The Forgotten Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 6)

Chapter 9.2

"Oh, she was just feeling guilty. When I first came aboard she told me I had to wait until she was finished with you. I'm sure she's fond of you, Ford. But you'll never hold a candle to me. I kept Mara and Scotty from running amok when we lived aboard her, thus earning her undying gratitude." She grinned at him triumphantly.

"Brat," he said, sitting down. "Since you're promoting your own persuasive skills, I'll leave it to you to deal with Stecklan. I'm busy arranging our transport."

"Don't think I'm going to spend this trip being your assistant," Sabrina warned.

"Oh, of course not. But you can't deny that you have a much better track record with the military than I do."

"I haven't had any success at all with Stecklan. He's made it clear I'm not in his chain of command."

"Purely in self defense, I'm sure," Ford said. "You do have a tendency to treat the rest of us like minions, you know."

"Excuse me?" Sabrina demanded.

"Father says Mother learned all her high-handed behavior from you."

"He said no such thing! Mara was high-handed from the moment we met her!" Sabrina retorted.

Ford laughed, getting back up. "Then you must have learned it from her. Be your usual efficient self and deal with our unwanted escort, cousin. I hope to be able to leave tomorrow."

He leaned down as if to kiss her cheek, and she swatted him away. "You're bad for my digestion," she accused. "Go away and let me eat. And stop trying to provoke me!"

"But it's my primary form of entertainment," he flung over his shoulder as he left.

Thad and Ranja were pointedly silent as Sabrina turned her attention back to her breakfast plate. Then she put her fork down and sighed. "Stop it. I promise, he's no more annoying than any number of Meskathans. And at least half of that performance was just because we had an audience."

There was silence for a moment, until Ranja could no longer resist asking, "And what was the other half?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "That was just Ford."

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Sabrina sat out the morning's session so she could speak to Stecklan. He took the news more calmly than she expected, looking at her rather skeptically and saying nothing.

After a moment, she gave into the urge to fill the silence. "We really do appreciate everything you've done. You went above and beyond your assignment, I think, and I know we sometimes made it harder than it needed to be."

Stecklan grinned at her. "That was only to be expected. You both have a reputation for it. Well, ma'am, it was an honor to serve. And this assignment gave me access to the incident reports of your former bodyguards, which were, if I may say, fascinating reading."

"I can only imagine. No, don't tell me. Captain, I hope you will consider returning to the Intelligence service. I think you're wasted elsewhere."

"This assignment was presented to me as a step toward that," Stecklan replied.

"Oh? Because of the conference?"

"Because of you. Commander Mukryilla told me that if there was a galactic trouble spot within parsecs of you, you would end up in the middle of it."

Sabrina sighed. "I wish the military would stop viewing me as some kind of precocious toddler loose in the galaxy."

Stecklan laughed. "I think that's an exaggeration, ma'am. I don't suppose, though, that I can persuade you to give me your itinerary?"