Munaci had called a meeting in the officer's lounge on the Lady Devora to complete their plan of attack.

"It was generous of Lord Anakron to offer his ship," Munaci said, his long arms spread across the table as he examined the star map. A few telltale scratches could be seen on the rich wood from the Aranga's sharp claws. Bronze hairs drifted about the table.

Widhbo sneezed loudly from inside the Magiton body. "I'm allergic to animal dander. I was hoping when Nova left, I would no longer be plagued with it. Are you shedding, Munaci?"

Munaci curled back his upper lip, exposing a row of teeth. "I'm allergic to birds, carnivores and demon spawn. Imagine how much fun I've been having."

"Those incisors look capable of tearing an apple in half," Widhbo responded. "It's simply terrifying,"

"It's the claws you need to worry about, Widhbo," Hal said as he joined them. "You're scratching up the table, Munaci. May I offer you a manicure?"

"You should be more concerned about insulting a Tor sector officer who can have you flogged for insubordination."

"Does Admiral Bethon go in for such sport?" Widhbo asked.

"Not anymore. All those accursed reformations have left him soft." Munaci snarled. "But while he's gone, I'm in charge. I find it to be a cheap and effective deterrent."

"I don't think your jurisdiction extends to Lord Anakron's private vessel, Munaci," Hal said.

"It does when being used for official business." Munaci said. "That's Colonel Munaci to you, human."

"You may call me Hal."

"I'll call you whatever comes to mind."

"I guess that means the honeymoon's over?"

"You performed well on the skulker hunt. I've not forgotten. That doesn't excuse you from adhering to protocol and following orders. I have no time to be considerate of your insecurities or delicate feelings. The same goes for that cheating bird over there."

"So that's what has your furry rump in a knot. You're a sore loser," Widhbo said.

Munaci gathered himself and stood. His broad shoulders loomed over Hal, his head nearly bumping the low ceiling. He set his jaw and flexed his claws in anger. Beneath the shaggy hair, his muscles looked like they were made of steel springs, ready to strike.

"You can't flog a rock," Hal said.

"You're such good friends, maybe you'd like to take his beating for him."

Widhbo pulled Hal into his Magiton body and disappeared. Munaci growled and went to the bridge to send a message to the Moz Lidule. He found Cratus monitoring the flight console and Yoeke enjoying a large drink.

"I want my aranga squad and a couple of your garwolvens sent over immediately. We'll be leaving as soon as they can get here."

"Won't we need clearance from Lord Anakron?" Cratus asked. “He wasn’t aware you’d be leaving so soon when he and Greyla went to visit Bethon this morning.”

"He's offered his ship. I'm accepting it."

"Are we leaving Greyla and Lord Anakron on the Moz Lidule?"

"It appears we are."

"Why such a bad mood, Munaci? Have a drink and relax," Yoeke said stretching him limbs and yawning.

"The bird disappeared with the engineer. Find them."

"I'm off duty and plan on snoozing for a while. Let Cratus find them."

"Lieutenant Cratus will be busy piloting this vessel. Do as you're told, Sergeant, unless you want even more demerits," Munaci said before leaving for the conference room.

Yoeke took another large slurp of his drink with no indication of moving from his spot.

"He's not playing, Yoeke," Cratus said. "You should go look for Widhbo and Hal."

"I can find them drunk as well as I can sober, maybe better." Yoeke said, a slur already in his voice. "If I were a bird, where would I hide?"

"You should at least try and look for him."

"Not finding him is incompetence. Not looking is insubordination. Demerits either way."

"You might as well add drinking on duty."

"I was drinking, and he put me on duty. That's a demerit for Munaci the way I see it."

Widhbo popped into view in his niche on the console.

"Where were you hiding?" Yoeke asked. "I've been thinking of looking all over for you."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. Just pretending to follow Munaci's orders. I'll tell him I found you, ask for a reward and split it with you."

"I was in the conference room all along. He only assumed I'd left. I've cracked the guardchev code. I can make a shield for anything, including hairy arangas."

"I don't think the ancients would approve of such a frivolous application," Cratus said.

"They should have made the code unbreakable then. Munaci was easy, I just set it for hairy, hostile, and threatening," Widhbo said, expelling Hal to the bridge. "He'll hardly even see me for the rest of this trip,"

"Great," Hal said. "You heard what he said. I'll be flogged for you behavior, since he can't get at you."

"Flogged?" Yoeke asked. "Why don't you come out of that rock and take your own beating, Widhbo?"

"As an energy being, I can't be properly flogged."

"It's the principle of the thing. Since you can't get demerits like we do, he has to punish you in some way."

"Why do you get demerits whereas Hal and I get floggings?"

"Striking an officer is not allowed and demerits don't mean anything if you have no rank. I can't imagine not having a rank, but that's not my problem." Yoeke laughed and took another sip.

"Stupid rule. Munaci could use a good flogging," Widhbo said.

"If you get enough demerits, you're sent to the retribution chamber. The ancients deal with you then," Yoeke explained.

"Hell, we should be passing out demerits like candy for Munaci," Hal said.

Widhbo cackled. "I'll fiddle with his conduct record and adjust it accordingly."

"I didn't hear that," Yoeke said. "And if I did, I was far too drunk to comprehend your meaning."

* * *

Cratus found Munaci pouring over the star map in the officer's lounge. "Where do want me to set the coordinates, Colonel?"

"Here, in the Loca System. Who's piloting the ship?"

"Widhbo."

"Widhbo? Why didn't Yoeke inform me when he found him."

"Yoeke's passed out, sir. He did find Widhbo, then drained his bottle in celebration."

"Yoeke could make a career out of incompetence, Tell Hal and Widhbo to get back in here so we can finish the plans for the propulsion system."

"They're fearful of the flogging you promised to give Hal. It's put a strain on morale"

"I don't give a damn about their morale,' Munaci said. "There is demon coming for us any day now. Floggings pale in comparison don't you think?"

"May I tell them it was just a warning?"

"Tell them whatever you like. I don't want to hear any more about their feelings. I want to see performance, or they can get off this ship. I will gladly leave their discipline to Lord Anakron,"

* * *

Cratus had convinced Hal and Widhbo to return to the officer's lounge and back on task.

"That will never work," Munaci snapped at Widhbo. "We'll need a lot more power."

"Sag Leggan has agreed to supply the power for our rockets. We just have to build them," Widhbo said. "We could probably do this without the BakoNaat's help, but Admiral Bethon wants them involved."

"They can slither back to Erizza as far as I'm concerned as long as they don't interfere," Munaci said. "We'll have to pretend they're making a contribution to appease them."

"More to appease the admiral. He'll probably give Etaine all the credit when it's over," Hal said.

"Keep your opinions about the admiral to yourself. His personal affairs are none of your business, human."

"I wouldn't concern myself at all except I was held hostage because of his feelings for Etaine. She seized our ambassadors, once of whom was my fiance. We're entangled up to our ass in his personal affairs."

"I said keep it to yourself."

"What about the facts, Munaci?"

"I am aware of the facts. Your job is to construct rockets that can accept a payload large enough to move a planetoid. That should be enough to keep you occupied."

"Hal, Colonel Munaci wants you to get back to work and stop talking," Widhbo said. "You have to spell things out for him, Colonel. Where are we getting the materials to build these rockets?"

"We can mine them from the planetoid itself. I'm surprised neither of you masterminds thought of that."

"I did think of it, but my job is the shield," Widhbo said. "Who's assigned to the mining operations?"

"I've decided that's the perfect task for the BakoNaat. It's mindless. It'll keep them busy and off our ship," Munaci said getting up to leave. "I'll check on your progress later."

"Take your time," Hal said under his breath. "How did we get stuck with him?"

"It was Bethon's idea of joke I suppose."

"Yeah, Munaci's good for a laugh,' Hal said. "I wonder how long it's been since he got laid."

"Speaking of such, are you and Greyla engaged again, Hal?" Widhbo asked.

"I never stopped being engaged. I just have to convince Greyla."

"Women aren't your strong suit are they Hal? Is she the only one?"

"I'll have you know I've passed up many an opportunity to stay with her," Hal said and busied himself with some rocket diagrams. He turned away from Widhbo's magiton body and the conversation.

"Like whom?"

"None of your business."

"Afraid I'll tell on you?" Widhbo taunted. "There's no secrets around here I can assure you. That Yoeke has a big mouth on him."

"Well, don't take it out on me. I don't need you poking around in my love life," Hal said. He pulled up a hologram of rocket specs and filled the space between them.

"Greyla may have a few confessions of her own," Widhbo said. "Not to gossip."

"How would you know that?" Hal asked being drawn back in despite his reluctance.

"Oh, you'd be surprised what I find out when I have visitors inside here. I see every tiny pixel when I pull you in."

"Then you know there isn't another woman in my life now. Why bother to ask?" Hal stood up in exasperation. "I can see why Munaci wanted to flog you."

"I can't help picking at things when I'm bored."

"What confessions?" Hal asked.

"Not mine to reveal. You should ask Greyla. Or Nova," Widhbo said. "He merged with her you'll recall. Nova found out everything. Nosey leopard."

"Well, Nova isn't here."

"I'll never tell. I've said too much already." Widhbo moved his magiton body across the room to a desk console.

"If you weren't going to tell me, why did you bring it up?" Hal asked following him.

"Just to pass the time."

Hal reached out and grabbed the magiton body. "Pull me inside or come out and fight me like a man. This ends now."

"Oh, I'm no good at keeping secrets,"Widhbo said. "She spent a night fornicating with Sag Leggan in exchange for Kage so we could make the trade with Etaine for you."

"She did no such thing! You're way out of line, Widhbo."

"If you aren't going to believe me, why ask?"

"I'll kill them." Hal said tossing the magiton across the room.

Widhbo took control in time to prevent it colliding with the opposite wall. "Kill who?"

"Sag Leggan and whoever else is responsible."

"It was Lord Anakron's idea to buy Kage back. Of course, the method of payment was Bethon's scheme."

"There's a special place in hell waiting for Bethon" Hal said. "I plan to help him find it."