The Armstrong arrived back on Al-Qaum to a great deal of celebration. To the general public, unaware of the secret dealings of the oligarchs, the Foundation had proven itself a valuable ally to the Al-Qaum Empire. Not only had they captured the crews of three pirates ships, dealing a serious blow to piracy in the region, but they also freed the slaves the pirates had captured and brought them home. This was something the Al-Qaum military rarely managed to do (usually simply destroying pirate vessels entirely, if that).

The God-Emperor, against the advice of some of his oligarch handlers, made an imperial decree that declared the day of the Armstrong's return to Al-Qaum "Armstrong Day". This would be the first and only independent act of his reign.

Quite unexpectedly the crew of the Armstrong found themselves invited to an imperial party to be held in their honor. Captain Littlecrow couldn't possibly refuse without tipping her hand, and so the Armstrong was left with a skeleton crew while the bulk of her crew went down planet-side to attend the party.

Although a few members of the crew took advantage of the opportunity to dress up, most of them proudly wore their Foundation Explorer's uniforms. The other party-goers, all members of the God-Emperor's court, were dressed in the impractical finery of the late galactic empire. The room was alight with aggressively loud colors and gaudy jewellery.

Captain Littlecrow, of course, wore her uniform. She would have worn the bright white ensemble to a funeral.

"Captain," said Mitzner whispered "These people love us. The only problem is the you-know-who's. I think they're all here too, just give the word and I can solve all our problems," then she added, a little more quietly "I smuggled in a ion pistol on my garter."

Mitzner wasn't in uniform. Instead she was wearing a smart black dress with her gold foundation owl insignia pinned one of the straps. She carried a neon purple drink from which she was sipping constantly.

Mitzner was actually on her fifth Arak Sudaa, a sickly sweet concoction to which she took an immediate like. Her designer genetics meant she was able to metabolize alcohol incredibly fast, so it took a great deal of prolonged drinking for her to get drunk. She was usually up to the challenge.

"You wear a garter belt?" whispered Captain Littlecrow.

"Yeah, for guns," whispered Mitzner.

"Well just keep it in your skirt," whispered the Captain "We are not assassins."

"Maybe you're not," whispered Mitzner.

"I'm not kidding," whispered the Captain "I don't want you to draw that weapon without my direct order."

"Aye, Captain," whispered Mitzner "But you're not going to get another opportunity like this. Unless they throw parties like this all the time. That would be great."

"Go mingle," said the Captain.

"Aye, Captain," said Mitzner who spun off and disappeared into the crowd to go seek out a sixth Arak Sudaa.

Captain Littlecrow saw Turlin Marlowe speaking with Cassarah Bright. She decided to go crash the conversation.

"Turlin, Cassarah," she said nodding to each as she said their name "How are you?"

"Captain Littlecrow," said Cassarah "We were just talking about you."

"Only good things, I hope," said Littlecrow.

"Since you mention it, we did have some concerns," said Cassarah "While our people are grateful for your help hunting down the pirates that attacked our ships, I'm somewhat alarmed to learn that you refused to turn the captured pirates over to the Al-Qaum Empire to receive justice."

"Those pirates surrendered to a Foundation vessel," said Littlecrow "It's our policy to take prisoners to the nearest Foundation prison installation for processing and trial."

"But they did so within Al-Qaum territory," said Cassarah.

"That's not accurate," said Littlecrow "We captured them at an outlaw space station. You can't in good faith claim you're the government in a place with no government. But even if they did surrender within Al-Qaum territory they did so to a Foundation vessel. We treat our prisoners well, as it inclines more people to surrender to us. We're not in the habit of turning them over for summary execution either."

"My concern isn't actually the pirates," said Cassarah "As long as you remove them from this sector I could not care less about what you do with that scum. If you want to feed them that's the prerogative of your Foundation. I'm more concerned about the precedent you're setting."

"It's also not our policy to violate the laws of local governments," said Littlecrow "We consider the interior of one of our starships to be Foundation territory, but we will still respect your laws while in Al-Qaum space."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Captain," said Cassarah.

Captain Littlecrow forced a smile, and decided to go find where Mitzner was getting those purple drinks.

* * *

For no clear reason Wagner approached Commander Gibson, alone.

"Commander," said Wagner "Can I ask you a question?"

Kang must be up to something! thought Gibson, racing off to find him.