[center][h2][b]Schloss Habingen, Kempf Demesne, Halcyon, Trachis System, Eden Cluster[/b][/h2][/center]  

[center][h3][i]The Sky Garden[/i][/h3][/center]

“Pft. No, I don’t think that will be necessary Anthony,” Lord Christoph Kempf waved his hand dismissively before the hologram sitting across from him and went on, “The drones are unpleasant at the best of times, but dangerous? They wouldn’t be concerning themselves with pretexts if they had the strength or, or the will, to be anything more than the annoyance than they already are.”

The digital recreation of Lord Anthony Hawthorn frowned, clearly unconvinced.  “I can’t say I agree with that Christoph.  A cancer can only be ignored for so long.  The CCN is ideologically incompatible with the status quo.  They’ll keep doing things like this, expecting nothing, until the day comes when, as you say, they don’t need a pretext anymore.  It will be too late then.”

“They haven’t the balls, and they’re well past the point where they could grow a pair.”  Lord Kempf chuckled airily before pointing to the other Lord, “But!  If it will cure you of this... Anxiety, I’ll agree to your proposal.  I can spare a few Men-At-Arms, and lord knows they need the experience.”  

Lord Hawthorn hesitated before answering with a sigh, “My thanks, Lord Kempf.  The unit I’m forming will certainly be an…  Opportunity, for your troops to get real experience in battle.”

“One hopes.  There aren’t enough ways to keep my men’s blades sharp.  Speaking of, I trust you’re aware of the situation on Duro one?  I’m thinking I’ll-”  Christoph stalled as a servant, a young Ataraxian woman with long black hair, coughed into her hand behind him.  

He looked positively irate at the interruption, but waved her over nonetheless.  She leaned down to speak into his ear and after a brief exchange of whispers he refocused on the hologram before him and spoke again, “I’m sorry, Anthony, but something has come up, we’ll have to hammer out the specifics later.”

For his part, Lord Hawthorn only nodded before severing the connection.  With a sigh Christoph stood from his chair and took a deep breath, taking in the exotic scents of the rare plants that surrounded him, before turning to his servant with a frown, “So he’s run off again, has he?”

“I’m… I’m afraid it’s not like the other times, my Lord.”  The Ataraxian woman faltered, eyes on the floor.

It was, in Christoph’s mind, explanation enough.  No servant of his, let alone Amelia, would be that spinelessly deferential unless the news was bad.  With a grunt the Lord motioned for Amelia to follow him to the ornate windows that fenced in the lurid garden and sighed heavily when they reached them.  His eyes found the Habingen spaceport, a stout building on the edge of the property.  “So,”  He spoke evenly, “Hans has decided to get serious.”

Amelia gulped before explaining, “He stole one of your racing skiffs last night my Lord.  After last time he shouldn’t have had access but, well, he managed to take the ship out of the planets atmosphere.  Your men at the port reported that he had a valid security code.  No alarms were raised until one of your men at the Gate station inquired as to why a family vessel was taking an unscheduled trip to a frontier planet.”

Christoph cocked a brow and looked at his servant, “Is that all?  I admit, this is the first time he’s had the gall to use the Gate, but we can track the ship.”

“Ah,” Amelia pursed her lips before answering, “I’ve also been informed that, well, your investment account is missing some ten million credits.”

“Oh.”  Christoph blinked before, rather suddenly, bursting out in raucous laughter, “That takes balls!  Oh that boy has something coming, but that’s more than I ever dared take when I tried that nonsense.”

“Lord?”  Amelia was taken aback by the laughter, and hazarded a small smile before asking, “Would you, ah, like me to dispatch a retrieval team?”

“No, no!”  Christoph answered loudly, “Not until he’s had his fun.  If he’s going to dig himself a hole, I’ll damn well let him dig it.  Don’t tell Clara a word of this.  Lovely as my wife is, she worries enough already.  I’ll bring Hans back eventually, but not before the boy learns what it’s really like out there, especially for people with millions of credits on their damn personal implant.”

“Very well, my lord.”  Amelia nodded, “I’ll see that we keep an eye on him, then.”

“Do so.”  Christoph waved Amelia off before grinning again and staring into the expansive blue sky.

As the only door to the Old Garden hissed shut behind him Lord Christoph Kempf shook his head happily and muttered, “You’re in for it now, Hans."