Favor for a Friend
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Later that night, Sharon sat in her room, brooding. She felt she would do almost anything for Michael, who she regarded as a personal and family friend. She certainly didn’t care for this business with a Bane Sidhe, though.
She turned it all over in her mind. It made sense to send one against Abigail, she thought. They are assassins of the worst sort, though. Occasionally one would savor its work too much and go rogue. Many black things were told of the Bane Sidhe of the Ebony Fleet. Though the Fleet tended to encourage other rumors of that sort, those surrounding the Bane Sidhe were of such an embarrassingly distasteful nature that Sharon supposed they were true. Even the elite teams sent to deal with them were often lost.
Sharon thought through the remainder of the briefing, as details of travel for the possible journey were discussed. They would take an Ebony Fleet blockade runner through the Andromeda Ghing’s line. They would then make their way to a Terran Ghing tumor in a system deeper in the Salient, where they could book passage on a metastasis, a rogue hauler, to the vicinity of a second Ebony Fleet ship, a Scout ship in this case. With luck, this would take them through peril to the fortress system.
Lots of steps. Lots to go wrong. Even discounting that, she still wasn’t even sure she wanted anything to do with the business.
There was a knock at the door. “Enter,” Sharon called. Michael stepped from the hall into the room.
She spoke preemptively, “Michael, I don’t think that I can do this. She is a Bane Sidhe. I don’t want to be sent on an assassination.”
“Sharon, I don’t intend for it to be an assassination if it can be avoided. That is why I am sending you. If Abigail has not gone rogue, find out what she needs, and decide if we should help her. If she has gone rogue, a Cloak might be enough. Barely.”
“Michael, I can see why you would want to send a Bane Sidhe against a potentially rogue Apprentice, but I have to sit next to her. Who’s to say that she won’t ignore me after we arrive, and kill everyone anyway?”
“I understand your concern. Olivia is quite level-headed for a Cloak. If I thought she was in danger of going rogue, I certainly wouldn’t send her on this expedition. I expect the three of you to go there, see what is going on, and come back. You’ll hardly be gone.”
“I don’t know, Michael,” Sharon replied. Level-headed for a Cloak sounded a lot like level-headed for a shark. Returning with the Scout Ship would be a boon to the defense of the hill though.
“Olivia will do her duty. She will defer to your and Richard’s judgement, and act, or not, as necessary.”
Sharon looked hard at Michael, who smiled at her reassuringly. She could sense how important this Abigail was to him, and wanted very much to help. Michael had been a good leader and a good friend to her.
“Very well, I will work with Olivia since you vouch for her. I will go.”
“Thank you, Sharon” Michael said as he stepped out. “And best not call her Olivia. Call her Amy for now. She is very particular about who addresses her by her given name.”
She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Great, Sharon thought.