There were other things he could be doing right now. Getting a good night's sleep, for one thing. And with a wave of his hand, he could have had an entire division of troops here, scouring the hull inch by inch.

But some things are too personal. Some things you must take care of personally.

Bittenfeld had told him the rumours. That at night, sometimes, sentries reported lights aboard the battleship. That investigations had been carried out and that nothing substantive had been found except... well, not all the scientists in the Empire knew what to make of the anomalies that might - might - be DNA. Or might not.

He uncorked the bottle and poured it out, two glasses. One for him, one for his friend. One for his hand, one on the crystal that encased and would forever perfectly preserve the body for eternity or as nearly as possible.

Reinhard Lohengramm, Kaiser of the Galactic Empire, most powerful man in the entire human race, raised his glass to Fleet Admiral Siegfried Kircheis -

- glass shattered on the floor and he whirled, pistol in hand, white cape flaring dramatically as he drew a bead on the figure in the shadows. "Who are you!? How did you get in here!?"

She walked out of the shadows and shook her head at the glass. "I've always been here, Your Excellency."

All that stopped Reinhard from tightening his finger, from perforating the intruder with a succession of particle beams, was her hair. It was as red as fire, as red as blood... as red as that of Kircheis.

"What are you doing?"

She crouched and started sweeping up the glass with her hands, careless of the tiny cuts being left behind on her fingers. "I'm waiting here, Your Excellency. In case he needs me for anything."

"Is this a joke?" Reinhard lowered the gun slightly. "Kircheis... he is dead. He will never want for anything now. Except that one day Anne-Rose and I will join him, wherever he is gone to."

There was a long pause.

"Answer me!"

"There is no joke." She stood, glass cupped in her hands. "I exist entirely for him. You had me created for him. To be his flagship, his home, his sword and his shield. By your will, Kaiser, I exist for Siegfried Kircheis and for him alone."

"Who are you!?"

She bowed her head. "I am Barbarossa."

Reinhard shook his head. "No, that's impossible!"

"I would not lie to you, Kaiser. My admiral would be displeased."

"But we are inside the Barbarossa."

"Yes, you entrusted me with him in life and in death." She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Lord Reinhard. It is an honourable purpose."

He shook his head and then looked at her hands, at the glass. "I... here!" He produced a handkerchief and held it out. "The glass, put it here. I'll take it and dispose of it."

She accepted the offer and, with a smile, walked away. The lights of the ship - dimmed in the absence of a crew - brightened around her as she walked.

The blood on the glass was tested and contained the same material as before. Something that might be human DNA... and might be the sealing fluid used to close cracks in the hull of an Imperial battleship.

The bottle, when Reinhard remembered it, had vanished without a trace.

Years later, when a white ship nestled alongside the red, admirals and ships side-by-side forever...

Years later, that would be, the empty bottle would be found aboard the bridge of the Brunhilde. Lights had been seen aboard her, as they had long been reported aboard the Barbarossa, but according to orders filed by Reinhard the morning after that night, no one ever investigated.