Dinner and Departure

The formal dinner for Jaisyl was good, even if Dustin more than once caught himself comparing the quality of catering from Dew’s chef unfavourably to Naera’s ability in the kitchen. The shortstacked Caenii truly was a master of her art, given it was more than just his love of her that was making him wish she’d been the one behind the endless supply of small dishes on large plates that were placed in front of the assembled throng.

Conversation was the order of the day, although he could see Bleu getting increasingly frustrated by the amount of pomp that was going on. Thankfully, she’d been seated next to Yaerwen and the Hoxx woman’s bluster was doing a lot to cover for the Queri’s temperament. Jaisyl, meanwhile, was demonstrating a casual ease with both tycoons and nobility alike that showed off just how good an education on managing social affairs she’d gotten as her father’s daughter.

When at last the final dishes had been cleared away and many of the guests had left, Oak rose and proposed a toast to ‘the princess and her husband’, followed by one to the premier. As Dustin set his glass down, small cups of something similar to coffee were brought in, with those who still remained turning the discussion to the ongoing conflict and their hopes for the future.

Being circumspect in his answers, Dustin mostly forwarded any inquiries as to Earth’s plans for the Tylaxians to Dew. She’d know who could be trusted with what knowledge from the discussion he’d had with the people’s leader earlier in the day, and in any case he didn’t have all the answers himself, at least not until he got back in touch with EarthGov.

Snow was falling outside when the dinner finally concluded, and it was a cold dash across the landing pad to the shuttle. That was one thing both he and Dew had agreed on - while the seemly thing would be for them to stay the night, it was worth the risk of departing early. Firstly, because it meant that Sola wouldn’t be on the ground for any longer than necessary with the ever present possibility of a Durathisian spy noticing the obvious Earth design of the craft, and secondly because the sooner they left for Sol space, the sooner they could return to assist with liberating the prison.

The elevator retracted behind them as Dustin and the others slid upward towards Sola’s hull. Bleu was frowning out of the window as they went, something clearly on her mind. “Penny for your thoughts, love?” Dustin asked, causing the Queri to turn to him blankly.

“A penny? What’s a penny?” she asked, before yawning and stretching. “I was merely thinking about some of the discussions that went on today. This prison sounds far from appealing; I’m going to have to spend some time preparing our medbay to receive guests while we’re on the flight into and out of our space. Sand damage, dehydration, mining dust inhalation… leaving aside any individuals that are injured during the prison break itself or have been harmed by the guards. Have you had any thoughts on how to handle the liberation by the way? Judging by the numbers that were being bounced around, Sola might not have the capacity to evacuate that many people… definitely so if it’s not just the Tylaxians that are being held there.”

Dustin found his own mouth opening in a yawn as the medic spoke, a response to her gesture. Shaking his head to clear the tiredness he felt, he gave her the best answer he could. “A penny was part of a trading system pre-contact. The phrase stuck culturally around Contact City though, it just means I want to know what you think. As far as the prisoners are concerned… we’re going to need to bring help along, which is one of the things I need to talk to Star Command about once we get someplace I can call them up without risk of it being monitored too closely.”

The lift reached its destination at that point, the four of them stepping back into Sola’s corridors with a sigh of relief. “It’s always good to be home,” Yaerwen muttered, then glanced at the others. “Race to the showers?”

The Hoxx’s words produced a groan from the rest of the group, although they did all start making their way up to the ambassadorial rooms. As they walked, Dustin tapped his communicator. “Sammie, we’re all back on board. If we’ve no other business to attend to, get us flying and heading for home.” In answer, the faint vibrations of the engines throttling up began to hum underfoot.

Towelling his hair dry as he stepped out of the showers some time later, Dustin glanced back at the assembled women still standing under the running water before heading to the automat and ordering a selection of drinks. The whole away party had opted to sit in the rainfall of the showers as soon as they’d escaped the confines of their formal wear, the four of them being joined rapidly by the others once it was clear they’d be a while.

Notably, Emely had appeared, curled up next to Dustin, and then nudged him until he took the hint and spent several minutes pampering her, washing her hair and tails. He’d offered to help her get dry as well, but she’d shaken her head, walked over to Defia, whispered to the Fractal woman for a moment and then leaned back against the red-eyed woman’s chest. Defia’s skin rippled over the pregnant Feliax, and when it retracted Emely was completely dry… after which the redhead had scurried back to her nest.

Leaning down, he posted a sealed mug of spiced cocoa through to her before settling the rest of the drinks and their tray carefully in an obvious spot for the others to get them, while behind him the assorted naked women filed back into the room. Seeing their arrival, he straightened up. “Before we settle for bed, I should update you on what we’ve learned.” That comment got a round of groans as the others settled nearby.

“Can’t it wait for the morning, Dusty? Ya just got back, I just got the grease outta my fur… we’re all tired and it isn’t like anything’s gonna change while we’re in the middle of a weave jump.” Rye grumbled as she settled down next to Naera, the shortstack promptly snuggling in to the Rabyth’s side.

“It’ll only be quick. We’ve got a handful of things to work on that we all need updates to. Meli, how are our guests doing?” Dustin said, ignoring the grumbles as he sipped his mocha.

“Linth and Macch have been largely spending their time in their ship, working on getting it ready for when they leave. As far as Trelina is concerned, she has spent the entire duration in her quarters studying Earth and Velcan culture in preparation for her assignment. Yril’k has had one of the security team monitoring her, and I’ve had Sola keeping an eye as well, husband, not because we don’t trust her but because… well, she is a spy.”

Dustin nodded, then turned expectantly to Rye. The Rabyth groaned, propping herself up on her arms from where she and Naera had been settling down. “Weave arm thingy should be done in another coupla days. Fi-oh, ya can update everyone on ya goo research,” she managed, before sinking back down into a green embrace.

Defia had been sitting in discussion with Bleu; the pair of them had recently been workshopping something that neither woman would tell Dustin about, only noting that it wasn’t related to their Fractal research and was purely recreational in nature. As that usually implied his lovers were plotting a night of fun for one or more of the harem’s assembled number, he left them to it. At Rye’s comment, the rogue Fractal glanced over. “Statement. The mass is growing in accordance with predictions. We should have sufficient to maintain our own research sample by the time we reach the rendezvous.”

Setting his empty cup back on the tray, Dustin glanced across the assembled women. “Well, that sounds like everything is going well. We’re going to drop off Trelina as quickly as possible, then we’re going to go rescue a bunch of people from a Durathisian prison before the fleets move in to Tylaxis. That’s going to need more than just Sola though, so we’ll have to wait around for EarthGov to send us some support vessels…” his eyes drifted to Emely’s nest, “…which lines up well with other big events that are coming up soon.”