Gundar entered the elevator, Brannix stepping in after him. “So, do we actually need the services of these people?”
“No, Xeranos and I have determined that we can order directly with the chosen outlets and have them collected from a central location and brought up by shuttle. If we stock the most common sizes and styles required, we can minimize shipment numbers for greater efficiency.”
“Xeranos, living quarters level three,” Gundar ordered. “So, Brannix, what do you suggest we do with our guests?”
“Xeranos and I think that we should let them sit there and fail to meet our deadline. Then inform them that as did not meet the terms of our agreement, we are banning them from further trade with Mylos and any of its citizens, and seeking financial reparations. Xeranos calculated the difference between what we should have spent and what we were charged. Hat is the figure we think we should demand. While they are in there sulking, we can be organizing the return of unused goods in ships’ stores and ordering the new stock. After the AIs polled the humans, they sent out a questionnaire about sizes, brands, and so on. The crew and their mates are to fill these in with their preferences from the list of goods we have chosen. All I need is your go ahead and the AIs will send out as a priority assignment for all personnel, to be completed by midday tomorrow.”
The elevator came to a stop and the door opened. “Do it,” Gundar said. “And seek the reparations and place the ban. Don’t release them until the reparations are paid.” He smiled tightly. “They thought they were surprised by us earlier today I cannot wait to see their faces tomorrow when they discover we have outmaneuvered them yet again and they are the ones being plundered.”
Brannix smiled predatorily. “It will be the highlight of my week, sir.”
Gundar stepped out into the hall. “My mate will no doubt be contacting you regarding the mating ceremony she wishes to have. If anything is not on the new stock list, let me know. I’ll handle it.”
“Yes, sir. Seeing as she thought to bring this corruption to our attention, I doubt she’ll be one to go for the most elaborate and expensive things, so if it’s not on the list, I’ll check to see if it can be included before bothering you.”
“Thank you, Brannix. That will be all.” Brannix stepped back into the elevator. Gundar strode down the corridor to his quarters. He blinked as the sound of laughter greeted him from multiple voices as he entered the room. Three heads turned towards him as they heard him enter. Darla stood up, “I hope it’s okay. Amy and Steven here came to meet me and welcome me to the fleet. They’ve been a lifesaver, helping me decide what to do for the wedding and getting stuff ordered via Xero.”
Gundar smiled broadly. It was a good thing that his mate was already being welcomed amongst the other mates, so he tamped down his feelings of disappointment to not have her all to himself as soon as he returned home. “I remember Steven. How have you settled in?”
Steven stood. “Oh, it’s been an adjustment. Jo-Mo is not that big a place, but compared to the ship, it’s huge. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, though. I’ve got my husband, my friends, like my bestie Amy here, and now Darla, plus I’ve just completed a course in interior design.”
Gundar nodded. “You first came aboard helping your employer figure out suitable sized furnishings for our quarters, did you not?”
“That’s right. I figured that maybe I could offer advice on how to pull together furnishings to be stylish, comfortable, and useful. Not everyone can figure things like that out, as simple as it may seem. Not that you two need my service. This place looks great.”
“We are revamping the ship store catalogues. I shall have Brannix contact you so that he can take some advice before making final decisions as to stock. He can also pass your service along, in case anyone feels the need for it.”
“That’d be great, thanks.” Steven looked surprised at the offer, as well as pleased. “Well, Amy, I think we best get going. If the Commander is home, no doubt our honeys will be as well, and looking for their dinners. And I’m sure these two have other things to talk about, that don’t involve us,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. Gundar wondered what that was about. Did he have an itch?
“Yeah, if we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to catch a passenger shuttle! Comm me, Darla. We can settle the wedding deets that way. See you again soon! Byeeeeeee!” Gundar was glad his mate was not so bouncy and chirpy. This one was a whirlwind of noise. Still, his mate seemed to be in excellent spirits, so she obviously liked her.
“Bye,” Steven echoed, following Amy out the door.
“So, um, how was your day?” Darla asked him.
“It was most productive. I met with the distributors’ representatives this morning and let them know we knew about the subterfuge regarding the doohickeys and thingies and that the whatchamacallits should not be so expensive when there were more usual options for the dumaflaches.” He was pleased to see his mate cover her mouth as she giggled. “Yes, it was most pleasing to see the look of amazement as we told them these things.” He grinned broadly. Darla giggled harder.
“I bet it was,” she said, once she’d caught her breath.
“Then Xeranos and Brannix worked out how we could cut them out entirely and so they are moving forward to do so, as well as ask for penalty payments for plundering us needlessly for goods that were not what we had asked for.”
She dropped her hands. “Oh wow, I bet they didn’t like that.”
“They do not yet know. We sent them to go redo their offerings, but instead they have sat in their cells and yelled to be let out and other such nonsense.”
“Cells?” Darla looked startled.
“They tricked us in order to plunder the coffers of the Mylos Empire. Where else would we put them while they contemplated the error of their ways and how to rectify them?”
“Oh my God, I don’t know whether to laugh or to think y’all are out of your minds.” That obviously wasn’t true as she began laughing.
“You seem to have chosen laughter.”
“Well, you are letting them out, right?”
“Once they agree to repay us and accept the return of unused goods.”
“Well, that’s all right then. Greedy bastards.”
“Indeed. You looked as if you had a good day, as well.”
“Yes! I’ve picked a dress pattern and a cake, and Xeranos is preparing a suggested guest list by cross referencing similar ceremonies for someone of your rank or close to it. Um, you’ll look at it and make sure it’s okay before we send out the invites, right?”
“But of course, my One.” Yes, it was a very good indeed. He’d saved the empire from merchant pirates, his mate was happy and looking forward to the mating ceremony that was all but completely planned from the sounds of it, and everything was as it should be. The door chimed. He sighed and turned to answer it. A young warrior stood on the other side, holding a box with holes in it. Beside him was a grav pallet stacked with goods.
“Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but I was told to bring these here immediately.”
“Yes, bring them in.”
“Oh my God, is that the kitten?” Darla squealed. Gundar took the box from the warrior and handed it to his ate indulgently. He sat the box down immediately and pulled it open, making baby noises at the small creature inside.
“Just unload the rest here. We’ll put them away,” Gundar instructed.
“Yes, sir,” the young warrior replied. Gundar left him to it, joining his mate to see what the fuss was about. A tiny bit of gray fluff peered at him from where his mate snuggled it under her chin. Its eyes were gold and it squeaked in indignation.
“You are pleased with it?” he asked her.
“I love it!”
“Have you thought of a name for it?”
“Not yet. I thought one would come to me as I got to know him. Or her. I haven’t checked to see which it is yet.” He chuckled. I am going to go shower and change. There are things for the small one as well as you, I’m s
ure you’ll want to decide where to put them. Darla glanced over.
“Gosh! There’s a suitcase from my mama! She sent me some of my things! Oh, I best set up the cat box right away and put out the food and water dishes too.”
He left her baby talking to the kitten, telling it what she was doing as she carried it about. He found himself wondering if she would talk to their future younglings that way.
Chapter Seventeen: Darla
Darla was glad for the timing of the distraction the delivery of the kitten, her suitcase, and the pet supplies provided. She didn’t know how long she’d have been able to not let on that what she was laughing at was image of her big, bad, warrior standing there with serious, professional intent talking about doohickeys and thingies and money. When she’d explained the slang to him, she’d had no idea that he thought it was terminology to be used when driving business bargains. He looked so proud of himself and by all accounts; it sounded as if he’d one upped the money grubbers fleecing the fleet, so she decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
Once she set up the cat box and put out and filled the kitten’s food and water bowls, she decided to have a look inside the suitcase her mother had sent. Taking it into their room, she placed it on the bed and stared at it for several minutes. “Go on,” she whispered to herself. “Open it. Ain’t like it’s gonna bite ya.” That didn’t do much good. Her past was in that suitcase and it threatened to intrude in what little inroads she’d made thus far in her new life. She sighed and resolutely placed the suitcase in the back of the closet, still unopened and closed the closet door. “With all my new stuff comin’, not like I need anything that’d be in there, anyhow.”
“Are you certain?” Gundar asked her from the doorway, making her jump.
Darla clapped a hand to her chest where she could feel her heart beating wildly. “Shit! You scared me! You made no sound and then boom! There you were.”
Gundar regarded her gravely. “We are currently in a peaceful situation. But one never knows when someone may decide you are the enemy and they wish to strike. A warrior is always prepared, and stealth is one of a warrior’s greatest assets. I did not mean to scare you, though. You had all of your attention on the case. You have not even taken note that you shut the kitten in the closet.”
She yanked the closet door open. “My poor baby!” She scooped the startled kitten up. “Mommy is so sorry!” The kitten squeaked in indignation and squirmed, wanting down. She sat it on the bed. “And yeah, I guess I was thinking too hard. It’s just, I’ve only ben here two days, right? But, my old life already seems so far away. It’s like my past arrived in that suitcase and if I open it, it’s going to make me sad and remind me of how much I miss everyone and everything back home. I don’t want that. I want to keep moving forward. If I’d not been matched, I’d have only been at home for a few more weeks, yeah? Because I’d have gone off to college and would have been living in a different town, in my own apartment with my best friend. So, I’d still have left home.”
Gundar studied her. “But you would not be in a truly alien place. The human town would still be a familiar type of place and you would not be marrying a warrior you barely know.”
“Are you trying to make me unhappy? I just pointed out how I’d still be somewhere else! Plus, yeah, you’re an alien and I’m on a spaceship, but you know what? While some things are different, like crazy different, it’s not really that alien. It’s more, I don’t know, just more high tech. So, it’s more like I just moved somewhere more cutting edge. As for you, you’re growing on me and I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the matching process, but, I feel comfortable around you. I can already feel that you are going to be family, in my heart. You just, well, fit, like a piece of a puzzle I didn’t know I needed. And I’ve made new friends too, already, and it feels like I’ve known them forever. Okay, one’s a disembodied voice, but so what? Xero’s cool.”
The pearly blue edging Gundar’s scales deepened and spread their blush against the entirety of his scales. His skin, too, had taken on a faint blue tinge. He stepped forward quickly, grabbed her by the arms, and crashed his lips onto hers. Darla froze in surprise, then melted against him, placing her arms around his neck and returning the kiss. Gundar deepened the kiss, parting his lips and delicately lapping at the seam of her lips. She parted her lips, panting lightly at the intensity and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth. At the first touch of his tongue against hers, she reacted instinctively, pushing her tongue back at the invader. He stroked back with his own and then they were both lost, kissing and grinding against each other until they both had to come up for air. It was only when they parted that Darla realized that she’d been whimpering and that Gundar had a very large erection pressing against her hip. Gundar reached a hand to her hair and smoothed it, tucking an errant strand behind her ear before stepping back with reluctance.
“I best go have my shower and then prepare our meal, my mate, or we shall end up sealing our bond.”
“Yeah. I’m not quite ready to do that, yet. After the wedding, yes.” Darla had that set as a kind of benchmark. She knew it was all psychological, that she was already a married woman, but in her mind, the wedding ceremony is what made that real. It was almost ritualistic in her mind- first a ceremony, then the wedding night. It just seemed the natural progression of things and made the prospect of having sex seem proper. As for a honeymoon, well, she was kinda on a cruise, right? Only it was a spaceship in orbit around her home planet.
Gundar left the room. Damn, he didn’t even take a change of clothes with him. Darla decided to lay some out for him, then scooped the kitten up from where it’d wandered off the bed and decided to have some fun batting at the curtains.
“Come on, Trouble, let’s go see about opening some of those toys you’ve got.”
Chapter Eighteen: Darla
Gundar and Xeranos had worked out the final guest list, ship’s stores had replicated the wedding gown, Amy’s matching dress, and Steven’s suit. Warriors assigned to casual duty had set up the chairs and Amy had enlisted more friends from the ship she lived on to help decorate. The cake had even been successfully replicated and stood ready and the mess hall staff had come up trumps with a catering plan. All the fleet captains were present as were the mates and their husbands Darla had met and befriended as Amy brought them on board the wedding juggernaut, not to mention senior personnel from Gundar’s own ship, as they could be spared.
Darla stood nervously outside the function room, hoping her sweaty hands didn’t mark the ivory satin of my simply Grecian style gown. Amy wore a similar dress, hers a soft lavender. Amy handed Darla her bouquet, a simple affair of trailing ivy, baby’s breath, and tiny purple flowers that Darla didn’t even know the name of.
“Just breathe,” Amy told her as the music began. “That’s our cue!” Amy entered the room. Then, Darla heard “Here Comes the Bride”. It was the moment dreamt of so often as a child when she played dress up, when she’d watched fairy-tale weddings in films and the televised real-life weddings of British royalty. It felt nothing like her fantasy. In her fantasy, she was calm, cool, collected, and floating in a cloud of happy self-assurance. Reality was a sea of nerves, terror of tripping over the hem of her gown, of turning her ankle, tripping on the carpet, and a stomach full of butterflies that made her hope that she’s be able to say her vows rather than throw up all over her groom.
Somehow she made it down the aisle and then she was there. The thundering of her heart miraculously slowed as came to a stop next to Gundar, and he gently took her hand in his. Now if she could only find her voice and remember what she was supposed to say! As it was, she found herself paying far too close attention to Gundar, drinking in his stalwart presence and drawing strength from it, that she missed what the officiant was saying until she heard her name. Oh yeah, my vows. Engage brain, now, Darla!
Darla turned to face Gundar and gazed into his eyes. “I, Darla Louise Levin, take thee, Gundar of Chaldar
, son of Tyfrin, to be my mate, companion, and foremost friend. As we weave our lives together, I vow to continue to strive to be the most true version of myself that I can be, and to help you achieve the same. I will spend my life cultivating the seeds of love that are sprouting in my heart, that they grow ever deeper roots. I promise to stand by you, and support you, and to look to you for guidance when I am lost, for the light of your dedication to me will always bring me home.
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