Vathion straightened his uniform and took the sealed urn. Paymeh had quietly set on his desk about five minutes ago. He would have said something about taking so long, but Paymeh had looked devastated. It wasn’t fair to add more to that.

After delivering the ashes, Paymeh had merged with him. Fine, but Vathion wouldn’t put up with anything snide out of the lizard.

Lifting the urn in both hands, Vathion stared at it. "I'll get them. But... Damn you!" He closed his eyes with a sigh, tucking the urn against his chest in one hand. In the hall, he turned left, heading to the conference room. He paused at the door to gather his nerves.

Lifting his chin, he set his shoulders at a confident angle, and entered. No choice now. I’m not just Vathion anymore.

His captains stood politely. Their eyes locked onto the urn in his hands as he passed them and carefully set it on the table. "As promised," he said softly, "Ha'Natan is attending the meeting."

Slowly, confused, the captains sank back into their seats, staring at the urn, then at Vathion.

Vathion sat, hands folded on the table in front of him. "I hope you can understand why I lied to you. However, by his word and will, I am his heir. If you wish to have a copy of it, I'll send it, but understand that it's confidential."

Da'Bur put her elbows on the table, hands covering her face. She wasn’t the only one overcome by emotion. Da'Yaun of the Midris sobbed, and then clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I have to ask you though," Vathion continued calmly, "If you could continue my cover-up. Ha'Natan was loved by many and any confirmation of his death would throw the Empire into chaos."

"So that was why you ran around Baelton," Da'Fou whispered, "Muddying the waters so that no one would believe anything they heard... But how did he die?"

Mentally, Vathion gave Kiti the order to hand out datapads to the captains. "Here are the autopsy reports for Ha’Natan and Se'Valef's. Also, the surveillance file, as I found it. However, I'm given to believe that what you see isn't what happened. I'm still in the process of investigating what really occurred. But progress is slow and will be slower if I have to fight you the whole way." He looked from one captain to the next, staring into their eyes. "I promise you, Natan didn't leave you with a complete moron," he smirked though very briefly, "I've got it on Paymeh's word that I was always the backup. Natan's been training me practically since birth."

Vathion nearly frowned at that. He had intended for that to be a lie, but now that he thought about it the more it seemed true. "So, whatever Gatas has told you about me, just remember that it is Gatas, and he does tend to react badly to sudden changes."

There were a few weak chuckles, but no one seemed to have the heart to laugh that hard.

"Bad news wasn't all I intended to talk about in this meeting," Vathion continued. "First off, I'd like you to know that I do things a bit differently from my father. When asked, I will explain my reasoning for decisions, but I expect the same courtesy. If you have an objection, explain it. But if it’s just because that’s not how we do things, then shut it and follow orders. Everything will be fine in the end. You're all intelligent," Vathion added, "Otherwise my father wouldn't have trusted you to take care of his fist children."

Vathion mentally ordered Kiti to open the Marak system map. The wallscreen opposite immediately showed the system and its trade routes. Gesturing towards it, Vathion changed topics, "Now, as you've heard, we're going to Marak. We were ordered by the Emperor to take the Fleet there. Reports indicate that Marak is going to be the Rebel's next target and it's too important to make into a strategic loss like Kimidas."

This raised brows on some of the captains. Apparently, they hadn’t realized the truth. Or they hadn’t expected him to know.

"Also, Natan’s notes indicated that he knew something about Marak that linked with Baelton and I've personally found a link to Kimidas."

"Then shouldn't we stay around Baelton if it's in danger of falling?" Da'Itta of Cinnamon Rolls asked. She fingered her short-cropped hair where it had turned silver at the nape of her neck, her vivid orange-gold eyes locked on the wallscreen.

Vathion snorted. "Stationmaster's just running some Shell Harbors. Baelton is under Serfocile jurisdiction, even if there's a Gilon Stationmaster. They will handle things when they find out about it. Which they will soon as we leave." He saw some reluctant nods around the table and continued. "Current Imperial Navy stationed at Marak are: Ha'Huran, Ha'Piro, and Ha'Clemmis. I’m aware they’ve viewed the Fleet favorably in the past, but thanks to Ma'Gatas, we've inadvertently irritated them. We've definitely pissed Ha'Huran off."

"You mean the sudden dismissal of some crew?" Da'Fou, of the Seven, asked. She was a petite woman, limber and rarely remained still for long. Even now, in the wake of terrible grief, she was bouncing her knee under the table. Her almond brown hair was in tight natural curls, tamed at the back of her head by a black bow with red edging to match her uniform. "I thought that was strange. So, you didn't order it? Gatas said you did."

“Never understood why we kept those people anyway,” Bur admitted.

Shaking his head, Vathion said, "He lied. And keeping them kept the peace. This fleet has always been wild and unpredictable. Letting the influential admirals keep tabs on what we were up to was a diplomatic decision. Unfortunately, two owned by the emperor, one by Huran, and Se'Valef were found dead in one of Baelton's dockside bars after a brawl. I did my best to smooth the incident over with Stationmaster, but the Serfocile aren't happy about it.”

“A bar brawl?” Da’Yaun asked in shock. “Valef swore off drinking ten years ago.”

Vathion hadn’t known that, but it added to his impression that there was something wrong. “I can't find any surveillance of him since the twenty-second. There’s no record of him getting off the ship. His only opportunity to have done so was yesterday since the Xarian didn't go into port until I ordered it. There were no transport ships missing or logged as leaving or coming back except the one I arrived on. Honestly, whoever tried to pin the blame for this on Valef was stupid. Valef and my father were as close as brothers and any who knew him would have known that."

Bur shifted, leaning forward. "Someone didn't do their homework." She snorted, a gleam in her eyes that Vathion recognized as the lust for revenge.

Giving a snort, the young admiral said, "Indeed. Also, suspiciously missing from the surveillance recording of my father's death is the sound. I've turned it up to the point where I could hear dust hitting the floor and it's obvious that Natan and Valef had an extensive conversation, but there is absolutely nothing being said after the first line."

On the wallscreen, the video he’d saved of Natan’s last minutes began playing right as he entered Cargo Bay Four.

Natan spoke to the shadowed figure but there was nothing but silence with head shakes and shrugs.

Vathion let that play a moment before he said, "I've brightened the video here." The lighting on the shot changed, restoring color to the scene, replacing the half-seen shadows. "However, there's still nothing to see."

Natan jerked as Valef patted his shoulder and turned away. The admiral collapsed to his knees, then landed on his face as Paymeh jolted out of him, running.

Da'Bur shook her head. "Valef would never do that, or even be an accomplice in Ha'Natan's murder. I've known him longer than Natan did. There's just no way he could have done that." Looking towards Vathion, she suggested, "What if Gatas' firing spree covered the murderer's escape off the ship?"

Fou’s anxiety shook the table as she leaned on it. "Either the fiend was a double agent, or one Natan didn't know about. But he’s always been careful about who he hires. Crew does sign away privacy upon boarding the Fleet. The person had to be a double agent.”

On the screen, the video continued looping. Those who hadn’t joined the conversation were watching intently. Using their datapads to manipulate the visual. Someone had shifted the colors to monochrome and slowed it down.

Vathion answered Fou, “I've taken precautions and some of Natan’s contacts are watching the people Gatas fired. I managed to counter a few of the fifteen release notices before they got read." He sighed. "Much as it pains me, I intend to be Spectacular enough to please the public and make myself a target if I can."

Da’Bur snorted. "You've certainly inherited his charm. You can pull it off."

Vathion glanced aside and coughed behind his fist. "Anyway," he deflected, getting back on subject, "The short of it is, we're going to Marak to pick up some replacement crew, and hunt around that area for Rebels as well as information. I'll need you all to keep me informed on anything strange, and to trust me. We can pull this off." He hoped anyway.

"What is that? " Da'Yaun asked, partially standing. The video on the wallscreen halted, then went back two frames. "There! It looks like something hit him in the back of the head!"