A day later, the ISOD ship IF Zulu arrived and docked with Sarah's and Ulquonar's ship. A crew of engineers inspected it while Sarah and Ulquonar talked to the captain of the ISOD ship, Captain Desoto.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyHWYjrUjY
"Captain, we need to blow up the ship. It needs to disappear," said Sarah.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2PaRvLYyt
Captain Desoto raised an eyebrow. "Blowing it up leaves traces. It's unlikely someone would stumble upon them here, but can you take the risk?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvmh5jD3Ve
"What do you propose then?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvYiobUKUb
"We'll fly the ship to one of our facilities and properly disassemble it there. We'll recycle most of it and no one will ever see it again."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP4XEmZgLK
Ulquonar grinned and Sarah sunk her head slightly. "That's of course better. We'll do that," she said. "Although, would it be possible to haul the ship to the facility in the hangar of another ship?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIXcUXVkm5
"Yes, but that would delay us, cost more and be overall less secretive due to added involvement. I don't see an issue with having the ship make the journey under its own power, or do you?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KHiXfSyBG
"Not particularly. Thank you, Captain."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMv2XYSuxlv
"Anytime, governor. However, if you allow me, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaa3M7JqVn
Sarah nodded and Ulquonar left the room.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRMkFSz1zg
Captain Desoto sipped on his coffee and said, "I'm curious, governor." He showed her his top-level clearance. "What is the governor of IRN and a Zephalan doing here, together, on a junk barge?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaOAJyoc4V
Sarah smiled. "I'm afraid that's classified. Strictest need to know."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVIDefcYDG
"Hmm, understood. I've had your luggage brought to your quarters. Deck six, Section A-2. I'll have someone show it to you."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlj1Jlc6A9n
"Thank you, captain."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYMCo3xx2i
Captain Desoto nodded and called an officer who showed Sarah and Ulquonar their quarters. They were small, but at least they didn't have to share a room. The flight back to Andarion was several hours long and Sarah grew impatient about all the protracted waiting in FTL-Space. Such was long-distance space travel. They had scrubbed the astrogation computer clean before docking with the Zulu, but still Sarah was nervous and hoped no one would ever be able to trace them back to the Forbidden World. It would be a PR disaster of unfathomable impact. Why had she decided to trust a Zephalan so lightly? Why had she allowed him to pursue his goals at her expense? She lay on her bunk bed, trying to rest, but she ended up turning around constantly. She undressed after a while, finding it uncomfortable to lie in bed clothed. Space travel. Black all around, distances seemingly competing to be the highest and humming engine drives ever persistent in the background. The cabin had no windows and only one locker. Sarah had traveled better before, but the times expected of the royal family to be modest when undertaking inofficial business. A bit less casual and a bit more stately would be better. In this times, rank seemed a formality, not a hierarchy. True, the captain was commanding officer of the ship, but bridge officers were known to call their captain by their first name and ship business was handled with a certain levity. Whether this negatively impacted performance was debated, but no measures had been taken. Therana's strict anti-war policies had made the military become pushovers. according to some less mainstream figures. In contrast, matters of healthcare and education were at an alltime high of satisfaction and an alltime low in criticism. All good and smart, but it had done nothing to prevent piracy to live their fourth heyday. Nothing had come after the Black Dawn class superdreadnoughts 30 years ago. Some argued such large, heavy and most importantly, exorbitantly expensive warships weren't necessary. The Zephalan invasion had been a highly irregular and unusual event, with wars between established factions not requiring such overarmed behemoths. Others cautioned that such an occurrence, in one way or another, might happen again and the empire should be able to defend itself. All of this fell on deaf ears in the Dark Temple, with Therana deciding that no new superdreadnoughts be built and the defense budget be cut by 5%. She enjoyed high popularity, up to 85%, in the central and southern empire, but in the north, it was down to 40%. Not disastrous in absolute terms, but well below the threshold warranting special concern. But soon, very soon, the pirates would be forced to wake up, to witness the end of their times. Hopefully, Admiral Laurent would be ready soon.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDTG53ylgM
The Imperial Frigate Zulu reached Andarion after seven hours of straight zooming through FTL-Space. They hadn't been able to use an FTL-Route and thus had to contend with lower speeds, but Sarah couldn't care less anymore. She was ready with her luggage in the hangar to be brought down to the surface and to her residence. Ulquonar would be flown to a shuttlepad in Klendana that would allow him to disembark without making the news. Captain Desoto came to say goodbye, but Sarah barely listened. Her mind was with Ishaan and a proper bed. As the shuttle glided into the atmosphere and eventually touched down on the residence's shuttlepad, Sarah wondered if she would later come to truly regret ever having taken the position of governor.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUMD5j1LUA
She hadn't spotted him before, but upon leaving the shuttle, she saw Ishaan already waiting along with Henry and guards. Sarah immediately embraced and kissed Ishaan before turning to Henry.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60vACQUEV6
"Welcome back, ma'am," he said.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TEqRV2jHJ
"Thank you, Henry."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJocOBRaG0
"I hope you've had good journey."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroPWcI4eY4
"Tumultuous."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOvPCvlVvm
"Interesting."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GQEiUFyYq
"We should go inside," said Ishaan. "The press has been overly daring for a few days. We suspect they know you've left."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm86x8xqOOO
Sarah nodded and they hurried inside. It was evening and the sun had almost completely set. The chef of the house Reiko Izuro had prepared dinner and Ishaan requested they eat alone in their apartment. She had prepared poultry in lemon juice with potatoes and green salad on the side. But Sarah couldn't enjoy it, even though it was delicious. She stared at her plate and ate very slowly, avoiding looking Ishaan in the eyes. He left her alone, but only for a couple of minutes.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cWmgaLMrB
"I know something's on your mind. Wanna talk about it?" he asked.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG6PkBrAvr
"Not really," she answered.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvS9szf3jYC
"You can talk to me. I don't like seeing you like this."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsf8TLxU9R
"You probably have to endure it."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE2cU7yaF9
"But why?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kJ58ynINr
"I really don't want to discuss what happened. I didn't die, that's something."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2m9uvlspdr
"A bit barebones," he mumbled. "Did that Zephalan do something to you?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNzVaH1BBW
"Not directly."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtxETbHAw8
"Indirectly then. What did he do?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvna7CNMdS
"Ish..."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBMQCUWioH
"Fine. But don't expect me to just forget about it."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QoF3wtLb3
"Fair enough," she said, sighing. "Listen, I'm tired. I want to go to bed early."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIZQC2nxZr
"Alright. No welcome back sex then, hmm?"697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMco08rLJ8q
"Sorry."697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡem57XNez03
Ishaan sighed, and the sun disappeared below the horizon.697Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5W8dDsMHag
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