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It was not long before the government of Mejere got wind of what had occurred aboard the Nirvana. The presence of men aboard a female ship was, in itself, a travesty. The presence of a true spy, one who had reported back to the commanders of Tarak, was unacceptable. One week after the armistice, a quartet of masked guards entered the control room aboard the Nirvana, flanking a representative of Mejere dressed in the colors of the courts of justice. Magno Vivan turned to greet them, not leaving her chair so that the newcomers were forced to look up at her. The Captain took in their appearance, the determined set of the messenger’s jaw as she surveyed the various crewmembers and her expression of disdain as she caught sight of BC. “Tenmei Uragasumi,” she proclaimed. “By order of the high court of Mejere, you are hereby under arrest for espionage and high treason.”
She gestured to the guards, who started forward, spears raised. “A moment,” Magno Vivan said calmly, lifting one hand. The guards paused, their blank white masks turning slightly in her direction. “You seem to be under the impression that you can walk onto my ship and deprive me of my second-in-command. I’m afraid I must disabuse you of that notion.”
The Mejere representative sneered, upper lip curving to reveal white teeth. “You have no say in this, pirate. ”
Barnette growled with anger, but Magno Vivan chose to ignore her. “I have every say. BC is invaluable to me, and I will not allow you to force her away from her post. I am in need of her skills and experience.”
The representative snorted derisively. “The skills of a man?” There were murmurs from the pirates on the bridge, and the woman glanced around, eyes wary. “If you continue to stand in our way, we will have no choice but to use force, and to charge you with obstruction of justice,” the woman warned.
“Charge us all if you’d like,” Magno Vivan replied lightly, “But you may have a harder time reaching your target than you think.”
She gestured in BC’s direction, and the messenger’s gaze followed the motion of her arm. The woman’s eyes widened as she took in the scene. While they’d talked, half a dozen pirates had moved to stand between the guards and BC. All were armed, and all wore the same defiant expression. “As you can see, your request is impossible,” Magno Vivan continued, eyeing the guards in uniform. “We have business to attend to. I’m afraid we cannot help you at this time.”
“Cannot help-“ the woman’s face reddened in anger. “Request?” Her fists clenched. “You go too far, pirate,” she hissed. “Not one of you is safe from justice, regardless of your alleged heroics during the war.” She pointed in BC’s direction. “Hand him over now. That is an order.”
The guards raised their spears, and the pirates responded by leveling their own weapons at the intruders. BC stood, her long silver hair draping over one shoulder and falling to her bare waist. “Lay down your weapons. I take responsibility for my own actions and am prepared to face the court’s justice.”
“Not a chance,” Meia snapped, and the other pirates who had rushed to BC’s defense nodded. “You don’t owe them anything.”
“Forgive my interruption,” came a low, calm voice from the shadows. Everyone turned to see Duelo standing with Parfet near one of the ship’s many control panels. His stance was casual, but his gaze was sharp as he surveyed the guards and the messenger. “Perhaps I am mistaken, but I was under the impression that Mejere law applied only to women born on Mejere.”
It took a second for his words to register, but when they did a wave of hushed chattering broke out between the various crewmembers at their stations. “Quiet!” the messenger yelled, looking absolutely livid now. “That may have been true in the past, but our burgeoning diplomatic agreement with Tarak allows us greater jurisdiction over dissidents and criminals than before. Though Tenmei Uragasumi may have been born on Tarak, his crimes were directed toward Mejere and its citizens.”
There was a slamming sound from below and the sound of running footsteps, before Bart suddenly appeared, panting from exertion. He had clearly run up from his post in the Paxis the moment he heard the commotion. “Tarak law wouldn’t give you any more rights than what you have now,” he wheezed. “My great uncle is a judge. According to him, Tarak law applies to men, and men only. The language is very specific.”
Magno Vivan smiled, tapping a finger lightly on the arm of her chair. “It seems you do not have the authority to arrest my vice-captain after all, since she is neither a woman of Mejere or a man of Tarak.”
“He’s clearly a citizen of one of them,” protested the messenger. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“On the contrary, it’s you who is being ridiculous,” Magno Vivan retorted curtly. “As far as I am concerned, Buzam Calessa is a citizen of the Nirvana, and owes her allegiance to the members of this ship alone. Until you can prove otherwise, I insist that you leave. We have work to do, and you are currently in our way.”
“Take care now,” quipped Jura. She and Barnette joined the group of defenders and began moving slowly toward the intruders, forcing them back.
The messenger gave Magno Vivan and the Nirvana crew one final, contemptuous look before turning on her heel and stalking out. Her guards followed, as silent and obedient as ever. The moment they’d gone, the control deck came alive with chatter, groups forming to gossip over what had just occurred. Magno Vivan noticed that Duelo had returned to his work with Parfet, uninterested in further discussion of a closed subject. For her part, BC had done the same, her long elegant fingers tracing patterns on the keys of her station’s control panel, her expression one of determined focus and concentration. Just as the whispers were subsiding, one voice cut across the room, audible over the engine noise. “Well, he is a traitor after all. What did he expect would happen?”
Magno Vivan spun in her chair, searching to locate the source of the comment. To her disappointment, the words had come from Rebecca. Her brows snapped together in anger. She had hoped for better from her crew, but Rebecca had not been aboard when BC had saved them. She had not witnessed the vice-captain’s heroics for herself. Pressing a key on her panel, Magno Vivan stepped out of her control station and walked slowly down the stairs until she reached Rebecca’s station, silence descending in her wake. “Perhaps I have not been clear. The chain of command stands exactly the way I want it. Those who doubt that fact should reconsider their own place on the bridge.” Rebecca was blushing, but Magno Vivan did not care. “We owe our lives to BC,” she continued. “Your child is alive right now because your Vice-captain chose to save this ship and jeopardize her own safety and reputation. She deserves your respect and your thanks.” Turning, she addressed the entire crew, her expression grave. “What you were before you came here means nothing to me. We all have demons in our pasts, things we keep hidden, but so long as those private matters do not interfere with our work, then they are of no concern. We will work as we always have, as one unit, united against the world. And mark this: if I hear a single one of you refer to your Vice-captain as male, I will take it as an act of insubordination, and the appropriate punishment will be meted out. I will not have my crew divided by something so inconsequential. We are as we have always been.”
…
That night, as she entered her quarters, Magno Vivan heard a low, husky murmur. Turning, she saw that BC had followed her down into the ship’s belly, and now leaned against the doorframe, a lanky silhouette. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and tendrils of her silver-grey hair blocked her eyes from view. “Speak up, girl,” the Captain ordered gruffly.
Green eyes glittered in the harsh light of the hallway. “I said, they won’t thank you for what you did. Taking my side.”
“Who says I want their thanks?” Magno Vivan’s eyes narrowed. “Being a Captain isn’t about pleasing people. You’re thinking of a politician.”
“I mean that they won’t forgive.” BC’s voice, so recently restored to its familiar register, was tight with emotion.
“I love it when you’re wrong,” Magno Vivan replied cheerfully, “It happens so infrequently, I forget how satisfying it is. Listen to me,” she said quickly, before BC could object. “They will forgive because they have to. Because they are accustomed to a chain of command, accustomed to taking orders from certain sources. In time, their doubts will fade into distant memory. Make no mistake: they will never forget.” She shook her head at the look on BC’s face. “Nor should they forget. Had you not been what you are, we would have died in agony, blown to pieces. We might have died a dozen times during our voyage, if not for you. Have you stopped to imagine what would have happened to us, to me and my girls, had the Tarak government chosen someone else to be their spy?” She heard BC’s gasp, but ignored it, keeping her beady eyes locked on those of her Second-in Command. “How many people could do what you do? How many in the Tarak military could go from comforting a lovelorn pilot to commanding a raiding mission at a moment’s notice? How many could have faced down harvesters and renegades, army toughs and rogues, all for the sake of a ship full of pirates? How many could have disobeyed orders and revealed themselves in order to save a group of women even the government of Mejere considered worthless?” She smiled at her Vice-Captain, feeling her heart grow full. “If there is another out there like you, then name them. Perhaps I will invite them to join our crew. But if, as I suspect, you are utterly unique in every way, then stop fussing over details and get back to work.”
BC straightened up, hand automatically raising in a salute, but at the last moment she paused. “What makes you so certain I didn’t lead us into a trap on purpose? What makes you sure I haven’t been using you all along, selling all of your secrets to Tarak and waiting until the time was right to dispose of you?”
Magno Vivan frowned. Stepping forward, she held out her hand. “Left,” she commanded, and BC, looking wary, offered her left hand. Turning BC’s hand over, she ran her thumb along a faded burn mark at the base of the woman’s palm. “You got this helping Jura out of her fighter, when one of the engines had blown.” Pulling BC forward, she rested a hand on one of the young woman’s black-trimmed armbands. “Under here is a scar from a broken bone, sustained during a recovery operation when Meia and several others were stranded on a hostile space station. Those,” she pointed to BC’s earrings, “are gifts from Dita, Ezra, and a few other girls, after you persuaded me to let them spend an extra half-day at the East Andelle Marketplace.” She tapped a finger on BC’s arm until the young woman looked down at her. “I know you, Buzam Calessa,” the Captain said softly. “I know where your heart lies. You are not capable of the sort of deception you describe. If you were, I would not have allowed you to remain aboard my ship. As it is, I find the idea of continuing on without you to be unthinkable. I would sooner lose my right hand than lose you.” Reaching up, she brushed a tear from BC’s cheek. “I won’t waste any more time in sentimental ramblings. I will only say that I am proud of you, of the person you’ve become.” Noticing for the first time that her own cheeks were rather damp, she took a step back. “Are you really going to leave the bridge unattended right now? This may seem like clear airspace, but anything can change at a moment’s notice.”
BC nodded, straightening her shoulders. “I’ll check on the situation. Ezra and Rebecca are still there, but an extra pair of eyes can’t hurt.”
She turned to go. “Don’t be afraid of what they’ll think,” Magno Vivan reminded her. “They’ll learn quickly enough. Forgiveness is inevitable. After all,” she caught BC’s eye and winked, “I forgave you long ago.”