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block the entrance to the office. Knowing they intended to search him for weapons and confiscate all they found, Vyx stopped, again flipped the right side of his cloak over his shoulder, and prepared for a fight. Gillanno had said his weapons wouldn't be confiscated, and he had no intention of surrendering them.
    Gillanno, upon seeing the motion of the two bodyguards and Vyx's response, waved the bodyguards off, but they refused to back away because they reported only to Lippaula. They placed their hands on the handles of their weapons and waited for Vyx to yield.
    "I think we're done here, Gillanno," Vyx said, backing away. "It's either time for me to leave or start killing. Summon the lift."
    The receptionist made a noise that sounded like, "Yeep!" and disappeared down behind the desk.
    "Wait a minute, Trader," Gillanno said. "There's obviously been a breakdown in communication. Lippaula told me you could keep your weapons if you insisted." Looking towards where the receptionist was cowering under the desk, he said, "Tell Lippaula that her bodyguards won't allow Vyx to pass with his weapons. He refuses to surrender them and intends to leave."
    The receptionist came out from beneath the desk and repeated the message into the com device. A few seconds later the com device chirped and the receptionist read the message, then turned towards the two bodyguards. "Lippaula says Trader Vyx is to be allowed in with his weapons."
    Without comment, the two bodyguards dropped their arms to their sides and returned to their former positions on either side of the door, but their eyes never left Vyx.
    Vyx relaxed and approached the doors, which opened automatically. The tritanium-reinforced doors resembled something that might be seen on a bank vault, but they slid into door pockets rather than opening on hinges. Even so, it would probably take a ton of explosives to open them forcibly.
    Alone in the room, Vyx surveyed the massive office as the doors closed behind him. It was easy to see that no expense had been spared in decorating the room. A large table, rather than a desk, appeared to be the work center, while the rest of the room resembled a lounge like that found in a luxury hotel. Four sofas and at least a dozen chairs dotted the room in intimate clusters. What appeared to be expensive art hung from the walls, while sculptures were scattered about the room, some freestanding, some on small pedestals, and a few on the room's tables. A fountain, rising up from the center of a pool that contained live fish, bubbled briskly in the center of the office space. It was an impressive office suite.
    Vyx turned in response to the sound of a door opening in a side wall. As a Terran female entered the room, Vyx's lower jaw dropped slightly. Dressed in a glittering blue silk gown that hugged her incredible curves to perfection, she seemed eerily familiar. Her long black mane hung over one shoulder and contrasted with a hundred thousand credits of sparkling jewelry that adorned her ears, neck, and wrists. Her face reminded him of a statue he'd once seen in a museum. The sculpturer had named his creation Aphrodite, and it was intended to represent his vision of the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
    As the woman flashed a million-credit smile, Vyx said in a business-like manner, "I'm here to see Lippaula."
    "I'm Lippaula," she said in a voice that ignited long dormant memories in the back of Vyx's mind.
    Vyx's jaw dropped even further. Rarely at a loss for words, Vyx found himself unable to speak for a few moments. As he recovered, he said, "You're Lippaula?"
    "Surprised?"
    "That word doesn't come close to expressing what I feel right now, Paula. We all thought you were dead."
----

Chapter Three
    ~ June 29 th , 2288 ~

    "I'm sure you never expected to find me two thousand light-years from Earth, Victor?"
    "I never expected to find you at all, Paula. But other than that, I expected Lippaula to be an Uthlaran. I also expected a male because the