When they arrived in the hanger, Anisa was surprised to see the officers waiting for them. Their usual white and black uniforms were very rare to be seen. Many had begun to wear more striking attire, or had some form of colored stripe on their uniform and everything in between. As she stepped off the ship, the crew streaming out behind her and Douglas waiting at the bottom of the ramp. His brow was furrowed and he seemed deeply irritated. Dean was the first to speak, “Why do you look like you ate a bad pistachio, Chief? Did the protocols not go as planned?”

  Protocols? What does that mean? Before she could ask, Douglas spoke firmly, “The transition was as smooth as it could have been and I’m speaking with the interim leader about the necessary adjustments. We are also screening previously removed officers to ensure we aren’t using corruption in the previous timeline to screen the current timeline.” Anisa stopped mid-stride at this conversation. While everyone else was lost and confused, she remembered all too well how Shawn operated. What was once a quirk of an overly active imagination had likely formed the foundation of this network of plans upon plans, preparing for every possible contingency and variation. If that’s the case, something must have crossed a threshold in those plans to get this expression. “Special Detective Paddock and Captain Sasori. I need to speak with you both in my office.”

  Moments later, she was standing in a room she had never seen before, a pristine office full of many filing cabinets and various scattered but pristine piles of paperwork. As she took in the sights, armored panels came down from the walls, sealing them in the room. Dean didn’t seem to worry, but Anisa felt a creeping dread over her. She looked at Douglas who sat at his desk deep in thought. She grumbled, “Don’t ever do that again. Or at least ask before you do whatever that was.” When Douglas nodded, she crossed her arms in resolution, “Good. Now what went wrong?”

  Douglas’ formal mannerisms fell away, a twitch of anger crossing his face before he threw a stack of papers across the room in frustration. He grumbled, “Not only did he steal the Ziegfried from the hanger without despite every proper precaution having been taken, but now we have a Dark System event! And worst of all, I can’t even go and try and sort it out because when the Ziegfried was stolen, Prince Garm decided to gather his allies and make his move to confront his father!” Anisa was confused but Dean seemed to go pale, the first time Anisa had seen him worry about anything since they met.

  She narrowed her eyes, not sure what was going on, but knowing there was only one guy who could have created this much trouble for them. “So, I take it Shawn-”

  Douglas growled, “That old bastard! He did this shit on purpose! He always does!” He threw another pile of papers, livid beyond anything she could have imagined. Moments later, he grumbled, “We don’t have time for it and he knows that.”

  Anisa sighed, “What do you mean you don’t have time. I thought you are some kind of super speed warrior.”

  Douglas collected himself a little and explained with barely contained venom. “I use rapid quantum snapping, and while I can use it blind to where I’m going, I don’t have the sanity needed to check an entire system when I can’t see where I’m going. That means that unless I can go there and check it at normal rates of travel, I can’t actually find him.” He sighed and leaned against the desk, genuine worry on his face. “The old man is too damn clever. Stole the crystal and the ship and ran. The one man who COULD have repaired the ship enough to leave and the one thing needed to fix his mess.” Douglas shook his head as he paced, “I’m sorry, Anisa. I guess your quest will have to wait but you and your cr-”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “I’m going to stop you right there.” He froze at her words, but she didn’t flinch, “I don’t know or care what a Dark System is but I’m going to save Shawn. And if you are wanting to send us after the Falos Emperor, I’m going to have to pass.”

  He looked at her in baffled disbelief. He clarified, “You want to take a ship to go search an entire star system and abandon the liberation of large portions of the cosmos from the hands of an Emperor who has been actively slandering and targeting you specifically?"

  “Yeah, I don’t care. I have bigger problems than a man with an ego.”

  Douglas seemed even more confused and in what seemed like desperation to reason with her, he said, “You are THE Zora. I’ve seen how people talk about you and even the reputation you have. Everyone is expecting the Warrior of the Dawn to help the Prince to-”

  “I’m not like Shawn. He was into the theatrics and the folk hero kind of thing. And he did a pretty damn good job of it. I’m a little more about the ‘getting shit done’ part of the job. So why don’t you tell me what the hell a Dark System event is and I’ll work it out from there.”

  Douglas’ look went from bemused confusion to hardened irritation, “My god, you two were made for each other.” His irritation slowly became a confident smirk, “Alright. Fine. A Dark System event is like a Dark Planet but the entire star system. Enough despair and trauma concentrated so densely that light itself cannot escape and all life that enters it is likely to be driven to the very edge of despair the moment they step into the open. Dean and I have trained on Dark Planets with Shawn and have the resilience to be able to walk in an environment like that for enough time to look for him, but-”

  She cut him off again, looking to Dean, “Based on what Kat said, I think my Null Resonance will let me take care of it. You think you can take the rest of the crew on your little war?”

  Douglas tilted his head in baffled disbelief as Dean responded, “I mean, I would rather not take Kat into a warzone, but I don’t think we can get this done without her. Are you sure you don’t want to tag along?”

  As they continued to ignore the returned Supreme Commander of the Cosmic Patrol, Anisa nodded, “Sadly, yeah. If we want his stupid plan to work, we are going to need Shawn back in full. If he is even just as strong as he was when he killed me, I’m sure that he could make the difference. Not to mention when people remember he exists I can’t imagine that won’t tip the scales in our favor.”

  Douglas sighed, holding his head, “Alright, so… if I give you a ship to get yourself there, how are you going to find the right planet in the Bermot system?”

  Anisa heard the name and she froze. She hadn’t just heard it before. She was all too familiar with it. She shivered as she felt like someone was walking on her grave. A chill in her voice she said grimly, “Triphobos…” She repeated without doubt, “If he is in that system he could only be on Triphobos.”

  Douglas’ gaze lingered on her own, seeming to see some hint of what was on her mind. After a moment, the papers were back in their homes and Douglas was back at his desk. As the armored panels rose up, he said quietly as his formal tone returned, “You all have your assignments. Special Detective Tomas will escort you to your craft. And do not worry about your complex history. I’ve provided a full brief to them.”

  Anisa asked out of genuine curiosity, “Why do you use paper? Don’t we have digital me-”

  “Because I live much of my life at a much more accelerated time frame. To say a second for you is days for me at times would not be an exaggeration. I could leave for vacation and come back before I even finish a sentence and you would never know. That said, ink and paper doesn’t require a processor to keep up with me. Only physics. I can provide countless briefs and updates in less than a moment and oversee every operation to prevent corruption within our ranks no matter where it is in the cosmos. Now may I escort you to Officer Tomas or do you insist on meeting with them yourself?”

  Anisa sighed, “I prefer the scenic route.” As she left the room she said firmly, "When I'm done bringing him home, maybe you can show me how to do the quantum snap thing."