.

“I was on a punishment detail,” Rene began, thinking of Solae being saved by happenstance. So much coincidence had gone into bringing them together.

“When the Gids hit us I was halfway up a sensor antennae, a shell burst bought it down and I blacked out when I hit the ground and the wreckage fell on top of me. By the time I came to they were gone.” Lightning flashed again, illuminating his eyes as pools of darkness surrounded by brilliant white, the light casting his features in a sharp grimace of remembered pain. He squeezed her hand gently with his own.

“It isn’t surviving that makes you tough Solae, it was getting up and getting out of there,” he told her. She had been lucky, as he had, but he doubted many people of her station would have been able to keep themselves moving and evade capture. Plenty of people, even with military training, would have frozen up or simply shut down in the face of such an overwhelming calamity.

A shiver ran through Rene’s body and his left eyelid twitched spasmodically. The veins on his right hand stood out and throbbed for a moment then subsided. Side effects of the drugs Min Ho had given him and familiar from the course in combat pharmacology he had undergone back on St Croix.

“As for why I signed up…” he trailed off uncertain of what to say or if he should say anything at all. In his mind he had rehearsed such a conversation countless times, justification and self justification for what had happened. Amellia’s body flashed into his mind, laying on her white silken bed covers, her face cold and still in a mockery of the vital, vibrant woman she had been. The galling fact that her killer, who ever they were, was still at large and unpunished. For years Rene had harboured fantasies of finding out the truth, exposing those responsible but each imagined scenario had left him with the same hollow emptiness at its conclusion. None of it would bring the woman he had loved back. Solae kissed his forehead, her lips cool against his skin and snapping him back from the mausoleum of the past. His face had twisted into a rictus of pain and he forced it to relax with an effort of will.

“There was a murder,” he managed in a ragged whisper. He realised he was gripping her hand far too forcefully and he relaxed his grip but was unwilling to let go of her completely.

“I didn’t do it but the evidence… well it doesn't matter,” he concluded in a whisper, unwilling to revisit the pain and the anger that simmered deep beneath his carefully constructed defenses. If he started down that road he might go to pieces and he couldn’t afford that now, maybe not ever. Nothing he could do now could change what had happened but he wasn’t going to let another woman face death or worse while he could still affect the outcome.

Three stabs of lightning lit the room in quick succession, the purplish light melding into a single sheet of wavering illumination, etching Solae’s beautiful face in fluid magenta. The smell of tropical rain and wet earth were heavy in his nostrils mixed with the slight sharpness of ozone and tropical flowers. Without conscious control his arms wrapped around the marquessa’s slender waist, pulling her gently too him. The warmth of her body pressed against him through the thin cotton garments sending a shiver down his spine that had nothing to do with the restorative drugs burning their way through his system. He looked down at Solae, her eyes luminous in the uncertain light of the storm. Forgetting the coup, the Gids, the storm and the whole universe he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Solae suspected they would have to agree to disagree on how 'tough' she truly was. Perhaps her strong sense of self-preservation was another gift from the geneticist consultant her mother and father had employed some twenty odd years ago. Fleeing from death did not feel noble. In retrospect the marquise was not certain she felt like more than a caged animal backed into a corner that was focusing with tunnel-like vision on what would earn their survival. It was a touch ironic that she had been bred for intelligence and beauty yet they had not helped her defy fate. Long golden hair had not made the missiles impact exterior walls and blast debris around her out of bias for its color. Wit had not made Marlene impaled instead of Solae. Already she was weary of running and she could not fathom how much more of it she would be required to do.

As many questions as she had- why he had been on punishment detail in the first place, whom had been murdered, what evidence was against him- but it was clear that Rene was not capable of addressing a barrage. It was a show of faith that he had confided in her at all and she was grateful. There would be a day in the future, assuming that the rebellion did not end her life itself, that she would seek her answers with or without Rene on the subject of the murder allegations. He had moved on with life but placing it in the past the best way he knew how, burying the memories and pursuing the only avenue available to him, but even before the words of his innocence left his lips Solae knew she could not let this stand.

Telling Rene her intangible plan would put him in a tailspin. He'd object with certainty. An investigation could have a negative impact to her reputation even if her status allowed her greater societal latitude. If the murderer was still at large, and clever enough to not have been suspect to this day, the unknown individual would see Solae's inquisitive pursuit as a threat. Rene carried deeply about Solae's safety and the notion that she'd put herself in cross-hairs that already claimed another would push him over an emotional edge.

But Rene deserved more. If he had joined the Imperial Marines of his own volition that would be one matter. That he was veritably forced into it by false accusations, that his name had been besmirched, that he had been obviously traumatized and was still disparaged to this day... it was unconscionable. The soldier had been her knight in shining armor and she prayed the universe gave her the same opportunity in the courts even if decades passed.

Solae barely noticed the storm raging outside or even the look in Rene's eyes as she had inadvertently focused inwards. It was only when he pulled her close and kissed her that she become aware of her surroundings. A lady would have gently pushed him away, reminding him he was injured and possibly compromised by medication, that they should have a long, drawn out courtship full of expensive gifts and appearances to establish themselves as a couple, and a meeting between parents to discuss lineage and genetic strength. But Solae was increasingly aware she wasn't much of a lady (she had initiated prior) and, if Lord Armon's other conquests were indication, she was not alone in eschewing such requirements. Conscious thought melted away as she returned the passion of his kiss and pressed against him, craving the intoxicating heat emanating from his body. With no other way to close the distance (limbs and clothing be damned) she slid into his lap nimbly.

It was a good thing that the late Marquise Selene Falia in particular was not privy to these developments. She had died believing her daughter's discretion was indicative of chaste, reserved relationships. Marchess Alyosha Falia knew better- his daughter was well past eighteen years- but he had let his wife believe what she wanted to be to avoid disruptions in his lifestyle. After all, she was not the female version of the playboy Lord Armon, so there had been no reason to intervene or let the illusions Mrs. Falia had constructed fall.

*Events of In the Rain*

New Concordia - Day 4

Oanh small fist rapped on the door, drawing Rene back to the waking world. It was early by any reasonable standard, the light of the new risen sun barely slanting through the room’s large window, but later than he would have been allowed to sleep at the Rat Trap. Solae stirred beside him, a shaft of sunlight lay across her aurite hair, blindingly bright in its refraction. For a long moment he ignored the insistant knocking and simply looked down at her marveling at her beauty.

“Some time before the Succession,” Oanh called, her voice muffled through the door but clearly intelligible. Muttering a curse Rene rolled to his feet and, with some difficulty, found where he had flung his pants the night before. He was still pulling them on when Oanh opened the door. She glanced from the half dressed marine to the naked Solae and raised an eyebrow.

“I see she took my advice about lowering her market value after all,” the woman commented. Rene felt his face go blank, muscles relaxing into neutral planes equally useful for ignoring the berating voice of a superior or for firing a round down range. He didn’t think Oanh had meant the comment as an insult but it stung nonetheless. Solae was meant for better than him. Oanh either read the expression on his face or realised what he might be thinking and cleared her throat. Rene wasn’t sure what reaction he had expected, but the disheveled bedding, and the noise they had made during the night were hardly going to go unnoticed by two intelligence operatives on watch.

“Min Ho wants to see you both,” she said directly, dropping her eyes in as close as she was likely to come to an apology. Solae was awake and sitting up now, still naked but unconcerned. The nobility as a rule were less prudish, at least in private, than many of those they ruled over. Oanh didn’t look directly at Solae and Rene felt a surge of affection as he imagined she was deliberately making the other woman uncomfortable in subtle rebuke for her comment of a moment before.

“We will be down in a second,” he told Oanh and politely but firmly shut the door before turning and crossing the room to the bed. He pulled Solae to his chest and kissed her lingeringly, it was only with reluctance that he pulled away to get dressed.

Min Ho was standing in the kitchen when they came down. The gray haired old man wasn’t wearing his tactical armor but was dressed instead in a simple farmers smock and trousers with boots of soft synthetic leather. Rene was amazed at the transformation of hardened assassin into nondescript farmer, though he realised he shouldn’t be. Min Ho had spent decades in a career where blending in was literally the difference between life and death.

“Ah, feeling better?” he asked, his eyes flicking between the pair. Unlike his wife he choose not to offer any comment on the previous evenings activity. Rene nodded, and to his surprise it was true. Whatever drugs Min Ho had passed him had restored him remarkably. The blackened bruises on his body were already changing to the bilious yellow greens he wouldn’t have expected for a few days and his body was markedly less stiff than it had been the previous day. Even for as little sleep as he had gotten he felt remarkably refreshed. Of course there were other forms of rejuvenation that had played a role.

“The Gids are on your trail,” Min Ho declared with characteristic bluntness. He spread a map of green acetate out on the table. Rene recognized it as the satellite composite the marines themselves had used. Min Ho thrust a finger at a junction of roads which Rene guessed, from the land marks he had seen, represented Lord Armon’s manor.

“They have some sort of specialized tracking unit, police forensics and some off world types, probably came in on that ship yesterday afternoon,” the old man explained. Rene frowned trying to figure out how the Gids had landed on the manor, had the looters found something? It seemed unlikely, nothing they were carrying was identifiable enough to telegraph Solae’s presence.

“Mia,” Rene breathed as the pieces fell together. He felt suddenly foolish and ashamed. Min Ho cocked an eyebrow. Rene shared a glance with Solae and then explained.

“The AI at the manor was shielding Solae’s CLTI,” he explained. Min Ho had doubtless heard of the trackers, probably even used them to track down nobles who he was contracted to surveil or remove.

“They must have deactivated her and got a ping off it. Stars I’m an idiot I should have smashed it,” he said with a shake of his head. He had considered exactly that when he had removed the thing but had decided against it. At the time he had planned to throw the thing in a river or hide it in a ground car so that its movements would lay down a false trail. The sudden arrival of the looters meant he hadn't had time to do anything but hope Mia could keep it shielded.

“I don’t like you moving about during the day,” Min Ho said soberly, “But I don't see that there is any choice.”

Solae was quiet as Oanh and Min Ho spoke- suspiciously so. Silence fell over the room like a dark cloud of the night prior as each waited for the other to break through the tension. Determined as the Parks were that the couple should not linger at the house any longer, they would not forcefully evict them quite yet. There was an opportunity for both Rene and Solae to make preparations and decisions (specifically regarding possible routes) before departing so they could make the best of their situation. The seasoned veterans would give tactical opinions if requested but first a venture must be made.

"I think Rene should stay here," the marquise finally stated. All three of the soldiers openly stared at her stunned by her words.

She knew that they would be thinking this was wildly out of character. Of the quartet she was the most objectively outwardly emotional. Just yesterday she had been so distracted with her pseudo-rejection by Rene she had been curt about one of his jests. It was also no secret that she had slept with Rene enthusiastically during between dusk and dawn after they had made amends. Tracing back to who first initiated intimacy, it was Solae who kissed Rene passionately in the bathroom of Lord Armon's manor. Reeling from the news that her parents had died she had clung to her knight in shining armor and made an uncharacteristic attempt to romantically engage. Mia had not unduly influenced Solae; the attraction had been lingering there since the pair first met in the suburbs outside Armistice. To suggest splitting from a man whom she pursued, whom she adored, whom she favored physically and mentally, whom she was enamored with and infatuated with, so soon after he gave her the release she desired... it looked more of betrayal than favor.

"You can't be serious," Oanh breathed.

"Right now they are only looking for me," she patiently explained in a voice so detached from feeling that it could have been delivered by a primitive synthetic organism. "They will suspect I've had help but not who. The estate burned to the ground and destroyed most of their evidence. Furthermore, it will take time for them to realize that Rene was not a casualty from the attack on the base. Even if they came to the correct conclusion that we were together, one soldier does not rise to the same level of threat as I create with my genetic code, communication device knowledge, and linguistic skills. He is safer without me."

"But you are not safer without him," Oanh pointed out even before Rene could speak. Min Ho remained silent. He knew, like Oanh suspected, that this was about much more than just survival rates for the two individually versus united. Something had propelled Solae into martyring herself despite the objections and horrified responses of her allies.

"I will go pack my extra set of clothes," Solae said without addressing Oanh's statement. She avoided looking at Rene as she turned and started back towards the guest room. One errant look from her beau would dissolve her convictions that she had to save him from herself. The affect that the handsome former noble had on her was so great that his touch could eradicate all the courage she had bolstered to travel alone.

"I'll make breakfast. No one is leaving until they've eaten," Oanh announced to Min Ho and Rene meaningfully. The former was to stop Solae if she became overly ambitious in her timetable and the latter was to persuade his consort out of her temporary madness.

Min Ho lay a hand on the stunned marine's arm but Rene shook it off without malice. His insides churned with a confusing blend of emotions which aggregated out to a vague shock and the beginning of simmering anger and hurt. Had Solae really just attempted to toss him aside like an empty paper cup now she had had her fun with him. No, she had to be trying to protect him. With a sudden flash of insight he understood the anger he had sparked in her back at the manor when he had tried to protect her from her own decisions.

"You can't let..." Min Ho began but Rene cut him off with a curt gesture and started up the stairs, running his hand along the rough timber railing until he reached the top where he opened the door and stepped into the room they had shared. Solae's back was too him, as good as her word she was stowing the spare outfit that Oanh had provided into one of the travel packs. Though she must have heard him enter she didn't give any sign off it and he pushed the door shut. He wasn't under any illusions that a closed door would afford them any real privacy from the pair of retired spooks, but it was psychological comforting to close off the space.

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked in a quiet voice which telegraphed more of the hurt he was feeling than he had intended. The adrenaline in his system caused him to bite the end of his words and he forced himself to relax, trying not to make a tense situation worse.

"How in the void cares if I'm safer one way or the other. It is my choice to come with you Solae," he crossed the room as he spoke, taking her by the shoulder and gently turning her to face him.

"Even if it wasn't my duty, which, by the way, it most certainly is, you cant honestly expect me to hide here while you go off and put yourself in danger. I refuse to hide in a hole while you go off and face the Throne only know what all alone!" he realized that he had started to shout without intending too and deliberately lowered his voice to a more conversational level.

"Look, you said yourself that one soldier doesn't raise the threat level, but this is why they pay me the big Kay-Cee," he went on. The big Kay-Cee was a Marine corp joke. It refereed to a Kilo-Credit, which had once been the standard salary for a Marine. He gathered Solae into his arms, pulling the noblewoman close.

"I'd rather die than know that something bad happened to you and I could have prevented it," he concluded, raising her chin with his fingers to meet his eyes.

Solae was stiff in Rene's arms; he could feel the tension in her shoulders as she struggled to keep her composure and conviction. As he had looked down at her, telling her it was his choice to come with her, she had stared at his chest for fear of meeting his eyes. Nobles had a reputation of having an iron mind. Once they set themselves on a course of action nothing save the Empress herself could convince them to alter their path. This was perhaps true for Solae in some scenarios, but Rene's voice and gaze was a weapon wielded unknowingly.

His words were arrows to the heart. He joked, he dropped his voice from a yell to a gentle tone, and he appealed to her rational nature, but she knew he was hurt. Solae reminded herself that injuring him now was justified by saving him from the pain that the future inevitably held for them. She consoled herself with the fact that he was only insisting on protecting her because he felt a responsibility due to their connection, but it would fade if she could create distance. It was when he gingerly touched her chin, raising it upwards so that she could no longer avert his gaze, that she crumbled.

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Rene brushed them away with his fingertips as concern edged his features. He had not meant to make her cry and it caused him distress to see her react this way. To see him care about her only made her more desperate to draw away. Solae took a few steps backwards until she hit a wall. The room was too small to get all that far away from her lover.

"You have to let me go, Rene. I am not as kind or selfless as you think I am. If you continue to hold my hand I won't have the strength to let you leave..." her voice cracked with emotion and then grew quiet. "You already saved my life, so let me protect you from myself, and from the nobility. You have to know if we're found you won't be able to escape the courts. Besides, the rebels won't kill me. I'll promise you to survive whatever they put me through."

And Solae would survive but not intact. She could be wed, impregnated, scarred, and psychologically damaged beyond all repair if and when the Empire liberated New Concordia from the leaders of the coup. She could not guarantee her state of being but that she would do all in her power not to die in the most literal sense. As long as her genetic code was necessary for communication arrays she would not be killed; and even then the Gids could find use for a pretty woman beyond their war. Genetic manipulation ensured a long life, ageing with grace and minimal negative effects, and retaining as much of her beauty as technology could allow. If Selene and Alyosha's parents were any indication her hair would turn white and wrinkles would be sparse. Enslavement for decades was not unfathomable.

"You know what I'm telling you is the truth. I'll be a Marquise unless I renounce it, and even then if I am rescued the Empress may reinstate it against my will. Rene, I can't subject you to that, not knowing..." she trailed off. Specifically naming the murder accusation was a step too far. "It's better this way, while I still can," she murmured to herself. It was obvious to Rene she was not talking to him so much as she was trying to convince herself.

Rene shook his head, partly in negation partly in wonderment. She was trying to protect him. Not only from the very real danger here but the future danger of entanglement with the nobility. He didn’t suppose anyone in the halls of power would be happy to see him again, he ran a very real risk of being shot on a trumped up charge of desertion if he showed up anywhere without Solae to provide an account of events. Hells, they might even decide he was a likely conspiratory and shoot him for treason. The irony of it made the corners of his mouth tug up into a grin that was wholly inappropriate for the situation.

“Solae,” he began and then paused trying to find the right way to convey what he needed to say. Things had been much easier when he had just been a grunt and needed to do little more than follow orders and endure the ire of whichever officer was unlucky enough to be cycled through whatever backwater they stuck him in.

“I’m not going to let you go on alone,” he said in a voice that had the calm certainty of an astronomical projection. Her hand was warm in his and he kept his pulse from raising only by dint of the training the Corp provided for operators who might be called upon to fight in vacumn suits where air was at a premium.

“What would my life be worth if I let you go off alone just to save my own skin?” he demanded. Solae was probably right in that, if they were caught, she would be spared and he would be tossed into a shallow grave or blown out an airlock. Even if that were true he might well be the lucky one. Rene had gone through the crushing loss of identity when he had been forced to enlist in the marines but at least his fall from grace had been political and not personal.

“It is my duty, to protect you Solae,” he paused for a moment and then forged ahead.

“My duty and my honor, after I get you somewhere safe… well we can worry about that if it happens.” It occured to Rene that if he took her up on her offer to lay low, and the Empire was eventually victorious, he might well be shot as a traitor for NOT accompanying her. If it came down to that, he would just as soon be shot by the enemy.

In her heart Solae was not convinced, her doubt reflecting on her features as she stared up at him. Despite her reservations Rene spoke with a calm confidence that assured he would not be swayed from his convictions any more easily than she would. The handsome soldier was resolute that his place was beside her so long as she was being hunted by the rebellion. While inwardly she was in turmoil, emotions swirling with both the need to protect him from himself and a desperate yearning for his companionship, his were unfaltering in their harmony. There was not even the slightest hint of conflict as he announced his intentions firmly.

Selfishly and irrationally she wished that his reasoning had reassurances one way or another about where they stood. At every opportunity Rene proved himself to be a honorable man that the Stellar Empire could be proud of was in their ranks. Should they be rescued Solae imagined commendations were in his future. But he had not spoken directly of what fledgling relationship they had as a motivation for his actions. He had not told her that breaching the divide between where he stood and nobility would not destroy his psyche nor that she was a prize worth risking such for. They had only been together for a couple sparse days. Solae was cognizant this was far too much to demand or expect from anyone in the same or similar situation.

Nothing would be the same after the attacks on New Concordia. It did not matter if she was taken captive and weaponized, tortured, and raped, or delivered safely to a planet nearer to the throne. Memories might fade but their impact would not be forgotten. Not even the Empress could bring her parents back to life. Solae's two cousins would not suddenly welcome her back with open arms and promises of familial love. She would be solitary in her remembrance of the events. Oanh and Min Ho did not show any desire or plans to leave anytime soon- and even then they were distanced from the trauma and violence of the coup to some degree. As far as she knew Rene and herself were the only two loyalists left on the planet that would depart it. Had they not been attracted to each other as fiercely as they were, she would still dream of tethering herself to him so that she could be understood, so that she would not be adrift.

"I don't want you to regret," she said as she let her gaze drop. As marquise it was undeniable that she would have power over him should they be liberated. There were limits to her power, of course, but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility she could throw around her weight to keep him beside her with force. Solae was not certain that she was capable of doing so, but this war was changing her. She was frightened she would emerge from its ashes and not recognize herself. Not all scars were physical.

"But if this is really what you want to do, I suppose I can't stop you," she admitted. Just trying to imagine her trying to outrun Rene was comical. With the wound on her thigh her gait was slightly slower due to muscle stiffness- but were she in perfect health she would still be slower. Solae had an edge on flexibility but he was both stronger and faster.

"I'll finish packing up here if you want to see if Oanh and Hyun Tae have anything they can give us for the road." Solae slid around him and leaned down over the bed to finish what she had started, but now her fingers trembled slightly. Her courage was finally starting to waver. Even with Oanh and Min Ho's assistance it felt as if the world were against them.

Rene felt a huge surge of relief when Solae relented. A tightness in his chest, something he hadn't been aware of until it departed, relaxed. He had only known her for a few days but he already cared for her more than he cared to admit. It wasn't a good idea to become emotionally involved. All of his training underscored that fact, but he wasn't able to stop himself. Solae's body trembled slightly and he hugged her close to him for a moment, offering what comfort he could. Instinctively he pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment and then released her.

"I could never regret keeping you safe Solae, no matter what it might cost."

The darkness and the pressure were unpleasant enough but the slightly sticky itch against his skin was worse by far. The truck rumbled along the rough dirt road, its heavy diesel engine snorting and snarling over the pothole pocked surface. Each jolt shifted the overburden of sugar cane atop of them, smearing the sweltering ponchos they wore with more of he sticky juice. They had left Oanh and Hyun Tae two hours earlier. Min Ho had provided them with a backpack full of supplies as well as some weapons and ammunition. As a Marine, Rene felt under equipped but it was hard to imagine a situation that extra firepower would solve.

They had said their goodbyes a few hours earlier. Min Ho, whose land produced sugar cane along with his other fruits and vegetables had arranged for a local trucker to pick up a load of the sticky stalks and take it to a mill outside the city. Because of the stink of the milling process the ramshakle factories were far outside the city and the one Min Ho had chosen was In the general direction of the Shyshin encampment. During the stifling ride the truck had been stopped twice at what Rene could only assume were checkpoints. Thankfully none of the Gids manning those stations had seen fit to give the truck more than a cursory inspection.

After a sweltering eternity the engine grumbled to a stop. Rene squeezed Solae’s hand and checked the pocket chronometer Min Ho had included with his gift of supplies. Two hours and eleven minutes of travel time. Twenty minutes more than the journey was predicted to take but reasonable considering the road blocks. Rene waited five more minutes before squeezing Solae’s hand a second time.

“Lets go,” he whispered and started shoving the stalks aside. It took a minute to shift enough of the crop to break free into the bright noonday soon. To Rene’s immense relief the truck was parked in a holding lot of hard packed earth, dusty and rough. A massive mill squatted across the lot, sending smoke and steam into the sky in slow lazy streams The air smelled of stinking steam and chemicals. According to Oanh, the driver would be waiting to negotiate the price with the factors a process that would take at least a half hour. There were a half dozen trucks in the yard, uniformly battered and all still loaded with piles of recently cut sugar cane. There was no one else in sight for the moment and Rene’s grip on his pistol relaxed.

“Looks like we are clear for now,” he told Solae as he helped her down. Both of them were covered in thin plastic rain ponchos, disposable garments now smeared with dirt and sugar cane sap. Rene peeled his off and shoved it into his pack before helping Solae out of hers. Across the lot there was a scrubby swale marked by unhealthy looking trees. They walked as rapidly as they dared across the dirt and slid down into the concealment of the low ground. An ancient railway track ran along the bottom of the swale but judging by the orange brown rust of the rails and the small sapling that grew up between them it had been abandoned for some time. Rene sank back against the embankment and sucked in a deep breath. He peered up over the edge of the swale but saw no sign that anyone was the wiser.

“Ok,” he said, mopping at the sweat and dirt on his brow. From here on out Solae, more familiar with the Shyshin would have to take the lead.

“Where to from here?”

"The track should take us there," she breathed before coughing quietly into the crook of her arm. Solae pulled her bag over her shoulder long enough to withdraw a small, discreet metal box from the front pocket. Oanh had been concerned about the noblewoman's hip sutures and given her medication to help with pain, swelling, and any stiffness that might result from exertion. As her eyes scanned over the abandoned path below she popped a small white pill from her box, chewed, and redeposited the container from whence it came.

After taking a deep breath the marquise slid down the ridge. Barren dirt and rocks crunched underfoot as Solae landed on the bottom. The boots Oanh had gifted her were a size too large but a vast improvement over being barefoot. Had they not been able to secure the more appropriate attire the debris and rust that composed their path would have mangled Solae's feet even worse than they were escaping the Imperial Embassy.

"There's a couple important things you should know," she began as she walked. As she spoke her eyes constantly darted back and forth between subtle land markers that confirmed their location. Solae had not spoken of it, but her precision in recalling Min Ho's map suggested that her memory had been subject to certain genetic improvements she had not disclosed initially. "The Syshin have a smaller window of fertility, so as an evolutionary compensation they have multiple births more frequently than singles. Twins are the most common, so expect to see more identical faces than you are used to. Traditionally a pair of twins preside over each encampment and it's important to treat them with exactly equal respect as leaders."

The brittle, rusted railroad tracks started to descend slightly as they approached a hill. Sickly trees gave way to a grove of blossoming fruit trees that lacked the uniform placement of suburbia. Vegetation had been allowed to run wild and free. Thick tree roots protruded from the ground and over and through the tracks, contorting the metal where it had not submerged or destroyed it entirely. What was decoration for the upper echelons of society was a well-used food supplement for the destitute Syshin. Woven baskets constructed with swamp reeds were strewn around in preparation for the next day's harvest.

Solae led Rene through the lush growth to a large decommissioned spaceship that had been laid to rest. Had the windows and doors not been maintained it would have been perfectly camouflaged (albeit unintentionally). Decades had dulled the gleaming finish while vines had nearly covered ever inch that had not been intentionally cleared. Boughs of trees that had been allowed to grow close draped over the 'roof' leaving little exposed.

Shortly after the Syshin had been subjugated into the Stellar Empire, their transport to planets on which they were needed was hotly debated. At the time there was also a surplus of vessels being replaced due to a booming economy. What components retained value as technology improved were typically related to the engine, thrusters, or weaponry. The then Emperor and Empress sought to solve two problems with one solution: to gut these battered spaceships, leaving the living spaces largely intact, and salvage the more precious materials. Amber Horizon was no different. The spaceship that housed the community would never sail among the stars again, but it provided adequate housing for a people unable to afford manors and estates.

"Here we go," Solae told herself. Striding forward she knocked firmly on the front entrance. Syshi symbols had been painted around the edges but they were chipped with age and wear. They shook with the reverberations of her thudding, minuscule flecks of golden yellow fluttering into the grass at their feet.

There was no answer.

After a few seconds Solae cleared her throat. Her hair was plastered to her face and neck and sweat was pouring down her brow. Not only had it been sweltering hot traveling in the truck, the weight of so many stacked stalks had done her no favors. She ached all over and thirsted for an entire river to drink from. "There are only two of us, and we are not with the rebellion. Please, I beg of you to help me," she called out in Syshi.

The door slid open to reveal a female Syshin flanked by two males. The two men did not have weapons but they did not need to; Syshin were larger than humans and in the few uprisings on record they had utilized brute force in skirmishes. Eyeing the pair warily they did not speak, instead deferring to their counterpart of the opposite sex.

"You speak Syshi," the female Syshin remarked in a mixture of open awe and gratitude. "What brings you here?" she inquired as she eyed Rene.

"I am Solae, and this is Rene," the marquise introduced slowly. The Syshin did not have all the same cultural equivalencies as humanity did, and so it would be difficult to explain the nature of hers and Rene's relationship. At a lost for a better term, she erred on the side that implied more rather than less. "He is my bonded. Please, may we come inside and speak with your leaders?" At that she bowed her head and motioned for Rene to the do the same. The soldier had tensed at the bodyguards in front of him but did as she asked.

The female Syshin smiled. Nobles did not incline their head to common people- to do so to a Syshin was unheard of. This was a great honor, one that she could not overlook nor would she forget easily. "I am Nari," she said as she gestured for her two companions to step aside so they could enter. "Does your bonded speak Syshi?" When Solae shook her head, Nari quickly switched to slightly stilted, broken common tongue. "I am Nari, Solae's bonded Rene. Come inside. I take you to my brother."