The door to the conference room opened again, and a man entered. He was tall and lean, with rich copper-brown skin and hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. He wore a utilitarian gray jumpsuit with the colony’s insignia on the left shoulder. There was something about him that set my teeth on edge right away, but why exactly I could not put into words. I sensed Markus picking up on my unease immediately, and he moved a few steps closer to me.

  “Highness, this is Chief Excavator Lytell Vossner,” the Governor introduced the newcomer. “He oversees all our mining operations and will be your primary liaison for the technical aspects of your visit.”

  Vossner nodded curtly, his dark eyes scanning the room before settling on me with a calculating stare. Unlike the Governor, who had shown a mixture of deference and caution, Vossner seemed to assess me as if I were a problem to be solved rather than an imperial heir to be respected.

  “Chief Vossner.” I acknowledged with a nod.

  “Your Highness.” The man’s voice carried no warmth, no deference—just a flat acknowledgment that somehow sounded dismissive.

  I felt my jaw tighten. It had taken me a while to get used to the way of things since coming to Ethia. I wasn’t keen on all the preferred treatment or the strict protocols I had to follow as one of the ruling class, but in that moment, I understood the importance of it.

  I recalled Dur-ele’s stern voice during our political lessons: “The formality between ruler and subject isn’t merely tradition—it’s the invisible wall that maintains order in Ethian society. When that wall crumbles, chaos follows.” And now I could see that concept in action as Vossner’s gaze swept over me like I was just another piece of equipment to be catalogued—functional until proven otherwise, and it only heightened my distinct dislike of the man.

  I decided the best way to deal with him for the time being was to ignore his behavior and get to the point of our visit as quickly as possible. “Please, have a seat,” I said as neutrally as I could and gestured to the empty seat beside me to see if he would take it, or chose to be deferential to my position after all and take one of the other seats further away.

  He took the seat I offered, making quite the scene as he settled into his chair. It was like watching a king settling himself before his subjects. I took the opportunity to exchange a look with Markus.

  “Want me to knock him around a bit?” my Protector mouthed.

  I gave him a slight shake of my head. I was almost afraid of what the man’s definition of knocking him around would be. It would be a bad way to start this visit, but I tucked the suggestion away. Maybe I was just misreading the situation.

  From the sour look on Governor’s Korrel’s face. I realized I’d not misread anything at all. The older man looked like he was going to come out of his chair and throttle the engineer himself.

  “Chief Vossner,” I began, keeping my voice steady despite my growing irritation, “I understand you can provide us with detailed information about the mining operations here. We are especially interested in what you call Mine Shaft Seven.”

  I already knew that the colony had twelve mines and that three of them had been depleted since operations started here eighteen years ago, but there was only one mine my team and I were interested in seeing. It was the whole reason for our visit to this planet.

  Vossner leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “I can, but it’s an unusual request. We don’t often get visitors to our mines, especially Mine Shaft Seven. What is your interest there exactly?”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but Korrel beat me to it. “If a Prince of the Empire wishes to see Mine Shaft Seven, or any other place on our colony, then he is welcome to it without rude inquiries from us,” the Governor said with a hard tone and a warning glare.

  The Chief continued as if he hadn’t heard Korrel. “That mine happens to be our most profitable. What if our imperial mining rights are revoked? What if production quotas are changed? Our contracts with the Empire are very specific about—”

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  “I can assure you, the Empire has no interest in changing anything in your production here, Chief Vossner.” I said, cutting him off. Our team had a mission to fulfill, and I didn’t know what this man’s problem was, but I wasn’t going to let him stand in the way of completing our task. “We simply want to investigate a recent finding in that mineshaft.”

  “This is about mineral RP3?” the Governor asked. He was clearly startled. I suppose he thought we were here for much the same that Chief Vossner did, though he’d been much nicer about it. I had purposely kept the reason for our visit vague. I hadn’t realized that I’d be creating the wrong impression by doing so. Had they really thought I’d come to shut them down or drastically change their operation?

  I nodded to the man. “Yes, we know that you recently opened up a new section in Mine Shaft Seven and that mineral RP3 was listed in the geological survey you submitted to the Imperial Mining Consortium. We wish to extract as much as we can while we are here and take it with us.”

  “For what purpose?” the Governor asked.

  “I am afraid I can not share that with you at this time.”

  The room was uncomfortably quiet with a long pause, before the Governor nodded with clear relief on his face, not at all put off by my lack of further explanation. “But of course. We can certainly help you with that. In fact, it might not be necessary to go down there at all if you just want the mineral.”

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “We collected a sizable amount before we realized it was of no use to us. We have several crates of it sitting in a warehouse down in the city.”

  “That is good news, Governor, but it is essential for our research that we observe this mineral before it is pulled from the ground,” Commander Leyva replied from across the table.

  The Governor looked confused. I decided to give him at least a little information to help him out.

  “I am sure what we are asking is highly unusual, but I assure you, Governor, that it has a vital purpose. We are not here on a whim of fancy. The mineral could help save lives in an ongoing conflict. And yes, retrieving as much of it as we can is important to our cause, but so is having a full understanding of the mineral and where it came from, and in doing so, we can maximize its potential.”

  “I see,” the Governor replied in a grave tone. I was glad he was taking our request seriously. “Then Chief Vossner will arrange a trip down the mine shaft, or multiple trips if you need it. We can even shut the mine down a few days.” The Governor nodded to himself as if making a definitive decision. “Yes, let’s shut it down. They can do their work better if they don’t have to worry about all the working going on down there.”

  “But that’s our highest-producing mine,” Vossner complained.

  “And we run our people in that shaft ragged. It wouldn’t hurt to give them a much-needed rest while we accommodate the Empire with whatever important business they are about. Go see to it, Engineer.” The Governor said with a sharp tone in his voice and with an equally sharp look, daring the man to disobey.

  Vossner’s face hardened into stone. With visible reluctance, he pushed back from the table and stalked toward the exit, each footfall landing with deliberate force against the floor. The Governor waited until the door had closed behind the Engineer before turning to me.

  “Highness, please accept my sincere apology, not only for misunderstanding the situation, but for Excavator Vossner. He is quite brilliant at his job, but he lacks certain social skills. I assure you, he will be punished appropriately for his behavior today.”

  “That isn’t necessary, Governor. I feel this is partly my fault for having been the cause of the misunderstanding. The nature of our work is classified, and the less anyone knows what we are doing, the better.”

  “Does this have anything to do with what’s been going on out at the eastern border?”

  I paused, not sure what to say. The Vanguard and Legion had done their best to keep the invasion of the Shixxaminti a secret from the rest of the Empire. No one thought it a good idea to reveal that Ethia’s borders had been breached by a hostile alien race. It was our goal to find the last Shixxaminti vessel to either destroy or capture it, and of course, keep anymore from coming in. If my team and I were successful, this invasion would be over before the public had known it had even happened, or that had been the plan.

  “What do you know about that?” I asked cautiously.

  “Not a lot, Highness. Just rumors. They say there is a faction of the Fazha Rebellion that’s causing trouble and attacking Vanguard and Legion battle cruisers out right!? Can you imagine such a thing?” the Governor said incredulously.

  I kept my expression completely neutral, but I was glad the rumors were at least attributing the attacks to the Fazha, though it seemed the Vanguard and Legion efforts to keep a lid on the whole affair had failed. It would be important to tread carefully so that my team and I did not reveal the truth accidentally.

  Before I could respond, the Governor waved a hand in my direction. “I, of course, don’t expect you to confirm or deny anything. It isn’t my business. You say that you are attempting to save Ethian lives; it’s good enough for me, Highness.”

  I gave a respectful nod to the other man. “I appreciate your assistance and discretion. If you don’t mind, could our team have the room as we discuss next steps?”

  “Absolutely.” The Governor stood up from his seat and paused. “I will be close by if you need me for anything.”