Futuristic The Darkness of Space (Supernatural Scifi)

[Reynarda]

"I don't doubt you," Kas said. He just suddenly felt tired. They were supposed to be having a truce and having talks with the vampires. There was not supposed to be some magic-wielding armored king coming charging in with some army to fight them. He sort of wanted to blame Vanya, but even he could recognize that knowing about it and wanting to deal with it was better than not knowing and being completely blindsided.

He just wished there was somebody else to deal with this besides just one mercenary, one spec ops, one scientist from another dimension, and Vanya. And one priest, he supposed.

This was so much easier when there were only vampires to deal with.

Kas did arch an eyebrow at the mention of a friend in the Albaquese military forging data. He supposed if it functioned as interference it was fine.

For his part, Vanya smiled.

Kas scowled at him. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"I am," Vanya said without opening his eyes.

"Smartass," Kas muttered.

He frowned slightly. He still just could not see the mild-mannered priest as good at lying. He supposed if he had got the vampires after a phantom drug operation, he wasn't too shabby. "Well... as long as you're confident in him, that's good enough for me."





Pyotr smiled as Renza hurried away, but as soon as he was gone, he dropped the smile. "Status?"

"Sending a strike team, sir," Gerik said. "General Levin would like to remind you he is not your personal militia."

Pyotr rolled his eyes. It was just like a chained animal barking at its master before doing as it was told. "Tell him to update me once it is finished."

"Already have, sir." Gerik paused. "What about the priest?"

Pyotr sighed. He couldn't hold the priest without any cause, but he was also his only link to the mercenary at the moment. "Keep an eye on him. If he tries to leave Olive Station, hold him."

Gerik sighed. The owners of the station owed Sylvestr nothing, so there were no favors he could call in there. He would just have to keep Jan and Reeta on him. With another sigh, he messaged Reeta.

He wasn't entirely sure what the representative thought he was going to get by shadowing the priest, but he was determined, whatever it was.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

The rice cooker beeped, and Leese stood up.

She went to check on it, eyeing the meat and the sauce before opening up her dish cupboard.

She grimaced, because she didn't really have company that often. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had more than two people visiting her.

"Uh," she began, embarrassment in her voice, "I only have three plates."

Fenrick propped himself up on his elbows.

"Vampires eat different things?" He suggested, and Leese only became more flustered. Right. She had been so caught up in cooking that she'd forgotten that.

"Right. Anyways, Kas, dinner's ready. Hope you like curry. I made it a bit sweeter and milder than I normally do, because I don't know how much you like spices."

She dished out two plates, eyed the dining table, and then took hers over to the armchair.

"You can eat at the table or the couch, whichever you want," she said, because he currently had a sleeping vampire on him and she didn't want to make him get up.

Food was easier than addressing all of the other problems, and cooking had always relaxed her a little bit.

"Hanabelle is very particular about 'using her powers for good', if that makes you feel any better," Leese said with a little eye roll.

She supposed she shouldn't make fun. Hanabelle hated corruption, and she had spent her life building up a position to combat it, only to figure out as an adult that fighting the bad guys wasn't easy when nobody knew who the bad guys were.

Fenrick made a disbelieving noise as he looked to Kas and his reluctance to trust that Renza was good at lying.

"He... took you in," he said, trying to remember the idiom. "You have been gotten."

Leese gave him a disapproving look.

"Don't be rude. He was just... being polite this morning. Maybe putting on a bit of a show," she said, because Fenrick was biased and she didn't want Kas and Vanya to think that Renza was a terrible person.

He wasn't. He just... had a thing for pushing peoples' buttons. And maybe had a thing for putting himself in mortal danger and wiggling his way back out again.



Ah, the blond girl was back.

Renza felt a bit bad for her, really. She wasn't quite cut out for this sort of thing. It was always hard to be a good liar when you were young, but he imagined it was easier for somebody like him, who had experience. Renza had grown up on lies and manipulation. They were how he'd gotten enough to eat as a child, and even after that, when he was trying to survive the church orphanage and its own inherent corruption.

'Renza-Korlan, it worries me that you lie as easy as you breathe,' the bishop had said to him once when he was a teenager. He would say it was a bit of an exaggeration, but he did find lying almost too easy sometimes. Maybe Leese's charge was right, and he was a little bit evil on the inside, for not feeling bad about deceiving.

If he actually believed in God, he might care more.

He figured he might as well be good for now. It was closing in on the evening, according to his internal clock, and soon he'd be able to retreat to his room and contact Leese. It had been a long and tiring day. People were still arguing about the space station exploding, and he wasn't really in the mood to be the good listening ear anymore. He would anyways, but it was starting to weigh on him a bit.

He eyed Reeta discreetly from the corner of his eye, then figured he should at least make her job easier for her. He headed over to the hall where the auditorium seating was still set up from the science talks, sitting down in his chair and sighing. It wasn't empty in here, by any means, but people were busy. Here, he could sit down and relax for a bit.

He shifted in his seat, then hunched forward and clasped his hands in prayer.

 

[Reynarda]

Kas smiled, suddenly remembering Vanya attempting to be a good host even though it was Kas who had sneaked onto his ship to steal the plans and then had ended up trapped there when Vanya had shut the airlocks and taken off. Vanya had been incredibly distraught about his lack of plates and human food.

"Yeah, Vanya would probably just eat off my plate even if you had four," Kas said with a wry smile. "But curry sounds delightful."

Speaking of. Kas jostled the not-exactly-sleeping vampire. "Get off. I'm hungry."

"No," Vanya groaned.

Kas rolled his eyes. He lifted Vanya up and slipped out from underneath him. The vampire flopped dramatically back down with a groan.

"You need to get on a regular sleep schedule," Kas chided as he sat down at the table and picked up his utensils.

Vanya grumbled something into the pillow that Kas guessed was along the lines of "sleep is for the weak".

"This curry is amazing," Kas said, his mouth full of the aforementioned food. At Leese's explanation, he nodded, glad at least that hers contact wasn't wreaking havoc for fun and selling secrets or whatever. "I think I would like to meet this Hanabelle. Would be nice to meet someone with morals. I'm getting a little tired of politics, not going to lie."

He turned a frown on Fenrick. "I was not 'gotten'. Espionage is my entire job."

Vanya lifted his head from the pillow. "False. You're special forces. You're the muscle they send in once the espionage is complete."

Kas shot him a dirty look.

Vanya kicked his legs in the air. "Specifically Kas is a hunter-class spec ops. That means he's a counter-vampire agent. His training is in neutralizing vampire agents, so don't be so hard on him for underestimating a human priest."

"And I am good at my job," Kas added, his tone annoyed. "I have neutralized tons of vampire agents."

Vanya rested his cheek on his hand and grinned. "So many."

Kas hated that grin. It was so smug. Mouth full of curry, he jabbed his spoon at Vanya. "You don't count. You're not even a real agent."

"That's fair." Vanya stretched and stood with a yawn. Grabbing his glasses, he crossed to the bed and flopped backwards next to Fenrick. "Leese, could I trouble you for a drink?"






Reeta updated Gerik every so many minutes, mostly because the priest was being very boring. She stopped once Gerik sent her a strongly worded message to stop.

Her eyes drifted around the room, and she listened to the pair of arguing vampire philosophers who had found some sort of anomaly but couldn't decide if it were significant enough to report. Weird things popped up on scanners all the time. They just called it noise.

With a start, she realized she had looked away from the priest for quite a few minutes. But he was still sitting there, praying. Or maybe sleeping. She honestly wasn't sure.

Reeta was starting to think politics was not her calling when a cheery voice announced over the speakers that the evening meal would be served. Vampires didn't eat three times a day, so she figured it was for the humans. But at least she could find some tea or something.




Pyotr recorded several press releases with Gerik's assistance and sent a few more detailed messages back to the other representatives. There was still no news from the strike team about whether they had captured the priest's mercenary or seen Jaager or Vanya.

Annoyed, he sent a message to the only member of the Zmey clan who had not blocked him. Has Vanya contacted you?

Dmitri Zmey messaged him back several minutes later. Why would Vanya contact me? Is my child alright?

Pyotr ground his teeth. I have lost contact with her.

You assured me she would be safe. Where has she gone?

Pyotr decided not to respond. He received several more messages from Dmitri Zmey asking where "his child" had gotten to, but he ignored them.

He went through his other options, but he didn't have any agents that he could send after the mercenary. He was kicking himself for putting all his eggs in one basket with Vanya. She wasn't as compliant at Yva had been. Vanya had too much of her father in her.

So that left the priest. He check on his location, but Reeta had last said he was still praying.

At the announcement, Pyotr rose with a groan. There had to be some way he could get the priest under his control and casually let the mercenary know. It was too bad there was a truce on. It would be very unfortunate if the tension were to snap and a fight were to break out.

It would be hard to recover from, but it might be worth it just to get the mercenary back where he could have her interrogated.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leese couldn't help but snort.

"Well, she has morals, though sometimes I don't understand them. I think you'd get along," she said dryly. Hanabelle could be strange and a little confusing sometimes, but she kind of reminded her of Vanya.

It made her happy that he enjoyed the food. Renza had gotten used to it, to the point that he rarely complimented it anymore. She had worked hard to figure out a human palette, so she was allowed to be a little proud.

"I'm certainly not judging," Leese said with a shrug. "Renza is good at getting people to like him. I don't always agree with his way of doing things, but he's definitely good at it. I just... sometimes he has a habit of taking things a bit too far."

She cringed, because she could only imagine how things were going back on Olive Station.

"That dangerous vampire you mentioned, how petty is he? I know Renza, and I know he's going to drag this wild goose chase out for as long as he can. I just don't want him to end up pissing somebody off who's going to haunt him for the rest of his life."

Not that it would be too easy. Renza had a solid reputation among the church, and as much as the Bishop quarrelled with him, he also cared about him. As long as there was no physical proof to the contrary, he would always take his pseudo-son's side.

Fenrick snorted, but he flopped over, clearly done with the conversation.

"I have alcohol, if that's what you mean," Leese said with a shrug. "I keep the expensive stuff back on Albaques, but there's some half-decent vodka in the cupboard. If you mean blood, I admit I'm fresh out."

It still made her uncomfortable, and she looked to Fenrick, whose face was unreadable. He talked a strong game, but she knew that drinking blood unnerved him. Reasoning that it was natural was easy, but actually doing it when his entire culture and upbringing framed it as sick and taboo was difficult.



So far so good. Renza almost felt bad for boring the poor girl to tears.

He wondered how the drug bust was going. If he was correct, then Hanabelle would have sent them after something paltry, the kind of thing that would never have been worth mobilizing a whole strike team. It would add to the scandal once the news broke, and would further highlight any poor judgement on display. Hanabelle didn't have access to the information networks in Yasen that she did in Albaques, but she would certainly have already started rumours of incompetence in the few channels she'd wormed her way into. It was enough to almost make him smile.

When dinner was announced, he stretched and stood up, but froze when he heard the sound of panicked voices from out in the hall.

He didn't let himself stay frozen, because it would be too suspicious, but he listened to the frantic whispers that weren't quite whispers with growing dread.

Some kind of anomaly from the rip. A big anomaly, not like before the station exploded. It made fear twist in his gut, and not the kind that he enjoyed. This was the kind that he had felt as an eight year old child when an animal three times his size had loomed over him, looking at him like he was a prey animal.

He felt helpless.

He hated feeling helpless.

He took a deep breath, then made his way towards the dining hall. He had wanted to stay here, but if something was coming out, this place wasn't safe anymore. He had to run. It was the sane thing to do, to run. He didn't owe these people anything, and he certainly wasn't going to risk his position that he'd built up over a lifetime for them.

The dining hall was in front of him, and it was crowded. Good. He slipped into the crowd, glad that the one Pyotr had trusted to watch him was just a teenaged girl. Inexperienced. She underestimated him as much as her uncle did.

He used dinner to disappear, slipping out after eating one single sandwich. The crowd would make it easier to give his tail the slip.

He lost her easily enough, heading back down to the docking bay with an unhurried, confident gait. He would just leave. It was fine. He could totally leave, and he didn't have anything to feel guilty about. He never felt guilty.

He thought of that teenaged girl who had been watching him, and he ground his teeth together.

It wasn't his fault if she died. None of this was his fault. He could just leave.

He could leave, and Olive Station would just become another Minerva. It would no doubt be harder to cover up this time, but they would find a way to do it.

When he was certain that he was completely alone in the hallway, and a cursory glance at security cameras informed him he was in a blind spot, he sagged against the wall, gasping for air. His hands shook, and he tried very hard to get his breathing under control. He was good at this, at being undercover. He wasn't some stupid traumatized kid who had panic attacks when he thought of the one time he had almost died horribly.

He finally felt that he was close to getting himself under control when the cramp came.

It was low in his stomach, right above his groin, and he gasped again as he doubled over.

Shit, shit, shit. This hadn't happened in years. He hadn't thought it would ever happen again. If he was getting symptoms, that meant that something was close to the station. It obviously hadn't breached. If it was an animal, it would just try to chew its way through the walls, and somebody would have to notice that. If it was a person...

He shook his head, clamping one hand down on his abdomen as he forced himself to his feet. His hair was slick with sweat and he had no doubt that his shirt would be soaked before long. The hallway spun around him, and he was pretty sure his vision wasn't quite right. Colours weren't quite right. He shook his head, pressed his hand to his eye, and then opened it again. It still wasn't right, but it was better.

He had been in one place for too long, he thought as he leaned against the wall again. The girl... she should still be in the dining hall, right? He was fairly certain he had given her the slip. She definitely couldn't be around him right now, on the off-chance that he was contagious. He needed to find somewhere secluded and contact Leese.

 

[Reynarda]

Kas chuckled. He got a lot of flak for his personal code of conduct. It was the main reason Vanya was alive to smirk at him from Leese's bed. He couldn't kill him. Not after he had saved his life to his own detriment.

That and he kinda liked the little punk.

"Renza does have an easy-going attitude," Vanya agreed easily with Leese.

Kas was not placated at all. He knew Vanya was still giggling at how flustered he had been when he kept accidentally cursing in front of the priest.

"Petty?" Kas echoed glancing at Vanya.

To his horror, Vanya laughed. It was mirthless and a little bit strained. He stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds before raising himself on his elbows and grinning a little madly at them. "Petty? Well. Let's just say my mom turned him down forever ago and he's still mad about it."

Kas hesitated. Some pieces were starting to click together. "Seriously? He hit on your mom and she was like 'no thanks' and so now he's taking it out on you?"

"Eeeeeeeh," Vanya said. "It's a little more complicated than that. But, yeah, much of what he does to my dad is because she married him."

"Really? How small is this guy's dick?" Kas asked.

Vanya clapped his hands over his ears. "Ew! Kas! I did not want to think that! Arg, I'm never going to un-see that, gross!"

"Oh, come on. That's the only reason a man gets that mad over a woman going for a different guy."

"No, he's from a very powerful clan and he was making his way towards being the prime representative. My dad is from the Volkof clan, which is even smaller than my clan. My dad is only prime representative of the Zmey clan because no one else wanted it. My mom is one of the most brilliant engineers of her generation. It's a power thing."

Kas was unconvinced. "So, he is power-hungry and has a small dick. He's compensating."

Vanya's hands were doing little to stop the sound from going into his ears because he said, "Can we please stop talking about his dick."

"What's his sight?" Kas asked curiously. "Not matter or his dick would be bigger."

Vanya shrugged in the noncommittal way that suggested he absolutely knew but had no intention of sharing. "You can't make your dick larger using matter, Kasper. They can't create matter. And only you would think that."

Flicking his eyes to Leese, Vanya said, "But I wouldn't worry too much. He can't really get at up-standing citizens. He's tried running a smear campaign on my dad but my dad is stubbornly by-the-book and never takes bribes or votes for things he doesn't believe in. My dad is a... what's that word? You said you were one when you were a child?"

Kas sighed. "Junior scout?"

"Yeah, junior scout. As long as Renza hasn't secretly murdered someone or embezzled or slept with somebody's spouse, there's not a whole lot he can do." Vanya paused. "Well, except going after people he cares about, I guess. Like you. But you're sort of out of his reach right now."

When Leese offered him vodka, Vanya gave Kas a very confused look.

But Kas was busy snickering into his curry. Deciding to take pity on him, Kas said, "They way you said it did sound like you wanted alcohol."

Vanya scrunched his nose. "Humans and their love of rotten juice. No, I meant liquid. Like water. Or tea. Or whatever liquid you have that is not fermented fruit liquid."

"Vodka is made from potatoes," Kas said.

"Why would you make fermented potato liquid?" Vanya asked Kas, Leese, and the universe in general.

"You literally drink blood," Kas pointed out. "And potatoes are versatile."

"Ok, fine. Water? Do you have water that I could drink?"




Pyotr was sipping tea, listening to another representative babble about something he couldn't care less about when Reeta came running up to Gerik, her eyes panicked. Great. She had lost the priest. With an annoyed huff, he excused himself, cutting the other representative off mid-sentence.

"Report."

Gerik cleared his throat. Reeta was his little cousin and he was not about to let Pyotr yell at her.

But before he could speak, Philosopher Dima came running up. "Sir! There's a big anomaly!"

"What sort of anomaly?" Pyotr asked, his eyes narrowing.

Dima gave him the shrug that philosophers often gave that Pyotr now associated with Vanya. It pissed him off.

"If we knew, it wouldn't be an anomaly, Sir. But it's headed for the station! It came from the rip."

Dima blinked in confusion as the prime representative of Clan Sylvestr unfocused his eyes and stared off into the distance. The philosopher cleared his throat.

"Evacuate the station," Pyotr said just as the philosopher opened his mouth to repeat himself. "Now! And find me that priest. Gerik, tell my crew to have my ship ready. Jan, Reeta, take my escort and find the priest. Bring him to my ship. We take off as soon as you have him."

Dima stared at the evacuation notice that popped up on his handheld. He turned to ask Representative Sylvestr why they were evacuating, but the man was already striding off. Dima figured he had better grab his colleagues and do as the man said.




Reeta hurried in the wake of her long-legged cousin. They were flanked by two of the representative's personal detail, large vampires with the expression and manner of a cliff face. She had always thought them a little frightening.

"There he is!" she said when they spotted Renza leaning against the wall.

Jan strode forward, his expression only slightly warmer than that of the two guards. "Father Richtail, the station is compromised. For your safety, you need to come with us. We're evacuating on Representative Sylvestr's ship."

"Are you okay?" Reeta asked him as the two guards moved forward. She guessed they intended to lift him off his feet and carry him to the ship if he didn't comply. Her English was accented and she didn't know what his title was, but she figured it didn't much matter at the moment. "Mr. Priest? Are you injured?"

 

[Mikotsuhime]

That sounded like a whole can of worms that Leese had no intention of opening.

She wasn't a stranger to the whole power and manipulation thing, or how it related to interpersonal relationships. It wasn't as prominent on Ferensen, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. But if somebody was petty enough to take things out on Vanya's father over thirty years after he was born, then it was a pretty good bet that Renza had gotten the attention of somebody very annoying.

"I don't think he's murdered anyone, and if he embezzled anything, he'd be smart enough to hide it very well. Sleeping with spouses I don't know, but it seems a bit sleazy. I doubt he'd be up for that."

Fenrick rolled his eyes, but he got a curious look on his face as he sat up.

"His dick is reproductive organ, correct?" he said, and Leese choked on her curry. "Why does it matter what size it is?"

"We are not talking about this," Leese said firmly, and Fenrick sent her an annoyed glance. He wanted to know, but he supposed that speaking about reproduction at the dinner table was considered rude by some clans.

He made a show of flopping back down, because sometimes he still acted like a dramatic teenager.

Leese's face flushed as she realized Vanya had just been asking for a regular drink, and she stood up as she headed to her cupboard.

"Right, sorry. I'm not used to having people over that aren't, er. Renza. Or Hanabelle occasionally," she mumbled, her ears red. "Is red currant tea ok? I haven't really gone to Albaques to replenish my food in a while. I think I might have enough for a pot of chai..."

She quickly fished out the tea tins, then grabbed the kettle from the cupboard. There wasn't quite enough room for it and the rice cooker on the counter, so she moved the rice cooker over to the dinner table, then grabbed the jug of water from the cupboard, filled the kettle and turned it on.

She eyed the water jug, then opened the cupboard to see if she had any more. There were two others in there, but if they were going to be using this as their operations base, it might go quick.

Buying water at the market was the worst. She knew the guy who brought supplies, and he was a dickhead scalper. She appreciated he had to make a living, but it wasn't unusual she'd buy supplies for her neighbours when she want to Albaques every now and then.

Regardless, she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it, handing it to Vanya.

"Potatoes are versatile, and vodka is very good at getting you drunk," she agreed with Kas. "I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to get a little drunk after today."



No, no no no. He had been stupid, and now the vampires had caught up to him. Renza grit his teeth when they came closer.

It wasn't quite like what he felt when he had been around the beast in the Minerva, when they got within the distance he could smell them. But they were strong, and even if that magic wasn't directly in their blood and flesh the way it was with Ferendin, the smell of it made his mouth water.

Goddamnit, this was the worst possible situation. He could feel the approaching anomaly from the rip, and it was messing with his brain. Causing the stupid parts that had been scrambled and rewritten by the contamination years ago to flare up.

"Stay back," he snarled, hating how gravelly his voice came out. He was ruining everything. If anyone saw him now, they'd laugh at him.

He tried to think about what Fenrick had said after Leese had told him about the situation. Renza was stable, and was unlikely to spread contamination as long as he stayed that way. His DNA was altered, and he wasn't entirely human anymore, but it wouldn't bother him if he wasn't around somebody with Ferens. If he lost control of himself and attacked somebody, he could very well start a contamination outbreak.

He swallowed, his hands shaking as he forced himself to stand.

Reeta was there, and she was a kid. He was not about to lose control of himself in front of a kid. She was a lot older than he was when the Minerva had happened, and she might even be older than he was now, but he was not going to traumatize her.

Surprisingly, it worked. He found his urges to tear and eat diminishing, and he let out a shaky breath.

"I'm fine. I just-- Dinner didn't really agree with me, that's all" he assured her, offering her a small smile. He straightened up, eyeing the guards for a moment. His smile thinned a bit, but he was too distracted to focus entirely on his cover right now. They were trying to isolate him.

Normally that would be very, very bad. If he was smart, he would run, and call Leese for an extraction. But his legs felt wobbly, and he was sure that if he tried to run, he would fall over.

"I'll go with you. Just... Just give me a moment," he said, forcing himself to focus. If he compartmentalized, it was easier. If he could focus on just putting one foot in front of the other, he could do this. He straightened up and gave Jan a wan smile, signalling he was ready to go.

 

[Reynarda]

Kas nodded. "Yes, his dick is a reproductive organ."

He would have gleefully continued if for no other reason than apparently thinking about the vampire's (small) dick was not something Vanya wanted to do. He still had his hands over his ears and had his eyes squeezed shut as if he could erase they thought from his brain through sheer willpower. Kas made a note to bring this up later.

But Leese was right. Talking about conniving vampire dicks at the dinner table was rude.

He finished off his curry and sat back with a contented sigh. He was a little surprised that Vanya hadn't attempted to steal his food. But the vampire seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"Well... there's not much he can do if Renza doesn't have any dark secrets," Vanya mused. "And it would be very hard for him to use him to get at you--not that I think he won't try, he'll definitely try."

"You going to tell us his name or are we going to have to call him Small Dick Henry?" Kas asked.

Vanya groaned. "Ugh, fine. His name is Pyotr Sylvestr and he's a wanker."

"I've heard of that guy--hell, Vanya, doesn't he have like half the board of representatives in his pocket?"

"And the military, and the corporations. And some philosophers, too, probably."

Like me, went unsaid, and Kas couldn't help wonder what the blazes Sylvestr had on Vanya. He was pretty sure Vanya had never secretly murdered someone or embezzled or slept with somebody's spouse. He had a feeling the representative was going after his family. Kas resolved to personally break Pyotr Sylvestr's nose if he ever met the man.

Vanya smiled when offered tea. "Whatever you feel like making, I'll be happy to drink."

Kas couldn't help wondering how much the priest drank if alcohol was what Leese defaulted to.

"Well, I'll have some of that fermented potato liquid, if you're pouring," Kas said. "I don't know if I want to get drunk, but I wouldn't mind something to take the edge off."

Vanya gratefully took the water and sipped it. "So... not to be that guy or anything, but what are we going to do about the army that's going to come flying through the rip--do we know what their plan of attack is?"

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to need that vodka," Kas sighed.




Jan and Reeta took a slight step back, a little surprised that a formerly mild-manner priest was snarling at them. Reeta held a hand out, trying to stop the big guards from hurting him. He looked scared more than anything, and she couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

Reeta started forward. One of the guards reached for her arm, but she shifted space around her, and the guard couldn't reach her. "Mr. Priest?" she repeated, hunching her shoulders to make herself look like less of a threat.

She smiled in relief when he said it was just dinner not agreeing with him. She stood in front of the others as if protecting him from them as he caught his breath.

"We can get you to the med bay on Representative Sylvestr's ship," Reeta said helpfully, and Jan sighed. He liked his cousin, but she was not cut out for politics.

Reeta held out her arm. "Would you like to lean on me? I can help you to the ship."

The evacuation klaxons started to blare.

Jan hurried them towards the representative's official ship. It was a large, sleek craft, built for show and style. It was essentially a rich-man's yacht. It normally had an escort of two fighters, but Reeta wasn't sure where they were. As soon as they were on board and the airlock was sealed, the pilot released them from the station.

A nervous-looking crewmember stood by the airlock. "We'll be accelerating to one Yasen gravity," she said in English for Renza's sake. "The representative would like to see you in his office."

"No, we need to get Mr. Priest to the med bay, first," Reeta asserted. "He isn't well."

The crewmember glanced at Jan, but he shrugged. "Yes, of course, right this way."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leese didn't know the name, but she didn't really keep up on vampire politics. She assumed from Vanya's disposition and Kas' worry that he was a bad guy.

The vodka was looking better by the minute. When Kas asked for some, she caved in and fetched two glasses from the cupboard.

"Montrose knows nothing about this side," Fenrick said, not even bothering to sit up. He stared up at the ceiling, his face unreadable. "He will send scouts before coming himself. Probably Morei and Anika. They are top guards."

Leese's face twisted, and she immediately filled her glass with two fingers and swallowed it back in one big gulp.

"Anika follows orders. She will do what she is told. Morei is... confusing. I cannot... read him? Predict him? I do not know what he is going to do. He might be hard to deal with," Fenrick said. He couldn't say that he was happy about either prospect, but he would take Anika over Morei any day. She was straightforward and easy to understand, even if he hated the way she thought.

That came with its own complications, though. He glanced at Leese, but she seemed to have closed her emotions off completely. Figured.

"Ferendin population is very small compared to Albaques. Compared to Albaques and vampire planet, would be very very small. Army is not problem," he continued, finally propping himself up on his elbows. "Only people coming through would be royal guard. Number is... ten? Maybe twelve. Problem is contamination. Royal guard is not hard to stop, but animals will come too. Containing contamination will stop outbreak, which is vital. Both are not hard, separately. At same time? Complicated."

Leese grimaced, and nodded her agreement.

"We might need more people. Bringing the government in is a risk, but more manpower will make this much easier. I have a few friends who might help for a pretty penny, but not many, and I don't have the money to give them."



Renza looked to Reeta, and he considered her offer for a moment. He wanted to refuse. He didn't like feeling weak, and he still felt like his stomach was tied in knots. But she was only trying to help, and he wasn't sure he could walk straight anyways.

The absolute last thing he wanted was to go to the med bay, but they could deal with that when they got there.

"Thank you," he said as he leaned on her, but tried to keep most of his weight supported himself. He wasn't a small guy, after all.

When they were safe on the ship, he tried to stand on his own.

"It's quite alright. I just ate something bad, I'll be fine," he said, though he could still feel the twitch of power under his skin. He didn't know where the invader from the rip was, but he hoped they were getting farther away. Cutting off from the station, getting rid of the smell and feeling of the hundred odd people who were there had helped significantly.

His sweating had slowed down, and his vision was a bit clearer. The cramping was still there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

He turned to Reeta and gave her a small smile.

"Thank you, miss. I really appreciate it, but I can see the representative now."

 

[Reynarda]

Kas did not throw back his vodka but instead eyed it like it would have the answers before taking a small sip. He nodded. Not bad.

Vanya was watching him like he thought Kas might suddenly explode after drinking it. Kas held it out to him, and he took the glass, his face screwed up. After a sniff-test, he took a tiny sip and immediately coughed. Snickering, Kas took the glass back. He really needed to get some good tequila and have Vanya try that.

"So what do we do with the guards?" Vanya asked after chugging some of his water. He didn't miss the glance at Leese, but he didn't know what to make of it, either.

"And the animals," Kas added, taking a large gulp of his vodka.

"You're the contamination expert, Fenrick," Vanya said. "How do we stop that efficiently?"

Kas made a face into his vodka. Yeah, money was the problem. He knew several independent contractors who would be happy to help. For a hefty fee. And none of them had much in the way of funds. He grimaced. "I thought we were trying to keep governments out of this."

"What about your mom?" Vanya asked.

Kas winced. Yes, because his mom would just love to get a message saying there were unknown bogies coming in through the rip-thing and could she pretty please bring her fleet to help him fight the monsters. "My mom is a little more by-the-book than your mom," Kas said. "I'd have to go through all the right channels. That could take days. What about your friend with the small dick?"

"He's not my friend and I would rather launch myself out of an airlock."

"Ok, but if we had to quickly get a force, could he do it?" Kas pressed.

Vanya looked like he was holding vodka in his mouth and had nowhere to spit it. Kas almost told him if the wind changed, his face was going to get stuck like that.

"That's a yes, he just doesn't want to admit it," Kas said, downing the rest of his vodka. It was not taking the edge off.

"That's just stepping out of one mess and into deep cow excrement. Not only will he never forgive me for lying to him, but he will try to turn this into a grab for more power--in what, I have no clue, but the man can figure out a way to make himself supreme representative of the bloody system or something."

"That's not a thing."

"Yeah, and neither was owning half of Yasen but somehow the dickhead managed it. I still think your mom is the better option."

Kas grunted. That was because Vanya liked his mom for whatever reason--he was 80% sure they had never met--and did not like Pyotr Sylvestr. "Well, those are my only ideas. I'm just spec ops. I don't command a fleet or anything."






Reeta looked very concerned even though Renza said he was fine. She hovered close to him, holding her hands to her chest to keep herself from fussing. She didn't care if this priest might know something. He was sick. He needed to go lie down or something. That's what humans did when they were sick, right? Lay down?

She felt her cheeks heat up when he called her "miss". That was a term of respect, wasn't it? She should probably tell him she was just an aid. Instead she ducked her head and lead the way to Pyotr's office.

Pyotr was in the middle of composing a message that was essentially a demand for information. There weren't really words for what he had seen, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Besides, it might not have even been what would happen. That was the thing with his sight. It wasn't always perfect. But all the options were bad so leaving had been a good call. Still, now he had a headache and he was feeling like fussing at someone.

He looked up as Reeta brought Renza in. Reeta was hovering next to him, and the priest looked ill.

"Mr. Priest is not well," Reeta said. "He ate something bad."

Pyotr affected his sympathetic expression. "Please, have a seat, Father Richtail."

Reeta hovered next to him so Pyotr fixed her with a look. "Thank you, Reeta, that will be all."

After a slight hesitation, she bowed and hurried off.

Pyotr smiled with psuedo-warmth. "I'm so sorry for all that, you must be very confused. There was something approaching the station, and since I offered you my protection, I sent my aids for you. You are perfectly safe with me."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Fenrick flopped down again, because containment. Right. How did that work, that was the question.

"I do not know how contamination affects humans. Or vampires. I study contamination in Ferensen, not here," he said, because he was the one who probably knew the most about this, but he felt out of his depth.

"I can translate if you want to talk it out," Leese suggested. Fenrick scrunched up his nose, but it wasn't a bad idea.

"I can come up with an accurate containment procedure based on what we know of how the contamination affects Ferendin. But that..." He licked his lips, looking thoroughly unsettled. "We've never been able to stabilize a Ferendin patient before, besides Serlain. Stabilizing a Kaltsrist and stabilizing a person are two different things. I was only able to help Serlain because I'd studied for years, and I was never able to replicate the procedure on anything larger."

Leese frowned. She knew the Ferendin containment procedures. They weren't pretty. She could tell Fenrick didn't want to explain, so she figured she'd do it for him.

"There's no treatment for contamination, and it's contagious. The only way to contain it is to isolate everyone who might be affected, quarantine them, and wait for them to die," she said, her voice hard. Fenrick deflated, because it was terrible, but it was the only way to minimize the damage.

"Contamination isn't an illness, in the traditional sense. It's more... A biological organism's response to coming into contact with matter that shouldn't exist. It's like two completely different beings trying to exist at the same time in the same space. They end up getting mashed together, and when the body can't handle it anymore, the organism dies. The only way to directly prevent any contamination is to stop anything from coming through in the first place, or stop it from making contact with any living beings. If contact has been made, we quarantine the area and wait for the infection to work its way out."

It made them sound heartless. He knew that Kas and Vanya probably thought his people were evil already, when he had explained how they didn't fix illnesses or disabilities except for warriors. But they had tried to treat contamination, and every single time, trying to treat it made it worse.

Leese looked almost apologetic, because she knew that this bothered him. He had been studying for years and years to find a solution to the contamination problem, but he had yet to find one. It weighed on him.

"Renta changed things," Fenrick said after a somber moment. He didn't sound hopeful, because being hopeful was a good path to disappointment, but he wanted to hope. "Renta was contaminated, but his cells stabilized. He's not contagious. Nobody else from that disaster survived contact, but Renta lived and developed normally for a human of his age. His symptoms stopped! If I could figure out why that happened, I could save so many people. But I need time to study him, and I couldn't get any samples back in Ferensen, and... There's no way I can figure it out before the contamination becomes a problem here."

He deflated, and Leese decided that it was enough for now.

"I don't know Pyotr Sylvestr, but I know that Renza has managed to charm quite a few people in the church and certain branches of the Albaques government. If we want to requisition a fleet, I can get Hanabelle to use her clearance to push it forward. But it could still take time, and I have no idea if your mother would be willing to help. But unless we can get funding of some kind, we're stuck."

She tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling, then frowned when her communicator beeped. She picked it up and read the message, her face contorting into something that almost looked painful.

"Olive Station's being evacuated. Hanabelle was monitoring the situation for me, and she says there was some kind of anomaly, but she doesn't know what. It could be that the initial scouting party has already come through."



Reeta was a good kid. Renza decided he was fond of her. When she hovered by him when she was dismissed, he tried to give her a reassuring smile.

And then he was left alone with Pyotr.

The man was powerful. He could feel it under his skin, now that his body seemed hypersensitized to the energy around him. It made his skin crawl, and he almost wished that Reeta hadn't left. But he could pretend he was unaffected. He did this sort of thing all the time. The feral part of his brain that wanted to kill the man in front of him with his bare hands and eat him was not going to ruin that.

"Yes, I do appreciate it," he said, and he tried to keep his smile up. "I was quite surprised when things got so hectic."

This ship didn't have weapons. If anything it was a floating coffin, but Renza couldn't say that.

"Do you happen to know what happened? Or how the evacuation went? I hope that nobody was injured, and the station wasn't damaged."

Was he being too nonchalant? He wasn't sure exactly how scared a poor priest from the boonies should be in this situation. It was messing with his head.

 

[Reynarda]

Vanya had his handheld out again and was making notes as Fenrick explained.

"So..." Kas began once he was done. "What I'm hearing is that you don't know how to treat it and all you can really do is stop it from spreading."

"It sounds impossible to treat," Vanya mused. "Except that it isn't. Because you succeeded with Serlain. And Renza survived it."

"Minerva Station," Kas said suddenly. "That was a... oh hell." At Vanya's confused glance, he explained, "The station caught fire, hundreds of people died. It was thought to be equipment malfunction--most of their stuff was illegal, outdated, or salvaged. Renza was on it. If he got contaminated and developed naturally then it had to have happened then, right? So Minerva was started by... what? Some animal or something coming over from there."

Vanya reached over and patted Kas' knee. "I am so proud of you for figuring that out."

"Piss off," Kas told him. "You didn't."

"No, which is why I'm so impressed." Vanya decided not to point out that he didn't have the background information Kas had and instead let Kas have his victory.

Sighing, Kas pulled out his own communicator. "I guess I could ask my mom. She's just an admiral. She'll still have to get clearance. But it's better than nothing. And even if we dunked Vanya in a vat of silver, I don't think he'd contact Sylvestr."

"I'd be dead, so, no, I wouldn't. A vat of silver is a terrible torture tactic."

"Shut up," Kas said as he typed out a message to his mom. He had no idea what to say. Hi mom, there's a freaking royal guard coming through the rip-thing, can you come with your fleet and help me stop them? No, that wouldn't work.

"Tell your mom I said 'hi'," Vanya said as Kas erased everything he had typed and started again.

Kas scowled. "Have you ever met my mom?"

"No, why?"

His scowl deepened. He had once been telling a ridiculous Vanya Zmey story to his mother, and she had stopped him in the middle and asked, "Wait, is Vanya male or female?" When he had shrugged and said depended on the day, his mom had just grunted and nodded. He demanded to know what that grunt had meant, and his mother had looked him dead in the eye and said, "Oh, nothing hun, I just thought you were straight, is all." He had spent thirty minutes insisting he was straight all while his mom said it was fine if he wasn't and she loved him with all her heart.

"You think you'd like my mom but you wouldn't," was all Kas said, though he had a feeling it was a lie. Worse, his mom would probably think Vanya was "spunky". They could never meet. He would have to throw himself out an airlock if they did.

"Well, we might not need that clearance after all," Vanya said dryly, tapping his handheld. He had a few messages from his father saying he had better be safe as he had lied to Pyotr Sylvester for him. Vanya smiled grimly. He was pretty sure his father lied to no other representative, but his father was determined to keep Sylvestr away from him. He appreciated it, even if it were impossible. He sent a message assuring his dad he was safe and doing something for the good of Yasen.

As he sent it, a message popped up with two words. Report, bastard.

He gritted his teeth. So. Pyotr was actually messaging him now instead of using his aids. It would look like a simple use of vampire vulgarity to anyone else, but Vanya saw the threat in it.

"What sort of anomaly?" Kas asked, looking between Vanya's stiff grimace and Leese's pained expression.

Vanya shrugged, typing out something on his handheld. "Let's see if Dickhead knows."






Pyotr smiled warmly as if he genuinely cared for Renza's health and well-being.

At his questions, Pyotr shook his head. "No, there was an anomaly approaching, and it didn't look friendly. Evacuation seemed the best option, and no, I'm not sure how well it went. Our personal have protocols for those sorts of things, as I assume the UPA does as well. We can trust in that preparedness."

His handheld lit up with a message and he glanced at it. Looks like you know more than me. What attacked the station?

"Sorry, one of my operatives may know more. Give me a minute." He tapped out a response. Who says the station was attacked?

A contact. You *saw* it, didn't you?

Pyotr wanted to grind his teeth, but he couldn't act angry in front of the priest. He regretted showing Vanya what he could do. What is it?

I am asking you.

Another alert popped up on his handheld, and this was from the general. It was a tiny drug bust. There was barely enough to warrant a strike team, much less shutting down the flightport, and they hadn't seen the mercenary. The flightport would be sending someone to his office as the general had given them his name as the one who authorized it.

"You'll be glad to know your friend was not smuggling drugs," Pyotr said, closing the message without responding and typing, Turn on your locator.

Vanya didn't answer, and he cursed Edwin Zmey for figuring out how to hack it so Vanya could turn it on and off at will.

"However," Pyotr said, turning back to Renza. "That unfortunately means she's missing. Contact her."

After a second, his smile sharpened and he added, "Please" in the tone of voice that suggested it was not optional.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leese bit her lip, shifting uncomfortably. Fenrick gave her a concerned look, but... Honesty. They needed to trust one another, so she needed to be honest.

"I caused Minerva station," she said, hating how choked her voice sounded. "I don't-- That was when I came through to this side. A wild animal followed me, because I couldn't control the tear. I killed it, but it had already attacked people. There was already an outbreak, and I was making the contamination worse just by being there. Renza was injured, and I was sure he was going to die. But... he didn't. At first I thought he somehow escaped contamination, so I became human and stayed with him. I didn't want him to be alone. But then we were rescued, and when I got a good look at him I saw he was contaminated, but he was just... stable. As long as he was away from the contamination source, his symptoms were mild. He never infected anyone."

She breathed out a shaky breath, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyways, the past isn't important right now. What's important is that if it happens again, it won't be good," she finished, and Fenrick nodded.

"Serlain is different than Renta. The contamination causes the biological makeup to become unstable. To stabilize her, I had to change her DNA, essentially. Leese sent me biological data on your Albaquese 'cat' and a few other animals, and by examining the differences and similarities, I was able to come up with a fix for the unstable gene. But it took months of ferens and blood transfusions to actually make those changes. Serlain is the only animal I've ever been able to stabilize."

He closed his eyes and groaned, clearly frustrated.

"If I had a few patients to work with, my equipment, and thorough data on human and vampire genetic makeup, theoretically, I might be able to engineer the same sort of fix. But it would take months. Years, maybe, to find every inconsistency and correct it. The contamination isn't static, it affects different organisms different ways, and each organism is unique. Finding a 100% effective cure seems... impossible. Maybe, if I had fifty years to research it, I could do it. But we have days."

"Would he have information?" Leese asked, one eyebrow rising. "He's not a scientist, right?"



Renza needed to keep up his cover.

He had done it before when he was injured. He had done it before when he was having a panic attack, not allowing anything to show on the outside. He'd stayed perfectly pleasant and non-confrontational with people he hated, people he wanted dead, and he did it with ease, no matter what state he was in.

But this gnawing feeling in his brain was getting to him. He wasn't going to eat Pyotr Sylvestr, no matter how much his stupid contaminated bug brain apparently wanted to. He also was not going to hurt anyone on this ship. He was determined not to.

He wouldn't mind if Pyotr died horribly in front of him, or if his bodyguards, or even the Jan guy from earlier did the same. But Reeta was a kid who had been nice to him, and he was not about to let her die.

So maybe he should push.

It was stupid, and it was showing his hand, but he needed to give them a reason to up the security measures on him. If they locked him up, he couldn't hurt anyone. If they killed him, he also couldn't hurt anyone, though Leese would certainly be very upset and might hurt Pyotr instead. He just... He needed to be contained, maybe. Until the presence out in the space around him was gone, and his brain went back to normal.

He hated the way that he could feel the energy around him, like he was encased in gelatin. If he really tried, he could probably interact with it, but he didn't want to. That Ferens shit was not something he ever wanted to get involved with. Once he tried that, there was no way back.

So he grinned, leaning back in his chair like he owned it.

"Is that so?" he asked, his lips curving into a smug and confident smirk. "You know, it's pretty cute how you think you're always the smartest one in the room, representative."

When in doubt, be a pain in the ass. It was a tried and true method, and he was very good at it.

"I'm not calling Leese. I don't feel like it, and you've given me no real reason why I should cooperate with you. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, the controlling older man thing is ok once in a while - hm, would you mind if I called you daddy? I feel like you're trying to do the whole nice and fatherly thing -- but it's not really my scene. If you want information from me, you need to give me something in return. And the thing is, right now? You have nothing I want."

He grinned, feeling loose and comfortable in a way he hadn't in a very, very long time. He could be as vulgar and honest as he wanted, and the consequences would work in his favour. It was freeing, even if his brain was a bit more wild and feral than it usually was. He relaxed into his chair like he owned it, his entire posture changing.

"I've also already proven you're not as smart or conniving as you think you are. Have you checked the extranet? There's so many rumours about you going around right now. You shut down that whole space port for how much cocaine, again? Some people are already thinking you're incompetent, that you act too quickly without thinking things through. What other rumours are going around, I wonder? Blackmail? I mean, there's no proof right now, but if the claims get strong enough, people'll start coming forward, you know?"

Maybe he was playing it up too much. Being a bit too hammy. But he was loving the chance to be honest and tell this asshole that he was an asshole, and that he had been outsmarted.

"Anyways, if you want me to do something, say please like you mean it."

 

[Reynarda]

Kas' eyes widened, and he felt bad about bringing up Minerva Station. He wanted to say it wasn't her fault, except that it sort of was. He wanted to ask why she had come through in the first place, and almost hoped Vanya might. But Vanya just looked thoughtful.

"The past can inform the future," Vanya said with a little shrug. "Every action is its own point-p." He formed his hands into cone with the point angled upwards. "Everything that happens leads to that. And then everything that happens afterwards happens because of that." He shifted his hands so that the point of the cone was now the heels of his hands instead of the tips of his fingers. "Everything has a point-p."

Kas groaned. "I know you're talking about that light-hourglass of time--"

"Light-cone."

"--but even I have no idea what you're philosophizing about."

"I'm saying that the past matters. It can determine our future and we can learn from it."

Kas shook his head.

Vanya did take more notes as Fenrick explained Serlain's contamination fix. It was interesting that looking at genetic material had helped him sort out what was what. He thought about mentioning both humans and vampires had mapped their DNA. They didn't understand it, but they had figured where the genes that did certain things were for the most part. Why some of them were activated while other lay dormant was still a mystery. But he was right. They had days, not decades.

"If Renza managed to survive it without--wait." Vanya snapped his attention to Leese. "Did you say he has no symptoms as long as he's not near anything from Ferensen? But didn't something just attack the station? Where he is?"

Vanya typed out Where's the priest? before he realized that would be showing his hand. He erased it.

"Vanya?" Kas prompted as Vanya continued to ignore Leese's question. "You want to share?"

"Not really," Vanya muttered under his breath. His expression had gone closed. But he could feel Kas staring at him, his eyebrows drawn up. He looked concerned, which annoyed Vanya more than anything else.

Vanya huffed loudly, still staring at his handheld. "Dickhead can see the future. Of a sort. He sees options for what could happen. He can't see very far, though. Just minutes."

Kas' mouth had fallen open. "He's a time philos."

Vanya made the same face he had made when he tried Kas' vodka. "No, he never studied. He just has time sight and he only uses it to see the future."

"Can you do that?" Kas asked, and Vanya shot him a truly venomous look.

"We are nothing alike."

Kas held up his hands. "I didn't say you were." He hesitated. "I thought you were the only--"

"It's not common knowledge. I only figured it out because I stepped out of time and he grabbed me." That was actually a lie. That was how he had found out about the future-sight, but that was not how he found out the representative that tormented his parents and smiled weirdly at him had time-sight. But he wasn't ready to explain that to Kas just yet.

Kas had a thousand other questions but Vanya seemed genuinely angry talking about this. Kas figured that he hated that Pyotr Sylvestr had the same rare sight he did. So he settled on, "What did Dickhead say?"

"He's being cagey and he wants me to turn my locator on. Guess he saw the drug bust was a bust." Vanya ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just worried he has Renza. Or left Renza. I'm not sure which one is worse at this point. But I assume I'll be messaged some threats about Renza here in a minute."







Despite being able to see the future, Pyotr did not see that coming. The priest was smirking at him. Smirking at him.

And Pyotr realized he didn't have all the cards.

He had known the priest was a little smarter than he seemed, but he didn't think he was this smart. Pyotr shifted his jaw, clicking his teeth. It was annoying, but it wasn't terrible.

Until Renza suggested he call him "daddy". Which was extremely weird coming from a human child. But it was even weirder when that human child was a priest. It made him uncomfortable, and he hadn't been uncomfortable since Vanya had given him a detailed explanation of how female vampires cycled--with diagrams--in the attempt to explain how his insult had been stupid.

But then Renza was acting like rumors on the extranet could hurt him. Pyotr's lip twitched. That was cute. "Oh, please, Richtail. I've been dealing with rumors on the extranet since before you were eating solid food."

Hm. It sounded better when the line was, "before you were drinking blood." But it worked.

"I deal in rumors, boy. You and your friends can start your little smear campaign, but if my empire were to crumble because some adolescent with a computer said mean things about me, I wouldn't have made it past being an aid. If you're going to threaten me, at least give it teeth. There is nothing you can do to me, child. But you are on my ship. And who knows what is happening at the station. Maybe you didn't make it out alive. That is one rumor. Or maybe you helped me figure out what is going on here in a valiant collaboration between a human priest and vampire representative. That is another rumor."

Pyotr interlaced his fingers and set his elbows on his desk. "So tell me. Which rumor is true?"

 

[Mikotsuhime]

All of the colour left Leese's face in an instant.

"Fenrick, what are the chances he could become contagious?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. Fenrick sat straight up on the bed, his expression pinched.

"It's highly unlikely. He's stabilized. Contact with Ferens could cause his old symptoms to come back, and possibly progress, but--"

""Shit," Leese cursed, too frazzled to even translate. "He's not stupid. If he was able to, he'd get away from people. But if someone's holding him--"

"Renta is... stuck half between human and Ferendin," Fenrick clarified. "He has no control, and his Ferens channels are incomplete and malformed. He doesn't have the hormones and brain development that helps temper instincts. If he is close enough to a large Ferens source, he could--"

"Stop," Leese said, because she didn't want to hear it. She knew she needed to translate, because Fenrick couldn't articulate that speech in English. But the worried part of her brain didn't want to say it. "He's not contagious. He's just...."

"We need to find him," Fenrick said firmly. "If we find him, I can stabilize. But he could be violent."


Oh, the daddy comment worked. Renza grinned, feeling victorious and confident. He leaned back in his chair, swinging his feet up on Pyotr's desk.

"Oh, is that something you're into, daddy?" He asked, leaning back and batting his eyelashes. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you look a little green."

But then Pyotr was not nearly as disconcerted as Renza had hoped, and he realized that he may have been a little out of his depth. His emotions were all out of wack, and he had to fight back the urge to snarl and snap at the man and prove that he was smarter, he was stronger, he could rip him to shreds and--

He kept his posture very carefully relaxed, but every muscle in his body was tense. This wasn't working. The stupid contamination was messing with his head, and it was going to throw him off his game.

"I can't do anything to you, hm?" He asked, and he didn't dig his fingers into the arm of the chair. I can rip your throat out with my fucking teeth was his first thought, but he didn't say that. "Maybe. But that goes both ways. You think I have information you don't, and I'm your only lead. You think you can manipulate me the way you do your teenaged aides?"

He snorted, and forced the tension from his muscles. Relax. He had to relax.

"What can you do to get information out of me? There's torture, but I doubt you have the guts to do it yourself. Guys like you never do. Have you found anything incriminating in your background search? Aside from the fact that I was a poor orphan whose parents were illegal immigrants. You could fabricate something, I guess, but what were you just saying about rumours?"

He needed to stop talking. He was showing too much of his hand.

"I'll say it again. If you want information from me, say please like you mean it, and I'll consider it."

 

[Reynarda]

Kas glanced nervously at Vanya as Leese and Fenrick began talking worriedly in a language he didn't understand. Vanya was still staring at his handheld like he thought it might chirp and tell him where Renza was. When they finally switched to English, it was mostly aborted sentences. But Kas understood that they needed to find Renza.

"Vanya?" he ventured.

"So what?" Vanya spat. "So Sylvestr gets what's coming to him."

"Vanya. Renza doesn't want that," Kas said, his voice soft. He didn't know the priest very well, but he could surmise that much.

Vanya actually looked like he was in pain. Finally, he spat a vampire word that Kas had never heard him say and had sort of wondered if he even knew. If asked to translate, Kas would have picked the dirtiest word in whatever language he was translating into, but in Prime, it basically suggested the other vampire cannibalize themself.

"I'll probably have to have to turn on my locator before he talks," Vanya warned, typing, Do you know where Priest Renza-Korlan Richtail is?




More daddy comments. Pyotr was not unaccustomed to advances. Vampires were not against using pleasure to get what they wanted. He often allowed some of those advances to work on him. It was a fair trade, and they never lasted long.

But this was a human priest. Who was also at the very least half his age. And of all the things to choose, he chose that.

Pyotr pressed his lips together in just the slightest hint of annoyance. He listened, letting Renza go off on his rant about what he thought Pyotr would and would not do to him.

"That's fair," he said, his tone easy. "There's nothing incriminating in your past, and I do find physical torture unpalatable. But even angels have weaknesses. For instance, how does funding get to the orphanage you run? Seems like something a 'poor orphan' would care about."

His handheld lit up, and Pyotr smiled when he read the message. "And you may have some information, but I think your mercenary has more. And I have you. Let's see how badly they want you back."

He tapped record. "Locator, Vanya."

Vanya's locator did not go live, but he did get a message back several minutes later. Vanya had also recorded in English, which made Pyotr think he was probably with the mercinary. His voice sounded even and snarky, but there was an underlying note of frustration. "I'm in my ship--locator won't work. I assume by the voice message and the fact we're speaking English that's a 'yes'. So can you stop being a dick for like--"

Vanya was interupted by someone in the background, probably scolding him, but he had his mic set to filter out ambient sounds. At least he was getting smarter.

"--ten seconds and listen to me. What are you hoping to accomplish? You have their priest, stupid."

Pyotr smiled at Renza. "He's very good at hiding his emotions over text, but not in his voice. He's worried and angry. Which means he's desperate. And he wouldn't have asked about you if they didn't want you back. So, I guess it really depends on what you want. I have Vanya over a barrel. And I have you, so I may have your mercenary over a barrel as well. Do you want to listen to me torture the both of them, or do you just want to cut the middle man and tell me what you know?"



Vanya rubbed his eyes as he waited for a response.

"What's wrong?" Kas asked quietly.

"Promise me something."

"Alright."

"Promise you won't judge me."

Kas frowned, wondering what on earth Pyotr could have on him. Reaching over to the bed, he squeezed Vanya's knee. "I promise."

"We're going to have to trade him information if we want Renza back," Vanya said. "What is our story? What are we telling him? My guess is he saw whatever came out of the rip, so keep that in mind."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Renza hated this. He hated feeling out of his depth, but even more than that, he hated feeling threatened. He hated the fact that it was getting very hard to control his actions.

Whatever was out there was not necessarily close, but it was close enough to put every nerve in his body on edge.

And then Pyotr mentioned the orphanage, and it took all of his control not to vault over the desk and strangle him. He snarled, baring his teeth before quickly forcing himself under control. His teeth... He ran his tongue along them, taking note that they were much sharper than usual. Damnit. He could feel an ache at the edges of his jaw, and he breathed in deep through his nose in an attempt to calm down. The unstable state of his genetics and the fact that Ferendin shapes and forms had a lot more plasticity than the human body was not a good combination. Losing his temper risked the push of the 'something else' in the back of his brain becoming physically apparent.

Leese had been horrified when he'd had physical symptoms for the first time as a kid, and his body had partially shifted. He had still been non-contagious, but it had been terrifying for him to lose control of his own body. He didn't want to do that again in front of somebody who would certainly take advantage of it.

"Don't threaten me," he growled, hoping it came out as intimidating. It felt more like a plea than anything, and he hated it.

This had gone so wrong. He should have tried to push those stupid guards off him and run when he had the chance.

But he wasn't going to give up. If he explained, this man would only see an opportunity for more power. It would cause problems that Renza couldn't even dream of.

"I don't even know him," he snapped, shifting uncomfortably. "He's probably just trying to avoid instigating war when you inevitably piss off the church by holding me here. Leese won't bargain for me back, and neither of us are going to help you. If you're done harrassing me, either lock me up or throw me out the airlock. I fucking dare you."



Leese grit her teeth, hating how useless she felt.

"Fenrick can you track him?" she asked, and Fenrick shook his head.

"I can't use power in this shape. If I shift, I could. If I shift, Vanya and Kas in danger. Contamination risk is too high, bad idea," he said, hating that the more frustrated and keyed up he got, the worse his English got. It was hard to think about grammar and words when he was worried that Renza might eat somebody who was apparently very important to vampire society.

Leese had a look on her face that said she knew, but she had to ask anyways.

"I can't fly, be useless. Can Renta control physical side effects and transformations?"

Leese didn't answer, and Fenrick sighed out a curse in Ferendin.

"If he saw what came out, it was probably one of the royal guard. In order to survive in space, they would have to be fully armoured and using their ferens as a shield. It might affect his sight? I don't know. I don't know how Ferens interacts with vampire sight."

"If Renta kill him, it is bad," Fenrick said firmly. "Eating once is hard. After that, eating easier. Is hard to train a blood eater to stop. Take months."

Leese did not acknowledge what he said, because she didn't want to think about it.

"If Olive station was evacuated, is there any way to track the man's ship? It must be communicating with satellites if he's messaging you."

 

[Reynarda]

Vanya had pushed his glasses to the top of his head and had his face in his hands, his knee bouncing up and down while he waited for a response. Kas had never seen him so upset in his life.

Kas tried to organize all the information the others were bandying about, but he couldn't keep track of it. Fenrick couldn't track Renza. Sylvestr may not have seen the royal guard. If Renza killed and ate Sylvestr, it would be easier for him to do it again. They had to find him.

"I can't track him, he's using a government-level encryption," Vanya said from behind his hands.

Kas sat up straight. "But you're not."

"I'm using a military-level encryption."

"But you don't have to. The only trick is you'll have to send enough messages to triangulate. Give me your--"

Vanya practically threw it at him. Kas caught it and opened up the settings. He attempted to remove the encryption, but it flashed a warning and asked for system admin clearance. Wordlessly, Vanya took it and typed in a password. Kas opened his mouth to ask how he knew before remembering his younger brother was an actual hacker.

After opening up a tracking program, Kas handed Vanya's handheld back to him. "You'll just have to figure out how to send enough messages for your tracking program to triangulate his heading without him figuring out what you're doing."

Vanya smiled slightly, some of his usual confidence returning. "Oh. That won't be hard. Should we go to my ship and start heading back towards the station? They probably aren't accelerating much faster than a Yasen G."




Oh, the orphanage had struck a nerve. It had been a guess, but confirmation was nice. Pyotr smiled behind his hands as the human growled at him.

But there was something wrong about his snarl. He teeth looked... sharper.

Pyotr filed that away for later. Right now he was enjoying the rage and uncertainty in the priest's eyes. This was always his favorite part--when his opponent realized they had no way out. They could growl and thrash, but he had them backed into a corner.

"Piss off the church? They don't even know you're here. You don't seem to understand that no one can even know if you're alive. There are the dock cameras, of course, but if the station survives, recordings can be altered." He pressed his lips together and frowned in a mockery of indignity. "And don't be so crude. I'm not going to throw you out an airlock. We are civilized."

His handheld lit up, and Pyotr glanced at it. "Ah. Seems our mutual friend is starting to squirm."

But the message was not in English, and it was text, not voice. Seriously, Sylvestr. What do you think the church is going to do? Remember the stories? Do you remember what they say happened to the vast majority of our population?

He was about to respond, but he got another one. And don't say they won't know, because I will burn you myself before I let you start a war just to satisfy your need to compensate for your small penis.

Then Vanya started texting him short messages, which was basically the message version of returning to a room and saying, "and one more thing!" He was such a teenager.

And it will become a war. We don't have enough people on Yasen to fill a full army. They out-gun us.

That priest was here to set up mission work. How do you think the church will take that?

You don't honestly think they're just here to spread their good news, do you?

This is a power grab. And you're helping them. It's almost like you're new to this politics thing.

Just give them a reason for a war. Good idea, oh great representative of the people.

That will go soooooo well.

In fact, you know what? I dare you to keep him. I will burn you.

And no one will listen to me, right?

Even if they think I'm lying, the representatives will hand you over to the church on a silver platter to avoid war.

Tell me I'm wrong.

Pyotr's expression had progressively soured with each new message. Every time he had started to respond, the device had lit up with another message. He finally messaged, Is your tantrum finished?

Depends. You going to let the priest go?

How is your mother these days?

Great. She'll be even better once I burn you to the ground.





Kas took Vanya's handheld, pretending not to read the last message. The program he was using to do the math for him flashed and gave him a series of numbers. He grinned. "Got it! I got it!"

"What are we going to do once we get there?" Vanya asked.

"Get Renza back," Kas answered.

"Great plan. Love it." Vanya glanced at Leese and Fenrick. "Anyone else want to offer a counter plan?"




There was no reason to remind Vanya that threatening a representative could result in a prison sentence because Vanya would then dare him to bring it before the courts. But he also couldn't directly threaten him using a medium that could be submitted to a court for evidence. So he just sent, You may want to rethink that answer before I have to take action for your disrespect.

Setting his handheld to dark mode, Pyotr smiled. He managing to keep his annoyance and frustration that Vanya hadn't bowed to his threats out of his smile, but it added a sharpness to his eyes. "Now all we have to do is wait. He and your mercenary will cave and tell me what I want to know. In the meantime, can I get you something to drink? My kind are nothing if not hospitable to our guests."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leese breathed out a sigh of relief, because it seemed like they were finally making headway. She practically shot to her feet as soon as Vanya suggested they go back to the ship.

"Yes," she said, heading towards the door before she stopped and headed to a closet. There was a chance they were going to be fighting, and she couldn't take Morei or Anika with lasers. She reached into the back, fishing around before she found what she was looking for.

The spear was old but in good shape, polished regularly. The battery providing the heated electric shock was from a few months ago, but she hadn't actually used it at all. She'd never really thought she'd have to use it. Putting it together years ago had been more an act of coping than anything else - knowing that if she needed to, she could fight back. She thought she would never need to. Now it was a comfort, and she gripped it hard in her hand before following Vanya and Kas. Fenrick watched her for a moment, then followed after as well. He didn't bother to ask for a weapon.

Once they were on the ship, Fenrick found Serlain curled up where he had left her, and he pulled her into a hug before setting her down again.

Leese was already texting back and forth with Hanabelle, collecting data.

"He uses a luxury cruiser," she said as soon as Hanabelle confirmed the registered make and model for her. "With something like that, I wouldn't doubt he'd have escorts, and this ship is made for espionage over combat. Once he figures out we're there, it would be hard to deal with them."

She glanced at the coordinates that had been gathered by the tracking program, her face grim. It was in the middle of nowhere, with no manned stations nearby. In a way, that was good, because it meant no civillians. It was also bad, because it made any kind of infiltration that much harder.

She rattled the coordinates off to Hanabelle, and got a reply a minute later.

"The best thing to do would be to force him to land, but the only station is an abandoned Albques corporate mining station about 2000 klicks out--"

"I can threaten," Fenrick said, and Leese abruptly turned to him and glared.

"No, you absolutely cannot."

"Station is abandoned, nobody nearby to hurt. Leave me there. I shift without hurting."

His face was stony, and Leese looked like she wanted to strangle him.

"You can't fly. I don't even know how you managed to get to that station by the rip--"

"Renta is unstable. We can't subdue him when he's in their hands unless I have full control of my ferens. You've been human for two decades, you're way too out of practice to shift in a dangerous environment and protect yourself, and you don't have the power or control to incapacitate him. Let me do it. Move the ship away and take care of the escorts."

"I am not letting you--"

"Fighting Montrose was my decision. It wasn't your fault I lost," he said, and Leese immediately went silent. Her face was pale, and her hands clasped into tight fists. For a long moment, she was silent.

It was her fault. She had encouraged a teenager to take on an adult in a fight to the death, because she had thought Fenrick was too strong and amazing to ever lose. It was her fault that he had been disfigured, and that his brother had grown worse and worse ever since then. If she had warned him not to do it, if she had been sensible and stopped him, none of it would have ever happened.

But Fenrick wasn't even looking at her like he was angry, or blaming her. He should, but he wasn't. He was looking at her with a sad, resigned sort of smile, and she hated it. Her chest felt tight, and she quickly avoided his gaze.

"Take me to mining station. You have suit that survive space, yes? Leave me on station. Lure ship in close, and I will take care of it."

There was no doubt that the royal guard would have sensed Renza by now. He was like a child who had no control of himself or his power, and they would no doubt investigate. He wasn't sure if he could fight them, but he'd have to try. Leese must have known it too, because she threw herself into the seat she had been in before, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. For a long moment she was silent, until finally she forced herself to speak.

"You know a hacker, right?" She asked Vanya, hating how hoarse her voice sounded. "If Sylvestr and his crew deck out in high level radiation protection, it will prevent the chances of contamination happening. Most luxury recliners have it as part of the emergency gear, because the hull isn't designed to take laser fire and heat the way that a fighting vessel is, at least with Albaques ships. I theoretically know how to remotely trick the radiation warning for an Albaques cruiser, but I don't know the computing system for vampire vehicles. If we can herd them in towards the station as a rendezvous point, Fenrick can handle the rest."

For a second Fenrick was shocked quiet, but then he smiled brightly, and Leese groaned.

"Don't do anything stupid! Or dangerous! Don't hurt any of the crew on the ship, and don't make direct physical contact with anyone but Renza. I am only, ONLY agreeing to this because it's you. If I think at any point it's too dangerous, I'm going to get Vanya to bring the ship around and pick you up," she warned, but Fenrick had a happy, proud look on his face that she hadn't seen since before she left Ferensen. He looked more confident than he had the entire time they were here, even when he was talking about the contamination and the research he had spent years on.

She didn't think she would ever see him look like that again. She closed her eyes, gripping the arm rest of her seat.

"Kas, can you show Fenrick how to put on a vac suit once we've reached cruising speed?"



"Civilised, huh?" Renza growled, and he had to grip the arms of his fancy wooden chair to keep himself in his seat. He could feel the wood splintering slightly around his nails. No doubt there would be marks left, but for now, at least, it wasn't noticeable. "Is it civilised how you use teenagers, kids, to spy on your enemies? You sent that girl after me knowing I knew more than you thought I did. What if I had snapped her neck the second she wasn't paying attention?"

Oh, he was getting angry. Pyotr had to bring up the orphanage. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth to calm down.

"You can try and use me as a bargaining chip all you want, but you're the only one who's going to regret it," he hissed. "Go ahead, try and manipulate Leese. What makes you think she'd even care? She's a mercenary, and I hired her for money. She works for a hundred different people per year. Do you really think she'd go out of her way to save one contractor out of those? I don't even pay her that well."

 

[Reynarda]

Vanya once again flickered and disappeared and had the ship's reactor warmed up and ready to go by the time Kas boarded and closed the airlock.

"He has escorts, but I'm not sure how many," Vanya confirmed from the pilot's chair once they were all on the bridge. "Disengaging from the dock."

Kas felt the gravity shift and quickly took a seat.

"Given that this was a time to show off, he might have anywhere from three to five fighter escorts. How good are you at weapons, Leese? I have the railgun, but it's not huge. I also have fifteen--"

"Fourteen," Kas corrected.

"--fourteen torpedoes and two small laser-guided missiles. I'd rather not kill anyone, though. Kas, switch the readouts to English."

Kas frowned slightly, thinking that if Vanya wanted Leese on weapons, he had something in mind for him that he wouldn't like. "Alright, switching weapons control to you."

"We could take out his drive," Vanya began until Fenrick announced he could threaten. Vanya pressed his lips together because he didn't like this idea at all. If any of them got a good look at him, that would complicate things considerably. But Leese was right. There was no way his little ship would force a luxury cruiser with escorts to land. And boarding them like a bunch of pirates wasn't really an option, either.

Leese didn't like the idea, but Vanya suspected it was for different reasons. He didn't understand the words, but he understood her tone. Kas also looked worried.

"What about the fact that he can see the future?" he asked.

"Possible futures," Vanya corrected. "And it takes focus. It doesn't just happen easily. It's not a big concern for a dogfight."

Kas hummed, but he didn't seem convinced.

"Kas, can you upload the message path to your terminal?" Vanya asked instead of answering Leese's question about a hacker.

"Ed will need it?" Kas asked, more for Leese's benefit than his own.

Vanya tapped record and said, "Hey dork. Got a job for you. Feel like hacking Dickhead's ship? I need it to look like there's a radiation leak--and for the love of the stars do NOT cause an actual radiation leak. Pathway attached. Love you, loser."

"You really call your brother 'dork' and 'loser'?" Kas asked.

"Yeah. Of course. Can't have him getting a big head."

A messaged popped up on Kas' screen now that he was communications and navigation. "He says... 'u owe me nerd'." Kas paused. "Is he--"

"Yes, he's going to do it." Vanya hummed when Leese asked Kas to help Fenrick. "I was going to burn fuel like it's going out of style. Activate your mag boots."

Kas scowled. They were already going at least 3 Albaques gravities. "How many Gs?"

"Well 4, I guess," Vanya grumbled, and Kas got the feeling he had intended to accelerate all the way to 9 or 10. For someone who tended to fly like a careful grandmother, he certainly was chomping at the bit to get there.

"Let us get down there, first. Come on, Fenrick, let's get you ready."

Kas slid down the ladder and pulled out a vac suit from one of the lockers by the airlock. He activated the suit's mag boots so Fenrick wouldn't have a hard time balancing when Vanya accelerated like a crazy person. "Ok, you pull this on over your clothes. Main thing is to move carefully in it. You don't want to puncture it. Here, let me get you an air bottle."

Kas paused, realizing there was not time to teach him all of the hand signals in case his mic went out. "If something goes wrong and you can't talk to us, put your arms over your head in an 'X' like this." He demonstrated, crossing his forearms. "Ok? Then we know we'll need to come get you. Otherwise, we'll patch you into the ship's coms."

Kas rubbed the back of his head. "Uh... any questions?"







"I assume that means you do not want any tea?" Pyotr asked dryly. When Renza suggested he might had broken Reeta's neck, Pyotr raised his eyebrows. "Would you have? Snapped her neck?"

Pyotr shook his head as if he were disappointed. "Threats that have no teeth are pointless. Maybe you could snap her neck. Maybe you even had the chance. But you wouldn't. And that's the point."

He tapped his finger on his desk as if he were considering the question. "What makes me this mercenary--Leese?--would care? Hm. Well, you an she were the only survivors from the Minerva Tragedy. Call it a hunch, but I think there's more to that than just money." He shrugged. "And maybe I'm wrong. But that isn't the only angle I have."

Klaxons blared, though slightly more quietly than on Albaquese ships. Pyotr looked up with a frown as if the flashing lights would be able to tell him what was going on. The door slid open with a hiss and he turned his frown on the young crewmember who stood in the door.

"Sir! There's been a radiation leak! Please put on emergency radiation suits!"

Pyotr gave her an annoyed look. "Which you have, I presume."

She swore and ducked back out. A few seconds later, a different crewmember returned with two radiation suits. Bowing he handed them off to first Renza and then the representative.

"The reactor is leaking?" Pyotr demanded.

"According to the sensors, Sir. We're shutting it down while we try to locate the leak."

Pyotr almost asked how this would happen on his ship, but he doubted the man knew. Instead he jerked his head towards the door, his eyes on Renza. "Put that on and come with me to the bridge. It seems our reactor is leaking."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Fenrick followed Kas down, then looked at the Vac suit with obvious interest.

"It is... weird," he said, tilting his head to the side. "But I will wear it."

He smiled then, because he knew that the suit was mostly just as a precaution. He would likely be taking it off, if the atmosphere controls in the facility were working. He hoped they were. He didn't want to rip Vanya's suit.

"I will do that," he said, though his smile was a bit wan. "Suit might not be needed. But thank you. I am... appreciating. You have been very nice, it was a surprise."

He rubbed the back of his neck, realizing that didn't come out the way he had hoped.

"I was not expecting people to be nice. Not because you are human, but because people... usually are not nice. You and Vanya are good people," he clarified. He felt a little silly, but it also felt important to say it.

He shifted uncomfortably as he managed to settle into the suit, then gave Kas a somewhat nervous look.

"I will not look the same. I hope I am not... Scary," he said, sheepish. He had never really considered how ferendin would look to somebody who had never seen one, but Leese had told him humans found them frightening. Judging from Kas' reaction to Serlain, he suspected she was right.


Leese gave Vanya a smile that was both grim and smug at the same time.

"I'm good with weapons. If you handle evasive maneuvers, I can handle the weapons systems. They look similar enough to the Albaques versions," she mused as she scrolled through the computer. "Our only job during this is to focus on taking out the scouts. If anything else shows up on your radar, ignore it. Fenrick... Fenrick can handle it."

She very much didn't want him to, but she had to trust him.

"I don't want to kill anyone either, you know. I don't really enjoy the whole bloodthirst and violence thing. If that representative hurts Renza, I might change my mind, but... Most of those people probably haven't done anything to warrant death. It's not my job to judge them."



Renza did not like feeling like he was cornered. He growled, a low rumble in his chest, but he forced it to stop as soon as he realized.

He wouldn't have snapped Reeta's neck. He knew he wouldn't, and Pyotr knew he wouldn't. But he could have. He had put her in danger for no reason, and Renza hated it.

He hated that he was being stupidly protective of a girl he didn't even know. All she'd done was be nice to him once, and already he wanted to make sure she was safe. He had always been weak to kids, but this was ridiculous. He was losing his touch.

Pyotr was being very risky when he mentioned the Minerva tragedy, but in a way, Renza was glad for it. He was used to covering up his emotions regarding that, and the stark contrast helped get him under control.

"Is that so?" He asked, his voice snide. "Then I'd love to see what you can do."

Any confrontation was cut off by the warning alarms, and Renza's head jolted up to stare at the speakers. At first he was terrified that the warrior from the rip had found them, but his stomach was only aching a lot, and not a completely unbearable amount. This was something different. The radiation suits confirmed that to him, and he wondered if Leese somehow had something to do with this.

It made him further wonder what was coming towards them.

He slipped the suit on, his expression blank before he followed the older man.

The bridge. There would be too many people for him to escape. The presence of living beings on all sides was suffocating, and he clenched his fists the closer they got.

His only recourse to distract himself was to be a little shit, so he rocked back and forth on his heels, looking up as they were surrounded by vampire officials on all sides.

"Man, is this what you're into, daddy? Want an audience so you can punish me publicly?"

 

[Reynarda]

Kas eyed the suit. He supposed it was a little weird if one weren't used to it.

He helped Fenrick into the suit and frowned. That sounded like a goodbye. It had better not be a goodbye. "Eh. People aren't too bad. Don't judge us by people like Sylvestr."

He smiled when Fenrick tried to warn him that he might find him frightening. Kas snorted. While he couldn't say he would be totally cool with the way Ferendins looked, he did know Fenrick. It had been a very weird few hours, but he didn't think he would be too unnerved by him. He knew Fenrick was technically older than him, but he couldn't help feeling like the kid's older friend or something.

He rested a hand on Fenrick's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm pretty sure you can't scare me. But, hey, you be careful out there, ok? If you run into any trouble--any trouble--we'll come get you. I rag on him, but Vanya's a pretty good pilot. We can bring you in through the airlock, so if you need to, uh, fly in there, you can."

Because he had grown up on ships and because he was worried, he checked over Fenrick's suit's seals one more time. They looked good. He pressed a bracelet into Fenrick's gloved hand. "This is a locator beacon. We'll be able to find you if you need us to you. Just strap it on your wrist once you transform, okay?"

"We're coming up on the station," Vanya said over the intercom, and Kas wondered if he had pushed a little faster than four G.

"You watched us use the airlock, right?" Kas said, instantly turning into a mother hen. "You just cycle it like this. And you be careful. We'll come get you in just a little while, ok? So just... be careful."





"She's all yours," Vanya said when Leese assured him she could handle the weapons.

That was a relief. Vanya was not good with weapons. He had had firearm training, but he hadn't really paid much attention. He wasn't that great of a shot, even after Kas insisted on helping with his stance and aim when they had been trapped in a warehouse on Juniper Station.

"You got it, boss," he said, bringing the Nocturne around so that the ship's airlock sealed with the station's airlock. "And if he hurts Renza, I'll help you break every bone in his body."

"Reading atmosphere on the other side," Kas said over the intercom. "Looks like... oxygen levels are just slightly below normal. There's a little more carbon dioxide than normal, but it's still breathable."

"Tell Fenrick to keep his suit on until right before he shifts," Vanya said, and Kas chuckled.

"Such a worrywart."

Vanya rolled his eyes. He was fairly sure Kas had told Fenrick to be careful at least ten times. "We'll check the beacon once he's inside. May the stars be bright, Fenrick."





Kas grinned at him. "That's a vampire fairwell. He likes you. We'll be back to get you. Stay safe."

He waited until Fenrick was through the airlocks and in the station. "He's in."

"Beacon looks good, pulling away," Vanya said.

Kas pulled himself up the ladder to the bridge and flopped back in his chair.

"He's going to be fine, Kas."

Kas shot the back of the pilot's chair a dirty look. He wasn't worried. He was just... concerned. "What do you want me to do?"

Vanya glanced over at him, confusion on his face. "What?"

"Leese has weapons, what do I do?"

"Uuuuuh," Vanya said, drawing it out far longer than Kas thought necessary. "I'm taking orders from you, Kasper. You tell me. Combat is your thing. I'm just the pilot."

Oh hell. "Vanya," Kas groaned.

"My version of fighting is running and hiding."

Kas ran a hand through his hair. He turned back to navigation. In a manner of seconds, the Nocturne informed him it saw five ships. One large ship and four small fighters. Kas groaned. "There's four and they're in a defensive combat formation. Either they're expecting something or being overly careful. Is the cloak up?"

"Yup," Vanya said without any of his usual annoyance at Kas double-checking. Kas assumed he was nervous and trying not to show it. "When should I trade it for shields?"

"I'll let you know," Kas said. "If we target-lock them, they'll know we're here. Leese, do you think Fenrick has had enough time to get into position? If so, I say we start painting them with targeting lasers."





In some ways, heading to the bridge was like swimming upstream--except that the crew streamed past on either side of him, nodding their heads as they passed. At least the klaxons had gone silent and the lights had stopped flashing and instead cycled between a red-orange and a yellow.

"Captain, report," he said the second he strode onto the bridge.

The captain of his ship was military and was competent as captains went, but she didn't like him very much. He couldn't remember why. But she still inclined her head politely, which looked a little funny while in a radiation suit. "It seems to be a reactor leak, sir. As soon as we find it, we'll seal it."

The bridge crew all at at their respective stations, studiously pretending to not be paying attention to what would probably be a dressing-down of their captain. Captain Inna was well liked, but they feared Sylvestr more than they liked her.

"How is there a reactor leak on my--"

He broke off as Renza chose that moment to to ask his question. Captain Inna didn't even bother trying to hide her confusion and mild disgust when she noticed that the man speaking was a young priest. The rest of the bridge crew did a bit better, but that was because they were all facing away--except for the young communications officer, who quickly turned back around to look at his console.

Pyotr forced himself not to ball his hands into his fist. He briefly considered slapping the priest, but somehow he didn't think that would help in the eyes of his crew.

Instead, he forced himself to turn to the priest. "You are here so I can make sure you are safe." But he dropped his voice low so that only Renza could hear. "I sugest you keep a civil tongue in your head, boy, before I decide to have it cut out."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Fenrick was honestly kind of touched that Kas was worried about him. Mostly the only people who worried about him were Leese, Rielle and Jona. Somebody he barely knew worrying about him was different, but he didn't hate it.

He smiled brightly, then nodded.

"I will be good," he reassured Kas, although he sounded more confident than he felt. He was trying to act like he was very sure what he was doing, but this was going to be time sensitive. It could go wrong very easily.

Yet, somehow, knowing that - while they were clearly worried about him - Kas and Vanya trusted him to do this made him feel better about it.

Once he was through the airlock, he felt his smile slip a bit. He had an idea of what he was going to do, but it would be risky. The idea had been to solve this issue without any government officials knowing about Ferensen, but right now that was secondary to making sure Renza got out of there safely without killing anyone. With the royal guard already through the rip, it was only a matter of time before people found out anyways.

Looking around, he shook out his limbs to prepare himself. He could do this.

After taking a second to talk himself up, he removed the suit and the clothes Vanya had given him. He didn't want to rip them. It was freezing in the station, and he could feel gooseflesh pimpling his skin as he turned to the suit's helmet that had the mic. It took him a second to figure it out, but he turned it on.

"I am ready," he said, swallowing. "I will talk with Leese from now on. If you want to say anything, tell her."

He could imagine the look on Leese's face, because she had to have had some idea what he was about to do, but she would also hate it.

He set the helmet down, then focused as hard as he could, until he felt a tingling in his chest that had nothing to do with the temperature.

The shift wasn't pretty. It was quick, but Fenrick was glad that he was hidden away.

Leese hadn't been lying when she said Ferendin were generally similar to humans in shape. Fenrick had two arms, two legs and a general bipedal form, though the joints didn't quite line up with primates. His legs were a bit longer, and a little alien looking. His feet were the same shame as a grasshopper's, his fingers tipped in claws.

The biggest difference was that there wasn't an exposed inch of skin on him. His body was covered in a thick black carapace that looked like an armoured suit, his face and features hidden behind a thick black mask-like shield. The only part that didn't look right was his back, scar tissue warping the carapace between his shoulder blades. Montrose had ripped his wings off as a warning, and it was the main reason why Fenrick really didn't want to end up fighting.

He was the strongest Ferensnik born in centuries, and the only class one still living, but without the agility afforded by flight and with his vision hampered, he was at a severe disadvantage against another warrior.

He didn't realize how much he missed his body and his ferens until he settled into them again, feeling his awareness expand through the room and then out into the void beyond.



Leese had been tense ever since Fenrick left the airlock. She didn't like this plan, not at all, but if the guard had already attacked Olive station, they were probably hunting. She hadn't wanted to say anything, since Kas seemed freaked out enough and Vanya was already stressed, but it was only a matter of time before whoever was following Pyotr Sylvestr's ship made a move. Sending Fenrick out to intercept them was the only chance they really had to drawing them out to attack.

That didn't mean she had to be ok with it, knowing the disadvantage her friend was at.

When he said he'd be communicating with her, she groaned. It was because he knew she'd be ok with it, and he didn't want to be invasive to people who weren't used to Ferens, but it was still weird.

'I can sense the ship and its escorts,' Fenrick's voice echoed in her head. She scrunched up her nose, because it always gave her a headache, and also made her ears hurt. 'Morei is following at a distance. He's probably sensed Renta, but he's definitely sensed me now. We have maybe twenty minutes before he gets here.'

That wasn't a lot of time.

"One of the royal guard is behind Sylvestr's ship," Leese informed the others. "We have twenty minutes before he intercepts us. Fenrick can fight him off for a bit if he needs to, but the odds aren't in his favour. I say put your lasers on them."



Renza grinned, clearly triumphant.

"You don't scare me," he said back, his voice a low rumble. "And if you threaten me again, I'll rip your spine out with my bare hands."

He would have said more, if the world hadn't immediately tipped on its axis. At first he thought the ship had tilted somehow, gone into a barrel roll, but a second later he recognised the sensation of the floor against his cheek and realized that he'd collapsed. Pain exploded in his stomach, so acute that he could hardly breath, and any attempt to get to his knees resulted in him flopping weakly to the floor once more. He gasped like a fish out of water, and tried to focus his vision, but it was impossible. The sheer wave of power that washed over him had ruined his senses, already sensitive and uncontrolled. The entire room around him was buzzing, and he grit his teeth to keep from crying out.

His eyes were watering, his teeth were sharper than they should be, and he could feel the movement of something beneath his skin.

A second later, the pain soothed. It still hurt, like his entire body was submerged in water that was almost boiling, but it wasn't the unbearable sensation of being ripped apart he'd felt moments before. Something reassuring and gentle felt like it brushed against his forehead, but he couldn't focus on it. He couldn't focus on anything other than keeping himself together.



Renza was terrible at control. Fenrick had underestimated how frayed his nerves were, that the tiniest brush had sent him down like that. He'd need to acclimatize him slowly after this, give him transfusions until he was stable once more. It wasn't good, but at least he was still alive, and he hadn't killed anyone. For the time being, all Fenrick could do was focus on that.

And on the ship. It was harder to pick people out when they weren't ferendin. The energy and power they had was different, and it was hard to parse. They all felt like Vanya, but there was one in particular who felt more like Vanya than the others. He imagined that was the representative.

He steeled himself, gritting his teeth behind his protective mask. The ship was huge, and it was far away. This would be exhausting, but as long as Vanya and Kas dealt with the escorts, he could do it.

He reached out with one hand, visualizing his extended power into the same shape, and then closed his fist.

Holding the ship without crushing it or damaging it was hard. He didn't want to kill anyone. But they had taken someone who he - begrudgingly - considered a friend. They couldn't get away with that.

He flexed his muscles, physical and metaphysical, and pulled the ship towards him.

It ached, and it wasn't as fast as he wanted. He was pretty sure he'd have a terrible headache aftewards, and might be out for a day, but he could do this.

He pulled again, harder this time, like he was reeling in a fishing line. Once they were close enough, he could demand that they make an exchange. He just prayed that he cold hold the ship long enough for that to happen before their pursuer caught up to them.

 

[Reynarda]

Kas took a deep breath and target-locked the escorts. They weren't going to like it, and they were going to be annoyed that they couldn't find the ship that was targeting them.

"I think we should try to get Renza and Fenrick before our twenty minutes is up." He started a count-down timer and flicked it to both Vanya's and Leese's screens. "Would the royal guard attack the representative's ship if we left it?"

A broadcast announced itself on his screen, and Kas tapped it. In crisp, accented English, a voice said, "Unidentified vessel, we are escorting a diplomatic vessel, stand down and identify yourself."

Kas sighed. They were going to be in so much trouble. The vampire was just repeating themself, so he shut the transmission off.

"Strap in," Vanya said, accelerating towards the five ships.

Kas swallowed. "We're in range, Leese. They'll probably start firing when we do. Get ready to switch to shields, Vanya."

"Aye, aye, Capt'n."




Pyotr arched an eyebrow. Rip his spine out with his bare hands? That was a bit extreme. Still, the difference between the priest he had first met and the man who was currently snarling at him was striking.

He would have responded if Renza hadn't suddenly collapsed. One of the bridge crew hurried over and crouched next to him, checking his vital signs on his suit.

"Elevated heart rate," she said. When he tried to move, she pushed him gently back down--though, she probably hadn't needed to. "He looks very ill. We need to get him to med bay."

Pyotr was about to grudgingly send him with her when the communications officer said, "Ma'am! Commander Zori reports they are being target-locked by an unknown vessel."

"Are we locked?" Captain asked, but the sensor officer shook his head. "Where is the vessel?"

"Not on our scopes, ma'am!" the sensor officer said. "No visual, either."

"That bastard," Pyotr hissed, and the bridge crew turned to him. "It's the Nocturne."

Captain Inna wanted to ask why the silver Vanya Zmey would be target-locking them, but instead she said, "Turn scopes to radiation. Find a spot that has slightly more radiation than background."

Their scopes might not be fine-tuned enough for that, and she knew the fighters' scopes weren't. But she didn't have any other ways to find the Nocturne.

The entire ship lurched.

The captain spun, calling orders to cut the thrusters. But the ship continued to move--even faster than the laws of inertia dictated. In the background, she could hear the escort commander asking what was going on. So they were not caught in some weird force. She leaned over the sensor officer's readouts, her eyes scanning.

Reaching past him, she activated the intercom to engineering. "Engineer Palchek, we're caught in an energy field."

"Aye, ma'm," he called back. "Organizing my energy philos now. Can I borrow Lt. Gorovich?"

She nodded to the sensor officer, and he put headphones on so that he could coordinate with the other two energy philos.

"Cut all engines," Captain Inna told her pilot. They were in the hands of the three energy philos the ship boasted, now. "Sir, if you could return to your cabin--"

Pyotr gave her a nasty look and the captain shrugged. She had tried.

"Can you tell our trajectory?" Captain Inna asked the navigation officer.

"Looks like that satellite. It was a mining satellite, but it's abandoned."

"Commander Zori, target that satellite," the captain ordered.





"They're targeting the station!" Kas called.

Vanya hissed a curse and flipped from cloaking to shields, jerking the ship in the path of the oncoming fighters. They were smaller than the Nocturne but were designed for fighting. And there were four of them. But if Vanya could get the ship between them and Fenrick, they could keep him safe.

"Fly right through their formation!" Kas said.

"I hate you," Vanya muttered, accelerating the ship and heading straight for the other ships.

As Kas thought they would, they broke formation, their lasers doing little to the Nocturne's shields. He targeted the representative's ship. "Don't use any of the missiles, I'm not planning on shooting," he told Leese.

As soon as the fighters turned back around, Kas removed the target-lock with a tight smile. "There. The fighters are focused on us. The representative's ship is all Fenrick's."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Leese hated that she didn't know the answer to Kas' question.

"I don't know. He's unpredictable. He might, if he thinks it's contaminated, to eliminate the problem. He's also been hunting them. But he might be too focused on Fenrick," she said, her voice tight.

Morei switched between reasonable and unreasonable based on his whims, and she could never tell what mood he was in at any given time. It was a detriment to both his allies and his enemies, and she hated being both.

When the ships started to fire on them, she fired back, aiming warning shots to disrupt them. She didn't want to kill them, and if possible, she'd like to disable the fighters without destroying them completely. But shooting to wound was always harder than shooting to kill, especially when they were moving at speed.


Fenrick tugged again, but this time there was resistance. It felt like somebody was pushing back at him, and it was frustrating. They didn't have time for this. He was certain he could overpower them if he needed to, but if he used all his energy right now, he'd be useless if he ended up caught in a fight. This wasn't going to work.

He pulled as hard as he could, bringing the ship as close as he could before holding it. Holding was not as hard as pulling, and they were close enough for his plan B to work now.

He didn't want to do plan B. Leese would be so mad at him for using plan B. He had a feeling Vanya might also be mad at him for using plan B, but he couldn't worry about them right now.

He concentrated his power, using the same technique he'd used to communicate with Leese. It was hard, keeping his touch light and unintrusive while also allowing two-way communication. One-way would be easier, but he needed to hear their response. He breathed out as he felt himself spread out, filling the interior of the ship. Energy signals, life readings... He focused on the area where the most were concentrated, where the one who smelled like Vanya was.

He couldn't use English. His English was too heavy and accented to give across the image of power he wanted to portray, and it was always harder to focus on words when he was communicating through power alone. It was easier with Leese, because he knew her, but if he could be gentle and careful enough...

He concentrated on the weakest person in the room, sliding a tendril of power into their subconscious to translate his words. It was invasive, and he didn't like doing this, but he ignored everything that wasn't necessary to his message.

'I am addressing the othersider vessel that is currently in front of me,' Fenrick pushed, his words coming through more as a feeling than an actual physical sound. It filled the bridge, his voice a deep rumble that reminded him of his brother. He had to be authoritative and confident for this to work. "I am the son of the king of the Ferensen Empire, the kingdom you and your kind have thoughtlessly fired upon twelve light cycles ago. Your thoughtless actions have angered my people. Right now, you carry my aide with you, and he is ill. This angers me. Return him to me immediately so I may treat him.'

Was that authoritative enough? Fenrick shifted, trying his best to match the tone and impression Montrose gave when he was taking court, the one that brokered no arguments.

He could feel Morei growing closer. He was hiding, focusing his power inward, and Fenrick knew the exact maneuver he was using. He would get close enough that he could fly forward and attack the ship with a surprise burst. They didn't have vehicles on Ferensen, but Fenrick had analyzed the thing as best he could when he was pulling it forward. There were main heat sources, and the smartest thing to do would be to pierce those. It was the same as taking an animal down by striking its weakest points, the ones that contained the most blood and power behind the thinnest skin.

He was trophy hunting. He wanted the ship to be in tact enough that he could take a piece of it back, which was the only reason he hadn't made a move yet. Fenrick licked his lips behind his mask, then remembered what Vanya had said before.

Pyotr could see the future.

He was also an unreasonable dickhead, whatever that meant, but Fenrick had no doubt that he'd prioritize his own life over a prisoner. That was what powerful men did, didn't they? They took losses and survived so they could come back stronger. It was what he would do.

He focused inward, pulling his power tight to communicate with the man who smelled like Vanya and him alone.

'Give him back to me now, and I'll help you, or I'll leave you alone to deal with the hunter that's been following you since you left the station. You can see it, right? What will happen if I leave you alone here.'

 

[Reynarda]

Vanya was silent after Leese answered, and Kas didn’t think it was just because he was concentrating on flying.

“How many people does he have?” Kas asked, watching as Leese disabled one of the fighters.

“Fifteen, maybe?” Vanya took them out of the path of a very small torpedo.

Kas cursed inwardly. He figured Vanya would be more than happy to leave Sylvestr to his fate, but fifteen of those people were probably just following orders. And they were taking out their escort.

So they couldn’t grab Renza and Fenrick and run as fast as they could. They had to stay and deal with the royal guard.

And Kas had no idea how to do that.

“Focus on the fighters,” Kas said. “We’ll deal with the royal guard when he gets here.”



They were trapped in some energy field, one of their own was disabling their escort, and the priest they had "rescued" was passed out on the deck of the bridge. This was a very weird day, and Captain Inna needed something alcoholic.

That need only increased when something spoke.

Captain Inna slid her eyes to Pyotr, but he looked just as surprised and baffled as she felt. She was pretty sure this is the only time she had ever seen a genuine expression on the man's face.

"Who is the aid?" she asked before realizing that was sort of a stupid question. The only one not hand-picked by herself or Sylvestr was the poor priest lying on their deck.

For one brief second, Inna wondered if this was the voice of their god. But no, he had said he was someone they had fired upon. She was pretty sure they had not shot at the Church's god.

She wasn't really sure who they had shot at, to be honest, but now was not the time to quibble over that. Her people were in danger.

"Of cour--Of course," she said, hoping this son of the king spoke English. "How shall we get him--"

"No," Pyotr cut her off. "We will not give him up for nothing."

"I don't care about your political games!" Inna snapped. "I will not let you burn this ship on the pyre of your ambition."

Pyotr was honestly about to backhand the captain across the face as this was direct insubordination, when he heard the voice again, but this time in his head. His brain protested, but he wasn't really sure what to do about it.

Pyotr had a thousand questions. First, how the hell had this son of whatever known he could peak into the future? He could count on one hand the people who knew that, and several of them were dead. And how was the Nocturne involved? They were clearly protecting the station.

But those could be questions he asked later. Right now...

He shifted his gaze to time, following the current arrow of time to various conclusions. He didn't see much happening in the next few minutes--mostly just he and the captain arguing, he and the voice arguing. He followed it forward, pain spiking behind his eyes. It was nothing he hadn't dealt with before. The possible futures flashed before him all at once. Which futures were most likely and therefore the loudest depended on how many actions lead to the same outcome. Vanya called them "point-p" but Pyotr had never studied time. He ground his look into the future to a halt as flashing lights and people yelling and the ship being torn apart filled his vision. It was fairly certain.

Blinking, Pyotr swore.

The captain arched an eyebrow, her arms folded across her chest.

"Tell the energy philos to cease," he ordered.

She nodded to the sensor officer and he relayed the order to engineering.

"How do we get your aid to you?" Inna repeated, feeling sort of stupid talking to the air. Making a guess, she told her pilot, "Make for the satellite."

Pyotr wasn't sure if he were listening, but he shifted his thoughts to English and thought at the son of the king of whatever. Don't think you're getting him for free. There will be conditions.