Radio Detective

Unforgettable sea milk

'Aside from some speculations about the authenticity of the claim'-

'I was just being pragmatic,' Kirin muttered, entirely missing the glance Pen shot him in his misery. No one had been a big fan of Kirin's pragmatism. Especially when it veered into conspiracy theories.

'The leader of the Unity Front is dead,' General Hinla continued, and while her words were quieter than usual, the vigour of her speech dulled by the death of her son - villain though she proclaimed him to be - there was no less determination. 'Unity Front is throwing all sorts of threats our way and, to put it gently, this is what some might call "statistical death."'

'General,' someone hissed, but she merely raised an eyebrow and shrugged, the careless rise and fall of her shoulders an exact replica of Handen's trademark response to... most things.

'We're beyond lying to ourselves. If they pin this on us then I don't see a way out. We'd be doomed.'

'Doomed?' Pen repeated sceptically, the glint of a man ready to blow something up in his ship drowning out all reasonable statements. 'We're doomed?' he repeated, at a loss for fresh dialogue.

'Every unaligned, pacifist planet will be watching what happens next. If we fail to get to the truth, they will all be forced to make a choice: step up and take the mantle of a new rebellion or succumb to the growing force of the UF.' She shook her head, a tendril of greying hair caressing her cheek from where it had escaped her braids. She let the silence become something more.

'So we find answers,' Kirin said calmly, reasonably, his words cutting through everything unsaid. He didn't mind the eyes turned on him, not anymore. He shrugged them off, the worn material of Pen's jacket hugging his shoulders like an embrace. He should give it back, he knew, no matter what Pen said about it suiting him. He- he owed it to him, to give it back.

But he couldn't.

When it stopped smelling of Pen. Of engines and the lightning electricity of the stars in flight, of forests when it had rained for weeks on end and the sun finally shone. When his scent stopped clinging to it, maybe it would be easier to let it go?

Kirin swallowed.

Let him go, he told himself, although they were not words his head or heart were quite ready to face just yet.

'Quil has a detective agency. She can do it.'

A hand clapped down on his shoulder and Kirin turned slightly, although it made no difference. There were some people you just knew. Pen was shaking his head in delight.

'I'- Quil eyes were wider than he had seen them in a long time, although their capacity grew when Hinla narrowed her gaze with a perplexed, 'Does she indeed?'

'I do.'

'I hadn't heard.'

'I started it with Master Skyfleet, Commander. We haven't... advertised much.'

'Ah.' Hinla's mouth turned upwards and she let out a soft chuckle. Sweat still clung to Quil's palms, but it felt less like she might drown in it after that laugh. 'That would explain it.'

'And we'll do you a deal, Hinla.' There were no doors to bang open in the kind of entrance Handen Skyfleet idealised, but he made do, flicking his cloak out behind him and presenting his arms wide as he strode purposefully, dramatically and bewilderingly into the meeting tent, a glint in his eyes that made Quil begin to sweat harder than ever- and rightfully so.

Hinla watched her brother carefully, eyes skimming past the grandiose movements and inappropriate use of his powers to add movement to his hair, focusing instead on his smile, the way it washed away at the pain of the past decades and showed her the boy he might have been, the boy she might have grown up beside.

'Handen?' Hinla crossed her arms, shifting her jaw as he twinkled at her. 'I promised I'd never make another deal with you.'

'Lun didn't know what he was talking about, I'-

Barchi, headset barely visible amidst the fluffy chestnut hair that covered him, made a pointed roar.

'Alright, alright,' Handen said quickly, tone that of someone who knew they were already sinking through thin ice. The water was so cold around his feet and he had never been a good swimmer, but Luke prided himself on his panache and pulled it out full force now. 'The thing about that situation is'-

'Handen Fool Skyfleet, don't you dare use the force on us,' Hinla growled.

Handen swallowed. 'I wasn't?'

'HANDEN. Get out before I kick you out.'

Kirin took that opportunity to crack open his bottle of sea milk, a gift from Quil after her recent travels and a beverage he had never tried before but had been assured was "unforgettable".

'We'll solve Ven Vandras' murder and we'll do it for free!' Handen cried over his shoulder, words muffled through Barchi's guiding arm. Pen yelled in horror as the unforgettable milk began gushing out Kirin's nose. Quil was up in an instant, stomping towards her Master with death in her eyes and Hinla looked around at her now chaos-filled meeting room in dismay. Kirin felt the milk curdling on his cheeks with the heat of his blush as Pen efficiently began mopping up the mess he'd made.

It was, Hinla considered, turning her back on everything and slipping out through the back exit, fairly usual all things considered.