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Talia took a moment to examine her appearance in the restroom’s mirror. The elegant, form-fitting white dress hugged her curves, while a thin trail with a side slit nearly reached her boot ankles. A pair of white gloves reached just past her biceps, and the prominent gold necklace adorning her neck had a large natural diamond that had been featured multiple times in one of Argos’ most prestigious fashion magazines.

It had been her mother’s.

There was a little black smudge on her white dress, and not for the first time she thought maybe she should have replaced the white for a black dress. But that would have meant going against the dress that had been requested, and she knew her father hated it if they picked clashing outfits.

And being the only one wearing black in a sea of white would have made her stand out even more than she wanted.

Her makeup highlighted her features in an almost unnoticeable way, but a large smudge under her eye was her current reason for being in the restroom. She pressed a key on the side of the glass, activating a digital display.

The offending smear was highlighted in the mirror and then targeted before a repair and treatment was offered not just to her face but the smudge on her dress as well. A green checkmark later, and a small laser arm extended out before zapping the two areas back into perfection.

That was good, because she had no real idea how to reapply or even do the makeup on her own. She’d only been nine and her mother had never shown her. Talia let out a weary sigh and tried to boost her morale. She’d been moping too much since the end of school and focusing on too many negative things.

At least her father had invited her to something she was halfway interested in! The new starship specifications looked incredible, and the ship was one of the first small sized vessels capable of holding the new Heinlein-type warp drive.

Although ‘small’ was a relative term… even if the ship was rated for 1-3 explorers slash crew, it was still well over 180 meters long and twelve meters tall. And that was before any of the optional expansion modules were fitted to their detachable mountings.

It was absolutely dwarfed by the kilometer long cruisers and battleships that found their way through space, but the operations of those behemoths were expensive and seldom called for in a time when expansion was exceptionally cheaper than conquest.

Even when two MegaCorps butted heads over a frontier world, it was almost always solved with backdoor deals or…more covert means. Special ops teams and royalty share agreements were much cheaper for everyone involved. Not that it was really ever brought to light, but her position in her father’s company had meant she had dug deeper into conspiracy theories and maybe found the truth more than most people cared to look.

It wasn’t hard to have your net account flagged for subversive information or actions, after all. But it would have been awkward for her to be branded a terrorist, and she really wished she had been a fly on the wall when whatever drone had found the heiress of Fremont Enterprises browsing up dirt on her own company.

The mirror beeped, and she realized she’d been drifting off into a daydream while it was waiting for confirmation of its work. She did a little spin, the fabric of her dress casting an iridescent sheen underneath the bright bathroom lighting. Everything seemed perfect, so she gave the mirror a five-star rating in thanks, then turned to leave.

As soon as she stepped out, a woman in a suit with short cropped fiery-orange hair gave her a frown. “Took you long enough. I was about to come in to make sure no one had kidnapped you.”

Talia gave her bodyguard a weak smile. “Sorry, Irene. Just a bit of gathering myself along with fixing the makeup.”

Irene gave her a disapproving look. “Lot of gathering then, since that should have only taken a minute. You’re going to be late.”

“We’ll go straight to my father then,” Talia replied. Somehow that killed her enthusiasm. She didn’t really have anyone to talk to, but it would have been nice to get a few more looks at one of the information kiosks on the new ship. It was full of cool new tech that had never really been released to the public yet.

“Sorry, Ma’am. But that’s probably for the best.” Irene fell in to her normal spot right behind her and to the left. The woman had been her bodyguard for almost five years, and while she was sure the woman probably reported half the things she did to her father, she was also certain there was another half that she kept quiet; the part he had no business knowing.

Which made her far more loyal a bodyguard than the previous ones, and why she’d avoided making the woman’s life a living hell as much as possible. Irene was even sort of a friend, considering she was one of the few people Talia had contact with in person outside of school.

HUD symbols flashed to life on her personal AR augmentation set, highlighting the best route to the backstage for the press conference. It led her through the throngs of suits and spacers that had congregated for the announcement and show. There were more executives than she’d ever possibly remember, despite being expected to know them all by name.

The station’s interior architecture was refined, with vast windows curving from floor to ceiling. All of them offering breathtaking views of the station itself or Argos below while the stars beyond beckoned. Dozens of small lights blinked in the distance, space traffic leaving towards other systems or the planet itself. Massive floating advertisement boards displayed cutting-edge technology and luxury products in the distance, and the hum of conversation in the air increased in volume the closer to the central stage they came.

But what really caught her attention were the men and women who were obviously not Corpos. Their outfits stood out against the suits almost as if they were intruders, but she realized they were Starship Captains or prospective ones. A trill of excitement ran through her. Being a starship operator wasn’t exactly one of her prospective career choices, but it was certainly adjacent to the engineering or tech career she had envisioned.

The little clock in top right of her Augmented Reality HUD blinked red, telling her she was already a minute late, though, so there would be no time to stop and chat with anyone.

Except when she reached the entrance to the backstage, there were two men in quasi-spacer uniforms chatting—and blocking the way. One had a wide-brimmed hat that seemed out of place, while the other had a salted beard suggesting his age.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” Talia mumbled, before raising her voice to get their attention when they didn’t hear her—or ignored her. “Could you move aside?”

They both turned to look at her, the older man raising an eyebrow. The younger one with the hat pulled off a pair of gaudy sunglasses. “What’s a pretty young gal like you doing at a starship expo?” he asked, his tone slightly condescending.

Talia bristled at the comment, but kept her composure. “Do you have a problem with pretty young women being interested in starships?” she retorted, raising an eyebrow of her own.

Before the man could respond, Irene stepped forward, looming over the two men. Her hand rested on her sidearm holster, sending a clear message. “I suggest you two move out of the way,” she said in a low, threatening voice.

The men exchanged glances, and both raised their hands, offering hasty apologies while shuffling to the side. “Sorry, Ma’am,” the older man mumbled as they cleared out of the way.

She almost felt bad about it, and would almost certainly have picked a conversation rather than a removal, but she was already late.

“Thank you,” Talia replied before continuing on her way through the special access door. There was a small crowd inside as well, but her father was easy to spot amid all the organizers and crewmen working on the set and a half dozen camera controller stations were setup for the broadcast.

He was discussing something with an executive as she approached.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Fremont. I assure you the delays for the prototypes thruster coils were simple due to new tooling issues. Everything will run smoothly now that we’ve worked out the kinks and the production run shouldn’t be delayed at all.”

“I hope so, George. The project is important enough that more delays could mean whoever was responsible would be on the chopping block at the next board meeting, and I would hate for that to be you. Why don’t yo—”

His words trailed off as he spotted her.

“Hello, Father,” she greeted him.

“Talia, my dear! I’m glad you could make it,” he greeted her in turn. He stepped forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which she returned, but it wasn’t really heartfelt.

So, he was going for the illusion that she had any choice on coming, and they were supposed to act like a happy family. She glanced at ‘George’ and guessed that he must be someone important enough that her father wanted to keep up appearances for despite what she had overheard.

“Of course, father. I’m glad I could be here to help.” Talia said diplomatically.

He waved to one of the waiting assistants, “Bring Talia her script, please.”

Her mood soured instantly. He knew she hated public speaking. “You want me to give a speech?”

“Yes dear, you know how everyone loves to see you. Since you so seldom come to these types of events, everyone is always on tip-toes to spot you or listen to anything you have to say. It would help a lot have you say a few words,” he said while eyeing her warily for any hint of rebellion. George looked at her two.

She sighed internally and put on a bright smile. “It’s no problem. I’m glad to help. While we’re both here, maybe you could help me with a problem I was having earlier? When I was trying to check my selection of universities, there were a few I was interested in that weren’t showing up.”

An instant frown appeared on her father’s face, but before he could respond, George chuckled and then interjected. “Ms. Fremont, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Anyone who’d snub you or your father by denying you access to their academia would definitely be corrected shortly.”

“Indeed. I’m sure if you check the list again, you’ll find that all the most prestigious universities are open to you. There might have been a glitch in your software when you last checked if you looked before the list updated or some such,” her father hedged.

Talia’s eyes narrowed, and she silently accepted a few printed pages from the assistant with her speech. Multiple pages meant it was long. He wanted her to give a speech for him, and he was going to force her to pick one of his pre-approved universities, none of which had any of the classes she was interested in?

“I’ll need to go over this before the announcement,” Talia offered.

Both men nodded to her, and then she made her escape from the useless conversation. It felt like an icepick had been jabbed in her chest. She’d tried to meet him half-way just to be laughed off. She eyed the speech notes and then reluctantly skimmed through the lines while trying to hide her frustrations.

They were filled with corporate jargon and carefully crafted promotional language. The words were designed to advertise the new exploration starship while heaping praise upon Fremont Enterprises. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she scanned the text.

It was exactly the type of infomercial ad that she hated when browsing the video-net or streaming a movie or holovid. It was certainly the hollow and scripted thing she did her best to ignore.

There was no way she was going to be a talking head for Corpo speak.

Five minutes later, she was called up to the podium. Apparently, she was speaking first. A sea of faces greeted her, but really the only thing that bothered her was the judging look from her father off to the stages side.

She took a breath and smiled at everyone, connecting her AR HUD to the sound system wirelessly. The words she was supposed to speak appeared in the top middle of her vision, but she ignored it. Almost immediately the letters turned red, indicating she’d gone off script.

“Hello everyone,” she began, “I stand before you today not just as a representative of Fremont Enterprises and my father, but as someone who shares your passion for exploring the cosmos. Our corporation is excited to present to you our new Fremont-class exploration starship, a symbol of our collective desire to reach beyond the local stars and venture into the unknown.”

She took a deep breath and looked out over the crowd with a steady gaze. Everyone was silent and riveted to her words. “This starship represents human ingenuity and our determination to innovate. It contains some of the newest and most advanced technology humans have ever developed and will allow a crew of up to three people to not only go further than ever before but allow them to deploy their own research and resource extraction facilities fully assisted by the most advanced AI units ever created.”

That was about the extent of all she had read from the expo panels before having run out of time because of her makeup smudge, so she decided to finish.

“Let’s all enjoy the unveiling of this remarkable achievement of Argos’ scientists and engineers, united by our curiosity and thirst for knowledge and adventure. Thank you.”

There were a few seconds of silence before the entire audience burst into eager applause. Smiles and energy radiated from everyone, even some of the more soggy looking executives in the back rows who had likely not even been interested in the show but had come just to network.

A glance to the side ruined the excitement. Her father’s face was a neutral mask that she knew well as his cloak for anger.

Finally, another speaker approached, and she stepped back from the podium, her heart racing. They gave her an annoyed glance, probably because her speech had finished in half the time it was supposed to take, but at least she had only said things she believed in.

As soon as she was hidden from sight, her father approached and grabbed her wrist and pulled her across the room.

“What do you think you were doing?” He hissed.

“Stop, that hurts…” she replied.

But he only tugged her harder, forcing her to keep in step with him. “Are you trying to embarrass me in front of everyone? You—”

“Stop, you’re hurting me!” Talia shouted. This time, everyone’s heads turned in unison to look at them. She tugged at his grip with her other hand, but his grip only tightened further, hard enough to feel like it was going to cut her hand off.

She pulled against anyway. His other hand raised in the air as if he was going to hit her when Irene’s hand suddenly snagged her father’s wrist mid-swipe.

“Sir, your daughter appears to be in distress.” Irene said calmly.

“Let go of me. I’m going to punish her.” Her father’s voice dripped with acid.

“You hired me to protect her.”

“You’re fi—”

He didn’t finish the words because Irene clocked him in the face with a gloved fist. The amazonian punch instantly released Talia’s wrist from his grip and caused him to fall to the ground, holding a bloodied nose.

It was the first time Talia had ever seen such a shocked expression on her father’s face.

A half dozen armed officers that had been nearly invisible in the background suddenly appeared, drawing their sidearms and began shouting.

Everything felt like ash as Irene raised her hands in surrender.