Over the next three weeks, Adona's overhaul was completed, we caught up on the show and we all thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend so much time together, and Sheph and Sandy procured the supplies and food we needed for our next journey. It all went pretty smoothly and Adona was loaded up with everything, including Monna and the APC.

On the day we were leaving, Hailey didn't make a fuss like everyone except Simone and I expected. We both knew that she was completely serious with letting me out of her sight. I warned her to not get too rambunctious while I was gone and she just giggled and kissed me goodbye.

“I mean it.” I said. “If I come back and find out you wrecked the place, I might just get angry.”

Hailey smiled. “No, you won't.” She said, completely sure of it. “It's just stuff. As long as we are unhurt, the rest can be replaced.”

I gave a look at the people we were leaving behind this time and they shrugged. “It's not fair that you know me that well.”

Haley let out a soft laugh and gave me another hug and stepped back beside Sandy and Beatrice, then the hatch closed and we were off on the first leg of the trip for a two week jaunt to the first business. Just like we had planned, it went off without a hitch. We cleaned it out of assassins and checked the data.

There was nothing new, except for the accounts it had access to, so we sent that info off to Sheph and left the building completely empty... after setting up the auto-message system and the taps, of course. After the whole focusing crystal factory debacle, we needed to try and keep a closer eye on what was going on.

Over the next month, Gleas and I cooked a lot. Both she and the crew appreciated it. There were only so many ration packs someone could eat, even with great flavor additives, before they got sick of them. Freshly cooked food, and the bit of a show I provided, made everything that much better.

We also hit three more businesses and a training camp during that month. The training camp was also a successful mission, thanks to Isabella's contingency plan. This camp had a different set up and the defenses were designed for both a ground assault and an air assault, mainly because it was out in the middle of nowhere and not near a town or a city like the others had been.

The APC didn't care where we drove it, though. Isabella handled it like a veteran and we were over those personnel defenses faster than any of the residents could react. Our broadcasting equipment had a lot of uses that day, both the area effect and the gun versions. Simone and I quickly went through the main building and took care of everyone. Once again, I was relieved that the camp only had a normal administrator and she was dealt with easily.

We secured eight prisoners, disabled their suicide charges, then returned to the APC and loaded them up. After that, I called the ship and told them to use the satellite to send the signal over the whole planet, just in case there were agents out and about that weren't in the lists we had.

Rather than disposing the bodies in space like I usually did, I dropped them all off here like in the first training camp, then added in the ones I had gathered at the previous business. We couldn't leave the camp intact after wrecking so much of it, so we might as well make the best use of it. I even added a few of the explosives I had harvested from some of the other sites, just to make sure the place would be completely annihilated.

Once we were back on Adona and Monna was safely tucked into the shuttle bay, I detonated the explosives with their own codes and the training camp and all the bodies were no more. Now we had people that needed medical attention and I did what I could with Presence Heal, without messing up the space in their heads with the charges.

I had been very tempted to recruit Sal as our standard medical technician, since she would have been a perfect fit for our little group and really enjoyed her work. I couldn't, and wouldn't, break up her family, however. Of course, I also knew that Liv would never let her go anywhere alone, so it also wasn't worth the hassle. I had laughed out loud at the time, then had to explain to the others why. They laughed, too.

Our trip continued on and we kept getting success after success. We hit two more training camps and rescued another fifteen people, ten at one and five at the other. We also found out from their records that had we hit them two months before, we would have had twice that many to rescue. Of course, there was no way we could have been there two months before, since we had just come back from the first set of missions at the time.

We still felt bad about the loss, though. Needless to say, there was a lot of cuddling and hand holding over the next few days. When we arrived at the next system, we had another business that needed to be raided and went back to work.

On and on it went until our four month trip was over and we arrived back in the Dizahl System. Our morale had returned to normal and we were glad to be home and to have saved the ones we had. I dropped off the prisoners at the resort, which was still on its off season. It explained why it was nearly empty and why the Bogorim Corporation was ecstatic to have income that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

We returned to our space habitat and we were greeted in almost the same manner as the last time we returned, except that Hailey was on the other side and she snuck in a few extra hugs and kisses on me. I was glad to be home, especially since we had arrived just in time for Hailey's birthday, which also meant that we had another month of birthday parties for everyone.

It was a special event, like it always was, and Sheph had copied my idea from the year before and had rented an entire cruise ship to bring everyone's friends and families here. Hailey was saddened that her mother couldn't make it and I promised her that we would make a quick trip there and back, just to visit her. She tried to deny it and say no, and I wouldn't hear of it and said it was a birthday present.

Plus, we needed a break from all the hard work we were doing. Going all the way to the Fogaris System on a two month round trip would be a great break for everyone. Beatrice volunteered to go with us as the pilot and Sandy was an automatic plus one, then Simone said she would be coming as well. We were taking Udelis this time to give Adona a break and loaded him up with supplies.

After the month of parties and gatherings, we loaded Udelis with a special shipment from our favorite restaurant, then Simone, Hailey, Beatrice, Sandy, and I went aboard Udelis and left.

*

“I agree. From what you felt, the planet was dead and its Presence was no more.” The Wise One said.

“What do we do, Wise One?” Kara asked. “If these are new places...”

“What if they are old ones?” The Wise One asked.

“What?”

“What if you encountered one of the places that you felt through the portal?” The Wise One asked. “Those planets would still be there, since you didn't feel like you were out of sync with the universe during your travels on Relique.”

“But... if that's true...”

“Then there are a lot of other planets we haven't encountered yet.” The Wise One said. “Of course, the odds that we would even find one on this side of the portals was astronomical.”

Kara thought about that. “Wise One, has there been any progress...”

“No. We haven't found the center of the universe, assuming that was where the planet was.”

Kara was surprised by this. “They said it was...”

“If that was all you knew, why would you doubt it?”

“The Presence didn't waver, Wise One.” Kara said. “I've shared my feelings from that time and I didn't detect anything false about the statement or about where the planet was.”

The Wise One chuckle coughed. “Perhaps I'm letting my cynicism dictate my thoughts.”

Kara could help but smile at that. Of everyone in The Order, The Wise One was the only one that wouldn't let his emotions dictate his actions, even a little.

“In any case, the system you investigated has been marked and has been quarantined. I have also increased both the guards and Order members assigned to the safe operation of the other sacred sites and factories.” The Wise One said.

“Will that help, considering the state of the last one?” Kara asked. “Won't that just put more people into harm's way?”

“I was actually tempted to quarantine them and have them evacuated.” The Wise One said, to her surprise. “We can't do that, since we need those crystals.”

Kara looked down at her Light sword. The crystal inside would need replacing soon, and she realized that hundreds or perhaps even thousands of her fellow Order members would also need replacements.

“Yes, we go through a lot of crystals.” The Wise One said and took out one of his Light swords. He floated it up and popped it open with a thought. It was a trick he had learned from watching Hunter, and he plucked the weakened crystal from the mechanism that held it. “The more powerful we are, the faster they wear out.”

Kara watched as he took out a large wooden case and opened it to show twenty new crystals. He added a new one to the mechanism and then reassembled it in a second, then tucked it away. He put the nearly exhausted crystal into the case and closed it.

“I must say that whoever caused that destruction knew exactly how to hurt the continued growth of The Order.” The Wise One said. “If they took out all of the sacred sites...”

Kara caught her breath. Oh! Oh, no. No. It... it couldn't... he couldn't... there's no way that... She shook her head and then she felt a wave of Presence pass through her.

“I believe you just had a revelation.” The Wise One said from right in front of her.

Kara couldn't help but shiver as she got an up close look at the giant fly head and the disgusting orifice that was supposed to be his mouth. “It... was noth...” She stopped her lie before she finished, then she sighed. “It could have been Hunter.”

“Oho!” The Wise One said. “You are referring to his threat to take The Order down?”

Kara nodded. “Only it wasn't a threat. He said he was going to do it and it wasn't an exaggeration.”

“You believe him, then?” The Wise One asked.

“Yes.” Kara said.

“He must have been quite convincing to sway you to his side.” The Wise One verbally probed.

“I'm not on his side.” Kara said. “I'm also not against him, since he was found innocent of the charges against him.”

“He wasn't innocent. He claimed he did the crimes.” The Wise One said with another chuckle cough. “He merely accused the council of not being able to prosecute him for it.”

Kara thought about that and she couldn't dispute that was what happened.

“So, you have been influenced by him in some capacity.” The Wise One said.

“Yes.” Kara said. “I wronged him and he proved to me that his actions were justified. He also forgave me for what I did.”

“You have always had a soft spot for him.” The Wise One said.

“I've never let that affect my actions.” Kara said and saw the fly twitch its antennae. “Actually, I may even have... treated him a bit more harshly... to compensate for what he might have seen as favoritism.”

The Wise One nodded. “At least you are aware of the influence.” He said and walked back around his desk and sat down on the floor. “Have you decided to take Kralish's assignment?”

“Do you want me to, Wise One?” Kara asked. “It's an odd request to go in person to check a civilian business.” She was curious as to why the scaly alien wanted her specifically to go.

The Wise One didn't say anything for a moment, then nodded.

“I'll tell him yes and leave right away to investigate.” Kara said and bowed, then left the office.

*

When we arrived in the Fogaris System three weeks later, we received an urgent message from Sheph. One of the businesses we had raided had recent activity. She sent us the relevant video files and the five of us on the ship watched it to see what was so urgent.

Then Kara walked onto the screen.

“Oh, damn.” Simone said. “She's really good, Hunter.”

I nodded. If there was anyone out there that would be able to detect trace Presence, it was her. She was their expert, after all. I could only hope that she wouldn't pick up on me being there.

“I guess we better get home.” Hailey said, sadly.

“Why?” I asked and she waved at the screen. “It doesn't matter if she does find out it was me.”

“But... won't she come for you?” Hailey asked.

“Even if she does, she's...” I checked the computer and where the business was. “Three months from the Dizahl System. We'll be home in plenty of time, even if we stay here for a month.”

“We're not actually staying for a month, are we?” Simone asked.

I chuckled. “It all depends on what happens during my appointment. Hopefully, I can convince the people in charge to let Hailey visit her mother.”

“It also depends on how long they want to make us wait to let that happen.” Simone added.

“I'll do my best to try and get it done as soon as possible.” I said. “It may require a few personal appearances on my part, though.”

Simone put an arm around my shoulders. “The returning hero would make a good news story, especially for the now mostly fish people filled government.”

“It could be seen as an endorsement as well, so I need to be prepared for that.” I said.

“Full battle dress?” Simone asked and I nodded. “You haven't had to wear that in a long time.”

“Yeah, I miss it, too.” I said and she laughed.

After that little escapade with Kara's appearance, we contacted all of the people we knew to let them know we were back in the system. To our surprise, a lot of them had been replaced with fish people. In a few cases, like with Admiral Shanifra, they had fish people added as a co-leader. Needless to say, none of them were happy with the new arrangements.

We had to wait for two days for the appointment, so we made the rounds to the places we were permitted to go, after a thorough inspection by the customs officials, half of which were fish people. The normal jovial and friendly atmosphere my visits usually garnered was subdued, to say the least. Even when I visited the Admiral and her aide, we barely spoke because of the two fish people there. I also didn't offer to greet them with the proper handshake.

The fish people couldn't quite digest the food I brought, so they were unhappy that I hadn't brought them anything specific that they could eat. I didn't bother telling them that they hadn't been invited, since they had invited themselves to the dinner and knew that already. I thought it was unreasonable for them to expect anything from me, when they themselves had inconvenienced me and my friends.

I was glad that I had left everyone else on the ship, because I was pretty sure that Simone would have spat in the fish people's faces and maybe smacked them around a bit. I was going directly to the meeting on the planet's surface afterwards, so the fish people's attitude towards me gave me a heads up for what I was in store for.

Unlike the other times I had been there, when I said my goodbyes, I gave Shanifra a kiss on the lips. This shocked everyone in the room, especially Shanifra, and I gave her a hug.

“I'm sorry this didn't turn out the way I wanted it to.” I whispered in her ear.

“You mean the dinner.” Shanifra whispered back.

“You can tell yourself that if you want to.” I said and leaned back to give her my best smile.

Shanifra returned the smile, then she leaned close to give me a kiss. “I knew you regretted not letting me thank you for my arm.”

“You can keep telling yourself that, too.” I joked and she laughed.

“Goodbye, Hunter.” Shanifra said and I left.

I flew the normal shuttle down to the planet and was granted an audience with several government officials and the military review board. As far as we knew, the terrorists still hadn't been put on trial, which meant my original thought that they would be held for their crimes without trial was a valid one.

When I was led into a large room that had those officials and the review board there, it was an auditorium and had the entire military upper caste of officers in attendance and not just the few officers that it had been the last time when Jelly had pleaded for the same thing.

“Have a seat, Hunter.” A fish woman said and waved at the single chair on the opposite side of the huge table that she and the other government officials sat behind.

I knew then that I was in a bit of trouble, because she had not used my official title as the Hero of Chofaris, just my name.

“Please tell us why you want to visit a known terrorist that you had attempted to keep from being arrested with her fellow criminals.” The fish woman said, her voice and mind were full of as much sanctimonious rhetoric as I had ever encountered before and I managed, barely, to stop myself from sighing.

Goddammit. I thought and took a moment to compose my thoughts. “Well, your most officious fishiness, it's like this.” I said, then started to explain everything. I didn't have to read her thoughts to know that she didn't like being called annoyingly domineering with her authority, even though she knew she was. She was okay with the fishiness comment, though.