“I run most of my business from this ship.” Wallace motioned grandly to their blurred surroundings as she led them through the wide aisle towards the stern with her two aides in tow. Freyr thought she could see movement through the blurred forcefields all around. People, perhaps? Deep purple and pink and blue lights blinked on and off, like lighthouses in the fog. Two people stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the gangway, but stopped and let them pass. Each bowed deeply to Wallace, their faces blurred beyond all recognition.

“It offers me a greater degree of discretion than Rothian worlds, and I can be wherever I'm needed. We have state of the art signal tech on board, courtesy of our Friends below Babylon.” Freyr realised now that she’d worked on some of the components for this type of ship, nearly half a decade ago now. She cleared her throat nervously, still in awe of the things they’d deployed without fully understanding them.

They arrived at a grand set of doors, flanked by two guards in elaborate dress. “Chirtsey, make Sergeant Skopec comfortable please. Alderney, serve us some tea in my office.” Wallace commanded her two servants, as the doors opened up ahead of them. The Institute soldier looked apoplectic with rage, Freyr realised, but didn’t say anything as the rest of the party followed the Plenipotentiary.