Mikaela awoke groggily to the sound of beeping hospital equipment.

Her head felt heavy, and it hurt to try to remember how she got there.

Her vision cleared, and she saw Annette sitting beside her bed, holding her hand.

"Thank goodness, sweetie, you're awake," said Annette, smiling.

"What happened?" asked Mikaela weakly.

"You fell very sick, so I brought you to the hospital," said Annette.

Some of the fog in Mikaela's mind cleared.

"Wasn't Daddy supposed to come see me?" she asked.

"No, he ran away. He isn't coming," said Annette, relieved that Mikaela didn't remember the details.

"Why?" asked Mikaela, the anti-depressants in her system numbing her emotions.

"Because he did something very bad. But don't worry, you're safe now," said Annette, hugging Mikaela.

Mikaela hugged her back, but the hug felt mechanical, and had no warmth.

"Ms. Petra? I need you to fill out some paperwork," said the doctor coming into the hospital room.

"I'll be right back OK?" said Annette, and left Mikaela.

----

"OK, I've done as you've asked, and shot her up with enough anti-depressants to make her forget the trauma. But I'm warning you, Ms. Petra. Mother or not, you had better clean up your act. Mikaela was nearly overdosed," growled the doctor, shoving a discharge form in Annette's hands.

"Thanks doctor," said Annette, signing the form.

"Don't thank me. I get that it was a shit-show, but that's no excuse to stuff sleeping pills into a kids mouth!" said the doctor, snatching the signed form from her.

"Y-you're right. I'll be more careful," said Annette, trying to sound contrite, while silently fuming that even here, people were judging her worth as a mother.

The doctor's expression softened slightly.

"Look, I've seen cases of mom's fleeing dead-beat and abusive fathers, but you still need to keep your wits about you OK? Sleeping pills are not harmless, especially for a child like Mikaela. I'm just asking you to not overreact and panic," she said, laying a supportive arm on Annette's shoulders.

"I get that," said Annette, breathing a little easier.

"You two are cleared for discharge. Your own bruise should fade in a day. Consider yourself lucky. I've seen women come in with broken jaws from a guy's backhand," said the doctor, hurrying off.

----

Ivan sat in Stefan's office, his head in his hands.

"How bad have I messed up?" he asked, after a long silence.

"Short version, nuclear bad. Long version, anybody with a function brain cell of what fatherhood is about would say they'd have done the same if not more," said Stefan.

"What are my options?" asked Ivan with a sigh.

"Good news is, that Sky person is ACAB enough to flee rather than press charges, so you don't have that to worry about. Bad news is, this little incident has cratered any chance of you getting custody or even visitation," said Stefan.

"I should have stayed calmer," said Ivan bitterly.

"That would have just kicked the can down the road until it blew up even harder. No, what happened was pretty much inevitable" said Stefan.

"So now what?" asked Ivan.

"For now, you keep your distance. Annette will ease up on Mikaela if she feels you aren't around to swoop in and take her away. Best thing you can do right now," said Stefan, laying a comforting hand on Ivan's shoulder.

----

"This SZRA meeting is now in session. Commissioner Hastings, please proceed," said Elena Park, calling the session to order.

Richard Hastings stood up.

"First. The police brutality investigation of Officers Camille Vasquez and Michelle Martinez. They have both been cleared of any wrongdoing and are back on active duty. However, in light of the incident, I'm recommending that the SZPD pull out completely of Palm Springs and respond only to 911 calls," he said.

"Why?" asked Elena.

"Because, the SZPD cannot and will not function in an area where their every move is framed as police brutality regardless of what they do. If it wasn't for the clear video evidence from both the Stormkreuzer's dashcam and traffic cameras in the area, those charges would have stuck, and good officers would have been unfairly terminated," said Richard, his voice hard.

"So we let Palm Springs be without law and order?" asked Margaret.

"Hey, you can't yell ACAB all day and then expect cops to stop you from getting mugged. We're only human after all," said Richard.

"All right, but what about criminal elements in Palm Springs spilling out?" asked Eliot.

"We'll still keep the traffic cameras operational and monitored. We'll just not have any active patrols in the area," said Richard.

"All right, all in favor?" asked Elena.

Everyone except Ivan raised their hands.

"Mr. Zakhrov? You disagree?" asked Elena.

"Partially. While I accept that the SZPD doesn't want to operate where they are not welcome, I'd feel much better if there are at least some patrols on standby at the perimeter," said Ivan.

"All right, will that work commissioner?" asked Elena.

"Yes, that would. We'll have patrols stationed at the existing perimeter checkpoints for rapid response," said Richard.

"Fine then, with that modification, the motion is passed," said Elena.

----

Annette hummed contentedly as she drove through Palm Springs towards Boston Public School, with Mikaela sitting silently in the passenger seat of the Hyundai Ionic 5.

The SZPD had pulled out of Palm Springs almost completely. There were no more loud rumbling SZPD sedans patrolling the streets.

The neighborhood had seen an explosion in self-expression. Pride flags, mural street art and street performances were now commonplace.

However, Sky had moved out, fearing for their safety since that disastrous meeting with Ivan.

"Ah, this is so much better now isn't it Mikaela?" she commented lightly as they neared the school.

"I suppose," said Mikaela, who had grown somewhat over the summer break. Her hair was slightly longer now, and she kept it hidden under her hoodie so that Annette wouldn't make her cut it again.

The one bright spot of the summer break, was that Sky had moved out.

Apparently, it was the "bad thing" that Ivan had done - threaten Sky.

Whatever it was, Mikaela's life had taken a slight turn for the better.

Annette was not as strict with her, allowing her to have apples or other fruit instead of avocado toast for breakfast, and she even got the lock to her bedroom door back.

She missed the familiar presence of Officer Vasquez and Officer Martinez, but she was cautiously looking forward to third grade, and a new teacher, now that Sky was gone.

Annette pulled into the school's parking lot, and Mikaela got out.

"Bye Mom," she said, giving Annette a quick hug before heading to class.

----

"Let me get this straight," said General Malkovich pacing up and down in Saladin's office/throne room.

"You've cut a deal with Sirius Software, Albrecht Nuclear Systems and Yamamoto Corp to build a nuclear-powered missile cruiser as your new naval flagship. Have I got that right?" he asked.

"Correction, the cruiser is already being built at the new Sirius-Albrecht-Yamamoto shipyards," said Saladin.

"OK, you're building a nuclear-powered missile cruiser as your new naval flagship, and you expect NATO to sanction the transport of plutonium for its fuel loading," said General Malkovich.

"I believe a full year of me being a gracious host to your military bases and presence has earned me that courtesy," said Saladin, casually studying his fingernails as General Malkovich's face grew even redder.

"That's not the damn point! You and your damn cohorts are blurring the lines of state and private enterprise! These nuclear power plants you've got is one thing. They're civilian and under International oversight. What you're talking about is building a nuclear navy right in our backyard!" thundered General Malkovich.

"General, may I remind you that as a sovereign nation, Libya has a right to maintain a defense force. I'm under no obligation to even tell you this, since Libya isn't a signatory of the Non Proliferation Treaty. I'm just giving you a head's-up out of courtesy," said Saladin.

"Yeah, yeah, you have the right. But do you really need a nuclear-powered missile cruiser?" asked General Malkovich.

"In that case I expect the US navy to decommission all of its nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. I'm not going to tolerate the 'rules for thee and not for me' mindset that your American policy-makers seem to love," said Saladin.

"All right, all right. But be warned Mr. Saladin, you're making some very uncomfortable moves," said General Malkovich.

----

"Now that's a thing of beauty, Hajime," said Aaron as he surveyed the hull of the LNS Aristotle, Libya's new flagship nuclear-powered missile cruiser.

The hull was painted a matte black, and was long and sleek, with a sharp bow that looked like it could effortlessly slice through water.

Along the bottom were a series of torpedo tubes, interspaced with bulging structures for azimuth and maneuvering thruster propellers.

Towards the rear was a massive pair of rudders and four main propellers.

"It is indeed. Probably some of my best work," said Hajime looking over it with a sense of pride.

"I would have thought the Akagi would be your best work," said Aaron.

"Unfortunately the defense ministry balked at building a full-blown stealth super-carrier, so we've just got a normal CATOBAR carrier," sighed Hajime.

Saladin joined them in the shipyard's control room.

"Well, General Malkovich has given his blessing for the fuel loading," he said.

Friedrich nodded, and spoke rapid-fire German into the shipyard's intercom.

Within a few minutes, the crew foreman replied to him over the intercom.

"Plutonium rods and Uranium blanket is in place, we can light the reactors as soon as the ship is launched," reported Friedrich.

"Time to make a show," chuckled Saladin, and signaled to his aides prep for the launch event.

----

"People of Libya. Today, we celebrate another milestone in our great country's progress. We now have a new naval flagship. With this, the Libyan flagship Aristotle, we can protect our waterways, our fishermen, our oil tankers and our own sovereign waters!" announced Saladin to an enthusiastic crowd.

He raised his hand and commanded: "Launch the ship!"

The floodgates of the shipyard opened, and the waters of the Mediterranean Sea surged into the narrow shipyard bay where the huge missile cruiser was.

The scaffolding around the bottom of the hull was slowly cleared and retracted, and the ship settled into the shallow bay water.

Two tugboats were lashed to the bow of the ship and they slowly and ponderously pulled the ship out of the shipyard and into the harbor.

In the shipyard's control room, Friedrich gave the order: "Initiate reactor start"

The Aristotle's four liquid metal reactors slowly ramped to life, their coolants melting as the plutonium core started to approach criticality.

"Reactor one approaching operational temperature," reported one crew member.

"Reactor two approaching operational temperature," reported another crew member.

"Reactor three approaching operational temperature," reported a third crew member.

"Reactor four approaching operational temperature," reported a fourth crew member.

Outside, the crowed watched in awe as the massive black ship's running lights came on, and a deep rumble emanated from its hull as its turbines started to spin up.

The tugboats cut their lines, and the Aristotle slowly turned in a wide arc, and headed out on its own power into the Mediterranean Sea.

Cheers erupted from the crowd, as the Aristotle's horn blared a deep, resonant note.

"Saladin! Saladin! Saladin!" chanted the crowd.

"Long live Libya!" shouted Saladin to the crowd in reply.

From the bridge of the Charles de Gaulle, General Malkovich watched the launch of the Aristotle through binoculars.

"Well, Captain Saunier, looks like we've got a new rival," he said.

"I wouldn't worry too much General. That black braggart isn't worth losing sleep over," said Captain Saunier dismissively.

"Charles de Gaulle, this is Aristotle, requesting clearance for weapons fire test," came a crackling voice over the radio.

"Prepare a target drone for them to shoot, maximum evasion!" ordered Captain Saunier lazily.

Within seconds, a drone was launched from the Charles de Gaulle's flight deck.

"Aristotle, we've sent you a clay pigeon," said Captain Saunier over the radio.

His face turned ashen as a massive black missile tore through the drone, blasting it to pieces mere meters from the carrier flight deck.

The missile itself jack-knifed away from the Charles de Gaulle and self-destructed, sending its unharmed tungsten warhead plunging into the ocean.

"Range!" he shouted.

"They shot it from 64 kilometers, we're in missile range!" came the panicked report.

"You were saying?" asked General Malkovich as sweat beaded on Captain Saunier's forhead.

"Order them to back off! They nearly hit us those imbeciles!" he snarled at his first officer.

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