It was no surprise to him that he recognized no few of the moves. Some of them as his own, some of them from the chimp. Hardly watching what he was doing, Quen focused more on her. There was often more information to be gotten by the way someone answered a question than the answer itself. And she was rambling. He wondered if it was her father, the books, or maybe both that she had loved.<br/><br/>It wasnâ€™t useful to him. It was more dangerous than anything else, because he found a bit of grudging respect for her. Sometimes he felt like the only person in the galaxy that could actually read. Even though he knew that wasnâ€™t true; all Corps officers had to learn to read, but they didnâ€™t have to learn to read very well.<br/><br/>He also felt a little jealous. He had never touched a book, had never even seen one. Books were heavy, and among the last things one would ever bring onto a spacecraft. He and his sister had only been able to write notes by nicking paper whenever they encountered it, mainly when they would land planet-side.<br/><br/>A little frustrated sound escaped; he hadnâ€™t even seen that she could do thatâ€¦ â€œI am. But not because youâ€™re a criminal.â€<br/><br/>Silence reigned between them for a long while. That wasnâ€™t a question he liked. Quen in return claimed two pawns and a bishop.<br/><br/>Was there really any harm in telling her? After this, he wouldnâ€™t ever see her again. He didnâ€™t even have to talk to her again the whole flight if he didnâ€™t want to. â€œI wanted justice for a betrayed woman.â€<br/><br/>The statement hung there for a while, with him ready and hesitant to say anything else. It was an answer. Zilah didnâ€™t need to know even that much, so heâ€™d done her a favor in even saying it. He hid his reluctance in the guise of studying the board, but once heâ€™d made up his mind to tell her, he did so to her face. Not to the chess pieces.<br/><br/>â€œWhen we were nine, my sister and Iâ€¦ Our father beat our mother to death against the airlock doors. No one could prove it because he ejected her body. And because we were still in planetary space where they considered merchant vessels to be sovereign territory, there wasnâ€™t even really an investigation. They finally wrote it off as an airlock malfunction.â€ There wasnâ€™t any emotion in the recitation. Either he had gotten very good at hiding it, or he truly didnâ€™t care. â€œI joined the Corps as soon as I was old enough, so that I could do some good. And maybe stop people from doing things like that.<br/><br/>â€œWhy did you decide to steal?â€ He broke into a small grin, as if asking that would get back at her.