Q got to work on his computer. His fingers dancing across the console like a master ballerina. Lines of encrypted code scrolled past in a blur, firewall collapsing one after another under the relentless effort of the prodigy hacker.
Leonidas stood behind him, watching in tense silence.
"This is military grade encryption," Q muttered. "Layered, recursive, and laced with decay traps. This thing is determined to keep its secrets."
"But you're opening it," Ezran.
Q grinned. That arrogant smile of his, Leonidas had seen it many times. Only when he was sure of his goal being accomplished would he wear that grin for all to see. A magician taking the applause and adoration of his audience.
A final keystroke. A chime. The screen shifted.
"Here we are. By the founder, this thing better have some answers."
Fragmented logs, garbled coordinates, half-erased manifest. They tried to wipe the box clean but nothing was out of reaching from Q. Much of the information was redacted, but there was one piece of information all the files had in common. A name: Mr. Nobody.
To: Mr. Nobody From: [REDACTED] - Shipment confirmed.
Leonidas leaned in. "Mr.Nobody?"
Titus and Q stiffened. "The name is familiar to me boy" Titus scoffed.
"To me too, Leo. Back from my smuggling days" he confessed.
"This goes back to my service under your lord father," he added. "Rumors of a black market arms dealer. Operating in the shadows. Supplied both sides of the battles on Kandor. No face. No name. Just a codename: Mr. Nobody."
Leonidas scowled. Frustration grew within him. He had hoped for answers, but this had lead only to more questions. The rabbit hole only seems to go deeper. Kandor is in disputed space, and is on the other side of the Imperial galaxy.
"Too far to chase right now, Leo" said Ezran.
Leonidas nodded. "Answers will have to wait for this one. From now on, we operate under the impression that this Mr.Nobody will not be pleased we thwarted his plans. Move with caution when you leave the ship."
Later, as the Lion's Gaze prepped for departure, Leonidas stood outside Q's workshop. Watching the sun dip below the wheat fields. The scent of soil in the air.
Q joined him, the two young man stood side by side watching the horizon.
"Go on then. Ask the question you've been meaning to ask, Leo. To come with you."
Leonidas chuckled. He had been contemplating this very decision, and his friend had seen right through him. The Gaze needed an operator, but what Quinton did not know is that the young captain had already made a decision.
"You see right through me, my friend. But I have decided otherwise."
Q shrugged. "OH. What changed your mind?"
Leonidas hesitated, eyes distant. "I recalled a conversation I once had with my father."
Q raised an eyebrow. "You don't speak much about him."
"There is not much to speak of. Yet he once told me something that I never forgot. He said, 'In a different life, I would have been a farmers. Raised my children in peace. No titles. No wars."
Q was quiet.
Leonidas turned to him. "Look around you, Q. You have that chance. You have made that life. Maybe not the family, not yet. But the peace. I will not take it from you. I had the chance once..."
Q smiled, a bit sadly.
Leonidas clapped him on the shoulder. "Stay safe, Q. I do not doubt, I will be in need of your expertise once more."
The Lion's Gaze rose into the sky, as Leonidas watched the fields shrink below them - golden, untouched.
He clutched at the locket that hung around his neck, under his shirt. For a moment, he let himself imagine what might have been.
Then he turn his back to the stars.