I knock on the door to Farsa's quarters. Unlike on the ship, the doors in her residence were wood and hinged. Which was a low-tech solution to doors by human standards, akin to a 21st century home back on earth.
"Enter." came Farsa's voice from the other side of the door. I turn the handle, and push open the double french-style doors. Farsa seemed to take a shining to Human architecture. Particularly 21st century Western postmodern architecture - which was still prevalent with high-society back home. Personally I preferred the designs of Oriental houses. Clean, homey and elegant. With that, I strode into the room.
Farsa's study was large, with bookshelves containing old iridian texts on either side of the room, in the center was a glass-top coffee table with four easy chairs around it. In the back corner by the window was a recliner chair with an end table next to it. Atop it was an empty stemmed wine glass and a half-corked bottle of a red vintage.
In the center of the room, towards the window, was Farsa at an imported Mahagony wood desk.atop it sat her personal mGlass and a stack of Iridian datapads. Farsa herself sat in a leather-uhpolstered executive office chair. And Galinae sat in a seat facing Farsa at the desk.
I clear my throat, and Galinae turns in her seat "oh! We were just discussing something-" I interrupt the princess "..Related to traveling with me, correct?" Galinae blinks "am I.. that predictable?" she looks between myself and Farsa, who giggles at the princesses' expression and looks at me. "Is there something you need, Kara?" she smiles warmly.
I keep silent as I shut the doors to her study. "I wish to secure passage to the outlying moons." I glance to Galinae with a wary stare, then to Farsa. I nod, which seems to confuse the princess. Farsa smiles to them "Gali, we need to have a private talk, so if you'd be so kind as to wait outside?"
Galinae nods and stands from her seat, exiting the room and shutting the doors behind her. I look at Farsa with a blank expression, until the door shuts. "I believe there is something that the matron of house Vansae is hiding. So I wish to travel there to gather information on the possibility of informants inside of house Vanrea and their allies."
Farsa blinks at me a moment, at first surprised. Then her lips curl into a smile "Very well, it seems I have taught you well about how Iridians think and conduct their business. Indeed, house Vanrea has an extensive web of spies and informants, but it pales in comparison to house Vansae, diminishing this web will indeed degrade their ability to react to your mission." she smiles like a mother who has reason to be proud of a daughter who has made a rather monumentous achievement.
"I will see what I can do, in the meantime? Go speak to B'Nan. I believe you have business with him." she smiles coyly and I frown. She knew, or rather she correctly predicted my next step. "Indeed I do." no sense denying it. "I am curious about his dispositions." I smile thinly.
Farsa nods "is that so? You should know, there is a rather scandalous rumor going around the house about you and B'Nan. It says that you are both in a copulative relationship after the way you looked at him during the luncheon." I splutter "Bu- EH?" and tilt my head at Farsa in confusion.
She cackles "I plan to put a stop to that, you do not even know eachother, so do not worry. Though I do suggest you talk to him later tonight with no witnesses around. It will mean it is easier to quash the rumors. Oh! One more thing." she smiles. "Take Gali with you on your journey."
I blink several times in shock. The Audacity of this woman to add dead weight to this already complicated plan! I smile, but i want to frown. Every fiber of my conscious is screaming that this is a horrible idea! "Very well. I await your arrangements, and I appreciate your assistance."
******
That night, I waited to make sure all the nobility present was asleep, the only people awake in the estate were guards and the few house servants who rose very early. I already knew that B'Nan tended to take very early morning strolls through the gardens alone, and another in the afternoon. I was waiting in a secluded spot off of a garden path for him to pass.
When I spotted him approaching on his usual route, I waited for him to pass, and cleared my throat, making my presence known and simultaneously emerging from beside a wall around a corner, behind the Gravidan. He whirled and drew his small holdout pistol from his waistband, and pointed it at my face between my eyes. I was close enough that I too also had my Mk26 jammed into his chin from below.
I smile despite having a loaded firearm pointed at my face with the wielder possibly intent on kiling me. "A pleasure to you as well, mister B'Nan." he grunts in mild approval. "It seems you are not as afraid as I initially thought you were, human." he holsters his weapon, and I mirror his gesture. "What business do you have to interrupt my evening walk?"
I sigh "Just meeting you despite the rumors about both of us." He lifted one eyebrow at that. "What rumors do you speak of?"I smile coyly. "Do you really wish to know?" He blinks at me and after a moment of silence, he harrumphs "Nevermind, I do not wish to know. You do have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I do not know yours."
I smile cogenially and reply "My name? Kara." I eye him and his one good eye blinks at me. "Ah yes, the woman who ran from the Crimson Sun, and evaded capture and possible execution for the assassination of the late General Moldsyava. I heard a lot about that when I was in imperial intelligence. But those days are long past." he eyes me up and down "so what is a dead woman doing in Iridian space?"
I blink in surprise. Wait, they think I am dead? "So they think I am dead? Deceased? No longer alive?" He nods in affirmaton "Yes. both the Systems Commonwealth and the Terran Federation believe you to be deceased. They list the cause of death as a shuttle accident and axphysiation in the cold vacuum of space. Apparently their flight tracking had your escape shuttle on course for a collision with a small rogue moon and that is where they lost your track. They assume you crashed and were killed along with the two other smugglers aboard."
I sigh, this is both welcome and also a problem. I had other contacts who now thought me dead, so it meant I had to start all over again with a hundred years of networking and building a rapport with new connections. However it also means the Federation and the Commonwealth's trail on me has gone cold.
"So you're not with Gravidan imperial intelligence?" I cock an eyebrow. "Neg. I defected 5 months ago to be with my love." he smiles happily "ever since then I've been living here under Matron Vanrea's good blessings."
I sigh, this means that I was wrong. He is not a spy. So what does the meeting of the military caste mean? I bow my head slightly in apology "I am sorry for my misperception of your intentions." He scoffs "oh please, dont do that to me. Should you wish to discuss anything, please do not hesitate to speak with me." he smiles "it is… Refreshing to meet a new non-Iridian face among the snakes in this garden."
I nod and form a small smile on my lips "So.. Should I make a habit of this?" He chuffs and shakes his head "if you wish to do so, then I have no reason to say 'no'. Good night, miss Kara." he takes a bow with his hand over his left-breast, and departs. After watching his backside retreat from me into the night in the garden, I turn and walk the opposite direction and turn the corner to head to my own quarters.