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Thalassa was still a bit agitated, but she hid her reasons why from me well.
“I came to find out how far we are from the Prince.”
“We’re close.”
“Something’s wrong.”
“Verbal communication is far too clumsy,” she complained, ignoring my question again.
“Thalassa, I outrank you. So answer me.”
“Fine. We’ve run into a problem with the Taureans.”
“Our allies?”
“Some of them are. But when the senate split in two, a small portion formed the Taurean confederacy. Since you’ve been gone, they’ve been attacking smaller ships and coordinating guerrilla attacks on larger vessels.”
“Have you spotted any on sensors?”
“Unfortunately, yes. We’re expected to clash with them in the next twelve hours.”
“Were you planning on telling me?”
“Our orders were not to keep you informed, but to smother this attack quickly.”
“I still outrank you, Thalassa.”
“You do, but the Prince considers you a person of honor for your mission. We’ve transmitted all your data to him and he’s impressed with the detail.”
“The mission was a failure,” I admitted, the admission hurting me more than I expected.
“There was nothing about it that was a failure. You’ve influenced politics already. The Prince is even having a meeting with the Emperor.”
“The emperor and his wife haven’t come out of meditation in over a hundred years.”
“I know. And now, because of you, Devor ushers in a new age.”
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Thalassa rolled her eyes.
“Try to relax. Make preparations with the home world. If there’s a conflict with the confederacy, we’ll handle it.”
