This time, when I woke up, I immediately recognized my cabin on the Queen Charlotte. I was confused but I knew I had to rapidly understand my situation. First thing that worried me was the low light in the quarters and in the corridor out of them, like the ship was on power salvage. Walking wasn't easy because I still had some narcotic in my blood. Reaching out the bridge was a painful experience. When the door opened and I went in I was happy to see there Cassandra and Indira. When they turned their head to me, on the contrary, they were just shocked.

"Diplomat Callus!" shouted out the captain.

I tried to talk, but my mouth was dry so I just coughed, grasping a chair. 

"You can't be here!" went on talking Valtair. "We left you on Hettula, you were in the section that was near to blow up. We drifted without you, following your orders!"

I felt my voice coming back, thanks to my tongue, trying to wetting a bit my lips. "The Heereen took me"

"The Heereen? Were they there?" asked Cassandra.

"They have some kind of tool that can stop time and make them invisible... Something like that... We talked"

"And then what?"

I realized only in that moment how powerful the Heereen were. "Then... I think... they sneaked me in the Queen Charlotte someway and then they go away"

Captain Valtair was on her chair until that moment, but, listening to that, she raised and came to me. "Are you telling me the security of my ship was violated so easily?" She was angry with me, for no reason.

"You said the damages we took made us vulnerable, that's the reason they were able to do that" Tried to explain Cassandra.

"I don't know" I had to say "I think we're facing a technology different from everything we saw before"

That calmed down Valtair. She was strict with herself about her duty and about her responsibility, but she was also cautious about the unknown. I was starting to understand her. The problem of Valtair was that her code of honor was... very personal, and slightly different from the one used in the human fleet. Those differences and her stubbornness put her in trouble and sent her to be captain in a deserted region of space. She was sent away for a good reason but she was still a good captain.

"I need a report about our situation" I asked.

"One of the marauders ships hit us before we drifted. Many secondary systems went offline, no possibility to repair them here in open space. We are in an empty sector, we have collected energy enough to reach some inhabited place where someone can give us help. We were just deciding where to go"

"Not an easy choice..."

"Oh, I told my superiors you were missed in action and that you were in a very dangerous position. I fear they assumed you're dead"

My first thought went to Yarn and how I reacted to the news. It had probably been funny. "I need to talk to the committee, fast"

"First of all, we need some place to rest"

"The committee could give us that too. Let me enter my communication codes and open a channel"

Cassandra appeared worried. "You should sleep a little... You look like you need that badly"

I put my fingers on my eyes, feeling them burning. "You're probably right, but the situation is evolving too fast to waste more time"

"I agree" said Valtair. I was surprised because I didn't think she was positive about involving the committee in our recovery. I thought the attack of the marauders scared her a little. "We are wandering in the void for too much time. Ensign, allow diplomat Callus to open a secure channel"

I tapped on a console the access codes asking urgently for Yarn. That was a bad strategy because Yarn would arrive already agitated and anxious, but that call was actually urgent.

Yarn appeared on a screen in front of me, but his image was transmitted to Valtair station too.

"Diplomat Callus? From the Queen Charlotte? They said you were..."

"They were following my orders to deceive the enemy"

When you run out of diplomacy, you start using imagination.

"What?"

"I didn't want our enemies to think that the Queen Charlotte could be a good prey. Without me aboard this is just a small worthless ship"

"Thank you, diplomat" said Valtair, perfectly audible by Yarn.

"Captain Valtair told us about your destiny!"

"I was counting our enemies were hearing too"

Yarn couldn't be annoying like in our previous meeting because this time I wasn't alone. He knew all the bridge of the Queen Charlotte was assisting. He had to keep up the appearances. "It's a mess out there. We lost contact with the Sot'Quan, noone knows where it is. Teculpa Ryon and the True Emperor are calling for a war against the marauders. Teculpa Tau ships are everywhere with no reason. We're trying to reach your position with at least a support fleet"

More military people, probably less kind than Valtair. I needed to avoid them. "We must coordinate our action with Teculpa Ryon. If they start a real war all this area would be deadly for everyone they can't trust. Is prefect Hiraku alive?"

"We know we have to manage Teculpa. We offered them our support on the outpost of Coriolanus. Hiraku is heading there with his cohort, waiting for the main fleet"

Coriolanus was an outpost on the ground of a barren planet. A little area around it was terraformed and its resources exploited by a private company. It wasn't exactly my first choice for an holiday, but at least it was a safe harbor. 

I needed to keep Teculpas close also to fulfill the task Heereen gave me. There was part of the solution of that mystery in the questions about Teculpa-Origin. "We will go there too. I was talking with the prefect when the marauders attacked me and I need to finish that conversation"

"It's a bold decision. That place could be dangerous"

"Actually, I fear that every system around us is dangerous"