Bryce

“I don’t understand.” Sakeem frowned as he brought a data-pad over to me. The curly-haired human was smart, he just wasn’t quite getting it.

“Alright, look, these columns are your monthly expenses. Those are your projected average income, and that’s your actual,” I explained as I pointed to each section of the ledger. “Black means your income is above your expenses, red means it’s not. Black is good, red is bad. This is a lot of red.”

“No, I got that, but what’s this expense?” He tapped on one of the rows to expand it. "It’s not a lot by itself, usually just a few hundred credits, but it keeps showing up.”

“May I?” I asked, and he nodded before handing me the data-pad. Maymi’s finances had been handled almost exclusively by her quartermaster, who had unfortunately been with her during our earlier ‘meeting.’ Sakeem was actually the chief culinary officer, but he was the last living major officer in the fleet, which made him the captain. At least until a new one could be chosen. “Here, look.” I moved next to him and started scrolling through the query results. “Exactly fifteen percent of each major monthly deposit is automatically being split into chunks and paid out to this same account over the course of the following week. It’s definitely embezzlement. Although, it’s not a particularly clever way to do it. She honestly couldn't have left more evidence behind if she tried.”

“Well, fuck.” Sakeem took the data-pad back from me. “Is it possible for us to recover any of it? Or at least stop it from happening the next time we deposit something?”

“Yes, but…” I hesitated as I answered. “You’re going to want to hire a specialist to do it, and considering your profession, I’d recommend getting a binding contract made.”

“So, on top of everything, I now also need to find a finance specialist and someone I trust enough to make a magic contract?” He was clearly getting overwhelmed, and as much as I felt for the poor guy, I was thankful that it wasn’t my problem.

“Bryce could probably make a contract for you,” Sora offered as they stepped off the elevator and onto the bridge with an unexpected pair in tow.

“Would you, Captain Virra? I can’t tell you how much of a relief it would be to have someone on the council mediate this for me.” Sakeem stared up at me with huge brown puppy dog eyes, and I let out a tired sigh.

“If you can find a specialist while I’m on Paradise, then sure, I'll do it.”

“Thank you so much, captain, you won’t regret this.” He moved his data-pad to under his arm as he took my hand in both of his and bowed at the waist. “Please, Captain Virra, come back tomorrow night and I’ll prepare a romantic dinner for you and your partner.”

I was about to politely decline when Sora interrupted. “The captain would love to. After all, if word somehow got back to Thea that she refused, then who knows what could happen.”

I glared at the grinning kitsune as I agreed. “Of course. That sounds lovely, and it’s not like I’m incredibly busy right now trying to keep everybody alive.”

“It’s Kazeem, right?” Sora asked, and Sakeem shook his head with a look of confusion. “Right, Kazeem. You should go find your special person while we speak with the captain.”

“Thank you again, Captain Virra. I’ll make sure your dinner is ready anytime after 23:00. Please, just come by when it’s most convenient for you.” Sakeem left in a rush before I even had a chance to respond, and I turned towards Sora with a glare.

“You don’t have to thank me. Seeing Thea’s smiling face when she describes the date to me later is all the payment that I need. Although your annoyed glare is definitely a bonus.”

I reminded myself that Sora was probably just trying to look after me, and with that in mind, decided to go for a different approach. “Thank you, Sora. A lot has happened in the last few days and taking an evening to relax sounds wonderful. And to think, I had nearly declined the offer out of hand.”

“I…” Sora froze, not quite sure how to respond, and I just smiled sweetly at them. “Oh, you’re messing with me. Bryce, you know that’s not going to work.”

“Ithnaa, I’m glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?” I ignored Sora to address the djinn, which only seemed to irritate them that much more.

“Somewhat embarrassed, but what little is left of my pride was the only thing damaged. I wasn’t even free from the bottle for a full month before being captured again.” Ithnaa shook her head with a self-deprecating smile. “Thank you, Bryce. I wouldn’t have survived if Mother had taken custody of me. I owe you my life.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Maymi was planning on handing you over to Mother in three days, and she’s still on her way. Which means we’re going to have to figure out a way to deal with her much sooner than I expected.”

“Did you say three days?” she asked in disbelief, and I nodded to confirm. “Was this ‘Maymi’ planning on meeting Mother somewhere, or is she coming here?”

I was about to say that I didn’t know when Anali spoke up. “The meeting was supposed to be on Halcyon. It’s a Syndicate controlled world but doesn’t technically belong to Mother, which makes it about as close to neutral as it gets with her.”

“If Mother is going to be away from her stronghold, then this could be the best chance we have to get to her,” Sora pointed out, and I started chewing on my lower lip as I considered it.

“Halcyon wasn’t chosen by accident,” Ithnaa added. “It’s controlled by Suhali, who is one of only a few lords to publicly oppose Mother. Albeit only rarely, and never on anything important. If I had to guess, she was planning to force Suhali to punish, and eventually, kill me as a warning.”

“Would Suhali be willing to help us ambush Mother?” I asked.

“Maybe, but she would need to know that it’s actually possible for us to succeed, and that it wouldn’t blow back on her if we failed. Then there’s the question of whether or not we would even want her help.”

“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t we want her help?” Sora furrowed their brow as they asked, and Anali gave a skeptical look.

“Because you can’t trust the Syndicate? She’ll probably just turn on you the moment anything goes wrong.”

“But you we can trust, right?” Sora countered, before turning to me. “Why is she even here? I get that we can’t kill her yet, but that doesn’t mean she needs to be a part of all of our planning.”

Before I had a chance to reply, Ithnaa turned towards the half-elf with a commanding voice. “Anali, I order you to remove the gun from its holster and point the barrel down at your own foot. Then you are to tell Captain Virra one vital piece of information. If she doesn’t tell you that she’s satisfied with the information in the next fifteen seconds, then you will pull the trigger. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Anali replied through clinched teeth as she pulled out her pistol and did as she was commanded. “I signed a magically enforced contract with Ithnaa which forces me to do whatever she tells me. I couldn’t reveal your plan even if I tried.”

I raised my eyebrow at the woman. “That’s interesting, sure, but I wouldn’t exactly consider it vital. I mean, you have other motivations not to betray us.”

She pulled the trigger and immediately fell over in pain as the bullet passed straight through the center of her foot. “Fucking hells! You couldn’t have at least said you were satisfied?”

“Anali,” Ithnaa interrupted the stream of curses with the same commanding tone. “Same conditions, but this time point the gun at your own head.”

Her eyes went wide as she moved the barrel to aim beneath her chin. “My crew is on their way to capture your ship and try to trade it for my safety. They’ll be there in two days.”

“I’m satisfied,” I growled at her, and she immediately put the gun away. “Ithnaa, order her not to communicate with her crew in any way, under any condition.” She did, and I continued. “How far is Halcyon from where the Fury is right now?”

“A day and a half,” Sora answered.

“And when is the appointment to get your implants repaired?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“In that case, we’re leaving immediately after. Please let everyone know to be ready.” I walked past the three of them towards the elevator.

“Where are you going?” Sora asked, and I shouted back over my shoulder.

“I have a dinner that needs to be rescheduled.”