Chapter 17

It was the next afternoon, roughly 15 hours later that I was summoned to Farsa's study. Her servant girl, Iris, had come to fetch me. Currently she was leading me down the hallways towards the double french-doors leading into the private study.

As she pushed open the doors, I noticed that Farsa was alone with Galinae for afternoon tea. "Ah! Kara. please join us" Farsa smiles at me "Iris, thank you for bringing her here. You are dismissed." she addresses the servant girl. Iris is in a flowy white outfit with her green hair up in a bun. She is slim with a non-assuming figure, Hazel eyes and average looks.

After the servant departs, Farsa smiles to me. "Sit with us, Kara." I nod in thanks and take the vacant seat next to Galinae across from Farsa, "Now then." she continues. "I have arranged for a ship for you to travel in. As well as a crew I believe you will be quite pleased with." Farsa sips the cup of tea in her hand before setting it down on the plate in front of her. "They are already waiting at the space port in the city. You may depart at your leisure." she smiles at me, and I nod imperceptibly with Galinae looking between both of us. Farsa quirks a brow "oh, I nearly forgot. Galinae, you are going with her.

The princess blinks several times silently "Eh? Me?" she jams a thumb to herself. "With Kara? Where?" Farsa sighs "I thought you wished to travel with her, Gali?" Farsa tilts her head in feigned confusion "Is this what you want, my dear niece?" She smiles.

Galinae sighs "y-yes it is, but-"

"No buts, young lady! You asked, I am giving you the opportunity! Or I have another task for you to do." Farsa smirks evilly at her and Galinae shudders "fine.. I'll go auntie." she harrumphs.

I stare at both of them blankly, not used to this sort of interaction between them. Since when did Farsa get pushy with the princess? I shake my head, discarding that train of thought to focus on the matter at hand.

"What ship did you manage to acquire, mistress?" I cock an eyebrow. Farsa looks at me and smiles "S.S.R. Void Star. one of the finest recently-discharged Commonwealth Navy stealth ships. It seemed to suit you. I looked into your past, and I have to say I was quite surprised to find out you were a Phantom." she smirks at me.

I deadpan at her. This was no laughing matter! I keep that part of my past close to my chest, so if Farsa found that out it means she has connections with the Commonwealth's military high command. Who or how, I had no idea of knowing for the moment. So I decide to leave it be for the moment.

Farsa softens her expression to a sly smile "as such, Void Star is a ship that will serve you well, Kara. for its size it packs a heavy armament suite and it is able to slip past almost any planetary early-warning sensor system. The ship is yours. My final gift to you. May it serve you well on your travels." Farsa's smile grew with these words.

******

After my sendoff with house Regyn, I was approached by B'Nan "Kara, take me with you. I wish to leave this place and travel." I blink at him "Mister B'Nan, do you not have your spouse?" he sighs "She has been having an affair, and I have grown tired of her games. I wish to leave her and travel." he looks back at the estate "All I wanted is for her to be happy, but I have a feeling I am a mere third wheel now. Perhaps some day I will return to this place. But for now I wish to leave peacefully." he pauses "besides, you are an interesting woman. You survived something few could have pulled off. That alone deserves my respect."

I purse my lips in a thoughtful expression, then nod "Very well." I glance to Galinae "Princess, from now on, you do as I say when I say it. If you refuse I will not be able to come and save you when you run into danger."

The princess nods "V-Very well. And Kara?" she smiles at me meekly "Please, call me Gali." I nod slightly in reply "let's go." It was a short walk to the transit station. On the ride there using the mass transit tram system, I take time to ponder about a plan.

I had all of my personal effects shipped off ahead of us to the ship and my only weapon with me were two of my hairpieces and my Mk26 I klepped off of the now-deceased Chimera from the Commonwealth.

I took time to ponder our encounter. He was obviously a greenhorn, likely fresh from the rather brutal training programs.I still had good standing with the Commonwealth, so there had to be another reason for attacking me besides the Commonwealth suddenly having a change of heart. They had nothing to do with the Federation's secret police that had likely been searching for me for months before declaring me dead.

That also means that the Commonwealth's intelligence community would follow suit, The two heads were at odds but they also confirmed each other's findings through their own means. That all said, I had to find a way to re-establish contact in the future.

There were a few possibilities as to why their agent suddenly attacked me. The first option was a rogue agent. While this does happen from time to time, the context felt off. This lead me down a path of cause and effect that caused my heart to sink into my stomach. There had to be another faction at play here.

This was unthinkable to most of humanity. A group in control of several key parts of both the Commonwealth and Federation military and government. Playing both sides for what ever sinister or benevolent goals they may have. Which means I am an outlier, a threat. A threat that must be eliminated.

I am unsure if it was my training under Farsa with Iridian plotting and Modus Operandi, but I was starting to click these pieces into place. Now I definitely saw the need for allies. I could not uncover these people alone. The more I thought about it, the more this is possible and the more they played me for a fool. It was very possible as to the explanation to why I got that strangely well paying job, and that woman. Her name was Kimiko, if my memory served me well still. Was she a part of this theoretical third echelon?

I thought about all of this as we rode the tram to the station close to the spaceport in the downtown district of the city. Which was named 'Ilustrae' after the Iridian ancient mythical city, which had supposedly been lost to the sea eons ago. It was a coastal city. With the downtown area back up to the shoreline of the continent it resided on. The coastline by the downtown area was dominated by the spaceport, which harbored anything from smaller corvettes to large destroyers of the Iridian navy.

Shuttles and guide tugs flew around the anchorage, which resided in an otherwise picturesque bay whose mouth was out to open sea. We walked towards the main terminal by the large space of concrete pad that went out for about 2 kilometers to sea - acting as a Drydock and landing site for various large spacefaring vessels. As we walked past busy ground shuttles and cargo loaders, logistics personnel and yard workers. Then, after walking for what seemed like half an hour, I saw a black shape in front of the setting sun. Displayed right in front of us past all this bustle of spaceport activity sitting on the pad next to yet another mid-sized Altherian frigate.