Zip It Up

After ten minutes of writing, reading, and re-reading, Zipper submitted her reply to the first email of the day, and patted herself on the back. She was getting better at this. But as one email sent, her app synced up with the server for the first time this morning...
84 new messages.
Zipper groaned, and threw her datapad onto the desk. She'd been managing Silver Sync Contracting for the past couple of months, and it just kept getting harder. The first few jobs were a disaster, and even after that stabilized, the cost of running a mercenary company reared its ugly head, forcing them to taking harder and harder missions. After the fallout with the Dream Team there'd been several headaches from the Pact Worlds Alliance, mostly looking for financial records and their stake in the company. They'd even made the news cycle on the Burning Archipelago, but thankfully not for long.
It had cost them a fortune in legal fees, setting the company's growth back by months. Not that they were getting much business these days, with their benefactors' names being run through the mud. What jobs they could grab were usually the worst of the worst -- so dangerous and desperate that the client didn't even look at who took the contract, only that it was taken. The rest of her old crew were out on such a job right now, looking for artifacts on Eox.
Zipper sighed, and got up to make some tea. Their office on the Archipelago was small, but had a set of rooms in the back for mercenaries between jobs, and a full kitchen off to the side. She opened one of the cabinets, and pulled out the only box of tea. Of course, having a big kitchen didn't mean you could afford to stock it. She put some water in the kettle, and added a snack to her list of desires, heading over to the fridge.
There were pictures all over the front, of Mining Team 1 after they'd gotten out. Prominent in the center was a screen grab of the Malikah Conflict award ceremony, where they'd been pardoned for their service. Zipper smiled, running a finger over each of their nervous faces, and then stopped at the last.
Pin.
No one had seen her after the Barathu attack, when she left with Chad. Even after Confluence had shown up at the Pact Summit in Chad's skin, there was no word. Zipper feared the worst, but the others still held out hope. They were always on the hunt for clues, especially when they were out on mission across the Pact Worlds.
The kettle whistled, and Zipper made her tea, pulling some leftovers from the fridge at the last second. It was a careful balancing act, returning to her office, but she was good at them.
She opened the door, and then nearly dropped everything.
Valentina Terris: "Hello, darling."