Truth abhors concealment.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Moon]

Hope stood alone on the Firebird Rise bridge, staring at the panoramic visual image spread across the curved front wall. The massive hulk of the Invictus filled a third of the view. With the present ship orientation, the starlight that reached her eyes originated from the heart of the Commonwealth.

With two steaming mugs of tea in hand, Moon watched her for a moment. A silent sigh passed his lips. This is all difficult for her.

"They call me the Warrior Empress." Hope said, turning around. "I don't want to be a warrior."

"Who says that?" Moon came up beside his daughter, offering a mug of tea.

"All the chatter on the info-web." She blew gently across the hot liquid surface, watching the tendrils of steam swirl and disappear into the air. "They say I am coming to conquer the Commonwealth."

"You know better than to trust comments on the info-web. It attracts the outliers of humanity." Moon took a sip. "No one here believes you seek war. Already, you prevented one battle."

"Gab did that."

"On behalf of you and all of us." Moon grinned. "That boy can do great things when he puts his mind to it."

Hope grinned in return. "Yeah, he can." Her grin faded. "Dad, what if war comes anyway? You've seen the footage. There are demonstrations and riots across the Commonwealth worlds, even talk of insurrection. Already many have died."

"Not even the Empress can stop the storms," he said. "But she can help steer the boat to safer waters. The people long for a good pilot."

"I like that analogy. Maybe I will use that sometime." The smile that arose on her face faded again. "But I don't know if it is even right to put so much faith in a Sol Empress. It is essentially an aristocracy, and in the history of humanity, those usually aren't good."

"And yet," Moon replied. "The Empress has been a force for good over the last millennium. So will you be, daughter. Remember, you are not in this alone."

"I know." Hope turned her head down and took a quivering breath. "But sometimes it feels that way."

Her words sunk into Moon's heart. Perhaps that is her greatest fear.

"You miss him?" He put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. She tilted up widened eyes. "Stephen?"

"Yes..." Hope's voice cracked, and she collapsed into her father's embrace. "But an Empress can't have that."

"Why not?" Moon said. Hope's head snapped back and her jaw dropped. "I mean, yeah, it might be difficult and there are lots of things to consider..."

"By tradition, an Empress has never had a mate."

"I've never liked tradition just for the sake of tradition, although changing this one might be difficult. But as the saying goes, it might take an act of the Empress to change, if you know what I mean." He winked, releasing her from his arms. "I have some good news. They released Eshe for duty. She will come here with Liam on the Amadi."

Hope smiled. "That is good news." She hugged him again. "Thanks, Dad."

*****

The guests were already waiting in the galley when Hope and Moon walked in. Admiral Liam Glynn, Chancellor Jayna Patel, and Claire, the chancellor's assistant, sat at the table while Saffon darted about, serving a selection of ales and freshly baked snacks. Eshe stood to one side. Gabriel, physically located on the bridge of the Invictus, then appeared as a life-size holographic image in another seat.

Hope rushed over to Eshe and wrapped her in a hug. "I am so glad to have you back." Eshe grimaced in pain that the squeeze caused her healing wounds. In response, Hope backed away and put a hand to her mouth. "Sorry."

"I am also pleased, Hope." Eshe smiled, then gave Gabriel a nod in response to his wave.

While they gathered at the table, Liam took a swig from a plain brown bottle. "Moon, how is it you always seem to find the best ales?"

"One perk from my former life as a trader," Moon replied with a grin, then took a swig himself.

Leaning back in her chair, Hope got the meeting started. "Where do we stand on the Commonwealth personnel transfer, Liam?"

"Nearly complete," he answered. "There were a few altercations, but for the most part, it is going smoothly. They know they were soundly beaten. We now have over half of their warships at our disposal, including the Invictus."

Soundly beaten, to say the least, Moon thought to himself. But it turned out that the logistics of moving all the Commonwealth military personnel became the most difficult part of the whole victory. Crowded onto a few of their ships, mostly transports and support ships with weapons disabled, they would soon return home.

Hope nodded, then asked, "Gab, what happened on the Invictus?"

Gabriel put his holographic feet upon the table. "Their admiral was, shall we say, unreceptive? He organized an insurrection. But since I have complete override control of the ship AI, it didn't last long." He grinned. "No one died, but I got to shoot the admiral with a stun bolt. That was fun." Hope glared at her brother and he put his feet down, then said, "Anyway, the Invictus is staffed with our people, and we are ready to go when you are."

Hope lowered her head. "I still have reservations about marching into Commonwealth space with a huge show of force. It is a provocative gesture that invites an in-kind response."

"I see no other way, Empress," Jayna said, leaning forward. "A military response would likely come, regardless. This way you have more protection."

Before Hope could respond, Sai announced from an overhead speaker, "Sir, you have a long-range com request."

Moon turned his eyes up. "Not now Sai. Take a message."

"But sir, it is the Priestess."

Stunned silence filled the room. Could it be? A dizziness overtook Moon and his voice nearly fractured. "Put her through, Sai."

Celeste's face appeared on a view panel at one end of the table. Because of the distance, the image was grainy and periodically fluttered. Her eyes widened, and she put hands to her mouth, managing only one word. "Moon..."

"Celeste..." Moon stood, gazing at her. "Are you okay?"

"I am, but so nearly, I was not." She smiled, scanning those at the table. "I understand you all had quite the adventure, especially Gabriel and Eshe. The Commonwealth is quite shaken up about all that happened."

"Where are you?" Moon asked.

"Onboard the Vesper with Ali Zahara." At the name, a hot anger flared within Moon. He turned to see Hope flash narrowed eyes above a frown. Celeste anticipated their concerns and continued. "She has acknowledged Hope as the true Empress heir and agreed to help us."

Moon said, "Give us your location, and we will come and get you."

"I would like that more than anything, my love. But no. I intend to stand trial on Vers Nederland. It is the best way to establish Hope's legitimacy and expose Diego's dirty deeds. I am under the protection of the Empress Pro Tempore, so the Commonwealth can't touch me without lengthy legal proceedings."

"But what about Diego?" Hope asked. "Legalities won't stop him."

"He already tried, twice." Celeste turned her head toward someone out of view, then turned back. "But thanks to a certain commander, he failed. Hope, one thing I have discovered is that there is considerable support for you within the Commonwealth and the Sol Priesthood."

Hope paused for a moment. "Does that mean we could come in without interference from the Commonwealth military? Without a battle fleet around me?"

"I think so," Celeste put on a knowing smile as to Hope's concern. "But regardless, you should be careful."

"Is there anything you need from us?" Moon asked.

"There is one thing," Celeste responded. "Send me all the evidence we have of Consortium wrongdoing and our children's lineage." She looked at Jayna's assistant. "And Claire, as Diego's former assistant, would you be willing to testify against him? There is risk, and I would understand if you do not wish to do so."

Claire stiffened her posture and drew her lips tight. "I would do anything to put that monster away."

"Thank you." Celeste bowed her head. She put two fingers to her lips. "I love you all. And Moon, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too." Moon repeated the gesture. "I love you. Be safe."

The transmission ended.

Gabriel leaned forward. "What if we could get more evidence against Diego, all his dirty secrets?" Without getting an answer, he asked, "Claire, do you know where the Consortium would store that kind of information?"

Claire nodded. "There are protected corporate databases at the Consortium headquarters on Vers Nederland. But only a few people have authorization to access them."

A sly grin rose on Gabriel's face, followed by a similar expression from Hope. She said, "Gab or I could."

Silent until now, Eshe lowered her eyebrows. "Empress, I don't like the implications of this."

"Claire, would you tell us where to access them?" Gabriel said.

"I'll do better than that," she answered. "When the time comes, I'll show you."