Kindred Souls

Chapter 8

Mitri had to leave Nina again to return to the lab. They had decided to give Cyril guards in response to the attack and Mitri was allowed to do a complete overhaul of the security system after they left the planet. He had complained that it was lacking for a while but since it standard for the Federation ships, no one had taken him seriously.

Now, Corinth was admitting that it was necessary.

She also admitted that she had to report the attack. While she had been reporting it, she had tried to avoid mentioning Nina.

"Governor Hurr mentioned her," Corinth told him outside the lab. "I'm not sure how, but he found out about you adopting Nina."

"And exactly what did he say about it?"

"He said he wants us to return to base to properly discuss our options now that you're a father."

Mitri's furrowed his eyebrows. "He wants us to go all the way back to base for that?"

"I thought it was strange too, but I wasn't in much of a position to ask questions. Apparently, this is the type of thing that should be reported."

Mitri would have guessed as much if asked but the thing was, no one ever really reported these things. Not when it wasn't a high-ranking officer involved and despite being head engineer, Mitri didn't have that level of relevance. Crew members married and started families during their service. As long as they stayed on the ship, the higher ups rarely cared. "Do you think he knows exactly what Nina is?"

Corinth admitted darkly, "I would bet on it."

"That's good." Mitri met her shocked stare, "You were in a meeting with several officials. If he's trustworthy, he'll tell us and everyone else exactly what he knows, and we can work through official channels to stop this slave trafficking. If he's not, he'll hedge around the problem but won't get anywhere because she's legally my daughter. If I have to leave the ship, so be it."

Corinth stared at him. Her restless energy and expressive eyes fell still, practically flat-lined, in the wake of his words. "You'd leave the ship? Mitri, you've worked your entire life to get to this position."

"And I'll hate it as soon as I sacrifice Nina to keep it." Mitri lowered his head, ignoring how Corinth softened, an expression of pure, aching affection on her face. "There are people like Nina out there, like her parents. If I leave, I'll be free to find them."

"Without backup."

"There are positives and negatives no matter how this goes. My point is, we'll know more by the end of this, whether it's about Hurr's involvement or Nina's people in general."

Corinth agreed and left to make plans for departure while Mitri finished up in the lab.

They worked double time to finish up on the planet, so they were done by the next day. Mitri kept calling Cyril and Nina just to check in. Sometimes it'd be hours between calls. Sometimes, after hanging up, he'd feel a spike of anxiety and call right back. He was on edge the entire time so the return to the ship, the return to having Nina in his arms while he worked or watching her and Cyril on the security monitors, was better. Easier on his heart.

The ship set course for base.

They made it there quicker than Mitri liked. The ride was too smooth. Usually, there were stopped several times on the way to their destination because 'exploration ship' meant errand runners to most of the universe. For a ride this smooth, someone had to be intercepting requests.

He and Corinth only had to exchange looks to know they had the same suspicion. Lieutenant Asim was more verbally antsy about the smooth passage. Mitri assumed Corinth hadn't told her much about Nina or their suspicions about Governor Hurr. Her first lieutenant was a better officer than most, but she also followed rules and regulation to a fault. Things had to start looking direly crooked before they brought her into the fold.

Their arrival to the CF Omega. The planet built for the express purpose of housing the core of the Federation's governing activity.

The landed in the Incoming-Outgoing quadrant of the planet, where hundreds of space vessels were being directed onto and off the planet.

Their ship, as a ship of the Federation, wasn't looked at too closely while they landed.

The council mainly wanted to see Mitri and Corinth. Lieutenant Asim only went along as a formality. Cyril, though, was adamant about staying with Mitri and Nina. It wasn't the quiet determination that Mitri saw when he tried to argue that Cyril not involve themselves. It was a burning, fighting determination that would either end in acquiescence or a fist fight.

Mitri wasn't about to fight them on this.

The rest of the crew were free to come or go from the ship as they pleased. The five of them, as individuals that were to be in front of the council had their things scanned and approved before being led to rooms and injected with temporary trackers. They were also given the day and time of their audience. Surprisingly, it was just the next day. Something must have gotten bumped out the way. Council meetings were planned months in advanced. Although, this meeting probably wouldn't have been approved if it meant keeping a Federation ship grounded for months.

While they were being led to their rooms, Asim was a nervous wreck, recounting everything strange about this meeting to herself.

Corinth sighed loudly, "Easy there, Asim, you're going to hurt yourself."

"This just doesn't make sense," Asim bit out. "What's so special about this occasion? Is it Mitri? Has his bad reputation spread that far? Do they think she's in danger?"

Mitri leaned over to Corinth and whispered low enough to not break Asim out of her anxious cloud, "What did you say when it came to why the intruders broke in?"

"'We can't know their motive for sure. Nothing was taken but their pre-emptive violence against an officer implies that they wished to cause harm and chaos.'"

Mitri nodded, somewhat impressed. "Bland and noncommittal in a way that doesn't imply incompetence. And I thought you got Asim to do your paperwork for you."

"I tried," Corinth shook her head, heart heavy at failing at her quest. "She's too stubborn."

"What are you two talking about?" Asim glared at them suspiciously. "Since when do you get along so well?"

Mitri said plainly, "I still hope she gets hit with horrible disease and lose her teeth."

Corinth rose her hand to jab him but couldn't find a free spot with Nina wrapped around him like a little octopus that was truly getting too old to carry around.

Corinth noticed that as well. "Can she walk? You're always carrying her."

Mitri nodded, "She can. I guess this just became a habit. She never acts like she wants to walk."

"Who would when they're being ferried around by an overprotect father?"

"I'm not her father."

Corinth rolled her eyes right to the back of her head. "Come on, Mitri. Why are you still playing this game?"

"Hey, hey, I asked a question," Asim interjected. "Don't avoid it with an argument."

"Apparently, we need to have this argument again," Corinth seethed.

"One second," Cyril cut between them to grab Nina, then ducked back out. "Carry on."

Corinth took the opportunity to punch him in his side.

Mitri followed up his grunt of pain with turned to Asim and demanding, "I want her written up for this. Violence against crewmembers. I want her suspended and privileges revoked."

Asim muttered to some god beneath her breath then asked them, "Can we please be adults?"

Mitri barely heard her over his bickering with Corinth and, frankly, didn't think the question was worth answering when Corinth insisted on being stubborn.