Lodos, with all it's glory - a rare kind that didn't come from size, firepower or operational history - was now docked to Pavonis Orbital Shipyards. The official reason for it's early return to the docks was the final evaluation of it's experimental systems. It's crew was making their last preparations to leave the vessel and return to the surface of Mars, where they would wait for their next assignments. While the engineers were checking all systems by naked eye for one last time, me and Mei were looking out of the shipyard's windows.
I had instructed my guards to have people leave me and Mei alone, not as Kagan and Mei but as the president and an admiral.
"I am sorry for having to disperse your bridge crew, Mei." I said.
"No, no." she said softly. "It is a natural part of serving in the military, and the right way as far as strategies proved themselves."
"Still..." I wanted to interrupt, but held back.
"They weren't bad, they were all good at their jobs; a lot of them were good people too..." she said. "But I have not connected with any of them, I mean, the way old Lodos' crew did. People serve under the same flag, in the same vessel, next to each other's consoles; but when the day comes, you have to leave it all behind. Neither you nor I should try to change it."
"Right."
"If I were you, Kagan..." she said, "I would worry more about Talossa."
"What about Talossa?" I asked her.
"Don't give me that look." she frowned. "News travel faster than light, I thought you would know... For the first time since Talossa and Republic came together, and I am including the Old Republic too, the tensions are rising. If we were in a constant state of hostility, I wouldn't bat an eye; but it is the unusual events like this that makes people worry."
"Mei..." I said. "We are still recovering from a system-wide war. It will take some time to ensure stability and control over everything."
"It will add to the chaos if we don't play a good game." Mei said.
"Tell you what, you just worry about your ship. By the time you return, things will look much better."
"Promise?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Was she being serious? A personal promise on political and social stability of a multi-planetary state?
"I will try my best." I evaded the promise.
"What if everything just spirals down into another mess?" Mei asked.
"Well then, take your ship and look for a new world. What else there is to say?"
"That's not even funny." she got a bit angry, but she was trying to hide it.
"I wasn't trying to be funny. However, if you are to board that ship with what you're leaving behind in mind, you will never put full effort on your mission." I said.
"With respect, Mr. President..." she said. "That's all I have been taught in academy. What am I if not an officer of Martian Navy to protect people?"
"You are missing the point." I said. "It is not your duty to decide on what policies the government decides on, your duty is to carry out the ones that concerns the military."
"That's exactly the opposite of how we founded the Republic of Mars." she said.
"But there was no People's Republic anymore when we did it, we couldn't disobey the state even if we wanted to - there was no state anymore we could disobey!" I argued. "Look Mei, if you are not ready for this mission, I will have to abort it."
"No!" she screamed loudly.
"Lower your voice, you will make the guards barge in." I said. "Why mention Talossa all of a sudden, and do this? Do you just want to fight with me or what!?"
"I-I'm... sorry." she said, lowering and softening her voice again. I held her shoulders smoothly.
"You are stressed." I said. "Maybe go get some rest, how about that?"
"Maybe." she said. "Are you going to stay here?"
"If I wasn't the president, I would." I said. "I don't want to raise any suspicion by making an extended visit to the shipyards."
"I get it." she said.
"Is your crew ready?" I asked. "I mean, you know, the secret ones..."
"They are, they are for sure." she said. "Everything is okay on my side. How about you?"
"We've been advertising the culture festival everywhere." I said. "Since the Obsidian City commemorations were not long ago, it will probably draw a lot of people."
"How about the actual departure, though?"
"I've placed the appropriate people in appropriate positions." I said. "Propellant tanks will be full as well. You should have no trouble leaving the docks."
"I see." she said. "Good work, President!"
It must've been feeling very nice to have your close friend be the president.
"Once we steal- oh, I mean, take the ship..." Mei started reciting the plan.
"You immediately go stealth - unlike our failure with the first Lodos, you should have no problems after that point. There can not be any traitors aboard, and you can not be tracked. Any further problems here will be up to me." I said.
"Are you sure the festival will work?" Mei asked. "It has been hastily prepared, I suppose?"
"Not at all." I said. "There will be lots of Fed citizens coming from other countries as well, we are showing off pretty nicely; even the Fed governments will like it. Combined with the planned holiday of Navy staff, there should only be a skeleton crew left on the shipyard at those days, most of which will be comprised of hand-picked men of our secret service."
"And when people notice the missing ship? The most advanced ship, mind you, out in space with no Feds aboard..."
"The excuse is ready." I said. "Talossa University of Natural Sciences had a project in which they were developing a full automation system -with help of artificial intelligence of course- for large vessels. Like how our drones work, but applied to massive scales. Lodos is an experimental ship, and there could be no better ship to test this system on."
"Oh, really?" she said. "It is Talossa of course... AND WHY DO I NOT KNOW LODOS HAS A FULL AUTOMATION SYSTEM!?"
"Calm down." I said. "You don't know it, because it doesn't actually have one. That was a lie. Well... the university DID work on the project for some time, but it stopped after a while because of the lack of funding. However, that still is the best lie anyone could come up with."
"You got me really worried there." she said. "So you will officially be testing the automation system whereas, in reality, I will be taking the ship and flying off?"
"Exactly."
"But, Mr. President, as you are aware, artificial intelligence is forbidden on any military vessel, by more than several international treaties." she said.
"You won't have any weapons with you, and the stealth system does not count."
"The life support will have to remain operational, and someone will eventually detect us organic beings inside." she said.
"You are in a stealth ship, even if you are found, no one will know what they are looking at!"
"The Feds WILL DEFINITELY ask for the ship's location even if they can't see through the lie. Furthermore, they might also want to see the ground control room of these automated ships."
"We have a decoy in Outer Solar System that can and will replicate Lodos' behaviour." I said.
"They will ask why the navy didn't put at least a few people aboard for fail-safe purposes." she said.
"Because if we put people in, we will have to have the life support systems active all the time, which defeats the purpose of a full evaluation as that is not the ideal configuration." I said. "Instead, we will simply have an accompanying ship that follows our decoy for fail-safe."
"Alright, then!" Mei said. "I tried so hard to find a fault in the plan, and I failed. Good work, Mr. President, good work."
"I should leave." I said.
"Hey." she said, and turned away from the window. I felt her warmness on my chest, and hugged her back.
"Godspeed, Mei. I count on you."