Rebecca and I stayed in the main hold to greet our guests when they arrived, while Sarah and Jenny headed up to the main deck.

There were three of them again today, but rather than the wounded sergeant they brought someone else along this time. And as soon as they came aboard all three were staring at our captain.

I figured the new person was maybe just reacting to meeting a princess, but I could guess what the other two were thinking. Captain Nieves and Lady Magniveen were both probably wondering how Rebecca grew a couple inches and got so buff overnight. They might have been wondering why she wasn't limping or acting injured too.

In an attempt to distract them I greeted the two I'd already met, "Hello again Lady Magniveen, Captain Nieves. How is Sergeant Bixby doing?"

It seemed to work as all three turned their attention to me while the boss and I led them aft to the lift in engineering.

The tall brunette captain responded, "He's doing all right. Mostly following orders and staying in bed."

The third guest stifled a laugh, which led me to believe their shipmate wasn't actually following my medical advice after all. Not that I was terribly surprised, he seemed more interested in talking and drinking Rebecca's whiskey yesterday than worrying about the two gunshot wounds he'd received.

"By the way," Captain Nieves added once we'd joined Sarah and Jenny in the mess, "This is Corporal Nassir Potier. He's the Persephone's navigator and my co-pilot."

Their navigator was a tall attractive dark-skinned man, with short neatly-trimmed black hair. His clothing was somewhere in between Tanya's casual attire and Gwen's professional business style. He gave us all a charming smile and in a soft deep voice said, "Please, call me Pots."

Rebecca did the introductions on our side, then we all crowded around the table in the Demeter's mess. Except for Jenny, who gestured towards the cockpit as she said "I'll get back to monitoring things up front."

"We could pull a chair from one of the cabins for you Jenny," the boss offered.

Our AI crewmate shook her head, "No need captain."

That left me wondering if she was shy around strangers, or if she was concerned they'd realize she was an AI. Considering they were from the Imperium I figured that was a valid concern, though there wasn't much they could do about her out here on the frontier.

The captain didn't offer anyone whiskey this time around, so the options were water or coffee or soda. Then when everyone had something to drink she looked at Gwen and asked, "So I take it you're going to try again to convince me to go with you, back to the Imperium?"

"Not to the Imperium your highness," the young noblewoman replied. "To Vysalis-4."

Rebecca shrugged, "It's in the Imperium, it's an Imperium world."

Gwen nodded, "It is, but I represent the monarchy of Vysalis-4. I don't have anything to do with the Imperium, apart from living in it."

"You said you got my name from an Imperium Navy report," the boss stated. "How's that happen if you don't have anything to do with them?"

Our guest sighed, "Vysalis-4 is a member world, so obviously it's part of the Imperium. Like with any bureaucracy there's official channels for these things. One of my predecessors filed a search request, so they'd be alerted if any Imperium reports mentioned your ship or Gabriel Piper. That was originally set up four or five decades ago, not long after your father fled our homeworld."

"The search request was never withdrawn, so when the ISS Kennington submitted a routine report that mentioned your ship, a copy of it eventually made its way to my desk. Until that point I'd never heard of you or your ship," Gwen added. "The report was regarding a couple deceased Navy officers, but you and your ship were mentioned as part of the investigation. They even included some pictures of the three of you, and the Demeter."

It was easy to see how unhappy Rebecca was to hear that. It wasn't that big a surprise though, considering our first encounter with the Kennington, then our run-in with her XO.

The boss frowned as she stated, "You're really not selling the whole 'not involved in Imperium business' angle."

Gwen shook her head, "I know it may seem like the Imperium is some enormous monolithic thing where everyone is part of the same huge organization, but in reality it's a collection of separate individual sovereign worlds. Each maintains its own internal government and cultural heritage. Granted there's a commonality of interests within the Imperium, worlds work together for the greater good of all."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from commenting, but that was exactly the sort of propaganda the Imperium-run schools taught back on my homeworld. Maybe that was the ideal, or maybe that stuff was true for the core worlds, but for planets that were forced in at gunpoint it didn't quite live up to the hype.

The young noblewoman probably saw the expressions on a few of our faces as she grimaced, "I'll spare you all the lengthy lecture on the subject. I just want to impress upon you the fact that I'm not here as a representative of the Imperium. Neither myself or the monarchy of Vysalis-4 have any say or influence over Imperium politics or military function. For instance I know there's a Navy ship orbiting this world right now, but I have no way of contacting them. And even if I did, there's nothing I could say or do to enlist their help in any way. As far as they're concerned I'm just another civilian."

"Fine," Rebecca shrugged. "So you're trying to convince me to go with you back to Vysalis-4. It's a planet I've never set foot on in my life, I'd never even heard of it before. And you think you can somehow convince me to give up my home and my life to follow you there?"

Gwen smiled, "I'm going to do my best."

Without waiting for a response she dove right in, "You were shot yesterday. Your life out here on the frontier can't be easy. Life as a freighter captain can't be easy either. You're flying this old ship, living from day to day looking for cargo, looking for work. You've had to take questionable jobs I suspect? The man you were working for up until yesterday did not seem like a very reputable person, and your business with him ended in a gunfight that left over a half dozen people dead."

Gwen shook her head, "Once you return with me to take your rightful place on the throne, you'll never need to worry about being shot at. The Royal Guard and the Vysalis System Defence Force will be there to protect you. You won't have to worry about where your next cargo, payment, or meal is coming from. You'll have a staff of chefs, not to mention maids, chauffeurs, and other attendants. And you won't need to worry about your home, you'll be living a life of luxury in the royal palace."

"And finally," the attractive blonde added, "You need not worry about being unfamiliar with our world, our customs, or any of the protocols and government functions, because you'll also have me. I'll be there as your secretary and personal assistant, to help you settle in, offer you advice, and see to your needs. I can be your liaison while I teach you to be queen."

Our captain listened to the whole spiel, then shook her head "Sorry I'm still not interested."

Before Gwen could protest Rebecca stated, "I don't like getting shot but I accept getting shot at is part of my job. And while I try to avoid it as much as possible, it happens from time to time, then I heal. It doesn't hurt that I've got two top-notch medics on board."

"As for my accommodations?" the boss continued, "I like my ship. My ship is home. I don't need or want a palace. And I live on my ship and I do this work because I enjoy it. I don't need an army of chefs. Amanda here is a fantastic cook, she's been spoiling us since she came on board. I don't need maids or chauffeurs either, for that matter. I prefer to dress myself thank you very much, and I'd rather drive than be driven. As for staff? I have all the staff I need right here. In fact Amanda Sarah and Jenny are like family to me, and I have no intention of replacing them or abandoning them."

She concluded, "So to be blunt, my answer is still no. I'm not your princess, and even if I was I'm not going with you to some world I've never seen before to play dress-up and politics in the middle of the Imperium. I'm going to stay out here with my friends and my ship, and live my quiet dangerous little life on my own terms."

The rest of us stayed quiet while Rebecca and Gwen went back and forth over all these points. Me and Sarah, Captain Nieves and Corporal Potier just sipped our drinks as we watched and listened.

When it was clear that the boss wouldn't be tempted by luxury or leisure the noblewoman changed tactics and tried to appeal to her sense of duty instead.

She talked about how the people of Vysalis-4 needed their princess, how the loss of their monarch affected the planet's morale. She tried to explain how happy people would be when they found out the royal family had a successor, and how they'd be overjoyed to welcome their princess home. And finally she talked about how little girls would look up to Rebecca, how she'd be a role model to them.

None of that worked either, and our captain was pretty blunt about dismissing Gwen's arguments. Especially the last part, which put a small smile on the boss's lips.

"Believe me, you don't want me to be a role model for your planet's little girls," Rebecca responded. "Not unless you want them to grow up knowing how to use their fists and how to shoot, while they're swearing and drinking."

After a beat she grinned and added, "Actually come to think of it that might be kind of fun? But probably not what Vysalis-4 really wants."

One thing I noticed was every time the boss dismissed Gwen's arguments or claims, every time she talked about preferring her life here or not being interested in the fame and fortune and luxury of being queen, there was something going on with Nieves and Potier. They seemed to be watching Rebecca very closely, and I kept seeing something in their expressions.

They both seemed to be working to maintain a sort of poker-face, but I started to get the feeling they approved of Rebecca. Or maybe they admired her. Where Gwen was doing her best to convince the boss to be queen, her crew didn't seem to be backing her up. They were just observing, and I was positive they liked what they saw.

Lady Magniveen finally took a break after about thirty minutes of trying and failing to convince our captain to change her mind. Rebecca and I topped up everyone's drinks, then it looked like the young noblewoman was about ready to start round two when the tall brunette interrupted her.

"Excuse me Madam Secretary," Captain Nieves said. She looked back and forth between Gwen and Rebecca then said, "And uh, your highness. There's something I need to say, something important."

With her attention entirely on Gwen the other captain stated, "Myself, Pots, Blix, and Cherry were all given another set of orders ma'am. Direct from the Regent. I'm sure you've figured this out by now, but the four of us aren't exactly royal guard material. Sure we were hand-picked for this mission, but not because we're the best. We're all good at what we do, but all four of us were facing charges and jail time back home, for one reason or another. We were given this mission as a kind of amnesty."

I glanced at Rebecca and Sarah, but none of us seemed to know what to do or say. And Gwen seemed equally confused. The corporal looked like he expected this, but he seemed uneasy. Nobody was reaching for their weapons though, which was my main concern.

"What are you saying, Captain Nieves?" the noblewoman finally asked.

Nieves explained, "They gave us the Persephone. They gave us a fully stocked ship and had us fly ourselves out here into exile. They had you buy up a bunch of local currency on the government's tab, and told us we could split that money four ways. We were offered freedom in exile, and all we had to do was fly you out here to the frontier and abandon you on some backwaters planet. They didn't tell us why, and we had no idea who the VIP was that you were looking for. When me and Blix found out yesterday she's the missing princess, then all the other pieces fell into place."

"None of us are ever going to see home again," she added with a sigh. "We were told if the Persephone comes back, it'll either be shot down or we'd all be arrested on sight."

By that point all the colour had drained from Gwen's face. She slowly shook her head, "But... I don't understand? That can't be right. There must be some mistake!"

Corporal Potier finally spoke up. His soft deep voice sounded almost calming, which was a stark contrast to the jarring news he delivered. "It's true Lady Magniveen. And it's pretty obvious when you think about it? As long as there's no princess, no queen, the Regent has a very comfortable life. He's got the life of luxury you've been offering Princess Rebecca, and he doesn't want to give that up. He kept this mission secret so nobody else back home knows about it. You were the only real threat to him, so he had us fly you all the way out here with orders to abandon you."

By that point Gwen looked like she was in shock, staring blankly at the table.

Rebecca sighed as she got to her feet. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey after all, then poured a double and set it down in front of the young noblewoman.

She poured herself one as well, but didn't offer it to anyone else yet. After a gulp of her drink the boss looked to the other two guests and asked, "Why the confession? And why'd you do it here, in front of me and my crew? Why not back on your own ship, with your other crew present?"

I glanced at Gwen then looked back at Nieves and asked, "Are you hoping we'll take her in when you leave?"

"No ma'am," Captain Nieves replied to me. Then she addressed Rebecca, "Your highness, despite all that stuff I said about being in trouble with the law, one thing I'm not is a traitor. I might not be the best soldier, and maybe I only signed up with the VSDF so I could take their fancy ships on joy-rides, but I swore an oath to uphold the crown and obey the monarchy."

"As long as our princess was missing," Nieves continued, "The Regent was at the top of our chain of command. But the moment Lady Magniveen found your highness, you became our commander in chief. And by hiding that fact, by ordering us to fly Madam Secretary into exile, the Regent committed an act of treason. And the way I see it, that makes his orders null and void."

When she finished we were all silent again. And all of us were staring at Captain Nieves, except for Gwen. She was looking down at the table, still in shock as she processed her captain's confession.

"Corporal Potier," Nieves addressed her navigator, "Are you with me?"

The corporal hesitated for a second before nodding, "Yes ma'am. Like you said, I'm no traitor."

From the brief smile on her face, I was pretty sure the tall brunette wasn't certain she had her co-pilot's support until that moment. Then she looked to our captain again and stated, "Princess Rebecca, the MV Persephone and I are at your disposal."

Rebecca took a deep breath, then knocked back the rest of her whiskey. She looked at our three guests and finally sighed, "Fuck."

Neither Nieves or Potier seemed the least bit bothered by that reaction.

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