Mars Time: 20:02, March 2, 2295

  Associate's Suite 1, ISV Polaris, In Transit

  Sigrun's door was unlocked.

  Xin knocked anyway, heard her voice. "It's open."

  "Hope you don't mind." He stepped inside with H?kon still perched on his shoulder.

  She sat cross-legged on the floor near the viewport, her back to the door, surrounded by her weapons. Járn lay across her lap, the Thermal Axe's Damascus steel catching the light as she worked a palm-sized grinding stone along its edge. The motion was practiced, almost meditative. Years of muscle memory made visible.

  "Haven't had dinner yet?" she said without turning.

  "Not yet." Xin closed the door behind him. "Just exploring the ship. Found the cargo bay."

  "See anything interesting?"

  "The Genbu. Some maintenance corridors. Thomas and Marcus inspecting the Space Rovers." He paused, watching the grinding stone move along Járn's blade. "Is that drained Zephyrium?"

  Now she turned, one golden eyebrow raised. "You can tell?"

  "The color gives it away. Zephyrium loses its glow after it's been used up in fusion systems. Can't power anything anymore, but the molecular structure stays intact." He gestured at the stone. "Makes a good grinding surface."

  "Pappa know lots-lots," H?kon added from his shoulder, nodding sagely.

  A moment of silence stretched between the three of them. Sigrun's lips curved up.

  "I do this sharpening every other week." She turned back to her work. "Beats buying a new one."

  Xin watched her work, the rhythm of stone against steel. The sound was somehow crisp instead of harsh, nothing like those old Digital Era movies suggested.

  "Can we sit next to you?" he asked. "Or... should we?"

  "What, afraid of me with my axe?"

  "A little bit." He caught himself chuckling.

  "Sky Lady sword sharp-sharp even when no swooosh," H?kon observed. "But Sky Lady safe-safe."

  Sigrun gestured to the space beside her without breaking her rhythm. "Make yourself at home."

  Xin settled onto the floor, H?kon adjusting his grip as they descended. This close, he could see the other weapons arrayed around her. Skuld in its compact brick form, gleaming white with golden filigree. A holster with extra ammunition. A small maintenance kit with oils and brushes.

  And set apart from the others, resting on a folded cloth like something sacred, a silver cylindrical hilt.

  Xin studied it, putting a hand to his chin. Nothing came to mind.

  Sigrun finished with Járn, inspected the edge, and set the axe on a wall-mounted rack with a soft click. Then she reached for the hilt.

  "You don't recognize it," she said. It wasn't a question.

  "Nope. Should I, though?"

  "No. Not really." She lifted the hilt and intoned, "Baldr, virkjaeu."

  A beam of quantum-blue light hummed from its core, casting strange little shadows across her face.

  "It's called Baldr. Psytum Sword."

  H?kon went rigid on Xin's shoulder.

  His scales shifted fast, navy to gray to a mottled brown that Xin had learned to recognize. Anxiety. Unease. The little Diabolisk pressed closer against Xin's neck, his small claws tightening on the fabric of his shirt.

  "Buddy?" Xin reached up to steady him. "What's wrong?"

  "Glowing sword feel..." H?kon's voice came out small. "Feel like sad. Like old-old hurt inside."

  Sigrun's ivory hand stilled on the hilt. The blade flickered, its blue light pulsing unevenly as her grip tightened.

  "The hilt has a Bergmál Safír…or Echo Sapphire, as the Valorans call it." She said, her voice carefully flat. "Lets me summon it to my hand from a distance. Useful for emergencie."

  "Where did you get it?"

  "Ivar gave it to me." The words came clipped now. Shorter. "Before I left my motherland behind."

  Ivar. The name hung unspoken between them.

  "Pappa," H?kon whimpered softly, his scales still that anxious brown. "Glowing sword make Sky Lady heart go cold-cold. HAW-koon feel."

  "It's okay, buddy. We're here." Xin reached one hand up to stroke H?kon's tiny back gently.

  For a moment, Sigrun didn't move. Then she powered down the blade with a different incantation. "Baldr, sofeu."

  The quantum-blue light died, and the shadows retreated to the corners of the room.

  She set Baldr aside with more care than she'd shown any her other weapons. Like handling something that might bite.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "The boy's sensitive," she said quietly. "I forget that sometimes."

  "He picks up on things." Xin watched H?kon's scales slowly fade from brown toward an uncertain gray-blue. "Emotions, I think. Or maybe Aether. I'm not sure."

  Sigrun didn't respond. She rose and crossed to the viewport, putting distance between herself and the sword. Between herself and them.

  Mars hung in the glass, red and small and shrinking. From here, it looked peaceful.

  "I hope we won't need it," she said, her back to them. "Baldr. Whatever's waiting on Venus. I hope it's something I can handle with just Skuld and Járn."

  "But you're bringing it anyway."

  Her palm pressed against the viewport, fingers spread. "Can't afford not to, I guess."

  The words hung there. Xin waited, but she didn't turn around. Didn't invite him closer. The warmth from earlier had retreated behind walls he was learning to recognize.

  He rose anyway and crossed to stand beside her. His shoulder brushed hers. She didn't pull away, but she didn't lean in either.

  They watched Mars shrink in silence.

  "Hey, Xin," she said finally. Her voice was still guarded, but something in it had softened. Just slightly.

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks for coming by."

  "Yeah. I'm here. H?kon, too." He didn't know what to say to that. So he just stayed, shoulder to shoulder, watching the stars wheel past.

  A small claw tugged at his collar.

  "Pappa." H?kon's voice was insistent now, his earlier unease fading. "Pappa, HAW-koon show Sky Lady. Is okay?"

  Xin felt the little Diabolisk shift on his shoulder, twisting to reach behind him. Small claws fumbled with the backpack's flap, working the worn buckle with surprising dexterity.

  "You mean your drawings?"

  "Yesss. HAW-koon show." He extracted his coloring book, its clear cover free from old crayon wax. His scales brightened to eager azure as he flipped through the pages. Stick-figure Radi-Mons. The Genbu rendered in aggressive black and yellow. A wobbly approximation of the Polaris from that afternoon.

  Then the little Diabolisk found the page he wanted.

  The drawing showed a woman. Yellow crayon for hair, scribbled in energetic strokes. Blue dots for eyes. A shape that might have been a sword, or maybe just an arm held high. She was standing on something brown with stars scattered above her head in silver and white.

  At the bottom, in wobbly letters that had clearly taken effort:

  Sigrun stared at the drawing.

  Her expression didn't change. But something shifted behind her eyes, a crack in the wall she'd built back up.

  "He drew it earlier today," Xin said, feeling warmth spread through his chest. "After the launch. He kept asking how to spell 'brave.'"

  "HAW-koon draw good?" H?kon's voice wavered now. His scales had faded to nervous gray-blue again, uncertain. "Sky Lady like?"

  For a long moment, Sigrun didn't answer.

  Then her hand found Xin's, fingers interlacing with his. A brief squeeze. Warm and present and real.

  Her other hand rose, hesitant, and came to rest on H?kon's small head. The touch was light, almost awkward, like she wasn't quite sure how to be gentle. But she tried. Her fingers brushed across his scales in a single slow stroke.

  "Yeah," she said quietly. "Sky Lady likes."

  H?kon's scales flooded gold. He made a sound somewhere between a chirp and a purr, pressing up into her palm. His tail curled around Xin's wrist, anchoring himself to both of them at once.

  The moment stretched, warm and fragile.

  Then Xin's Nucleus Watch chimed.

  The holographic display flickered to life above his wrist, projecting pale blue text: PREFECT ALTAI - OFFICIAL. Xin glanced at Sigrun, who nodded. He accepted the call.

  Dilinur's image materialized in miniature above the watch face. She stood with perfect posture, her black silk robe pristine, her dark hair in its traditional updo. The projection was small, but her presence filled the room anyway.

  "Associate Xin. Associate Sigrun." Her gaze flicked between them, noting their proximity, filing it away without comment. "I trust you've found your accommodations satisfactory?"

  "The room's nicer than my last three apartments combined," Xin said. "So, yes!"

  "Good. I'm contacting all expedition members to inform you of a dinner gathering at twenty-one hundred hours, ship time. The central lounge." Dilinur paused, and when she continued, her tone shifted into something more rehearsed. "Given the cross-factional composition of our expedition, it is essential that we establish interpersonal rapport prior to reaching Venus. Shared meals have been shown to facilitate trust-building and communication baseline development among diverse operational units."

  Sigrun's eyebrow rose. "Did you rehearse that?"

  Dilinur frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

  "You're making dinner sound like a stockholder meeting." Sigrun's voice carried dryly. "We're eating together. You can just say that."

  Dilinur's hologram flickered. Her composure didn't crack, exactly, but something tightened around her eyes. "I am attempting to convey the strategic importance of—"

  "You were being a bureaucrat."

  "I am the Prefect of Xing Hong. Bureaucracy is literally my duty."

  Absolute dead awkward silence.

  "Should I bring notes?"

  Both women turned to look at Xin.

  He adjusted his glasses, suddenly very aware of their attention. "To dinner, I mean. Is there an agenda? I'm used to briefings having agendas!"

  Silence.

  Sigrun's lips twitched. Dilinur's hologram stared at him with narrowed eyes. Disapproval? Annoyance? Amusement?

  "No, Associate Xin," she said finally. "Notes will not be necessary."

  "RED LADY!"

  H?kon had scrambled forward on Xin's shoulder, his scales blazing azure with excitement. He leaned toward the hologram, nearly overbalancing, his small tail windmilling for stability.

  "Red Lady pretty-pretty! Red Lady wear black and red like fancy-fancy painting!"

  Dilinur blinked. The shift in her expression was subtle but undeniable. She looked at the little Diabolisk as though she'd forgotten he existed and was now uncertain how to proceed.

  "I... thank you?" She recovered quickly.

  "HAW-koon show Red Lady!" Before anyone could stop him, H?kon had his coloring book open again, flipping to the Polaris drawing. He held it up toward the hologram proudly. "HAW-koon draw Big Sky Fish! See? See win-doughs? See en-gines go push-push?"

  Dilinur studied the drawing. Her posture softened by degrees, something almost like a smile flickering across her features before she suppressed it.

  "The proportions are quite good," she said with exactly two nods. "Your Radi-Mon has an eye for detail."

  H?kon wiggled with delight. "Pappa teach HAW-koon letters! Sky Lady name here. Sky Lady kind like Red Lady."

  Dilinur's gaze shifted to Sigrun.

  The Prefect was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her voice had lost its bureaucratic edge. "I'm still trying to understand how you've obtained Seed Dumu's approval. Perhaps I can do better next time. Perhaps the goddess saw qualities in you that aren't immediately apparent."

  Sigrun met her eyes through the hologram. "Maybe she has bad taste."

  "Or may she sees further than we do."

  Neither of them smiled. But a palpable acknowledgment passed between them.

  "Twenty-one hundred hours," Dilinur said, her formal tone returning. "The lounge. Don't be late."

  The hologram flickered and vanished.

  Xin let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "That went well. I think?"

  "You asked if you should bring notes." Sigrun was almost smiling. "To dinner."

  "It seemed like a reasonable question at the time."

  "HAW-koon like Red Lady," H?kon announced, settling back against Xin's shoulder. His scales had mellowed to a contented navy. "Red Lady look at HAW-koon drawing. Red Lady say good words."

  "She did," Xin agreed. "You charmed her."

  "What is charmed?"

  "It means you made her like you."

  H?kon considered this. "HAW-koon charm Sky Lady too?"

  Sigrun's hand found Xin's again. Her fingers were warm, her grip firm.

  "Yeah," she said quietly. "You did."

  Outside the viewport, Mars continued to shrink, falling away into the distance. The ship carried them forward, toward Venus, toward uncertainty, toward whatever waited in the amber twilight.

  But for now, none of that mattered.

  For now, there was just the three of them, and a coloring book that said what words couldn't, and somewhere on the Polaris, the soft hum of engines carrying them onward.