"Daddy? She talks funny. What'd she say?"

"That I need to get her one of these." He tapped the microphone at his throat. "Because she doesn't understand what you said either."

It seemed my luck was in. Not only did he not pick up on my slip, but he was giving me a translator. I followed them both out of the room, not entirely sure what he wanted or how it involved his daughter.

We stopped off at a playroom to leave Amilee with some of her friends, moving on once she spotted a golden-haired girl of a similar age. The hallway was a hive of humans, some hurried, some walked a leisurely pace. Numerous wore similar attire to my own.

Dave must have seen me looking alternately between them and my own clothing. "It's a fleet uniform. Wearing it grants you access to limited areas on the ship. Before I take you to the supply room for your translator, I must ask one thing of you. Your duty is to serve my daughter, not me. I expect you to treat her with courtesy and respect. Enough to not to let her get into trouble. She's all I have left and I don't want anything to happen to her. Can you do that?"

"Why? Why are you trusting your enemy to guard your most precious thing? Why not have one of your own race look after her?"

He stopped walking, and when I drew up beside him, he clutched my forearm with enough force to stop the flow of blood to my hand. He lowered his head to whisper, "Because, if anything happens to her I can kill you. Is that understood?"

"Loud and painfully clear." It didn't take long for the human to show his true colours, even if I could understand his need to protect his offspring. I'd just have to use the child to help me gather the information I needed. With a smile, and an increase in the potency of my appeal, I added, "I only asked because I thought I'd end up doing something I wouldn't like. Looking after your child will be a pleasurable experience."

Satisfied with my response, he led the way to the supply room where the engineer on duty tweaked the translator so it would work for me. I was also given a badge that Dave said would automatically grant me access to his and Amilee's quarters.

Once I collected Amilee from the playroom, she showed me around, pointing out various places of interest to her. She introduced me to several uniformed females as "Daddy's new girlfriend". Some of them balked, some laughed, one offered me their sympathy.

"Amilee, what's a girlfriend?" I asked, after being laughed at for the fourth time.

"Daddy says it's a friend who's a girl, but Ruthie says it's a special friend."

"Special friend?"

"Uh huh. You're coming to live with us, Daddy told me so. That makes you a special girlfriend."

I couldn't make sense of Amilee's words, but if she wanted to call me Dave's girlfriend, who was I to argue? She could call me anything she wanted as long as she was happy.

The following days were spent doing much the same thing with Amilee. Playing games with her friends, taking me for a tour of another level, me tucking her into bed and reciting the tales my mother told me as a child. Days turned to weeks and I was no further on in finding anything of use. We saw little of Dave - or Commander David Thorpe as I found out on one of our little trips to level 1 - he was always too busy to be interrupted.

I found Amilee hiding under her bed one afternoon, crying her little heart out. I had to use a lot of my charms on her before she'd tell me what was wrong.

"Daddy forgot my birthday," she choked out between sobs.

I felt like my own heart was breaking. For a him to love her so much, how could he do that? It was cruel enough to abandon her into a stranger's care, but to forget her special day was unforgivable. I had some planning to do.

Angel Sleep lullaby worked it's magic; Amilee was out for the count before I finished the second verse. A quick visit to the Galley and cook agreed to make a special dinner for us. Including something he called cake. The playroom helpers donated some floating bags of air and a banner, claiming that a party wasn't complete without balloons and a banner. My last stop was on level 1. All it took were the words Amilee and urgent for Dave to come barrelling through the door before it barely finished sliding open.

"What's happened? Is she hurt?" I felt a twinge of guilt at his apparent concern.

"She's not physically hurt. It's her special day, her birthday. You're coming to a party in the Galley in exactly one hour to celebrate it with her."

He was angry with me for interrupting his meeting for something so trivial. I was angrier for his lack of understanding, so angry that I slapped him across his cheek with enough force to make him stagger.

Embarrassed by my lack of control, I turned and fled, realising as I ran that the hallway was crowded. No one moved to stop me. Every crew member who witnessed the incident stood stock-still with their mouths agape. I had just assaulted a commander of the enemy. My stupidity would see me dead, but I had one more thing to do before he sent me to join my people in the afterlife.

.