42 - Reflections

Grimthorn sat in his office and pretended to work while Kinnit hummed and worked away at her desk.

Things had settled down some. Naturally there was an outrageous amount of follow-up paperwork from the incident on Devaris. And the scientists at the Imperial Science Academy were relentless with their questions for Kinnit.

Grimthorn had forwarded all the data from Digger to them, but they kept asking questions about Kinnit's process for slingshotting the black hole, about what she'd seen on the other side of the jumphole, how she'd performed her calculations, and on and on and on. Unfortunately, the jumphole she'd opened had already collapsed. As close as it had been to the black hole, it had decayed very quickly.

This also had the science community curious. Her desperate maneuver had opened a lot of questions about the interaction of jumpholes and black holes.

There was a lot of discussion about experimentally opening another jumphole near the event horizon of a black hole, but there was not yet any consensus how to get meaningful data out of it. If they sent a probe through, and there was a black hole on the other end, the probe would simply be crushed. They clearly couldn't send a pilot through; that would be far too risky.

In any case, Kinnit had already written so much about the incident that she felt she was on the verge of creating another black hole just with the density of her writings. Grimthorn was fielding most of the emails for her now, and only forwarding the ones that, at the very least, asked new questions.

Grimthorn frowned at his email as more requests came through.

"If this goes on much longer, I'm going to have to get an Assistant for my Assistant," he muttered.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about. Just an observation." He scoffed. "I wish these scientists would read what's already out there instead of just sending in more questions."

"Yes, sir."

And of course, there was Denth. The Cryptographers had had him for two weeks now, and had only gotten bits and pieces of information about the conspiracy out of him.

Grimthorn had to give the devil his due, he hadn't expected Denth to have the mental fortitude to stand up to the Cryptographers. People could surprise you in all kinds of ways. It was also possible that the Cryptographers weren't as difficult to resist as legend suggested.

Admiral Stonefist doubted that was the case, though. He shuddered, remembering his last meeting with them.

Just being in their presence-- even in a friendly encounter-- was jarring, demoralizing, and mentally draining. At best.

In any case, getting information out of Denth was going to be a slow process, which annoyed Admiral Stonefist.

The Cryptographers seemed inordinately pleased about it all, in any case.

Admiral Stonefist turned back to his work, but his focus kept wandering away.

It felt impossible to work with her sitting right there.

He'd been thinking a great deal lately. He realized his earlier plan had been foolish. Confessing his feelings to her on the Ophir could have ended disastrously.

Well, not as disastrously as, say, an invasion force of Oryndrax attacking the Ophir. But it could have gone very poorly.

First and foremost, it would have contextualized the whole trip around his confession. That was not what he wanted. He'd wanted to give her a just reward for her phenomenal work, not a blandishment for his confession.

Secondly, if she had not reciprocated his feelings-- or even if she had felt lukewarm about it-- it would have put her in a terribly awkward position. It would have made the rest of the vacation uncomfortable, and sullied what he'd hoped would be an unreservedly fun time. Plus, she might have felt pressured to pretend like she liked him, to keep the peace for the rest of the vacation.

He shook his head. What an idiot he was.

But not now. Now he knew exactly what he needed to do.

With renewed focus, he made his plans.

---

Sehren Senn stood at the window, looking down on the city of Techterra, which carpeted the land as far as the eye could see. He sipped at an aromatic brew, an exotic tea from Beta Peleus. It had the unique property of vaporizing in open air, so it had to be prepared in a sealed vacuum container.

Since Denth's capture, he'd gone through rage and terror and come to some strange calm land on the far side.

Recently, of course. He glanced across his apartment at the shattered glassware, overturned furniture, and smashed holo projector.

Clearly Denth had managed to break the mnemonic gateway, otherwise a troop of Marines would have already shown up at Senn's door.

Denth's loss was exceedingly problematic. Without a ranking military man on the council, Rax would not have a guaranteed contract for his factories. That would make Rax harder to control, which would make it harder to use his Insectoids freely. And this loss would give Idrian more ammunition to needle him with. He would stay allied with the conspiracy, because he, too, was anxious for this war. That wouldn't keep him from spiking Senn's plans and making things more difficult, though.

And all of this was just the prelude, though. Once the war was in place, sapping energy, money, and life from the Imperium, he could achieve his true goal.

He grinned as he thought of the faces in the conspiracy once his treachery was revealed. Idrian's sneer would dry up. Rax' jovial superiority would crumble. And even Denth's twisted honor would be thoroughly violated once he realized what they'd unleashed. If Denth were back in his right mind by that point.

But with this latest setback, all of Senn's dreams seemed further away than ever.

He grimaced.

He should probably try to recruit another military man. But for all his faults, Denth had been dead right about one thing: the Navy was bloated and sick, too full of career bureaucrats, goldbricks, and rank incompetents.

Even a conspirator couldn't find anyone worth subverting in that mess.

Well, not many.

There was one man worth subverting, at least. One man who kept succeeding in the face of all odds.

With that man on his side, Senn could sleepwalk through his plans.

But subverting Admiral Grimthorn Stonefist would be an accomplishment nearly on par with overthrowing the Imperium.

Senn stared down at the city. Seas of people protested along some of the streets, and smoke rose from fires set by malcontents.

A slow smile crept across Senn's face.

Of course Grimthorn had been winning. Senn had been thinking too small. Far too small.

He sipped his tea and smiled and watched the humanity below him, like tiny game pieces, surging down the streets of Techterra.

---

Kinnit worked away happily at her desk. Though she only had half her brain on her work.

Kinnit was happy to be working for Grimthorn. She always had been, but after they'd been separated on the Ophir, through her captivity, the worst part it all was when she thought she might never see him again. The thought had set up a strange ache in her heart.

Of course she was pleased to be back on the Swordheart, back among her friends. She loved her job and her work. She had increasingly high hopes for her people. But sitting quietly in the office next to Grimthorn, sharing coffee with him, chatting with him during downtime, these were the things she found herself treasuring lately.

She half-grinned to herself and shook her head. She was having such a strange reaction to having a good boss.

Though something had been different about Grimthorn lately. Or perhaps she'd only been thinking about him differently. But he'd seemed to be a little more patient lately, quicker to listen and slower to bark. Almost as though something had rounded off the pointiest bits of his personality.

Her console beeped.

Kinnit cocked her head at the newest message that had come across her console. It was from CenCom, but not a name she recognized. Perhaps it had been intended for Admiral Stonefist, but had been addressed incorrectly.

She shrugged and opened it.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN," it said.

"On behalf of the Imperial Navy, it is my honor to recognize Kinnit Kobold for her outstanding accomplishments while serving as Assistant on board the ISS Swordheart."

"Her quick thinking and bravery have regularly contributed to the safety and glory of the Imperium, but never more so than her actions during the crisis on Devaris. Her bold actions and valor saved the Imperium from a devastating blow."

"On behalf of Central Command, Imperial Navy, I extend my deepest gratitude and sincere congratulations to Kinnit for her exemplary performance. Her honor and dedication for the Imperium are an example to every serviceman in our Navy."

"Sincerely, Commander Quom Ordren, Central Command."

Kinnit gasped as she read, and her eyes sparkled.

"Sir! Admiral Stonefist! I got a letter of commendation!"

Admiral Stonefist grimaced.

"Should have been a medal," he said shortly.

Kinnit looked crestfallen, and Grimthorn kicked himself.

"By which I mean you've earned a medal," he said, backpedaling quickly. "More than one. CenCom just won't allow it."

"I thought the letter was very nice," she said quietly.

"You're right, Kinnit. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Would you read it to me, please?"

Mollified, she read the letter out loud in a clear, happy voice. As she finished reading, she gave a short joyous nod.

"That's what it reads," she said.

Grimthorn's eyebrows rose.

"Commander Ordren? That's surprising. He's not usually the one to give commendations. Well, then."

Grimthorn stood and saluted her.

"I agree fully with Commander Ordren's commendation. You are a credit to the Navy, and to all Kobolds. With your permission, I'd like to get your commendation framed, so we can display it."

Kinnit glowed with pleasure and saluted him back.

"Of course, sir! All hail the Imperium!"

"All hail!"

---

The Emperor of the Imperium sat on his throne and smiled.

His throne of blue marble perched at the top of a set of broad stairs on a platform. Gold inlay was tastefully applied to every edge and corner of the throne. The stairs and platform had no obvious supports. The throne room was expansive, with smooth white marble floors. Tall pillars ringed the room, supporting a ceiling covered with a mural that told the story of the founding of the Imperium.

There were no walls; the throne room was permanently open to the blue skies and eternally pleasant weather of the planet Olympus.

At the Emperor's elbow stood one of the Cryptographers.

"Tell me, friend," said the Emperor, laying a fatherly hand on the Cryptographer's arm. "What puzzles have your brothers been enjoying lately?"

The Cryptographer chittered and squeaked at length.

"I see." The Emperor nodded. "That is concerning. Do you think we should intervene?"

The Cryptographer spoke further.

"Well of course I'm concerned about this conspiracy! Conspiracies are as thick as grain in a sheaf of wheat. I've got at least three in my court right now. When one man builds, another seeks to take, always. But as you say, this one is different. More dangerous. There's something beyond the usual discontent with this one."

More chittering.

"That's a slimmer hope than I'd like. That the peace and glory of the Imperium balances on so thin a thread. Perhaps I should reach out to them."

The Cryptographer spoke further.

"Interesting." The Emperor looked thoughtful. "You say they'll come to me? Yes, given everything, I suppose it's inevitable."

The Emperor steepled his fingers and looked thoughtful.

"I very much look forward to meeting Admiral Stonefist and Assistant Kinnit."