There was frequent traffic through the back loading bay, since it was still pre-banquet and pre-fashion show. The pair was waved in when they flashed their obviously relevant item; the important checkpoints were internal, so door security acted mainly as helpers and emergency watch.

As the two walked purposefully through the hotel map, Derringer eyed the perceivable form of Yrenn Tiche, pinched her practical outfit, and poked her soft arm. “Wow, that’s convincing,” he muttered to one side. “I could forget that you’re the Princess. But I won’t.”

It would be worth it. Soleil said what she could use, and the krewe said what they could do. It was lock and key, demand meets skill. It helped that they were at the ebullient age where they had new talent and enjoyed flexing it to prove themselves. Drift X handled the contact like it was a regular Vedani aetherscape interface terminal, utilizing one of the text monitors with flattened-output letter-based imagery translation. They planned on bouncing the program module back and forth a couple more times, mostly building in Soleil’s access flap and broadening hardware versatility. She had time now to scope an entry.

The Captain let her borrow her infosheet again. This time, Wendel showed Soleil how to open the programming reroute to use more computer capabilities than the infosheet firmware. One of her recent contracts, a green-haired scientist, had ramified the transport driver’s infosheet upon interest, for the favor of using it. The lightcloth design was so handy, no wonder it was a popular device. Soleil took it with her for more solo time in the gunnery.

Princess Soleil hadn’t used her masque in a long time, and it would be nice to know how well it still worked. She had tied together this anonymous communications access route way back when she was a teenager exploring outside the confines of privilege. The average bedroom window escape in the form of a virtual peephole that only used modified Trailknife freeware, her setup still floating in a forgotten corner of academic history.

An innocent prank of yore was was putting herself onto invite lists. No lists of record, since that could come back to her. Not necessarily because she could go, but maybe she’d want to. Not as many events think to invite the Princess as one might guess, but certainly they’d be glad if she’d like to go.

Soleil opened a series of individual windows and fell into the step-by-step rhythm of gaining anonymity, and creating a new identity that fit the system she was entering. Boot/log/open/encrypt/access/select/search/encrypt/route/access/closewindows/erasetrail. Masque. After that, Yrenn Tiches was now a listed volunteer for the Women’s Leadership Symposium, in case she needed to officialize, and she would appear as the alias, Yrenn. Princess Soleil tasted the irony of hardly using her dragon’s boon of perceptual disguise until she was back home. She felt done. That was it. She folded the infosheet and waved it in the air as she went forward to talk to the others.

Derringer, Wendel, and Toller were chatting up front, facing the eerie view of a darkened orbit cluster. Captain Wendel accepted her infosheet from the Princess. Soleil leaned up casually as if just to join their conversation, though they’d gone quiet in expectation. To the private investigator, she said, “You’ll be happy. We’re going back to Alisandre.”

“Mm.” Derringer took this in with the slightest of nods. “Okay.” He didn’t expect to be dunking the puck straight in the bucket, but he could keep the prizewinner in good condition with his eye out for deal closure. If he tried to control her, he’d lose her. There’s no strongarming this one, not if he wants to keep his good name when she reaches power.

“Alright,” said Wendel as she readied. Toller secured himself in the copilot’s chair. “Let’s fire up this woodstove.” They knew she was referring to the potbellied unit installed by the Vedani, which glowed a little when Drift X was engaging in jump. “Nice and toasty.”

Current date of the Pan-Galactic Synchrony, that’s what she needed next. She set Wendel’s infosheet out on the equipment where she could read and navigate, taking good care of the loaned device. Glimpsing at the Synchrony date, Soleil reckoned it into a few different planetary timeframes to see if any familiar events were coming up.

Yes – right about now, the Women in Leadership Symposium should be underway just outside of Alisandre Capital. Margeaux would undoubtedly be helping to run that in some capacity, as long as it’s happening. This would be her cousin’s seventh running year of involvement, back since they started taking advanced courses. Innovative problem solvers with armloads of trade secrets? Princess Soleil would take that, along with the sight of one of her most familiar faces.

She went looking for news of the event. It was on in just a few days. But the WLS had been co-opted as a Relief Assistance annex group, so it was now both a drive and an organizational meeting. The fundraising was being redirected, and though some of the original program items remained, including the fashion show, there were lots of action items related to the populace in lockdown-affected urban areas. Things like supply distribution and information dispersal.

The Princess made a quick detour through mainpage headlines. There was a lot about the recent Red Nexus Dragon attack on the fleets. Tabloids were surging with confessionals which, now that she’d met them herself, read as obviously Kao-Sidhe related. Many connected to the battle, or to a rediscovered long-lost heirloom. Essay magazines were discussing new theory completions about the meaning of the Vedani window picture shows. Soleil could spot a lot in those that she could corroborate from her own educational voyage and liminal download, though the shift in perspective was sometimes dizzying.

There could be something that Margeaux Rienne could do for her, other than a welcome moment of recognition unlikely to be betrayed. So long as Soleil could make it work in time, it could really help. She’d have to see if she could contact some of the handsignal crew. Drift X could probably manage that connection. It would have to be worth getting her bestie involved in dangerous schemes.