Free Starshine: Aurora Rising Book One by G. S. Jennsen

minutes could you dig around a little? It bothers me that politicians are meddling in her affairs without my—”
    “Approval?”
    “ Knowledge .”
    His hands rose in surrender. “Okay, I’ll look into it. It may take a few days.”
    “Thanks, Richard. I’ll let you get back to work. Try to get some rest though—you know next week is going to be worse.”
     

     
    Despite Miriam’s advice, it was almost twenty-two hundred before Richard walked in the door to his home in the foothills above Lake Sammamish.
    Intelligence agents were now integrated into the official Alliance delegation to the Summit, the convention center staff, invited guests and rather voluminous press covering the event. By Monday morning on Atlantis (which for added fun was around three in the morning in Seattle) all his assets would be in place, and everything they saw, touched and interacted with fed to his office via an instantaneous quantum entanglement communication network.
    He was met at the door by a kiss and a tumbler of whiskey.
    He happily accepted the kiss but looked askance at the whiskey. “Will, I have to be back at the office in seven hours.”
    “And thus you need to relax and unwind in the most efficient manner possible.” Will nudged him toward the living room while still holding out the glass. He sighed, felt a small percentage of the stress escape with the breath, and acceded to both the nudge and the glass.
    He sank into the couch, grateful—not for the first time—for a home which was truly a refuge from the madness. The glass at his lips, he took a long sip and relished the smooth fire of the whiskey as it scorched down his throat. “You know, I could get used to this ‘manservant tending to my every need’ routine.”
    “Well, don’t.” Will chuckled while he dimmed the lights and crossed the room to settle onto the couch beside him. “My next project starts in three weeks, though at least it’s a bit closer, on Demeter. Building a performing arts center, if you can believe it. But you can live the dream until then if you like.”
    “I like….” He made an effort to smile and rub Will’s shoulder, but his head fell back against the cushion and the smile gave way to a groan. The Summit hadn’t even started yet and he was already ready to tear his hair out. Although to be fair, much of the stress of the day had resulted from the ridiculous volume of bureaucracy involved in placing agents inside the official delegation. One of the best things about intelligence work was the lack of bureaucracy—but not this time. It paled in comparison solely to the sheer politics involved in placing agents in the press unit.
    He tried again to push the hassles to the back of his mind. Refuge. “I absolutely believe it. Demeter fancies itself the next Romane, some kind of mecca of wealth and refined luxury or other. But hey, it’s close enough you’ll be able to come home most weekends, right?”
    “Most, hopefully.” Will rubbed his chin with his fingertips, which usually meant he was bothered by something.
    Richard straightened up a little. “I’m sorry work happens to suck at the exact moment you’re home and have actual free time. If I could do anything to change it, I would.”
    Will shook his head. “No, I know. I mean I understand. This is life, and we have all of it to be together. It’s…listen, why don’t you just go to Atlantis? It’d be easier than trying to control the circus from your office eighteen hours a day, and hey, at least you’d get a little sun.”
    He stared out the windows lining the opposite wall, comforted by the knowledge there was a beautiful view out there in the darkness. “Because if the EASC Naval Intelligence Liaison shows up at the Summit then someone might think we were engaging in covert spying activities—and we wouldn’t want that.”
    “Yes, and otherwise they’ll never suspect any such thing.”
    “Oh, certainly not.” He sighed and took another sip of the