“So… that’s the plan,” I said with an awkward smile at Peggy, Orion and Grus.

Peggy grinned back encouragingly, Orion’s mouth was agape and he was hanging on every word but Grus was watching me talk, a small smile playing on his lips.

It was hard to believe that he was the same person who’d driven me to the base all those years ago. He somehow looked exactly the same but extremely different. His dark hair was no longer buzzed short now, it felt in front of his eyes in gentle but messy curls. I wasn’t sure if he’d just woken up or if it had been specifically styled that way but, based on the sheer amount of coffee he had downed since he entered the room, he’d just woken up.

There was one thing that was different though. I’m pretty sure when he picked us up all those years ago, he didn’t have a scar across his neck. That looked too fresh.

“Any questions?” I said, not quite sure how else to conclude my terrible briefing.

I’d given briefings before, many of them actually, but there was something about having Andy, Elliot and Aquila staring at me as I spoke that make me nervous. I tried to avoid their gazes, focusing strictly on the three people I was commanding, but it was impossible to miss.

“What’s the end goal?” Grus asked, his brown eyes alight with interest.

My eyes flickered towards Andy.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should tell him but he worked on Freo. He worked in the war rooms. Aquila obviously trusted him with information.

“We’re going to rescue the kids on the base,” I said finally.

Grus’ head whipped around to stare at Andy.

“You’re kidding,” he whispered. “We’re actually going to do it?”

Andy nodded with a soft smile as Grus looked back at me.

“Damn,” he said, leaning back in his seat and shaking his head.

“If you’re happy to help me with this, all three of you,” I said with a glance at the others, “we’ll be able to intercept any messages going to the base and act before the kids get taken to the camps.”

“Yeah, of course,” Grus said immediately.

Orion nodded enthusiastically before glancing at Aquila.

“Wait, what about my other projects? Does this one take priority?” he asked, uncertainly. “I mean, I think I can probably still keep an eye on the Serondia situation because that seems to be dying down now anyway but I’m not sure about the others.”

“I’ll have Tulo and Shai take over your current projects. They are both on duty later today so I’ll let them know what you are going to have a hand over when they get in,” she said, already typing on her screen.

Orion smiled slightly and looked down.

“Anything else?” I said, glancing at Peggy.

I knew she had a question. I’d known her long enough to recognise the expression that came over her face whenever she wanted to say something but felt like she couldn’t.

You okay? I asked quickly.

I have no clue what I’m doing here and people still don’t trust me. How am I meant to work in the most confidential place in the entire ship? she sent back.

My chest tightened slightly.

I wished I had an answer for her. Some magic spell or something that I could cast and make everything better and easier but I didn’t.

They clearly trust you enough to let you work here, Cas started. You’re the Diplomat of the group, if we can win their trust you definitely can.

Doubt it, she thought miserably. Everyone thinks that you two are war heroes. They know what you did and how hard it was. I’m just the dumb girl who was caught by the Council and probably now works for them.

“Great, I think that’s it. Grus, do you need to get some more sleep before your shift tonight or are you happy to start training Peggy with Orion? She’s never used any of the software here before,” Andy said with a gentle smile.

That’s not true and you know it, I thought. You’re the smartest and the best of us. You’ll find a way.

“Nah, I should be fine. I’m happy to start training now if you are?” Grus said, grinning at Peggy.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she replied with a strained smile.

“You’re going to love it,” he said, clearly having picked up on her concern. “I mean, if you were able to break into the Council encryptions when you were, what, twelve? This should be easy for you!”

“You did what?” Andy asked, sounding mildly concerned.

“Wait, how did you know about that?” Peggy asked, her eyes wide as she stared at Grus.

“It wasn’t difficult to work out! My mate Vela got the Guardian’s handbook from you back at the base,” he explained.

Peggy’s eyebrows came together and her eyes flicked back and forth as she thought hard.

“Vela? She... her sister was drafted into the Guardians when she was ten, right?” she asked slowly. “Vela stopped being able to ping her, right?”

Grus’ grin widened.

“Oh yeah, she basically lost it when she couldn’t talk to Osa anymore but you pulled that doc right out of the Council servers and it said that kids get all comms blocked when they first get to their Camp but that they should get it all back after a few weeks of orientation!” he said. “Honestly, without you, I think she would be rotting in a Council prison even now! She was fully prepared to break into the Camp and get Osa back.”

He laughed but I could hear the truth in his words.

“Of course! I remember!” Peggy cried happily. “What happened to Vela and Osa in the end? Are they still on Nova?”

Grus’ smile grew even more fond.

“Nah, they got out! They’re on… a planet somewhere.” He glanced cagily at Andy. “Sorry, they’re wanted back on Nova so I probably shouldn’t say anything more.”

“Why are they wanted?” Peggy asked, sounding worried. “Are they okay?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s a long story but they’re both basically fine now,” he said, evading the question carefully.

“I’m sorry, can we just go back to the fact you hacked into the Council servers at the age of twelve?” Elliot said, a barely surprised grin on his face. “What happened there?”

Peggy flushed bright pink and looked down.

“Oh, I just wanted some information and there was no other way to access it so… I did some digging,” she said quietly.

“And, was that the first time you hacked into their servers or…” Elliot trailed off and looked at Peggy expectantly.

Peg examined the table with great interest and I saw Elliot’s mouth twitch up into a smile.

“M’kay. How old were you the first time you did that?” he asked after it became clear that she wasn’t going to answer him.

“Nine,” she admitted quietly.

Silence came over the room and even I was shocked.

I knew that she’d done it before she got to the base but… nine?

“Why?” Aquila asked, sounding slightly concerned but mostly just intrigued.

Peggy glanced up at her uncertainly.

“I had… not a great upbringing. I knew I was going to leave at some point to go to one of the military bases and I knew that I wanted to join the Space Corps. My parents wouldn’t let me go to school that often so I didn’t know how my testing was going. There was no other way to find out what I needed to work on,” she explained quietly.

I’d never realised. We had to do the testing every morning and every few months or so we’d get given our scores at school and they’d tell us the main areas we were struggling in. I knew she didn’t go to school much but I hadn’t even thought about her testing.

Even Aquila looked surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but a soft beeping came from the door.

“Ah,” Aquila said, recovering quickly as Chal entered the room. “Sorry about this, we are running slightly behind schedule.”

“That’s alright,” Chal said with a pleasant smile, his eyes darting between her and my crew. “I can come back later."

“Not at all, I think we were just finishing off here.”

Aquila looked at me for confirmation.

“Umm, yeah. If no one has any more questions?” I glanced around the room but no one said anything. “Okay, cool.”

“Fantastic. Orion, do you want to get Peggy set up on the desk next to yours?” Andy asked with a subtle glance at Aquila.

“Sure!” Orion scrambled up and shoved the chair back under the table. “You’re going to love it! We have much better tech than they have on Nova, it’s so cool!”

Peggy and Grus followed him towards the door, passing Chal on the way.

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently, the look of concern disappearing from his face as she grinned at him.

“All ready for your interview?” Elliot asked Chal as the door swung shut once more.

“I can’t wait,” he drawled flatly before glancing at Cas and me. “But I’d rather if you two left before I start. I’m afraid this story does not paint me in the best light.”