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The princess is back home in the palace on Albert-4.
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1
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The palace builders constructed the palace on top of a small mountain overlooking valleys all around...
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2
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It is springtime on Albert-4, so the temperature is in the low twenties.
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3
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The summer can reach up to forty degrees Celsius, and the winter can drop to minus twenty degrees Ce...
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4
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The Murphy family rules over Albert-4 and Albert-5.
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5
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Their chief trade exports are industrial equipment manufactured on Albert-5 and military fighters ma...
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6
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Kainda has returned home to her family, fawning over her and her ordeal.
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7
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“It must have been horrible to wake up on a salvage ship.”
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8
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“Aunt Vicky, they did nothing to threaten or harm me. They got me out of the area, helped me recover...
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9
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Aunt Vicky is her late father’s only sister.
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10
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Duchess Victoria has been responsible for raising Kainda from birth, since her mother died.
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11
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Vicky is 160 cm tall, slender, and beautiful.
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12
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She has the family characteristic of red hair and blue eyes.
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13
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Witold Felucca, chief of the guard, says,
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14
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“Completely correct. That this ship picked you up raises concerns for us. Although it is standard la...
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15
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Witold is a large man.
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16
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He is usually gruff with Kainda because they only talk after she has escaped her room and gone explo...
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17
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“Please! With our resources, you can provide credits to an account and share the news. The salvager ...
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18
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Aunt Vicky asks,
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19
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“Who is the captain of this ship?”
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20
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“I don’t know. I never met him and was never told his name.”
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21
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“Rude!”
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22
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“I was told the ship’s name is Deal Hunter. The captain was focused on repairing his ship after miss...
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23
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Chief Felucca says,
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24
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“I will get one million credits deposited in a bank in the trade sector.”
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25
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“Now, Kainda, we need to talk about your recovery and getting you back into the social schedule.”
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26
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“No, Aunt Vicky. I want a plan to have training on flight systems, emergency procedures, and fightin...
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27
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“Excuse me? Princesses don’t do that sort of thing.”
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28
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“My brothers do. I will too. You can argue, or you can help. Either way, I will be starting training...
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29
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Aunt Vicky says,
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30
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“That will not happen, but we can talk more later.”
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31
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Every talk with Aunt Vicky is frustrating these days.
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32
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After the talk, Kainda walks toward the terrace garden.
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33
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She has two guards behind her.
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34
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They usually watch her to ensure she doesn’t sneak off and get into trouble.
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35
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She is looking at the beautiful flowers and hedges in the garden.
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36
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They took out the hedge maze years ago because she would hide in there, and they couldn’t find her.
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37
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Birds are singing, and the flowers have honeybees hovering around.
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38
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These are rare for Kainda to see, and never during a trip to another planet.
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39
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She walks over to smell some flowers.
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40
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She doesn’t pick any; they won’t let her have them in her room.
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41
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Looking out over the valley, she sees the green fields of spring crops.
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42
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On the hills many miles away, she can make out the vines where they will make wine.
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43
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A vineyard is another place she may never go to or experience.
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44
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She turns back into the palace.
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45
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These are new personal guards.
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46
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Her guards died during the yacht attack.
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47
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She doesn’t know them, and right now is not interested.
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48
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She says,
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49
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“I’m going to my room.”
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50
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<<<>>>
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51
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The pirate clan leader says,
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52
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“This call is routed through several commercial hubs and encrypted on each, so that we can talk. As ...
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53
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A distorted voice replies,
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54
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“That was a complete failure on your part. I paid you a lot of equipment and credits to eliminate he...
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55
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“It was a fluke. A salvager picked her up. We fired missiles at the ship to finish it, and the ship ...
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56
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“That is an excuse.”
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57
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The clan leader says,
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58
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“If you wanted it to look like a random pirate attack, we need to act like random pirates. It would ...
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59
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“The ship that helped. What do we know about it and the captain?”
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60
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“The ship is the Deal Hunter, and the captain is Alec Weston, a salvager and bounty hunter. The repu...
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61
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“Why would a low-life scumbag like him stop and pick up a survivor? It would cost him credit and tak...
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