Chapter 1 #2
"Women would never hold an assistant position because it is beneath them. Why be an assistant when you can be an ambassador?"
My eyes went wide as a puzzle piece locked into place. "In the Reach, women are given positions of power and influence while men are relegated to support roles?"
"Of course. That's how it's always been," Vaelix said.
"It's my entire family," Lyrin said. "We are one of the wealthiest families in the Reach, and they never agreed with my decision to join the Knights. They wanted me to agree to a joining and form alliances with other powerful houses. I wanted to help people, not stay in the aristocracy."
"Got it," I said. "Family issues."
I looked at Kaedren. "How about you, big fella?"
"My mother," he said.
"There's always one. What did she want you to do with your life?"
"She felt my test scores were too high to join the Knights. She wanted me to join the Royal Science Academy and use my brain over my brawn."
"Lots to unpack there," I said. "So we have a sister, a father, a full family, and a mother. Is that right?"
All four men nodded.
I leaned back in my chair. The leather creaked beneath me.
"Here's the thing," I said, and my voice came out quieter than I intended.
"I know what it's like to have a family that doesn't approve of your choices.
My mother spent my entire childhood telling me I was too loud, too ambitious, too much.
When I left Earth, she told me I was throwing my life away. "
The Knights were watching me now, really watching. Through the tether, I felt something shift. The wall they'd built was still there, but it had cracks now.
"So when I say I can help you stand up to them, I'm not saying it'll be easy. I'm saying I've done it before. And it cost me. But I'm still here."
Lyrin nodded slowly. "You understand."
"I understand some of it. The rest, you'll have to teach me."
"It won't be that easy," Torvyn said.
"I know it won't be easy. But—"
"No." His voice was firm. "You don't know. Not yet. And that's not an insult. It's a fact."
I closed my mouth. Through the Tether, I felt something shift. He wasn't shutting me out anymore. He was trying to make me understand.
"The Reach isn't the corporations," he continued.
"You can't outmaneuver them with cleverness and moral high ground.
These are people who have been playing political games since before humans achieved spaceflight.
They will smile while they destroy you, and you won't see the knife until it's already in your back. "
I sat with that for a moment. Really sat with it.
"Okay," I said. "Then teach me."
Torvyn studied me, as if checking whether I meant it. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him.
"We are facing the prospect of exile," he said.
"Every step of this journey will be perilous.
The politics of the Reach are an order of magnitude above what you experienced with the Corporations.
The Zorathi politicians and diplomats you will meet have been in their respective arenas since they were children. "
"What you do isn't something random you choose," Kaedren added. "It is a sacred decision designed to benefit the family and its future."
"We are the black sheep," Vaelix said. "The Knights are the ones who reject their families' choices and the Zorathi traditions. That is why we operate outside the Reach. We are the first line of defense. We are expendable."
"When we return to Reach space, we will be fighting for our independence every day.
You will be doing the same," Torvyn said.
"If Aesira convinces the tribunal that we have broken Zorathi tradition by including you in the Tether, we will be stripped of our titles, our ship, and be remanded to our families' custody. "
"They will scrutinize everything we say and do. Everything we have done. Every decision we have made. We could lose everything," Kaedren said.
The weight of it settled over me. This wasn't just a family reunion with some awkward dinners. This was a trial. And we were all defendants.
"Then let's make a plan," I said. "A real one. Not just 'Kira will handle it.'"
Kaedren's eyebrows rose slightly. "You want our input?"
"I want more than your input. I want you to tell me what I'm walking into so I don't get us all killed with my big mouth."
Vaelix laughed, short and surprised. "That's... unexpectedly self-aware."
"I have my moments." I looked around the table. "So. Where do we start?"
Torvyn glanced at the others, then pulled up a holographic display of the Reach. The image rotated slowly above the table, a sprawling network of stations and planets connected by glowing transit lines.
"Start with the political structure," Lyrin said. "The Matron sits at the top, but real power flows through the prefects. There are seven of them, each controlling a different aspect of Reach governance."
"Aesira is the First Prefect," Torvyn added. "She controls internal security and cultural enforcement. If anyone is going to argue that you've contaminated Zorathi tradition, it will be her."
"What's her angle?" I asked. "Why does she care so much about our tether?"
"Because it embarrasses her," Kaedren said. "Her brother, bonded to a human? It suggests she can't control her own family. In the Reach, that's a sign of weakness."
"So this isn't really about tradition," I said slowly. "It's about her reputation."
"Everything in the Reach is about reputation," Vaelix said. "Tradition is just the weapon they use to protect it."
I nodded, filing that away. "What else?"
For the next hour, we planned. Not me giving orders and them following.
All five of us, building something together.
They walked me through the major players, the likely objections, and the traps Aesira might set.
I asked questions. They answered. Sometimes they argued with each other about the best approach, and I let them, watching how they thought, learning the shape of the battlefield.
By the end, we had the beginning of a strategy. It wasn't perfect. We'd have to adapt once we saw what we were actually facing. But it was ours.
And more importantly, they'd stopped shutting me out.
Torvyn looked at me as the others began gathering their notes. "Thank you," he said quietly. "For pushing. For listening."
"That's what partners do," I said. "All five of us. Together."
He nodded, and through the tether, I felt the wall crack a little more.
The Knights filed out, but Lyrin paused at the door.
"Kira," he said. "For what it's worth, I think you're right. About standing up to them. We've just... never had anyone stand with us before."
"Well," I said, "get used to it."
He smiled, small but real, and left.
I sat alone for a moment, staring at the holographic map of the Reach still floating above the table. Sister. Father. Family. Mother. Tribunal. Exile. Seven prefects. A matriarch who happened to be my boyfriend's mother.
No pressure.
Famous last words.
I know. But we've got a plan now. That's something.
It's something. Just don't get cocky.
Me? Never.
I stood, squared my shoulders, and headed for the bridge. We had a week to prepare.
I intended to use every minute of it.