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SAFES Liaison's Log, Science Vessel Searcher , September 19th, 2555:

I admit to being surprised at how easily we gained access to the Royal Archives. Just a few honeyed words, some half-baked excuses, and the Kaa appeared willing to let us wander around the archives just to get rid of us. The fact that the Grand Admiral was not at his side at the time was probably why it was so easy to prod him into giving us what we wanted but in retrospect, I'm beginning to think that it would be better if the Grand Admiral was nearby so we could keep a close eye on him. The archivists confirmed that he is an exceptionally skilled and cunning warrior and I suspect that him greeting us on his way to make ready to turn the Kaa's foolishness into victory is a very bad sign of things to come.

The archivists are an interesting group. Absolutely adorable-looking but when you talk to them or get a look at their eyes, you get a glimpse of a computer-like intellect, schemes within schemes, constantly generating and rejecting plans even as they carry on a coherent conversation with you. I suppose the best way to describe them is extremely attractive and intelligent kobolds (my inner geek comes out at the strangest moments): small reptilian creatures with a strongly predatory cast to their features. I haven't seen inside those voluminous robes they wear but I strongly suspect that they have slim but well-muscled bodies suitable for fast moment while being easily strong enough to move very large metal doors without visible exertion or any mechanism of assistance. They seem highly literate with exceptionally lucid and accurate memories although I get a sense that their minds work in a very mechanical fashion: highly logical construction of facts to reach conclusions without any invocation of things like intuition or educated guesses. A perfect race for archiving if ever I've seen one. I simply hope that our success does not act as a snare for us the way the Grand Admiral seems to desire.

_ Dr. Melinda Campbell, SAFES _

The thing that most struck Sera when the transport to Viisymel took off was that the mood seemed more... light, somehow. There wasn't any mystery anymore; they were going to either have a civil conversation or fight. The guards would be the same and the city probably would be as well. It was not a more comfortable situation by any means but it was somehow more familiar and the absence of uncertainty seemed to inspire the other soldiers, especially Boom and Silver, to be more chatty than usual.

"General," Boom announced to her as he shifted in his seat, the perfect white of his teeth glimmering from his dark and cheerful face. "This here is gonna be an experience to tell the kids about. Never met a monarch before... lotsa people would could be monarchs if they ever felt like it but never a real one."

"He's not real either, old bean." Silver assured the giant beside him. "At least, his importance isn't. It's like that old fellow Shakespeare put it: all a midsummer night's dream."

"You wish, Tails." Akeya chuckled from under the face mask of her combat uniform. "Rather, we all wish. Grand Admiral maht be a dangerous sort but he comes by it honestly, least if you listen to Mengele and our fine feathered friend."

"I admit... I'd much rahthah deal with a petty proud tyrant than a smart sort." Silver replied, pointedly ignoring Akeya's moniker for him. "You can play the tyrant like a violin if you're clever but a smart sort is a leaf of an entirely different color. If we're fortunate, the Grand Admiral will not be present."

"I'm not so sure about that, Captain." Sera frowned. "Considering that in our last encounter with the Kaa he stepped in and calmed the Kaa down, I'm not so sure that him being totally absent would do us many favors."

"Well, if this royal who's not royal gets too uppity, I could always introduce him to my big ol' boots." Boom grinned in a mildly menacing way.

"No putting him under your boot, Richard... he may get lost and come out more annoyed than ever." Silver smirked.

"Ya mean all that pale fur o' yours won't hurt his eyes. Miles?" Boom retorted, smirking right back.

Silver chuckled. "Oh, touché, old boy." He chuckled as he leaned back, unstrapping one of the double drum magazines from his pack and testing the rotary feed.

"You sure seem to like that Tommy gun." Sera commented. "Why not something like the L965 where you can carry more?"

"I, my good General, am very British." He replied with exaggerated dignity. "I am as much a Tommy as any Tommy ever was and so, I carry a Tommy gun."

"Unfortunately, Liverpoolis not much of a windy city." Akeya interjected, grinning through her mask. "So the 'very British' woof can't wax whimsical about his typewriter."

"Major, I can write just fine with my Tommy-gun, thank you very much." Silver chuckled. "Hopefully, I shan't need to."

"We're about two minutes from touchdown, passengers." The pilot informed them just then. "I have eyes on five Viis vehicles and several guards awaiting your arrival. Nothing particularly gaudy, though, so you're not being met by a mad monarch."

"Five?" Sera blinked. "They only had four the last time."

"Maybe they want to increase their causalities when they try to snatch us." Akeya suggested, her grin not altogether nice.

"Too irrational, even for security grunts." Sera replied dismissively. "It's not hard to guess what the large turret protruding from the chin is for. We'll find out in a minute, though."

"General, we are 20 seconds from touchdown." The pilot said a moment later. "We'll be keeping an ear out. If there's trouble, unchain the big guy and call us to clean up."

Boom gave a short thundering belly-laugh at this. "I think one of them navy boys is almighty fond of the big man." He rumbled.

"Joking aside, pilot, keep a close watch on the radio." Sera chuckled. "The Sergeant here is a big man who can do big things but he can't blow things up quite as big as a battleship. We may need the artillery and if a direct call doesn't happen, we'll need to leapfrog."

"Sad but true, ma'am. T'would be a shame to lose you all though... the world just wouldn't be the same without the gentle giant." The pilot replied. "Alrighty folks... everyone out. Time for y'all to enjoy the unique perfume of our lovely planet."

Sighing, Sera picked herself off the seat and walked out of the transport trailing Boom and Akeya who promptly stopped short just a few steps out. Blinking, Sera started around them. "What's with the stopping... just... oh dear." With Boom's tall and hefty form out the way, Sera could clearly see that standing directly in front of the several Viis guards was the Grand Admiral wearing a mixed expression of irritation leavened by some amusement at the reaction from the disembarking visitors.

"Oh, please... do not be stunned on my account." He said, looking over at Shadow as she started forward from the ramp of her own transport. "I would think you would be delighted that the Kaa's trusted advisor would meet you."

"Oh, we are delighted, Grand Admiral." Shadow assured him neutrally as she was joined by the rest. "But what could we have done to warrant such an honor?"

In reply, the Grand Admiral glanced pointedly at the guards who obligingly backed out of hearing distance. He then turned back to Shadow with a stony expression. "You know what you have done, Admiral." He stated, switching to his unusually good impersonation of English. "More to the point, I know as well. I even know why you have done it and roughly know what you gained by it. But no foes of the Viis have been so reckless in their courage that upon drawing our blood, they came to the Kaa, speaking false regrets. I am impressed, Admiral, and underestimated you to my shame."

"I disagree, Grand Admiral." Shadow replied mildly. "There is no shame in underestimating a foe so obviously weak that a small portion of your own fleet could destroy it without loss."

A small grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. "I meant, Admiral, that I underestimated how important your task was to you. To know us well was so vital that you risked the best of your very meager soldiers to obtain information that we regarded as all but useless. However, Admiral, you are still upon the field. You have won a battle yet stay so close that your foe can still strike you a mortal blow. What could you gain from such great risk, I wonder?"

Shadow smiled. "Now, why would I reveal more to you than I can, Grand Admiral?" She inquired in a mildly chiding way. "You, and not your Kaa or your Empire, are the actual enemy. You know more about our purpose and our spoils than we'd thought, given that you had nothing but rubble and bodies."

"I knew what you wanted and what you gained before I even knew where you had struck, Admiral." He inclined his head to her. "A weak enemy reveals his strategy before he forms it, an ordinary enemy as he executes it, and a crafty enemy only in what he does not do. Think on that as you reverence the Kaa and beg whatever boon he will give to you."

"Wouldn't his most trusted advisor be there to guide him away from folly?" Shadow inquired curiously.

"His most trusted advisor must be elsewhere so that his folly can be turned against his foes." He started to turn and paused. "Admiral, you have drawn blood but the wound is small and harmless. You could leave and hear nothing of the Viis ever again." He turned his head to look back at Shadow. "Do so and let us never see one another again."

"I cannot." Shadow replied with a tone of... sympathy, Sera realized. "I have but one final thing to achieve and my war is over. I am at the cusp of victory having shed but a drop of blood; there is no honor in surrendering victory out of fear of battle."

"Then I will see you again, Admiral." As he turned and walked towards one of the transports, Sera could have sworn she saw him smile broadly. As the Grand Admiral boarded the foremost transport, the guards walked over with a Viis that Sera (with some surprise) recognized from their first audience in the lead.

"It would appear that I have been cursed to conduct you to the Kaa once again." He growled. "If you repeat the travails of our last journey, I will risk the Kaa's anger for killing his guests. Do you comprehend this, miscreants?"

"We do." Shadow answered, looking very pointedly at Akeya. "How shall we arrange ourselves this time?"

"The white, silver, and dust-colored creatures will be in the same transport as I. With them may come two others but not the black-scaled creature or yourself." He looked Boom over. "The black giant may accompany the three that come with me as may an ordinary soldier. The others, Admiral, will be in your care."

"Aww, is the big bad Viis afraid of me?" Akeya jeered.

"Take care and note that only the Admiral may control the child." The Viis smirked as he said the word 'child'. "So spoke the Grand Admiral who fears no uncontrollable spoiled girl."

"He has a point, doesn't he Major?" Shadow looked hard at Akeya. "If you'll obey no one else, you'll obey the commanding officer of the task force, won't you?"

Sera could see the distinct expression of mingled disbelief and hurt through Akeya's mask but it calmed after a moment. "Yes, Admiral." She agreed quietly. "I will do that."

"See, the Grand Admiral was correct and so, there are no difficulties." Shadow asserted. "Come now... you two soldiers and you, Major... time to get on board." She looked around Akeya as the young SpecOps started towards the open transport. "I'll see you at the palace, General."

"Likewise, Admiral." Sera touched her fingers to her brow in a minor salute, knowing that it'd get an annoyed look from her friend, before leading Dr. Campbell, Boom, and Silver to the other transport. The Viis glanced at each other as Boom got in, causing the hovering transport to dip every so slightly before some sort of compensation system kicked in and leveled it back out. Sera could have sworn that she could see his characteristic grin even from behind as he selected a seat next to Dr. Campbell and lounged back.

"Nice accommodations these gents have." He rumbled, enjoying the looks of barely-hidden consternation from the Viis guards whose faces weren't covered. "I wonder if there's an in-flight movie."

"We're on the ground, old bean." Silver reminded him. "So wouldn't it be more of an in-drive film?"

"We're flying." Boom retorted. "These are hover transports."

"I wondered why it started to tilt when you got on board." Silver grinned. "You need to lose weight, Richard."

"Oh!" Boom looked wounded. "Come now, Miles... are you really saying that the big man needs to be less big? That'd just violate all sorts of universal laws and pigs would fly."

"So, it'd be a good thing?" Dr. Campbell inquired innocently.

"Settle down, you three." Sera admonished amusedly. "Just enjoy the empty streets filled with dust and debris."

"I'm not so sure it's remained empty, General." Melinda replied quietly. "We have inspired curiosity, it would seem, for the denizens are trying to catch glances at who we are."

"I wouldn't say that too loudly, Doctor." Sera pointed out, glancing around to try and spot whatever the doctor had seen. "Our hosts seem to love the downtrodden so much, after all."

"I doubt you'll see anything from your angle, General." A wan smile graced the scientist's muzzle. "The guards are keeping their eyes towards you and as you say, the denizens would not wish to be seen."

"So long as they are seen and not heard and not in our way, it is too much work to teach them their place." The Viis commander hissed. "But they seem to know it already for their hide in their holes like skek."

"At least they don't breed as fast." Another guard added with a hissing chuckle.

"Old slave tale." The commander snorted although he sounded amused. "Still, far too many even if they do not breed as fast as the albiru believe."

"What are these skek, commander?" Dr. Campbell inquired politely.

His head turned towards her and he stared at her for a moment before apparently deciding that she had been properly deferential. "Pests. Vermin. Nuisances. Many arms, many legs, a third of your height, quick-breeding."

"Like rats from our world." Campbellnodded thoughtfully. "Though our rats do not breed so quickly as your skek."

The commander hissed in amusement before turning towards the front of the transport. "We approach the palace, miscreants." He announced. "Remember your deference to your betters."

"We shall remember to reverence the Kaa, fear not." Sera assured him as the transport glided passed the gates and into the palace proper. "Unless you mean that others who are meant to be our betters will be here?"

"You dare!" The commander's rill reflected his sudden surge of agitation. "The Kaa is never without his wisest advisors!"

"He will be without the Grand Admiral." Melinda contradicted him calmly. "For he said to our admiral that he goes to better safeguard his Kaa."

"She lies." Another of the guards hissed.

"She does not." Silver interjected. "Did you not see the Grand Admiral leave in his own transport, going in his own direction?"

"I did." The commander acknowledged after a moment. "This is... grave news. The Kaa is angry, miscreants, for his director of research and a place of research was recently destroyed by the incompetence of a slave. Tread carefully."

The advice took Sera aback and she looked hard at the commander. "You call us miscreants, you sneer at us and see us as lesser than you... but wish us to take care not to incur the wrath of the Kaa?" She inquired. "That sounds almost as if... you are concerned for our fate."

"I care nothing for you, scum." He growled although his rill didn't reflect the vehemence in his voice. "The Kaa's wrath does not end with destroying unworthy strangers but all that are unworthy in his sight. You will bring his wrath upon others with your insolence and I do not wish to die because of a foolish albiru."

"Then we will take care." Sera assured him as the transport coasted to a stop, just a moment behind the transport with the rest of the party. As she got out, Sera immediately noted that unlike the last visit, the Kaa had apparently decided to meet them as they disembarked instead of making a grand regal entrance; she wasn't at all surprised to see his rill stiffened and flushed with anger, his hand clenching occasionally on the scepter he carried.

"That you even ask this meeting of us at this time is an affront, creatures." He spat just as the group rose from their obligatory bows. "Thank whatever gods you know that we are merciful and wise."

"Your wisdom and gratitude are magnificent to behold, great Kaa." Shadow replied calmly. "But in what way have we affronted you by asking that you speak with us?"

"Do not lie to us!" He snarled. "We know that you are aware of the destruction of the laboratories and the deaths of the researchers. We think that you have stabbed us in the back when we were generous, making us look the fool. What do you say to this, creature? Will you admit your guilt and throw yourselves upon our mercy?"

"We have nothing to admit to, great Kaa." Shadow assured him. "For we never denied that we saw the deaths of your researchers and the accident at the laboratory. But we did not cause this thing; how could we think to defy you? How could we dare to think ourselves so powerful that we might mock you and escape?"

The Kaa looked genuinely surprised at Shadow's answer; whether he was surprised that Shadow didn't admit guilt just because he demanded it or was surprised at her smooth rebuttal, the calm reply visibly took some of the anger out of his features and his rill dipped slightly. "You could not hope to defy our greatness and escape; you speak truly." He replied. "We are... gratified that you abase yourselves before our might. Yet if not to revel in our sorrows, why do you request our attention?"

"It pleases us, great Kaa, to tell you that our imposition upon your territory is nearly at an end although we mourn that this pleasant news comes at a time of great sorrow." Shadow inclined her head to him. "We have learned almost all that we may and hope that upon us taking our leave, we may never be forced to come armed before you again save to beg your indulgence for trade. To ensure that we never again need to impose upon your patience, we wish to know if the Viis Empire keeps full records of its glory and if we may see these records."

The Kaa was unable to conceal his incredulity nor did he seriously try. "You come before us... tempt our wrath, risk your lives, feign innocence about the tragedy of our laboratories so... that you may... look... upon records?" He gaped. "We had thought you stupid creatures that do not know their better but we see now that you must surely be insane."

"Does the Kaa regard it as madness that others may wish to read of the glory of the Viis?" Shadow inquired with curiosity that Sera could tell wasn't exaggerated at all.

"We regard it as madness that you would pay such a high price to search among dusty books for any purpose." His eyes narrowed. "What could you hope to find, we wonder, that is worth such a price to you?"

"We have many a powerful tool in our fleet, great Kaa, but none so powerful that we could know as much about the greatness and expanse of the Empire as the Viis themselves know." Melinda's calm but clear voice said from her position to Shadow's far left. Every gaze swung to the slight wolven scientist, Shadow with consternation, the Kaa with interest and even a tinge of amusement.

"Ah, so your minions have a voice of their own, Admiral." The Kaa sneered in Shadow's direction. "Can't you control your own lesser?"

"Mighty Kaa, has not the Grand Admiral earned such status that he may speak without begging your leave?" Melinda asked quietly before Shadow could come up with a reply. "The great and the wise have many tools to show their power and among such tools are those of status and note."

"You... speak truly." The Kaa admitted after a moment of mild surprise. "Such is the honor of our Grand Admiral that his speaking makes us greater in the eyes of others. But you are not great in arms and thus degrade our Grand Admiral to compare yourself to him."

"Is your Grand Admiral a fool?" Melinda gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence.

"You... dare to suggest that our honored advisor...!" The Kaa stopped in mid-sentence and the agitated rise of his rill reversed as suddenly as it had begun. "Ah... your cunning is clear to us... you speak truly again to say that our Grand Admiral is great in intellect as well as arms." He bared his teeth in a wide grin. "We spoke much too hastily, we see. Perhaps you are not so weak as we had been told, Admiral."

"You have been ill-served by some, great Kaa." Shadow replied respectfully. "Fault is in the foolish words of others, not in your own wisdom."

"Yet we ought to have seen their folly." He mused. "Yes... we say that you may look upon the Royal Archives as you ask for at least some among you may yet fully comprehend the greatness that may be found in them. But you shall not go about without others to see and punish any deception you may attempt or take your lives for any lies that you have uttered to our hearing."

"Your greatness and wisdom humbles us, mighty Kaa." Shadow replied with a deep bow, quickly imitated by the rest of the group. "We fear no other eyes for we hide nothing from you and speak no lies to your hearing."

"We will see." The Kaa turned and strode away with his advisors in tow, leaving the group alone with the guards who were clearly unhappy with the unspoken orders based on the amount of muttering and growling as they looked between themselves.

"Hmph." The commander of the guard snorted. "Let us be done with this quickly."

"Agreed." Sera replied. "We're no more fond of you than you are of us, I assure you. You are welcome, by the way."

"For what cause would I be grateful to you?" He stared at her.

"You were not executed by a vengeful Kaa, were you?" She grinned. "I seem to recall you telling us to take care so you wouldn't be killed."

She got the expected growl and the commander stalked off with his command following behind him.

"I could have done without the guards but... that was masterful, Doctor." Shadow commented. "And surprising, frankly. I wouldn't have expected a physicist, no matter how talented, to be so quick-witted and well-spoken."

"Clearly, Admiral, you've never dueled your intellectual peers in an academic debate." Melinda smiled. "Compared to some of the intellects with whom I've worked, speaking the right thing at the right time to the Kaa is easy."

"The mind is indeed a beautiful thing, Doctor." Silver commented with the slightest hint of a grin. "Yours especially, it would seem. Now to see if that mind can devise a way for us to obtain all the information we want without making our friends in the shiny black suits annoyed."

"I could always try to juggle them." Boom suggested, grinning widely. "You don't mind if they get a little... roughed-up, do you?"

"Down, old boy." Silver chuckled. "No one said anything about damaging the blokes, just keeping them placated."

"I don't really think that's possible, Captain." Melinda commented. "They seem bound and determined to be irritable and so long as they are accompanying us, they'll be annoyed at having to be anywhere nearby. Speed, it seems, would be our best solution."

"Then speed it'll be." Shadow agreed as they reached a pair of tall doors, the handles strangely placed at Sera's hip height, far too low for a Viis to comfortably bend and grasp them. The doors, except for the odd placement of the handles, were unexceptional, looking very large and giving an impression of being very heavy but had no markings to indicate what was inside. The commander walked up to the door and rapped on it impatiently, causing a low metallic ring that confirmed Sera's impression that the doors were heavy-and apparently made of some sort of metal.

"Open for the guards of the Kaa and visitors." The commander hissed, knocking hard again. "Hurry up, you lazy slaves!"

He was bringing his hand back a third time when there was a strangely echoing click and whirl of an unseen mechanism and the door popped outwards an inch or so before slowly swinging open.

"Respect, please, of those that keep the Archives, to the guards of whom the Kaa designates should guide others to this place." A soft and somewhat vague-sounding voice came from below her and with a blink, Sera looked down. The speaker was a small creature, not much taller than Sera's midriff, covered from head to toe in a thick coat of white fur, the strands cascading off its body like water yet stopping just short of the ground. She had to stifle a giggle because the creature, which was evidently a myal, looked all the world like a long-cut Lhasa-Apsa standing upright except for the visibly draconian muzzle and luminous-looking amber eyes with a distinct slit pupil. The eyes had a softness about them, like an affectionate pet's, but Sera got the immediate impression of innumerably things going on behind those eyes. The myal's muzzle edges uplifted in a smile before the diminutive creature turned to look at the commander.

"Business of which you have any? None, likely, although a possible mistake." It (the voice alone gave no hint about its gender) said. Sera caught Shadow furrowing her brow at the creature's strange syntax but the commander seemed to understand without any trouble.

"We are ordered by our Kaa to accompany these about the archives to ensure that they do not learn things that they should not." He told it. "Now, open the door and get out of the way. It's trouble enough wasting our day with this task."

"Order delighted we are to assume for the guards of the Kaa." It nodded. "But no necessity in this, as guards are known, for none know that it is not done but those that do not speak it. Shelter but no necessity to gaze where these do."

The commander grinned and the guards seemed to be visibly more pleased than they were a moment ago. "Good. You take care of these 'guests' and when they're done, come and tell us of it."

"More delighted is this one to do as told than once before." The Myal smiled broadly, exposing a set of gleaming carnivorous teeth. "Enter and be rested as and where it is desirable thus to be done." It pushed the door fully open and then the other, expending no visible effort despite the ponderous nature of the doors. Without waiting, the guards disappeared inside, leaving the group alone with the Myal.

"What just happened?" Shadow looked at Sera in confusion.

"I invited them to rest themselves and be served in the archives while you acquire the information you are seeking." The Myal replied, looking over its shoulder at Shadow. "They need not bother themselves with you, you need not fear their eyes, and any who ask will be told that they did their duty."

"And the unusual syntax?"

It smiled. "It is our way of speaking. We will speak differently for you because your way of speaking has difficulty comprehending ours. Please come inside." It turned and walked off with a sinuous swaying gait, its steps soundless against the floor. "Do not concern yourselves with the entrance for it is the only door which seals itself as it should. The zhrelli do us this kindness for the kindness we do them."

They lapsed into silence as they followed the myal into the archives, looking around as they walked. The archives could have been lifted directly from a medieval library, the floors covered in carefully-spaced thick rugs and various tapestries hanging from the high ceilings. Although the walls were visibly metal, the riveting combined with a rough finish made them look strangely like stone and the fixtures protruding from the walls and hanging from the ceilings were deliberately crafted to retain the appearance of braziers and fire bowls, even fizzling and flickering in a flame-like manner. The corridors were framed by grand archs formed of thick support beams and with every other arch came a square section with extremely high ceilings and angled lights to simulate sunlight streaming in from above (although they well knew that the sunlight that was actually reaching the ground tended to be slightly dim from the pollution).

After a few of these alternating sections, they finally came to what seemed to be the center of the Royal Archives: a vast round chamber with a towering ribbed-dome ceiling and murals streaming down from above. In the center was a large transparent display case with various items in careful preservation and hand-written labels showing off beautifully elegant penmanship describing each piece (although in Viis so they couldn't understand it. The items seemed to be mostly weapons: two damaged rifles mounted side-by-side, an array of exotic daggers, some sort of chain weapon with a wicked triple-crescent array of blades on each end, and a tall axe which Sera found her eye drawn to, noticing the age-blackened bloodstains on the polished-steel blade.

"A slaaji war axe." The myal commented, following Sera's gaze. "It is the signature and pride of the aaroun people, forged in the blast-furnaces of the capital of Sargas Three and still stained with the blood of the twenty-eighth Grand Admiral And Marshal of All Arms who was slain at the cusp of the only Viis victory in its jungles." The small creature walked up to the display case and reached under a lip in the wood facade, sliding a small staircase of three rounded steps designed to blend perfectly in with the curved surface out and ascending them so that the axe was level with its midsection.

"We know nothing of what caused it to come into the hands of the Viis." It added softly. "The history was erased, the record destroyed, the memory condemned, the greatest blasphemy perpetuated for the Empire decided to forget." The small creature turned around and standing on the steps, Sera abruptly discovered that its face was almost level with hers and that an elegant white-scaled muzzle hid under the wispy fur... and that what she had taken for a thick coat of fur was a heavy robe decorated with silky hair although the myal did indeed wear its hair loose and very long. After a long moment of genuine surprise, she stepped back from their diminutive guide, evoking a smile.

"Surprised that I am not covered from crown to toe in fur as you are?" Sera also realized that because of the resonance of the myal's voice and the fact that she had been hearing it from above had made it difficult to tell what she now could standing face-to-face: there was a young and even somewhat girlish tone to the voice and the curves of their guide's form as she turned made it obvious that the myal was female.

"More that I... didn't... um..." Sera stumbled, very much not wanting to offend the friendly creature by admitting that she couldn't tell her gender until a moment ago.

"Realize that I am female?" The myal laughed. "Do not fear offense; I am accustomed to speak lowly for the Viis only care that the myal exist, not that they are male or female."

"Still, I apologize." Sera replied sheepishly. "I'm used to people being upset when others can't immediately tell their gender."

"We are too used to being the property of the Viis to be angered by innocent error." She replied with a respectful incline of her head. "But see us here, with only friendly eyes and ears to know what passes between us. You have come seeking the whole truth and the whole truth is a thing which we myal have."

"We were told that there was a great deal of information on the Viis Empire in the Royal Archives." Shadow told the myal. "We have some information, in fact a great deal, but we can't be sure that it's reliable. What sort of records do you have?"

"You ask if there is a cup of water in an endless sea, Admiral." She replied with a chiding smile. "All that is known to the Viis or known to those conquered by the Viis is known to us as well from the days when the stars were brightest to the time of the great tribal divisions to the rise of the first Kaa and to the great twilight of the Viis species which we now gaze upon. The gathering of the albiru is known to us and the accord with the Gorlican and the murder of a world that leaves the noblest of the albiru eternally orphaned. All is known to us, Admiral, and all could be known to you as well."

"I believe, madam, that we are in a place where we do not know what we do not know." Shadow told her. "But what we do know is that the Viis Imperial Fleet ought to be here but is not and we need to know why and we need to know its numbers."

"You require the only thing that was taken from our records." The myal sighed. "You have met the fifty-second Grand Admiral And Marshal of All Arms. He is too wise to have suffered even a page to have been destroyed of such knowledge but also too wise to have suffered such knowledge to remain in the hands of those who do not love the Empire he serves."

"It appears, Admiral, that we've come all this way to find that the Grand Admiral already has safeguarded what we needed." Dr. Campbell noted. "I wonder if that's what he meant by taking steps to ensure that the Kaa's folly would be turned to his advantage?"

"Seems like it." Shadow grunted in disgust. "I can't believe we didn't consider that he might have secreted away the records."

"Well, that chief scientist bloke knew things so we assumed that he must have gotten them from looking at the Archives." Silver shrugged. "We underestimated his cleverness. I wonder if he even told us the truth about what he did know."

"You despair very easily, Admiral." The myal smiled. "You need not. For we have no records but the Grand Admiral, as you call him, is virtuous and punishes justly; were he like any other Viis, he would have murdered all who might know what he sought to secret away. We cannot give you the whole truth nor certain knowledge but we can answer certain of your questions with what we remember of records that we loved and nurtured since our hatching."

"It would be more reliable than what we gleaned from interrogation." Shadow smiled back, visibly as relieved as Sera felt. "Thank you for your assistance, madam."

"Miyakaal." The myal bowed her head more deeply. "Miyakaal das Mikl du Amana but you are gracious and welcome to the myal and so you will call me Miyakaal instead of a title."

"Miyakaal then." Shadow nodded. "I am Myna Williams though I am called Shadow by those who are close to me."

The myal stared at her in clear confusion for a few seconds before nodding. "Williams is the final name your parents share through your father's line, I take it?"

"Yes, my surname." Shadow confirmed. "Mikl and Amana are your parents?"

"That is correct, Myna." Miyakaal nodded.

"Then I would be Myna das Wallace du Kaitlan." Shadow told her. "I am pleased to meet you, Miyakaal. However, I think it would be best if we moved quickly to answer our questions."

"Yes." Miyakaal agreed. "Nilya? Mikil? Come and confer your memory to our guests."

Sera supposed she should have expected it; Miyakaal seemed able to walk without audible footsteps and it appeared that the trait was typical among her species because when she turned her head, she found that dozens of the diminutive archivists had formed a circle around them, their hair and features starkly different from one another especially in their choice of hair style and decoration. The two that broke away from the circle, a male and a female based on the sound of their names, wore their hair much the same but the male, with streaks of black mixed with his white, had woven the silky strands into dozens of small and expertly-made braids while the female's hair was woven into a single long braid that reached almost to her feet with a tiger striping of color. Both came to a halt and bent forward in a deep formal bow directed at Shadow.

"What truths would you have from us, Admiral?" The male inquired, his voice a surprisingly rich baritone given his small size.

"All that is written of the fleets, of the arms, of the soldiers, of the officers, and all that has been fought is in our hands." His female companion added, the slightest hint of a resonant purr coloring her feminine voice. "And we would be honored to put it in yours as well."

"You have... memorized the records?" Shadow blinked, surprised.

"That would be impossible, Admiral, although nothing that we read ever entirely passes from us." Miyakaal told her. "What the Speakers of the Word of Arms can offer is much greater than merely dry words but full understanding of those words."

"Whatever you ask..."

"...we can answer." Both beamed proudly up at Shadow.

"Then I am honored." Shadow gave them a small bow in return. "Doctor, did you bring any recording devices?"

"Of course, Admiral." Dr. Campbell took a slim audio recorder from a pocket of her long coat. "I imagine that our hostess wishes to speak further to Sera and the others so perhaps a quiet corner...?"

"This way." Mikil gestured, walking towards an arch that led away from the main display chamber. Shadow and Melinda followed; without even a gesture, one of the guards also broke away and followed the pair, leaving the other two guards and the rest of their little group behind with Miyakaal.

"Military midgets." Boom chuckled. "Now these I could juggle."

"I am afraid that we are much heavier than we seem." Miyakaal chuckled. "If I may say without offense, any would be small beside you, destroyer of bastions."

"Smart too." Silver added. "Picked you out as an engineer right off, Richard."

"If you have lived a long while and seen many a soldier, the soldier's duties are clear to you." Miyakaal smiled. "It appears that we are able to provide to you the help and knowledge you came seeking, friends, but war and battle is just a grain of sand upon an eternal shore. Certainly, there are other truths I can tell to you."

"The aaroun." Sera said instantly. "I would be delighted to know of them."

Miyakaal looked genuinely taken-aback by Sera's reply. "You bore away viis, kelth, myal, and zhrelli from a brutal end as well yet the aaroun intrigues you the most?"

"Well, I was... impressed by the aaroun prisoner." Sera admitted, smiling a little at the thought of the gregarious Ampris.

"Bloody impressive!" Silver added emphatically. "Kicked from toe to teakettle, drugged all to hell, just given birth, and nursing a torn leg and the girl hauls herself out on her own feet. You'd have to be a SpecOps or the Jolly Black Giant here to pull that off."

"A torn leg?" Miyakaal looked intensely interested. "Was her fur all of gold? Did she bear the marks of the blood games?"

"Not as many as you'd think." Silver replied. "She'd still be in that bloody hell if something hadn't mangled her leg."

Miyakaal smiled broadly. "Then the whispers are true. You indeed bore away Ampris, the Crimson Claw, the Golden One... a... friend. Rare among her kind, of a great intellect and no small courage. I... we... are so pleased to have her rescuers before us."

"She has proven to be a pleasant guest although the... customs of her people are unusual." Sera felt herself flush a little at the memory of the aaroun parting the first time with a kiss and visibly surprised that the gesture was not commonplace. "She knew little of her kind so I thought you might know more."

"You believe correctly." Sera turned and looked down at another female, this one visibly older than their hostess with beautiful raven-black tresses and accompanied by several others. "The aaroun are known well to us for their greatness but also their tragedy."

"It is the only war that the Empire wishes to never remember." Yet another added.

"And the war that the Grand Admiral learned to a depth that puts even us to shame." A third spoke up.

"I thank you, my companions, but allow me to speak this truth to the adjutant of the Admiral." Miyal raised her hand for quiet. "Please care for her companions as you may for although time is precious, it has no value unless spent in valuable ways."

"I think I'd like to hear this too." Akeya commented. "That Ampris was somethin' else."

Miyakaal looked at her with an expression of abject shock. "You were part of those that rescued her?" She inquired in disbelief.

"Major Obsydien was the leader of the team that rescued Ampris." Sera clarified. "I and Captain Prowler and Sergeant Morris were also part of the team."

"But... she is... one who brings death." Miyakaal's brow furrowed. "Why would she... how... I do not understand."

"Of course you don't." Akeya chuckled. "All you know is viis. I ain't viis, lady, although I can scare them with a few careful words."

"It is not the word, Major." Miyakaal replied. "It is... how I read you. I do not read the compassion of a healer or the protectiveness of a soldier. Bringers of death exist only to kill but you... saved."

"I am not viis, Miyakaal." Akeya stated simply. "I am draccian. That makes all the difference."

A slow smile spread over the myal's face and she looked at Akeya with an expression of distinct warmth. "No, you are not viis. I do not know what draccian is but perhaps we can exchange truths."

"Swapping stories would be fun." Akeya agreed, smiling back. "How long do you think it'll be before our iguana-faced friends get bored and come back to annoy me?"

Miyakaal grinned wickedly. "When the honored guards of the noble Kaa awaken from the soothing herbal tea they enjoy so much." She replied with a playful girlish wink. "Most of the sunlight will pass away before they feel able to annoy you, Major."

"You might be knee-high to a cricket, but you're my kinda librarian." Akeya beamed. "I'm Akeya, by the way... uh, Akeya das Richard du Anna."

"Your name is suited to you, Akeya." Miyakaal descended her staircase and stowed it under the display case. "And you are suited to the weapon you carry for it is larger than it should be and you are deadlier than eyes can reveal."

"She should be. With the money that gets poured into the super-soldier program, it'd be amazing if they didn't get serious results." Silver commented, chuckling.

Miyakaal looked up at him and quirked a brow. "Super soldier?"

"It's a bit of a whimsical name." Sera told the archivist. "We have sizable armies with various specialties, including elite forces for various tasks. There is also a program that takes the most talented among these elite forces and uses very specifically-tailored training to give them combat skills significantly superior to that of a typical soldier. Thus, super-soldier."

"Ah, I see." Miyakaal nodded. "Then it is unfortunate that Akeya proclaimed the title she did. They who bring death are not soldiers in the usual sense but brutal criminals serving the will of the Kaa and the Grand Admiral." She paused. "Although, they have learned by very painful experience to avoid the Grand Admiral as often as they can for he is somewhat... uninhibited about expressing his feelings. A rumor has it that one of the agents made the mistake of reporting his success to the Grand Admiral personally and is now a cripple. But this is only a rumor; I doubt that the Grand Admiral permit any creature he despised to even come into his presence, much less speak to him."

"The Grand Admiral sounds more powerful than we'd thought." Sera observed, following as the small female started deeper into the archives with them following. "What did you call him? The Grand Admiral And Marshal of All Arms?"

"You recall correctly." Miyakaal replied. "But I have no point of reference for I do not know how powerful you estimate him to be."

"The most trusted advisor of the Kaa and highest-ranking military officer."

"Both of those are true but they are not the entire truth." They passed through the arch leading out of the central round and immediately found themselves passing by a series of well-lit photographic portraits. "All soldiers of the Empire and all arms answer to the Grand Admiral. If it bears a weapon or serves that which does, it is commanded by him. But Kaarshan the Deformed is exceptional even for his position for he would not be recognized as a true viis normally."

"Cept for lookin' like these other lizards, that man ain't any more deformed than Doc Campbell and she's a looker with nary a spot of meat on her bones." Boom rumbled. "Actually, he looks better than these other iguanas."

"The collar he wears, the one normally designed to decorate a frill, is nothing more than a show piece; he was born without the frill or even any hint of one in his bones." Miyakaal explained. "He more strongly resembles us and the Major in the shape of his body than he does a 'proper' viis. Yet he has been adopted, elevated, shielded, his deformity carefully concealed for the Kaa had no other choice. The virtues of the advisors of the Kaa are often spoken of but not known to the viis who are outside of the palace yet Kaarshan was known widely for destroying the enemies of the Kaa no matter the strength of his foes. The Kaa, though as arrogant and foolish as he had been taught to be by tradition, knew that he could be threatened by a known hero and so took the hero into his own house. And thus, by pure accident, the Kaa himself became stronger and less foolish for his Grand Admiral does not fear him; he was once Reject and does not fear becoming Reject again and so he speaks fearlessly and harshly to his Kaa when no other ears can hear."

"Except yours." Silver observed.

"Except those of all albiru." Miyakaal corrected him. "When the viis are not malicious to the albiru, they do not remember that we exist and will speak their deepest secrets without ever noticing that a slave is listening for what could a slave do with little truths? They do not remember that little truths become larger truths and eventually become complete truths when all truths have been gathered into one place."

"And this is the one place." Sera chuckled. "That is very interesting... to our eyes the Grand Admiral is more handsome than a typical viis but to the eyes of a typical viis, he is deformed and ugly. But he is a great enough soldier that his deformity is carefully concealed as much as possible."

"Deformed and unsettling, actually." Miyakaal stopped midway down the line of portraits. "See this portrait, how even the current Kaa is represented. See that although his face is more predatory than other viis, he is shown with a rounder countenance, a more harmless and familiar one."

Sera nodded thoughtfully, noting that the myal was exactly right: although the Kaa had a slightly more narrow face than other viis they had met, the portrait had been altered to make his face more round with a greater sag under his chin although the thin sculpted lines of his body had been fastidiously preserved. "So a narrower, more predatory face makes other viis uneasy?" She inquired.

"It does although they do not plumb too deeply into the cause." Their guide confirmed. "We believe that the reason they remain more comfortable with the aaroun is that although the typical aaroun has a hunter's countenance, their faces are deeper and rounder. Zhrelli, kelth, and myal all have sharper faces, more predatory and narrow faces. The gorlican do as well which is why they go about masked when trading with the viis. It is also why they are nervous around yourselves, adjutant: your faces have the lines of a predator, especially those like the Major whose every proportion is like a hunter."

"So what do myal think of predatory faces, Miyakaal?" Akeya grinned.

"What do we...? Oh, um..." Sera couldn't see well from her angle but it looked as if the myal was blushing. "...well, your face would be considered... well, is very much what we regard as exceptionally beautiful, Major. Why?"

"Just wonderin' why someone who has to practically lay down to see would take special notice of what viis faces look like." Akeya grinned. "Sounds like y'all don't mind seein' the Grand Admiral walkin' by at times."

The myal gave Akeya a shy look. "He is pleasant to look upon, Major. But there are more important things about him that we take note of."

"Your companions mentioned that there was a particular war that the Grand Admiral has taken care to know although other viis want to forget it." Sera mentioned. "Why is it so important to him?"

"Because he saw in it the downfall of the Empire." Miyakaal told her gravely. "Before that war, the Empire rose without opposition; after it, the Empire began to rot within, at least as he understands it. It is the only instance where we do not know or understand the whole truth for there are pieces of the truth upon which all other pieces rest that only he knows."

"Could he be mistaken?"

"There was a point where we believed so but his insight collects data that we had never connected and weaves it into a complete truth of which we were not even dimly aware." Miyakaal frowned. "I admit that it was... unsettling that one who does not know the archives nearly as well as us could weave such a truth from the truths that he knew."

"Intuition." Akeya told the myal. "It's the first and most important component of super-soldier training. That gut feeling, that awareness at the edge of your thoughts, that knowledge when there is nothing to know, is one of the things that makes folks like me better than the best. Many people have it naturally; few bother to concentrate on mastering the skill."

"Another truth that we wish to gain from you at some time." Miyakaal nodded then looked at Sera. "I remember that you wish to know of the aaroun, adjutant, and suppose that your question about the Grand Admiral's interest in their enslavement would be the most opportune moment to speak that truth to you."