Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.

Joseph Goebbels (attributed)

Truth and Lies

She'd never been in the observation port of the Aleksander before.

Scratch that, she'd never been on the ship before, period. The UED Expeditionary Fleet was small, but it wasn't so small that it was unavoidable that its members pass through its flagship eventually. She'd travelled to the Koprulu sector on the Saladin. After Braxis, she'd transferred to the Genghis Khan. After that, she'd been bounced from one ship to the next, all the way up to Char, before finally being granted the honour of residing on one of the most powerful warships in the UED's fleet.

It was humbling to say the least. Unnerving, but still, humbling. So she found herself unable to take a seat, but also unable to stand still. Hands in her pockets, she moved through the room, looking at the memorabilia scattered throughout it. Artifacts from Earth, mostly, with a few icons of places such as Proxima Centauri and Tau Ceti. Cold neosteel walls surrounded her, with the exception of the transparisteel that separated her from the vacuum of space in which resided Char. A world of fire, ash, and death. A world where millions of murderous creatures were kept in check by psychics, drugs, and a giant brain. A world over which the Aleksander now orbited.

Unnerving as it was to be here, it was better than being down there. A week ago…she grit her teeth. She wasn't going back to Char. Not now. Not ever.

"Captain."

A declaration that she knew wasn't true, if Admiral Gerard DuGalle declared it otherwise. She didn't believe in God. Mankind had searched the stars for centuries and had found no such bearded geyser in the skies. But if Char was hell, and the space above it was Heaven, then certainly DuGalle was as close to god as it was possible to get. A god that kept Cthulhu in chains.

"Admiral." She saluted.

"Please, there's no need for that."

Ade wasn't sure about that assertion. She watched as the admiral walked past her to a wooden desk in the corner. He pulled out a drawer, and there must have been some kind of box inside, because out of it came a pair of cigars.

"May I tempt you captain?"

"No sir."

"Really? These are all the way from Procyon after all."

"I appreciate that sir, but I don't smoke."

"Hmm." DuGalle put one of the cigars back before lighting the other – a proper oil lighter, not one of those laser-based ones. "You have my admiration captain. That's one less vice you have than me."

How many vices do we have? She wondered.

"Can I get you anything else?" He gestured around the room. "I'd say we're in Ali Baba's cave, but we're sixty-thousand light years away from that."

"Out here on the edge of the galaxy, who's to say we won't find a genie?" She forced a smile. "But no sir, I'm fine. Besides, it wouldn't be proper."

"I see." DuGalle took another puff and walked over to the window. He didn't need to do or say anything to get Ade to follow him.

"Tell me," DuGalle said. "When you look down at that world, what do you see?"

"Hell."

He looked at her. "Is that all?"

"Ash, fire, death. That's what I see."

"Hmm."

She fought the urge to fidget – Stukov had once told her that Admiral DuGalle could be personable when one got to know him. If this was him being "personable," then she found herself preferring the old him. Because she could tell that he was trying to be friendly, but a wall of ice stamped with the word "duty" on it was keeping him from completely opening up.

Or maybe it was something else, she reflected. Or somethings. She had a good idea as to what they were.

"You've seen the UEN report I take it," DuGalle said.

"Yes sir."

"What did you think of it?"

"Sir, I'm not a media specialist."

"I know, that's why I'm asking you."

"I…" She trailed off. DuGalle was lying. He wasn't even trying to hide it. He wanted to know one thing, and wanted her to give it.

"Well, captain?"

You bastard. Your soul's dirty, and you want me to clean it for you.

Well, who was to say that duty was only confined to battling the enemies of Earth? "I thought it was well done sir. I believe the people back home will be pleased with what we've accomplished."

DuGalle said nothing.

"I have to say though, that the report made the same mistake everyone does," Ade said.

"Oh?"

"Yes sir. The assertion that the zerg were decimated."

"Were they not?"

"Decimated is a term that stems back to the Roman Empire, where as punishment, one centurion out of every ten was executed."

"And?"

"And I'm not sure that we killed one out of every ten zerg." She shrugged. "Completely fine otherwise of course."

Had she said the right thing? She hoped so. If DuGalle wanted his consciousness soothed, then she was obliged to play the cleaning lady. So she stood there, as he watched her. Smoked some more. Looked at her with his hard grey eyes. He was at least twenty years her senior, but the age gap felt more than that. It made her feel scant different from when she'd been at school at Kenya, dreaming of riding the space elevator to the stars.

"You know about empire," DuGalle said eventually.

She nodded.

"Any others besides the Roman variant?"

"Too many to count sir."

"Hmm." He turned away and began walking slowly up and down the edge of the viewport.

"I mean, we're forging an empire now sir, aren't we?"

He looked back at her.

"I mean, out here, far from Earth, bringing humans into line. Bringing aliens into line. Doing it all for the greater good of Earth and the Directorate?"

"For all mankind."

"Yes sir. Of course sir. For all mankind sir."

She could have gone into the greater detail – empires were rarely forged in the name of "the greater good," even if that's what the conquerors declared. But she decided to toe the line. Whatever DuGalle might think about the Dominion, or controlling the zerg as a bio-weapon, he was loyal to the Directorate. They asked him to go, he asked how far. Similarly, as he walked back to the desk, she didn't even think before following him. When he sat down, she stood.

"Sit."

Right up till he said that.

"I appreciate what you're doing," DuGalle said.

"Sir?"

He rested the cigar down and, much to her shock, smiled at her. "I appreciate that whether it be through charity or duty, you don't want to mention the name of Alexei Stukov."

"Sir, I…" She took a breath. "I helped oversee the operation in the Psi Disrupter."

"Indeed."

"Duran pulled the trigger. Not you."

"And who gave the order?"

"Sir?"

He sighed. "Do you think the people of this sector will look more charitably on me because I didn't pull the trigger myself?"

"I'm sure future generations will look charitably upon you sir. After all, you'll have been the one to have bettered the sector for all mankind."

"For all mankind." DuGalle snorted. "Repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth."

"Sir?"

"You saw the broadcast. You heard the lie of Vice-Admiral Stukov dying heroically in the final assault on Char."

"I did, sir."

"And the fleet believes it." He chuckled, but Ade saw no mirth in his eyes, and heard no joy upon his tongue. "God damn it, the entire fleet believes it. You, me, and a handful of commandos are the only ones who know the truth that Alexei died on Braxis, and was killed by a UED lieutenant."

"A traitor."

"A traitor who I let into the fold." DuGalle leant back in the chair. "I gave the order. Duran will pay in time for what he did, but the price I pay will be longer lasting."

Ade said nothing. She wanted to, to offer comfort, but DuGalle didn't strike her as the type of man who needed it. Not from her at least.

"For what it's worth captain, I do appreciate you giving the lie life. Indeed, I appreciate your services in a lot of things. So, to that end…"

He reached into a drawer. For a moment, Ade feared he was going to pull out a gun. Instead, it was an envelope.

"Open it," DuGalle said, handing it to her.

She obliged. In it were a pair of items. One of them was more paper. The other was the Bronze Gammadon.

"In light of your services," DuGalle said. "Officially, no operation was ever conducted on Braxis in order to save the Psi Disrupter. Officially, you were never there. Unofficially though…well, consider this acknowledgement of your deeds. Of the things you have, and have not done."

She pocketed it. "Thank you sir."

"Don't thank me yet," DuGalle said, smirking. "Read the assignment."

Ade did so. It was short, brief, and to the point. A promotion to major. Re-assignment to Korhal. The signature of Admiral Gerard DuGalle himself. She looked up at him.

"Sir, I…" She got to her feet and saluted. "Thank you sir."

"Don't thank me." He nodded his head to the side. "Get the people of Korhal to thank you. Get them…get them to live the same lie we're both forced to live. Keep repeating it until every man, woman, and child on that blasted planet believes that we are liberators, and their lives are much better off with Emperor Mengsk removed from the throne."

"And the rest of the sector?"

"We have the zerg. We can…decimate them, if you want." DuGalle sighed. "Decimated. Not a nice word, applied to a species I'd rather not sully myself with. But then…" He paused, before saying, "tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis."

"Sir?"

"Look it up captain. It's a dead language – one that was dead even before the UPL came to power."

"Yes sir. Of course sir."

DuGalle said nothing. He just sat there, behind the desk. Smoking his cigar. Thinking of...well, she didn't know, but she had a good idea.

"Au revoir, major."

She didn't know what that meant. But she did understand that her presence here was no longer required.

So she walked out. She had a ship to catch to Korhal.

She had to turn more lies into truths.