"We're still a few hours out but no issues thus far," Solae reassured as she dimmed the cabin's lights. Without overhead illumination it was easier to take in the glow of the stars. The cockpit itself was not completely devoid of any light, as there were many controls and screens that could not be safely toggled off now that they were in their destination solar system, but there was an ambience to the darkness. The [i]Bonventure[/i] was private, quiet, and peaceful as it sailed, and it was easy to imagine they were a pair of wayward teenagers sneaking out after curfew to gaze at the night sky. The marquise let out a soft sigh as she gazed upon the dazzling jewels of incandescence beyond their heavily shielded windows.

"Lady Solae has entered an REM cycle for approximately twenty minutes cumulatively since our departure from Panopontus," Mia crooned to Rene. The noblewoman was her mistress, but the artificial intelligence system was clever enough to know that Rene could persuade her when a computer could not. Her programming had a prime directive to keep its human or humans safe and well- even if that meant it might annoy, frustrate, or be forced to 'tattle' on them.

"There is quite a bit of traffic in and out of Zatis, and from what I understand they are rather lax with confirming identification or cargo. I don't think we'll have any issues landing," Solae continues as if she had not been interrupted by Mia ratting her out to her fiance. "I've set our course to touch down in their capital city as that's where the PEA is located. Most of the ships are coming and going from that city in particular so we'll blend in with the crowd rather well I suspect. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some models exceedingly similar to our vessel's manufacture."

"Lady Solae, I am able to automate the piloting until we reach orbit above Zatis if you would like to rest with Sir Rene," Mia suggested with such sultry inflections it sounded as if she were making innuendo. In this particular case there were no such intentions. Mia wanted Solae to actually sleep so that she was not deprived when she set foot on soil. While Mia didn't quite realize how dangerous Zatis truly was to the couple, she was sophisticated enough machinery to have a basic notion, and thus was compelled to keep prompting Solae the longer that she was awake.

Solae shrugged her shoulders and rubbed her eyes. There were worse things to be nagged about. She felt guilty, however, about making Rene sit alone by himself seeing as he was undoubtedly no longer tired. Leaving a man who was injured, still shocked about multiple revelations, and uncomfortable flying a spacecraft felt like a crime in and of itself. With some hesitation she rose and stretched, neither committing to leaving or staying, and instead trying to work out the stiffness of her back and posterior that had been in uncomfortable seating for an extended period of time.

"On the subject of your family and Amellia... we don't have all the information we need. Our priority is to get to the PEA to send the empress a warning about Duke Tan's coup, but we might have a window of time afterwards to see if I can access their communications center. Not only will their library be more robust, the time it takes for me to send or receive messages will probably be a lot shorter as well, which will allow me a chance to see if either of my contacts can be reached." What went unsaid was that if they did manage to send their message to the empress's forces through the PEA they would desperately need allies- perhaps even moreso than they did now. Duke Tan would be more determined, more panicked, and less cautious about trying to seize them, and the empress would not send reinforcements instantly. They would need to hide for days, weeks even, mayhaps longer, with people that would not betray them as the war escalated and the rewards for their capture increased. If they sent the warning through the PEA they would [i]need[/i] help. Without knowing anyone on Zatis the communication center and her prior acquaintances might be their only hope of long-term survival.