After John’s summary of the rude lady’s past, Rachel was sure she sensed a ‘kid did his homework’ comment coming from someone. If there was one, it got lost in the background noises of the docking bays even to her augmented ears. Likely due to the excitement over the invitation to dinner.

“Colonists from the outer reaches hated the Ascendancy’s leadership enough as it is. If this surfaced, many would oppose it. Public unrest all over the edges of the empire just wasn’t something they could afford in the middle of a losing war.” Rachel shared her opinion as her mug slid into her waiting palm seemingly on its own, “Many of the aliens I interacted with couldn’t believe it either, even near the end of the war. There was often a bit of confused disbelief when they learned the hard truth.” Taking a long sip of the warm liquid, she turned to their new crew “How much were you told about us, anyway?” Given the crew seemed to be unaware of who they were prior to the actual meeting, who knew what critical details might have slipped the net?