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Epilogue

**The Anean Star Empire

Remnora Novus, New Senzovona

Central Residential District**

December 8, 7997 Haroma Year

"Good morning Remnora!" The radio said, right on time with Cadogan's alarm. "It's another bea-" The radio was cut off by Cadogan slamming a hand against it.

Cadogan always hated this part of the day. Like most Haromians, and fellow Remnorans - be them Novus or not - morning was always the worst part of the day. Even with the 'snooze' on his alarm hit, he just laid there, staring at the time - 8:01 - and wishing it was night again so he could go back to sleep again. He managed to fall back asleep, just for a moment, before the alarm went off again at 8:05. Again, this time with a growl, he slammed his hand down, nearly breaking the clock as he did so. With hand still on the clock, he turned the alarm off and then rolled over onto his back.

With a low grumble he sat up and looked out the window. Without a typical sunrise like actual planets, there was no light beaming into room like it should have been. Having spent a couple years on the Gnatha branch of the Novus Bureau, he was still readjusting to life on a ringworld. It was different, but only slightly. After a moment of letting himself wake up, Cadogan turned and slid out of bed, standing up and stretching as he did so.

"That time already?" Jaylene muttered from her side of the bed, shifting under the blankets and just pulling them over her head.

"Yeah." Cadogan said. "Just go back to sleep. I'll be back later." He thought he heard Jaylene say something under the blankets, but figured it was nothing.

Before he left the room, Cadogan got himself dressed in his suit for the day. Black jacket, white dress shirt, a red tie, black dress pants, and a pair of black dress shoes. Simple get up, but it would have to do. Besides, at the very least, no one would say a word about it. Cadogan picked up his communicator from the top of the dresser he placed in the closet and clipped it to his belt. He stuck his ear piece in and turned it on. He grabbed his Bureau badge and clipped that on as well.

Despite Jaylene's request after they married on Haroma, Cadogan wasn't about to turn his back on the Bureau entirely. He asked her to leave the ASF, and he got the same response she got from him. With that she understood that they were both doing something they wished the other wasn't doing. It was a compromise of sorts. At the moment, she was on another leave, which worked quite well given that Cadogan's schedule as picking up.

The last thing Cadogan did was put on his pistol shoulder holster and head out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him to not disturb Jaylene too much. He stopped to peak into the other bedroom and saw that the kids were all asleep. Part him hated the large number of kids Remnorans typically had, but he didn't mind having three kids given that he had the job to support them, and it was a job he could work mostly from home when Jaylene is out performing her duties.

Satisfied that the children were sound asleep and would be until he left so Jaylene could deal with them, Cadogan walked over to the island of the kitchen. As he had programmed, his former coffee brewer had heated a pot of water that he had dropped a few tea bags into prior to going to sleep last night. Now it was brewed, hot, and the tea was ready for him. Still slightly asleep, he grabbed a small mug off a hook above the island where he had his brewer and poured a cup of tea to get him started for the day. Not thinking, he took a sip of it, burning his mouth in the process. He set the mug down, set his hands on the marble countertop of the island, and sighed. Every morning was like this.

And every morning since getting home he looked to one corner of his island and remembered that this was a fact of life, and he got a memory of everything he went through a little less than a year ago. Following Niadh's execution, Emperor Xaimoungkhoun awarded Cadogan the Emperor's Liberty Medal, and posthumously awarded the medal to Janele as well. Since he was the closest thing to her family, Cadogan was given that medal to hold onto. The Liberty Medal is the highest civilian award in the Empire, akin to the Emperor's Legion of Honor in the military. Jaylene was awarded that for her involvement.

He pulled up his hologram display again. The first thing he did was check his messages. He wanted to know what to expect before he set foot into the headquarters. Most messages were simply regarding some budget things and a few requests for promotions. Only one was urgent and that was from Emperor Xaimoungkhoun. He'd deal with that once he was in the office though. Right now he wanted to get his tea and wake up before he got on the road.

"Cadogan, you're going to need to come in early." A voice in Cadogan's earpiece said. Cordelia Parker, despite the issues the Bureau had, stayed on and was safe from prosecution. Instead, she took Cadogan's offer of promotion and is now his personal assistant.

"Of course I do." Cadogan said as he found a travel cup for his tea, pouring the contents of the mug in and then adding a bit more from the pot. "What is it this time?" He asked while twisting the top onto the cup.

"Well, the Deputy Director isn't too happy." Cordelia said.

"He's never happy. Tell me how the Bureau always manages to hire the worst, angriest, and most whiny agents to become the Deputy Director." He said as he grabbed his briefcase and keys and headed out the door.

Cordelia laughed a little on the other end. "I couldn't tell you sir. Can I get an ETA so I can shut the Deputy up?"

"Uh..." Cadogan looked at his platinum, custom Haromian made watch designed for Remnora Novus, "Give me 30 minutes at least, but no more than 60, I think."

"Any message you want me to leave for him?" Cordelia asked as Cadogan stepped into the elevator.

"Yeah, tell him the Director wants him to quit his bitching. I am getting sick of being called in at eight in the morning because he can't do his job." Cadogan said, just barely hearing Cordelia say that in the background. He figured she took off her headset to say it. He laughed when he heard the Deputy Director start to yell, as he did every morning.

Cordelia was laughing when she came back. "Yeah, he's not happy." She said. "Thank you though. I enjoy doing that."

"Not a problem Cordelia. I'll be in in just a bit. Elevator is going slow as hell."

"Understood Director. I hope you don't mind a ream of paperwork."

Cadogan sighed at the prospect of that. "No, I don't mind."

Stability and a cycle that hardly changed had defined Cadogan's life since getting back home and taking over as Director of the Novus Bureau. It was the same hours every day, the same problems, and the same leisure once he got home. Nothing changed, and there was no surprises waiting for him anymore that he didn't plan for. It was boring, monotonous, and tedious to do every day.

It was exactly how he liked it. He had a growing family now, he had a job he wanted since the day he joined the Bureau, and despite the bad, he'd never trade this for anything.