TGoaW-57

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==Chapter 57 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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Blackjack, Lyran Commonwealth - 3050
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"You have a LOT of explaining to...
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...do, Elizabeth." Her Majesty's image on the HPG link flickered a little, but stabilized. "We'll start with the obvious one-what in hell did you think you were doing on that destroyer in the first place?"
"Traveling, Your Majesty, to Tharkad...with some stops along the way." Elizabeth evaded.
"I seem to recall you were explicitly told to avoid Blackjack-in fact, you were supposed to be taking a route well off the front lines!" Her Majesty scolded.
"Uhm...they came here? We were already set to jump when the message from High Command arri-"
"Versuche nicht, mich zu verarschen!!" Melissa Steiner Davion managed to loom right through the screen.
"I do not-"
"So you successfully defied an express order, Elizabeth! I have half a mind to assume your Guardianship myself and give you the paddling you so richly deserve! You are a peer of the realm, you can not be seen flouting the law, or the orders of your superiors!"
"Should I give it back then?" Liz asked, scowling back.
"No. You will embark post-haste with the senior most enemy officers for Tharkad as soon as your relief forces from the AFFC gets to Blackjack, whereupon you will report to the Throne Room...in formal clothing. LET me be very specific for you, young lady. Because you obviously lack the judgment to make these sorts of decisions on your own-you will wear a dress, and it will be a Civilian outfit, bearing not so much as a single utility pouch, or pocket, you will report in Heels. At least twenty five millimeter height, polished, and HOSE-so shave your legs. You will comport yourself as a proper young lady upon arrival, no skinsuit, none of those little 'spacer touches', am I understood?"
"Ayeh, Mum."
"Repeat my instructions back to me, I want to make absolutely certain you have not misheard them." Melissa scowled, "What happens after is highly and thoroughly dependent on you doing what you're told to do."
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