As he changed from his night clothes to his uniform, Saturn took a surreptitious glance at Tabitha.

His name was near the top of the list that included at least one that Tabitha would have known about. He seemed like the chatty sort, too, so there was a chance that he knew more of them.

The worst he could say was no, Saturn supposed. He grabbed the notecard from where it was hidden and asked, "Do you know any of these names?"

Tabitha looked over as he did up his uniform. He frowned and looked suspiciously at Saturn. "Why do you need to know?"

Saturn waved off his concern. "It's not bad, it's just…"

"'Cause this is all the magma and aqua that I know are here…"

"Well, that does answer a few things," Saturn said as he did up his boots. "But I'm not really at liberty to say more about it right now."

Tabitha tapped a finger on his zipper in thought. "Is anyone going to get hurt?"
"Hopefully not," Saturn said, and he addressed the concern with, "It's this place, I can't really make promises."

Tabitha frowned but nodded. "Well. I'll try and talk to Courtney. I don't know if she'll tell me, though."

"Did you fight?" he asked.

"No, no. She just has her ways of coping with things. In this case, she refuses to say the guy's name because she thinks that he's a creep."

He adjusted his hat in the mirror. "Does that help?"

"I'm not sure, but she's set on it." He shrugged a bit helplessly. "I'd start thinking up a backup plan if I were you."

Thanks to many of the teams preferring a very specific body type, some individuals were easier to track than others. Unless he saw someone straight on, or heard their accent, there was no reason to think they were anything but the standard grunts that Rocket had brought along.

But some had gone in the exact opposite direction. You could tell from across the room when the Magma or Aqua administrators had entered. It really just highlighted how much security had stopped caring about separation if they were allowed to sit right next to each other.

Saturn was grateful for it because it allowed him to follow Tabitha and Courtney without arousing suspicion. He watched as their conversation quickly spiraled into a whispered argument, and then a frustratedly hopeless concession.

He tapped his fingers against the table, and then said, "So you two get to see a lot more than I do… Which of these leaders is the creep?"

Mars tsked. "Which one is the most creepy you mean? Because they all have their bad parts."

"Ghetsis would be my guess," Jupiter began.

"Yeah, but he's not so much creepy as just an asshole," Mars said. "Meanwhile Faba is absolutely on some kinda list."

Jupiter raised a hand in concession. "Why are you asking, anyway?"

"I need to…" He lowered his voice, and the other two dutifully leaned in. "I'm looking for some people. One's named Matt, the other's a 'Courtney' who's under a guy she thinks is a creep."

The Galactic commanders had been used to working with incredibly limited information. The others didn't ask for elaboration. They just sat back up with a touch more determination on their face.

"Matt used to work in training, but he's been transferred," Jupiter said. "I can't help with the other one, either, since I don't really move around the facility."

"I do," Mars said. "Just need a visual."

She, along with much of the rest of the cafeteria, stopped and watched as the head of security began to walk through the center aisle.

He didn't stop at the table where Courtney and Tabitha were still arguing. Instead he firmly tapped his gloved finger in the space between them and continued walking. The both of them took the hint and returned to their meals in silence.

"The small one," Saturn muttered as the volume of the room slowly rose again.

Mars nodded with more determination and enthusiasm than she'd shown since her days in Galactic. "I'll get her."

Saturn and Jupiter acknowledged her in their own small ways, and that was the end of it. The job had been assigned.

There was only one Shelly.

He was fairly sure of that, or maybe he was just hopeful that he was. Because if it were true, he could cross a second name off of his list. The idea of it felt very good.

The Shelly that he knew sat two chairs down from him, and by and large kept her head down and her mouth shut. He could tell that she was sharp, though, from what little she had said.

Saturn looked over at her without turning his head.

She had a long braid down her back, the sloppiness of which screamed that this wasn't her preferred style. It allowed the mandatory hat to fit her, but it was horribly identifying and would make any necessary stealth more difficult.

Assuming they needed stealth for this mission. Which they did.

Right?

Evidently time had to be managed, so it was safe to assume that they'd be sneaking about at least for some of it. But Cyrus hadn't mentioned much of anything so he couldn't be sure. The best he could do would be to ask and hope that it would be answered. He'd set a notecard in the normal place, but so far it'd been untouched and-

The pat on the shoulder he received was significantly more familiar than the poke the other day. Saturn's shoulders relaxed as he turned himself around through the thick, frozen air.

"Have you made progress?" Cyrus asked as he took a seat in an empty chair.

"Some," Saturn said. "Shelly is in the room with me, I have Tabitha's location. But I'm at a dead end on Matt, and all I have for Courtney is that she thinks that her boss is creepy."

Cyrus' brow pulled down a bit as he thought this over. "I have met a lot of people who are terribly annoying. I don't know of any that would rise to the level of 'creepy'."

"To be fair," Saturn said, "It's not like you're thinking about it from a woman's perspective."

Cyrus frowned, but made nothing closer to a concession. "You'll need to move quickly, regardless. There have been…. revelations."

"I'm getting it as fast as possible," Saturn told him with the slightest edge to his voice. "And unless they're in your room…"
"I don't believe so," he said. "I haven't asked."

"Well, I don't think anyone is asking for us by name, but…" He frowned as he looked Cyrus over. "Please don't tell me that you don't know who's working under you."

"I've never needed to address them," Cyrus said, plainly.

"Cyrus…" All of a sudden, Saturn had a terrible headache.

Cyrus looked at him in a way that said he clearly was not seeing the problem. That didn't help.

Saturn rubbed his eye. "Is one of them a small woman with light purple hair, by chance?"

Cyrus thought for a moment. He went quiet for a while more, and that was plenty of answer.

"Okay…" He waved a hand to cross her off the list as well. "Then we have Courtney. We'll just need to find Matt. Now, what were-"

"I am not creepy," Cyrus insisted.

"I know," Saturn said.

"Sometimes there's just nothing to say to people," he continued, indignantly.

"I know."

"So it's pointless to-"

"Asking people their names really isn't in the same category as small talk, though." He jerked his thumb towards where Lysander was frozen. "I can't even speak to him directly, and he knows what to call me."

Cyrus clicked his tongue. "Regardless. There is-" He looked down and scowled as his watch began to beep. He stood up and turned the chair back to how it'd been. "We spent too much time on this."

Saturn waved as Cyrus headed out in irritable silence.

He took the opportunity to get out of his chair, while he didn't have to ask for permission to do so, to refill his coffee. Or, rather, he tried to refill his coffee. The liquid inside the carafe was as frozen as everything else. No matter what angle he turned it, it didn't budge.

Saturn finally settled on scooping it, and the creamer and sugar, into his mug. He rushed back to his chair when he heard the warning inhale.

Time pulled itself back into place, and he found it much easier to brace against now that he knew what to expect. The sound came back abruptly as if it had never been gone. And, thanks to him, there was a loud slosh from the coffee.

Likewise, Saturn worked as if he'd never stopped until he got another touch on the shoulder. This one was firmer, and more annoyed, than before.

"That discussion is over," Cyrus said.

Saturn waved a hand in concession.

He looked Saturn over, and only when he was satisfied did he take his chair again. "There has been gossip among the grunts that were here before the rest of us. Evidently, and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are people with your rank within this organization."

Cyrus motioned towards the doorway. The man who'd handled the intake speech was frozen there, in the middle of checking up with the translator.

Saturn nodded, "I've seen them around. There's also this red-haired woman, and I'm guessing the security head-"

Cyrus nodded curtly. "Yes, them, and one more."

He thought for a bit, but was forced to shake his head. "I don't think I've seen that one, then."

"Nobody has, and that's the issue. They would have thought that would just mean a different assignment but… In this case they can't be sure." He motioned to his face. "His main skill is changing his look and voice to handle espionage. Supposedly, he could be anyone at all."

Saturn tensed. "And we don't know most of these people well enough to tell if anything is off."

Cyrus nodded solemnly. "I hope you haven't said much to anyone."

"Not more than I've had to," he said, hesitantly and with a bit of thought. "But I have had to talk to the other commanders and my roommate to try and find the people on the list."

"That may still be too much."

"Can you tell me what this 'Matt' looks like?" he asked.

"Fair point," Cyrus admitted reluctantly. "I've had to be a lot more explicit in my planning, unfortunately. We may already be compromised."

"So what are we going to do, then?" He asked.

"We need to get moving," he said. "I have a few things which need to be ironed out, but I expect us to move very soon." He stood up as his watch sounded. "Make sure that you're ready."

"I will be," Saturn insisted as he let him leave.

"I found her," Mars said triumphantly as she took her seat.

"And I figured out who the creep was."

"Who?" Jupiter asked as she slid down the bench to make more room for Mars.

"It's our boy," she said in a way that was both triumphant and tired.

Her brow pulled down just a touch. "That doesn't sound like-"

"He refuses to speak to them," Saturn explained. "He doesn't even know any names for his team."

Jupiter returned to her food with a heavy sigh. "Alright, that does sound like him."

Mars frowned. "Wait, you already knew?"

"No, I just happened to find out," he said. "After I told you to figure it out, to be fair."

She pouted. "Still seems pointless. Good thing I got some insurance." She didn't give Saturn time to say anything else before she said, "I found that Matt guy!"

He perked up a bit. "You did?"

"Just got transferred to resource collection," Mars explained as she tapped her chopsticks into proper position. "And he seems like he hates it. But at least he won't-"

Saturn made a motion for her to be quiet, and she pouted but changed the topic.

He looked around at everyone around them. Any one of them could have been replaced. Any one of them could be an issue.

And there was no way to know until it was too late.