Bridgebuilder

This final leg of the trip felt contemplative, both Alex and Carbon a little more quiet as they counted down the hours. Conversely, Neya was practically foaming at the mouth the entire time - Alex's tendency to leave her messages unread after saying intentionally ambiguous things even got put on hold. She missed them terribly and their group chat was the most convenient way to stay connected.

Neya had been busy too, she wasn't just sitting around pining for their return. Before they left, they had decided that a room meant for one or two people *temporarily* was indeed too small for three people to live in long term. Neya, doing business as Carbon or Alex - she switched off for practice - had taken care of finding a new place. There were not a lot of options onboard the *Sword*, but she took choosing seriously. Unless she was Alex, then it was somewhat flippant. There had been a bit of work to do on the unit 'they' settled on, and furniture to be made, as well.

But all of that was done now, so she had been sending them a river of pictures and a few videos of pretty much everything in the new house. A lot of them were selfies because she was finding ways to entertain herself. The house was more than four times the size of the old cabin, close to that of his parent's place. Most importantly? It had a couch. Made on board using synthesized cow leather, she said, and quite comfortable. Apparently there was a TV as well, but Neya couldn't drape herself over that so no picture of it specifically had been sent.

The *Tamat sa Na'o* traveled for speed on the way back, the Waverider drive pushed to its maximum until reaching Proxima, where it rejoined the Superlight network and proceeded into Sol in a neat and orderly fashion. The captain hadn't worried about lining up arrival times to play nice, so Alex and Carbon ended up shuffling off the *Tamat* at three in the morning.

While they had seen Keta and Desaya every day on the way back, those two were still sleeping. Possibly. *They* weren't expected to depart until a more reasonable hour.

Alex was the only one who actually had somewhere to be.

Carbon got picked up by an absolutely giddy Neya, mostly figuratively, but Carbon's feet did leave the ground when her Zeshen hugged her with no small amount of ferocity. It was the return to the hearth that Neya had expected the last time Carbon boarded the *Sword*, everyone happy to be reunited. Neya had then turned on Alex and admonished him about his texting habits before almost squeezing the life out of him as well, though the height difference kept him planted on the ground.

Those two departed to tour their new home... or probably just go back to bed, given how sleepy they both looked.

*He* reported to the Xenotechnology lab. There was data to lift from his systems and fix up before they went back to McFadden, and time was of the essence. After a stop at the Berkmann, of course. A few dozen donuts and a carafe of coffee to perk up the early morning before he climbed into the surgical chair. He wasn't about to arrive empty handed when making a bunch of people work on him before the sun was even supposed to be up.

This was a known habit of his. Admiral Olan met him there while the donuts were printing, had a brief discussion about the retrieval and expected timeline for having the fixed version uploaded. Olan was considerate, tactful, and concerned about Alex's well being. Listened carefully about the items that Alex wanted them to excise for personal reasons, as well.

Suppose he was in charge of their intelligence arm, he would know the weight this sort of thing could put on a person. Or at least he was concerned about someone with so much access to the Royal family.

They had redone the whole procedure room while he was out. The layout was more streamlined, the walls now white and trimmed with purple to make it feel more like a surgical suite and less like the storage room where they stick needles in your head. He was still sitting face down under a mechanical octopus, but the chair had been massively improved. It was adjustable enough to properly fit him now. It was even pretty comfortable.

"Prince Sorenson? Ground control to Prince Sorenson." Sergeant Zenshen was crouched beside the surgical chair, looking up at him and shaking his shoulder.

"Wuh?" What was she doing here so soon? They had just started.

She laughed at his bleary response, very quietly. "There you are. Intel is done, you're unplugged. Big day today, on the bounce."

"Right. Winter's Nadir. Uh, *Kina'o Lamasha*." He sat up and stretched, feeling a smidge less tired than when he got here as he turned his systems back on. That chair *was* comfortable if he slept through getting all those PIN's jammed into his wetware. Well, more pressing matters were at hand. Alex stood and wandered over to where he had left all the donuts, running his finger tips over his scalp. Not a drop of blood, which was nice. "Did everything for that get set up?"

Winter's Nadir was their Solstice celebration and new years mixed into one. The shortest day, and their biggest holiday, it was one of the two days on their calendar that were not grouped with a week. It was where the new year started, the halfway point through winter. A festival, a feast, roving gangs of poets and singers demanding treats or booze to shut up and go away, and yes, gifts for the kids. Sometimes for adults too. Mostly kids.

Alex had given up on the concept of seasons. It was mid-winter on board. Five days ago they had been at an early spring wedding, and back in Berkley it was just turning to summer. What's the point of keeping track if you were just going to head off somewhere and get a brand new one, entirely out of order?

"Yes. Picked up the shipment you ordered yesterday, and the Empress had already shifted some manufacturing around so there's a mix of Human and Tsla'o toys. Sorted by age range." Stana rifled through the remains of the pink boxes beside him, eventually finding a maple glazed donut that worked for her.

"Do we have enough for everyone?" He poured himself a cup of lukewarm coffee and chugged it, then poured himself another and put a little half and half in it this time.

"You gotta go easy on that stuff, man." She said around a mouth full of donut and shook her head, looking at him like he was mad for shotgunning a cup of black coffee. "Unless you brought a couple of hundred kids with you, yeah. Should have excess, we'll figure out what to do with it later. Birthdays or something."

Alex shrugged. He had a long day ahead and- Hang on. Alex looked up at the clock. Fuck, it's only *six*? He had a *really* long day ahead. Maybe he would start pacing himself after this. "Good. Pick up went all right? Had a couple of deliveries on Arvaikheer that went down without a hitch too, but I think they're living a different way of life out there."

Everything on Arvaikheer had just felt more laid back.

"Got some weird looks and the harbormaster himself came down to check the paperwork, but otherwise it went as smoothly as one can hope when receiving cargo on an alien planet." Stana was amused as she retold it. As the Tsla'o on board who had the widest experience interacting with Humans, even including Carbon, she was sought after when dealing with them in person. "They were a little perplexed as to why the Tsla'o Empire was receiving a shipment of toys bought by a Confed citizen, so I just hit Marcus - the harbormaster - with a 'the order is from an ambassador, and it's for a holiday like Christmas' and he got it. Pretty close to the truth anyway."

"Suppose I am sort of like an ambassador." Not really professionally, but he was sent on behalf of his government. He gave the one technician looking his way a wave and headed for the door. "Good. Carbon and I are taking Leeward, right?"

"Upper leeward, yes. Amalu would not shut up about getting put on that detail. He was so excited about the idea of participating in *Kina'o Lamasha* festivities, it was unreasonable." Stana considered the coffee for a moment but ended up passing on it before following him out. "So I took him off it."

Alex looked over his shoulder at Stana as he turned down the stairs. "That's unexpectedly brutal coming from you."

"It's one thing to be excited, but he was *distracted*. He's young, yet." She shrugged as she pointed out the difference. "Maybe someone will console him with a quick call and invite him along."

"Ah. I get it. You have his number?" Hey... Wait. "Isn't he like two years older than you are?"

"Of course I do. Closer to three years, actually. I would say we've been through very distinct experiences recently." She had a point, there. Amalu had joined up after being evacuated from Schoen, then bounced around several companies and not really trained to do anything specific until recently. Sergeant Zenshen had been thrown into a life or death situation as a refugee, conscripted, and ended up as one of the most skilled Human intermediaries the Empire had in Na'o a few months later, all because some Confed marines had taken her under their wing and given her a crash course in dealing with Humans that weren't diplomats.

It was a pretty significant difference.

"Fair." He checked his comm. No messages since one letting him know they had gotten back to the house and where it was located, so they were probably still asleep. Might as well make use of the facilities while he was here. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, the canteens just opened. What are you thinking?"

"Ever had biscuits and gravy?"

"Which biscuits?"

"The... fluffy bread ones." He gestured for approximate size as he cut over towards the Berkmann. "Not a cookie."

"Oh, yes. So you put gravy on them as well?"

"Yup. You've been missing out." He dialed in two orders for breakfast, both sans lactose. To go. He already missed the lackadaisical pace of long distance stellar travel.

They ate as they walked. The house was in the Citadel, just a short train-ride away from the xeno lab. It did put them closer to Eleya, as the Citadel was her personal section of the ship, but it was also the highest security area and very centrally located.

Alex had taken a shower on the *Tamat* but was dressed for getting his implants worked on, not being a proper prince on the big holiday. He didn't want to go to the new place, because then he'd want to take a nap and then bed was *right there*, but he needed to look the part.

Fortunately, when he poked his head into the main room, it was what he'd think of as a living room. The bed was no longer *right there*, because they didn't live in an extended stay hotel anymore. He could ditch Zenshen somewhere comfortable, not ask her to stand around in the entryway. She could even make use of the facilities if she needed as the kitchen was there as well, and the bathroom down the hall past the office.

Narrow stairs led up to the bedroom loft. As he suspected, Carbon and Neya were still asleep, but a quick check of the alarm said they were set to get up at seven. Perfectly reasonable.

In historical times, or anything over two years ago, the traditional outfit for *Lamasha* was heavy. Literally. Unless there was a blizzard, your ass was going outside and standing amid the celebratory bonfires where they cooked and ate and carried on. If there was a blizzard, everything just got rescheduled to next week. Recent celebrations had been somewhat subdued, understandably.

They tended towards bright colors. Yellow and orange for the sun and fire, greens for the coming growing season. Light blue for the sky, but that was a loaded color right now with Schoen's sky being a dirty gray. None of it was really Alex's preferred color scheme. He would love to just wear his black suit again, even though it was getting played out. Carbon had given him a look when he suggested it. Inappropriate for this moment, apparently.

So that's how he ended up with a purple suit. Used in medical fields because it was perceived as being clean, it also was representative of wisdom and bravery. The last one was very heavily emphasized in recent years.

Neya, being a professional, already had their outfits laid out on the new, incredibly wide dressing table.

It was cut in the rustic style - no sleeves and very little adornment - so he was just wearing a dark purple vest over a burnt orange *daman*, which was still not his style but the colors worked well enough that he didn't feel stupid wearing it... Even if it was better suited to Halloween. Just kept the black engineering-rated pants he'd put on entirely too early this morning, as it fit the 'working man' motif pretty well.

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Carbon had the same outfit he did, for all intents and purposes. Same colors, same vest. Interestingly, Neya went with a black vest with a red *daman*.

They were gonna have a chat about that.

Him and the Sergeant hung out and drank a lot of deep tea while he called Amalu - yes, he *would* be coming along - and made some breakfast. Keeping himself active so he didn't just go back to sleep. Carbon was particularly pleased to find food waiting for them, and Neya squeezed the life out of him again. Looked like she was about to go in for a kiss as well, but held back with Stana over in the living room.

They were underway by eight and heading to the aft promenade, picking up the rest of their group a half hour later - Amalu, Keta, Desaya, and a couple more members of their security team - at the closest maglev station.

It was already packed. Food carts cooking, groups of people socializing, the drone of a hundred conversations filling the large social area. No roving singers yet, thankfully. It actually pushed Alex's translator past what it could handle, a warning chime playing as a notification popped up to let him know all the processors were in use.

He wondered to himself if this wrecked the spyware's ability to collect data. Too much noise to filter from the signal. Alex was pleased at the very thought - he'd send intel a message about it later.

The energy in the promenade was shockingly positive. The discussions he was getting translated trended towards a couple of specific events - the Namara shipyard, their largest yard before the Cataclysm, had come back up to full production. It used to sit as the counterweight to their space elevator, which had collapsed, so the refit and repair operation had been a massive undertaking.

There was still a lot of discussion about the strike against the Makalva pirate clan, as well. Everyone liked that, even if it wasn't *new* news anymore. Over two thousand citizens freed after everything was said and done, and some high ranking collaborators rooted out by the Empress' brother on the frontier. A win for everybody except the pirates.

Both were things the Confed had been involved with. There was much less hesitation when people saw him now, they were less guarded when the Human head sticking up over the crowd bobbed into view. It had taken some time, but evidence of Humanity's earnest intention was finally starting to show up in ways that were visible.

There was also a lot of food. He ended up with a paper sleeve full of those cinnamon roll things, but actually bite size, still hot from the oven and a tart, alcoholic cider simply by slowing down to look in front of eager vendors. It was early to start drinking, yes, but Alex and Carbon had one more thing on the docket before the holiday really kicked off for them.

They pardoned themselves shortly before nine, as did Sergeant Zenshen. They had a meeting to attend. A short walk away from the promenade, back to The Hidden Bloom. The security in the hall was a little more obvious this time, soldiers in regular uniforms with the mark of Eleya's Royal Guard flanking the entry. Everyone got a scan before they were allowed in, and Alex's food got a second scan to make sure he wasn't drinking acid or napalm.

The door Alex had wrecked between the lounge and the dining room had been fixed, which was a load off his mind. It currently sat open, a handful of military personnel already loitering in there. He recognized Olan and Colonel Lhenan, talking over tea.

Eleya was alone in the lounge, save for the waitress she had cornered. The same waitress as last time, actually, standing in the corner next to the silver bar cart and mixing a drink. They appeared to be having a very amiable conversation.

The Empress joined them after she had her *kalaatan* in hand. Apparently holidays were for day drinking. She smiled, wide and genuine, a hint of a bow leveled towards the trio. "Good Nadir, everyone. Welcome back to the *Sword of the Morning Light*. Your presence has been sorely missed." She was in a fantastic mood, the sharpness Alex had come to expect from her nowhere to be found in her warm greeting.

"Happy *Kina'o Lamasha*." Alex popped another spice roll into his mouth and reached out to clink their drinks together. "Good to see you too."

A quiet, nearly fully contained laugh came from the corner the waitress was still in as she cleaned up the cart.

"Really." Eleya's initial exasperation at Alex's unrelentingly casual behavior was short lived, a thin smile curling up the corner of her muzzle. "I understand you are starting to come into your role, young prince. I look forward to when you embrace it fully."

"Don't get your hopes up." No matter how far into his role as a prince he got, or even if he someday became Emperor... He would have the exact sort of behavior you'd find at a backyard barbecue ready to go just for her. They would be bros, forever.

The waitress must have thought he was killing it because there was another muted sound of amusement from her as she hustled off to the dining room.

She smiled softly. "I feel I must. I am still appreciative of your actions. Tanse and Lema both approve of you, as it happens. They had been... cautious. I could not show them your truth, after all."

Did Eleya just turn that around on him? Damn it. He took a sip of cider. "Time will tell, I guess."

"Their help was invaluable, and very necessary. Please pass my thanks to them both along when you have the opportunity." Carbon said, just before she stole his beverage. Lifted it out of his hand and started drinking it like he wouldn't mind. He didn't, but it was the premise of the thing.

"I speak with Tanse nightly now, so it will be done very soon." She turned to Carbon specifically. "How have you fared with your father?"

"It was good. He is apologetic and I believe he speaks in earnest. He is also very unsettled, but he is accepting help and is well supported." She paused and drank half of what was left in one go. "I do find the holes in his memory to be worrisome."

Alex stole his cider back. If she was going to be swilling it, she could get her own.

Eleya raised an eyebrow, but did not comment on the pace of Carbon's morning drinking. "I understand that Kaleta has found her path again. It is good, I did not like seeing her in such a sorry state."

"Same." Alex still didn't like Kaleta very much, her first impression was pretty strong. Yes, it was good she wasn't about to start spewing slurs and advocating to have him shipped back to Earth, and actually able to do her job. Also good that she was under Tanse's eye for the time being.

Carbon nodded. "It is so."

"While we are on the subject of Zeshen..." Eleya plucked a small object from her *daman* and held it out to Carbon. Gray metal, half the width of her palm and only a centimeter thick. "*Zetalo* Varasha sent this for Neya using the most secure channels she has access to. I assume it will be safe in your care?"

"Yes, of course." She took the case, the top surface embossed with Eleya's sigil above a depression for a thumbprint scanner. "It is keyed to her?"

"It is. She said it was data related to an inquiry Neya had made to her a few weeks ago. Personal among their kind. I have not had intel verify that, I hope I do not need to."

Carbon shook her head. "She has had much on her mind lately, most of it related to the recent expansion of her duties." She gave a nod to Alex.

"Is that why I felt like Varasha was trying to suss me out the whole time we were on Na'o Gateway?" He assumed that if the verdict was bad, Varasha would have just sent an email telling Neya to get out, not... whatever was on that storage device.

"It is likely. She is crafty, more careful than other *Zetalo*." Eleya approved of that, of course.

Alex thought she couldn't have been too crafty, as he clocked her doing that, but he stopped before it turned into actual words. "Must have passed the test, then."

"So it seems." She gestured to the dining room. "Come, we have a few items to discuss. Some news that is related to you, specifically."

It was a pretty small crowd, a commander and lieutenant that Alex didn't recognize the only other folks on hand, some snacks and deep tea already laid out around the table. The waitress, who Alex was starting to think was not simply a waitress, secured all the doors behind them.

"I will attempt to make this short, it is a holiday. Gold protocols. An update, as the Prince and Princess have not been informed - the Makalva raid was an unmitigated success, and the more we dig into the spoils the better it gets." Eleya stood at the head of the table, where she had sat last time they were here. "Governor Madala in particular had been dumping Human donated supplies with the express intent of having it salvaged by the clan. In turn, they used them extensively - we have cleared three sites already set up for habitation, and are working on ensuring another three are safe before allowing civilian crews to overhaul them."

"At least somebody was putting that stuff to use." Alex might have been a little salty about it. Nothing about the Tsla'o frontier sounded good, but it was an extreme measure by desperate people.

Eleya gave him a nod of recognition, despite the sarcasm. "Indeed. While it seems counterintuitive, this is proof that the supplies work, and they work well. The Makalva clan grew at an unprecedented rate and remained strong because of them. That they were a torn claw for my Navy for so long is evidence of just how useful these will be to our citizens."

"I am pleased that some good is coming of this." Carbon chimed in.

"As am I. The next order, your return to the Artifact. Plans have not changed, you will be returning to McFadden station in two days time, and then shipping out to the Artifact the day after. Per our previous plans, you will conceal your relationship from the crew involved. They should not know that Carbon is related to me, merely an accomplished engineer. And while I believe most of the Confederation is fair-minded and well intentioned, it has become clear that the ONI is not. *They* violate their own citizens and our treaties alike. I know you will not 'play favorites', Alex, and I would prefer that you not be replaced because someone else finds that trait distasteful."

"Yeah, I got it." He still wasn't looking forward to it, but the deal was that both sides got access to whatever they found in the Artifact, if they found anything at all. Eleya was right, he wouldn't play favorites. That was the agreement.

Carbon tipped her head. "By your sight."

"There is a recommended packing list the Confederation has sent along that will be forwarded to you both. Apparently the seasons have changed." Eleya did not elaborate on that before pushing on. "The last item... Obsidian protocol."

She paused, looking around the handful of people in the room for recognition of that change. Presumably the scan at the door was enough proof that they were who they said they were. A rather solid bit of evidence this wasn't simply a private dining room at Eleya's favorite restaurant, as well.

Once happy that they were all on board, she turned her attention to Alex. "The intrusion that you uploaded has - what is that term you kept using? 'Phoned home' just in the last few days. It is currently on an infrastructure-grade network in the Western hemisphere of Mars named *Kay Oh Emm*. Does that happen to sound familiar at all?"

Alex shook his head. "Just the letters K-O-M? Not immediately, no. If it was in all capital letters it could be an acronym, but that also doesn't mean anything to me. Sure would have been nice if it had gotten loose on tharsis.oni.navy.mil or something." If they were doing stuff that violated at least a few laws, an appropriately named network would be the dumbest place to handle that illicit data.

"Ah, unfortunate. Either way, this ping raises the next question. It currently sits quietly, avoiding doing anything that might draw attention. If we want more data, it will have to begin taking more noticeable measures."

Eleya had said that she would leave the choice of what to do with it up to him. "It can't be traced back to you?"

"If that network only handles data from you, then yes, it could be. The amount of storage and traffic it has recorded indicates that site is a very busy *satalo* warren."

Alex absolutely didn't get that idiom on the first pass. "Well, fire it up then. Minimally invasive. I don't want... I don't want anything important damaged." That wasn't true. Alex really *did* want something important damaged, but would hold his desire for retribution until it wasn't just blindly striking at unknown systems.

"By your sight, young prince." She bowed just a little bit at him. "And if something should come to light when you are out of contact?"

"You remember the discussion we had on the GX8?"

A pleasant smile crossed Eleya's lips. "Of course. It was enlightening."

Alex trusted her a little less when she smiled like that. It was something that a normal person would do, so when she did it, it had to be manipulative. "With what I said in mind, use your own discretion."

"So be it."

"Minimally invasive." He reiterated, just to make sure that part was clear for everyone.

"It is understood, young prince." Eleya was gracious about it, very much a surprise. "Unless you have anything else to add, that covers what we were to discuss. Anyone?"

A quick glance around the table found that no, nobody had anything they wished to add.

"Then you are dismissed... Do have a good holiday." The probably-not-just-a-waitress opened the door to the lounge, and the naval personnel disappeared after an appropriate amount of bowing and holiday well-wishing.

Carbon hung around for a moment, so Alex did too. "Eleya..." Carbon started, words faltering before she could get them out.

Eleya had been keeping an eye on them, sipping her drink across the table, but her attention was instantly focused on Carbon. "Yes, dearest niece?"

Carbon held up a hand and leaned in to Alex, speaking to him stretching up on her toes to whisper in his ear. "I would like to invite her along."

He had not hidden that Eleya was not his favorite. Carbon was well aware that there was not a small amount of animosity on his end that he tamped down and sat on because she was the Empress... and because he did want Carbon to have good relationships with her family. Alex responded in a similarly quiet voice. "Sure, the more the merrier, right?" He had not yet said it out loud, but he did kind of like Eleya sometimes. In those moments where she was earnest, she did feel like family. She was squarely in their corner.

But there was always the matter of trusting her after their initial meeting scratching at the back of his mind.

Carbon slipped her hand into his, turning back to her aunt. "Eleya. I do not know what you have planned for today, but I would like to invite you to the gift-giving event we will be hosting later."

She set her drink down and leaned back in her chair, caught off guard by that. The Empress took a moment to compose herself, blinking back tears. "I would like nothing more."