Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning
We - Intermezzo

One of many insignificant planets, that was Inkanthatana Four. The name did not come easily to Kysaek, but the naming of planets and places has always belonged to the discoverers, and she was a few hundred years too late. The world had air to breathe, but apart from the atmosphere there was nothing here, on this inhospitable and roughly Earth-sized sphere. The temperature hovered at zero degrees, between plus and minus, while rocks, snow and ice made up the landscape of Inkanthatana Four. Nevertheless, a good thousand colonists actually dared to try for something of their own here.

It was in this spaceport, a levelled field with an insignificant landing platform, that Kysaek was currently stopping and getting supplies, but not with the SIM Jupiter 33. Instead, she was here with the scout ship’s Bolt Dropper, because it wasn’t as distinctive and the Luna Alliance’s colour features had been easier to remove. It was hard for her to imagine why such colonies numbered in the thousands or even tens of thousands. Surely it was good not to have to worry about settlement rights on such ailing worlds. Especially if one was not in the territory of a major power, but Kysaek saw nothing here, in contrast to the inhabitants. She had had banal conversations with some of them before, always keeping her helmet on, and the colonists saw things here for a great future.

Now they still lived in mobile house units, one to two room but solid boxes that could be stuck together like children’s toys made of four walls, a floor and roof. Instead of boxes, however, many colonists already saw large housing towers, warm street lights, paved roads, skies full of hover wheels and magnificent botanical gardens where plant life was safe from the harsh environmental conditions of the planet. They saw a new civilisation. that would stretch across the world. Everything would be full of life and to achieve this, the colonists relied on mining in their early days, as the planet was rich in various ores and rare earths that were in demand. Here they were the masters and could live fully by a simple but galactically common motto: See it, claim it, shape it.

“These more and we’re done,” said the spaceport foreman as his assistant messenger loaded the last crate from the Bolt Dropperent. “All is correct. I hereby release our supplies to you. A real pleasure doing business with you”

“Likewise,” Kysaek thanked him. Her captured scout frigate was no cruiser or battleship, but she had had more than enough high quality firearms and light weapons on board and had traded most of them. Still, the exchange value of her weapons was actually less than what she got in return. However, the colony was remote and self-sufficient, which increased the value of the weapons exorbitantly. Because of this, Kysaek received a unit of manipulated dark energy particles or MDE particles for her goods, without which an IPF was impossible and sufficient for several jumps. “What I’ll be glad when we’re through with Trayden and at the consulate.”

“I’d rather we went to the consulate first,” Thais chortled.

“Trayden is more important, I’m afraid, and it remains to be seen whether the consulate will actually take us in ...”

“If not there, then hardly anywhere else,” Talin nodded conscientiously.

Tavis had suggested that the group flee to the consulate first before heading for Trayden. The Palanian had titled it the best option.

The Consulate was an independent, fledgling constellation that had formed after the Solaris War. Their capital was on the planet Anuket, where not one species had supremacy, but all were welcome and they ruled together, which so far was heard to be working.

Kysaek also knew some rumours and the place was considered fair, but she still continued to harbour concerns about the possible refuge. “Dorvan said that Central and the Consulate had not been on friendly terms for some time.”

“All the better, don’t you think?”

“He said that wouldn’t guarantee admission, and besides, there have been significant problems with raids on ship routes in the consulate’s sector since relations deteriorated.”

Thais interjected covertly. “I wonder if this is a coincidence?”

“When two quarrel, the third rejoices,” Kysaek retorted. There was just always someone who took advantage of situations for their own benefit. “That has always been the case.”

“Why always such negative talk?” asked Tavis liberated. He liked it here and, with Thais, lugged a radiation-protected box that actually seemed far too small for two people to carry. In truth, however, the container was extremely heavy. “We have fresh air and exchange goods. It reminds me of other times.”

“Why?” retorted Thais. She couldn’t think of much to do with Inkanthatana. “Now don’t tell me you used to be a farmer in a colony? Or a logistician ? Technician ?”

“Would that be so implausible?”

“Rather surprising,” Kysaek agreed, since in her eyes the Palanian was anything but a farmer or colonist material in general. “And there would come the question of how an honest farmer becomes a criminal.”

Briefly, Tavis felt not so exuberant. “Sometimes life just does things to you,” he mentioned thoughtfully before speaking delightedly of his occupation. “But no, I wasn’t born a criminal, and I’ve never been a farmer, but a travelling merchant.”

“Yes, I can imagine that more. You’re an excellent talker and have a knack for business and most traders are crooks in their own way, just legal.”

“Like Prax?”

“Well he’s a real crook anyway, but he’s also a trader. He’s got the best of both worlds.”

Tavis and Thais lifted the box gingerly into a safety mount on the Bolt Dropper as if it weighed a thousand kilos and the Palanian rubbed his claws with strain. “Pooh and his brothers do such muscle work. The perfect trio.”

“Everyone needs partners,” Thais contributed, sitting down at the edge of the open landing hatch. “Or were you out on your own? And what were you selling?”

“It varies from dealer to dealer depending on what they deal in and what exactly they do and where it goes, but I was mostly on my own, pitching Avex Corp software and hardware products to interested mid-market clients.” That explained the Palanians technical aptitude.

“And you later transferred the knowledge of that to your criminal career,” Thais realised, but the Talin flaunted her 341 years of knowledge. “Usually, however, Palanians are dedicated to their people and involved in the military in some way. Aren’t you?”

“To Palanians born and raised on Ferem, that is certainly true. However, I am from another world, outside the influence of the legions of Ferem.”

“And what planet is your home?”

“The name of my homeland does not matter,” Tavis said firmly. “Forgive me, but for my own protection and that of others alone, I will leave it unmentioned ... there are enough characters in the underworld who don’t see everything purely in business terms.”

Kysaek marvelled as she thought she saw the motives behind the Palanian’s rules. “So that’s how it is. You don’t necessarily insist on your code and your detachment because it serves your reputation. You want to protect yourself, your surroundings and the people.”

“Are my motives that important? I don’t want to dwell on that subject,” Tavis demurely blocked. “Instead, I could tell you some great stories from my travels.”

“Really? Don’t get me wrong, but I imagine the adventures of a trader are pretty dry and monotonous.”

“With all the slave hunters, raiders and pirates?” questioned Thais. “Half the merchants live dangerously.”

“Oh, well that would be different, of course,” Kysaek agreed. She thought that might be how Tavis went from trader to criminal. “Have your travels been fraught with danger?”

The Palanian’s work, however, seemed to have been monotonous. “I travelled almost exclusively in safe territory and never had the sorrowful pleasure of an ambush there,” Tavis said with relief. “But you don’t always need fights and battles for great stories, and I’d like to demonstrate that to you.”

Kysaek fancied himself safe. “I’ll tell you what,” she suggested. “If you tell us something that wont letting me go to sleep, I’ll haul the load of MDE particles on the Jupiter out of the Bolt Dropper all by myself.”

“If you only knew, but good,” Tavis replied with equal conviction, taking a break from standing but enthusiastically recounting one of his trips as if he were a salesman again. “One of my better jobs once took me to Odon Vol, a world on the edge of and within Eporanian territory, and there I demonstrated a new upgrade for the various suits of Eporanians to a company. It was to be a masterpiece, the revolution among upgrades for Eporanian suits and we all know how much Eporanians rely on their suits. Regrettably, however, the prototype wasn’t quite ready, despite all the warnings to our company’s bosses, but when their eyes are overflowing with foreign exchange, things just have to be done quickly and sloppy work is done.”

“Yeah, sounds like the everyday life of any trader. So nothing I would consider great,” Kysaek commented, but she did not do it condescendingly.

“Not great? I was able to sell the immature product ... By demonstrating what worked and the CEO was so excited that he loaded the prototype straight into his suit.”

Thais guessed how it went on. “Let me guess - he found the bugs immediately?”

“The flaw was ... impossible to miss,” Tavis said, forming a large circle with his arms. “The chairman’s suit inflated like a balloon and he flew around the screening room.”

“No he didn’t,” Kysaek said incredulously. This was a surprising turn of events for her, but it was too absurd to be true. “Surely such a thing is impossible. The bulky suits alone make Eporanians heavier, after all, and they’re real hunks even without them.”

“There are different versions of the suits and some are made of synthetic material. It’s tight but still quite stretchy and resilient and makes the Eporanians more agile. At least that’s what a lot of them say. Personally, I never saw a difference. To me, they’re all equally inert.”

The idea of a flying Eporanian was as strange as it was funny, but still Kysaek suppressed a smirk. “And I suppose that took care of business?”

“It didn’t take much,” Tavis grinned innocently. “The buyers were furious, but I managed to save the demonstration.”

“And how?”

“I meant that must be the children’s version with play mode,” Tavis said and neither woman could suppress their amusement. They grinned and laughed briefly as the Palanian finished the story. “Yes, that was the reaction of the rest of the board and they said that all in all the product was solid. They gave my company a few more months for rework and the deal was done.”

As she calmed down, it was a little hard for her to admit it, but Kysaek kept her word. “It was a lot of things, but certainly not dull,” she sighed, looking at Thais. “I guess I’ll have to take care of the cargo on my own then.”

“Yes, you must,” Thais confirmed. “Otherwise, after all, the bet would have been pointless.”

“I’m glad you’re not interfering and respecting the bet,” Kysaek said, with a hint of sarcasm. “Gambling was never my cup of tea, but debts are debts. Tell Vorrn we are flying back.”

Twenty minutes away from Inkanthatana Four, in empty and secluded space, the SIM Jupiter 33 was waiting for its returnees and no one needed to fear unexpected raids. There was no such thing as a proper cloaking device for invisibility in the galaxy, at least not yet, but still the scout ship was cloaked in its own way. Visual sighting in the endless expanses of space was extremely difficult, especially with comparatively tiny objects like ships, and a searcher would have had to be virtually right next to the Jupiter to spot it. In general, space navigation relied primarily on scanners to pick out energy signatures and radiations that many ships produced and emitted in excess. However, the signature of scouts was too low for a scanner to detect them in passive flight over medium or long distances. Only over very short distances was there any chance of that and even then it was hard and experienced pilots still knew a trick or two, Dios and Kuren thought.

“I’ll see you in a minute then,” Tavis said as he got out of the Bolt Dropper with Thais. Only Vorrn didn’t go straight away.

“Right away is good,” Kysaek replied, regarding the heavy box of MDE particles, remembering well how she had to lug the loads during her military days. Heavy was not an expression at all and never was she or her fellow soldiers alone. It always went in twos or threes. “Hey Vorrn. Would you be so kind as to hel-”

“I’m not kind,” the Hishek interrupted rudely. “And even if you went down broken and gasping while dragging, I wouldn’t care. I am here to fight and kill, not an enslaved negdrog to be abused as a pack animal. Was that clear?!”

Kysaek raised a brow. “Easy, it’s just a box and not your life. And honestly? You’re not fat enough for a negdrog yet.”

“And you’re not strong enough to have such a smart mouth,” Vorrn warned, not giving the woman a chance. Just as she was about to lift the box, he braced his powerful foot savagely on the container and looked down at the kneeling Kysaek. “So far you have not given me cause to do so, but we have not had a clarifying conversation, so now listen carefully: I am not like the others, understand? There’s no chit-chat between us and I’m not kissing your ass. I want worthy opponents - that’s the only reason I accept your orders and you should be extremely grateful for that.”

“Should I? I’m not sure about that yet.”

“Careful now or I will simply collect your bounty from the Vernandi blacklist.”

Kysaek narrowed her eyes as she couldn’t do anything with the terms mentioned “What list?”

“How could someone like you get so far?” murmured Vorrn indecisively, blowing out a deep breath through his nostrils. “Learn from your minions. I do not waste my time on you lightly.”

“You want something and it comes at a price,” Kysaek countered straight-faced, but she didn’t ride the terms again. Another name from one of the many groups of mercenaries, gangs or whatever these Vernandi were. Nothing that needed urgent knowledge, Kysaek thought. “And I said it at the beginning, after the escape and now - you won’t get around a bit of cooperation or you can take your leave.”

Vorrn growled through a narrow strip of sharp teeth. “I think we have what politicians call a communication problem here, so I’m setting the record straight now: we stand together as a unit and a good unit works. However, if you or the rest caught fire through your own stupidity and there was no water to put it out, I wouldn’t even piss on all of you to RESCUE you. Do we understand each other now?”

“We do”; replied Kysaek and the Hishek took his foot off her box and left her to the sweaty, strenuous work. A lift connected the narrow hangar to the upper deck and the frigate was not large, but to Kysaek the one minute walk felt like a long march because of the ballast and that gave her time to think.

Vorrn was and would be exhausting. From the beginning she had had no illusions about that fact, for that would have been dangerous and foolish and Kysaek lingered in doubt as to whether it was a good thing that the warrior travelled with her. He was supremely capable but just as unruly and impulsive and as he had just put it to her, that was no team for him. Vorrn had already proved this after the escape, when the Jupiter came across a transport being attacked by pirates in an unsafe area of space. Kysaek immediately rushed to help, but the hishek vehemently insisted on dealing with the pirates alone. Otherwise, he might have accidentally shot down one of his own while fighting in such close quarters. That was how he had expressed his obvious threat, and besides, Vorrn felt that the scum were just enough for him, so the rest should relax and enjoy themselves. Kysaek could not deny the result, as Vorrn had taken out all the pirates and, on her orders, had proceeded cautiously, putting no innocents in danger. Still, she was no longer quite so sure that his fighting qualities justified the potential trouble.

Suddenly Kysaek bumped into Dorvan at the door to the engine room. “Oh, I didn’t see you,” she said, almost not believing the sentence herself. The giant was unmissable, but she had had the box firmly fixed. Uncertain and almost embarrassed, Dorvan avoided eye contact with her and walked wordlessly back into the engine room. “That makes the question of help unnecessary,” she sighed, knowing that the charge of dark energy would have been a small matter for the Davoc. It was only a few more metres, though, and Kysaek took another big breath, but it wasn’t necessary.

Dorvan’s bot came through the engine room door. “Wait, I’ll help you,” he said complacently and took the box by himself, For the bot it was like a feather pillow.

“Phew, thanks,” Kysaek replied in a bonded manner and escorted the bot inside to the ship’s engine. “I got a little carried away, but it’s a piece of cake for you, isn’t it?”

Of all the sections on the ship, the engine room took up the most space and the real Dorvan sat there in the corner, once again merely showing his back. “The maximum sustainable load of my bot at full and concentrated power is precisely 1179, 52 kilograms,” the avatar mentioned without the real Dorvan making a sound. Confident sounded different, but he was still far more talkative with his bot than without it. “Even if I wanted to, I could never do it with my own powers.”

“You could carry the box, though. It doesn’t weigh a ton.”

“I prefer logic, and logic is a lot of maths,” Dorvan said as he placed the entire box in the drive’s converter. “My bot is the logical choice, even though it’s largely useless right now because we’re on this ship a lot and only ever stop briefly. I can hardly move freely and am constantly disconnected from the virtual system. What kind of hacker am I?”

“Yes, in insecure and wild areas, it’s hard to find a usable connecting station,” Kysaek said sympathetically. In the sovereign and densely populated areas, there was always a way to hook into the galaxy-wide Virtual System, but in places like here, that wasn’t a given . “As someone who is not so technically gifted, though, I wonder if disconnecting from the Virtual System might not be good for you? To exist digitally ... don’t you feel like you’re missing out on life?”

“I eat, I drink, I breathe and I sleep. That is the basic requirement for life, but I suspect you are aiming your statement much more at social and socially accepted interactions. Is my assumption correct?”

“That’s exactly what I meant. Going out for a change, watching a game in local sport, really getting to know someone face to face and whatnot. Don’t you miss any of that?” asked Kysaek, not having forgotten that the Davoc was plagued by a mental illness that gripped him.

“You don’t miss what you don’t know,” Dorvan replied inveterately. The subject passed more easily from his mechanical voicebox because it was his territory. “At least as you experience it and mean it in your own way. I live the same way you do, though. I speak to people in the vastness of the Virtual System, see their forms in digital form, explore the real world with my avatar, sometimes interact with real people through it, and perceive emotions in everything. So what is the difference between your way and mine?”

“Um, mine is ... real?”

“Physical or virtual. When I communicate with someone on a digital level, my words remain the same. They please, they hurt, they are nice or mean.”

“However, due to the anonymity of the Virtual System, many behave differently and are mostly liars.”

“Anonymous yes,” Dorvan agreed. However, he did not share the rest of the opinion. “But even in reality, many deceive about their true motivations and wear masks. You should have fresh experience with that.”

“Well, that was a completely different situation.”

“And yet it was real and even now: you lie, just as many other people do every day.”

What was the Davoc getting at? That was Kysaek’s question. “Do you? Are we talking about politicians and criminals?”

“No, I’m talking about everyone,” Dorvan’s bot pointedly elaborated. For him, the reality was far more deceptive. “People hide much more in real life and adapt to their environment. Things they love they have to hate and things they hate they have to love, otherwise ostracism, denunciation or worse follows. In safe anonymity, on the other hand, they usually show their real thoughts and comparing the two, the digital world is much more tangible than the physical one.”

The hacker had a valid point. “And I thought you preferred the Virtual System, because of your illness,” Kysaek said frankly.

“One was the origin. The other the consequence.”

“And because you couldn’t get out, you became a hacker, and on Themis? Why on this infernal sphere?”

“That’s ... I mean,” the bot murmured. Dorvan had been thrown off his game and wasn’t catching himself again. “I, please ... say you’re done.”

Kysaek was not insensitive. “’Finished? Do you need rest?” she asked, and the avatar simply shut down while Dorvan tensed and huddled in his corner. Apparently the Davoc had reached the limit of his exertion and Kysaek did not want to torture him.

Before the woman had gone, however, the real Dorvan spun around fleetingly and got over himself. “One more answer .... I need.”

“Yes?” echoed Kysaek in surprise. “To what question?”

“The box - why didn’t you just use your prismatics for it?”

“I’ve been asked that before,” Kysaek replied, glancing at her fingers. “I was never strong enough for it.”

“Are you ... by now?”

“Mh,” came merely from Kysaek and she looked up, Dorvan turning away again. Then she snapped her fingers. “You’re right. That was once. I’ll do it smarter next time.”

“... More logical.”

“Yeah, right,” Kysaek nodded and left. It was time for her to check up on things anyway and see if everything was finally together for the trip to Trayden. The planet would certainly not disappear and Kysaek had ordered after Central’s escape that the situation had to calm down first and her fresh trail had to cool down before continuing. A good time to gather the necessary funds and supplies for the venture on Trayden, which she had not only brought in through bartering. Contrary to her fears, much of Central’s income continued to flow to her. She had not resumed contact with the people, purely because of the risk, and yet the reasons for the continuation of her source were tangible to her. The unmasking of Kysaek and the fight against Reed’s people had caused a mighty stir and attracted the interest of the high authorities. Capona, and everything around it, was in the public eye, visited by investigators and protected by professional soldiers and even some rangers, alongside the continuing militia. That was the best protection for the residents, against a possible revenge by Reed or PGI, but Kysaek was all the more surprised that the finances continued to reach her despite the authorities. Prax had really managed this cleverly and in the news the residents of the region continued to speak highly of her group and her. They professed that thanks was the least they could do and that they were only too happy to return the favour. However, Kysaek could not rest on her laurels and the gathering of resources had to come to an end, otherwise the PGI trail might disappear and with it the chance to find evidence against the company.

Important medical supplies were the last thing Doctor Askar said was missing. “How’s it looking, Doctor?” asked Kysaek, as she sought out the ship’s sparse sickbay, and because the light above the door was green, she had wasted no time in politely entering. “Have you now allhh-.” It wasn’t the doctor she found in the room, but Thais, and she was injecting a load of drugs into her arm and Kysaek didn’t quite know how to respond. “I thought the doctor ... what are you doing?!”

The Talin knew exactly what to say. “Get out of here now!“; she said harshly as she tensed her arm and her veins popped out unattractively. Her body trembled slightly and it looked like the Talin was in pain for once more.

This worried Kysaek and she whistled at the request. “Shall I fetch Doctor Askar?!”

Thais found it hard to say anything. Apparently all her energy was just going to the reaction, drone or whatever the injection was causing and soon sweat was on her forehead. “Re’Lis is not necessary,” she breathed after a while. The trembling disappeared and her muscles relaxed. “And I have a small desire to smack you!”

Kysaek didn’t see the fault in herself. “Easy, easy!” she said soothingly. “It wasn’t me who got drugged and forgot to turn on the red light. I thought Doctor Askar was here and I wanted to talk to her about the supplies.”

Anger stood in the Talin’s sweaty face, but it wasn’t clear who the anger was directed at: Kysaek or herself. “I suspected it was only a matter of time until you found out,” Thais admitted sullenly. After all, Kysaek had almost caught her unawares a time or two, or so she was sure to think. “But it’s not entirely what you think.”

“Actually, it is your business and no one else’s,” Kysaek said. The situation was no ordinary one, however, and that changed things for her. “But we have to be able to rely on each other, and if you keep something like this a secret from all of us, it can bring us who knows what!”

“I’ve been carrying this around with me for a long time, long before we escaped and I joined the disciples and Re’Lis, Dios and Kuren know about it. It’s more than enough and it’s never hindered me before.”

Different situations brought Kysaek to a different perspective. “I don’t see it that way,” she replied. “It makes you tired, irritable and dependent and all of that adds up to a problem, especially if you don’t know about it.”

“There are just some things you don’t like to talk about.”

“But now we are talking about it and I want to know,” Kysaek insisted, giving her companion a fair chance. “What exactly is going on and why shouldn’t it be what I think it is?”

Thais wasn’t exactly boasting with words and would have preferred to keep it to herself, that much was clear. “A centuries-long life is very multi-faceted,” she mumbled, barely comprehensible, before relenting and explaining, not exactly proudly, the origin of her suffering. “Before the Solaris War, I was a different woman, nothing I look back on with dignity and I loathe it. I was not yet part of the Disciples of Dealith and had my own modest but not to be underestimated organisation. There was nothing I didn’t do and have done. I was one of the bad guys, the real bad guys.”

It was merely an inaccurate description, but Kysaek compared it to what she knew. “And with the Disciples, killing others as mercenaries and hired killers, choices or not, was then what?”

“Different. A lot can be different if you have principles and morals. We’ve talked about that before, haven’t we, or have I ever given you the impression that I’m a cold, selfish and greedy woman?”

“No, otherwise I would have died long ago.”

“And so would I,” Thais said a little melodramatically as she threw the empty metal injector on the floor. “But it wouldn’t have been the bullets or fake friends that killed me. When you can have anything and know no fear or respect, you run the risk of underestimating a lot of things and that’s how it was for me with drugs.” The further the subject went, the more difficult it was for Thais to speak, and whether that was because she was telling Kysaek or because she was simply embarrassed about it was secondary. She had not shown that much self-accusation before. “There was nothing I didn’t try. Some things were just for rehearsal and others became my daily routine. I was in a constant state of intoxication and that made me even more unrestrained and .... You understand?”

“Understand yes, but I can hardly imagine,” Kysaek confessed. She eyed the Talin, in whose life drugs still played a part, but the uninhibitedness and selfishness were gone or deeply hidden. “I mean, I don’t know you that well or for that long, but you have self-control and always think of everyone.”

“That also requires a lot of strength until today. Changing myself ... was not so easy.”

“Then why don’t you stop taking the drugs and keep taking them? That’s risky.”

Suddenly Thais smiled oddly, as if this was totally funny. “I’ll die without them and I don’t mean that as an addict,” she said, but every addict often claimed not to be an addict. “Mixing and taking so many substances for so long had destroyed a lot of things at the time and some organs had to be completely replaced, but it didn’t stop there. Even after I recovered, I suffered and it was found that my body relied on parts of the active ingredients of some drugs. It’s not the parts that get me high and yet my body is dependent on them and that’s why a special mixture was made that I have to feed myself regularly or my circulation breaks down and I die.”

Right off the bat, Kysaek understood the Talin’s bizarre smile and considered the irony a right rotten whore. “So the thing that nearly destroyed you is keeping you alive,” she murmured, “though I’ve never heard of such a case.” Among humans, old diseases of the earlier modern era had long since been deciphered and cured by medicine, but with the galaxy came new ailments, and Kysaek knew a half-fitting comparative disease from early, interstellar space travel, but it was unique among humans. “The galaxy always has new nasties in store. Some humans suffer from body-eating syndrome and have to keep themselves alive with what should be lethal radiation, and as Doctor Askar said - all medicine is a drug, there’s no good and bad.”

The conclusion cheered Thais up and the corners of her mouth formed a new, grateful smile. “It’s not something I like to talk about,” she said with relief. “But I was wrong to keep it from you of all people and I’m kind of glad you know now.”

“Yes, one less thing to worry about. I’ve been puzzling over what’s going on all this time.”

“You really are slowly settling into your role ... Even though I said otherwise on Themis. I’m sorry to hear that. A good leader knows his people and looks after them.”

Kysaek hadn’t considered that. “I would have done it anyway, whether I was in charge or not,” she said a little cheekily. “I suppose my pushiness has its good side with that.”

“In a way, but be careful,” Thais advised discreetly. “As important as those behind you are, they are also different. Some take time and some don’t and some may never reach you. Don’t force anything.”

Kysaek put aside the seriousness. “You are still familiar with my tendency to anger, though?” she asked, with an exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Bella’Sa, who could forget?” laughed Thais. “One of your other talents.”

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