33 Risen#re

When Anya returned to the ship, she ordered them to return to warp speed they had already wasted three days and they were going to be late to meet the empress.

Klint pulled up the projector and contacted the station commander to let her know that the station was back under her control since Anya didn't seem to care about it.

He ordered the warp drive to be heated and sighed in relief, this journey of theirs had been very taxing on his mind and his entire crew, they were going to take a long vacation after this, due to doing something so dangerous he knew that empires generosity would know no bounds.

Anya locked her new prisoner in her room, it was unfortunate that she would have to keep an eye on the prisoner personally, it meant less time for her to fool around with Klara, but currently, she only had one concern on her mind, she needed to visit Lirian.

The familiar feeling of a ship entering warp filled her stomach and from then she waited for the crew to rest before she snuck down to the pod room.

She quickly found Lirians pod and opened it, in the darkroom Lirian opened his eyes even in the dark a faint silver glow filled his eyes as he looked at Anya intently, he played the part of a child and reached out both of his hands to Anya.

Anya hesitated for a bit but still picked him up, she found it hard to say no to those eyes, "I know you understand me little one so tell me why you did that or how you did that, or at least what it was that you did?" she kept babbling, it was a strange feeling to interrogate a baby.

If I told her how I did that we'd be sitting here for a few days, and my vocabulary of this language is not so extensive that I can just say anything, not to mention that such knowledge coming out from my mouth would terrify her or anyone.

He did have an excuse though and it wasn't a lie, "I... want... see mommy soon, so... I make Anya... move quick."

It was no lie even the last part was only a half-lie, his main reason for interfering was to gather fate particles, but it was also to speed up Anya if things happened without his interference two days would have been wasted there, and while almost 30% of the people on the station died in the aftermath of the battle, he still reaped much more than he spent.

She could feel his steady heartbeat against her chest as she held him tightly, his head on her shoulder as she rocked him around, there was no lie or deceit in his words, he only held the desire to see his mother.

It was so different from the world of power she had grown used to, where every single action from someone could be seen as a multi-layered trap, she wondered if this was the reason the empress insisted on raising her own children, it was the only place in the world free from deceit.

"We'll see your mommy soon," she said while stroking his back, she remained there for a very long time unaware of the time passing outside.

Hours had passed before she retired to her room, with a wet patch on her shoulder she rubbed the liquid and sighed, 'It seems he's a drooler.' she mused to herself.

She looked down at her clothes and frowned there were a few singes on the fabric it wouldn't be suitable for her to wear it anymore after she changed into a new outfit, she prepared to burn her old one but as she looked at the little wet patch on it, she stored it away.

The next few days were uneventful and asides from contacting the empress to let her know of the situation and soon the ship brook through the atmosphere of a planet, the gravity stabilisers worked to remove the pressure from the people on the ship, and before long they were docking in the hangar of planet Xelia.

Several small crews stood outside including a military unit, waiting for the main hatch to open, once the hatch lowered a single group enters in hazmat suits and a couple of medical instruments, no one would be allowed to enter the city if any foreign diseases were found onboard or if any crew members had a contagious disease.

After several minutes of check-ups, the ship was given permission to disembark and the crews came on board, they worked effectively to empty the cargo, and finally the most important cargo was being taken off, the children.

The military convoy moved to Anya addressing her formally, they had all received instructions prior to their arrival that they would be under her command.

She had them pack up all the pods and move them to the vehicles they prepared, as that was getting done, she walked over to Klint.

"You did well on this little trip of ours Klint," she said cheerfully not even regarding the tremors running through Klint's body.

"It was my honor to serve your excellency over the past week," he spoke humbly and stopped his voice from trembling.

Anya raised an eyebrow at him and her playful thoughts took control of her, "If you feel that way, I suppose I can have you take on the position as my chief pilot, and you can keep your crew, you'll be given one of the best military-grade cruiser ships and you'll make like thirty times more than you currently do."

"NO!", Klint shouted frantically, then slapped his hands over his mouth as he remembered who he was talking to, ", w-w-what I mean your excellency is that, I'm old, I plan to retire; my friend Kira keeps reminding me that I ain't getting any younger and after this last heart-pumping trip I've decided to take his advice."

Anya giggled and her voice echoed in the hangar to the members of the crew it sounded like nails being knocked into their coffins, however to all those unfamiliar with her it sounded like a summer tune.

"I'm just pulling your leg stop fretting," she laughed, "I already have a personal pilot and his skills are way better than yours, no offense," Klint felt the corner of his lips twitch and had the urge to punch her in her face but the fear wiped those thoughts away.

"Relax, the empress was happy about your performance so I just came to let you know to stay put for the next week, someone will contact you, be sure to give them the details of your entire crew the empire always repays its friends."

She turned to walk away, a few steps later she turned to look at Klint, "Have a happy retirement I'll let the people handling your pay-check know they might throw in a hefty bonus."

'Dammit, now I really have to retire,' Klint chided himself.

When she was walking away the only person from the crew that wasn't completely terrified of her approached her, "Miss Anya," she spoke hesitantly, ", will I ever see you again?"

Anya looked at the attendant Klara, "Sorry, probably not." she answered honestly.

Klara looked down saddened, Anya was terrifying to her at first, but surprisingly she didn't force her to do anything, most of their time together was them mainly chatting, while Anya did tease her a lot it had mainly been over the shirt and nothing too invasive, in the end to her Anya seemed to be a very inquisitive person with zero boundaries and she never sugar-coated anything.

"Here, give me your hand," Anya said after a while and placed a bronze pin, with two small planets and a star on it, "If you want to, you can take that to planet Arnor in the Vulcan star domain, with it you can get a job anywhere you like definitely something more to your taste, if you keep this job with that personality of yours it will just ruin you."

Before Klara could say any thanks, Anya had already walked away and got into one of the military vans, Klara watched her back with shaking eyes, and held the pin tightly in her hands, "Thank you," she said ever so silently, in the manner of her homeland she got down to her knees and kowtowed three times in Anya's direction.

She didn't care about the strange looks people were giving her and got up, making her way back into the ship with a single goal, to resign.

The silent thanks didn't go unheard by Anya but she didn't stop it wasn't her style to stop for thanks, she always did things the way she wanted to, she didn't need the gratitude of anyone, soon she spotted Lirians pod, and thought back to his answer if only the world could remain so simple as a child wanting to stay by his mother's side.