“Have a seat Commander Sand!”

Dana complied uncomfortably, wondering what was the reason behind this emergency meeting called by General Andersen.

He stood menacingly, towering over her across his desk:

“Can you explain me the strange mails I received this morning? One came from the Council with a copy of a letter by Ray Powers demanding your immediate release from the Army into his care, stating that he has proof that you lost your virginity by assaulting a masseur in the Baths. Then I have a note from my old friend Liam O’Brien informing me that you have moved in with him at his request. And finally, Ethan Sand is asking me to intervene in some duel his headache of a daughter got herself involved in, telling me that you witnessed the whole scene and can confirm her version. Do you realize that my whole job doesn’t revolve around you?”

Dana shifted in her chair. She had seen it coming, but didn’t expect to get it all once.

“Well Sir, about Ray Powers…”

She told him all about the previous failed attempt and the events in the Baths.

“The blood on the towel is not mine Sir, it can easily been demonstrated with a basic microscope; and the masseur can confirm my version.”

The Whites’ blood was literally swarming with nanites, when only a few of them wandered in ordinary Sha’tans’ blood; there was no mistaking one for the other.

The General seemed to relax a little:

“You might still have to get yourself examined to ascertain it,” he remarked.

She cringed but nodded.

“Why didn’t you come to me after the first attack? I would have done something.”

“With all due respect Sir, you wouldn’t. There is no direct link between Powers and my attackers, he made darn sure of that. The evidence is only circumstantial. If you were to go to the Council with it, they would laugh at you.”

“You are right,” he sighed, “although… I might still report the whole story to Lord Chen, I have heard rumours about a fight between Powers and him, he might be able to calm him down.”

“Thank you Sir. Now about Liam O’Brien, we have been working on a common project for a while, and after Power’s last actions, he decided that I’d rather use his guest room than risk another stunt being pulled on me at night. He is a honourable man and is dating my friend Kate; he would never consider cheating on her with me and I wouldn’t allow it. He is just overprotective, I guess.”

General Andersen smiled; he knew Liam fairly well and would certainly not imagine questioning his motivations.

“Fine. But what is the story with your cousin? According to her, she suffered an attempted rape by Lieutenant Heffson, and when she went to confront him he called a duel upon her and refused to accept you as a champion. What is the truth in that?”

Dana rolled her eyes:

“Edina is a compulsive liar, her parents are the only ones blind to it. Commander Bashir investigated her complaint and discovered evidence of her version being vastly exaggerated. He therefore punished her and she was furious. She stumbled upon Lieutenant Heffson in the yard soon after, and gravely insulted him. He called a duel and she accepted, thinking that I would be the one fighting it, and got very upset when she discovered I couldn’t, as she was the offender. So of course she ran to cry in Daddy’s lap…”

“I see. And what will be the consequences if she looses?”

“You must mean when she looses, Sir; Edina is useless with a sword. She accused Jan Heffson of impotence, Sir, he asked that she helped him to refute it, in public.”

General Andersen’s eyes widened:

“You mean she must have intercourse with him, in front of everybody who bothers to attend?! I can see why she is upset, knowing her past. But why did she accept then? Has she lost her mind?”

“She didn’t seem to understand the rules of the duel Sir, although they were explained to her many times in school and here. She thought she could get away with it.”

“Would Lieutenant Heffson consider renouncing to it then?”

“He won’t, I already asked. But he agreed to allow her two months to train, which is already a very generous offer.”

“Indeed. But who will train her? You would be the best choice, Commander. Will you do it?”

Dana’s eyes narrowed:

“No way in Hell Sir.”

“I could order you to…”

“With all due respect Sir, you can’t. It is against regulations to train a relative, even Commander Bashir knows that, or he would have blackmailed me into it a long time ago.”

“You are not helping me much here, Commander Sand.” He ran his hand through his hair, frowning.

“I owe a life to Ethan Sand, I have to find something that will sort out this mess, besides strangling his stupid offspring.”

Dana smirked:

“Well, she insulted her commanding officer. You could expel her for two months and let her father train her to his heart’s content. This way he won’t be able to blame her failure on any of us…”

The General laughed:

“I will miss your creativity when you’ll leave the Army, Commander. Handing someone of your calibre over to Powers is such an utter waste, you’d be much more useful to the country here. But I’m not the one calling the shots, unfortunately.”

She shrugged:

“I am aware of that Sir. I’ll keep hoping that the Council will see the light…sooner rather than later. Are we done Sir? I need to check the new reports, Prince Elian is still progressing. Any chance to stall him further?”

“We are working on it. I have a feeling that his troops won’t be healthy much longer. Not the Black Death, of course, people could blame us, but digestive issues can have devastative effects. One is never too prudent with the food in summer…”

She chuckled evilly:

“And nothing is more difficult than marching with your trousers down. Good one Sir!”

“You are not the only one with a twisted mind Commander! Now go back to work, you’ve wasted enough of my time already.”

Waving his hand, he dismissed her.

                                             _________________________________

Leaning in the doorway, Liam O’Brien watched Dana pick distractedly in the bowl of strawberries he had just placed on the coffee table. She was watching an old video of Japanese mounted archery on her tablet, comfortably installed in the sofa.

He was surprised at how fast he had grown accustomed to her presence in his house. She was tidy and respected his privacy, to the point of having dinner in her room sometimes when Kate came over. He never had a housemate, and had become addicted to their evening conversations around a nice meal, that he was always the one to cook: a decision he had made after trying her cuisine. Having only been taught enough to survive on a mission, her talents as a chef were beyond terrible.

He needed to toughen up though: the competition was in less than a week and she would be leaving soon after, whether she won or not. Not that he doubted her ability to succeed: she was more than ready. And after the fit thrown by Lord Chen upon hearing of Powers’ latest villainy, any further attempt was fairly unlikely.

Feeling nearly disappointed, he chided himself. She couldn’t stay his student forever. He must have been growing soft and sentimental. Going back to his study, he emailed Kate: a bit of distraction would be welcome.

                                                     ____________________________

In her office, the following morning, Dana was reading through the reports, chuckling silently to herself. The Aranish army had been rooted to the spot for the past two weeks in Normandy, more than half the soldiers suffering from acute dysentery. The Prince himself had been sick and was now growing restless, his brother sending him furious letters complaining about the excessive expenses and his inefficacy as a War Lord. And the Duke of Normandy, seeing the menace shrink, had began to raise his demands for the use of his ports. She smirked; did they really think it was going to be that easy?

A knock at the door interrupted her and she opened it on Jan. She sighed interiorly: ever since the duel story, his friend had become cold towards her, and she couldn’t figure out why.

“Commander Sand,” he addressed her formally, his face blank.

Dana clenched her teeth in anger. She had had enough. He was going to tell her what was wrong with him, even if she had to beat the truth out of him.

“Lieutenant Heffson, I am over ranking you, am I not?”

“Yes Ma’am”

She resisted the need to roll her eyes.

“Then you have to obey my orders. And right now my order is: tell me what the heck is wrong with you Lieutenant! You have been acting pissed off with me for the best part of three weeks, and I don’t have the start of a clue as to what I might have done to deserve it. I will not let you out of this room before you spill the beans!”

He glared at her, furious:

“Don’t you pretend you don’t know! I have nothing to tell you, traitor, you betrayed me shamelessly and made me look like a fool, you slut! They should have expelled you with your nefarious cousin!”

Dana snapped. She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the yard.

“I dare you to repeat what you just said!”

Locking his eyes on hers, he did just that, his voice booming in the vast space.

She grinned:

“Good lad! I Dana Sand challenge you, Jan Heffson, to a duel. If I win, you will have to explain me what this is all about, and apologize for your ridiculous behaviour.”

He scowled:

“I, Jan Heffson, accept your challenge, Dana Sand. If I win, you will admit in front of everybody what kind of backstabbing bitch you are!”

He unsheathed his swords and attacked, trying to surprise her, but she was prepared. They were both aware that he was no match for her, and she expected him to take risks.

Warping fast, she dodged his attack, pulling out her own blades. Now was the most difficult part: she was going to beat him, but she didn’t want to crush him; he was resenting her enough. She had to stretch the fight enough to make it sound difficult, albeit plausible. It would be worse if the witnesses noticed that she was holding back.

She advanced and feinted, followed by a cut and a glide. He parried, and counter attacked, lunging at her.

She was careful to only reach his warping speed, so that it would look like she was playing it fair, not easy.

He answered her next lunge by a deception and a double that she blocked, and the fight went on for a while, until she decided that it was time.

By progressively increasing her pace, she got him to run out of steam, and finished with a double envelopment that left him disarmed.

Pretending to be out of breath, she took his hand:

“Now Sir, I own you.”

She led him to the canteen and installed the two of them comfortably around a large amount of food. She pushed a plate towards him:

“Eat first, then speak. And you’d rather be talkative, or I’ll whip your arse. Again.”

He dug in grumpily.

“So, I’m waiting.”

“What do you want me to say? That you let me down big time? You put Kate on your guest list so that she could come and nag me, then you go and live with her new boyfriend, the guy she left me for, which you might well have encouraged her to do for what I know. I can well imagine the three of you in a bed, laughing at me. Since when you became such a whore and why you are still in the army are a mystery for me, but I trusted you as a friend and you stabbed me in the back. I will never forgive you for that.”

Dana stood and slapped him. How could she have guessed he was such a shortsighted idiot?

“Firstly, Kate and you were my friends before you got together, and you have no right to ask me to choose between you. I want her to be able to visit me, and if you are not happy with that, tough! Secondly, I moved in with Liam O’Brien for a reason that doesn’t concern you or Kate, and he is not my lover, I am using his guest room with General Andersen’s approval. We are working together, that’s all. And I stay well away when Kate and him are together, I don’t want to watch, gross. Thirdly, I already told you that Kate’s private life and her choices are not my problem, I have no opinion or decisional capacity on them. And last, you could have discussed that with me instead of sulking like a child. I am very disappointed in you, Jan.”

He frowned, half-convinced:

“People heard you and her the morning before we went to the Baths, and both of you sounded very much into that guy…”

“Sure, you moron. Ever heard of sarcasm? Kate and I were joking, and the eavesdroppers took it as first degree. I don’t care what they think, but you, at least, should have known better.”

Jan lowered his head in shame.

“You are right, I behaved like a complete idiot. I’m sorry. I’ll understand if you hate me…”

She sighed dramatically:

“I can’t, it’s not your fault if your brain is malfunctioning. But as I said I own you, my dear. You are my slave from now on…”

He bowed low, waving an imaginary hat:

“I’ll try and be worthy of your forgiveness, Mistress. Order and I will obey…”

They laughed and sat back, finishing their meal.