Transforming an enemy into an ally is a far greater victory than to defeat them.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Celeste]

Celeste sat cross-legged on the hard floor with her hands on her knees, palms up. Eyes closed, she pulled deep slow breaths, but meditation proved difficult with all the concerns that weighed on her mind. Hope and Gabriel, my children, did they escape? And Eshe? Moon, my love, I am so sorry to have abandoned you again.

Celeste opened her eyes and sighed, taking in her surroundings, like countless times before. The small brig was comfortable enough, but the decorating scheme was best described as monochrome drab. Everything was plas-steel gray — from the walls and slotted door, to the narrow slab bed and built in chair, to the sink and commode. Even the blanket and her loose-fitting garb were gray.

She jerked as the cell door creaked open. At the entrance stood a grizzled man with a trimmed white beard, wearing a dark blue uniform of the Commonwealth military. The gold bars on his high flat collar indicated a mid-rank officer. But Celeste found no hint of malice in the light blue eyes that scanned her.

"May I come in, Ms. Ciel?" he said.

"Please do, sir," Celeste responded as she stood. "I would welcome a visitor."

The man strolled in with hands clasped behind his back. A guard, a young woman who seemed too small for her uniform, closed the door behind him and waited just outside, peering through the plas-steel mesh. Standard procedure, Celeste surmised. There were always at least two present when questioning a prisoner.

"I am Commander Alistair Miles, captain of the Commonwealth Transport Arcadia. I trust you have been treated well, Ms. Ciel?"

She nodded. "Considering the circumstances, I have. Your guards have acted with the highest degree of professionalism. And I thank you for that, Commander."

He lifted an eyebrow, adding another wrinkle to his forehead. "You express gratitude to your captors?"

"A mind toward gratitude is a powerful catalyst, Commander, even expressed to an enemy." Celeste replied, paraphrasing a passage from the Writings. "Although, I do not consider you my enemy."

"Who is your enemy, Ms. Ciel?"

She narrowed her eyes. "The leadership of the Trade Consortium and every corrupt official who bends to their will. What are your orders pertaining to me, Commander?"

"I am to deliver you safely for trial on Vers Nederland, Ms. Ciel."

"I pray you do, Commander. But I fear I will not make it there alive."

The Commander bristled at the implied accusation. "I assure you, Ms. Ciel, no harm will come to you on my ship."

"I believe your intentions are honorable, sir. But how well do you know your crew? And what happens after I arrive? The Consortium's tendrils run deep, Commander. They will not allow me to come to trial, that I firmly believe. My defense would reveal what they wish to remain hidden."

The Commander paced the floor, back and forth in thought. "I saw your Outlander interview. Is what you said true? The Chairman and the Prime Minister themselves called it false." His eyes bore into hers. He looks for signs of deception.

Celeste smiled, shaking her head. "How do I answer such a question? A liar and a truth-teller would answer the same. I cannot make you trust me, only speak the truth as I know it. So I tell you, Commander, every word was true. I am no terrorist, rather through me continued the Line of the Sol Empress."

He tapped on the door, then turned back. "Nonetheless, I have my duty."

"Of course, Commander." Celeste dipped her head. "Did you file a flight plan before leaving?"

"Yes, as always."

"I suggest you alter your course, sir. The Consortium has demonstrated no regard for life in their efforts to stop me."

*****

Later the next evening, the Commander appeared again, along with a guard bearing two trays of food. "May I join you for dinner, Ms. Ciel?"

She smiled, standing. "I would be delighted, Commander."

Another guard placed a small table and two chairs in the cell, which nearly took up the entire open floor space. The Commander put the ration packs on the table and peeled back the foil cover. He sighed. "Humanity invented faster than light travel, but still struggles with good food in space."

At his bidding, she sat down, saying, "To what do I owe this honor, sir?"

Instead of answering her question, the Commander turned toward the guard in the doorway. "Leave us."

The guard stammered. "But sir--"

"Leave us," he repeated in an even tone.

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Do you not fear I might do you harm? Or perhaps, should I fear harm from you?"

"Neither, I think. But, as you said, a liar and a truth-teller might answer the same." The Commander grinned as he placed a napkin across his lap. "Rather, I would like to discuss something of mutual interest."

"I am intrigued. Please continue."

He pulled out a hand-held viewer from a pocket and opened an image. "First, I think you would like to see this." With a push of a button, a small holographic image appeared above the table. "This came from the planet Ephenia a week after your capture. It is spreading rapidly through the public info-web."

The image showed a young dark-haired woman standing bravely before a battle-bot twice her height. Celeste gasped as she brought her hands to her face. Hope! An elation rose within her, like sunrise casting light on the darkness. She made it! "It is my daughter, and the true heir of the Sol Empress."

The Commander shook his head. "I do not understand how, but all by herself, she bested that bot and subdued two squads of Marines." He returned the viewer to a pocket.

"Thank you, Commander. That was very kind of you."

Flashing a smile, he said, "Back to our present situation... As a precaution, I took your advice and altered our course and speed."

Celeste nodded while taking a drink from her cup.

"But there is something else which concerns me." He picked up a plastic fork, then placed it down. "Two days ago, this ship received an unauthorized transmission, possibly to a coupled receiver. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now..." He paused. "That kind of transmission induces harmonics on the quantum displacement drive, so we were able to decipher a small part of it."

"And what did the message include?"

"Your name, Ms. Ciel."

A tightness formed in Celeste's throat. "That is troubling, Commander."

"Indeed. It seems that your fears were justified."

"So, what do we do? This voyage will take months, and eventually an assassin would find an opening to kill me."

The Commander drew his eyebrows down and narrowed his eyes. "Not on my ship!" His expression softened. "Ms. Ciel, I have a proposal for you that I hope you do not consider indecent."

*****

A shadowy figure crept down the darkened corridor of the brig wing, all but his eyes concealed in black. Celeste slept, laying on her side and facing the wall, her gray blanket rising and falling in subtle movements with each slow breath. The cell door opened only a crack, just enough to insert the barrel of a pneumatic projectile weapon.

An out-of-body sensation came over Celeste as she watched herself. Someone had shut off the prison area monitors, triggering a silent alarm. She jerked back at the sharp popping sound as the unknown person pulled the trigger three times. But the deadly darts did not find their intended victim, only chipping the plas-steel wall behind the bed, having passed straight through the holographic image of herself.

Commander Miles looked over her shoulder at the propped up tablet viewer. "It seems, Ms. Ciel, that you are dead now." He stood up, lifting his own handheld viewer, saying, "Isolate and seal the brig wing. Have an armed security team meet me there." He turned back to Celeste. "Don't go anywhere, Ms. Ciel."

Sitting at the table, she lifted her left leg to display the gray ring surrounding her ankle, the monitor he demanded she wear. "If I did, Commander, you would know where I went."

He nodded while straightening his uniform collar, then walked out the door. 

Did he sleep in his uniform?

Only two days had passed since setting the trap. Celeste spent the time within the captain's quarters, sleeping in a small adjacent meeting room, where they had pushed the round table aside to make room for a cot. While more interesting than her prison cell, it still felt like one. The Commander was a career Commonwealth naval officer through-and-through, the functional orderliness of his quarters reflected that, but also a man driven by duty and honor. Being in a vulnerable position, Celeste was particularly thankful for that.

But what happens when duty and honor clash?

Celeste turned her eyes back to the viewer, watching the events unfold in the brig wing. It didn't take the would-be assassin long to figure out he had stumbled into a trap. As the desperation grew, he raced back and forth down the hallway between the eight cells, yanking on hatch levers that would not move.

The brig lights flashed on, and the man shielded his eyes from the sudden brightness. A hatch swung open at one end of the hallway and two security guards in tactical armor rushed in with pulse guns raised. The assassin spun around, leveling his own weapon. But he never got a chance to fire, instead he convulsed as two stun pulses struck him in the chest.

Commander Miles, with arms crossed and a deep frown on his face, watched as the security guards pulled the unconscious assassin into the empty cell and yanked off the face covering.

He now occupies my cell. There is a karma to that.

The Commander stomped into his quarters, seething under his breath. "One of my new ensigns," he growled, not looking at Celeste.

Who, no doubt, will be the recipient of an intense interrogation.

Celeste stood and bowed her head. "You saved my life, Commander. Thank you."

He took a deep breath. "It is my duty, Ms. Ciel."

"I am grateful, Commander. If I may ask a favor, is there some way I might not return to the brig? It is dreadfully dreary."

He smiled. "I'll have a guest quarter prepared for you. In return, I would ask something of you, Priestess."

He called me Priestess?  Celeste lifted an eyebrow.

The Commander continued, "Tell me more of this new Empress and what she represents."