[Celeste]

Over the years, Celeste trusted Liam Glynn's guidance. But never had the appearance of his wide red-bearded face been so welcomed.

On the view panel, he lifted a red eyebrow. "It appears we arrived just in time."

Celeste stood, holding an impatient Hope in her arms. Moon stood beside her with Faith in one arm, who gazed up at the face on the view panel, and a squirming Gabriel in the other, who reached for his mother and whimpered.

Celeste smiled. "Indeed so, Liam. Half a minute later and we would not be having this conversation."

"Are you all well?"

Nodding, she said, "Yes, thanks to you."

A wriggling Gabriel nearly pulled himself out of Moon's arm. Crouching, Moon used a leg to support the little boy while re-establishing his arm wrap. Gabriel squirmed again, sliding down until only his arms and head extended above Moon's forearm.

Moon grimaced, handing Gabriel to Celeste. "Here, you take him."

Liam looked to Moon. "Captain, what is your ship's status? Do you need to evacuate?"

"The ship is stable for now. We lost our starboard reactor and thruster. We have powered down for detailed assessments."

"Permission to come aboard."

Moon grinned. "You are more than welcome, sir. Use the portside dock. The starboard dock was damaged."

"Until then." The communication ended.

Hope whined. In Moon's arms, Faith reached out toward her mother.

Celeste sighed. "The little ones are famished. I will take them to the galley and start the process." She turned toward Claire. "Would you help me with them?"

Claire nodded, taking Faith from Moon. Celeste turned to walk out the bridge hatch, following Claire.

Moon stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, letting Clair continue to the galley. "One more thing, Celeste."

He pulled her against himself, sandwiching two small children between them. Cupping the back of her head, Moon pressed their lips together for an overdue kiss. She reciprocated in full, purring as the kiss lingered. But an impatient Hope curled her lip and grabbed a handful of Celeste's dark hair, then yanked.

"Owww!" Celeste pulled back from Moon and rescued her lock of hair. "Okay, little girl! I am going." She walked to the door and turned back one more time, winking at Moon. "Later..."

*****

Celeste nearly crashed into Moon at the galley doorway as he escorted their guests, Captain Liam Glynn and Chancellor Jayna Patel. Liam, wearing the same gray uniform with a red collar stripe as the first time they met, allowed a grin to appear. Jayna walked with her hands behind her back, wearing a red sari. A silver head band held back her gray-streaked black hair. She bowed her head. Celeste put a finger to her lips, tilting her head toward the sleeping baby nuzzled against her neck.

Whispering, she said, "Finally got Gabriel to sleep. I think he thrives on excitement." She put on a half smile. "Much like his father."

After laying the little boy next to his slumbering sisters, Celeste returned to the galley. Moon had just finished introducing Claire to their guests. Bits of spattered pureed vegetables covered Claire's tight shirt and black leggings. The tabletop before her shared the same mess.

Moon threw Claire a cleaning towel. "Hope did that?" The young woman nodded. He said, "We should have warned you about her and vegetables. She has a half meter spray radius."

Celeste embraced Liam in a warm hug. He said, "We feared the worst when we received the distress message. What happened?"

Celeste sighed. "Sanctuary... wasn't. More like a trap. They were waiting for us--"

Moon interrupted, holding up several brown bottles. "I think this story is best told with a round of ales."

A wide grin came to Liam's face as he accepted a bottle. "I had hoped you had more of these."

Moon held up a juice pouch and lifted an eyebrow to Celeste. After a brief hesitation, she shook her head. "I'll take an ale too."

"Really?"

"After all we went through, I think I earned one."

Moon nodded, handing her a bottle. "No question about that."

She flipped the lid and took a sip, closing her eyes to savor the flavor. I had forgotten how good Ceti ale is.

Celeste and Moon told the tale of their rescue to a rapt audience. They stopped only to retrieve additional rounds of ale for Liam and Moon.

Liam tilted his head. "It actually was your ship AI that came up with this so called wild-ass plan?

Moon glanced up. "Right, Sai?"

A voice replied from above. "Oh, yes, sir! It was based on a situational simulation matrix. And Bubba helped."

Liam wrinkled his forehead. "Who's Bubba?"

"He was the Sanctuary AI, sir."

Liam tipped his bottle. "Moon, you have an amazingly resourceful AI."

Moon smiled. "That I do."

Janya Patel had remained silent during the tale, sometimes glancing at Claire. She narrowed her eyes. "Claire, if I may ask, how did you come to be at Sanctuary?"

The Chancellor tightened her lips and drew down her eyebrows. She is suspicious. And Claire saw that, too.

Claire shrunk down in her chair, her lower lip trembling and her eyes widening. Celeste answered for her. "Claire saved the lives of the children. We took her with us."

Jayna was not through. Her gaze intensified on the young blonde. "Why were you there?"

Claire gulped, and her face paled. "I... I was Gideon Diego's personal assistant. But I couldn't let him hurt the babies."

Moon said, "And he would have killed her too."

Jayna continued. "The Trade Consortium's Director of External Affairs? That Gideon Diego?"

Claire dipped her head. "Yes, ma'am."

Jayna's eyes bore through Claire and her voice cut like a knife. "Then how do we know we can trust you?"

Celeste's breath hitched in her throat. This is an interrogation. She interjected, "Chancellor, is this really necessary? She--"

Jayna raised her hand to silence Celeste, but her eyes did not leave Claire. "Let her answer. I will listen."

Claire wrapped her arms around herself. A shiver overtook her as she bowed her head.

The thought that came to Celeste sickened her. Claire fears authority. What had Diego done to her?

"Claire?" Jayna lifted her eyebrows, demanding an answer.

Tears traced the young woman's face. "I don't know... He is a monster! He... he did things to me. If I disobeyed, he would have sent me back to Hades Pits. Or worse. But I couldn't let him harm the babies. So I took them away." A single sob escaped her lips. "Please... you have to believe me!"

A chill came over Celeste. The mining colony of Hades Pit lived up to its name. This girl had been through hell. She shifted beside Claire and embraced her. Tears dampened Celeste's shoulder.

Jayna's expression softened. She stood up and reached across the table, putting a hand on Claire's arm. Her voice became gentle. "I believe you, child. Please forgive my harshness, but we had to be sure."

Jayna sat down and folded her hands on the table. "The involvement of the Trade Consortium at such a high level is deeply troubling."

Claire wiped her eyes. "I think it was Diego that had Empress Iona killed. And the Chairman knew about it."

A silence fell over the galley. Jayna lifted her eyes to Claire. "Do you have proof of this?"

Claire shook her head. "No, ma'am. I did not have access to his records. But I heard him talk sometimes. He punished me if I eavesdropped too much." She looked into Celeste's eyes. "Priestess, I know you didn't blow up the Oracle Port like they said. I saw them offload the bomb from Diego's ship and heard him give the order to blow it up."

Jayna glanced at Liam. He gave a shallow nod. She said, "Claire, if you would tell us what you know of Gideon Diego and the Trade Consortium, we will offer you safe haven at a place far from Commonwealth influence. A place for a new start."

Claire smiled. "Thank you, ma'am. I never want to go back."

*****

Celeste woke up with a gasp and a sheen of sweat, jerking up in bed to a sitting position. The nightmare had come again, the one without Moon, the one where a dark evil presence swallowed up the children and her. But Moon was still here, slumbering beside her, his mere presence soothing a racing heart.

What does the dream mean?

The babies slept nearby in their new communal crib, fabricated by Sai while en route to Sanctuary. The slatted plas-steel sides stood almost a meter tall, designed to foil Gabriel's escape attempts. The innocence of the sleeping babies warmed Celeste's heart.

A thought sent an icy chill through her. So nearly did we lose them. 

Celeste glanced at the clock. Per usual schedule, the children should be awake by now, but given what they had been through, it was not surprising that they slept late. 

Moon, laying on his back, stirred as she snuggled up to him. He stretched, then slid an arm under her and pulled her close. Celeste draped one leg over him. Fluttering his eyes open, he whispered. "Hi." 

"Hi yourself." Celeste nuzzled her head between his bare shoulder and neck, whispering, "Mmm, I could get used to this."

"So, do you still want to be my girlfriend?"

She grinned. "Maybe... Did you really mean what you said?"

"When?"

"When the missiles bore down on us and we thought we were going to die."

Moon nodded. "Yeah. Like I said, no worries."

Celeste snapped her head up, narrowing her eyes. "You know what I am referring to."

He grinned. "Oh, you mean, when I said I love you?"

She put her head back down on his shoulder. "Yes. That's it."

He tightened his arm around her. "Yeah, I kinda love you. Like a lot."

"Kinda, a lot?"

"Well, much more a lot than kinda."

"Mmm, good."

Celeste climbed up on top of Moon, straddling him. Pushing aside her long dark hair and lifting the t-shirt worn as a nightgown, she lowered her lips to his, sealing his declaration with a deep lingering kiss. For this moment, all the problems and issues in the galaxy fell away. Desires more primal flared, stoked by the man under her. But with the little ones soon to wake up and Claire occupying the spare bedroom, she contained the fire.

For now.

She lowered herself back down into his arms. After a moment to catch her breath, she said, "Moon, where do we go from here?"

"We need to get the ship repaired. We should be able to make it to the secure facility that your friend Liam told us about. It's planet-side, so we will have some time to get off the ship."

"And after that?"

"We find a place far, far away from the Commonwealth where we can be a family."

Memories of her nightmare and Diego's threat flooded Celeste's mind. She shuddered, pressing herself into Moon.

"What is it?" Moon stroked her hair.

"What Diego said, that he would find me. And when he does, he will find the children too. I am a threat to you all."

He raised up, turning toward her. "Don't let him get in your head, Celeste. There is no way he can search everywhere, especially if we go far out beyond Commonwealth space. We would be safer together."

"Perhaps so, but--"

Two little eyes peering up at her over the edge of the bed interrupted Celeste. A smile came to her face, and she sighed. "So much for the Gabriel escape-proof crib. Come here, little boy!" She sat up and lifted the grinning Gabriel into the bed with them.

Hope stood at the crib railing, a pout on her lips at not being able to follow her brother. Faith pushed her head up as she laid on her stomach and let loose a string of happy babbles. Moon let out a laugh, then rose and snatched the two girls from the crib. Laying back down in the bed, he allowed them to crawl on top of him. With Gabriel in her arms, Celeste laid back beside Moon with her head touching his.

A warmth spread deep to her heart. This is family. The way it should be.