Baratarian law, which will be recognized as legitimate by the GR representatives when they thumb the surrender document. Keep this to yourself until you hear from me personally. Thorson.”

Her screen returned to the ceremony’s sequence of events. Julia did not know what to make of this. She prayed it was not some joke or trick by Friedrich. Her heart was buoyed by the thought it might be real. She looked at the ceremony with a renewed interest. The music playing as the Ascetics passed in review actually had her toes tapping to the beat.

The next to final event of the ceremony was a fly over by all 48 fighters and attack ships from the Assault Landing Carrier Golden Eagle. Then Steven Maynard and Admiral Minacci jointly thumbed the surrender documents. The final event was a prayer by the Bishop-Commander of the Ascetic Brigade. It asked for repose of the souls of those lost in the recent battle and for peace to reign over Barataria.

After the prayer, he gave the command to his unit to return to their barracks. That was the cue for Mary’s Marines and Kelly’s crew to retire from the field. In crisp military fashion, both units marched away from the reviewing stand and onto either the AS-500 or the Vigilant.

Refreshments were served in a large tent immediately behind the reviewing stand. Kelly followed the Admiral into the tent to get a pirate’s idea of refreshments. Rum punches, brandy, port, and clarets were free and freely served. Kelly watched his alcohol intake to maintain a clear head, and was rewarded with the rare occasion of Mr. Debran getting his own back. Debran was in a conversation circle with Maynard, the admiral, and Kelly. Debran’s wife and daughters were making their way down a buffet table. Ambassador Thorson came up to Mr. Maynard and whispered something in his ear.

Mr. Maynard looked over at Mr. Debran and said, “Friedrich, remember earlier when I said that I’m not a fool either? Do you know what those two survey ships you sent to the yellow sun systems will find when they arrive? They will find registered survey marker satellites specifying that Barataria legally claims those systems. Why don’t you call your Mr. Delphant and recall them so they don’t waste any more of your credits and time than they already have?”

Debran was furious to have been caught in a subterfuge and called out on it in public. He yelled for his wife and daughters to come along that they were leaving. His wife was talking to the ambassador and did not hear him. Debran rushed over, reached out, and grabbed Julia roughly by the wrist and started pulling her along. The next thing he knew was that he was in the air and crashing onto the hard turf floor under the tent. Julia had just executed a perfect hip throw on Friedrich.

She stood over him, yelling, “Don’t you ever touch me again!”

He stood up, dusted himself off, and spoke coldly to her, “You are still my wife. You will do as I tell you and that goes for those slut daughters of yours as well.”

Julia reared back and punched him square dead on the nose. Debran wound up on the ground again.

As he picked himself up off the ground again, a small man walked up to Debran and asked him if he was Friedrich Rainer Debran. Friedrich, already in a foul mood, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to staunch his nosebleed, turned on the man and said, “Of course I am, you idiot! What do you want?”

He handed Debran a small packet of paper and said, “Sir, you have been served.”

Debran, confused, asked, “Served? Served with what?”

“Why, your divorce decree, of course.”

Friedrich looked at the man as if the man had just been hatched.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t ask for any divorce proceedings.”

“No, sir, Mrs. Debran…excuse me, Ms. Halscomb requested a divorce and that divorce was granted by the Captains’ Court of Barataria this afternoon.”

Debran built up into a full rage and shouted at the small man, “Whom do you think you are dealing with, little man? I will have that divorce issued by your kangaroo court overturned before the sun sets.”

The little man advanced on Debran, causing him to take an involuntary step back.

“I am Emilio Rondage, senior partner of the law firm Rondage and Jompe. Ask your legal advisers if they want to tangle with me in court, any court, even those you’ve bought in the Rigel system. This divorce is absolutely legal and the GR Fleet can testify to it. One of the codicils of the Surrender Agreement was that GR courts would uphold decisions handed down by Baratarian Courts before the surrender document was signed, as long as they did not violate GR law. This divorce is legally binding.”

Debran did not know what to do. He had never been treated this way. He looked around for sympathy from the crowd and found none. He turned and stomped away. Julia would never see him again.

Thorson stood beside her and said, “Ms. Halscomb, I know this is sudden, but would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

She smiled and said, “Mr. Thorson, wait, is Thorson your last name or first name?”

Thorson smiled back and said, “It’s my last name. I am Francis Jesse Thorson.”

“Well, Francis, I would love to be Mrs. Francis Jesse Thorson.”

Thorson picked her up and twirled her around to applause from the assembled dignitaries.

When he let her down, he said, “Rondage has sufficient evidence of Debran’s corruption of the Rigel legal system that he can argue in GR court that Debran made it impossible for you to get a fair divorce trial in the Rigelian courts. He thinks he can get you a 50 % settlement anyway. That’s enough about that. Where do you want to get married and honeymoon?”

She smiled and asked, “We can worry about that later. Do you think you can get my ship back before it is stripped?”

Thorson smiled. Yes, he thought he could do that.

Irina Bugarov was in the crowd that day. She was on the opposite side of the field and hoped to reach the scout ship and AS-500 across the massive parade field, but there were too many people and too many Ascetics providing crowd control to get over there. She and Terri found a shady spot on the hillside and sat down to watch the show. She and Terri had dropped the tired old women disguises and cleaned up. They got more than a few admiring glances, especially Terri.

Her heart swelled when she saw the F-48s and A-76s fly over the field. Yes, Fleet had come and rescued them, just like she knew they would. She had never lost faith in the Fleet.

As the crowd winnowed out, she and Terri worked their way across the field. She knew she was breaking protocol by walking between the Ascetic formations returning to their barracks, but she didn’t care. She was free. Today was her Independence Day.

She reached the empty reviewing stand and looked around for an officer. She assumed everyone went in the large tent or up into the ships.

She called up into the ship and a petty officer from the quarterdeck came down.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

‘I hope so. I am retired Major General Irina Bugarov of Fighter Force. Could I speak with your captain?”

“Captain’s not aboard, ma’am. I believe he’s in that big tent, ma’am.”

She thanked him and they wandered over to the tent, but the Ascetic guards had orders not to admit former captives. Irina made a note of the scout ship’s name. She would write a thank you note when she was back in better surroundings.

The petty officer went back up the gangplank and joined Chief Miller.

“What was that all about?” Chief Miller asked?

“I don’t know. Some crazy old broad said she was a major general or something. She wanted to see the Captain. I told her he was probably in the big tent.”

Chief Miller shook his head and asked, “Why do all the crazies call themselves generals? Log it.”

Fleet Commander J’Kalt reviewed the scenarios presented by his battle staff. The spy ships’ report from the Human sector had been transmitted to them and gave them an idea of what they might have to face. In their considered opinion, the best option was to conduct a reconnaissance in force into the star cluster. This gave them the greatest benefit for the least losses. The two shadow destroyers should lead the formation, as they had the best sensors and were best able to pick out the route through the cluster.

The Shadow cruiser and three light missile cruisers would follow, to be able to provide long-range support to the Shadow destroyers. The six fighter defense frigates would ring the formation, to provide flank security against

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