From: briana@nas-kan.org   
      
   Not On My Watch   
   By: Brian W. Antoine   
   June, 2020   
      
   Chapter One   
      
   	It had been both a mild and wild ride the last decade.  After the   
   War and the birth of our daughter, Bel, Kalindra and I had repaired and   
   outfitted the Sunbeam 5 and simply completed our attempt to tell the   
   universe as we knew it to go fuck itself.  We'd had enough, we'd retired,   
   we'd left capable replacements behind us.  If the worlds we'd been born on   
   couldn't make things work, well, we both knew we'd tried our best.   
      
   	That wasn't to say the rest of the universe was any better, oh hell   
   no.  Two years exploring our arm of the galaxy and then year turned inwards   
   towards the core, we'd seen things even we couldn't believe, met races that   
   were friendly, some that weren't.  Well, our lives had taught us how to   
   deal with both.  The friendly ones, some of them were now crew along side   
   us.  The unfriendly ones, the Sunbeam 5 wasn't just a research and   
   exploration ship, it was a warship when needed.  Oddly enough, we have a   
   few crew members from those worlds also.   
      
   	Our daughter, Bel dal Kan, had a front row seat for all of this. As   
   she'd reached maturity, and knowing she wasn't going to be a Mage like her   
   brother, I'd sat her down once in my office and asked what she wanted to do   
   with her life.  The answer shouldn't have been a surprise, but it took me   
   awhile to realize that.  Bel was unique in so many ways.  Parents from two   
   different worlds, most of what she knew of mine was from the books and   
   files I'd brought with me, what she knew of hers was from trying to   
   single-handedly read every text the Velan Central Library had and from   
   talking to crew members during our travels.   
      
   	"I want to be a Starship Captain," she'd informed me.  "I want to   
   explore like you and mom have done.  I want to trade with those who will   
   trade.  I want have fun!"  At her naming day, because Starship Captain   
   wasn't a valid suffix in all of Velan History, she got to create it.   
   Belastra dal Kan set her first course that day.   
      
   	Belastra nal Anton, Captain, her mate sitting second console beside   
   her, made her first visit to the world of my birth after spending a year   
   visiting worlds her mother and I had found in our travels.  I had the honor   
   of hitching a ride on her ship that day since I had business at Tycho Port   
   also.   
      
   	"Tycho Traffic Control?" she queried over the radio as the Ship's   
   Mage I was standing beside, closed the WorldGate we'd passed through.   
      
   	We'd exchanged looks before and after the jump, she'd sensed I was   
   standing ready to help if things went wrong.  She'd simply muttered   
   "Murphy", I'd replied with "was an optimist."   
      
   	"This is Tycho Control," came the reply after a few seconds.   
      
   	"Tycho, this is Fluffy's Honor, out of Velar, captained by Belastra   
   nal Anton.  I'm requesting clearance and flight path for the Nas Kan   
   landing pads at Tycho Port."   
      
   	The Ship's Mage saw me wince, and muffled her laugh.  Of all the   
   damn names my daughter could have picked for her ship, she'd gone with   
   Fluffy's Honor for some damn stubborn reason.  Kalindra had warned me to   
   drop the subject, like that had ever worked in the past.  The harder I   
   tried to convince her how silly that name was, the more she resisted   
   changing it.  In the end, I'd drawn up a ships logo that looked like a damn   
   golden fur tribble, as a joke.  It was now embossed in Platinum-Iridium on   
   the side of the ship.   
      
   	I'm never going to learn when to shut up I guess.   
      
   	"Fluffy's Honor, request denied.  You and your ship have been   
   blacklisted from Tycho Port as an unacceptable threat," came the delayed   
   reply from Tycho Traffic Control.  "Please change course and exit this   
   system as quickly as possible.  Failure to do so will place your ship and   
   crew in danger."   
      
   	It went dead silent on the flight deck then.   
      
   	"Tycho Control, please repeat that?" Bel eventually asked.   
      
   	"Captain Belastra, you and your ship are blacklisted from this   
   port.  Please leave this system and do not return for the safety of your   
   ship and crew."   
      
   	Her mate saw the twitch in her arm before I did, and the controls   
   her fingers were reaching towards, so it was his hand on her arm to calm   
   her before I placed mine on her shoulder a few seconds later.  "Daughter,   
   since this is my home world, perhaps you might let your Grumpy old DaDa   
   sort this out?"  I could feel her growl of anger vibrate through her via my   
   hand, but she did calm down at my use of her childhood nickname for me.   
   "I've got more experience kicking asses than you do," I whispered to her.   
      
   	"I trust my father to teach lessons to those who appear to need   
   them," she answered, the comm channel still open.   
      
   	I gave her shoulder another squeeze while nodding at her mate, who   
   hadn't turned loose of her arm.  "I believe your mother has taught me a   
   thing or two over the years about how to deal with mistakes like this." The   
   Ships Mage snickered, but stood at her post with a blank expression when I   
   glanced back at her.  I made a mental note to talk to her later about it,   
   since I expected to be busy for awhile.   
      
      
   Chapter Two   
      
   	Backing away from my daughter, I took a relaxed stance in the   
   middle of the flight deck, then held my right arm out and twisted my wrist   
   a particular way.  From where it was resting in my cabin, my staff left an   
   audible *pop* as it vanished and appeared in my hand.  A couple of seconds   
   later, Penny phased into view over my left shoulder, having noticed the   
   energy surge as the staff answered my call for it.   
      
   	"Something up?" she asked.   
      
   	"Possibly," I answered.  "I might need some eyes and ears on Tycho   
   Station shortly, if you aren't too busy?"  She didn't answer directly, but   
   she did giggle before she vanished again.  "Tycho Traffic Control?" I   
   asked, opening a direct channel via my staff to the station, after tying   
   the general ship-to-ship and public channels into the conversation as well.   
   "This is Brian ne Kan, or if that name doesn't ring a bell, turn your chair   
   around and read the name on the dedication plaque in the middle of your   
   control room floor. Back then I was Brian Antoine, the other names are my   
   wife, Kalindra, and Jean, the current Archmage."   
      
   	That caught the ships in Tycho space by surprise, and the questions   
   started flying even as the traffic controller asked, "Bri Who?"  Then, "Oh,   
   you can't be him," a few seconds later, after he'd probably turned around   
   to look at the plaque.  "He was reported dead a few years ago."   
      
   	"Not hardly," I told him.   
      
   	There was a short pause, then, "Sir, even if you are that person,   
   he's on the blacklist also.  Second, I'm not sure who this Kalindra is, but   
   Jean is not the current Archmage, she's dead.  Now who ever you are, you're   
   on a ship that is blacklisted by Tycho Port, so I'll warn you as well. That   
   ship must leave this system immediately or the ship and crew will be   
   targeted."   
      
   	The channel to the port then went dead before I snarled in anger.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)