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search for a picture of Colonel Hollister. When he’d begun his search this morning, he’d found it a lot harder than he’d expected. Hollister’s files were highly classified, probably due to his royal status. He had a high military rank, but as an admiral’s aide, Payton should have had access to it. He didn’t, but that hadn’t stopped him from obtaining it. He grinned and flipped through the file.
    The picture was blurry, but Simon Hollister wasn’t at all what Payton expected. He was tall and thin. Very young looking. It was hard to tell what color his hair was because of the short military buzz cut, but it looked dark. Sadly there was no date on the picture.
    Payton dragged his finger across the screen, flipping pages. There was an impressive war record, but no more photos. Why had the heir to Englor been in action? That couldn’t be right. Payton frowned. Hollister had joined the IN as a private and worked his way up to lieutenant. He’d served on a space destroyer for most of his IN career then joined the Englor Marines as a colonel in the cavalry. He’d then been given honorary rank of colonel in the IN and command of the Englor Base. His career in the military did not appear to be ornamental. Interesting.
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    The Englor Affair
    Payton closed the file and turned off his com-pad. He’d have to search for another photo of Hollister. He’d never recognize the man if he ran into him.
    Going to the washroom, he added locating another picture to his mental list. Break in to the IN intelligence and see if I can find anything on the IN spy who’d kidnapped Aiden, under the name Caldwell. Find a better picture of Hollister. Crack that damned code.
    Galaxy, he had a lot of work ahead of him.
    Upon spying his reflection in the mirror, Payton smiled. He almost looked…handsome. No one would dare call him cute in IN dress whites. This was a uniform that inspired power and authority, not cuteness. The uniform also made him look…bigger. He turned sideways, trying to see his back. He really did look larger. The shoulder boards and gold cords made his chest look wider and not so adolescent, more like a man. His height, however, was a lost cause. He was short and no way was he wearing high heels to change that. Smoothing his hands down the front of his uniform, he stepped away from the mirror. He’d always thought military uniforms were dashing.
    Payton walked away from the mirror and out of the tiny dark-blue-tiled washroom.
    His small room had stark white walls, a twin bed with iron headboard and footboard. It had a simple iron and wood desk and chair opposite the door and an oak dresser across from the bed. The only real color was the navy carpet, single curtain over the window across from the door and the bedspread. It wasn’t at all what he was used to, but it wasn’t bad. The room had a simple, masculine feel to it. He kind of liked it. It was…normal.
    The knock at the door made Payton jump. That must be Lieutenant Tavis, to take him to his office.
    Late last night, Lieutenant Tavis had shown him and Nate to their quarters. This morning, Nate was touring the base with Colonel Hollister, aka heir to the throne of Englor, aka the man Payton and Nate were investigating, while Payton scoped out the computers in their offices and made certain everything was secure. He and Nate hadn’t said much last night, being unsure of their privacy, but Nate had made it clear that Payton was supposed to familiarize himself with the surveillance situation on the base and in their offices in particular.

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    J.L. Langley
    Payton crossed to the door, opened it and came face to chest with a pristine white navy uniform with shiny gold buttons covering an impressive torso, standing at attention.
    Lifting his head, he finally found the officer’s handsome face. Mmm…the man smelled fresh out of the shower. Yes, his brown hair was still a little damp. He must have come