With that said, she pocketed the trilium, stepped down from the chair, then began to work her way towards him and Kyso.

The crowd burst into louder conversation as the tension level in the room eased. Many of them still stared, but gave her a wide berth – either by deference to her fighting prowess – or the hard stares she gave anyone who dared approach too close. Althea looked both frighteningly powerful and utterly spent as Kyso welcomed her back to their table. She glanced warily at Traejan, sweat still dripping down her face.

“How did you do that?” he blurted out, still not believing what had happened.

She leaned against the table’s ledge, arms straight and pressing down on to its rough surface, wiped her eyes, focused on his with heavy lids.

“It was necessary,” she told him quietly, as much breathing the response and speaking it. “We don’t have unlimited time to spend here.”

“No – how did you physically beat Goshram down,” he wanted to know. “He’s a geneered monster three times your size. Your nanometric networks do that much for you?”

Althea turned to him, looking tired, gaze unfocused.

“I’m still alive, aren’t I,” she answered in an airy voice, then looked at him sharply. “You shouldn’t–”

Althea stopped, looked passed him, Traejan turned quickly – and was relieved to see it was one the few Panaki who didn’t spit on him; Cuddy mal Derai, village idiot, therefore natural ally, was just a couple steps ways, smiling broadly. The short man’s equally short brother Gil was at his side, as always, grinning too. He smiled back. They’d all been waiting for a long time to witness Goshram meet his comeuppance.

“Hey Trae,” Gil approached closer; looked over his shoulder with a leering glance to Althea, then back to him. “Where’d you find your woman? Can I have one?”

Cuddy, not to be pushed aside, shoved his brother to get closer, beaming with appreciation and awe.

“Yeah, I’ve been waiting years for that bastard to get taken down.”

He shook his greasy haired head with astonishment.

“I never thought it would be by a girl,” he snickered.

Traejan shrugged his shoulders; he didn’t have an explanation, except– “She’s Legionary, Cuddy.”

He suddenly felt a painful, shocking impact on the side of his head.

“Traejan,” Althea’s voice yelled in his ear. “You’re such an idiot.”

He cried out in pain, and shrunk away from the sudden, surprising attack, trying to put up a hand in defense. The two brothers laughed as Althea grabbed his neck, twisted painfully, pulled hard. The pain was paralyzing. He could hear her talking sweetly to Cuddy and Gil.

“Do you think the great Consortia Galacium would wait two hundred years just to send someone to pound on a big ball of streck like that? Traejan here just can’t imagine a woman doing it either.” Traejan tried to push her away, but he was somehow blocked, the pain only increased. “He’s just embarrassed he wasn’t man enough to do it himself!

“Come with me Traejan, dear, Now!” she added, pulling him away from them – hard. He stumbled after her, trying, failing to resist.