“So, what now?” I asked, looking around the room.

Andy’s lips ticked up in a smile and he looked at Aquila.

“We’re going to gather more information from the Guardians, find out more about the situation on the Council ship and go from there,” she said with a tight smile.

“Okay, and what do we do in the meantime?”

Aquila cocked her head slightly, as if she were considering it.

“We have… some options. The Council is our main focus but there’s a lot of chaos in the universe right now. All of the Council processes, their trades and whatnot, have come to a halt. Because of the number of IA members and Guardians that have abandoned their posts, they don’t have enough people to keep them going. Planets are starving, they don’t have the fuel they need to keep going and infrastructure is crumbling. We need to step up and make sure that people don’t die because of the Council’s selfishness,” she said.

I nodded, annoyance creeping into my stomach.

I knew that it wasn’t just that. The Council had probably ordered their people to withdraw from the planets, to leave the people living there starving and unable to do anything about it. It was all part of their plan to make sure that everyone realised how helpless we were without them but it wouldn’t work.

I think they underestimated just how much people hated them and living under their rule. So many people stepped up. More than I expected. People were willing to help each other for next to nothing just out of the goodness of their hearts. Or maybe it was to prove a point. To prove that we didn’t need them.

“That’s not all,” Elliot said, glancing at Aquila.

She pursed her lips but nodded slightly, allowing him to continue but showing that she wasn’t happy with it.

I fought the urge to look at my crew, concerned about the way Elliot was looking at me. I knew something bad was coming.

“We do have something for you and your crew to do, if you’re happy with it,” he said.

There was a pause and I felt Cas’ foot find mine under the table. He nudged me slightly, silently offering support.

“Okay, what do you need?” I said, not quite agreeing to it.

I knew that he probably hoped I would just agree without hearing the details but I didn’t want to. I needed to know more before I agreed to anything. I wouldn’t put my crew at risk again if I didn’t need to.

“People have been asking to see you. They want to speak to you,” Elliot said, his tone restrained.

“Who?” I asked.

The Council were my first thought.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Harvey wanted to speak to me. He probably wanted to taunt me or something but it wouldn’t work. He had nothing to offer me now.

“The Irisians we rescued,” Fornax said.

“The kids from the base too,” Andy added.

I looked between them, feeling my eyebrows draw together.

That didn’t sound like the stressful thing that Elliot was alluding to. I would be happy to see them.

“Oh?” I said carefully, wanting more information.

It felt like there was more to it than that. There was something else coming.

Elliot hesitated, clearly not wanting to continue but Aquila didn’t have the same qualms.

“We thought it would be a good publicity piece too. To show you with the people you risked your life to save. It would show the galaxy that you are still fighting with us and exactly what you are fighting for,” she said.

“What?” Peggy gasped. “You can’t expect us to do this. The Irisians and the kids don’t deserve to have cameras shoved in their faces!”

Aquila didn’t respond. She didn’t even look away from me, she just waited.

I understood where Peggy was coming from and my initial impulse was to agree with her. It felt wrong. They deserved better. If they wanted to see us, to speak to us, they should be able to.

But, at the same time, I understood what she meant. It would look good. The Council were leaving people to starve but if Freo could put out footage of us still helping people, helping those who were there at the beginning or even just some kids, it would look good. It would be a significant contrast to them.

But it felt too cold. It felt cruel.

I did want to see them though. I wanted to apologise to the Irisians. It was my fault that some of them had been arrested and held in jail. They deserved to hear my apology from me and I needed to hear whatever they wanted to say to me.

The kids too. I wanted to see them and make sure that they were okay.

I glanced at my crew, seeing the reluctance on their faces, before looking back at Aquila.

“We’d like to see them,” I started, hearing a rush of my crew’s objections directly into my brain. “But, without cameras. I want to talk to them and make sure they’re okay and if they consent, we can do photos or whatever but I don’t want them to think that we’re only coming for the publicity because that’s not true.”

Any other suggestions? I added to my crew.

Nope, Cas sent back.

I want to be the one to tell them, Peggy thought. It’s not that I don’t trust Aquila but…

I get it, I replied.

Aquila looked a little disappointed but she hid it well.

“That will work,” she said.

“Good. And I want Peggy to be in charge of liaising with them. Both the kids and the Irisians,” I added.

Aquila was silent for a moment before nodding ever so slightly.

“I’ll have Orion connect you after the meeting. We can set everything up to happen this week,” she said with a tight smile.

I nodded, feeling a slight grin come over my lips too, even though I knew she wasn’t completely happy with what we’d agreed to.

"Will we need an escort?” Cas asked.

That was a good question and I looked between him and Aquila in interest but it was Andy who spoke.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s too high a risk. Even though the Council is in shambles, your crew are still a high-profile target. I worry that they might become desperate. It wouldn’t surprise me if Harvey and the rest of them still have patrols out looking for you.”

“Why?” Peggy asked, sounding irritated. “Surely they have bigger things to worry about?”

Andy cocked his head, a good-natured smile on his lips.

“You would think so. Nova is in chaos, people are starting to starve to death and we estimate that the number of IA and Guardian members has almost halved in the last week alone but they see you as a threat. Whether you like it or not, you kids are the figureheads of this uprising. You are seen as the spark that kicked the rebellion off, despite all the work we were doing in the shadows before that. If they were to capture you and kill you, which they would do, that would be a huge blow to morale,” Andy explained gently. “Plus, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of you. I won’t force you, you’re old enough to understand the situation, but I would appreciate it if you allowed an escort to accompany you.”

My shoulders sagged and I felt the fight leaving me. As much as I would like the chance to be away from everyone apart from my crew, when he phrased it like that, I couldn’t. If something went wrong and something happened to us, I knew he’d blame himself.

Well, that’s just not fair, Cas thought.

We have to now, don’t we? Peggy replied.

I guess so, was Cory’s answer.

“Okay,” I said, trying to keep the reluctance from my voice.

“Thank you.”