Page 87 of Veiled Vixen

“That’s right. They boarded a ship called Prison Princess and left with the man… errr…” Boss stumbled over his words for a moment in an attempt to describe Tray. “With the person formerly called Tray, who is now… still called Tray. But who is no longer a man, but an autonomous mind, and now resides in the ship called Prison Princess.”

ALCOR noted that the Boss did not offer up the fact that Brigit was now entangled with Tray, and they both, collectively, were the ship called Prison Princess.

“Tray of Wayward Station?” the governor asked.

Oh. ALCOR was going to make him pay for that. Tray might be a traitor, but he was still one of ALCOR’s boys.

“Tray of Harem Station,” Boss corrected the governor. “I believe that is his current, and most accurate, title.”

“Whom, may I ask,” asked the governor, “is Tray’s responsible party?”

“An Akeelian boy called Canis. From what the departure records show.”

“A boy? Called Canis?” One of the men behind the governor leaned in and whispered into his ear. The Governor straightened up and said. “This is a ten-year-old boy?”

“Apparently,” the Boss said, wholly unaffected by the perturbed tone of the governor.

“Well… this is an unfortunate development.”

“How so?” asked Boss.

“Because we came here to collect our people. All of our people. And we are not leaving without them.” Then he looked right at ALCOR and said, “Unless your new partner here has something to say about that.”