DZ returns, at this point; Deskyl startles, barely perceptibly, when the robot puts her hand on her shoulder, but turns to sign to her.

    "Would you mind explaining what just happened, Ma'am?", she addresses the woman on the screen. "I'm Deskyl's translator."

"We've established that a hijacking is taking place. I asked if the hijackers had any demands. Reva attempted to describe your intentions to me, but I suspect I'd do better hearing them from you directly. So. What is it you want here?"

"We understand that you believe that Deskyl and these civilians are slaves or brainwashed or both. This is definitely not true of Deskyl, and from what we've seen - and Deskyl can sense emotions directly; slaves are very obvious to her - it's not the case for any of them, and none of your soldiers have been able to give us any real evidence to the contrary. She considers this to have been a kidnapping - a well-intentioned one, certainly, but you've taken these people from their home and are, she's reasonably certain, bringing them someplace they don't want to be; she's not going to allow that to happen."

She regards DZ thoughtfully for several seconds before speaking.

"Have you killed Recon Team Gamma?"

"She killed the team leader, when she gave you the false code; everyone else is safe and will most likely continue to be."

She takes a long breath.

"Okay. And you're demanding that the civilians aboard Savior Gamma be left to the dragons. Do I understand that right?"

"Yes, though if the majority of the civilians want to go to the United Colonies, she'll cooperate with that; it would be sufficient evidence that you were right. She's confident that that won't happen, but the rest of Team Gamma was checking anyway."

"You can take as long as you need to survey the slaves, provided you allow Reva to maintain course in the meantime. I'll open a line to StratCom and determine what concessions we're authorized to offer you. I hope we can resolve this situation without any further bloodshed."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

They sign back and forth, and then Deskyl closes her eyes. After a minute, she signs again.

"She's concerned about our ability to contact Culamine for assistance; the current plan is to get back to the station as soon as possible and hope we're in time to catch her checking it for salvage. We're not very familiar with your technology; is there an alternative communication method available, if we risk letting that one fail?"

"I'll run that plan past StratCom. I doubt there's any better way of making contact with Draco forces given the severity of local EM-interference."

Deskyl opens her eyes again, nods, signs.

    "She'd be willing to have you along as an escort, if that would be acceptable to them instead. Assuming you'll agree not to initiate hostilities against any Draco SLAYERS we find; her backup plan is to ask them for advice, if we do."

"I'll ask," she says. "Maintain course until authorized otherwise."

The SLAYER pilot terminates the transmission.

It's probably better that people keep underestimating her, but the resulting disrespect is starting to itch.

    "Do you know how long we should expect that to take, Ma'am?" DZ relays to the copilot.

"Probably not long. Devika--the pilot we just talked to--is the StratCom's personal escort so she'll have a priority channel..."

    "All right. Maintain course."

Less than a minute later, they receive another transmission from Devika's SLAYER.

Reva puts her back on screen.

"StratCom has authorized the fulfillment of your demands in full."

She's sad. The thought of leaving fellow humans behind in this place is a tragedy to her. But she keeps her voice level and her face dispassionate.

"Thank you, Ma'am. Will you need me for anything else?"

"We'll be sending another transport over, to pick up you and your companion and the survivors of Recon Team Gamma and anyone else not brainwashed. The former slaves that want to stay can remain on Savior Gamma until the dragons return for them. Please fetch me someone from the recon team, so that we can plot out the fine details of the personnel transfer."

    "Deskyl has no intention of going with you, Ma'am, if she doesn't have to compromise on the civilians' preferences in order to stay. She still doesn't believe that the problems you're talking about exist, but if they do, she expects to be in a better position to do something about them here."

"My orders are clear. The dragons may not have you, and they may not have her. The two of you have a lot of options, here, but consorting further with our oppressors is not one of them."

The ship begins spinning again.

Devika's SLAYER flies past, making an approach within fifty meters.

A distant THUNK sounds from he front of the transport, and the effort required to apply spin to the vessel suddenly increases.

"Don't play games with their lives. Please."

It continues turning, nevertheless.

    "She doesn't trust you enough for this to be worth continuing to talk about. She's not going to let you take her, and that means not letting anyone on this ship."

"On the count of three, I'm deploying Flash Plates."

"Three..."

"Two..."