III. Trust Exercise

"So are you going to introduce me to Her Exalted Highnessess?"

Lorca winces. There is a noisy crowd of dignitaries and parents all around them and Kat was whispering in his ear, but even so, there are things you do not say aloud anywhere but behind privacy shields, especially when the subject of the conversation is standing only a few meters away.

"Jesus, Kat, how much champagne have you managed to get your hands on? We've been here barely ten minutes."

"No. Just enough to risk a session in the agonisers for disrespecting the throne. I'll need a lot more if you were planning on taking me to bed tonight."

"Wow, thanks – torture over sex with me. I don't remember you complaining before."

Kat squeezes his hand. "And I had no reason to, Gabriel – you know that, you... Peacock."

He sighs. "First Vulcan, now peacock. Whatever next."

"How can you fake it so bad someone would call you a damn Vulcan?"

"Very funny. Michael did, actually."

"Sassy, is she?"

"Not remotely. Which is probably for the best."

She's the most serious thirteen year-old he's ever met, even now and no longer the skinny, probably traumatised war child. In fact, standing there next to her mother, you would swear they were biologically related: still slim and lithe, she is tall and all coiled power. As her opponents found out that afternoon, at the annual Imperial Academy showcase.

Kat nods. "Poor kid."

As he often does when he meets with his oldest friend, Lorca wonders why he never married Katrina Cornwell. Early on in their time at the Imperial Academy, they knew that they saw eye to eye. They wanted to succeed not for the sake of power but for survival, to be free. That gave them strategy, while the others only had tactics. And because neither of them wanted to win as such, she was the one person he trusted above all else.

Which is why her turning him down these days had him a little worried. Kat had said she was now in a relationship with someone, but would not say who. She was in line to be promoted to a Rear Admiral's position, too. Was she having an affair with a high-ranking official and unwilling to risk losing it by being caught with Lorca? Was she in love? Why would she even want to be an admiral?

"I meant, of course," Kat adds as she puts her now empty flute down on a passing tray, "having you for a dad."

"I am not her dad –"

"I'm pretty sure you gave her the thumbs up at the end of her last fight. Somehow I don't imagine you doing that to one of your crew members. Anyway - would it be such a terrible thing?" She looks oddly wistful now.

"It would be very complicated. You know that, which is why you're not a mother, either."

"Complicated. Yes. Speaking of which - " she tilts her head, towards Michael, who is now approaching them.

They salute each other. "Michael, may I introduce Captain Katrina Cornwell?"

"Captain Cornwell, it is an honour. Captain Lorca has spoken of you many times."

"The honour is all mine, Your Highness."

"I'm just Michael," she corrects the older woman. "Captain Lorca calls me Princess sometimes, but I think he's being sarcastic."

Lorca nearly spits out his drink. He'd never meant it sarcastically, only to tease her, and he didn't think she had noticed. He drops to one knee, bows deeply. "I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness."

Michael looks embarrassed at the display, which has drawn a lot of attention, and gestures him to stand. "I think that was sarcastic, too, Captain."

"Gabriel always thinks he is the funniest man in the room, Michael. You need to give as good as you get. He'll fall in line soon enough."

An aide clears his throat behind Lorca. "Miss Burnham, the Emperor requires your presence by her side."

The girl looks disappointed. She salutes Lorca and Kat and follows the young woman.

He turns to Kat, struggling to hide his frustration. "What were you thinking, Kat, talking to her like that?"

"What do you mean?" she replies, taken aback.

"Michael is the Emperor's heir. I'm allowed to treat her with some familiarity, but only because she needs to know I am her superior when it comes to teaching her. If someone else heard you - "

Kat raises a placating hand. "All right. I get it. But you're the one who embarrassed her, not me. I think that definitely makes you her dad now."

"Nice try, but that won't change anything." Lorca scans his friend's face, her body, looking for a clue. "Something is up with you, Kat."

She sighs. "Nothing is up with me. But thank you for worrying. It's good to know someone does. I'm glad we're friends, Gabriel. So glad."

"He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted."

She and Lorca are sitting under a parasol on a Hawaiian beach, taking advantage of what passes as shore leave for the both of them on a brief return to Earth. Well, Michael is sitting – he is lying down on a towel, eyes shut, enjoying the sound of the waves lapping at the shore. She's been reading Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He's pretty sure she's frowning.

"How do you do that? Trust someone?"

"Mostly, you give them something to lose or to gain. The more equal the exchange, the more trust there will be."

"So what do you have to give me that means I can trust you?"

"Maybe you have something to lose."

"I think I'd survive the loss of the old man battle stories."

Lorca laughs, then realises Michael made a joke. He props himself up on his elbows to look at her. "Have you been talking to Captain Cornwell behind my back?"

She shrugs, looking pleased with herself, and he decides it's a look that suits her. "Are you and her... together?"

He's surprised by the question, because she hasn't really asked him personal questions since the night he found her crying. He's not sure how to answer, mostly because he doesn't know the appropriate one for the thirteen year-old future leader to the Terran Empire. Michael's smart, though, so he decides to go for the truth. There is never any point in lying when there's nothing concrete to be gained from it. "We used to be, from time to time. We're mostly old friends. Why do you ask?"

"You seemed... relaxed together. She teased you and you didn't seem to mind. Would you say she's someone you trust?"

"Absolutely. And if you trust me, you can trust her, too."

She nods her thanks. "So... what did you give her, or take from her, that means you can trust her?"

Lorca sits up properly now. "Ah. Well, that's because there is another reason to trust someone: a common goal. That's what Kat and I have."

"What's your goal?"

"To be free. And the survival of the Empire."

"What do you mean, to be free? What about your duty to the Empire?"

He could kick himself now. He walked right into that one. "You have to obey a lot of people, don't you, Michael? The Emperor, your teachers and instructors, even old man me. I just want to have as few people to obey as I can. One day, all being well, you will have no one to answer to."

"Except for our people. I mean – that's the reason for everything, isn't it?" She doesn't let him answer, cuts him off as he opens his mouth. "I think I know why I can trust you – with my life anyway." Lorca raises a questioning eyebrow. "My mother."

She returns to her PADD, he returns to his rest. He's glad he picked the truth earlier. It's not going to be easy to lie to her. He's glad, too, that she's wise enough to know not to share too much with him. Because ultimately his loyalty has to be to the Emperor, not Michael.

But for the first time in a long time, Michael feels like a stranger to him. And he doesn't like it.