In the last few hours prior to the party, Commander Lucy Silsbury had been subjected to an intense remedial training session dealing in: How to walk in high heels, How to walk in high heels elegantly, how to make small talk (she still had trouble with this one) and most importantly, how to restrain oneself from insulting people.
Silsbury had allowed Chelsea to do something with her hair but had flatly refused to have any makeup touch her skin. Her secretary relented agreeing that it was not necessary.
The complete outfit along with styled hair presented a brand new Police Commander.
She was surprised herself and not for the first time wondered how a simple secretary had learnt all this fashion based stuff.
As a finishing touch she put a small gold necklace on. The simple piece of jewelry was one of the only things her mother had given her as she left McTiller Research.
She was very pleased with the look and despite her discomfort in being out of sensible uniform she was still thrilled with the crimson dress she had bought for a small fortune.
There was a band around her right thigh with a tiny holster in which the equally tiny P3 blaster resided. She put the earpiece communicator in her ear and tuned it to Sykes frequency and she was complete.
After a small test with the earpiece it was arranged to meet down at the BPA launch pad. Despite the misgivings of Chelsea who was keen to hire them an expensive shuttle, the Commander had chosen her Hussar as the mode of transport. Sykes, dressed in his black suit and dark glasses, patted his concealed tri-barrel blaster and agreed to ride in the cargo hold.
It would give them a chance to test the drop technique they had been working on.
The Hussar rose into the air and the red and blue lights began to flash as they jumped the queue to the docking ring.
The ship made good time as it traveled to Cambridge and it encountered no pirates on the journey.
They reached the planet and traveled towards the estate, it was quite a journey. The GPS began to receive a 3D readout of the area and showed them a large belt of woods masking the Manor from the road.
Perfect.
Near the gate but out of view, the hussar came very close to the ground and slowed right down. Ready Sykes? Lucy asked through the comm.
As Ill ever be Maam. The Constable stated grimly.
The Hussar rolled onto its back and the cargo doors opened. Sykes, who had positioned himself upside down a moment before, launched himself through the opening and landed on the ground. He stood, brushing the dust from his right knee, the only part of his suit that made contact with the road, and relayed the result to his Commander.
This little maneuver, although seemingly pointless to some, would in the future become rather important, but at this time it was just a bit of fun. Sykes moved in to blend with the cohort of MI5 as the Hussar looped acrobatically around the Manor grounds, checking for any obvious dangers.
Finding none Lucy landed her vessel amongst the few other ships in the specially commissioned and lit field and stepped tentatively out; the high heels were still presenting a few problems in the realms of balance.
Safely on the ground she locked her ship and proceeded up the lit drive towards the grand mansion.
It was rather impressive but far too decretive for her tastes. She stepped into the entrance hall and had her senses assaulted by the sound of chatter from the guests and melodies from the musicians, the smell of very expensive food from the kitchens and bright lights from the ballroom.
She flashed her invite like an ID to the security men on the door and nodded surreptitiously to a very well camouflaged Sykes situated on the upper mezzanine floor.
Servants immediately offered her luxurious canap?s and drinks. She accepted a she didnt know what it was but it tasted nice and a flute of Champaign.
Noticing she was drawing the looks from many of the men she walked over to a familiar face. Chief Commissioner Palmer was looking rather stressed in his black tuxedo while he stood sipping his Martini by the bar.
She walked over; having finally got the elegant part of the high heels sorted, and engaged him in a conversation about her latest discovery in Hussar drop tactics and how she had managed to increase the range of her latest prototype cargo scanner even further.
![[Image: LucySilsbury32.jpg]](http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/Incindre/LucySilsbury32.jpg)