​A day later, the ISOD ship IF Zulu arrived and docked with Sarah's and Ulquonar's ship. A crew of engineers inspected it while Sarah and Ulquonar talked to the captain of the ISOD ship, Captain Desoto.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEakMx0tDz
"Captain, we need to blow up the ship. It needs to disappear," said Sarah.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iqXysnrG2
Captain Desoto raised an eyebrow. "Blowing it up leaves traces. It's unlikely someone would stumble upon them here, but can you take the risk?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeepNKrjW9e
"What do you propose then?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpeTOHcdhK
"We'll fly the ship to one of our facilities and properly disassemble it there. We'll recycle most of it and no one will ever see it again."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRj6CA2kNS
Ulquonar grinned and Sarah sunk her head slightly. "That's of course better. We'll do that," she said. "Although, would it be possible to haul the ship to the facility in the hangar of another ship?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmn0SIDtbBk
"Yes, but that would delay us, cost more and be overall less secretive due to added involvement. I don't see an issue with having the ship make the journey under its own power, or do you?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2Gi8nnO8P
"Not particularly. Thank you, Captain."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJWOWyU9Gr
"Anytime, governor. However, if you allow me, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VkbtYC9fG
Sarah nodded and Ulquonar left the room.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JGbXBEuqE
Captain Desoto sipped on his coffee and said, "I'm curious, governor." He showed her his top-level clearance. "What is the governor of IRN and a Zephalan doing here, together, on a junk barge?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRI3z2tUMR
Sarah smiled. "I'm afraid that's classified. Strictest need to know."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkZ7FVD8LN
"Hmm, understood. I've had your luggage brought to your quarters. Deck six, Section A-2. I'll have someone show it to you."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uhdgjtNNS
"Thank you, captain."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNR0kwQZg9G
Captain Desoto nodded and called an officer who showed Sarah and Ulquonar their quarters. They were small, but at least they didn't have to share a room. The flight back to Andarion was several hours long and Sarah grew impatient about all the protracted waiting in FTL-Space. Such was long-distance space travel. They had scrubbed the astrogation computer clean before docking with the Zulu, but still Sarah was nervous and hoped no one would ever be able to trace them back to the Forbidden World. It would be a PR disaster of unfathomable impact. Why had she decided to trust a Zephalan so lightly? Why had she allowed him to pursue his goals at her expense? She lay on her bunk bed, trying to rest, but she ended up turning around constantly. She undressed after a while, finding it uncomfortable to lie in bed clothed. Space travel. Black all around, distances seemingly competing to be the highest and humming engine drives ever persistent in the background. The cabin had no windows and only one locker. Sarah had traveled better before, but the times expected of the royal family to be modest when undertaking inofficial business. A bit less casual and a bit more stately would be better. In this times, rank seemed a formality, not a hierarchy. True, the captain was commanding officer of the ship, but bridge officers were known to call their captain by their first name and ship business was handled with a certain levity. Whether this negatively impacted performance was debated, but no measures had been taken. Therana's strict anti-war policies had made the military become pushovers. according to some less mainstream figures. In contrast, matters of healthcare and education were at an alltime high of satisfaction and an alltime low in criticism. All good and smart, but it had done nothing to prevent piracy to live their fourth heyday. Nothing had come after the Black Dawn class superdreadnoughts 30 years ago. Some argued such large, heavy and most importantly, exorbitantly expensive warships weren't necessary. The Zephalan invasion had been a highly irregular and unusual event, with wars between established factions not requiring such overarmed behemoths. Others cautioned that such an occurrence, in one way or another, might happen again and the empire should be able to defend itself. All of this fell on deaf ears in the Dark Temple, with Therana deciding that no new superdreadnoughts be built and the defense budget be cut by 5%. She enjoyed high popularity, up to 85%, in the central and southern empire, but in the north, it was down to 40%. Not disastrous in absolute terms, but well below the threshold warranting special concern. But soon, very soon, the pirates would be forced to wake up, to witness the end of their times. Hopefully, Admiral Laurent would be ready soon.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rPngzhYEc
The Imperial Frigate Zulu reached Andarion after seven hours of straight zooming through FTL-Space. They hadn't been able to use an FTL-Route and thus had to contend with lower speeds, but Sarah couldn't care less anymore. She was ready with her luggage in the hangar to be brought down to the surface and to her residence. Ulquonar would be flown to a shuttlepad in Klendana that would allow him to disembark without making the news. Captain Desoto came to say goodbye, but Sarah barely listened. Her mind was with Ishaan and a proper bed. As the shuttle glided into the atmosphere and eventually touched down on the residence's shuttlepad, Sarah wondered if she would later come to truly regret ever having taken the position of governor.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJYZKnbpZH
She hadn't spotted him before, but upon leaving the shuttle, she saw Ishaan already waiting along with Henry and guards. Sarah immediately embraced and kissed Ishaan before turning to Henry.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqs9yDrQng
"Welcome back, ma'am," he said.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ001qpSIiGR
"Thank you, Henry."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFozia2RZ7
"I hope you've had good journey."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTl4p9IItD
"Tumultuous."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XwYQMzuGr
"Interesting."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkF7QkU4Exw
"We should go inside," said Ishaan. "The press has been overly daring for a few days. We suspect they know you've left."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5923iG21l3
Sarah nodded and they hurried inside. It was evening and the sun had almost completely set. The chef of the house Reiko Izuro had prepared dinner and Ishaan requested they eat alone in their apartment. She had prepared poultry in lemon juice with potatoes and green salad on the side. But Sarah couldn't enjoy it, even though it was delicious. She stared at her plate and ate very slowly, avoiding looking Ishaan in the eyes. He left her alone, but only for a couple of minutes.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZHWdXk4MR
"I know something's on your mind. Wanna talk about it?" he asked.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoqNsdpxLv
"Not really," she answered.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhMusoPZI6
"You can talk to me. I don't like seeing you like this."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVnozw1cUR
"You probably have to endure it."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTRtcuQjCF
"But why?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbX1kfr1Gx
"I really don't want to discuss what happened. I didn't die, that's something."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0wWOFX8M3
"A bit barebones," he mumbled. "Did that Zephalan do something to you?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNxzCAijba
"Not directly."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94Ll1LVGwv
"Indirectly then. What did he do?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rvCE3aJ9d
"Ish..."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBmEoV1SEx
"Fine. But don't expect me to just forget about it."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnYOeXrxJN
"Fair enough," she said, sighing. "Listen, I'm tired. I want to go to bed early."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCTNjAWtoE
"Alright. No welcome back sex then, hmm?"799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobmPYl3dJm
"Sorry."799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeRLk7jUWk
Ishaan sighed, and the sun disappeared below the horizon.799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphmaJhflza
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