And that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God,” Kara said, finishing the oath and lowe...ring her right hand.Taylor looked across Kara at Whitaker, who was looking up at her adopted daughter smiling. He hadn’t seen her do much of that over the last several weeks since Qasim’s death. He was happy to see a small glimpse at the woman he knew, but hadn’t seen in a while.Whitaker had been stunned into silence after Taylor had fired, staring. But protocols are protocols. A depressed crew member may never be left alone in space. Her specialty in astrophysics was the least scientifically valuable for a polar exploration mission, so she had to stay up the well to make sure he didn’t just walk out of an airlock. She never complained. He stole from her the chance of a million lifetimes, and she smiled with grace.“Pasiphaë, would you give use privacy please.” She asked.“Confirmed.” Obedient, for now at least, the ship’s AI shut down. My hair was matted with blood, but it was dry. ‘Is my skull split open?’ ‘Nah, you’re okay.’ He sighed, and his expression was ridden with guilt. ‘I’m sorry, kid.’ ‘Please tell me what’s going on.’ ‘Okay, but look, just listen. Listen and don’t say shit, okay?’ ‘Okay.’ ‘All this shit, everything, is because of Darren’s father. He got himself involved with some criminals, the black market, and did some stupid things. We’ve never known exactly what. Whatever he did, he took it with him to his. Have you looked into hiring a local legal team to assist us?”My mother had a look of concern on her face as she said “we have inquired to some of the more prestigious firms in the area, but we are not comfortable with their responses. They keep trying to negotiate a piece of the action, so to speak. It’s like they already know about the property and how it was financed. Our team isn’t providing details, just asking general questions in regards to laws for real estate purchased with stolen.