...


Act II

A Christmas to remember

Chapter 26

Eureka!


The problem with being the boss is that sometimes people tell you the things that you want to hear, not the things that you need to hear. "Everything is a-ok!" is probably good for the soul, however, it doesn't help to solve any problems. Yet, at the same time, hearing nothing but bad news was a good way to nurture suicidal thoughts. Perhaps Valerian had found a brilliant compromise between those two extremes. One the one hand, he would hear nothing but the truth from Leila Curtland's mouth. On the other hand, he could feel those soft lips on his own.

So yeah, that was actually a nice middle ground. Valerian sighed as he slipped his feet into his second shoe and shook his head. He knew that he couldn't stay in that bed forever. However, the thought of getting back down to Augustgrad and his palace wasn't exactly filling his mind with joy. Unfortunately, that was just the duty he had to deal with. You know, being the Emperor and all that. Still, at least not everything was bad. When he remembered the last few hours, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Watch it, you're drooling!" Leila Curtland said when she stepped out of the shower. Again. Valerian heard that and looked up to the Ambassador and, uhm, what exactly were they now anyway? Friends? Lovers? Business partners? He hadn't the courage to ask her directly. Instead, he brushed with his sleeve over his chin and realized that there was no drool dripping from it. He looked over at her and could see how she started to chuckle.

"You know, for an Emperor, you're actually somewhat cute. A bit dimwitted, but cute." Leila said and walked towards a chair with her attire on it. Cute. That was a big improvement from "I hate you with every fiber of my body". He sighed and checked his suit. Right now, Valerian was glad that he wasn't wearing his old uniform. All those medals and insignia took forever to put them back on. And let's not forget the saber! Oh God, how he had loved his saber! Not anymore, he didn't. However, even then his suit looked pretty rundown. There was still blood on his sleeves, and when Valerian saw it, he frowned. Leila could see how he stared at his arms and walked over to him. The only thing that covered her body was a towel, but when she stood right in front of Valerian, he didn't blush. Not anymore.

"It wasn't your fault." she then said with a surprisingly gentle tone in her voice.

"Well, someone is to blame. And given the alternatives, I think it would be the best for me to be the one drawing fire. Besides..." He looked her straight into the eyes. "...you're not to blame either."

"That..." Leila replied. "...remains to be seen." She then turned away and walked back to her clothes. "There will be questions, you know that." She dropped her towel on the floor and leaned down in order to grab her underwear. That's when Valerian realized that he could still blush. Like a tomato, actually.

"There are always questions." Valerian declared. "Don't worry about the media. If Matt says that the situation is under control, then it's under control."

"Even if the people will find out that the attackers came from the Combine?" Leila wanted to know and looked over her shoulder. Valerian turned his head away, simply because he didn't want to act like a thirteen-year-old boy that was staring at his first true love. Though he certainly felt like that right now.

"They won't because that's not the truth. The truth is that some misguided individuals have tried to attack the Dominion, but they failed. There are misguided people everywhere." Maybe they could blame some extremist group. It wasn't exactly a nice thing to do, however, there were enough crazy nut-jobs out there who craved attention. If Valerian remembered right, there was a small extremist group making trouble on the fringe of Dominion space. What did they call themselves again? Defenders of Man or something like that? Perhaps it morally questionable to put the blame of the attack on those guys, but if you terrorize civilians, you should expect that something like this happens.

"I have my doubts that it will be that easy." Leila replied and grabbed some of her clothes. She started to slip back into her underwear and dress, and even though her wardrobe was rumpled beyond good and evil, she still looked stunning. However, as Valerian looked at her, he couldn't silence that question in the back of his mind, one that he just couldn't ignore anymore.

"You know, if you don't spill it out, your head might explode." Leila then suddenly said. Valerian cursed himself. It appeared as if she had no problem reading him like an open book.

"I've been thinking." he then said with a quiet voice.

"That is no crime. Still, it seems that I won't like it." she said to him.

"No, probably not." he replied truthfully and took a deep breath. How the hell was he supposed to ask her about that anyway?

"Let me guess; now you're wondering how you should ask me what you want to ask." When she said that, Valerian looked at her and blinked in surprise.

"How...are you a Ghost?" he wanted to know. Suddenly Leila started to laugh. It seemed as if she was truly amused about what he had just said.

"Oh God, no. I'm not a Ghost. But it's not that hard to figure out what you're thinking about. I can see it all over your face." she explained to him, and Valerian felt how anger started to well up inside his chest. He didn't like it when people teased him.

"Oh, is that so?" he muttered. Leila turned back towards him and gave him a cocky smile. He averted his gaze because she was still half-naked. However, she just walked up to him and lowered her upper body so their eyes were on the same level. Even though they had spent the night together, he still felt somewhat unsure on how to act when she was around. The truth was; Leila Curtland was a whole lot of woman. More than most could handle.

"Your face. You always get very serious and defensive when you have to talk about something that's important and that might cause problems. And you always pull your brows up, like you try to give everyone else puppy eyes. It's actually cute." And this was the moment when he blushed again. Leila's smile became even wider when she saw that, but then she just turned around and continued to slipped back into her clothes.

"You want to ask me something, but you have a hard time telling me what it is. I know that it's not about me since you already told Admiral Horner that you trust me." she declared. Matt frowned when he heard that.

"How...how did you know that?" he stuttered. Leila laughed again and gave him a warm look.

"Well, aside from the fact that we had sex with each other; I heard you say it to the Admiral."

"But you were under the shower!" Valerian said.

"Not the entire time." she replied and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You were eavesdropping?!"

"Oh, don't look that way. Like a little puppy left in the cold. Don't worry, I didn't listen to everything. I know that it's none of my business. But since it's not about me, I guess it's about something Combine-related. So, either it's Neusser or something else." she then concluded. Damn, she truly possessed a sharp mind.

Did Valerian mention that he was attracted to strong, independent and highly intelligent women?

Maybe now was the right time to mention it. He took another deep breath before he nodded.

"It's something." he then agreed.

"Ah, that helps to narrow it down." Leila said and put her bra back on.

Damn shame though. Valerian thought, but then he realized the implications of his own dirty thoughts and shook his head.

"Leila..." he mumbled. "...I just have to ask; do you think that General Sakai knew anything about this?" Now Leila actually froze for a moment. She lowered her head and it looked as if she had to search for the right words. However, after a while, she simply shook her head.

"No." she whispered.

"That doesn't sound very convincing." he said, but the look on his face wasn't a hostile one. He simply had to know the truth.

"I entrusted Neusser my life and safety for several months. He never showed any signs of treason. So, what do you expect me to say?" she suddenly shot back before she turned around and showed her broad shoulders to Valerian. "I don't believe that the General knew anything about this. He's a good man. And unlike many others, he's truly interested in ensuring peace between our two nations. So, did he knew anything about this? No. No, I'm sure that he did not." When she turned back to him, he could see the frustration in her eyes. "You won't get any other answer from me." For a while, no one said a word, not until Valerian started to nod.

"Okay. Okay, I believe you."

"You're not just saying this because we had sex, right?" Leila then wanted to know and Valerian blushed again. Oh God, she could be brutally honest.

"No. I say this because I trust you. Just like I trust Matt, just like I trust Jim."

"You're taking a huge risk." Leila mumbled, but Valerian just shrugged his shoulders.

"Not really. My father failed because he never trusted anyone, not even his own son. If I will fail as an Emperor, then so be it. However, if that's going to happen, then I will fail because I chose to trust people. That is the difference between me and him." he declared. Leila finally slipped back into her dress and turned towards around. She walked up to him and tilted her head to the side.

"No. That's not the only difference between the two of you, Valerian." When she used his first name, he felt a surge of joy. "There's much more to you than just that." She then sighed and brushed her hands over her dress. "Well, it seems that I'm almost presentable. I really wish I could change my clothes, though. But I guess it can't be helped."

"You're going back to the Embassy?" Valerian asked and she nodded.

"I have to. I have to send a report to the General. Don't worry, I won't tell him any compromising details about your government."

"Like the fact that we slept with each other?" Valerian offered and Leila froze for a short moment.

"The General doesn't have to know everything. That includes my personal life." she just said before sighing again. "Besides, in the end he will only want to know if I found a solution to the food crisis."

"Food crisis?" Valerian asked and Leila shook her head.

"Didn't they tell you?" she wanted to know, but Valerian just shook his head.

"I heard that there are some problems with the food supply inside the Combine, but only through the media." When Leila heard that, she shook her head.

"You should really fire your advisors and get some new ones. Because they're not worth the money you pay them."

"No argument here." Valerian muttered to himself before he shook his head. When he looked up to Leila, he pulled his brows up. "Since you seem to be the expert on it, tell me; what's going on? What's really going on?" Leila brushed over her dress and decided to sit down on the chair in front of her.

"It's the reason why I actually came to this party. Can you believe that?" She then shook her head. "The Combine is currently facing a food shortage of extreme proportions. I don't know if you're aware of that, but we always had to import additional food, simply because most of the Combine's industry is centered around heavy mining and not farming. Besides, even if we would try to change our economy, we don't have many worlds that can be used for agriculture. Before the fall of the Confederacy, we used to import the food from them. But then..." She stopped and lowered her head.

"...then my father happened." Valerian said and she nodded.

"The embargo hit us hard. We were completely unprepared. The old Confederacy had been bad, but they had never tried anything like that!" Leila explained to him. "After the embargo was lifted, the General ordered to find other means and other markets to get the food from. We turned to the Umojans and made a few trade deals with independent colonies. It worked, but only barely. The Protectorate isn't exactly a huge food producer either and we had to pay ungodly amounts of money."

"And now the Protectorate has decided to stop selling you food?" Valerian asked. Why the hell had his advisors not told him about that? Those were important, no, critical information! If the Combine would face another food shortage, it could destabilize the entire nation. And that was the last thing the Dominion needed right now. Leila shook her head.

"No. But they're not selling enough either. Immediately after the end of the original crisis, the General ordered to buy as much food as possible and put it into storage. We can probably feed the entire population of a planet with nothing but crackers for more than a year now. The people will hate it, but at least they won't starve to death. But still..." she took a deep breath." ...we won't be able to endure this for very long. A year at max. Maybe one and a half. And then it will be like during the embargo all over again." Valerian saw how Leila clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. To her, it wasn't just some theoretical problem. She had seen the effects of Valerian's father's actions.

"Then you came to the party in order to..." Valerian began.

"...ask you for your help. Yes." Now she started to chuckle. "Didn't think that it would turn out like this, though. But yeah, that's the problem I'm facing right now."

"How serious?" Valerian asked and Leila frowned.

"I told you; we can hold out for a year, maybe a year and a half." she explained to him again, but he shook his head.

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. How serious is the General about this? He sent you to the party, yes. But he probably told you what you should tell me and what not." Valerian assumed and Leila nodded before closing her eyes.

"He...he left everything to me. Basically, he told me to come up with a solution."

"Let me guess; he still got others breathing down his neck, telling him not to approach the Dominion directly in order to ask for help."

"Pretty much, yes." she agreed. "And that's why I have no idea how I can solve this problem. Even if you would send countless aid convoys into the Combine, I doubt that many people would accept the help of the Dominion. There are probably even enough people who would call it an act of aggression. It wasn't enough to let us starve, now the Dominion is teasing us with the fact that they have the food we need."

"Is that what you think?" Valerian then wanted to know and her head jerked back up. Their eyes met and he could see her surprised expression. But then she lowered her gaze again.

"Not anymore." was the only thing she whispered. Valerian sighed and stood up. He walked over to the door but didn't leave the room.

"So the problem is; how do we get food to the Combine? And not just once, but how can we improve the overall food situation?" Suddenly he turned around and started to walk to the other end of the small cabin. "Sending aid convoys wouldn't work. Besides, right now the Dominion's transport corps is stretched thin as it is. We can hardly supply all of our colonies and outposts. No, the transport corps is out of the question." He reached the other end of the room and turned around again. "The only institution under my command that could do something like that would be the fleet, but delivering that food with warships would be enough of a reason for many to go to war." He walked back to the door and turned around yet again. He was walking up and down and looked like he was lost in thought.

"Valerian?" Leila asked both surprised and baffled. She had never seen him like that. He looked like he was thinking very hard about this problem.

"The Dominion can't use its own means to solve this. Besides, we can't send food for free to the Combine. I would if I could, but the Dominion is currently facing one hell of a recession. The people would probably start to riot if we would do that." He continued to walk up and down and tipped with his finger against his lips. So Leila decided to just listen to his monologue.

"But then again; we are facing a recession. And why is that? Because my awesome father thought that an economy only needed guns and even more guns in order to work. But now we're all smarter, aren't we, you old bastard." he hissed before he shook his head and his thoughts returned to the problem.

"We know what the problem is. However, what means do we possess to solve this? Military? No. And my government should stay out of this. Still, even though we're facing a recession, the Dominion's economy is still the biggest around. Hmm..." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stopped. He then looked at the floor beneath his feet and suddenly a smile appeared on his face.

"What's with that smile?" Leila wanted to know. The smile turned into a big grin and he looked over at her.

"I think I got an idea. One that could help both sides."

"Must be one hell of an idea." Leila muttered.

"Remember those guests you met at the party?" Valerian then asked and she frowned.

"What, the fat cats and cutthroats?"

"Exactly, the fat cats and cutthroats. And what is the only thing these guys care about?"

"Money and saving their own asses." she told him and he nodded.

"And what is the only thing that is even more important than money and saving their own asses?"

"I don't think I can follow you." Leila replied. By now his smile had turned absurdly wide.

"Making even more money! And we can use that for our own purpose."

"How?" Leila had a hard time following Valerian.

"I need to talk with a few guys, but I think it could work." He nodded to himself and looked at Leila. "The Confederacy and my father believed that the foundation of a strong nation needs to be a strong military. It's the oldest rule in the book; if your domestic policy stinks, don't fix it. Instead, invade another country and try to profile yourself as a strong leader. History is full of moments like these. However, they usually never last long. So instead; what if we use the weakness inside both the Combine and the Dominion to find some sort of common ground. Leila!"

"Yes?!" she yelled in surprise.

"I need you to talk to the General. Tell him; what if there were a lot of companies and corporations from the Dominion that would like to invest into the Combine? We got a lot of filthy rich guys who want to become even filthier and richer. But they need new markets for that." Now Leila was finally getting what he was talking about.

"Economy isn't exactly my area of expertise." she admitted. "However, if I remember correctly most companies inside the Combine aren't exactly top notch. Most of our production facilities are old and outdated." Then her eyes widened when she realized something. "The biggest problem is that they have almost no money to invest in better equipment!" They looked each other into the eyes and suddenly both knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"I need to talk to the General." she then said.

"And I need to talk to some other guys. Need to make some calls too." Valerian walked back to the door and pressed the open button. The heavy door slid to the side and he made room for Leila to get out first. You know, lady's first and stuff like that. When she was right beside him, Leila suddenly stopped.

"Oh, there's one more thing." she then told him.

"What? Did you think of something else?" he wanted to know.

"You could say that." Leila then leaned forward and pressed her lips on his. Valerian's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. Right now the door to the cabin was wide open and anyone who would pass by would see the Emperor and the Ambassador of the Combine kissing each other. Yet, he just didn't care about that. Perhaps it was wrong to enjoy this moment, but he knew that there would probably not many more of these moments in the near future.

But a man could hope, could he not?

When their lips finally separated, he could see how Leila was blushing as well. It looked...cute.

"I guess this is better than a mere "thank you", wouldn't you agree?" she asked. However, all Valerian managed to do was to give her a goofy smile.

"Who knows, if this works out you might even take me out on a real date one day." she then added.

"Now that's one hell of a way to encourage a man to do the impossible." he replied.


When Matt entered his office, he felt...different. He couldn't really say if better or worse. Well, his body felt better, that much was for certain. After returning from the Sky Shield installation, he had actually managed to go to his little flat within the ministry and sleep a bit. Originally, he had planned to sleep maybe four or five hours, but once he had fallen asleep, the beeping of his alarm clock hadn't been enough to wake him up.

And so, he had slept for at least ten hours.

There were no words to describe the feeling when you get a good long sleep after working your ass off. He couldn't remember having any dreams, though it hardly mattered. Right now, dreams couldn't be any weirder than the reality around him. When he had finally woken up again, he realized two things.

A: It was already past noon.

And B: He was starving.

So, he had done the most selfish thing he could have thought of; taking a shower, putting on a fresh uniform, and then grabbing something to eat in the ministry's cafeteria. He had gotten a lot of strange looks from everyone else. Usually, the Admiral (and de facto Secretary of Defense) didn't eat in the cafeteria. People would bring him something to eat in his office. The food wasn't anything spectacular, but it was warm and of decent quality. And that alone was already a gift to Matt. A good bed, a hot shower, and a stomach full of warm food. The three things every soldier craved more than anything else.

Well, except for a working gun, maybe.

After he was done, he decided to return to his office. And when he entered it-

"YOU! YOU KNOW KATE LOCKWELL!" Lieutenant Hernandez yelled the moment he entered his outer office. His adjutant jumped on her feet and almost threw the chair against the wall. She pointed her finger at him, and the expression on her face looked like a mixture of anger and respect. Matt stopped and sighed.

"A good day to you too, Lieutenant." he then said. "I just got one quick question; you do know that you're supposed to salute when you see me and say something like; good day, Admiral!"

"Say what? No one said anything about that when they offered me this job!" Hernandez just replied and Matt sighed again.

"Nevermind." he mumbled and shook his head. "But since you already brought that name up; what did Ms. Lockwell say?"

"That you're a fascistic pig, a damn liar, a coward, and that they should hang you by your own balls."

Well...that didn't sound too good.

"And I kinda agree. You can be quite the dick, you know that?" the Lieutenant said. Instead of yelling at her, he groaned and walked over to his office.

"Yeah, I heard something like that several times by now." he mumbled before he turned back to the Lieutenant.

"But aside from my character deficiencies; what did she say, Lieutenant?"

"That you're an asshole. A self-righteous asshole. A stupid asshole. Oh, and then she called you a stupid and self-righteous asshole. And then she-"

"Not that!" Matt barked and interrupted her. "I want to know if she'll come here." But Hernandez only shrugged her shoulders.

"She...didn't give me a straight answer. Maybe. She wanted to visit her pal in hospital first or something like that. Oh, speaking of hospitals; I received a message for you. Bridget is reacting well to the dialysis, and they hope that they can operate her within the next few days." And while this was good news, Matt just shook his head.

"His name is Brent, not Bridget." he growled.

"Yeah, that guy too!" was all Hernandez replied. Matt decided to not pursue this conversation any further, simply because it felt like it was pointless. Still, he made a mental note that he should go and visit Brent in the hospital if he would find some time.

"Any other calls?" Maybe Valerian was already back to Augustgrad. In that case, it would have been nice to know. However, the answer he got was not what he had expected.

"Oh yeah, some weird hobo-guy called. Told me that he knows you, but I totally didn't believe that."

"Weird hobo-guy?" Matt asked. He didn't even know what a hobo was.

"Yeah, all grumpy and small. Kinda looked like a dwarf if you ask me. And he sounded like he was seriously drunk. I think his name was Duck, or Goose, or Fat Eagle, or something like that and-"

"Swann. His name is Swann." Matt then explained and sighed. Right, he had totally forgotten about Swann.

"Oh, right! Swann. Seems like you two know each other. Is he some sort of old pal of yours?" Hernandez asked. Matt pulled his brows up when he heard that question.

"Not really. We worked together for a long time but weren't exactly close. What did he want?" Though Matt could already imagine that it was about the Hyperion. Or...or had he met Sarah as well? Oh no, that would complicate things. He could feel how his hands started to get sweaty when Hernandez just pulled her shoulders up.

"Dunno, I had a hard time understanding him. All I did was to stare at that giant mustache. Seriously, he looked like some kind of walrus! You know, that mythical creature." she said to him and Matt frowned.

"Walruses aren't mythical, they're real." he told her, but she just laughed when she heard that.

"Pffff, yeah right. Get off, Admiral! Everyone knows walruses only exist in legends and fairy tales, just like unicorns and the postman." While Matt was aware that not many people knew anything about the species of Earth these days, he wasn't willing to let this one go unanswered.

"Walruses are real, Lieutenant. They are a species indigenous to Earth. You know, the planet where the human species originates from. And there used to be postmen as well, back when there were no computer networks and mail had to be delivered by hand."

"Yeah, when was that? When the cavemen discovered fire?" Hernandez asked with an amused tone in her voice.

"No, but shortly after that." Matt replied.

"But these walruses have horns! Like unicorns! Next thing you're gonna tell me unicorns exist as well." she insisted, but Matt just shook his head.

"No, Lieutenant. Unicorns don't exist. And those things that grow out of a walrus's mouth are not horns, those are tusks. There isn't anything magical about them, Zerg have tusks too." Now Hernandez's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ohhh! Yes, that makes actually sense. Still damn ugly, these walruses. Speaking of ugly walruses; your pal Swann wanted me to record a message for you, I saved it on your computer." Lieutenant Hernandez wasn't exactly good with words, but Matt decided to ignore that comment. Once Brent would return, and he would return, he would resume his job as the Admiral's adjutant. Matt would find something for Hernandez. Something where she couldn't do any harm.

Maybe public relations...

"Oh, I totally forgot to invite my chikas over here. They will go crazy if they see where I'm working now!"

Okay, maybe not.

"I'll be checking that message then." Matt sighed and went into his office. He didn't even dare to ask if Hernandez could make him some coffee, he was too afraid of the answer he would receive. So instead he closed the door behind him and shook his head. He looked around and realized that nothing had changed. Of course, nothing had changed, how could it? His office was still the same as when he had left it. Still, it was somehow reassuring to know that at least one thing was still normal. Because everything else sure wasn't, starting with that feisty Lieutenant in his outer office.

He sat down behind his desk and looked out of the window. The view from his office was breathtaking and he could even see the Central Plaza from here. The sky was light gray, and a thin cover of snow lay on most buildings. The city of Augustgrad seemed to be surprisingly peaceful right now, as if the attack the other day had never happened.

He looked back at his desk and his computer. His electronic calendar showed him that there was nothing to do. No one wanted anything from him, and there was no one he wanted to talk to right now. Okay, there was someone he wanted to talk to, but he had no idea if Kate would actually show up.

So, for the first time since, he couldn't even remember since when, he had nothing to do. And so, he looked for Swann's recording. He found it immediately and when he started it, he saw the exhausted (but happy) face of his old comrade.

"Hey, bigshot! How's life?" Swabb happily announced. Truth to be told; the engineer looked like shit. He was pale, his eyes were reddened, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. So pretty much like always. However, he seemed happy. "Listen, I just wanted to give you a call. Thought that I owed you a little piece of head ups. Besides, I still need to thank you! The kid you sent me, this Karax, he's one hell of an engineer!" Matt frowned when he heard that. He had no idea what Swann was talking about. But Karax...he had heard that name before and-

"Oh, crap." Matt muttered to himself. Karax. That was the name of the Protoss that was with Sarah!

But Swann didn't seem to be baffled about that. He just continued to speak as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But seriously, what do you teach these kids in engineering school these days?" Swann asked. "They're far too shy and don't show their faces! You know that a real engineer needs to be like a real woman; with hair on the chest and an attitude!"

Matt shuddered when he heard that. It was one of those pictures that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Still, the kid is awesome. You wouldn't believe how much we managed to repair in just those few days. He even installed an autopilot that runs via voice command! From everywhere on the ship! Shit, I didn't even know that the old girl had that in her!" Swann chuckled before he got serious again.

"But that's not why I called. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I should be able to take the Hyperion off your back a lot sooner than I thought I would. Give me two or three more days and I'll be on my way to Meinhoff." Then Matt saw how Swann took a deep breath. "Okay, and I wanted to tell you something else. Ain't exactly easy for me, I'm not good at this." The engineer looked to the side and grabbed a bottle of booze. Matt watched how Swann took one, two, three deep gulps and then threw the empty bottle away. The Admiral heard how the bottle smashed into pieces in the background. "I wanted to apologize for what I said. I know that it ain't easy for you either, and I didn't want to leave without telling you that." But then he chuckled again. "You're still one stiff asshole, but that's part of your charm."

Now Matt actually had to laugh as well. He was certain that he had reached his "asshole"-quota for this week.

"So yeah, I just didn't want to leave without letting you know about that. Just do me a favor; try not to turn into a jerk every time you see an old pal. Oh, and make sure to look after the Commander, will you do that for me?" Now Matt's smile vanished. What would Swann say to him if he knew what he was about to do? He would probably punch him in the face.

"I just don't want to leave without telling you that." Swann continued. "No matter what we said to each other, we still were a pretty good team. And we did a lot of crazy stuff together. Besides, I will need at least two more days. If you want, you can always come up here and have a drink. It'll be just like old times! Maybe you can bring the Commander with you?" Now that wasn't probably the smartest idea.

"Yeah, well, anyway...see you around, Admiral!" Swann then ended his message and the monitor in front of Matt turned dark. He didn't say or do anything for a long time. It was clear that Swann wasn't aware of Sarah's return, and Matt was glad about that. Because it meant that he had one less problem to worry about.

It was funny; now that there was no immediate crisis craving for attention, he could actually relax and do something other than being an Admiral. That's when he realized that he had neither friends nor any hobbies he could waste his time with Maybe he should learn how to play an instrument. Something loud that caused people to flee the moment they heard it. Matt stood up and walked to the window. He put his arms behind his back and looked out of the city.

Many people considered Augustgrad not exactly to be a beauty. "Urban nightmare" was one of the nicer things they said about the city. However, Matt couldn't shake the feeling that there was a lot of potential hidden beneath those huge skyscrapers. All this city needed was a decent urban development plan. And a lot of soap.

Matt felt how his own thoughts started to wander off. He could hear Hernandez on the other side of the door, it seemed as if she was talking to herself or something like that. However, it hardly mattered to him.

"...okay, I'm gonna tell him you called." the Lieutenant said when she opened the door and put her communicator away.

"Admiral? There's someone who wants to meet you. He asks if you can come to his office as soon as possible." Well, so much for having nothing to do. Maybe learning an instrument had to wait after all. He sighed and turned around.

"Who is it?" he wanted to know.

"Dunno. Just called himself Valerian and-"

"The Emperor called?" Matt interrupted her and suddenly Hernandez's face went pale. "Oh crap, that was the Emperor?!" she hissed. "Oh crap, oh crap, ohcrapcrapcrapcrap!" Okay, that wasn't a good sign.

"Lieutenant? What's going on?" Matt wanted to know, and she gave him an apologetic smile.

"Nothing! Ehehehe...nothing. Hell, how the crap was I supposed to know that you're all buddies with the Emperor. Uhm...just tell him that I was joking about that thing with the lube and the Zergling. Ehehehe...eeeeeeh..." She then turned away and left the office as fast as possible. "I'm so dead."

"Lieutenant? WAIT, what did you tell the Emperor? Did you speak to him personally? Hey, Hernandez!" But damn, that girl was fast!

"Can't talk, need to take my meds!" she just said and walked over to her desk. She grabbed a small box of pills, opened it and then...

...she just threw her head back, opened her mouth and popped them in like they were some kind of skittles. Matt watched how she swallowed an ungodly amount of these pills. Hernandez closed her mouth and twitched a few times before she sighed and walked back to the Admiral's office.

"Admiral, someone calling himself Valerian has just tried to reach you. Said that he wanted to talk to you inside his office." she said as the last few seconds had never happened.

"Uhh...did he say anything? Anything specific?"

"No, Admiral." Hernandez said with a stern tone in her voice. Huh, those meds weren't so bad. Maybe she should take them more often.

"Okay." Matt then took a deep breath. If Valerian wanted to see him, then he shouldn't let the Emperor wait. This was probably important anyway. "Okay, I'll be on my way then. Please call the palace and tell them that I'm on my way to meet the Emperor." That's when Lieutenant Hernandez's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, THAT was the Emperor? Emperor Valerian Mengsk?!" she shouted in shock and Matt made a step backward.

"Yes. Yes, he is. We just established that, Lieutenant and-"

"Hell, how the crap was I supposed to know that? Uhm...tell him that I was just joking about the thing with the lube and the Zergling! Oh, I'm so dead!" She then turned around and ran back to her desk. Wait, was she serious?!

"Lieutenant, what is the matter with you?" Matt demanded to know.

"Can't talk, need to take my meds!" she screamed and grabbed the almost empty box of pills. She threw them all in, but when they were gone, she simply pulled a drawer out and grabbed another box that was still full. She almost emptied that box as well before she started to twitch and sighed in relief. Then she put those pills away and walked over to Matt.

"Admiral, someone called Valerian wanted to speak to you, said he was in his office right now." she told him with a straight face. Matt opened his mouth and wanted to ask if she was trying to make fun of him, but then he decided to drop it.

"Okay. I'm on my way then." he just said and took another deep breath. At least things never got boring around here.


Being back inside his palace felt strange, knowing that it had been a battlefield a short while ago. And Valerian felt the urge to enter through a side entrance, get to his office, and ignore everything else. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. His duty was not just to tell people what to do, but it was also about how to tell the people what to do.

It felt like that there were at least thirty police officers per square meter inside the palace, these guys were everywhere. The moment Valerian walked through the gates of his palace and into the ballroom, he stopped and looked around.

"Welcome home." he muttered to himself, but his good mood was already gone the moment he saw what once had been his ballroom. It was a surreal sight; the victims had been taken to safety, the guns and the empty shell casings were gone too. The only thing that remained was the blood on the floor. It was an odd situation. Now that he saw everything during broad daylight, it seemed less horrible than it had during the party. There was a lot of blood, yes, but not as much as he remembered. Most members of the police were looking for evidence and trying to reconstruct what had happened. As Valerian watched them, he knew that the professionals were now dealing with this thing.

There was no one shouting anything like "Attention!". These men and women weren't soldiers, they weren't supposed to salute. They still recognized the face of the man standing beneath the entrance, though. Some started to whisper and pointed their fingers at him, others waited what Valerian would do next. And some just shrugged their shoulders and turned back towards their work. It didn't seem as if there was anyone around who was in command.

Instead of heading to his office right away, he walked towards a group of police officers and started to talk to them.

"Hello, Valerian Mengsk." he just casually said as if he was just another guy from the night shift. A lot of these guys and gals looked at him both surprised and baffled when he offered them his hand. He asked every single one for their names, and after that, he asked them what they were doing.

"We're checking the holes in the walls in order to find out what kind of weapons were used." one of the men explained to him. It was truly interesting. Valerian hadn't been aware of the police's procedures until now. They explained to him that they had to make sure what kind of weapons were used. So far, they had identified the sub-machine guns of the attackers, and of course the pistols of the guards. However, in order to be certain that no other weapons had been used, they had to investigate everything. The police officers were very friendly, and it seemed as if they truly enjoyed talking to him. They explained that there was a slight chance that the attackers had acquired their equipment on the black market, here on Korhal. If that was true, then they could use all the information in order to find the people who had supplied the attackers with guns.

Valerian took his time and listen carefully. He asked questions when something was unclear, and he thanked everyone for their hard work. Perhaps some of them would later call him an ass-kisser, but it seemed as if the vast majority appreciated the fact that their Emperor was actually an approachable person, someone who wasn't distant towards his own people.

It took him at least one hour to simply get through the ballroom. However, when he was done, he felt a lot better. He hadn't seen any hatred or heard anything like "We gotta punish those who are responsible for this attack!" Like said, these men and women acted like true professionals and like people who were simply interested in solving this mystery. The crew of the Rebel Heart had been exactly the same. There had been no signs of aggression whatsoever. Everyone had been on edge, yes. But nothing more.

When Valerian entered his office, the bodyguards waited outside. He sat down behind his desk and the first thing he did was to switch on the holo-screen.

"...ood Day Augustgrad! This is Fimmy Jallon, your host for today's morning show since our colleague and friend Kate Lockwell is still at home, recovering from this Christmas's events. But fear not, I talked with Kate yesterday and she is doing fine. So, you will probably see her again far sooner than I hope!" the host said with a wide grin. He was a bit too cheerful for Valerian's taste. The Emperor switched through the programs, he simply wanted to know what the people were thinking. Or what the media was telling them to think.

"...yesterday's events are still somewhat shrouded in mystery..."

"...the attack on the palace is the topic we want to talk about..."

"...yet no lives were claimed during the attack..."

"...as for who could be behind the attack, no statement was issued by the authorities so far..."

"...we hope to hear a statement from his Imperial Majesty later this day, but until then we can only wait and..."

Of course, it was the topic. However, as he watched all those shows, he realized one thing; there was no one demanding to take action, to invade, to retaliate. Most likely because they had no idea who was behind the attack. It seemed as if the authorities had managed to keep the origin of Neusser and his buddies a secret. But how would the public react once they would find out the truth?

Still, there was no panic, no cries for blood. Valerian had to wonder; how much had the propaganda of his father done to the people in the past? It was only a theoretical question, yet he still had to wonder if some tragedies could have been avoided if no one had stirred up the public opinion back then. He checked his computer and realized that the people from the palace had already left a tight schedule for him. So, he simply decided to delete all of that and pressed a button in order to make a call.

"Call Admiral Horner." he just said and the computer complied with a "Yes, your Majesty." It took a few seconds before an unknown female voice echoed through his office.

"Hernandez." the woman just said as if that would explain anything.

"Uhm, who is there?" Valerian then asked. "Is this Admiral Horner's office?"

"`Course it is, what else should it be?" the woman said with a somewhat snippy tone in her voice.

"Uhm...is the Admiral currently in office?" Valerian then wanted to know.

"Last time I checked he was." Again, what kind of answer was that?

"Ah, could I leave a message for him?"

"I don't know, can you?" she asked back and Valerian looked at his computer. Had it used the wrong number?

"Okay...could you just tell him that Valerian wants to talk with him? I'm in my office. Now. Could you do that, Mrs...?"

"Hernandez! What are you, deaf? It's the first thing I said when you called!" Okay, now that was truly not what he had expected. However, he then simply decided to give it a rest.

"I am sorry, Ms. Hernandez. I didn't want to bother you, please just tell the Admiral as soon as possible, and I just forget what happened."

"Oh, aren't you precious, Valerian?" Hernandez shot back. "Say what; how about you get yourself some lube and go and find a Zergling, I'm busy over here! I need to sort my damn pills or I get cranky!"

"Uhh...is this truly the Admiral's office?" he just wanted to know, but he could hear the frustrated groan of the woman on the other side.

"Okay, okay! Just wait a second, I tell him right away. So, you can go and annoy someone else!" Before he could answer anything, he heard how someone on the other side of the line opened a door and then how the woman said: "Okay, I'm gonna tell him you called." There was a short pause and then the line was cut.

"Uhm, hello?" Valerian asked, but no one answered. What the hell was that about? Hmm, maybe he should try it again later. Besides, Matt could wait. Right now, he had more important things to do. He decided to look through the guest list and searched for some names. Most of them were useless to him, but in the end, there were two names left that seemed to be promising. He called for a secretary and told the man that he wanted to invite these two people to the palace as soon as possible. She recognized at least one of those names and her eyes widened in surprise, but in the end, she just nodded and did as she was told. After that, he opened a new file on his computer and started to work on that damn speech he still had to deliver.

Oh, joy!