Lor'themar's dizzy brain went once again through the plan of the inquisitor.

  It was simple.

  A patrol from the craftworld finds an unconscious Eldar and reports they were taking him into quarantine for two weeks, a week later they disappear and when both the general and Eldar find out the truth, it is too late, they are already gone. The messaging and course corrections are taken care of by a virus that easily defeats the mainframe of the outdated Eldar patrol ship. The general thinks the undercover operation is underway and the Eldar have no clue either until it is too late.

  That was the theory.

  It did not matter Lor'themar knew nothing about the Eldar, not knowing their language, not knowing how to pilot their ships, not knowing how to operate a firearm, not even knowing how to flush a toilet. When he woke up, he should have already been on the ship of a Rogue Trader, the inquisitor's good friend, traveling through warp out of the system.

  Whatever the word warp meant.

  The perfect plan.

  However, when Lor'themar opened his eyes not all looked like he had expected.

  "Huh? This looks like an infirmary, but why is the nurse not a human? No matter, I need to rest." The high elf sighed with relief, laying his head back on the soft pillow under him.

  Being an agent was not that hard, a little bit of sleep and . . . mission accomplished!

  Keal described Rogue Traders as cosmopolitan people, it was not a big surprise they were employing non-human nurses. Maybe it was for the best, she would understand him better than a human. He was still dizzy from the drug they used to fake his unconscious condition and the mana withdrawal was getting worse every day, he needed the rest. He hoped to solve his state without turning into a Wretched, but that was a problem for a later hour.

  He shifted to his right side on the bed and soon, he was snoring like a bear, finally feeling safe.

  He had a horrible dream about being locked behind the gates of Silvermoon, not able to get inside, Sylvanas was laughing at him from the top of the wall. It was a weird dream and he was glad to be woken up by sounds he could not identify.

  "What is it?" Lor'themar opened his eyes slowly, and realized he had not awoken naturally, but was disturbed by a few high elves standing around him and asking him questions.

  That was incredibly rude. Could they not see he was sleeping?

  He had probably been sleeping for too long and the Rogue Trader wanted to make sure he was alright after taking the sleep drug.

  "Thank you for your concern, but I am alright." He said to the circle of high elves.

  High elves?

  Lor'themar sat up abruptly on his bed and realized the few figures standing around him were actually Eldar. The nurse tending to a different patient was accidentally Eldar as well, the same as her patient and even all the other patients were all Eldar. Lor'themar's eyes quickly turned bigger than saucers.

  "Does the infirmary of a Rogue Trader's ship have a special wing for Eldar?" He whispered. Listening to himself, it was clearly a nonsense.

  This was not a specialized wing for Eldar, this was a full blown Eldar infirmary!

  Several facts clicked into place in his head while the Eldar around him turned impatient, the urgency and anger clear in their voices, but the meaning of their words remained a mystery to Lor'themar. His brain frantically tried to come up with a backup plan.

  The plan had most likely failed and the Eldar patrol had delivered him safe and sound to the craftworld. How was he going to get away from a whole world filled with enemies? How to do that stealthily while several of them were already staring at him? How to keep pretending he was one of them while he did not know their language? They would know he was an outsider the moment he spoke Thalassian. Even his body structure was only similar to the Eldar, not the same.

  And the most difficult objective, how to do it when he had already spoken in his delirium?

  "The only option not to be discovered is to fake mental retardation!" He spoke to the closest Eldar and began to laugh, falling back onto the soft pillows.

  * * * *

  "Kael, this is too much, you can't just . .. " The mechadendrites of the Magos moved frantically, all the circuits of the tech-priest trying to process the inquisitor's unconventional idea.

  "Why not?! Why should they care? It is only a single person!" Kael Gull huffed, again fully equipped in his power armor as they marched towards a section of the base that housed a small space craft, ready to be used in variety of reconnaissance missions. The inquisitor was about to board and pilot one of them.

  "It is the whole crafworld. You cannot simply bribe it, like dealing with some backwater shady merchant!" Even though he was of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Magos Eisenarch felt his common sense in dealing with Eldar was stronger than that of Kael.

  "I can." Kael entered a small space craft, leaving the Magos standing in front of it. He sat down and quickly finished all pre-flight procedures, announcing his departure to the control tower of the base.

  The procedures were simple thanks to most of the fine details being executed automatically, the on-board cogitators communicating with the machine spirit of the Astra Militarum base. Kael did not consider necessary to perform anything in secret, as the official request of the general was dealing with the Eldar.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  He was doing just that, although in a bit different scenario than the general would have expected.

  He took off the base while controlling the flight path manually, enjoying the feeling of true speed. Leaving the green, eerie atmosphere of the planet, he set course towards the craftworld that had always roamed uncomfortably close to the base of the Imperium.

  While he confirmed the course towards the Eldar, he accepted a pending call, still uncertain of the exact strategy he would use during his bold visit.

  "Inquisitor! Your ride is ready, but you should hurry before someone from Adeptus Militarum starts to ask too many questions." A familiar face of the Rogue Trader appeared on Keal's screen.

  "There will be a little delay, I am sorry for the inconvenience." Kael Gull said as if he just needed to buy his groceries before he was ready.

  "What kind of delay? My ship is not exactly inconspicuous." The long face of his friend stared at him from the screen.

  "I need to pick up a friend who is currently visiting the local craftworld of which you are certainly aware."

  "What do you mean?!" The Rogue Trader's surprise was slowly morphing into terror. It seemed that his experience with Eldar was far from pleasant.

  "I do not want to depart without him, I hate leaving people behind." The inquisitor said stubbornly and there was a flash of understanding in the Rogue Trader's eyes. This was exactly the reason he was keeping good relations with the inquisitor. It was not easy to find sensible high officials that were not too greedy or breathing down his neck with nonsensical regulations. Even taking care of friends!

  "Alrighty then, I will be waiting." The man responded with a smile and the transmission ended.

  The inquisitor could not suppress a chuckle when he observed the local star system and saw the void ship of the Rogue Trader slowly but surly moving to the edge of the system. He was sure the old fox would have told him it was in order to departure swiftly when his business with the Eldar was over. In truth, he obviously wanted to be able to escape quickly if anything went awry.

  "Well, a businessman is a businessman. These kind of friendships always come with a limited warranty." Kael was not angry at all, as he could not expect more loyalty than he had built up during his few visits of the Rogue Trader.

  He calmly guided his ship towards the craftworld and soon arrived within hailing distance.

  "Inquisitor Keal Gull requesting to trade with our neighbor friends." He started the communication device, sending his polite, smiling face through the cosmos towards the Eldar in the distance. He did not want to imagine what would have happened if some other inquisitors heard his welcoming words. This behaior was most likely past the bottom line of most of them.

  Luckily for him, the news of his local conduct should not leave the boundaries of the system, as the Eldar would hardly complain to the officials of Terra.

  Instead of receiving an official reply, a patrol ship moved closer and a projection of a woman appeared in front of Keal.

  "You are placed under arrest, follow my lead or be destroyed, human." The arrogant beautiful face said, not bothering to hear his response. He had not expected all their Farseers immediately falling off their feet due to his presence, but sending only a simple patrolling officer had hurt the inquisitor's ego a little.

  Well, what can one expect from the Eldar?

  Kael sighed and obeyed the given instructions, his ship maneuvering into a position behind the enemy craft, slowly heading towards the gargantuan construction that was the craftworld.

  Every craftworld was an enormous spaceship filled with technology and know-how of the old race, everything which could have been salvaged after the birth of She Who Thirsts, how the Eldar called the chaos god Slaanesh, the one most tricky to discover and root out as it loved to hide behind gold and frills of noble blood and high statuses. It could be said that the craftworlds were all that remained after the fall of the once mighty race of Eldar and they were very protective of their last refuge.

  The local craftworld did not belong to any of the prominent, or large ones the inquisitor was familiar with. Yet, the two ships nearing it were becoming smaller and smaller on the background of the behemoth of a space ship, until the craftworld covered the local star with its shadow.

  It was a novel experience for Kael, every single craftworld had its own culture and designs, no two of them being exactly the same. This one gave off a soft, yellow glow not unpleasant to the eyes. He followed his guide into the belly of the monster of alien technology, their lighter hulls easily vanishing in the huge hangar in front of them. The inquisitor landed next to the patrol ship and unbuckled his safety belt, confidently marching towards the slowly opening door.

  "To stay optimistic, this landing was much better than the last one." Kael Gull chuckled when he remembered his landing on Azeroth. However, this time he had much more hostile environment in front of him, even counting the undead.

  Already, a host of armed xenos was waiting for him, their heads slowly coming into view as the door of his space craft kept lowering.

  "Hello friends, what a marvelous trading opportunity!" Kael spread his arms in words of welcome, a big fake smile on his face. Most of the Eldar he was facing were stunned by his conduct and were just staring at him while frozen in place. Only a few of the experienced ones could quickly digest the situation and react.

  "An inquisitor arriving happily to do business. And I thought that I have seen everything at my age." The leading figure snorted at Kael, Immediately continuing with his own version. "We will gladly accept the trade, what will be the currency?"

  The Eldar placed their hands on their slender swords, ready to pull them out at the first sign of hostility. Not speaking of all the gunds already pointing his way.

  "Gold, information, political power, I have it all!" Kael Gull's smile was a little bit more genuine than before, he was surprised every single one of his business partners held their fingers steady on their triggers and he was not facing a bunch of projectiles flying at him already." I only need the lone civilian who accidentally crossed the course of one of your patrol ships."

  "One ordinary person?" The speaking officer shifted his weight from his right leg to his left, uncomfortable about the fact that someone had managed to surprise him and take the initiative.

  "The Imperium leaves not a single citizen behind!" Kael said and had a hard time to keep himself from bursting out with laughter considering what he had just said.

  Only a donkey could believe his statement, but trades were sealed by benefits received, not words shared.

  "A tongue like a lizard, unsightly. " A deep voice interrupted him and another Eldar appeared next to them, perhaps originally only planning to observe the situation. However, due to the ridiculous display, he could not bring himself to simply observe any longer.

  "Inquisitor Kael Gull greets a noble Farseer." Kael nodded his head, recognizing the person's identity based on the other xenos' reactions.

  "You intent to take away the comatose one from the infirmary." The newly arrived Eldar stated rather than asked.

  "Indeed. What is the price?" Kael continued the discussion with confidence. Although craftworld Eldar were no allies, they were smart and cared deeply for their craftworlds. They would not do anything resulting in them being seriously targeted, especially when there was little benefit.

  "He is invaluable and cannot be traded."

  "Invaluable?!" The inquisitor was surprised, caught off guard. Kael could not imagine how, by the God Emperor, could Lor'themar become invaluable in any way. He had absolutely no clue about anything his Eldar captors might be interested in. The only possibility was that he had revealed the existence of his home world, but based on his age and loyalty, that should not be the case.

  "I can disclose it to you to celebrate this joyous occasion. One of our researchers have managed to stop his transformation into a drukhari, despite him being far beyond saving. He claims he has a serum to turn drukhari back to our people with the subject you speak of being the patient zero." The Farseer said with a wide smile and Kael kept staring at him in astonishment. "Obviously, we cannot hand him over to you."