Honeymoon

[Lanakov]

Montlaville relaxed. Her job was done, and her mission, accomplished. They now had a mole inside Malta, whom they could blackmail at will and whose recruitment only cost some non-critical intel. It'd certainly result in a few missing patrols or a few stupid youths addicted to cardamine : a modest price to pay for a pair of eyes and ears within the Maltese society. All that was left for her to do was to wrap things up.

"Good. You've done as was expected of you. Let's call that your first successful action in the employ of the Crown. Congratulations !" The sentence was uttered with nary a smile. "The next part will be much easier. Lieutenant Paoli here will punch you twice : in the face, and in the stomach. Just hard enough to leave a mark, not hard enough to hurt you. Not permanently, anyway. I believe this will be a lot less painful than what your colleagues would do to you if you showed up fresh and clean on Malta after your dangerous escape. You'll barely feel a thing, tough as you seem to be". Strength, mental and physical, is something Montlaville held in very high respect, and Valdez seemed to possess at least a degree of both.

"We'll set you off in the same ship you arrived here with. You'll then be free to go about your business... As long as you remember our little agreement, that goes without saying. And as for your request... I made you a promise, and I will keep it. Let that be a lesson to you : we stick to our word. Gallia gives back."

Soon, all three of them left the conference room. It had been about time. Montlaville liked the open spaces of the command bridge, the long lines of the corridors... She resented the suffocating atmosphere of those rooms. Too intimate, too closed. She welcomed walking up the corridor again and lit up another cigarette to celebrate. This time, she offered one to Valdez as well. They soon arrived at Loyola's measly, sad little cell. Montlaville ordered the door opened, then gestured at Valdez to go in - alone.

"Go. You have ten minutes, then you're off this ship. Spend them wisely."

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Feedback, insults, marriage proposals and declarations of fealty

If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.