Once the ship was clear of the hangar, Max set a course for the outskirts of the System and set a portal destination just outside the star system where the lab with the Klem was supposed to be.

Their disguised scouting vessel, in all of its pleasure yacht external glory, glided through the portal and right into an Alliance Military blockade.

[Alert to the Unknown Vessel. There has been a hazardous materials containment breach in this System. All outside vessels are prohibited.] The lead ship of the blockade announced.

[This is Commander Keres Max of the Terminus Trading Company, on commission to investigate the origin of the hazardous materials in question. May we proceed?] Max responded.

[Ah, welcome, Commander. Please hold your distance, and we will appraise you of the situation.]

The announcement was followed by a stream of data, which struck Max as rather curious. If they had that much information, why were they just sitting here and not trying to enter?

The answer to that came later in the data feed. There was an orbital bombardment shield over the location, so none of the military forces could enter. Any significant energy source would lock down the location for twelve hours, and they couldn’t find a way in. The atmosphere of the planet itself was nearly nonexistent, and while they had species like the metallic slimes that didn’t need to breathe, they were ill-suited to actually surviving the situation inside, where the sensors indicated that the Klem had taken over the entire Facility.

Anyone else who tried to enter would set the shields off with their protective gear, and even trying to drop them off with a shuttle had proven problematic. Naturally, a facility researching topics this delicate was well defended, but the fact that it had fallen before anyone sent a single message about it was making it nearly impossible to retake.

The Company hadn’t reported anything other than a loss of communication, which they insisted was normal for the Facility while doing research which might be affected by the energy variances of the broadcasts.

In short, they claimed no knowledge or responsibility for what had happened here and were doing their best to pretend that they had nothing at all to do with the Facility.

“I’ve got a great idea. Since our Mobile Suits use bio packs for basic power, they won’t set off the shield, and we can power up the Crystal Reactors once we’re inside. Then we can make our way through a mountain of corpses and find out what happened here.” Nico suggested.

The Mountain of Corpses part was where her thoughts showed the most excitement since she fully intended to be the one making said mountain, but with over ninety percent of the life signs inside showing either Klem or hybrid Klem signatures, which might be biomass pools, she would likely get her wishes fulfilled if they could get inside the shield.

“And how do you propose that we get that close?” Max asked, just to make sure they were on the same page.

“We send our littlest charge back to her mother for processing, and then we paradrop onto the planetoid. Without much atmosphere and with low gravity, the heat from drag won’t be bad, and the fall rate will be manageable. I can even arrange us some old-school parachutes.”

“Can’t I stay and watch?” Annabelle begged.

“No, you’ve gotten in enough trouble for one month. I think your mother is going to arrange for you to attend the Terminus Academy in the Engineering specialty courses. They have enough Innu instructors to keep an eye on you and keep you out of trouble.” Max suggested.

“With the scary Headmistress? No thanks, I like my school aboard Absolution.” Annabelle rejected the suggestion immediately.

“The school you were supposed to be at when we found you inside an experimental ship, in an authorized employees-only hangar area?” Max asked.

“Yeah, that one. I mean, they’re a bit slow, but it’s a nice school. I heard that the Academy actually pushes you to do more work if you get ahead. Who wants to do that?”

While they were talking, Nico had opened another Portal back to a location near Absolution and had opened a precision portal through it, right to Annabelle’s living room, where her mother was waiting with a very stern look on her face.

The portal had opened behind her, so the girl hadn’t noticed that she had a new observer until she heard her mother begin to speak.

“So, you only liked this school because they didn’t report you for sneaking out. Is that it? Well, perhaps I really should send you to the Academy for an intensive course load to catch you up on all the classes that you have missed.” She practically growled at the little Innu.

“Momma? I swear, I’m all caught up. I didn’t even miss a test. I’m a good girl Momma, I swear. I just got curious about what was in the hangar, and the door security was disabled, so I snuck a little peek. I didn’t think that it was unlocked because they were leaving right away.” Annabelle pleaded.

“So you admit that you were skipping class because it was too easy and that you knew you were in a restricted area? You are in a lot of trouble, little one. I’m your mother, so I won’t send you to juvenile detention, but you are losing all privileges. I have set up a technology barrier around your room until you move to the Academy, and you are banned from all sweets and caffeine until the move.”

Annabelle looked horrified and made a bolt for it, heading for a bedroom on the ship, intending to lock herself inside for safety.

Nico caught her halfway across the room and passed her off to Max, who picked the little Innu up off the floor. “Look at it this way. When you get back to Absolution, you will have learned all sorts of new things about engineering and research practices that will help you in the future.

Now, behave for your mother, or she just might put a dietary restriction on your cafeteria pass.”

“Isn’t that an Innu rights violation? I have just discovered apple pie. You can’t take it from me just like that.” She pleaded.

Max snickered at her attempt. Apple barely made her top five favourites, and she was hoping that her mother would go for the targeted effects and prohibit apple pie but not her actual favorite sweets.

Annabelle’s mother stepped through the portal and took one of her daughter’s head tentacles between her fingertips, lifting her head much like a human mother dragging someone by the ear when Max set the girl down.

“I see what you’re doing. Don’t forget that I’m your mother, and I’ve known you all your life. Plus, you’re a CLONE of ME. You can’t fool me with a simple subterfuge about what your favourite pies are. The answer is strawberry rhubarb.”

Annabelle looked completely defeated at this point and feebly waved goodbye to Nico as she was dragged back into her home aboard Absolution. “Thanks for the consideration Commander and Lead Researcher. I’m really sorry to have intruded.”

Nico closed the portal once they were through, and Max began to laugh. “She’s a clone of her mother? I can only imagine what that household is like with the two of them sharing the same basic personality.”

“I put the chances of her actually being sent to the Academy instead of writing a ten thousand word report on what she saw while we were out at about five percent.” Nico agreed.