No Moon

Red Palace

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Tusca wasn't really sure what was going to happen next.

On the one hand, the pirates who were after them, and their apparently-stolen-very-illegal-and-also-valuable cargo.

If they made it out of this, he was gonna kill Kongee. Sky-damned bottom-feeder either sold them out or lied to his face when Tusca asked about the 'just a few crates' that the barely-legal businessman wanted them to move.

The Imperial Carrier Pacifica. The flagship of the Human Galactic Empire, and the home of their royal family. She was the largest human ship ever created and was so big she didn't need artificial gravity. Rumor had it that she was created by a dragon, a djinn, and a god all working together, but no one knew for sure.

How was this his life?

The hanger Luka flew them to was luxurious in a way that spoke of truly extravagant taste. The floors were white polished stone, and it was utterly sleek. Here and there, a few uniformed officers went about their work, but they ignored the Wavedancer, despite the flickering glances that betrayed their curiosity.

"What do we do, here?" Do' was the one to ask the obvious question in the room as Luka set them down and began extracting himself from the ship's wiring. "Luka-boy, this is... a lot."

"Don't worry," Luka reassured her with a smile, and carefully closed up his cerebral socket. "I might have run away from home, but that doesn't mean I stopped being the Heir. The only person on this ship who outranks me is my father."

"You mean His Imperial Majesty?" Right pointed out incredulously and leaned on his twin's chair. Left looked as stunned as Tusca felt. "The Emperor of the Human Galactic Empire? The most powerful person in the galaxy?"

"He likes caramels and old-earth movies, and onions give him gas so bad it should count as a weapon of war," Luka said irreverently and startled a laugh out of everyone. He cracked a wry smile. "And yes, he's all those things too, but right now, the only person he's likely to be angry at is me, and probably he won't be too angry."

"Reassuring," Graat muttered from the navigation console, and looked over at Tusca. "Captain, shall I have the crew come out?"

"Might as well," Tusca sighed, and pushed himself out of his chair, still somewhat rattled from their abrupt, albeit short, tussle with pirates, and Luka's surprising start as a Red Baron. "Have everyone meet down in the hold."

"You know you're not getting arrested, right?" Luka asked as he walked beside Tusca. The rest of the crew filtered out of their rooms, and Tusca felt the startling lack of Roja and Carlito sharply. "And if you were, I would make sure Father pardoned you."

"Nice to know," Tusca said dryly. "What should we expect?"

"Father will be disappointed at me. One or two of the Consul may shout a little. Duke-Lord Holland may see if he can get me disinherited. He doesn't like me much."

"Imperial politics." Tusca wanted none of this. "Any chance you can get us clear of this Carrier and out of here before we have to deal with any of that?"

He was half-joking, but if Luka really could...

But no. the young prince shook his head wryly.

"I could," he confessed, and rubbed the back of his neck before peeking at Tusca out of the corner of his eye. "But well... the politics are bad, but my mother is on this ship, and if I don't at least say hello while I'm here..."