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among the pirate contingent.”
    “If you’d planted that bug the day I first arrived, and had heard everything that’d gone on in the general’s meetings with me, you’d understand I wasn’t angling to set up any enforcers for another mass killing…like the Kryllian case.”
    He took a deep breath, walked back to his shuttle, and leaned against the exterior. Keira followed.
    “I take it that, since you aren’t in custody for commission of a felony, no one else knows about your bug?”
    He nodded. “I was on my way to the king when your flowers and note stopped me…thank all the stars in the universe!”
    “Take this,” she said as she handed the remains of the bug to him. “Nobody needs to know about this. If they find out, all hell will break loose. We can stop any problems here and now, between us.”
    He gazed at her for a long moment.
    She saw such confusion in his eyes that she almost felt sorry for the man.
    He stuffed the remainder of the offensive bug in his uniform pants pocket, dragged both hands across his face in a gesture of weariness, and stared fixedly at the horizon.
    “Are you willing to talk to me?”she softly asked.
    He took his gaze off distant places and looked at her again. “After what I’ve done…I should be on my knees begging forgiveness, never mind simply offering explanations. And now you realize why there’s such a severe penalty for any Mythreal officials spying on our allied embassies and their diplomats. In my position as Security Chief, I’m one of very few people who can gain access to every compound and its staff. I’m trusted, though it seems that trust was misplaced. I understand the damage I could have caused, misusing my power.” He sighed heavily. “I could have so easily and so inappropriately broken this news. Had I made it to the king, we’d now be in a galactic, diplomatic uproar of epic proportions. No one would trust anyone anymore—least of all me. And we’d be back where we were four centuries ago…fighting each other instead of the pirates. It’s taken long enough to get eighty worlds to play nicely with one another. In one day I could have ruined everything.”
    “Beating yourself up over this isn’t going to help. We’ve got it contained.”
    Still in the throes of self-castigation, he continued. “While I can enforce laws as I please among Mythreal citizens, I should have remembered why the non-interference rule with dignitaries and their embassies was made in the first place. I’m a complete and utter fool!”
    “So you do believe that what I’m telling you is the complete truth?”
    “Your story is too easy to verify. You’re not lying. Instinct tells me so,” he bitterly told her.
    “Why didn’t you just come to me in the first place?”
    “Because I was so damned sure I was right and meant to get proof. I was equally sure you’d deny any accusations. I thought you’d destroy evidence if I didn’t proceed as I did. Unfortunately, I have been known for having a rather hard head when it comes to the duties entrusted to me.” He shook his head and momentarily gazed at the ground. “I should have heeded other’s counsel in that regard.”
    She let him stew in self-loathing though she felt sorrier and sorrier for him as the situation cleared. Again, his passions made him act where others might have ignored real security issues. He was willing to give his life for what he believed, which was not out of character for what she’d heard of the man.
    “So. General Fisk will be taking over,” he mused. “Fisk is one of the best fighting officers in Earth’s entire history. The man is a brilliant tactician. Fair, easy to work with…a good listener. At least that’s his reputation.”
    “All you’ve heard about my godfather’s replacement is correct,” she agreed with a firm nod. “All I was doing was…” she paused before continuing. “All I was trying to do was to get my godfather outta here with some dignity. I