Once again, having diplomatic access paid off. Alex had never left a station so quickly before, with the exception of the launching of the Kshlav’o. The Scoutship program had dedicated hangar bays and approach lanes, and a ship coming or going was planned days in advance so there was no overlap.
The GX8 still handled like a dream, and Alex took third position in the convoy of Tsla’o ships back to the Sword of the Morning Light, setting it up to follow the ship in front of him just like on the trip there.
Alex made note of the time and shut off the ARGUS. Having to think about what he was saying in front of both the ONI and Imperial Intelligence was tiring. Then he went to do a little eavesdropping of his own.
Sliding the pilot’s chair back, he slipped on the remote hud and crept silently as possible back to the stairs, crouching down to peer into the main cabin. The two royal guard were in the first row again, the dichotomy between alien armor and plush white leather chairs still weird. He gave them a little nod. They nodded back. That felt pretty good. Actual recognition.
Carbon and Eleya were all the way back on the right. Carbon had turned her seat around so they were facing each other. He had heard them talking while they stood in the entryway to the ship, but now a good ten meters away he couldn’t hear anything they were saying, just the sound of voices. At least it sounded copacetic. A little tense, which was about as good as he could imagine if they were having the conversation he was expecting to hear about later.
Alex parked himself sideways in the navigator’s station, leaning against the armrest and tapping his feet in the aisle. It was their conversation, one he had been very particular not to put himself into so far despite Eleya''s attempt at getting him to spill some details for her. While he was interested in what exactly Eleya was saying, he was relieved that it seemed to be going well enough that there had been no shouting, or attempted murder.
He suspected that a discussion of that magnitude would take more than the entire flight back. Man. This was going to be worse than listening to Eleya sip a drink at the bottom of the cabin stairs because he wouldn’t let her bring an alcoholic beverage onto the flight deck.
Eleya had understood why he had stopped her from bringing it up, and even approved of his steadfast insistence that it remain in the cabin. The Tsla’o had similar rules about intoxicants and operating vehicles. It did not make her stop drinking as passive-aggressively as she could to be annoying.
He wished he had brought something to drink up here, though. Alex was sure that even creeping down to the head to get some water would be a distraction. He looked back at the cabin, the plush cream carpet at the bottom of actual wood stairs standing in sharp contrast to the utilitarian gray floor plating in the flight deck. Wait. The GX8 was originally a luxe shuttle, the intrasolar equivalent of a private jet. This area wasn’t necessarily meant to be seen by the passengers. There was even a sliding door to close so you could be sure that those passengers wouldn’t have to bear witness to employees.
One of the down sides to having nearly all of your experience with a ship being in a simulator is that you traditionally start off in the pilot’s seat. There’s no interacting with the rest of the ship, save for glancing back at the CPU navigator. Alex’s preferred GX8 variant in a sim were stripped racing models, usually with the Italia livery. He only knew where things were because he’d seen videos of the interior without all the luxury bits taken out, before a crew came in and stripped out every unnecessary gram of weight. Which included a whole bunch of what he had thought were just computer racks that took up the left side of the flight deck, across from the navigator’s station.
If they were going to put a pilot and navigator up here for eight or twelve hours at a time...
The two furthest back were obviously server racks. Rows of blinking lights and little displays telling anyone who would read it what was going on. Even navigation systems that didn’t handle FTL were not exactly compact, and these were fully loaded from floor to ceiling. The three remaining were just lightly decorated pressed metal to carry the motif of server racks. He popped the first one open, pressing the door inward to unlatch it. Coat closet and luggage storage. Ok. fair. These were not turnaround trips.
The middle one hid a kitchenette. Score. A little fridge, a sink, recycler, and a microwave. The forward-most locker was mostly emergency gear, but two shelves were stocked with snacks and prepack meals, and a third with some cups and dishes. Now wasn’t the time for snacking, he was still very much full from dinner, but if there was something good in the fridge...
It too was fully stocked, though not as extravagantly as the wet bar. A few of the usual sodas, juice, water - both still and sparkling because people on the flight deck are very fancy apparently - and the thing he reached for almost instinctively when he spotted it: a can of Vietnamese coffee.
The next question was how was this supposed to be eaten. There was no extra room up here and holding a packet of food over the controls of your expensive ship was not generally approved behavior. Alex looked over the Navigator’s seat, as it was convenient. Sure enough, there was a tray table in the arm rest and a button to make the chair rotate ninety degrees so none of the console was directly in front of where you would set food and drink.
He hopped back up into it and cracked open the coffee, then scanned the hud on the eyes he was wearing. They were still accelerating, forty minutes until they would have to turn it and start the deceleration cycle.
While Alex was very enamored with the ship, the reality of using it to scoot around the system was starting to set in. There was a lot of down time and he had not prepared for that, though there was little to be done in this case. Carbon or Eleya sitting around up here would have been more than enough company. Next time he’d have to make sure Neya came with, or snag somebody from his security team. Zenshen and Amalu would probably be cool with it, but for the rest of them it would literally be their boss telling them to hang out.
He sighed, the worst case scenario having arrived. Alex pulled out his phone and started playing games.
Two hours and three cans of Vietnamese coffee later, they were once again aboard the Sword of the Morning Light and parked back where the GX8 had started earlier that day. Eleya and Carbon were still talking. They had nearly thirty years of trouble to walk through, so condensing it down into just a two hour flight was unlikely. Condensing it down into a single conversation was unlikely.
The Royal Guard were just standing there at the stairs to the hatch when he finally departed the flight deck, the ship fully shut down save for auxiliary power. This was probably not a very common occurrence. Alex continued down the short, luxuriously appointed cabin.
They stopped talking as he approached. “Hey, I’m sure you guys noticed, we’re back. I don’t know if you want to move this conversation somewhere else, or would prefer to keep it going here.” This was no doubt a fantastically important conversation. The incident and the fallout from it had been eating at both of them for decades, so now that it was happening, he would do what he could to facilitate that forward momentum.
The two of them looked up at him, surprised. No, they looked up at him drunk. They both had lowball glasses and that bottle of whiskey Eleya had opened earlier was resting next to her in her seat, now past half empty.
Carbon looked at him and then to Eleya. “We have arrived?” Now she was surprised, turning to look out the little window a little too fast and swaying in her chair. “Oh.”
“So it is.” Eleya was pleased, a sublime sort of smile on her face. She looked more relaxed than Alex had ever seen her. “I had not even noticed the landing, so talented is the young pilot.”
“So it is.” Carbon echoed her aunt before turning back to Alex, bright blue eyes focusing on him after a moment. Her ears and antenna raised before she spoke, working fairly hard to keep that focus from straying. “What did you say?”
“Do you guys want to continue this conversation elsewhere now that we’re home? You don’t have to stay on the ship.” The amount of concentration she was putting into that was kind of cute. “It’s up to you, I get the impression it was fairly important.”
“It is, yes. Long overdue.” Carbon nodded, staring hard to keep eye contact with him as she spoke and switching back into English. “I feel it may be a good idea to continue it tonight? It is not very late yet.”
She was right, it was only a little after eight. Several hours left in the evening before they normally went to bed. “You up for that, Empress?”
Eleya perked up immediately. “Oh, I am! There is still much left to discuss.”
Alex was momentarily taken aback by the raw enthusiasm in her voice. Eleya was in fact ready to get this done. “All right. Where are we going? Or, I suppose, where are you going?”
“You pick your words carefully, young Prince.” Eleya approved of that, whatever exactly she meant by it. “This is a matter between the Princess and I. We will retire to my quarters. If that is acceptable to you, Carbon?”
“Yes. My husband, she is correct. These are words between us that do not have the same weight to you.” Carbon held up a hand. “I know you would accom- acc... follow me anywhere, and I am grateful, but this is a matter that only she can solve.”
It was nice to have his drunk wife appreciate him. “Alright. Keep me in the loop about how things are going, ok?” The idea of letting her go anywhere with Eleya alone, particularly when they both had been drinking, did make him uneasy. If the Empress had not exhibited a consistent change in behavior - she hadn’t been shitty to Carbon recently, and their sober meetings to decide what to do about Sharadi had been good for Carbon.
For now, he trusted that Eleya wanted her family back more than anything.
“By your sight.” Carbon smirked and stood, steadying herself on him before wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug. She nestled down against his chest for a moment, humming happily before stretching up for a kiss. Wasn’t a quick smooch, either. No, Carbon lingered on it before breaking away, looking utterly smitten as she held onto him before letting her hold on him slip as she headed for the exit. Yep, she had been drinking whiskey.
All right, it was nice to have his drunk wife being affectionate too. Maybe a kind of weird place as it was right in front of her aunt and the Guards, but he wasn’t going to bring that up.
“We shall take our leave and depart your burner, Alex. I will be sure that she does not stay out too late.” Eleya had less trouble getting up, the bottle of 18 year single-malt whiskey tucked under her arm like she was used to absconding with other people’s booze.
“Uh-uh. Gimme.” He pointed out the alcohol and held out a hand. “That came from the ship’s bar, so it stays. I’ve seen your liquor cabinet, don’t pretend like it’s running dry.”
“You are no fun.” She huffed as she set the bottle in his hand. Eleya was amused by this, though, stopping beside him and tilting her head to look up with a sidelong glance. “But you are an admirable husband, Prince.”
She shoulder checked him as she continued down the aisle, her and Carbon departing with the Royal Guard. Alex suspected that was about the highest praise she would impart upon someone at a personal level.
He returned the whiskey to the wet bar and searched through it for something he was a little more interested in. A familiar looking bottle he had spotted on the bottom rack earlier, frosted black glass with a subtle black and red label. Demerara rum from Guyana, 27 year oak cask aged. A popular one around the Scoutship program. He tucked it under his arm, shut the aux power off and sealed the hatch.
It was his ship. He could bend the rules on it.
Alex had gotten the hang of the Sword and could reliably get himself around now. Hardly took a half hour to get back to the cabin, since he preferred taking the regular transit. Didn’t get as many weird looks as he was expecting.
“Hey, how goes?” Not having to hang up a jacket really sped up the process of coming home, particularly given how small the Tsla’o made the fasteners on those things.
Neya was stretched out on the bed, about three quarters naked, sitting up on a pile of pillows and reading. “I have done nothing of note all evening, it was delightful.”
“Good.” He started rummaging through the kitchen drawers for a bottle opener. They had one somewhere, he’d seen Carbon and Neya open wine with it before.
She just now looked up from her book. “Where is Carbon?”
“She...” There it was. Last drawer, of course. He grabbed a pair of glasses and returned to the table. Alex looked straight at her as he started to peel the dipped wax seal off the bottle. “Is talking to Eleya.”
The silence coming from Neya was so profound Alex could hear her blinking in alarm. “What?”
“They are having a conversation. I have not been privy to it, but it seems to be about the last few decades.” Alex gestured widely at everything, and then set about getting the cork out. Took forever to wind the corkscrew in, and it was not interested in coming along easily.
“Is that... How does she fare?” More than a trace of anxiety was clear in Neya as the pale-furred Tsla’o scooted off the bed, her book abandoned among the pillows. She was wearing just the daman right now, almost as revealing as a two-piece swimsuit, and she stood across the kitchen table from him. “Is it safe to leave them alone together?”If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“I think it is. I really do.” The cork finally came out with a subdued pop and Alex poured himself a tot - an eighth of a pint. It was not known who in the Scout program decided to go full British Navy when it came to drinking, but Rum and archaic measurements were already entrenched when he got there, including the ridiculous little metal cups. He held the bottle up. “You want?”
“You really think it safe to leave them alone?” She asked, confused about that as she leaned over to smell it. “What is this?”
“It’s rum. Fermented, distilled sugarcane molasses.” Alex did not look down her daman as hard as he could. He knew Carbon would have told him, again, that it was fine if he did because Neya is very particular about what she wears around them so anything he saw was never going to be an accident. Old habits die hard. “And I do. You know better than I how much Eleya has changed lately. I think she’s finally turned a corner, and I think dinner tonight accelerated that change a lot.”
Neya pondered that as she sniffed the bottle again. “I will try it if you explain what you mean.”
“Alright. So Carbon had a girl’s day with my mom, right?” He poured her a tot as well and slid the glass over.
“Yes, I was here for that being planned.” She picked it up and sniffed the glass, violet eyes glancing into it with surprise before taking a sip. “With the word sugar in the name, I expected it to be much sweeter.”
“Fermentation turns the sugar to alcohol.” Alex hadn’t been into rum at first, but had come around to the idea that turning molasses into rum was the only good use for molasses. “So that went well. It looks like they had a great time. At dinner, Eleya had a front row seat to my mom treating Carbon like she was family. And it hurt her. She didn’t react much, but I saw it in her eyes a few times. A little surprised to be saying this, but I respect that she channeled that pain into productive action.”
“I wish it were not surprising. I have known Eleya as little more than a source of dread for Carbon for the last decade. I am pleased that she is making these strides.” Neya tasted the rum again, pondering it before taking a larger drink. “I wish I did not have a reason to be happy about it.”
“Yeah, same. At least she’s getting her shit together. She asked for permission to fly back with us, and they talked the whole way over - two hours! Never raised a voice. Not a punch thrown.” He chuckled and put a little water in his. Not enough to make grog, just open up the spirit a little bit. “They were actually having drinks by the time we got back. Eleya complimented me, and it wasn’t backhanded.”
“I fear it may take me some time to get used to this.” She downed the rest of her rum and went to wash the glass. No more for her right now. “Thank you for sharing that. It is interesting, may I try it again when I do not feel as though my world has tipped over?”
“You know you don’t have to ask.” Alex was sure that there was a formality in the Zeshen system he didn’t know about, where the conceit that the second soul is the same as the first and can thus take their place broke down a bit. Neya would wear their clothing without a second thought, but anything else always seemed to require a polite request. For better or worse, Alex had found himself going all-in when it came to possessions. If it was his, it was also hers. Just don’t hog stuff.
The unease on her face every time he said that was just more confirmation. “I am aware.”
“Are you?” He dropped it after that. Finished his drink and set the glass on the counter before flopping down onto the bed. It did feel good to take a load off after a day that hadn’t been that busy, but had been stressful. He pulled a... A t-shirt from the pile of pillows that Neya had been laying on. One of his, of course. Operation Make Alex Smell Right was still in effect. He grabbed a pillow the second time around and stuffed it under his head.
Neya joined him, nestled up on the side Carbon preferred, draped her arm and leg over him like Carbon did. It had been uncomfortably weird to Alex the first time she had done that, the movements and positioning so close that if not for various physical differences, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart without looking.
It was still a little weird.
“You want to hear about what all we got up to, or wait for Carbon so you don’t have to hear a bunch of it twice?” He reached up and massaged her head around the base of her antenna.
“Wait for her.” She sighed and relaxed, the similarities starting to diverge. Neya tended to stay tense longer, even as she settled in. Carbon was already very comfortable with him. While Neya did a good job acting the part, it was clear she wasn’t quite at the same level yet. “Did she say how long she would be?”
“No. I figure they’ll hash enough things out for a few more hours. Told her to keep me in the loop, and Eleya said that she wouldn’t keep her too late.” None of it was concrete, of course. “They’ve got a lot to work through.”
“I hope it is not long. I miss her, and knowing that she will be leaving for a few weeks makes me miss her more already.” Neya grumbled quietly, setting her chin on his shoulder. “I would like to go but I may have to represent her here.”
“Might have to represent us both, actually. There’s enough time in the ramp up that I can go as well.”
Neya grumbled again. “It is good that you will see Na’o and Schoen. Important. Good for Carbon as well, she will need your support when dealing with her father. Perhaps him meeting you will also be beneficial. To learn the truth of you when he cannot simply hide.”
Alex thought it sounded like she was listing reasons not to be mad. He almost said as much when the door chime rang, a tune that was far too jaunty for this time of night. “Ah, what the hell?”
“I’ll get it.” She pushed off the bed, plucking a pair of blue pants out of the drawers beneath it before Alex could tell her that he would go take care of it, since he was still fully dressed still. Neya had pulled the pants on and was close enough to fully dressed for the Tsla’o a moment later, tying the waist as she went to check who was visiting so long after dinner.
Well. She’s got it. Alex almost went back to relaxing before his phone started ringing. Not his Human phone, which had no reception here, but his Tsla’o issued one. When it rains it pours. He fished it out of his pocket and hit answer just as his brain registered what the flowing Tsla script of the contact information said: Eleya. “Hey, it’s me.”
“Young Prince. You must begin answering calls with more decorum.” Eleya still sounded happy.
That was still strange to hear, and unfortunate that it was strange. “Alright, I’ll work on it. What’s up?”
“See that you do.” She hesitated, just for a moment. “Your dearest wife has fallen asleep. I loathe to admit it, but I do not know her well enough to determine if it would be better to let her sleep here, or wake her and send her home. I want... whatever would be best for her.”
“Oh. Uh, probably send her home.” Hadn’t expected a question like that. “Wait. Let her sleep, I’ll come get her. That way she’s not wandering the ship alone while tipsy.”
She bristled at that. “I would send an escort with her.”
“Royal Guard? So she’d be walking home drunk with some invisible guys tailing her?” Sure, it was nice to have them, but they had been escorted by the Guard before so he knew what was going down.
“I have guards who do not wear armor who would have assisted her.”
“All right.” Alex doubted that, the part about guards without armor. He hadn’t seen them. He looked over at Neya as she returned from the foyer, carrying five, six... eight shopping bags. He recognized all the logos, and a couple of them were full. They had gone to every store on the station, and Carbon had clearly arranged some sort of currency exchange because she had purchased everything. “Look, we’ll be there as soon as we can. Leaving right now.”
“Very well, I will await you.”
Alex hung up. “I gotta go pick up Carbon, you want to come along?”
Neya heaved everything onto the kitchen table. “Has something happened?” She didn’t sound alarmed, but the way her tail stiffened behind her betrayed it.
“Nothing to worry about, she just fell asleep.” Should have led with that. He shook his head and got out of bed, peeking into the largest bag. Everything was wrapped in paper. There were stores that fancy on McFadden station? He had never gone off the main promenade and clothes weren’t really his thing, so maybe there are. He could snoop more after they got Carbon back. “You don’t have to come with if you don’t want.
She didn’t even think about it. “Let me get my boots and I will.” Neya got fully dressed in the length of time it took Alex to pick out a jacket, casual boots laced up with practiced hands and a subdued vest thrown on over her daman.
Alex regaled her with the boring minutia of his day on the way over, the things that he could talk about that didn’t have a security clearance or privacy concerns, at least. Narrowed it down a lot since he was still trying to avoid making her listen to the same stuff twice as well.
He started with the GX8. It was a pretty big deal to him, and the entire fucking Confederation knew he was scooting around in that thing now. Then Alex found out that Neya had known about the Masamune as well, which was fine. It was fine. Everyone had been in on that little conspiracy to hide the ship he had always wanted from him, ostensibly because it was a present and you’re not supposed to just tell the recipient what they’re getting.
That was cool, he was completely cool with it.
He mentioned the scuffle between Zenshen and Williams, and how it turned out to just be their secret handshake. And now he was out of things to talk about, so he brought up an item that he had come in halfway through - the fact there were a few hundred Tsla’o loose in Confederation space now. It was a surprise to Neya too, and she was of the mind that they ought to be brought back to the hearth, if they were willing.
Eleya was waiting for them, as she had said. Curiously, she was sitting in the antechamber, drink in hand, the doors to her quarters waiting open for their arrival. “Alex. When we parted ways I had not expected to see you again so soon.” She gave Neya a little bow as well. “Neya.”
“Empress.” She returned the formality.
“So, she just nodded off?” Alex inquired, noting that his wife was not in the room with them.
“She did. I was making us another drink and when I turned around she was asleep. It seems she does not hold her alcohol as well as I do.” Eleya stood and gestured to her guard by the entry to her bedroom, the barely visible form opening the door. She tilted her head into the room. “Thank you for coming. I feel we have made much progress today, so I am wary of anything that might walk it back.”
Oh, he should go first. Yeah, that makes sense. Right. “I can dig that.” It was dim inside, lit by the warm flickering light of the false hearth, which was also warming the room up significantly. Hell, it made him want to go to sleep. Carbon was sitting in one of those old wooden chairs, an empty glass before her on the table. Her ears were splayed out in different directions, head tilted back, mouth agape, and very much asleep. That couldn’t have been comfortable.
She was still wearing the dark blue jacket she had put on that morning. Alex crouched beside her and gave her shoulder a little shake. “Hey, Carbon. It’s time to go home, all right?”
She stirred, visibly out of it when she sat up. Carbon smacked her lips and she licked her teeth, eyes bleary as she zeroed in on him. When she did speak, it was in mumbled Tsla. “Oh, husband. Where is us?”
He did not laugh, not even the tiniest smirk graced his face. Just a warm, friendly smile. His self control was impeccable. “You fell asleep at Eleya’s place, and now we’re going to go home. Sound good?”
Carbon leaned over, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned on him, fuzzy face pressed against his neck. She just hummed in agreement.
That... that wasn’t really an answer. “You’re going to have to get up, ok?”
She released him and pushed herself to her feet with a grumble, steadying herself with the heavy wooden chair. “Yes. We will.”
“We sure will.” He didn’t know what she meant there, but stood up and moved to support her... Alex’s experience with drunk people was to put their arm over his shoulder, but with the height difference that was kind of impossible.
Carbon was not considering things in such depth, sliding an arm around his waist as she latched on to him, kissing him before resting her head on his shoulder in a surprisingly open display of affection. Blue eyes surveyed the room now that it wasn’t moving as much and locked on to Neya. Carbon gasped, the sound tiny and delighted. “Oh, wife! I require a hug. It has been a good day, and I must tell you about it!” Her free arm reached out to Neya, beckoning her closer.
There was a moment of panic shared between Neya and Alex. She was standing behind Eleya, at the very least, so the Empress did not see her violet eyes grow wide, or her antenna life up in alarm. If Carbon had come to think of Neya like that, she hadn’t told either of them explicitly.
The Empress raised an eyebrow in his direction.
For his part, Alex kept himself composed. He furrowed his brow and looked down at Carbon, confused. “Honey, that’s Neya. Your Zeshen.” You know, the one you’re not supposed to be talking about having a very not-Zeshen relationship with?
“Our Zeshen.” She corrected him and continued to wave Neya over.
“That is correct. I am in service to both of you now, Alex.” She had recovered reasonably well, a very gentle verbal poke keeping up appearances as she came to give Carbon that hug she desired.
The Princess shifted most of her weight into that embrace. Neya staggered back with a quiet cry of alarm as she fought to remain upright, Carbon squeezing her tight with no regard to their safety.
“Whoa hey, let’s be careful with the hugs.” He wrapped an arm around Carbon and pulled her upright, his wife returning to leaning against him. Maybe he should have just let her sleep it off here, even if they needed to finish packing in the morning.
“Very well, dearest husband. I will give more to you.” She returned her arm to his waist, clinging to him again.
“Carbon. Do you think you can actually walk home?” He asked, not sure if she could at this point. He looked up at Eleya. “Do you have any of that anti-intoxicant lying around? The stuff Kaleta got?”
“Of course I can.” Carbon insisted, still leaning heavily against him.
“No, it is a controlled substance so it is not used to cover up drug abuse or actual crimes.” Eleya shook her head. “But it is trivial for me to have some brought around.”
“Ah.” Of course she could get some. Before he started asking people to inject his wife with drugs he assumed were safe but otherwise unknown to him, he would propose a quick test. “Let’s see how it goes. If we’re not under our own power by the time we’re at the hallway, we will reevaluate this idea.”
Eleya tipped her head at him and stepped aside, giving them a clear shot to the exit, maybe twenty meters away. “Very well.”
“All right Carbon, let’s get going.” He patted her shoulder and gestured out of the Empress'' quarters.
She was still pressed against him, but by the time they had reached the doorway it was clear Carbon was doing that because she wanted to, not because she needed the support. Her steps were confident enough, and her initial lack of coordination seemed to be tied to having just woken up drunk. Now that she was awake-drunk, it was good enough.
Eleya had followed them, keen eyes watching her niece’s progress. “Carbon. Before you go, I must thank you for this evening. I have treated you poorly for too long, for reasons that I do not know are truly forgivable. That you have offered me another chance is not a gift I take lightly, and I will prove your trust is not misplaced.”
Carbon regarded her for a long moment, nodding slowly. “By your sight, it is on you to prove it good. I know you have the strength, the willpower. But before tonight I have never seen...” She paused, eyes searching as she tried to find the right word before she continued. “I have never seen humility in you. I hope you do. I- I look forward to it.”