Pulse of the Imperium

"Finally," Hadrian said after the door to the suite was closed.

For the first time since leaving Caladan, he and Laila were alone again. He'd arranged for a two queen suite. After all, on paper she was his bodyguard. And with the additional room there were now more places to hide things that needed hiding.

"Home for now. I hope seven days proves more than sufficient."

Laila, for her part, gave the place a quick once-over, and then unceremoniously started shucking out of her armor.

And taking a few deep breaths.

"This whole thing stinks. But at least it's nicer than the last place we ended up..."

"Yeahhhh, never thought I'd prefer the jungle to Xenion." He said undoing the buttons on his shirt. "Gonna tell me what the reverend mother wanted with you?"

"Mostly seems like she wanted to reassure me that she's not going to scoop my brain out of my head..."

She sighed.

"And a few gentle nudges about Auntie. I won't lie, it was... cautiously reassuring."

More reassuring than Hawat had been, anyway.

"Forgive me if I'm not reassured." He heaved a heavy sigh himself. "We're in over our heads. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if this place is bugged. Like some shitty fucking spy novel."

He kicked off his shoes and tore off his socks.

"God, either you-know-who is compromised, or my contact sold me out. And if that weren't bad enough, we've got lions dropping out of the sky!"

"Which seems unlikely to have been a genuine accident. That... thing got to play hero. Again."

She was heading for the shower.

"Have you ever considered who's on this leg? Not just expendable, but also... risky. Loose ends."

"Huh? Ohhh wait... noooo, at least, I seriously doubt it was who you think. If you-know-who was out to kill us, and I'll be honest I don't think they are, why would they turn their; ya know, 'employee' over to... well." He makes a gesture indicating Harmonthep as a whole. "Why not handle the matter in house? Doesn't make any sense. Cause even if no one believed me under interrogation. I'm sure even Emcas would put what I say down as a data point to confirm later."

"Don't forget who else is along. Xard and Cuyler complicate things for that kind of in-house tidying up."

"Yeah, which kinda makes my point doesn't it? Why send us here to begin with? Especially with those two in tow." He shifts the luggage onto the bed. "Look, I'm not completely sure you-know-who won't kill me eventually. But at least for the moment I don't think he's actively trying."

There's a pensive pause.

"Who would benefit most? If our targets knew we were coming, they would try to eliminate us at the jump. But since they failed, hmmmm, and in some ways we're now under House Ptolomaios' protection. And with this recent business, we might be killed off just to humiliate the house. Same goes for Xard and Cuyler. We'll all have targets on our backs now."

"We already did the minute we touched down. They have a head start, we've been sent to play catch-up."

She sighed.

"I also think that thing is part of it. Like someone wanted to create a hero for the public to follow more closely than they do the interests of the ruling House- or themselves."

"Yeahhh, definitely." There's a longer pause as Hadrian considers Pankratos.

There's his Oedipus quote to consider, as well as the fact that he knows he'll be pitted against Emcas at some point. Bene Tleilax on Caladan, now Harmonthep. But who is Pankratos? What is his history, his provenance? And apparently his fighting style is somehow significant.

"This place is already primed to fall apart. Honestly, I wonder if it isn't within our best interests to prop it up. At least for a little while longer. But then, who do we support? There are clearly factions. Archon verses the Strategos? Either way we'll need that picture made clearer."

"Xanthe may well make that choice for us if we're not careful. But I'd be inclined to back whoever the thing isn't literally in bed with."

"Heh, agreed."

He had up until now been staring at his opened suitcase. The more data points they collect, the more they'll eventually need to collate. Right now, all he had is his journal. Which he might need to encrypt moving forward.

"Are you okay?"

"Physically, completely unharmed."

She paused.

"Mentally, I'm still not over Caladan, let alone whatever the hell we're dealing with here. Just glad you didn't get ripped open. Think that might have... I might have... it would have been bad."

"I'm not the one that decided to wrestle that thing." He winced, "You could have died you know. You could have died and then I..."

A sigh before he thought better of it.

"But you didn't. And I'm still alive and well, and we're going to get through this. One step at a time."

"I had a shield, body armor, and plenty of other targets around. I think I was in more danger talking to you know who before we shipped out."

"Damn right you were!"

He said closing the distance.

"But that's okay. Cause both then and today, your delightfully reckless behavior served us well. Perhaps you-know-who believes me the type to bluster. A convenient mask, I must say. And of course, now our image as selfish, solely profit-driven smugglers will be called into question. Or at the very least, we'll have gained a bit more credence for when the time comes to plead our case."

A gentle caress of the cheek.

"I wanna chastise you further. But admittedly I've been plenty reckless myself today."

"You think that was reckless? Hadrian. That was a calculated risk. Reckless..."

She leaned in to kiss him.

"That's falling for some crazy mercenary you met at a booze-up."

He grinned and continued leaning into her touch.

"Mmmmhmm, you forget, I'm a profit-driven smuggler. Who better for me than a crazy-good-in-bed mercenary, hmmm?"

He gave her a tender, loving kiss. Then after a quick misdirection bolted past her for the restroom. Clothes flying in his wake. "Dibs on first shower!"

"Like hell! It's big enough for two..."