The Auspex betrays no emotion. It does not flinch when surprised, or blink stupidly when it's overwhelmed. And right now that's a very good thing, because it means that Bella only needs to twist her head slightly and the fact that she is both of these things at once disappears into the faint shadows of the hangar. Her tail twists itself around her leg as her stance shifts uneasily into a closer and less firm position. She folds her arms across her chest, and her nostrils flare a little too sharply in the single breath she allows herself lest anybody notice. But the Auspex shines as sharply as ever, and that's what saves her.

Silence rules the loading dock for the longest of minutes until Bella finally wills it broken. Her steps feel awkward and overly deliberate as she crosses the awkward space between the treasures piled on top of each other, but she forces herself to focus on the rhythm and the soft clicking of her boots on the hard concrete. Good, that's very good. Give nothing away. She picks up a bolt of silk and turns it over in her hands several times without comment. Finally, she rips her claws through the soft fabric and tears it in half with barely a whisper of protest, and walks steadily back to the Pilate, who is still squirming underneath Mynx.

"I'm pretty sure," she says, balling up the tattered fabric and shoving it into the Pilate's mouth, "I told you not to speak."

She steps away, leaving the silk to its good work without bothering to secure it. She dares the Hermitician to defy her and spit it out. The smirk that crosses her lips is cruel... but calm. She turns away with a disdainful flick of her tail to find that her crew has gone and fetched her advisor without waiting for her to ask. Omn glitters and as it shifts and rotates its many surface structures with even greater polish than it had when Bella had tried to present it as a gift on Baradissar, easily a match by itself for the entire pile of bribes in front its gaze. The mice flanking it dip into a flourishing bow and retreat once more with a touch of the bracers on their arms. Bella nods, and mimics the motion across her fur. Silence is sacred to the Lanternites. Do you see, Pilate? [i]This[/i] is what an act of worship looks like.

"How may I serve you, Praetor?" Omn's voice resonates across the loading dock with mechanical charm.

"I have a problem, Omn. Look at all of the treasures that the Order has laid out to try and buy my silence. Do you see them?"

"There is more arrayed here than may be safely stored about the [i]Anemoi[/i], Mistress."

"And after forking it over, this little creep is trying to bullshit me about their intentions!" Mynx-Bella chimes in. Omn pivots smoothly from one Praetor to the other.

"I can't trust a fucking word out of their mouths. Am I supposed to believe they're here gearing up to shoot their biggest gun at one of Her Majesty's planets out of the goodness of their hearts? Tell me Omn, is this a simple misunderstanding?"

"It is unlikely, Praetor. The Order of Hermes has a long history of defying the law when they believe the data is more valuable than continued goodwill. The nature of the proposed experiment and their initial overtures strongly suggest there are elements at work which they would prefer you remain ignorant of."

"You see my problem, then. These assholes eat secrets like candy; getting a straight answer out of any of them is going to take [i]forever[/i]."

"And that's if you trust anybody but the Magos to even know. But he's pretending to be too busy for an officer of the Empire. You can smell the guilt on him from here. Prick."

"The nature of the situation is dangerous, Mistress. If we are receiving insufficient overtures from the Order, I recommend authorizing the use of the Ikarani adept. As an information specialist, she is well equipped to seize access to any and all hidden information aboard this station."

Bella is silent as she nods along with her advisor. She hasn't given the order just yet. But she makes a very deliberate point of turning and facing the Hermeticians gathered near her, so they can see the light in her eyes and the smile spreading across her face. The Auspex radiates a sense of power and control through her chest once again. Her tail flicks with the simple pleasure of a cat who's caught the bird she's been staring at all afternoon. She lifts her hand, as if to give another silent order, and uses it to toss her hair about instead.