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The next time Bart turned to tell him go away, he was already gone. “Jesus,” Bart mumbled. “I liked him so much better before.” He started pounding on Mirilla’s door again. “Mirilla! Come out and speak to me! Say anything you want to say, just open the door.”

Bart leaned against her door for several more minutes, knocking slowly. “Mirilla, we need to speak. There is still so much that needs to be addressed. We both have unwelcomed thoughts clouding our minds and our judgment. Open the door so we can talk of it all.”

Realizing she wasn’t willing to even consider opening the door, he gave in. “I have to go. Quin has sent for me. I’m not giving up, though. I’ll be back. Please, please consider opening the door. Even if all you do is shout at me, it’s a start.”

~~~

Ba Re’ walked past the many Elite warriors guarding Quin’s residence, raising his chin in greeting as he went, making sure heacknowledged each of them. They were his new peers. The only ones he felt comfortable with. They’d helped him gain a sense of self when he’d been lost shortly after his rescue and return to Command Warship 1. When he reached the front door he tapped on the door and eased it open, quietly stepping inside.

Once inside he made his way over to where Jhan was standing with Kol, Kron, and Vor, intently listening to Quin as he went over all he knew, all he suspected, and what his plan was in detail. When Ba Re’ came to a stop, standing beside Jhan, Jhan glanced at him and flashed him a quick grin, lifting a hand to quickly clasp each other’s fists in a silent show of unity before he went back to listening to Quin. But no one missed the fact that they were standing so close their shoulders were touching. It was a vast improvement over the awkwardness that reigned over the relationship the brothers shared when Ba Re’ was first returned to them.

Quin finished speaking then looked up at Ba Re’. “Did you find him?”

“I did.”

“Where is he?” Quin asked.

“He’s shouting at Mirilla’s room through her closed door.”

“Mirilla’s room?”

Ba Re’ nodded.

“Is he coming?” Quin pressed.

“He said he was.”

Minutes later Bart walked into the living room through the front door.

“Nice of you to join us,” Quin quipped, obviously short on patience.

“I came as soon as I could,” Bart answered, glaring at Quin. He was not one of Quin’s warriors, and didn’t particularly care for the way he’d been treated lately as though he had to come running when summoned.

“Rather than start at the beginning, I’ll just summarize it for you,” Quin said.

“Works for me,” Bart answered with the same tone Quin used with him.

“My warriors will be spreading out, joining existing palace guards in an attempt to feel out those who are not loyal. They may even begin a bit of grumbling themselves in an attempt to lure some into a false sense of camaraderie. There are two teams that will strike out in a search grid to try to locate the missing palace guards. It’s evident that a large number are unaccounted for.”

“What is considered a large number?” Bart asked.

“More than twenty, at least. It is my thought that if that many are physically missing, surely there could be a much larger number involved. Perhaps they’ve seen and are seeing our response to their actions and have decided to remain undetected for the time being. Hence the warriors from the warship infiltrating their numbers and earning their trust. It may be fruitful, it may not, but if nothing else, the sheer number of our personnel mixing in with theirs guarantees the safety of our people and those that are loyal to us. We are depending on locating those that are missing so that we can get some real information.”

“I don’t understand why they weren’t able to be located by now. Surely they could have been tracked on the palace grounds. I know it’s a massive piece of land, but it’s still well known by those who live and work here,” Bart said.

“If they were being hunted by those who are in agreement with them, they will never be found. They are intentionally not tracked, not located and not brought back here for questioning and justice,” Quin said.

“Makes sense. Can your Elite warriors keep from killing any of the more than twenty they might find until we can get information?” Bart asked.

Quin shot him a look like he wanted to slap him, but somehow got himself under control. “They can do anything I’ve ordered them to do.”

“What do you need me to do?” Bart asked.

“Contact the space stations where you have delegations. Let them know to keep their eyes open for any Cruestace people, warriors or not, that may suddenly turn up on their station. It ispossible some of them got off the planet before we had a chance to enact searches of each vessel departing here.”

“I’ll take care of it right away,” Bart said.

“Thank you,” Quin answered.

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