"For the Betterment of Planet Earth" (closed)

[MarieDavisRPs]

Washington, DC, safe house:

"Anya," Robert said about the fire and murders, his voice cold with certainty.

Liz looked to him with shock. She didn't for a moment believe that little Jane Doe #32 could be responsible for something like this. "Anya...? No ... no!"

"That's Anya's doing," he continued. He spoke about the differences between Valla and Anya, and how the house fire and killings were well within the latter's wheelhouse in her effort to get what she needed to ascend to the Troyna throne.

"You're wrong, Robert," Liz countered as he was pulling out his phone to call his superiors. "I mean, sure, she's been deceptive ... and right now we have absolutely no idea where she is..."

When he finished, Robert told Liz that she'd been conscripted into finding Anya. He gave her a choice of helping or not and time to decide. Before he could even turn away, though, Liz said, "Of course. Of course, I'll help. I mean ... someone has to be on her side."

She saw Robert's reaction and explained, "I believe that Anya is a Troyna-Human hybrid. And I believe that she thinks she is the Queen of the Troyna. I am ... conflicted about whether she's the danger that you and others believe she is. But I do not believe that she could do this."

She pointed to the television, as Robert had before her. He hugged her, apologizing, "I really am sorry, this is way above my pay grade. At least if you help us, you'll be right there with us every step of the way."

Liz pulled tight around Robert's torso, loving the feel of him against her. "I need to be with you ... every step of the way."

Separating, they finished their breakfasts, dressed, and headed out to begin the search for Anya. It would be three days before there was a legitimate sighting of her, but less than four hours after that that she was in custody.

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

"Syleen," Alex said, holding up a hand to forestall her hasty departure, and he would gently lay it on her forearm if she was in reach. "Relax. If your duties permit, you can stay a while. Come, sit, eat with me. Please." He of course was not entirely honorable in his intentions, but he would go with whatever flow Syleen dictated while she was here. "I think the Troyna all have an inherent beauty about them. The women are all ethereal, elegant, exotic even. The men are, well, I don't wanna get too much into that because I'm straight, but Troyna men have an aura about them that most Human men can never achieve, and that impresses me. They're very Zen, which is a Human term that means they're very calm, peaceful. But that's neither here nor there." He sat down at the table and the knot on his towel was in grave danger of loosening to the point where it fell, and he used a foot to push out the chair opposite him, which caused the towel to ride up his legs and almost expose himself; this would be easiest to spot from an angle that was not directly over the table, but still. "Please, if you don't have to leave, stay. Unless you really, really want to leave, then I won't stop you."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Aboard the Mothership
Alex's Quarters

Alex invited Syleen to stay, causing her to smile with innocent delight. "Come, sit, eat with me. Please."

Syleen's eyes opened wider, and she looked to the door as if she was afraid someone might see the two of them getting friendlier with one another than was proper. She looked back to Alex, smiled again, then meekly responded, "I ... I shouldn't."

He began speaking about the inherent beauty of the Troyna female, calling them, ethereal, elegant, exotic even. She once again giggled, and even though he wouldn't see it, she felt her silver-gray skin flush warm with blood. He spoke about being straight, which her translator interpreted properly; Syleen got the feeling by the way Alex said it that there was something wrong in Human culture for a man to partake of and enjoy sexual pleasure with another man. She'd learn more one day about the conflicting feelings Humans had for homosexuality, but for now, she could only wonder about Alex's own feelings.

"Please, if you don't have to leave, stay," Alex asked. "Unless you really, really want to leave, then I won't stop you."

"I shouldn't," she repeated, and yet after a moment's hesitation, Syleen slowly moved to the chair Alex had pushed out for her. As she looked down to better position the chair for herself, she caught sight of Alex's leg; his thigh was bared on the outside all the way up to the loosened knot and on the inside such that was very nearly exposing his genitalia. She forced her eyes upwards, sat, and tried to control the breathing that was deepening with unknown excitement. She said, "Thank you ... Alex."

The breakfast preparers had only provided one plate, so Syleen took up the smaller of the two forks, speared or scooped morsels, and took them directly to her mouth. She was timid even in eating, taking small portions, eating slowly, only taking one, maybe two bites of each thing. Alex neglected some of the items -- did they look too exotic? -- leading Syleen to explain what each was before trying it herself.

"This is called ... well, it will not translate," she said, picking up a paccheri-like, hollow noodle that was stuffed with a bright yellow colored paste. "The cook tells me that it tastes like spinach. Do you know what spinach is?"

As she awaited his answer, Syleen leaned forward and reached the noodle out between two fingers toward Alex's mouth, smiling playfully. "Taste ... is good."

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

Alex laughed when she explained what each dish was, as if he avoided them because of how they looked. "I'm sure it is all delicious, but there is only so much I can eat at one point. Where do you put it all?", he asked jokingly. "But tell the chef that I appreciate the choice. Maybe when I am more familiar with Troyna cuisine, I can arrange to order specific dishes ahead of time so I'm not forced to send some of it back."

When she offered him a noodle to taste, he couldn't help but wonder if she was aware that typically this was considered somewhat intimate among adults in most Human cultures, including his own. Nevertheless, that was why he invited her to stay, so he leaned forward to accept the offer, sucking the noodle into his mouth like a kid with a spaghetti noodle. "You're right," he said when he had swallowed. "Delicious."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Alex's Quarters Aboard the Mothership

"I put it in my stomach," Syleen said when Alex asked where she put all she ate. Only then did she realize that he hadn't been delving Troyna physiology, leading to her to laugh playfully. To his suggestion that he learn how to identify Troyna foods to order what he liked, she rather forwardly offered, "Perhaps I will teach you the names ... and what is in them ... when we see each other again in the future."

When Alex sucked the noodle into his mouth, she jerked her hand back as if she'd feared he was going to swallow her finger and laughed loudly.

"You're right," he said. "Delicious."

Syleen smiled to him again, wondering whether he truly meant the food ... or perhaps her and her company. She was becoming totally infatuated with this Human and was losing sight of her reason -- her only reason -- for being here, when the door chime shocked her back to reality; she shot upwards from her chair, causing it to fly backward.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Syleen apologized as she looked about for things she needed to do to cover for the fact that she'd been slacking -- and even worse, flirting -- with Her Queen's Emissary. As she gathered the dishes from the table and returned them hurriedly to the cart, she looked to the Human and begged, "Please, Friend Alex ... please do not tell them what I have done."

Syleen was absolutely certain that her violation of protocol and decorum was going to get her punished. She finished clearing all but the dishes in front of Alex that were still mostly filled, then struck a subordinate pose with her eyes down and her hands together before her.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Valla's Quarters Aboard the Mothership

The Queen had begun her day as she always did, with exercise and an update from her Aide and key Advisors who would be waiting in her Quarters' anteroom well before she'd even stirred. Valla's fitness regimen consisted of one and only one exercise: running.

She did so upon an advanced type of treadmill that Earth manufactures would have loved to be able to build and sell to their wealthier customers. It was one part hologram, the sphere surrounding her on all sides; and one part mechanically altering floor, which could mimic any programmed track or route, from a flat track to a rising and falling, winding natural trail.

Today, she was running a wild, dirt path as it ran through a Canadian forest that had been perfectly mapped by cloaked drones and was being perfectly imitated here now. As she ran, she saw not just mountains and sky but saw moose, elk, birds, and even bear; she occasionally heard a rushing river which at times was also in view off to one side, as well as the musical sounds of birds which flew either within her view or so high that she couldn't see them.

And running was just what she was doing, for the entire session. The standard length of Valla's run -- unless some important event interrupted her -- was the equivalent of 12 Earth miles, just a mile and a few yards short of a Half Marathon. Running that each and every day before breakfast and work would have impressed more Humans, even the most avid Marathon runners.

But it wasn't just the length of her run that was amazing. Valla typically finished her wannabe Half Marathon in just over 40 minutes. That was a faster pace than the World Record Half Marathon time of just under 1 hour and 3 minutes set in Valencia, Spain in October of 2021 by Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey. And Valla sometimes did this not on a flat urban course but on simulated, holographic mountain trails.

This morning, she was just past the halfway point when her Aide stepped into her view, breaking the fantasy of the hologram by standing in place in an ever-moving landscape. "Sorry, My Queen. You wanted to know if..."

Ryla didn't continue, knowing that Valla would understand to what she was referring. Valla looked about herself at the others standing outside the shifting hologram, saying, "You are all dismissed. We will finish what needs to be discussed later."

The others saluted and departed, after which Ryla manipulated the running program to shift to a straight, flat road, then illuminated the holographic image of the Emissary's room. By this point, the Troyna Servant had been invited by the half-naked Emissary to sit and eat with him.

Valla watched the encounter as it played out, curious about how far it might go. She wondered whether the Human -- who she already knew had his sights set on fucking one or more Troyna females -- would attempt to make Syleen his first alien conquest; while also wondering whether the Troyna virgin who was high and hot to trot on her species' version of hormones would commit the ultimate protocol infraction and attempt to mate with the Emissary.

Beginning to worry where it was going; Syleen was feeding the Human from her own fingers, and Alex's towel had by now fallen entirely open to her view, though whether or not either of them had noticed Valla couldn't know. She slowed her run, dropping to a fast-paced walk, then looked to her Aide and ordered, "Have the Guard knock on his door ... before I find myself having to punish a Pure One who is only surrendering to her base instincts ... regardless of our Emissary's species. Have him escort our Emissary to my quarters ... for a briefing on the upcoming Operation Gaza."

"Yes, My Queen," Ryla said, turning away to contact the Guard.

Valla watched as, a moment later, the servant leapt from her chair and rushed to cover for her indiscretion. The Queen smiled; she understood Syleen's drive; despite not having been a Pure One for quite some time and, coincidentally, not being at her breeding peak, Valla had her own desires when it came to Alex Peterson.

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

Alex was momentarily confused as to the timing of the interruption, but then he understood a moment later. Must be something in the air that's compelling fate to leave me blueballed, he mused as he hastily tied the knot in his towel before he rose to his feet and placed a hand on each of Syleen's shoulders. "Syleen, you don't need to treat me like this. You've done nothing wrong. Humans, especially Americans, value freedom and the right of everyone to choose their own destiny. So relax, hold your head high, and get going. I do hope to see you again, I promise." When she had left and the guard informed him of the upcoming briefing, he thanked the guard who left him to get dressed.

After he left, he wondered if today was Cockblock Alex Day as he pointedly got under the covers before he pulled on his underwear. "You didn't interrupt much, Your Highness," he said as he got dressed, "but from now on, you want a show, it's gonna have to be somewhere there isn't cameras." He left her to figure out what he meant as he dressed in his camouflage fatigues, the rest of his gear packed and ready to go, but he did leave a few things behind, mostly clean underwear and T-shirts in the dresser and Dyah's medal on the nightstand. It might raise questions down on the surface (or be stolen, either by plain old muggers or some of those Proud Boys-turned-anti-Troyna) and he figured that if this was going to be his home away from home, he would fill it with things he cared about, that reminded him of people he cared about.

After informing the guard that he was ready for briefing and subsequent departure, he made his way to Valla's quarters, which he figured was a sensible place to conduct the briefing since she was concerned with leaks. Before they began, he asked to speak to her privately, "with no recording devices present," he had added with a knowing smirk, but otherwise his expression left little doubt that he was all business. When they were alone, he would briefly tell her that the President and others in the government suspected that there were a person or people on Earth, Troyna specifically, that may be working against the peaceful goals of Valla. "The President did tell me not to tell you," he said, "because she cannot afford to follow her instincts alone. But I know, in my heart--", he saluted Valla with a fist over his heart, "--that you and the Troyna that think as you do are the best thing to ever happen to Humanity. And that's why I come to you with this information, despite my own leader's wishes. Because I hope to see it all work out well, and I wish to see anyone who is trying to destroy it all brought to justice."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Valla'a Quarters aboard the Mothership

After she had had the Guard at Alex's door interrupt the flirting between Syleen and Alex, Valla had ordered the hologram of his that she'd been watching deenergized; she'd abandoned her morning run, too, instead heading away to clean up and dress. She would miss the last interactions between the two.

"Syleen, you don't need to treat me like this," Alex told the Servant. "You've done nothing wrong."

Syleen was sure that he was wrong; she was just a servant, and he was the Emissary, her Queen's representative to the entire Human Race. The idea that she could have her first sexual relationship with someone of such importance was ... fantasy.

Alex talked about freedom and rights and choosing one's own destiny. Syleen was confused by his words, as she believed that she did have all of those things. The difference between her definition of freedom, rights, and destiny, though, was one of culture, tradition, and upbringing. The Troyna lived for one purpose and one purpose only: to serve their Queen.

"So, relax, hold your head high, and get going," Alex told Syleen. "I do hope to see you again, I promise."

The Servant's lips spread wide in a smile, both at his words and at the touch of his hands on her shoulders. Syleen wanted to surge forward and take Alex in her arms, but she resisted, saying only, "I hope so, too, Emissary." Seeing his reaction, she smiled and corrected, "Alex."

She turned to leave, remembered her duty, and circled back to collect the cart; she took the dishes, bowls, cups, and glasses that were empty or nearly so but left the ones that Alex might continue to eat for, saying with hope, "I will return for the rest later."

After she was gone, the Guard told Alex that he was desired in the Queen's quarters. Minutes later, wearing his camouflage fatigues, he entered Valla's place, asking to speak to her with no recording devices present.

Valla considered his words, as well as his reason for speaking them; she wasn't surprised to hear him suspect that he was under constant surveillance. She told him, "You can speak freely here."

Alex explained what President Stevens had told him, that there were forces working against her -- Troyna forces -- down on Earth. He told her, "The President did tell me not to tell you."

That didn't surprise Valla in the least; she expected that there were many things that the various world leaders weren't telling her. In truth, there were things that she wasn't telling them. But their reasons and hers were very much different from one another.

"But I know, in my heart that you ... are the best thing to ever happen to Humanity." Alex said. "And that's why I come to you with this information, despite my own leader's wishes."

"I appreciate that, Emissary," Valla said, her response formal. Then, more relaxed, she said with a smile, "Alex. Thank you."
"I wish to see anyone who is trying to destroy it all brought to justice," he told her.

Valla turned away from him to walk to the massive windows looking down upon his world. His world, she reminded herself. The Troyna were here to save the planet and its life -- Human and otherwise -- but in the end, Earth wasn't her planet. That resulted in conflicts and contradictions regarding what she should, could, and would do.

"There will be times when I ask you to do things ... as Emissary ... that you might question, Alex," she said after she turned to face him again. "I want you to know ... I want you to trust and believe ... that everything I ask of you ... that I ask of the Human race ... is for the benefit of your planet, your people ... the benefit of the entire planet."

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

Alex considered the Queen's words, then spoke. "I offer a counter-proposal: that when and if I do question such things, that I be given leave to bring those misgivings to your attention, and perhaps from there reach a mutual understanding of your motives. Does that sound reasonable, Valla?" He gestured towards Earth and added, "After all, we are allies. Partners, even, your people and mine, walking side by side into a new era. So it is important that we both are willing to help the other back to their feet when they stumble. Because we will stumble, Humanity and Troyna alike, before we reach our destination. Neither of our races are perfect, far from it. The important thing is that we both understand that and help each other when needed. When I come to you with reservations about a proposed course of action, that is one way to help make sure we both remain standing. Does that make sense?"

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Valla's Quarters aboard the Mothership

"I offer a counter-proposal," Alex began; he spoke of how Humans and Troyna were partners in the latter's mission to save Earth from the mistakes that had been made by the former.

Oh, Valla didn't blame the Humans for Earth's ills; the vast majority of societies the Troyna had visited had been in similar, even worse situations, with a small percentage of them -- Beings, home, or both -- even too far gone to be saved. It wasn't always the fault of the people. It was nature -- in this case Human nature -- that led to such results.

The Troyna had done their best with each, and they'd been far more successful when their partner race had cooperated. Valla hoped for that here on Earth.

"Does that make sense?" Alex asked.

"It does, yes," Valla answered. Slowly, she walked closer to Alex as she continued, "Alex ... I will make a promise to you ... as my Emissary ... if you will make a promise to me as well."

Valla was standing before Alex now as she said with a sincere tone, "I will be totally honest with you at all times. I will keep you aware and informed of all actions and operations performed by the Troyna ... if you will keep me aware and informed of any actions and operations performed by the Humans that might compromise my goals."

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

"If I am aware of anything, I will tell you, Valla. You have my word. Now, I believe we have a briefing to conduct. Let's get to it, before people start thinking we're doing something we shouldn't." Alex's smirk suggested that, if they had the time, there are a lot of things that they 'shouldn't' be doing that he'd like to do. Regardless, he gestured towards the other Troyna officials that had gathered for the briefing. "After you."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Valla's Quarters aboard the Mothership

"If I am aware of anything," Alex promised, "I will tell you, Valla."

He reminded Valla of the briefing that had both brought him hear and interrupted his flirting with Syleen. His suggestion that others might think that something intimate in nature might be taking place made Valla smile. She'd be lying if she hadn't considered a sexual encounter with her Emissary and, of course, she'd already enjoyed a powerful, masturbation-induced orgasm while watching him beat off.

Their one-on-one time ended when Ryla led the appropriate Advisors into Valla's chambers; they assembled in her dining room, waiting for their Queen to sit in her chair at the head and Alex to sit to her right before they themselves sat down each side. They included an almost equal number of males and females; the former made up most of the military officers while the latter made up most of the Intelligence Services and all of the Logistics personnel.

They first discussed the current mission in Ukraine, a conversation dominated by the IS and Logistics leaders. The gist was that the camp was running smoothly, without any further suicide attacks or other serious setbacks. There had been moments of anger, as there would be in any operation this large, but they'd been handled without serious injuries, let alone any further deaths, and that was despite the fact that the refugee population had swelled to over 1.5 million people.

The next topic was, of course, Gaza. Again, the Heads of their Departments, Divisions, or Units spoke their part. As they did, Valla and Alex both asked questions or made comments. At the end, Valla looked to him, saying, "Emissary, you play a part in this mission that none of us, the Troyna, could. Your President and I have agreed that you will be in command of the Earth units that will participate in Operation Gaza.

"I say Earth units, as opposed to American units," Valla continued, telling him something that even he was only just now learning, "Because President Victoria Stevens has convinced three other World States -- the United Kingdom, France, and Germany -- to contribute forces to both neutralize any Israeli forces that attempt to intervene ... and protect the Troyna forces once they have landed.

"I have been told that all four countries have air, sea, and ground forces standing by," she finished, "Awaiting your orders."

Of course, extensive plans had been made by the US for engaging the forces, plans that had already been relayed to both Valla and Alex. But the latter had been informed by Stevens that it was up to him whether those plans stayed in place or not.

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

It was a lot of responsibility for a Lieutenant Colonel to be given command of such an important operation. But he mostly listened to the plans that had already been laid and only offered one modification, which hinged on whether or not a Troyna AV had stealth capability. When it came out that it did, he was impressed. Taking a moment to drop a line from an episode of Star Trek that was old even when his parents had him, he cleared his throat and adopted a surprisingly good impression of Romulan Subcommander Tal: "Your ship is surrounded, Captain. You will surrender immediately, or we will destroy you." To the undoubtedly confused Troyna, he smiled and said, "Star Trek, The Original Series, Season 3, Episode 2: The Enterprise Incident. One of the series' best episodes. But I digress. A single AV, equipped with the same device that turned all our weapons-grade nuclear material into paperweights, will remain nearby under cloak until we've found the bomb. If we can't defuse it, that's our backup plan. Let's get on the horn to POTUS and the others."

Within the next quarter hour, because the other nations involved all had Troyna comms installed in their seats of government and participated in the briefing in a conference call sort of manner, the plan was relayed and refined. Each nation would search one-quarter of Gaza for the bomb. Alex, along with a DEVGRU escort of twelve Navy SEAL Tier One operators, would remain mobile with the NEST specialists until the bomb was found. US Army Rangers and MARSOC would spearhead the search efforts for the US, with Delta roving the battle zone with the express purpose of taking out IDF or Hamas soldiers. The other nations had similar setups, with the SAS, 1er RPIMa, and KSK taking on "hunter" roles for Britain, France and Germany respectively.

Once everyone was on the same page, it was just a matter of getting men and materiel in place, which was already underway so all Alex could do now was wait; he would not be expected at the rendezvous until an hour before the operation was scheduled to begin. He requested that, to minimize risk, that whichever AV was slated to provide the backup plan bring him down to the surface. "Is Dyah going to be that AVs pilot?", he asked.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Aboard the Mothership

"Star Trek, The Original Series..." Alex explained after speaking about Romulans and such. Valla smiled; her education about Earth, Humans, and their culture had included popular science fiction, particularly television and motion pictures. She knew Star Trek and even knew who Kirk, Spock, and Uhura were; she didn't know particular episodes, though, and found herself wishing she had some free time to enjoy some television.

He asked whether the Attack Vessels had some form of cloak, to which the answer was, of course, yes. He then asked a question that Valla had not only been anticipating but expecting: "Is Dyah going to be that AVs pilot?"

"Yes, she will be," Valla herself answered. Letting Alex know that the decision had been hers, she added, "I feel that the familiarity between the two of you will be advantageous."

Looking to her Aide, Valla directed, "Bring them in, please, Ryla."

The Aide headed deeper into her Queen's quarters as Valla glanced to the Admiral in charge of the AV Squads; she knew that he disagreed with what she was about to say but didn't care. "I have also decided that you are to be trained at the controls of a Troyna Shuttle Craft ... then, once you have mastered that, which I have no doubt you will, Colonel ... you will be trained at the controls of an Attack Vessel as well.

Ryla returned, leading both Dyah and Paula. The latter was gestured to the seat at the end of the table, while Dyah stood at attention at the table's end, which was without a chair. Valla went on, "I believe that the people of Earth need to see that the Troyna are willing to share their technology. What better way to do that than to have a Human pilot flying a Troyna Relief Shuttle to one of our missions ... or fly an Attack Vessel in support of those missions.

She looked to Dyah, asking, "Would you be willing and able to train the Emissary to pilot a Shuttle, Dyah?"

The Troyna pilot tried to control her smile but failed. She responded with humor in her voice, "Colonel Stewart seems fairly intelligent and capable, My Queen. I believe I could accomplish this."

Valla couldn't help but smirk a bit at the pilot's humor but then regained a sterner expression. Dyah caught the monarch's change in expression, and both went more serious and stood taller. She continued, "It is, of course, just the first step. We will share technology in medicine, energy production, transportation, agriculture, and more."

"My Queen," one of the Advisors said, his tone hesitant. "I must again express my--"

But the man went silent as Valla casually held up her hand in a stop gesture. He complied, and ignoring his concern, she continued, "We are done. Return to your duties."

It was a short, sharp dismissal, but each of the Advisors stood, saluted, and turned to depart. As they did, Valla looked to Alex, Dyah, and Paula and asked each of them to stay. Once they were alone, she said, "Dyah, you will begin training Colonel Stewart on Shuttle operation immediately."

"Yes, my Queen," Dyah said with respect and without delay. She looked to Alex again, smirking slightly.

"Friend Paula ... I would like to speak to you a moment," Valla continued. "Then you can join the Emissary in the Shuttle Bay if you wish."

Paula considered the request a moment, then nodded confirmation.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Somewhere in the countryside of Maryland
Morning, 18 September 2030

Former Presidential Chief of Staff, Julie Barnes, stopped her car before a closed and locked gate. The instructions she'd been given hadn't included a barrier such as this but had included another 15 miles of travel upon the wooded backroads of her home state. She checked her surroundings, looking in particular for a safe place to turn around; both sides of the road were lined by ditches just deep enough to leave her in need for a tow truck, and backing out would require almost a full mile of slow, cautious maneuvering that she doubted she could do even with the Mercedes backup camera.

Then, out of nowhere, a pair of men emerged from the trees, approaching her with AR-15-style assault rifles pointed at the ground before them. Her heart leapt into her throat, and again Julie searched for a way to get away from here. But one of the men calmly held a hand up in a polite hold on gesture, while the other one spoke the phrase she'd been told to listen for: "For the betterment of Planet Earth."

The words had, of course, been spoken by the alien Queen in her first message to the Humans of Earth a few days earlier. Ironically, the men coming to open her door and help her out -- as well as the men and women Julie expected to meet soon -- were not fans of the Troyna leader.

....................................
​

An hour or more later, the blacked-out van into which she'd very politely been transferred for transport to the actual meeting place came to a stop, and Julie was very politely helped out and escorted to a nearby barn. Passing through the door, she found more than a dozen men and women standing about or sitting upon bales of hay or old wooden stools and benches.

She recognized nearly every face; they included all but one of the men and two of the women who President Victoria Stevens had fired that day in the Situation Room when she'd realized that they'd been more concerned with putting up roadblocks to Queen Valla then preventing the Russians from nuking many of Europe's largest cities. There were a few others who'd been vocal about their opposition to both Stevens and the Troyna, as well as two men from whom Julie had heard no public outcry and yet was not surprised to see here today.

There were only three faces that Julie didn't recognize; they wouldn't be introduced to her or the others, but she had a suspicion -- correct, though she wouldn't know that for some time -- that they were spooks whose feelings matched those of the known people here today.

Another thing she didn't know about one of these people, a female in her mid-30s or so, was that -- like another woman who was now being sought by the FBI as a person of interest in an arson-murder case in Washington DC -- she was a Troyna-Human hybrid, a creature that only a handful of Humans on Earth even knew existed. She, too, would not speak today but would instead only listen closely to what the others had to say ... before she decided whether or not exposing her true nature would get her anything out of them.

"You know why you're here," one of the men said, opening the conversation; Julie recognized him as a former Central Intelligence Section Chief who'd been canned that day by Stevens. "We are here because each one of us ... as well as hundreds of thousands, even millions of American citizens ... believe that President Victoria Stevens is leading us down a path toward destruction ... slavery ... maybe even total annihilation."

He'd been looking around the room as he spoke, judging the expressions on each face to ensure that he hadn't made any mistakes in his decision of who should be here today. He told them, "Today ... here ... now ... we are going to choose our own path ... our own direction ... and we're going to decide on how to deal with our traitorous President ... and that alien bitch who thinks that it's her right to tell us how to run our own planet."

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

When the Troyna advisor spoke up and was silenced by the Queen, Alex glanced at Paula and back towards the advisor in question as he mouthed, 'Fifth of November.' Hopefully she would understand his message that he suspected he was working for the anti-Valla movement, as the reference was to a well-known resistance movement in human history. And hopefully the translators couldn't read lips.

However, both before and after the interruption, Alex's humor and joy mirrored Dyah's and when she was ordered to begin his training immediately, he stood up and saluted in the modified Troyna fashion. "Operation Gaza commences in ten hours. Rendezvous with Task Force Omega in eight hours. I think we have some time to take a shuttle for a spin around the mothership," he said with a chuckle in his voice as he gestured Valla to precede him. They both were handed their weapons back as they left the Queen's quarters and holstered them almost simultaneously before they both made their way to the auxiliary shuttle bay; the main flight deck would be too busy preparing for Operation Gaza.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Auxiliary Shuttle Bay aboard the Mothership

Dyah found a pair of Maintenance Officers performing the Clearance Check for a Relief Shuttle that had come to them for Periodic Maintenance. The Chief, whose head was down inside a floor panel, didn't immediately realize he was dealing with the AV pilot who'd been the first Troyna to come face to face with a human being, who subsequently had been personally awarded a medal by Queen Valla. Annoyed that a mere pilot was rushing him, he called out to her, "Two hours, Pilot."

His subordinate, though -- standing near him -- kicked him in the foot, causing the Chief to look up. His reaction revealed his surprise and regret, but it was seeing the Human stepped into sight that caused him to leap up to his feet, snap to attention, perform the Troyna salute, and say, "Sorry, Pilot Dyah Ruudan ... Emissary Alex. I didn't ... I mean..."

He slapped his subordinate on the arm, gesturing him away to deal with some step as of yet unfinished and corrected, "Fifteen minutes, Pilot. She'll be ready to be taken out in 15 ... 20 tops."

As surprised as the Chief was to see her, Dyah was just as surprised by the name he'd used referring to her; she knew the second name he'd used, of course, but she'd never been referred to by it before. She returned the salute to the Chief, and as they each lowered their hands, she asked with curiosity, "Ruudan?"

"Yes, Pilot," he responded. Now, he appeared confused. He explained, "I was told that your heroism deemed you worthy of..." His words trailed off before he asked, "Am I out of line, Pilot?"

Dyah considered both what he'd called her and what he'd asked, then smiled with a bit of pride. She answered, "No, Chief. I ... you're..." She again saluted him, getting a return gesture from him as she said, "I am honored."

As the Chief returned to his work, Dyah looked to Alex and explained, "My grandmother's given name was Ruudan. My given name, obviously, is Dyah. The Troyna are referred to by their own name and those of one or more female ancestors who have done something heroic or significantly beneficial to our People."

Dyah gestured Alex to follow her into the shuttle as she continued, "My mother's mother was a Relief Shuttle navigator. While on a mission, her Shuttle crashed on the moon of the planet on which the Troyna were performing an aid mission. Three of the eight Troyna died immediately in the crash.

"There was a leak in the hull," she continued, "and the moon's poisonous gases were leaking inside. My mother's mother knew they would die if they couldn't reprocess and clean the air inside the Shuttle. She went outside without a fully functioning bio-suit to retrieve an oxygen recycler that they couldn't otherwise access.

"She died ... a horribly painful death," Dyah said, her tone becoming sad, "without hardly a cry or tear. But she saved her crew mates ... and for it, she was posthumously awarded a medal by Queen Valla."

Dyah hesitated, thinking about the situation. She hadn't felt that her own act -- being shot down by a Human, then shooting her own self with her own pistol -- warranted her now being identified with Ruudan's name. She finished, "I was simply surprised is all."

Dyah gestured Alex to the Tertiary Officer's chair, located behind and an equal distance from the Primary and Secondary Pilots' seats in an equilateral arrangement; the positioning would allow the Human a good view out of the windows of the Shuttle. Sitting in the Primary seat, unlocking its base, and turning to face him, Dyah began instructing him on the operation of the panel before him.

The recent changes in the mission meant that Alex would be performing two main duties: coordinating the forces of the four Earth nations -- the US, the UK, France, and Germany -- who would be working with the Troyna; as well as scanning for any potential dangers their own shuttle may face. (The Secondary Pilot would be doing the latter, too, but Dyah didn't tell Alex that to give him more of a sense that he alone would be their protection.)

"Of course, the cloak should prevent anyone on the planet from knowing our position," she explained, adding, "But that also means that the Coalition Forces won't be able to see us either ... and we don't want any of them colliding with us."

Revealing to the Human pilots how to detect the cloaked shuttle had been considered and dismissed. Valla had decided that until more information was learned about this potential danger on Earth to her, only Alex would be fully trusted with mission details.

They would spend the remaining minutes until the Chief cleared them speaking about Alex's new station, followed by several hours flying about. Dyah would move Alex to the Secondary Pilot's seat to learn the controls there, then -- with the touch of a button at Primary -- flip the controls of the vessel to Secondary, allowing Alex to take control of the ship.

"What would you think about taking me around the world?" Dyah asked, meaning that they were going to loop the planet; she didn't know that that phrase was sometimes used as a way for one person to ask the other for sex. She pointed out the window, tapped some coordinates into her console, then instructed, "Head us that way ... follow the course laid in ... and we'll circle the Earth and take a look at your planet like you've never seen it before."

 

[desperado1089]

Troyna Shuttle
Earth Orbit

The whole experience was amazing. Alex had had vague notions of applying for NASA but felt that the space agency was being squandered by the previous administration, and by the time he was finally out of office, he'd had other things on his mind.

Back in the shuttle bay, he had responded to the conversation about Troyna naming customs. "Then by your custom, I would be named Alex Ruth Stewart, I believe. My great-great-grandmother, Ruth Stewart, was a nurse aboard the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Actually, let me amend that. There are two women from my family who would be deserving of that honor. My aunt is also in the military, her name is Anna. She is an Apache helicopter pilot for the US Army. One day, her helicopter was badly damaged, and most of her ammunition was expended, but the Taliban were about to set up a mortar position and wipe out an aid convoy that was under escort. Knowing full well that they could possibly shoot her down, she used her last rounds to save them, then had to ditch not far from the convoy's route. They rescued her and her crewmate and both were awarded the Silver Star."

Regardless, in the present, Alex executed the course correction like he'd been born in the cockpit of the shuttle, deciding to gloss over the unintended double entendre. "I am curious, however, why the Troyna are sending a shuttle instead of an AV to provide covert air cover. Wouldn't an AV be more suitable for a combat operation? Faster, more agile, better armed in case the shit really hits the fan?"

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Troyna Shuttle
Earth Orbit

"Then by your custom," the Human learning to pilot the Shuttle said, "I would be named Alex Ruth Stewart, I believe."

Alex explained about his great-great-grandmother, Ruth, referencing the attack on Pearl Harbor that had brought the USA into the Second World War. Dyah had learned a bit about WWII in her Earth education and knew how devastating it had been. It made her sad to think of such loss brought on simply by the desire by a few for control over resources that should have been shared by all.

She corrected, "Your formal name as spoken in our culture would be Alex Ruth. Stewart would be dropped as we do not use surnames as you do in your culture ... and while your Aunt would be honored by the Troyna as well, she would lend her given name only to her children..

The training continued, and Dyah was impressed with how quickly Alex caught on; he rarely needed tweaking to his actions and never needed a direction to be explained a second time.

When he asked why the Troyna were sending a shuttle instead of an Attack Vessel to provide covert air cover, Dyah smiled sheepishly before answering, "My Queen wishes for you to participate in this mission ... in a Troyna vessel. Learning to operate an AV effectively will take more time than we have right now."

Dyah chuckled, adding, "We could be wrong, however. You learn much faster than My Queen had expected. But it is too late now to change the plan. We begin in less than 16 hours."

Dyah gave Alex some instructions, and seeing that he could pilot the Shuttle well in the void, she asked with a sparkling smile, "Let's take her down ... into the atmosphere. Before we departed, I had Logistics load relief supplies."

She pointed out the window to port, where the planet was; the Atlantic Ocean was beneath them as they flew eastward. She said, "We could deliver these supplies to the camp in Ukraine"

If Alex felt that her wad up to it, Dyah would give him step by step instructions on how to guide the Shuttle into and through the atmosphere, as well as land it at one of the Kyiv pads. If not, she would do it herself.

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Troyna Shuttle
"Hmm. Can the shuttle be modified into a troop transport in the rear compartment? I have an idea." Alex maneuvered the alien vessel to a perfect vector for entering the atmosphere, and once it had cleared he continued. "Perhaps we can carry the NEST specialists--those are Human scientists who are trained to disarm nuclear bombs, part of a rapid-deployment effort led by the United States--and their military escorts aboard the shuttle, the same cloaked shuttle that's equipped with the nuclear-disarmament device. That way, the most vital assets of the mission are all under my watch at once, and can be quickly deployed to wherever the bomb is once it is found, rather than forcing everyone to walk." As Alex spoke, he expertly maneuvered the vessel towards Europe, before zeroing in on the remnants of Kyiv and giving them a wide berth. "I just wish your technology could make the city safe again. The country now has two major cities that have been rendered uninhabitable by nuclear destruction." Spotting the landing pad, Alex smoothly switched to hover mode, then brought the shuttle down smooth as butter. "Haha, touchdown," he said, laughing.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Aboard the Troyna Shuttle
"Can the shuttle be modified into a troop transport in the rear compartment?" Alex asked. "I have an idea."

"Yes, absolutely," Dyah answered. "The Shuttles can be used to transport supplies, personnel, or a combination of both. They can also be rigged with specialized equipment not normally on either them or AVs."

Alex maneuvered the Shuttle in a wide arc that brought them over Europe and down toward their destination. Dyah's hearts turned over, much as a Human's might, at the sight of Kyiv as the Human circled them around the destroyed city. The warhead that had detonated over the city had been small as far as ICBMs went, so the crater was barely noticeably amidst the destruction.

The destruction at ground zero, though, was complete; for dozens of blocks, there wasn't anything standing over ten or fifteen feet high. The destruction lessened farther out, as would be expected; in almost perfect circles every few hundred yards radiating out from ground zero, objects began to be identifiable as the remains of a building, an automobile, a tree, or other.

"I just wish your technology could make the city safe again," Alex said. "The country now has two major cities that have been rendered uninhabitable by nuclear destruction."

"We do," Dyah responded as she watched Alex guiding the Shuttle toward a landing pad near the Relief Camp. "We have the ability to process air, land, and water to remove radiation. It takes time, but it works. It will be the next step in Kyiv's relieve effort."

With some guidance from Dyah, Alex brought the Shuttle down on the pad, almost perfectly in the middle. He laughed, "Haha, touchdown."
"I would say perfect," Dyah said with a smile, "But ... what is that saying, that Human saying...? You are getting a big head."

She activated a control, and the shuttle's rear gate began lowering. Dyah had called ahead to the ground crews, so even before the gate was fully down, they were already rushing aboard -- both Troya and Humans -- to begin the unload. Dyah unbuckled and told Alex, "Let's go take a look. I want you to see something."

They headed away from the shuttle toward the camp that was two hundred yards away. The pads had been moved farther from the camp to eliminate the clouds of dust and debris stirred up by the Shuttles' propulsion systems. The added distance was being dealt with, though, by mixed Troyna-Human work crews who were busy building a wide road between the four current pads and the outskirts of the camp. Dyah was shocked at just how quickly the road was being constructed; more than 300 people -- mostly Humans -- were using everything from full sized dump trucks, bulldozers, and steamrollers down to wheelbarrows, rakes, and shovels to get the job done.

Dyah pointed out and described things to Alex for which the Troyna were responsible and asked Alex about things that were Human in nature and unfamiliar to her. When they reached the periphery of the camp, they came upon a check point; after the suicide attack, a barrier of hard-to-move objects had been arranged to prevent an automobile bomb from striking the camp itself, and five different gates now directed traffic in and out.

The first thing Dyah noticed was that the armed Guards at the gate included both Troyna and Humans; they were sharing the responsibility of protecting the camp, with each species respecting the other's right to both bear arms and feel safe from having them used against them.

The second thing she noticed came when she explained to the Guard Captain who she and Alex were. He'd heard that the pair were coming, and immediately upon the introduction, he saluted them both with a delighted smile and gushed to them about his pride in meeting them. The Troyna called some people from a nearby registration tent to join them, and Troyna and Human alike saluted and smiled and shook hands; some even asked for selfies, which Alex had to explain to Dyah.

 

[desperado1089]

Kyiv Relief Camp

Alex was wondering if he should tell the people he ran into that the Troyna had the technology to heal their capital city as he marveled at the level at which his people and Dyah's were seamlessly working together, as if they had known each other for years. In addition to the food, medicine and other essentials, he saw schools, taught in both Russian and English, off-duty Troyna sitting in on both whenever they could to learn more about this planet and its people. Seeing the fully-grown aliens among small children brought an amused smile to Alex's face.

Through it all he felt like a celebrity, shaking hands and taking selfies. Then one of the Troyna came up to him, out of breath from jogging. "Emissary," he said through his translator, "there is a man here from your military, he says that he wishes to meet with you. Come on!" Alex shrugged at Dyah and followed, and at one of the gates a small group of Marines stood around a Humvee, and all of them saluted him. A Captain stepped forward when Alex returned it. "Colonel Stewart, we came ahead of the rest of our unit. We got a whole Marine Expeditionary Unit ready to get to work here and a couple tons of supplies at least. President Stevens sends her regards." A man walked up behind Alex and said, in accented English, "That is good to hear. Speak to the men and women in that tent, Captain," said Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy as the Marines saluted and made their way towards the indicated tent.

"It's good to meet you, Mr. President," Alex said, and the two men shook hands. No cameras. No grandstanding. Just two men, shaking hands as allies--as friends. The Ukrainian head of state was dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, trading smart shoes for work boots, which were dusted with concrete debris. He had been working on the road. Noticing Alex's attention, he said, "A good leader never orders his men to do something he is not willing to do himself." Alex fully agreed with that sentiment and said as much.

The three of them toured the site for the next quarter hour, watching the Marines and the Army Corps of Engineers set up, before Alex said good-bye and lifted off in the shuttle. "That was amazing, but I'm a little worried about my fame down there," he said, recalling the way he had been told he was a target for the anti-Troyna movement (which, he was unsurprised to learn, was made up of the same red hat-wearing, swastika flag-waving circle jerkers as always) and his subsequent need of a bodyguard.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Kyiv Relief Camp, Ukraine

18 September 2030, early evening

Dyah was happy for Alex, seeing how he was being welcomed so by Troyna and Human alike. She feared that it might be making him uncomfortable -- the unexpected celebrity -- but the smiles and laughs and others' joy as hearing about alien spaceships and such seemed to please him.

Dyah tried to stay out of the way except for those moments when it was she who was being asked questions or even asked to pose for photos. She'd expected a little bit of fan worship from the Troyna who knew about her award, which had been handed to her in her recovery bed by the Queen herself.

But when Humans came up and asked if she was Dyah -- inquired using her actual name -- that was somewhat of a shock. She didn't understand why any Human would know her name, let alone want to cross their fisted hands over their chests to her, shaker her hand, or take a selfie with her.

She wouldn't learn until just a few minutes before they headed back to the Shuttle that a reporter from the USA-based cable news network called World News Now -- a woman named Cassandra Cannon -- had gotten hold of what at the time had still been a classified file that contained pretty much everything about Lt. Col. Alex Stewart, USAF, that was known by anyone who down on Earth.

Cassie's FBI contact had passed her the secret file, and after she'd confirmed its contents with a CIA contact and got more confirmation from other sources, World News Now had begun repeating her 20-minute segment on Alex at the bottom of every hour, in addition to all of the other news that was Troyna related.

Cassie's producer had been trying to arrange an interview of Alex for the last 10 hours or so, something he'd been told would have to wait until the 20th of September; he was simply told that the Colonel wasn't available, though, his and Cassie's contacts in various positions said the reason was that he wasn't even on the planet.

It wouldn't be until he was in the air again heading for the Mothership that stringers on the ground in Kyiv would informs WNN that the Emissary had in fact been on the planet, right there in the camp where the network had had three different reporters -- one of them Cassandra Cannon!

The surprise of her somewhat fame was nothing to suddenly realizing that she was face to face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Dyah had never met a State Leader before -- with the obvious exception of Queen Valla, of course. He shook hands with Alex and spoke to him about what it means to be a good leader. She agreed with everything he said and marveled at how down to Earth he was.

Then, he turned to her, offered his hand, and -- in her language of Troyna -- said to her, "Je velmi dobré se s tebou setkat ... Dyah, že?"

Dyah's mouth literally fell open in shock: it was the first time she'd heard her language come out of the mouth of a Human Being. She shook his hand, searched her mind, cleared her throat, and did her best to repeat Zelenskyy's greeting back to him in English, "Is good to meet, too ... President Zelen ... Ze..."

He laughed and pronounced his name properly for her. Dyah responded to the inquiry part of his greeting, saying again in English, "Yes. My name is Dyah."

"I wish I could converse with you more in your language," the President told her, adding, "But so far that is about all I've learned ... except for some more greetings ... and the name of that wonderful little purple candy your people brought down for the children."

Dyah smiled, naming the treat in Troyna before reverting to the translator, "Fialový chlupatý pamlsek. It literally means purple fluff treat ... because its fluffy and purple, obviously."

The three of them took a quick tour before she and Alex turned back for the shuttle; on the way, Dyah flagged down one of the Logistics people, asked a favor, and -- waiting a couple of minutes -- was handed two boxes, one of which she asked Alex to carry. Inside, she ran Alex through the departure procedure, but as he lifted the shuttle up into the air, she instructed, "Take a loop and bring up back over the camp ... about 50 feet ... just inside the security barrier."

She knew that he would want to know what they were doing so she told him her plan; she included the fact that as long as they were moving horizontally forward, the propulsion unit's gravity disturbance would not bother anyone on the ground beneath them. She also explained how to set the ship to Auto Pilot

As their circling course brought them back toward the camp again, they unbuckled and moved to the rear, where Dyah lowered the rear gate. Down on the ground, hundreds of children -- possibly thousands -- had taken to gathering on a slight incline that was just inside the camp's security barrier; the amphitheater-like feel of the hill allowed the kids to watch the alien shuttles arrive and depart.

As they reached the hill, Dyah opened the boxes she'd gotten from the Logistics worker, showed their contents to Alex, and said, "My Earth history education spoke of something called the Berlin Airlift. A pilot ... and American, like you, Alex, used to drop chocolate bars to the children as he flew into ... Berlin...?"

Together, they began dumping the candy out both sides of the lowered gate. The treats, which were in edible paper-like wraps and weighed about the same as cotton candy, fell harmlessly to the children who began cheering as soon as they realized what was raining down upon them.

With the boxes empty and the camp fading away, they returned to their seats, where Dyah instructed Alex on how to refuel the ship via the hydrogen-oxygen separation/collection process, and once they were full up, straight up the went.

On the Mothership:

Paula Reed was not a happy camper when Alex's shuttle reentered the Aux Bay and slid into its little parking garage for atmospheric pressurization. She stood there during the process staring at him through two sets of windows, and when he was finally able to leave the ship and entered the passageway, she growled, "What ... the fuck ... were you doing? You went down to Earth...? To fucking Ukraine? Without me?!?"

Dyah immediately responded from nearby, "I am sorry, Friend Paula. It was my decision to--"

But the Troyna went quiet as Paula jabbed an extended index finger at her and, again growling, said, "I'll deal with you later." She looked back to Alex again, reminding him, "I'm supposed to be protecting you ... and there are people down there who--"

Suddenly, Paula went quiet; she didn't know if anyone other than Queen Valla knew about the group that would one day soon come to be called the Fifth Column. And really, they weren't even the biggest fear for Paula. The world was full of fucking nuts who liked shooting at politicians, celebrities, children, ethnics, Bible thumpers, or anyone else who was different or more famous than themselves.

 

[desperado1089]

Aboard the Mothership

Alex stood there with a blank expression on his face. Then, when Paula was done, he turned to fix her with an icy glare that had cowed more than one insubordinate junior officer or enlisted person. "Officer Reed. Your concern is noted, and appreciated. However--", he said, barely raising his voice, which anyone who knew him would realize meant they were in deep shit, "--I do not take orders from you. I am aware of the dangers. The fact that they were compounded by our friends from the fourth estate will be dealt with as soon as I contact the nest. Meanwhile, I expect you to conduct yourself with professionalism befitting a representative of your esteemed Agency. Any further outbursts will not be tolerated. Do I make myself clear?"

Without waiting for an answer, he spun on his heel and marched back into the shuttle, closing the hatch behind him so that he would have some measure of privacy. Pulling out the small, more mobile version of the Troyna communicator that POTUS had set up in the White House, he activated and spoke into it. "Eagle One to nest, come in," he said. "Nest here," came Stevens' voice a few moments later. "We have a problem," Alex said without preamble. He explained how Cassandra Cannon had access to details about him that she shouldn't, which suggested a leak somewhere. "Going after Cannon will need a more delicate hand than mine, but if you find the leak, perhaps plugging it will benefit from my presence, if for no other reason than the man who that leak is putting in danger being there might throw the leaker off balance."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Aboard the Mothership

"Officer Reed," Alex began his chastising of her. He mentioned how the recent news report had made him known to the world -- literally the whole world because of World News Now's access via TV and the internet -- but finished by, essentially, that he was going to put up with her shit. "Do I make myself clear?"

Paula contemplated some reactions but didn't get to deploy any of them as Alex spun and returned to the Shuttle. She looked about herself to see if anyone had been eavesdropping, finding only Dyah; the Pilot stood at a maintenance console pretending not to be listening in. But with Alex's departure, Dyah went to join the other female.

"It was my fault," Dyah repeated. "I had permission to make the trip to Ukraine, but I should have cleared it with you first. I understand why you are here ... your duty. But I promise you: the Emissary was safe with me."

"I know he was," Paula conceded. After a moment she added, "And thank you ... for watching out for him."

They spent a few minutes discussing the little jaunt down to Kyiv and Dyah's introduction to the President of Ukraine. The pilot giggled, confessing that she'd been delighted to meet him. Paula laughed, saying, "You sat with your Queen and had dinner with her--"

"And I was trembling throughout it, too," Dyah confessed. "I'm just not used to this."

They chatted and giggled like teenage girls for several minutes before Dyah thought she saw something in the other woman and asked, "What is it...? What are you not telling me?"

Paula hesitated, then only said, "You need to talk to your Queen. I ... I don't think it's my place. But Valla ... Queen Valla ... I think she's waiting to speak to you. You should make sure she knows that you're back."

Paula wouldn't tell Dyah more, and eventually the latter departed to perform post-flight tasks while the former waited for her charge to finish whatever it was that he was doing inside the Shuttle.


The White House Oval Office

Victoria Stevens was watching the World News Now report on the leaked information when her new Chief of Staff, Julie Barnes, entered the Oval carrying the Troyna holographic communicator. Where the communicators on the Mothership tapped into the ship's artificial gravity technology to simply hover, this one required a tripod, which Julie set up as she said, "It's Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, Madam President."

"Eagle One to nest, come in," Victoria heard coming from the device.

"Nest here," she returned. "Good to see you ... Emissary."

"We have a problem," Alex began, explaining this issue with WNN's Cassandra Cannon.

When he mentioned the leak, Victoria interrupted, "We're working on that now. I ... I can't really get into the details of the investigation ... on this." She waggled a finger toward the communicator, which might have looked to Alex as if she were pointing at him. "But I assure you that we will find out the source."

Victoria's serious expression mutated to one of humor as she continued, "I've been talking to some of my advisors ... and ... we think it would be good for you to sit down with Cassandra Cannon for a one-to-one interview."