"How did you manage to stay behind?" Shan-leo asked. "I was forced to go to those boring things throughout my childhood! The Heir must show off her perfect family! But it was so boring!"
Kay-low giggled. "She stopped taking me after I threw a tantrum that forced her to leave mid-show."
"Smart boy. I should have done that."
"My mother went there too," Dadina said. "Guess who's the star?"
Shan-leo rolled his eyes. "Zigaema Angelle. So Maela went with Kelikana?"
"Yes, Selinda is with Daniele and Chantal until tomorrow."
"Right. Good." Shan-leo rose and shook his stiff legs to get the blood moving. "So if we leave now, it will be awhile before Bess-lin finds out," he told Hiro. "Can you pack for both of you?"
"I don't think..."
"Hiro, please!" Kay-low's puppy look would have melted a heart of stone.
"We'll be back as soon as possible," Shan-leo promised gravely.
Hiro hesitated, torn between duty and the wish to please his charge. "Fine," he said at last.
"Good. Dadina, grab my bag and go prepare the ship. We'll be with you as soon as possible."
***
"Isn't the spaceport the other way?" Hiro asked as they walked briskly towards the palace with a duffel bag that contained his and Kay-low's clothes for a short trip.
"Yes, but the Haiduc is still in the construction hangar," Shan-leo answered. "She reached Mansion Shermac and came back. This will be her maiden trip to outer space."
"How can Dadina open it if the key is in your nail?" Kay-low asked.
"She has a copy. She helped build it. Oh, and she has a pet robot, so you'll have someone to play with. Chibi is programmed to be like I was at your age..."
They entered the palace and went down to the Vaurabi Labs and the hangar. Chibi waited for them on the spaceship doorstep and welcomed them onboard. Kay-low looked wary again and grabbed Hiro's hand as if he was afraid the little white robot could hurt him.
They joined Dadina on deck and she gave Shan-leo the pilot seat. Kay-low went to stand next to him, looking at the dashboard and asking questions.
"So, route to Alahairo and Fantasilandia," Shan-leo announced, typing data in the navigator. "Door closed. Please take a seat while we take off!"
Kay-low rushed to sit next to Hiro while Dadina buckled up Chibi. Shan-leo slowly moved the Haiduc out of the hangar onto the palace’s private runway.
Moments later they were airborne and the screens showed both the planet being left behind and the stars in front of them. Shan-leo relaxed in his seat. The Haiduc wasn't a flying car, but a semiautomatic ship. As soon as they were on course to Alahairo, he could get up and give his little cousin a tour of the ship, starting to bond with him.
***
Dadina glanced at Hiro once more. He was too cute. She hoped Chibi and Shan-leo would keep Kay-low busy enough to allow her to talk to him.
Her eyes met his, and he flashed a smile. She blushed, but smiled back. Good. He liked her too. They could have some fun while Shan-leo did his Sire things with his cousin.
After twelve years on the Sire planet, and in spite of having thrown her virginity at Shan-leo five years earlier, Dadina still didn't understand the Sire much. She wasn't a telepath and had no idea of what they could do with their minds – besides reading hers.
We can transmit to you, honey. Shan-leo's "voice" came right into her head. And I'm glad you and Hiro like each other.
Don't do that! she thought, frowning.
Aw, come on! Kol-ian did it with Chantal for two years, and she's Gaian, not Sylvanian! Shan-leo teased.
Shan-leo, stop right now! Get out of my head!
With a mental chuckle, he obeyed. Jarred, she noticed Kay-low was staring at her and grinning.
Don't you dare! she thought, glaring at the child who giggled and averted his eyes.
I don't know what's to like, but you're both very funny to read, Kay-low transmitted.
"Hiro, doesn't it bother you that your charge reads your mind?" Dadina asked bluntly. "I mean, how do you hide from him when you're horny or... other naughty stuff, like Shan-leo used to call it?"
"Kay-low is perfectly capable of shielding himself when he doesn't want to be bothered," Hiro answered, caressing the child's head. "And if one day he sees something he isn't ready for... I'm sure he'd raise his shields immediately to protect himself from the yucky parts – which includes kisses, at this time."
Hiro winked and Dadina smiled against her will. Shan-leo turned in his chair as the screens showed only the starry sky.
"We're on course," he announced. "Let's check out the facilities of this ship."
"Can I be the guide?" Chibi asked as Dadina unbuckled him.
"Of course," Shan-leo answered, standing and stretching.
Kay-low jumped to his feet and went to take Shan-leo's hand. Dadina and Hiro remained on the deck.
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"Sylvania. I've been on Marc'harid for twelve years, but I'm still not used to having my thoughts read. Well, most of the time the Sire are shielded, but..."
"What do you do?"
"I'm in the cybernetics department of the Vaurabi Labs."
"Wow. I failed my admission test, but I'm still working on it. With Kay-low I have a lot of free time when he's in school... I had built my own robot and was the best in my hometown, but when I got here I found much higher standards."
She smiled. She'd grown up with the Vaurabi Labs close at hand, with cyborgs and experts (or faka) of the field, no wonder she was better than him. But she could teach him and help him catch up...
They both went to the lounge, ignoring the other three who were deciding who would sleep where.
"I see you've found someone to talk cybernetics to," Shan-leo said, sitting on the couch across from them with his cousin. Chibi stood between the two, his head going from Kay-low to Dadina and back.
"He's good, with my help he could be hired at the Vaurabi Labs!" Dadina enthused.
"And leave me?" Kay-low protested.
"Of course not," Shan-leo answered, pulling him on his lap. "Besides, you have me now, and Dadina and Chibi... would you like Chibi as a permanent companion?"
"Are you trying to get rid of my baby?" Dadina asked while Kay-low shook his head.
"You won't need a babysitter forever," Hiro said tenderly. "You're not a baby anymore. Soon you'll go to school on your own and your mother will dump me. It would be good if I found work at the Vaurabi Labs, since I'd be able to stay on Marc'harid and keep seeing you..."
Kay-low didn't look convinced, but didn't object either. They lost themselves in idle conversation, having a hell of a good time.
4. T'YMI'CHEL M'ARAN
Shan-leo knew he only needed to spend some time with his cousin to create a blood mind link – something less drastic that the symbiosis of a love mind link, but strong enough to allow him to bond with the child and teach him things his haughty mother had completely neglected.
Behind his mind shields, Kay-low was an empath, but being surrounded by icy Sire on his mother's side, he'd learned to hide his feelings, much like Shan-leo had done at his age. So they had a lot in common in spite of the age gap, and the child now divided his attention between him and Chibi – until they reached Alahairo and found their way to Fantasilandia.
Shan-leo felt like a child again in the amusement park. As Imperial prince, he'd never been allowed to mingle with the crowds – the very reason why aristocratic Bess-lin had denied her son a trip to Fantasilandia.
"She said I'm too old for this," Kay-low confided, beaming with happiness.
"If you're too old, what am I?" Shan-leo retorted. "This is fun!"
Chibi never left their side, but sometimes Hiro and Dadina vanished. When Kay-low happened to notice the absence of his babysitter, Shan-leo conspiratorially whispered, "He's probably doing the naughty stuff with Dadina, yuck!" which made the child giggle and move on.
Shan-leo knew that Hiro and D
adina liked each other, and sometimes went back to the hotel to have sex and cuddles, so he wondered what would happen when they went back to Marc'harid. He wanted to do a few more trips, but not alone.
He didn't want Dadina to feel compelled to go with him, although he could have more people onboard. Not just another couple, though, so if Hiro became Dadina's boyfriend, he'd ask one of his high school friends to join him – probably Kys-lee who had developed an interest in archeology and might enjoy visiting planets with ancient history while Shan-leo chased old manuscripts.
Then one evening he got a call from his father, who glared at him from the videophone.
"Shan-leo, where are you?"
"The Haiduc's maiden voyage, Father. And look I'm not sharing the room with Dadina."
He turned the videophone around to show the hotel room. Kay-low slept with Hiro, Dadina with Chibi, and he had booked a single room.
"Which planet are you on?" Ker-ris insisted.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. What's the fuss?"
"You tell me. You were spotted outside of the Sire public school and the next day Bess-lin's son vanished from her apartment. Too many coincidences, in my opinion."
"Oh? And why do you think that?" Shan-leo asked innocently.
"Because you left with the Haiduc the day Kay-low Meraini went missing!" Ker-ris exploded. Shan-leo could hear Kol-ian's soothing voice next to him. "I want you to tell me the truth, Shan-leo, I can't read your mind from here! Is Kay-low Meraini with you?"
"Yes," Shan-leo answered. "We're very much alike and we're having a hell of a good time. You can tell his icy mother her son is doing fine and that we'll be back soon."
Ker-ris groaned in frustration. "Shan-leo, how could you?"
"I'm saving him, Father, much like Uncle Kol-ian saved me when he abducted us," Shan-leo answered, serious. "We're on a planet, not in outer space, and we'll be back before you start to miss me."
Ker-ris shook his head with a long sigh.
"I shouldn't have given you a starship," he muttered.
Shan-leo smiled fondly at him. "If you hadn't, I'd have stolen one, like Uncle Kol-ian did. Good night, Father. See you soon."
***
"This vacation break was too short," Dadina sighed, nestled against Hiro. Both were naked in her hotel bed, while Chibi entertained Kay-low in his room.
"And I've probably lost my job," Hiro said, thoughtful, as he lightly caressed her shoulder with one hand.
"Oh, no! We'll tell Bess-lin we forced you to give up Kay-low, we'll tell her we took you both by force..."
He chuckled. "Why would you do that? I know Shan-leo is a powerful Sire, but you? What if you get deported back to Sylvania?"
"I doubt it," she grumbled. "And I don't want you to go back to Xi-kong." She squeezed him and kissed his bare torso.
"I can't go back," he said. "I'll have to find another place."
"No, no, you should stay on Marc'harid! You can take the test again and join the Vaurabi Labs. I think my hiatus will be longer than this short trip, you can fill in for me if Bess-lin fires you!"
"I'm sure when she meets Chibi, she'll prefer him to me." He smiled. "Well, maybe not. She can't use it in bed."
"What?" She pulled up, shocked. "You mean she had sex with you?"
"That was the test to hire me, yes. But she hasn't called me to her bedroom very often since."
"Bitch! She's Kol-ian's age! Thirty-nine and she goes after a nineteen-year-old! She's disgusting!"
Hiro embraced her to calm her.
"It's all right, Dadina, we're used to being abused by the mighty Sire."
"Well, you shouldn't be!" she protested. "I mean, when there was the Emperor, all right, but he's dead! The Sire should know better! They're members of the Star Nations, like everybody else!"
"They still have powerful minds. We have no defenses against their manipulations, Dadina. You've been lucky to meet only good Sire. The Imperial Governor of Xi-kong was from the House of Meraini, that's why Lady Bess-lin gave me a job. I came from her colony, her estate abroad – even if the emperor is no more."
"She's not a lady," Dadina muttered. "I wonder if the Vaurabi or the Shermac or the Khamisi had such colonies."
"Of course they did. The aristocratic Sire families governed the galaxy. They were everywhere."
"Not on Sylvania! And I thought you genuinely liked Shan-leo..."
"I do. He's not like Lady Bess-lin. And I know who I should thank for the new status quo."
"He could be emperor," she muttered. "But like Kol-ian, he'd rather not go into politics."
"The Sire are changing. They were the masters. Then a rebel prince waged war on his mighty father, the empire fell and we're all free... but obviously some of the Sire families haven't forgotten."
Dadina frowned.
"I wonder which planets had Vaurabi or Shermac governors... Maybe it's recorded somewhere at the Vaurabi Labs, in the mainframe... Maybe I should just ask Kol-ian, since I'm not very good at finding things in the huge database."
"What do you care?" He chuckled, squeezing her. "Shan-leo doesn't even want to be in the Council of Five, let alone governor of another planet!"
"True." Dadina sighed and relaxed. "Still, when we go back, if Bess-lin fires you, I'll help you enter the Vaurabi Labs!"
"Thank you, Dadina," he said before kissing her.
***
The Haiduc had barely left the Alahairo orbit when a mini-cruiser of the Galaxy Police intercepted them. The captain of the mini-cruiser was a woman in her forties who stared at them from the communication screen.
"We've been alerted to a kidnapping," she said. "Bess-lin Meraini reported her son went missing and all searches lead to this starship."
"Kay-low Meraini is onboard, unharmed," Shan-leo confirmed. "I'd never hurt my cousin. And I'm taking him back after a little vacation to a place he so wanted to visit."
"I understand, but with the kidnapping pending, we can't let you go. We shall escort you back to Marc'harid to make sure you don't stray again."
Shan-leo rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Just doing your job, I know. If you don't have real criminals to catch, feel free to escort us back."
"Your sarcasm is out of place, young man, since you are a criminal until you're cleared of the kidnapping accusation," she retorted.
"Am I allowed to communicate with my father while we're getting to Marc'harid, or am I under arrest?"
"You may communicate. I'm sending two of my men onboard to keep an eye on all of you."
"Only two men?" Shan-leo teased. "With a Sire telepath? Send the whole assault team, I'm sure it will be safer! Although I doubt Kay-low will be happy to see armed men in here."
She glared at him.
"Two men. You said you're not a criminal. If you overpower them, you become one, and I have twelve more to send after you," she warned.
He chuckled. "I'm not trying to take on the Galaxy Police. Send whoever you want. I'm going home anyway."
He switched off the comm and glanced at Dadina who sat stiffly at the starship computer.
"Do you think we're really in trouble?" she asked, worried.
Shan-leo shrugged. "Let me call my father..."
At that point two men in black uniforms materialized behind them. One was dark-skinned (probably Ulba'wissian) and the other was blond and bulky.
"Ah, hello, sirs," Shan-leo greeted them. "I was about to call my father, unless you have questions or other orders."
The dark-skinned one took his tablet.
"Can you confirm you're Shan-leo Shermac-Vaurabi, owner of the Haiduc?" he asked, checking his screen.
"I dropped the Vaurabi part twelve years ago, but yes, that's me," he answered. "This is Dadina Maela, my trusted first mate from Sylvania, and our guests are in the lounge with our resident robot Chibi."
"Guests?" The blond man raised his eyebrows, skeptical.
"Of course, Kay-low wouldn't come without Hiro Shibata. And if I'd been really abducting him, I
wouldn't have bothered taking the babysitter too, don't you think?" Shan-leo answered.
He noticed the dark-skinned one was recording everything with a thoughtful look on his face. He was about to lower his shields to read the policeman's mind when the dark-skinned one turned to Dadina.
"You are Sylvanian?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered, puzzled. "But I'm a resident of Marc'harid now."
"And your mother's name is Maela Cora?"
Dadina nodded slowly. White teeth flashed on the brown face.
"My name is T'ymi'chel M'aran and I'm very happy to meet you," he said. "I look forward to meeting your mother, who is also mine..."
"That's impossible!" Dadina snapped. "How old are you anyway?"
T'ymi'chel smiled again.
"I was born on Sylvania and spent thirteen hours there. So I look thirty-something, but I was born twenty years ago," he explained.
Dadina's jaw dropped, but Shan-leo was as surprised as she was. So Maela had had a boy before the "real deal". She'd had sex with a man – from Ulba'wis, by the color of the man's skin.
"I thought I'd never see my mother again," T'ymi'chel continued. "Especially when the war with the Reptilians ended and the Star Nations got rid of the Emperor. That's why I joined the Galaxy Police like my uncle instead of becoming a soldier like my father. I thought my mother had gone back to Sylvania..."
"Actually, she's been living on Marc'harid for the past twelve years," Shan-leo said, while Dadina recovered and gulped, eyes still wide in shock. "Anyway, welcome to the Haiduc. Dadina named it."
"I studied Sylvanian," T'ymi'chel said, amused. "I know what it means."
Shan-leo chuckled. "Good. Let me introduce you to our guests, so you can check on Kay-low, then I'd really like to call my father if you don't mind."
"I don't, but I'd rather Dadina doesn't call her mother. We'll be there soon, and I'd love to make her a surprise visit..."
***
"Why are you so upset with your brother, Dadina?" Hiro asked, putting an arm around her shoulder as they sat in the Haiduc's lounge. The policemen were on deck with Shan-leo, Chibi and Kay-low, communicating with Marc'harid and the mini-cruiser.
"He's not my brother!" she snapped, frowning, her arms defensively folded on her breasts. "I don't have brothers! I'm an only child! My mother is half-cyborg!"
Star Minds Next Generation Page 4