The border security personnel take the hint.

"We're uploading a trajectory for you now. Have a pleasant degree, ma'am."

The transmission winks off.

Deskyl sends DZ to let Shreya out ("but stay close to the hatch, Ma'am, we could be hailed again any time") and goes to offer Devika a hug. You did well.

Devika, still suspended in the SLAYER’s harness, leans into the hug despite not really being in a convenient position to hug back.

”It’s weird being her again.”

“I mean, I never stopped being myself but the things I used to do and the way I used to talk... they feel kind of hollow to me now? Farcical, even?”

Deskyl nods.

    "It's just for a little while, and then you'll have time to figure out what you want now."

"Of course." She nods. "I'll play this part just fine."

She gives her another squeeze.

    "What does it mean that you were flagged for referral?"

“It means Veda expected me to make it back, and so gave the border outposts instructions to keep an eye out for me. Their standard approach is, of course, to detain any incoming vessels that approach unexpectedly on this heading.”

    "That will make things easy, then. Good."

"Veda's a good woman. A friend. I only knew her for the one decacycle after I graduated, but..." She shakes her head. She hasn't known anyone for more than that one decacycle. Not really. "Anyway. She's good. She's understands me. I don't want to lie to her."

Deskyl nods, thoughtfully.

    "You can take risks with that, if you want to, Deskyl says. The worst case, if something goes wrong, is that we kidnap you back to the Draco territories and try again later."

"No. We can't afford to risk that. Later means more scrutiny on the border, it means my knowledge of our target getting further out of date, it means the possibility of whatever I say to Veda getting back to whoever created me and them deciding to take precautions."

    "She could handle that. But it's better not to have to, you're right."

"I'm not that good of a liar. But Veda is... bad at people. I don't think she'll pick up on it, even if I'm a little off."

(Emotion Read: guilty.)

    "You have a right to do something about what was done to you, she says. It's unfortunate that there are innocent people in the way of that, but you have the right anyway."

"She'll probably have questions for Deskyl." Devika tries to imagine how the debriefing will play out.

(She'll have to translate for Veda, most likely, the same way DZ does for Deskyl. That's a sort of amusing thought.)

She spends the next few minutes running through different likely questions they could be asked and making sure the three of them have a coherent cover story.

Veda's not dumb. She might not be well equipped to spot falsehood-related nonverbal cues, but she'll definitely notice if the descriptions Devika and DZ give of recent events in the Draco Territories have any discrepancies.

Deskyl and DZ listen attentively, and Deskyl points out a couple places where the description could use more detail.

"I'm receiving another transmission. It's probably her."

DZ helps Shreya back into the crawlspace.

When Devika accepts the transmission, a new holographic simulacrum appears in the cockpit.

She's wearing a colonial officer's uniform and seated behind a bank of controls (only the edges of which are visible across the front of the hologram).

She has too many pupils.

They slide smoothly past each other, three linked pairs each moving independently of the others.

"Veda."

Creepy!

She's too well-trained to lose her composure, but can't help looking a little distant as she reaches out with the Force to figure out what exactly is going on here.

As her pupils move, wavy lines of spectral light appear suspended in midair across the front of Devika's cockpit. Each such scribble seems to be following the path of a particular iris.

"It's good to see you again, too!"

...cybernetics, lots of them, including the eyes. Bizarre, concerning, but not an immediate threat. Probably. She returns her attention to the conversation at hand.

    "We hope this degree finds you well, Ma'am."

Veda finally notices Deskyl staring.

She fumbles around with a pocket beside her seat, fishes out a pair of polarized glasses and fits them onto her face.

The iris scribbles continue.