(the neverending chapter… continues!)
After Seri and I enjoyed some quality time together, with some sweet cuddling and pillow talk, we thought it was a good idea to bring Adjaha back into our fold and devote some time to her. I felt bad for her as we found her sitting on the bed, looking miserable, and clearly had been crying. As we came in, she began tearing up again, so we welcomed her into a group hug, telling her how much we both loved her, which she told us through her tears meant the world to her. It took her a while to get comfortable with us once more, as letting go of me romantically and realizing how this had hurt Seri, whether slight or not, was traumatic to her. She was about as sensitive as my wife, and this world of feelings, relationships and love was a whole new universe to her, that she had blundered into without a clue how to handle it. I did my best to make sure she knew it wasn’t nearly as bad as she feared, and Seri did her part to be affectionate in my stead, which was a good idea. I had to keep in mind that I should ease back into any affection with her gradually, as she would probably be emotionally confused over it all for a while. I prayed that it would all blow over quickly, but that was a vain hope. And unfortunately, it depended on Mr Flirt for much of it.
She was withdrawn through the afternoon, and I worried how long this somber mood would last. It was such a stark contrast with the bubbly and overaffectionate girl I knew and loved, and it hurt to see her like this. I put my arm over her shoulder at one point, risking a bit of fondness with her. “Come on, kiddo… let me see that old Adjaha that drove me crazy.”
She gave me a melancholy smile, easing out of my arm, murmuring, “I… really want to, but… I think you’re right, what you guys told me. I should just chill out for a while. However…” She went out into the corridor leading to the bridge, looking through the massive windows to the wide expanse of space. “I was wondering… if we could go to… a planet, like you talked about? Hang out for a while? I need some fresh air… some sunshine, smell some flowers… feel the wind in my wings.” Then she shook her head in dismay. “Oh, crap, I forgot… silly Human.”
In that moment, it sounded surprisingly like what Seri told me some days ago, and I had been worrying that cabin fever was going to afflict them both, particularly a Dragon which had her wings clipped completely off. It almost seemed like Seri’s oppressive upbringing and Adjaha’s naive inexperience were opposite ends of the same spectrum, with similar symptoms. I obviously wasn’t a psychologist, but it was something to consider. Maybe I should, right then. “Ya know… I’m aware of a paradise world that’s not very close, except it’s overrun by these Pirate guys. But they do have this really nice seamstress who is great at making cute clothes.” I cocked my head at her invitingly. “Whadya say?”
“Really? Today?” She seemed excited for a moment, but then the implications of it began to sink in. “Uhh… how many of your kind… Humans, are there in the galaxy?”
“Well, there was just the one,” I replied, “but there are a lot of Travelers they’ve never seen before.”
Her eyes opened wide at that. “Wah… you mean… I get to be a Traveler?” She hugged me tight, laughing. “Oh Nijol… thank you!”
I gave her a brief hug back, peeling away from her. “Pretend Traveler, in training,” I informed her, which had her pouting. “I have no idea how to make anyone a real Traveler. But what they don’t know won’t hurt you.”
Seri folded her arms at me. “And do I get to be one of these Travelers also?” Naturally, she didn’t want to be left out.
“Well, you will be traveling,” I said as I took her into my arms, “and you’ll have your own suit, so… welcome aboard.”
“Smoothly put, mister diplomat,” she murmured, but then gave me a poke in the stomach, which felt like a light slap. “A shame I had to ask.”
I began to protest like a typical Nijol. “Honey, I’m slow—” I began, stopped with a finger over my lips.
“I believe the word is foolish,” she remarked in a wifely way which had Adjaha giggling, and that was such a welcome sound.
I nodded in agreement because I’d better, saying through her finger, “A vry goob worb. Bup hom, vey kmow you.” This had them both laughing, and I enjoyed one with them. It was so nice to see them in good spirits again.
I wanted to make sure things were set before we left. First, I informed Captain Grondo. Very important. I added a few more tiers to the Frigate missions, just in case, and left instructions on Porsuk’s care, which I’m sure some lucky hands would enjoy doing. But before departure, I had to scavenge all the upgrades from the Hauler and install them in the Shuttle who’s name I had forgotten, which was The Escape of Dreams. Some of them, I wish I could. I never thought I’d do so much shuffling of parts, but from one ship to another went faster, and I had practice. I removed the girl-proof probe guards in my walk around, and then had Seri fly us to the Station to see about more suit upgrades, and a pistol for Adjaha. Unfortunately, all they had were rifles. She wanted a handsome one, but it was already a bit deadly, so no upgrades for that.
To my annoyance, she had to aim it at everything in sight. I pushed it down and showed her a feature known as Safety, which I engaged. “Keep this on. I don’t need this thing accidentally going off. Don’t aim it at anything you don’t intend to shoot, keep it pointed down, and only use it when your life is threatened, really threatened, or one of ours. Understand?” She meekly nodded, and I patted her shoulder with a smile. “Good job, junior Traveler.” I figured, why not round out the ensemble with a combat knife, so I bought one of those and a sheath as well. And damn it, if she didn’t go slashing it around too after what I’d just said! Though as I hoped, she was teasing and laughed at me. Teenagers.
Then, fueled up, it was time to embark. The Escape seemed to have a bit more range than the Hauler, but to make things simple I had Seri chose the same route as before. Adjaha got a good view of the jump and our flight through the hypertunnel, which had her crying out in excitement and delight as she clung to our seats. “I wish we could see the stars as we go past but… this is so cool!” I had no idea if we were tunneling through the same universe Euclid was in, but I left that hairy physics discussion alone. It was very welcome to see her enjoying herself again.
We blasted into the star system, Evignol IX, with the usual flash and boom which Adjaha hadn’t seen firsthand before, so she had that experience to enjoy. Then without incident, off to Hirk’s Regret we flew at hypervelocities. I happened to think along the way that buying clothes would necessitate staying there for a while till Adjaha’s wardrobe was finished, but I hoped it relieved that cabin fever issue. It might explain some of the female tension we had been suffering through, and it might even have a little something to do with Adjaha’s romantic fixation, though I doubted it was much.
I was shocked to find that our arrival in Regret wasn’t peaceful, as combat chatter jumped out of the speakers. What the hell? I hoped it wasn’t a civil war. I shouted, “Traveler Fox! Nigel Fox! What’s going on?” Then I motioned frantically for Seri to get up. “Switch places hon, I might need to fight and I need a familiar position. Adj, strap in too, and helmets on, both of you.” I secured mine in place and strapped in.
“Interloper Pirate?” It was Grabas. “These dogs came in at news that K’tarsgh had fallen, and to hunt the Great Beasts. They refuse to back down! We could use another gun!”
Oh, crap. Thank heaven Adjaha wasn’t a Dragon requiring the Hauler, as they were bears to take into battle. The Shuttle would do, and I was very lucky to have all those upgrades, but she was no match for Star Sword. I hoped the opponents were as unskilled as the usual Pirates. “On my way. And identify as friendly so I’ll know who the bad guys are.”
“Right,” he barked curtly, giving the order to the others.
Seri asked nervously, “Nijol… must we?”
“Oh, where’s your sense of adventure!” Adjaha chided enthusiastically, and naively. “Have faith in Nijol!”
Nigel needed faith in Nijol too, as I couldn’t remember if I’d ever battled with anything but a Fighter before. But knowing this thing’s performance, I was fairly sure I could compensate. Regardless, I would have to, and pointed at a cluster of icons in the distance and Pulsed towards them. Adjaha gave another excited whoop at having another new experience to enjoy. “Okay now, keep quiet. I really have to concentrate for this,” I told her, to which she vainly promised.
I braked to cruise engines as I came into range, and was just a bit late. The extra mass of the Shuttle had us sliding right into the fray, so it was time to get serious. Adjaha gave an excited cry, and I couldn’t blame her. Combat was a whole new level of excitement. There were a lot of red arrows, so it was quite the target rich environment. I gasped as one fixed on me, firing, a few Photon burst striking, but the rest flashed past. Seri was huddled in her seat, the poor thing. I hadn’t counted on this at all, but we take our fates as they come. Fortunately the Shuttle was a smallish ship, and with upgrades was surprisingly nimble. I sprayed one with Photon Cannon as it streaked in front of me, making sure not to tag a friendly Pirate, and good thing they were obedient fellows, green pippers scattered through the swarm of ships. I was gratified to see it limping, and the one chasing found it easy prey. Now for the one hounding me.
He wasn’t as skillful as I was, and I found him an easy target as I maneuvered through the swarm of ships to circle around, soon finding my ship closing on his tail. He didn’t like being a target and must have called for help, as time and again I found us under fire. The shields were holding under such brief damage, but I had to watch them closely as they weren’t as robust as on my Fighters. I gave him a few missiles to worry him, and when they impacted, degrading his engines, I went in for the kill with a stream of Photon Cannon, as my arsenal was limited. I was gratified to see it go up in a burst of flame, and Adjaha cried triumphantly, “Go Nijol!”
“I try,” I said with a grin, as I swooped in to scavenge some loose debris, its lights flashing against the dark of space. She asked what that was as The Escape signaled cargo secured, and I snapped, “Loot,” as another opponent took issue with the death of their comrade and fired on me.
I raked another ship as I fought to get behind this one, and it made sense that he would be more of a challenge as battle culled out the weakest. He was no slouch as I struggled for advantage, and he got in a few lucky hits. It was time to replenish those shields, and I managed in brief moments between maneuvers. But he did his best to whittle them back down which was irritating. “Dammit, get off my friggin’ six,” I growled, turning in-between two engaged in a fight, which had Adjaha giving a whoop as we flew between them. It meant a few shots landed, but it did the trick and my pursuer had to veer off. Now to seal his fate. It took some doing as he could out-turn me, but I used skill anticipating the slightly more sluggish Shuttle, and slowly began to close on him. He tried my maneuver, but he only managed to take a lucky hit on something crucial, and could barely turn after that. He didn’t last long as I lined up easily and dispatched him.
The enemy pippers were finally being whittled down to about a dozen, and I homed in on another, giving it a surprise burst as he banked in front of me. It wasn’t much but it got his attention. Then I got a call which startled me. “Hey! I am friendly!”
“Oh! My apology—” I began when another cut me off.
“He is not!”
Oh crap… who do I believe? One way to find out, hopefully, and I beamed him a signal, barking in my best Vy’keen, “Who is your master!”
“Grn’deth—! Oh, shit,” he muttered. Thank heaven for Vy’keen reflexes.
“Cheaters… never prosper,” I grumbled back, turning in on him as he was already ahead of me, and that circle fight was easy to win. A few missiles made it even easier, and I sent him to his fate with the others.
Now I found myself with my hands full as this new opponent was quite a challenge, either the leader or a second. I tried a bluff, calling to him, “Do you really want to go to The Deep Black like your comrades?”
He saw the same thing I did, as the HUD was half-clean of his fellows. “Gautakht! You have me. I claim The Right of Challenge! Stand down!” Those words sounded like they should be capitalized.
I coughed at him indignantly, fearing another trick. “Oh, you think I care?”
“Yeah!” Adjaha shouted.
“That sounds like a female with you! Who are you?” He sounded indignant himself. What, another male chauvanist?
“The Interloper-Pirate who’s going to send you to your grave—!” I began, but Grabas cut me short.
“Hold, Friend Nijol! He has that right. Stand down.”
That worried me. Was Grabas going to have to face this guy? Sure enough, on the display appeared his ugly mug as well as his name, Grn’deth. Such a nice name for a Pirate. He barked at me, “Oh! You are that Interloper! What a rare stroke of Fate to meet you!”
“Yeah, likewise I’m sure. Anyhow… I stand down from your challenge.” I signed off, muttering, “You lucky son of a bitch.”
“Is that a bad word,” Adjaha asked, smirking. How do teenagers know these things?
“No… maybe,” I amended, as not only did I not want to lie to her, but she would probably peek me anyway. I looked to Seri, who was trembling in her seat, almost frozen with fear. “Serineh, thank you for being so quiet. You were very brave.”
She stammered in reply, “N-no I was not!” She barked at me irritably as I had to laugh, and stroked her hand in conciliation. She seized it, holding on tight, the poor thing.
I said to her hesitantly, “Honey… maybe this is bad timing, but this is one reason why I want you two to stay behind.”
“What! No way!” Adjaha protested. Ah, the naivete of the young Dragon.
“Ohh… not that again,” Seri grumbled. “We will discuss this… later.”
So, to Poop Hole we cruised as we weren’t far from it. The benevolent Grn’deth had eight ships remaining, and thanks to my intervention we had at least three more with a total of fifteen. I hoped it was because our side were competent, but I didn’t know if K’tarsgh or Grabas offered them any dogfight training.
We set down in pre-dawn darkness on the other side of the ship lot from Grn’deth’s bunch, as I wanted as little contact with them as possible. But there would be, as we were both headed for the Village. He strode up, at least as big a brute as Grabas, and looked me over as his cohort gathered behind him, a few lights doing their best to make the scene look welcoming. “You fight well, in a ship - a Shuttle! I would enjoy seeing how you handle a fight blade to blade. And two females? You must impress!”
While I normally had enough sense to give a Vy’keen his due, this cad irritated me. “Yeah, I impress, and I have inner strength you can’t see.” As if on cue, the girls draped themselves around me possessively. What marvelous quick studies my babies were.
This had him laughing, and he made a fist at me. “May we see this strength someday.”
“Yes, may,” I replied with a fist back, waiting for them to go. I missed hearing K’tarsgh laugh. If only that stubborn brute hadn’t followed his dream to near the letter! But, he was sure it meant his acceptance into Heaven, and maybe it was, so who was I to argue?
I sidled up alongside Grabas, who gave my two girls a curious look as I removed my helmet. “Who are your companions? Seri, and…?” he asked leadingly.
“Adjaha,” she declared after removing her helmet, and shook her gold-brown hair out with a flourish.
He looked at her in amazement. “She is… a Human?”
“And a Traveler,” I said before anyone else named Adjaha could speak, trying to make that sound capitalized. “In training.”
“She is… with you?” And of course she knew what that meant, smiling with a blush.
I replied as Seri edged against me, clasping my hand, “We’re just close. Kind of a member of the family now.” He nodded, and I cut in with a couple of questions of my own, the usual one of my friend’s wellbeing. “K’tarsgh is still alive, right?”
To my relief, he nodded. “Yes, but incapable of leading. Mostly he sleeps. If he lives, he will be a long time healing. I hoped this day would be a long time coming. But your bribe to keep the Great Beasts safe angered many. Grn’deth has been wanting to take over, but he knew he couldn’t best K’tarsgh. Now, he sees his chance.”
Grabas was no small Vy’keen, but Grn’deth’s size worried me. “Can you take him?”
He grunted. “He is half fat, but strong. I should be able to take him down, but pray that I win. With the help of the God, I should win without question. But if He lets me fall, know that your agreement will mean nothing to Grn’deth, and he won’t be friendly.”
“That’s good reason to pray,” I muttered, to which he laughed.
When we made it to Resh’s hostel, a crowd were there ahead of me, but when the bleary-eyed house runner spotted us, he motioned us ahead of Grn’deth’s bunch which angered him, and they had a brief heated exchange, though Resh had the last word. “I’m rich enough to have all of you thrown out! I don’t care who you are! Go somewhere else!” Grabas and his group all pressed around us, and them, and they were outnumbered, so they had little choice but to back down, grudgingly. When they left, Resh could breathe easier and show us some hospitality, but not before he spent a moment gawking at Adjaha, who blushed from all the attention she was getting. “And who is this pretty thing? A Human? And a… companion?” He looked to Seri curiously, and it was obvious what he was driving at. She edged against me again, taking my hand, and I draped my arm on her shoulder fondly.
“A friend,” I said for them, and I had a feeling that I would be saying that a lot. “A Traveler. In training.”
“Oh! Well, that I understand. Amazing, meeting two of you after all these years, like a life dream.” He gave me a familiar key, saying, “I keep this one handy in case you show up again. I hadn’t thought you to return so soon, but what a welcome surprise. Gronk will likely want to make you a meal.”
I gave his shoulder a pat. “Thank you for the honor.”
“I can afford a lot of honor now!” he said with a hearty laugh. “Go eat.”
Seri took Adjaha by the arm. “You should enjoy this. He makes lots of meats, and they are delicious.”
It was getting towards dawn now, the sky outside tinged with turquoise on the horizon, but Pirates stayed up late, particularly when a Challenge was in the offing. Gronk was delighted to see us and promised one of his best meals as always, and no charge. It was very late for us so I was starved, and it couldn’t have arrived soon enough. Seri practically dove on her plate, while Adjaha was a bit more measured about it. Following my example? She said between bites, “It’s really good, though Nijol’s ship serves good meals too.” I wondered if she was being diplomatic, or if she was more used to the Infineon’s chow?
Yes.
She seemed to be laughing it, and her face bore a big grin, the peeker. It had been a while since I heard her thoughts in my mind, and I forgot how pleasant it was. I had been worrying how she would react around a bunch of barbarians with one of the Great Beasts they hunted right there in their midst, but she handled it all with amazing grace.
Thank you, for both. You’re always so nice.
I thought to her, Hey, I’m a big fan of Great Beasts who are so charming and intelligent. She looked down with a blush, and I scolded myself when I realized how affectionate I was being with her. My inner flirt was hard to restrain.
Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m… adjusting. I could only hope.
When we finally went up to our room, I realized with a start that we only had one room, and one bed. And that bed held a lot of romantic significance for Seri and me. I looked to her questioningly, but before I said a word, she muttered, “Ohh… it will be fine. We’re all tired, and it will only be for…” Her voice trailed off as she had no real idea how long our stay would be.
“A couple of days or so,” I told her. “Long enough to enjoy some fresh air, and get some clothes made for Adjaha. And we can sleep with our clothes on, like we did our first night.” I could see a flush in her ears as that was only true for one of us.
She clutched herself to me close, murmuring in a spicy tone, “One night… just us.” I kissed her on the side of her mouth, giving her a romantic nuzzle of yes.
Adjaha was looking like the odd girl out, but I beckoned to her as I drew the covers back. “Come on, get out of that suit and - oh, I completely forgot something important.” She looked surprised as I motioned for her to de-suit, and when we had all stripped out of them, I led the two of them to the outhouses around back. “These are the… peeing and pooping accomodations, and as you can smell, they are… primitive. To put it mildly.” Only one was occupied, so I went down a few to an open one. “They use rags to clean with, and they go in these buckets when you’re done with them. I’ll let Seri explain the particulars.”
“There is… not much to explain of that,” she remarked dryly, which had me laughing.
“Touche, my dear.”
Adjaha was mildly displeased - okay, greatly so. “Eww… you’ve got to be kidding! I’d rather go off in the woods to… go.”
“Well, it is an option, but they don’t have rags.” I shrugged resignedly.
“And that’s a problem?” she smirked, then looked the thing over, what she could see of it in the dim light. “I… could try it. Once. Maybe.”
“Okay, I just wanted you to know how things worked in Pirate land. Now, let’s go back to someplace that smells more like home.”
I took the middle spot in bed out of habit, which earned me a sour look from my wife who wanted some space between me and that other girl. Have I mentioned before that I’m slow? When we had settled in, which Adjaha welcomed as a treat, sleeping with me, I almost forgot something else. “Oh yeah. In case you missed it, daytime here is almost completely flipped from what it is on the Infineon, so we’ll just have a long nap.”
“Oh no!” Seri chuckled out in ambivalence. “We have not had a good night’s sleep for days!”
“Yeah, and that’s when you didn’t wake me up—” I muttered, which earned me a jab in the side. Of course that was almost always my fault. “Sorry hon, Nijol humor again. Mostly, I’m worried since I’m going to have to watch a Challenge today.”
“Ooohh… yes,” she murmured. “Oh, Tanri… please help our friends…”
“Yes, please,” I agreed. I was annoyed to hear Adjaha snoozing away to my right. “And wouldn’t you know, our teenage daughter has already…” But not just her, Seri had drifted right off herself. “How do you two do this without sleeping pills?” I grumbled, trying to get drowsy, and gradually, I was…