I walked into the office that General Windsor used during his visits to Gragareth. “You wanted to see me?”

Windsor nodded. “Close the door, please.”

As I sat down, Windsor smiled at me. “Belessar. I hope the last couple of weeks have been useful?”

I nodded. “I’ve had the opportunity to evaluate a fair bit of equipment. And we now have the ability to speak to the Raptors, so that’s good.”

“I understand you can actually speak Raptor now?”

I blushed. “That’s mostly due to the voice synthesizer. Sarvenimazarus keeps telling me my accent is atrocious.”

“He’s been fairly chatty. Not what we’d expected of a prisoner.”

“They don’t have the concept of not talking to the enemy. The idea didn’t even seem to strike him.”

“You’ve built a good rapport with him.”

“So has the rest of the team, now. Heath actually speaks better Raptor than me, and he’s taken to having long discussions with Sarvenimazarus on politics, philosophy and the nature of motivation.”

“Nonetheless, we appreciate that you made the first step possible.” The general pulled out a small box and handed it over. “We’d like to give you something. Normally there’d be a bit more ceremony over it, but we can do that later.”

“I didn’t know generals handed out presents,” I said jokingly, opening the box.

A medal lay inside. One that I couldn’t recognize at first, but it had stylized lettering on it ….

“The Royal Counter-Intelligence Medal,” said Windsor. “Given to those who find actionable intelligence about an enemy. While you aren’t a British citizen, we’ve made an exception in this case. Congratulations, Belessar.”

“Th-thank you, General,” I said. “I… didn’t expect this.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. Also, there’s a ceremony in a few months that you won’t want to miss. Do bring Nanocloud too. It’s at Buckingham Palace.”

“A ceremony for this?”

“Not exactly. You couldn’t stay when the King visited Liverpool, so you missed out on - certain things - that he very much wished you to have. He would like to remedy that, so be in London on the appointed date.” His eyes twinkled. “I’ll even write a note of absence for Nanocloud’s schoolteachers.”

I laughed. “That won’t be necessary….”

My brain caught up with me a second later.

“How did you know Nanocloud was in school?”

“I have nieces. It’s not hard to tell a teenager from an adult, even when they’re enclosed in futuristic battle armor.”

“Please don’t tell anyone?”

“Of course not. But please know this - if you ever need help from anyone, in any situation where the United Kingdom’s services can aid you, show this to any British consulate or embassy and you will have the full support of the British government on your side.”

“... That’s too much, sir.”

“We take care of our own, Belessar. I understand you’re in the middle of a conflict with the archvillian Agni in your hometown too.”

Were all generals this well-informed, I wondered? “Yes - she seems to have targeted me for some reason.”

Windsor nodded. “I’ve sent out feelers to the Indian government. They’re putting together - very, very quietly - a dossier on Agni. One with more information than they’ve ever given DURABLE.”

“They… know who she is?”

“No, but whatever they have will be sent to you. I do have a favour to ask, though, and it’s completely separate from whatever we’ve discussed so far.”

“Sure… although I don’t know what I could do to help.”

“Well - we need to get the information about the aliens out to a larger audience. Details of the different races, their political structure, and why they fight us.”

I nodded. “That seems sensible.”

“We want it to be taken seriously and officially, so we plan to do it through the British Broadcasting Corporation.”

“Oh. I’d rather you kept my and Nanocloud’s name out of it.”

Windsor quirked an eyebrow. “Any reason why?”

“Well, the whole thing with Agni would complicate matters. And the message. Plus, I don’t want her to start targeting the British military - which might happen, for all we know, if she sees you associated too closely with me.”

“I see. Well, we want to keep everyone’s names out of this documentary, and for a more mundane reason - military officers are not supposed to be in the limelight for situations like this. Plus it prevents any undesirable elements from targeting the officers.”

I nodded. “Of course. And it wouldn’t be fair to mention my name and not Pemberley, Heath or Sinclair, or any of the others.”

“Very true. We would also ask you to keep quiet about your involvement in this to others - Colonel Goldman will inform those in the US government who need to know, and that way the exact nuances of your powers will be kept secret.”

“That’s fine.”

“Also, I’m authorizing you for full access to all alien tech for analysis.”

I paused. “All alien tech?”

“No limitations. Any tech the British government gets access to, you get access to.”

“That’s…. thank you.”

“Well, you’ve done us a great service. Both with finding out about the aliens and about the possible attack on London.”

“I wish I could offer you some more evidence of that….”

“Think nothing of it. We have precogs of our own, you know, and lately several of them have been giving hints that something’s about to hit the city. We think we’ll be able to survive, but knowing what it is would help.”

“Would it help if I told you my premonition indicate a possible nine million casualties?”

“That was mentioned in the report, which we are taking very, very seriously. Whatever the aliens are planning to hit us with may well be an order of magnitude harder than anything we’ve faced before.” Windsor shrugged. “So we’ll grit our teeth and get through it. We survived the Blitz, the coronavirus, nuclear blackmail, and other attacks.”

“There’s a possibility….” I paused. “I haven’t told anyone this, but there’s a … suggestion … that Agni might be able to help save the city.”

“That is quite a pickle,” replied Windsor. “Still, we wouldn’t turn down the help, if it is freely offered and she promises to leave our troops alone. Assuming she survives the confrontation with you.”

“I’m trying to resolve it peacefully.”

“That will be a story for the ages, if you do.” Windsor nodded. “So tell me - is there anything that the full resources of the United Kingdom and its allies, especially their intelligence services, could help you find out about it?”

I thought about it for a second. “Esperanza.”

“Esperanza?”

“When I confronted Agni, she said the Esperanzas sent their regards. I’ve never heard of the Esperanzas.” I frowned. “If it’s not an imposition - could you help me figure out who they are.”

Windsor nodded. “Whatever resources MI6 and our allied agencies have will be put to the task. I’ll have someone from them speak to you about it.”

“You stay safe,” Goldman told me as we stood on the tarmac. “Shapiro, make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured Goldman. “Still surprised you’re staying here.”

“I’ll be coordinating with the Brits for a few months, until whatever’s to happen in London happens. Shapiro and Fraser will continue to coordinate with you if you need anything.” Goldman seemed to hesitate, then continued. “Belessar - I want you to understand that you don’t have to wear yourself out against Agni.”

“Pardon?”

“The U.S. Army has a program that would allow us to relocate you. And Nanocloud, and any dependents you have. We could create a new name, a new heroic identity, everything you need.” He paused. “Tanisport has a number of other heroes who can deal with Agni.”

I was surprised. “Colonel - I can’t do that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not offended,” I shook my head. “It’s just that - well, I won’t deny it is tempting. But Agni’s not going to stop hunting me, for whatever reason she has. And I need to face it. I can’t ask you guys to be my shield.”

Goldman smiled a crooked smile. “We were always meant to be shields, Belessar. You don’t have to do this alone.”

“I know I’m not alone, Colonel. I have Doyle, Tucker, Banner, you, Fraser, Shapiro, all of you with me in spirit.”

Goldman nodded, suddenly formal. “Godspeed, Belessar, and good luck.” He suddenly stood at attention and - with military precision - saluted.

I saluted back. It seemed the right thing to do.