Alex gazes at the two vehicles that were in front of them. He was trying to not show his excitement at the potential these vehicles had as part of an escape. There were four guards in full armor surrounding them. One of the guards was explaining what the vehicles were used for.

The guard indicates at what appears to be a stunted saucer-shaped sports car. “This is a speeder and it seats seven people in three rows. Six seats are arranged around a central seventh seat, which is the most secure. There is a retractable roof to allow the vehicle to either be used at low speed for sightseeing when open or at high speed when closed. This is the most common of the personal transports used.”

He then indicates to a second vehicle which was near three meters high and wide, ten meters long and is reminiscent of a military vehicle and is larger than a three axel box truck. “This is a secure transport and is heavily armored. It can be used in many configurations with a maximum capacity of sixteen people, but generally, it’s used in the eight-man configuration for comfort. It can utilize the monorails for long-distance travel that are found on many of the worlds.”

The guard then turns to Alex and Candy. “You will be trained in how to embark and disembark from these vehicles while protecting your master or mistress. All right, your up.” Indicating to the smaller vehicle.

One of the guards gets into one of the front positions that face forward. The guard that has been lecturing them indicates for Alex and Candy to take the middle row of seats that face towards the rear, before getting into the rear seats that also face the front. The vehicle then rises slowly above the ground.

“Do you have any questions?” The guard asks.

“How do they work?” Alex asks eagerly.

The guard tilts his head and half a minute later. “The vehicles use a series of force runes, similar to the Clear sleeve. One set of runes forces the vehicle up and a second set pushes it forward.”

“What happens if we crash?” Candy asks with a frown.

“The seats have two rune fields built into them, similar to high-end combat armor. The first one is to dampen the inertia and the second is a wraparound force field that deflects high-velocity objects. The inertia field doesn’t just activate when you crash, but also during high-speed maneuvers. Let's show you how it feels.”

They watch the vehicle’s roof close and then it accelerates and rise slightly higher off the ground. They then weave through a series of orange poles that whizz past the vehicle. "We run the course hard, to keep our skills sharp. We practice evasion maneuvers.” The guard calls out.

Alex feels prana get emitted from the chair and form into a field the surrounds his body. The vehicle completes a series of tight turns and he feels like he is sitting in jello as the forces are dulled. He glances over his shoulder and glimpses the guard in front running one hand over a metal sphere whilst punching buttons with his second.

"If your speeder suddenly stops and descends, you're not out of prana," the guard says. "You're probably caught in a suppression field. So, what do you do?"

"Get out and push?" Alex says.

"What you should do, is get out and keep moving with your master or mistress. Most attacks start an average of thirty seconds after you come to a stop. The attackers can’t get too close to use the suppression field so you have time to get out of the area. You cannot stop being mobile as it will improve your odds of evading capture."

After their brief jaunt in the speeder, they begin learning how to enter and exit vehicles while maintaining their position. They then progress onto how to react in hostile scenarios to ensure they can buy time during which bodyguards can be alerted. It was again emphasized that they were expendable but with the added knowledge that if they move too far away from their master or mistress their collar activates killing them. They were expected to buy time for their master or mistress to escape.

The speeder stops in front of the armored transport then Alex and Candy, who are running behind it, collapse in utter exhaustion. The guard had insisted that they run after the speeder when they completed the training scenarios.

Candy looks over to Alex and declares. “I hope that someday we can sit down together free again.”

Alex gasps. “Keep focusing on that goal. I know we have nothing to show for our struggles right now, but we will.”

Candy smiles wistfully. “I wish we could go back to those carefree days when we didn’t know any of this existed.”

They see one of the guards leave the speeder and stride towards them. “You have ten minutes until we need to begin sword practice.” Then turns and strides over to the armored transport.

***

Baroness Yegella is reclining at the head of the meeting table watching a holographic playback of the tests being projected above a large shallow bowl. She held a small pebble that she used to manipulate the holographic projection, slowing it down, rotating it or skipping forward.

The Baroness looked over to Master Ardreth kneeling next to the table. “You passed nine of the twelve candidates and most are barely adequate. I’m disappointed with some of the performances, with the best being Mihlora and Briava. Even they will initially need a lot of supervision. Why did the other three fail?”

“The two we failed before the test lacked the readiness to use their own body as a shield. We did provide additional training opportunities for them to overcome this, but they were unsuccessful. The third failed as during the test he froze when one of the new firearms was discharged.”

“Assign the candidates to the security details. Inform the team leaders that I want a report on their progress every tenday. If any don’t show a marked improvement in a quarter, then we will return them to the house guards.”

“As you command, Baroness.” Master Ardreth responds with a bow.

The Baroness turned to the two others kneeling in the room. “Master Syllen. Mistress Lyrei. Have you watched the performance of the merchandise?”

“No, Baroness. I haven’t.” Mistress Lyrei responds lightly.

“I have not had the pleasure, Baroness.” Master Syllen replies.

“Then let's watch together. I’m sure you want to see if they passed the test.” Baroness Yegella says agreeably as she manipulates the small pebble in her hand and the holographic recording starts playing. After the playback finished there is silence for a few seconds. “Master Ardreth, you observed the test. I assume that it was you that activated the collar?”

“Yes, Baroness.”

“Why?”

“The merchandise is definitely a berserk. The increased physical abilities, he demonstrated in quickly disabling the three guards, was concerning. I consider there is a risk he lacks adequate control and could inadvertently kill. It would have been a shame to need to destroy such valuable merchandise.”

“Do you think he’s dangerous?”

“Undeniably, Baroness. It’s hard to determine his skill in controlling the ability, on the other hand, he does not seem to lose control when angry.”

“You have proven this?”

“Yes, Baroness. Both during sparring and on the assault course. We have provoked an angry response on numerous occasions. His response is to focus the anger as you would expect of a berserk, but there was only a marginal increase in performance and no display of berserker strength. We have witnessed the use of his berserker abilities three times so far.”

“When were these occasions?”

“The first was when the Orc-cross was destroyed; the second was in the incident when a merchandises prana core was shattered and this event during the testing. The first two incidents were perpetrated with the assistance of Overseer Elicyne at the request of Sir Folliun.”

“Do we have recordings of these other incidents?”

“Only the first, Baroness. The incident was in the presence of Sir Folliun at the time we were monitoring him.”

“Was the intent to damage the merchandise?”

“No, Baroness. We believe it was to destroy.”

“Show me the recording.”

Master Arereth stands and bows before approaching the bowl and tapping a few of the buttons around the edge. He then returned to his kneeling position as the recording of the fight with Drosz plays.

Once the recording finishes the Baroness looks at Master Ardreth. “Have you discovered how they knew about the intent to gift the Terran merchandise?”

“No, Baroness. We suspect that Overseer Elicyne was the originator of the leak, but there may be others.”

“And how did they manage to get Sir Folliun assigned to this unexpected audit of my operation?”

“The official statement was that someone anonymously provided evidence of fraud to Revenue and Taxation. Our allies advise that Sir Folliun’s involvement was organized by his father, but our own investigations point to Viscountess Arasys.”

“What is the status of the other merchandise training?

“They have both completed the blue phase. They have demonstrated adequate physical improvement and in the last assessment, despite being extremely tired, the girl finished the last march with a thirty-kilo pack in a reasonable time. The girl has demonstrated good control with all the runic sleeves, the boy less so for those requiring finer control, but adequately with the Clear sleeve. They have both shown the expected proficiency with sword and knife.” Master Ardreth responds in a clipped tone.

“But are they good enough?” The Baroness asks with a frown.

“They meet the minimum requirements for the skills needed for personal security merchandise.”

The Baroness then looks over to Mistress Lyrei. “What about the domestic service training?”

“They have progressed satisfactorily. There are still some rough edges that need to be smoothed, but I believe that adds to them being exotic merchandise. Their performance will not embarrass the Yegella Estate.”

“That is reassuring.”

The Baroness looks over to Sir Syllen, but before she can continue Mistress Lyrei interjects. “Baroness, may I be bold and comment on the merchandise?” The Baroness gives a brief nod. “I have spent numerous hours alone with both merchandise and I have not felt threatened in any way. They have always deferred to my authority and have not shown any form of rebellion.”

The Baroness locks gazes with Mistress Lyrei for a minute before responding coldly. “I will consider your opinion. Of course, the fact that you unnecessarily put yourself at risk by remaining alone with merchandise, which was a suspected berserk does detract from the value of your opinion. We will need to discuss your conduct in more detail at a later date.”

“Yes, Baroness.” Mistress Lyrei responds, then bows.

Baroness Yegella turns back to Master Syllen and continues in a friendly tone. “This merchandise must bolster your prospects to the point that they believe you are a serious contender. Especially with Lady Vaeri’s reputation for being a rebel and these little adventures she goes on to investigate progenitor ruins. Your status as a hero in the war against the host is also playing to our advantage.” Master Syllen opened his mouth to respond, but the Baroness continues. “I know you don’t consider yourself a war hero, but others do. How is the skin lightening treatment progressing?”

“Very well, Baroness. There is no adverse reaction to the cream and as you can see it gives a near-perfect complexion.” Master Syllen states indicating with his hands to his face.

“We were very fortunate that you followed your father's pale complexion and not the families,” Baroness responds lifting her hand to the skin that appeared lightly tanned. “The use of makeup to make you appear pale would have been unacceptable.”

“You don’t fear that if I’m successful and sire a child with Lady Vaeri that the undesirable complexion would manifest?”

“The head of breeding advises that it is highly unlikely to happen and anyway I can’t see Lady Vaeri disowning a child for such a reason. I still believe this is the best opportunity for us to increase our status and become a House Qunala branch family.”

“Wouldn’t we have to give up the training of Terran merchandise?”

“That is not something you need to concern yourself about, the family’s finances will remain secure. There are other independent families that I have relationships with that could provide the desired services, with our assistance of course. You should be more concerned about your personal safety. Viscountess Arasys may decide that it’s more prudent to eliminate you before you can become one of Lady Vaeri’s consorts. I will assign additional security to your retinue just in case. We shall proceed as planned as the risk that the merchandise is a berserk is acceptable.”

“I will see to all of the arrangements.” Master Styllen states and bows to the Baroness.

“Baroness, may I make a suggestion?” Mistress Lyrei asks quietly.

The Baroness locks eyes with her and scowls. “You may.”

“I would propose offering my services to Lady Vaeri for a half year to assist with the exotic Terran merchandise at Yegella Estate’s expense. After all Terran’s are known to be problematic at times and their continued specialist training will lead to a better understanding for both merchandise and owner resulting in a harmonious relationship.”

The Baroness does not respond immediately scrutinizing Mistress Lyrei, who becomes nervous as the silence lengthens. “You have concerned me lately. Some of your recent decisions do not seem to have the welfare of the family first and foremost in your mind. They could even be considered to be subverting the family’s position. You are fortunate that Master Syllen still has such confidence in your loyalty and that Master Ardreth didn’t find anything during his recent investigations.” The Baroness then turns to Master Syllen. “What is your opinion?”

“Mistress Lyrei has undoubtedly excelled in preparing the merchandise. The advantage of having an ally within Lady Vaeri’s household would be extremely beneficial.”

“Master Ardreth, what is your opinion?” The Baroness enquires.

“If the boy loses control, we could use the fact that Mistress Lyreis’s services were offered to deflect blame. We would need to warn Lady Vaeri’s household as to why the offer is being made, but whether she accepts or declines would be inconsequential.”

The Baroness returns her gaze to Mistress Lyrei. “I will have to consider your proposal. And if I agreed I would need to determine who would attend you on your trip.”