Felix
Jhuri was waiting in the anteroom of the reception hall on Moll Primus when the crew arrived. Felix sauntered over to him while Tib and Calred ordered drinks from a floating servitor. “Hey there, boss,” Felix said. “All done puking up green goo?”
“I wish I had expelled that foulness by vomiting.” The Hylar shuddered. “It oozed out of me in far more unpleasant ways.”
Felix winced. “Never mind. Sorry I asked. How are you feeling? I hear some people take the comedown pretty hard.”
“I have never been more depressed and anxious in my life, thank you, but I am on medication to take the edge off, and I am assured my brain will return to something resembling its usual operations in time.” He gestured with a tentacle. “I’m proud of you, Felix. You’ve earned this.”
“Medals of commendation all around, and a promotion to admiral for me?” He couldn’t help but puff out his chest. “Well, it’s a start. I never thought I’d be a flag officer, that’s for sure. I sort of figured myself as terminal at captain.”
Jhuri chuckled. “Don’t worry, they won’t actually put you in charge of a fleet. You’re still part of the Special Projects division. You’ll just get more money and more respect on those rare occasions when you mingle with your fellow officers. But you’ll mostly keep flying around in the dark, fighting off the monsters. There are lots of monsters, and we’re facing them alone, as usual.”
“The Greater Union is done, huh?” He hadn’t been terribly invested in the idea, but it was still a shame. Uniting even a chunk of the galaxy in a peaceful fashion was a lovely dream.
“When many of the invited guests at a summit start to ooze green-flecked blood from every orifice in their heads, it tends to diminish enthusiasm for the whole process,” Jhuri said. “We’re just lucky our brief allies didn’t fully turn on one another. The fact that people from every faction demonstrably suffered was helpful. Our cover story is that we suffered a biological attack from terrorists and are pausing plans for the Greater Union while we sort out the security situation. Those who were infected know the truth, of course, and the leadership in all the factions have been informed as well. They’re all understandably furious with the Arborec, but Fleet Captain Harlow’s testimony made it clear the Arborec aren’t even truly to blame, any more than our government is responsible for every fringe group or bomb-throwing radical who happens to have Mentak Coalition citizenship. We are getting some very juicy Arborec technology in the way of apology… although, unfortunately, so is every other faction involved, including those in the Legion.”
“Have you heard anything from Ggorgos? I know she succeeded in her mission, since Moll Primus wasn’t attacked, but I haven’t heard anything from her.” They hadn’t exactly parted on the best terms, what with him locking her in the brig and all, but he’d hoped she would forgive him. It had been a confusing time. Of course, it was possible she wasn’t thinking about him at all.
“I received a report on her report,” Jhuri said. “Ggorgos and Captain Dampierre engaged and destroyed the Soldier of the City .”
Felix winced. “They just blew it up? They didn’t try to cure the crew?”
“Are you surprised?”
He sighed. “I guess not. Disappointed, of course. We saved ours . They made it home safe, though?”
“Dampierre dropped off Ggorgos in a shuttle near a Coalition station and then, presumably, returned to the Barony to get her own medal, or else get imprisoned for embarrassing her superiors by being more competent than they are – you never know how the Letnev are going to react to things like this.”
“We can hope for imprisonment, anyway,” Felix said. “Any word on Terrak and Azad?”
“Terrak was picked up drinking Hacan firewine on a neutral moon and being modest about his very small role in saving the universe. As for Azad? Gone. No idea where. We made inquiries with the Federation of Sol, who claim she wasn’t even working for them, and hasn’t been on their payroll since she left the navy. We know that’s a lie – she was definitely a deniable asset for Federation covert operations for some time after her discharge – but we don’t know if she still is. The Federation seemed as shocked and horrified to learn about the conspiracy as the rest of us, which suggests they didn’t know about it any earlier… but then, humans are good liars.”
“Well, we try,” Felix said. “It all turned out well, honestly, don’t you think?” There was no use dwelling on the horrible parts. They’d get to him in his dreams, and he didn’t want to give them any more waking attention than necessary. Moving forward was the best way to get past something.
Jhuri rolled one eye toward him. “Apart from revealing the horrifying flaws in our security, exposing our vulnerabilities to exploitation, and bringing the entire galaxy to the brink of war? Yes, I’d say, other than that, everything is marvelous.”
“That’s the spirit,” Felix said, and then it was time to go accept his accolades. All’s well that ends well, after all. If you didn’t think about all the people who’d been killed along the way, at least.