It took a few minutes before Rebecca was ready to share Gabe's video message with Sarah and I. She eventually reached over to the terminal to queue up the recording, but paused before starting it.

"The timestamp on this is from early in year four-eighty," she said with a sigh. "So almost a decade ago. Gabe recorded this about four years before he died. He was sixty-seven at the time. And by that point I'd been his friend for about thirty years, and living as his daughter for around twenty of them."

Sarah and I both nodded quietly, then watched the screen as the image came up.

For a man in his late sixties, Gabe still looked kind of ruggedly handsome. He had a sort of friendly grandfather vibe, I thought. His hair was silver with darker streaks here and there, and he had what looked like a couple days' worth of silver-grey whiskers on his face. His bronze-toned skin seemed to have a combination of toughness and wrinkles that came from a life filled with stress and hardship. There was a kindness in his deep blue eyes though, that I could feel even across the years since he recorded the vid. And when he spoke, his voice was a bit rough but also carried that same kindness I saw in his eyes.

"Rebecca," he began as he looked into the camera, "I'm recording this in my personal journal for now, but I'll try and remember to leave it where you'll find it when the time comes. I don't know when that'll be, but I know it's probably not too far off. You know better than anyone this life of ours has risks, and the older I get the more likely it is those risks will catch up to me."

After a brief pause Gabe continued, "You're probably wondering why I didn't just tell you this stuff in person? The convenient lie is I didn't want to risk upsetting you. Old wounds, delicate subject and all that. The uncomfortable truth is it's just plain hard for me to talk about these things. Old wounds run both ways, but most of mine come from long before you and I even met."

"So here we go," he said after bracing himself. "I'm sorry for what happened to you back on Deveron-8, and I'm damned sorry we lost Ellery. But I have to tell you this Rebecca, even if I'm not man enough to tell you to your face. While I'd never wish what happened to you on anyone, I'm happy for how things ultimately turned out. You've become the daughter I always wanted but could never have myself. I'm sure you already know this on some level, but I love you like you were my own child. And I'm sorry with all my heart if it makes you uncomfortable to hear me say that. I know it's weird as all hell, considering where you come from and the life you led before, but there it is. I liked you as a friend, but I love you as my child."

There was another pause while Gabe collected his thoughts, then he started talking again. "About my old wounds, I mentioned I wasn't able to have kids of my own? It's a long story and I'm not going to share all the details here, sorry Rebecca. Here's what I can say. I was born on a core world to an important family. And I was born a woman. That led to drama and trauma, which is ultimately why I fled my home, and the Imperium. You remember after your first treatment in the healing pod, I told you about those expensive medical procedures right? I knew about that sort of thing because I went through it myself. The results were pretty good, but I couldn't afford the absolute premium job. Which uh, warning for TMI, but basically it means I'm almost fully functional as a man except I'm shooting blanks. No chance of ever being a daddy, which is something I wanted but had to give up on. Until I adopted you."

"And that's important because of my legacy," he grimaced. "If you're watching this after I'm gone, there's some stuff in the safe in my cabin that'll give you more answers. The combination is nine nine three one five zero one eight. Among other things you'll find an identity implant that used to be embedded in my left shoulder blade, that's proof of who I used to be. The encrypted data on there has all the information you need, decryption key is Magrethe-alpha-seven-two-seven-gamma-four-niner. And there's an antique music player there too. Ignore the tune on it, that's something my family commissioned during the last cycle. More importantly there's another encrypted file saved on there, it uses the same decryption key I just mentioned. Those two things should tell you everything else you need to know about me, my sordid past, and the legacy that's yours if you want it."

Gabe took a deep breath then let out a long sigh, "Ok that's all the rambling this old man has for now. Gabriel Piper, signing off and going to bed."

When the video ended Rebecca took a few steps back, then sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. I could tell at a glance she was dealing with some heavy emotions, even though she'd already reviewed the message in private at least once before.

Sarah and I both moved to join her, we sat on either side of her and both wrapped arms around her, sandwiching her between us in a pair of side-hugs. She did the same, hugging us and pulling us both closer. None of us spoke for a while, we all just quietly held each other until she was ready to talk.

"I thought it was weird," she finally said. Her voice was quiet but clearly still emotional as she continued, "I think I mentioned that, when I was telling you about my past? That the whole thing started as a lie or a cover story, but before long Gabe was acting like it was real? I thought it was weird, but I never called him out on it. And eventually I guess I forgot all about it. I just got used to it, and never questioned why. Never asked him why he treated me like I really was his kid."

"Maybe I didn't want to know," she added softly. "Or maybe I was afraid to find out."

Neither Sarah or I responded right away. It felt like Rebecca had more to say, and anyways it didn't seem like she wanted feedback or platitudes. Not yet at least.

She continued after a few moments, "And in those first few years, I probably wouldn't have taken it well. Like he said, about re-opening old wounds? But when he recorded that vid, by then it was different. I don't know, maybe I still wouldn't have handled it well. Then again, maybe I would have?"

This time when she went quiet I responded, "Whatever you're feeling Rebecca, please don't beat yourself up over this. Ok? You didn't know, you couldn't have known. He kept his feelings to himself, like he said old wounds run both ways. He also said he couldn't handle having this conversation with you in person. That's why he saved it as a video message instead."

Rebecca sighed, "I know Amanda. I still feel bad though? All that time I knew he was acting like I was his kid, and I never thought to ask him why. Never asked him how he felt about the whole thing, how he felt about me. In all that time I never once called him dad or referred to him as my father. I wonder how much he wanted to hear me say that, but he never asked and I never knew."

Sarah and I both held her a little tighter after that, and the three of us were quiet again for a bit.

"I could have a look at that music player if you like?" Sarah finally offered. "If there's a hidden file on it I can probably extract it, so you can see what else he had to say."

She added, "I might be able to get the encrypted data off the identity implant as well? I promise I won't damage anything. And I won't mess with the original data, I'll extract copies to work with."

That put a thoughtful look on Rebecca's face for a few moments. Then she nodded, "Thanks Sarah, I'd appreciate it."

Both the music player and the identity implant were in the little strong box, which was stowed in a drawer next to our girlfriend's bed. She handed them both to Sarah, then the cute blonde looked to me and gestured towards the cabin door.

"C'mon Amanda. I could use your help with this stuff," she stated quietly.

It only took me a moment to realize what she was really saying. Rebecca looked like she needed some time alone. So I gave our tall strong girlfriend another gentle squeeze, followed by a kiss. Then I let go and got to my feet.

"Call us if you need anything," I told Rebecca as I headed for the door with Sarah. "Anything at all."

She gave us both a weak smile and nodded, "Thanks. And you two let me know as soon as you get something off those antiques."

"Will do," Sarah promised.

We headed down to the lower deck and into the workshop, where Sarah pulled out her portable terminal. Then she started going through some of the spare parts bins, looking for old cables or connectors.

"Did you really need my help for this?" I asked as I watched her work. "Or did you just figure Rebecca needed time to herself?"

Sarah smiled, "A bit of both? I'm going to need your med-scanner at some point, so I can extract data off the implant."

"You're not going to take it apart or break it are you?" I asked with a frown. "I have no idea if I'd ever find a replacement out here, or what it might cost."

She shook her head, "I promise I won't break it."

With her assurances, I went back up to the main deck and got the scanner out of my medkit. By the time I was back in the workshop Sarah already had the old music player wired up to her terminal and she was copying the encrypted file off it.

It didn't take long for her to get the information off the identity implant either, she basically used a service port on my scanner to access its functions, then used it to scan and copy the data from the implant.

The whole thing was done in less than a half hour, including the time it took to put everything away again. Sarah copied the two files off her terminal onto a datacrystal, which we took back up to Rebecca's cabin.

There, Rebecca was able to load the information off the crystal. She used the decryption key Gabe mentioned in his message, and a few moments later the three of us were looking at two more files.

The smaller one from the implant was supplemental identity data, that verified Anastasia Magrethe was indeed heir to the throne of Vysalis-4. That meant Gabe had diplomatic immunity within the Imperium, which was probably the main reason he kept the implant. He wouldn't have needed the reminder of his deadname, but it was sort of a get-out-of-jail card. And in a worst case scenario, he could probably use it to get back home, if he ever needed or wanted to do that.

The data from the music player was another video file, and Rebecca let Sarah and I stay to watch it with her.

It turned out to be even longer than the message in his journal, with two somewhat separate parts to it.

The first section was longer and more personal, another message specifically for Rebecca. Gabe talked about Vysalis-4, and why he was forced to flee. His message pretty much confirmed everything Gwen Magniveen told us, about his mother being queen and him being heir to the throne. He also admitted there were things he missed about his homeworld, including his parents, but he made it very clear he had no regrets about leaving.

Gabe ended up rambling a bit after that. It was mostly more personal stuff, including more talk about his feelings for Rebecca and how he was afraid to tell her about them. That part left our tall strong girlfriend looking emotional again, and both Sarah and I held her close as the three of us continued watching the screen.

Eventually we got to the second section, which was a lot shorter. It wasn't quite as personal, instead it sort of amounted to a video last will and testament. Gabe formally declared Rebecca as his adopted daughter and sole heir, and said that it was up to her what she did with the legacy he'd left her.

When the vid finally ended Rebecca let out a deep sigh. "The last part should be enough for Gwen I think? I'll clip that section out so we can play it for her. She doesn't need to see the rest of it."

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked her, as I kept one arm around her.

She nodded, "I think I need some time to process this stuff again? But I'll be ok Amanda. I promise."

"And thanks Sarah," she added as she looked at our other girlfriend. "Thanks for getting these files for me."

"Any time boss," the cute blonde replied with a smile.

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