‘Who are you dealing with at the other end?’ Aneka asked.
‘A Councillor Harper, primarily. He requested that you send him a message when you got here. Apparently someone named Abigail was keen to receive word of your safe arrival.’
‘Can I?’
‘We’ve made special provision for this team to communicate with Old Earth whenever required. I don’t know how many of you will need or want to, but they know you and it seemed best to ensure that they could communicate with the Jenlay they’ve met if they wished.’
Aneka nodded. ‘Abigail is one of the surface people we met. She’s a bright girl and they were hoping she would help with the education programmes they’re trying to set up.’
‘Something of a fragmented society.’
‘It isn’t that different from the Federation,’ Ella commented. ‘Core and Rim are almost two different groups of Jenlay.’
Elroy gave a slight shrug. ‘We like to think we’re one people, but you are correct. My take on the overtures being made are that the Old Earth people are keen to share their technology, and they believe we have some advances they do not. However, they are cautious and have no desire to actually become part of the Federation. They seem to be far more interested in a tighter relationship with the Jenlay than with the larger political structure.’
‘They have not had a particularly pleasant history of relations with other species,’ Gillian said. ‘There was some sort of war with a culture called the Pinnacle after the cities there were established. We don’t know much about that species, but we know it was a hard fight to beat them back. They became very insular after that.’
‘I recall mention of the Pinnacle in your report. Are they a threat?’
‘They’ve heard nothing of them since, and their home world was further from here than Old Earth is. They certainly don’t represent a threat to the Federation, even if they still exist.’
‘Good,’ Elroy said. ‘We have enough problems at the moment without another one rearing its head.’
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Aneka only really got one question asked of her during the press conference, which made her entire day more pleasant than she thought it was going to be.
‘Miss Jansen,’ some reporter Aneka did not believe she had seen before said, ‘you managed to get back to your home world. Was it not difficult to leave again?’
Aneka looked out at the crowd of reporters. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s a basic error in your question. I did not manage to get back to my home world. My home world was a place called Earth which existed almost twelve centuries ago. The world we just came from isn’t the one I left. It was never going to be, but I needed to go there and see it to let that sink in. So I’ve been, and seen, and my Earth is dead and gone. But I’ve got a new home. The Jenlay have welcomed me to their home world. One in particular has invited me into her home. We used to say that “home is where the heart is” so my home is definitely here, on New Earth, with my partner. I’ll be going home after the conference, and I’ll be really happy when I finally get back there.’
Part Three: Two Weddings and a Party
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Janna let them have a day to recover before turning up on the doorstep. It was not really necessary, they were quite rested, but it did give them time to unpack before Ella’s mother descended on them.
Unlike Brinna, who appeared to have contributed almost nothing genetically to Ella aside from her hair, Janna appeared to have cloned her daughter rather than giving birth. Mother was a near-perfect copy of daughter, with enough variation to make it obvious that a test tube had not been involved. They both had the same pixy-like features, the same bright smile. Janna tended to look a little more serious than her daughter; her features were a little harder as the result of age and possibly some elements of her lifestyle. Her hair was short and midnight black, and her eyes were brown, and in the past Janna had had much larger breasts than her daughter along with a slightly fitter body. These days only the hair and eyes distinguished them.
The brunette Narrows bounced into the flat Aneka and Ella shared, hugging her daughter enthusiastically before doing the same to her daughter’s lover. There was rather more groping involved in the latter; Janna had resigned herself to not sleeping with Aneka, but it did not mean that a little indecent application of hands could not take place when the situation allowed. And then the two Narrows started talking more or less over the top of each other.
‘I’m so glad you’re safe,’ Janna was saying. ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t get back in time.’
‘Mom, it’s great to see you,’ Ella said at the same time. ‘I mean it’s really great that you don’t have to cross half the planet to come hear the news.’
‘What news?’
‘In time for what?’
‘Sharissa and I are going to formalise things now I’ve moved in with her and…’
‘Aneka and I are going to formalise our partnership and… Wait, what?! Oh wow!’
‘You are?! Oh that’s fantastic news! We can make it a double.’
‘Do you have a Registry booked yet?’
‘Slow down!’ Aneka said, maybe a little louder and more sharply than she had intended. Two women looked at her, eyes wide. ‘Janna, you and Sharissa are doing this same formal partnership thing?’
Janna nodded. ‘We have a Registry booked for the ceremony for the fourth of next month. We can easily get it changed to do both ceremonies at the same time. They don’t mind that kind of thing.’
‘Well it would save some time and effort, I guess,’ Aneka conceded.
‘But then there’s the party,’ Ella said, frowning. ‘If it’s your friends and ours…’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that, dear,’ Janna said, grinning. ‘Sharissa’s place is bigger than this and we’d already planned for a party there after the ceremony. We can just add some extra people, perhaps make it a little longer…’
Aneka let out a groan. ‘This is going to be Christmas all over again, isn’t it?’
‘Oh no,’ Janna said, waving the argument away. ‘It’ll be nothing like that. I expect there to be far more sex for one thing.’ Grabbing the bag she had dropped on the way in, she pulled a bottle of wine from it and started for the kitchen. ‘Come on, we can get drunk and discuss plans.’
‘I can’t get drunk, Janna,’ Aneka pointed out.
‘No, but Ella gets twice as drunk as a normal person, so she makes up for you.’
‘Mom!’ Ella whined, even if it was true.
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‘The fourteenth,’ Gillian said. ‘It’s already arranged so there’s no getting out of it.’
‘I hate these political parties,’ Aneka said making a sour face.
‘At least we’re not trying to milk the guests for money this time. This is just a thank you to those who contributed to the expedition.’
Ella frowned. ‘Does that mean Teldarian is going to be there?’
‘He has, apparently, accepted the invitation,’ Gillian replied.
‘Huh. I bet he did.’
‘Ella, you’re formalising your relationship next month. If anyone needs to be jealous, it’s him.’
‘You can thank him for the coffee,’ Aneka suggested.
‘Huh. And how would you suggest I thank him?’
‘You say, “Thank you for the coffee, Mister Teldarian.”’
‘Oh, right.’
Aneka smirked. ‘And then you add, “Should I get on all fours here or would you like to find somewhere private?”’
‘Aneka!’
‘What? You said it yourself. He’s rich, handsome, charming…’
‘And after you.’
‘Stephen Teldarian may or may not be after me, but he’s not going to get me, in any permanent sense, and I’m willing to bet he’d happily go with you… or Gillian.’
Gillian laughed. ‘I think I’m a little old for him.’
‘You t
hink?’
‘He tends to prefer younger women. Much younger, though I think you’re right about Ella. She’s just about young enough.’
Ella pouted.
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‘That one’s gorgeous,’ Ella said. ‘You should really try it on.’
‘Nope,’ Aneka replied from where she was lounging on a chair in the changing rooms. ‘I am wearing my swarm dress. I don’t need anything else.’
‘But…’
‘No. Swarm dress. We’re here to find something for you to wear.’
‘But I like watching you try on dresses,’ Ella replied, pouting.
‘I know. I’m your own personal life-size dress-up doll. But not this time.’
Picking up the next dress she was going to try on, Ella walked into the cubicle she was using and closed the curtain. ‘I’m not sure I like the new you.’
‘New me?’
‘Yeah, ever since you fought Yrimtan you’ve been saying no to me more often.’
‘You mean at all.’
‘That’s more often. But you have.’
‘Not where it counts. Have I refused to have sex with you? Ever?’
‘Well, no.’
‘There you go then.’
Ella emerged from behind the curtain wearing a dress made up of various irregularly shaped panels held in place by lengths of bio-plastic thread so fine as to be almost invisible. ‘I disagree though. You said no when I asked you not to go after Yrimtan. That was important.’ She examined herself in the mirror. ‘I think that’s what started this rebellious tendency.’
‘That one’s great,’ Aneka said, avoiding the implied question. ‘You should take that even if you aren’t going to wear it for this party.’
‘I’ll take one in white for the party and another in red. And you’re not getting out of it that easily.’ She marched back into the cubicle to change.
‘I had to take her out, and you know I did. I think she wanted it to happen, even if she tried really hard to kill me instead. And after I’d said no once it was easier to do it again, yes.’
Ella re-emerged, carrying her soon-to-be-purchased dress. She smiled. ‘I guess you did have to, and I guess I can live with a few refusals as long as none of them involves sex.’
‘Ella, love, if I ever refuse to have sex with you I want you to shoot me, because I’ll obviously be brain-dead and just walking around out of habit.’
Ella giggled. ‘C’mon, let’s pick up the other copy of this and get out of here. We can go home and you can practise saying yes to me.’
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Actually, Aneka was not having a bad time. The party felt like it had a real party atmosphere. The attendees were all there because they had made some contribution to the Old Earth expedition, and this was their reward. There were pictures and displays around the Grand Hall showing information about the original home of Humanity, and everyone was at least making a show of looking at a few of them, but mostly they were there for the drinking, dancing, flirting, and food.
Someone had had the bright idea of getting the Extreme Measures people to put up a climbing wall at one end of the hall, so there was the distinctly crazy sight of mildly drunk men and women in evening wear being hauled up a fake cliff. Near the bottom of that, Aneka found Eddie Leverson and Annie Teach keeping an eye on their employees who were manning the wall. Teach was wearing a short, black dress in a sparkling, sheer fabric, her lithe body making the garment really work well for her. Leverson was in black jeans and a T-shirt printed with a tuxedo pattern. Aneka was a little surprised that Teach had persuaded him to wear long trousers.
‘Annie,’ Aneka said, grinning at the couple, ‘you’re looking gorgeous. Eddie, you’re looking like someone out of a stoner movie.’
‘She does, doesn’t she?’ Eddie drawled. ‘Not that you’re looking bad yourself. You said you had a dress based on the light swarm and I gotta say that Annie’s the only other person I’ve ever seen looking as good in air and tiny robots.’ Aneka was indeed wearing, if the term could be applied, a cloud of tiny, glowing beads, which floated around her body in the approximate shape of a mini-dress. There was enough density there at the moment that her skin was barely visible as long as she moved at a walk.
‘Thanks, Eddie, though Ella was wearing one last time we were here and I thought she looked pretty good.’
‘Ella’s the redhead in the tiny cloth patches?’ Aneka nodded and Leverson gave an appreciative nod in return. ‘Fit-looking lady for an academic.’
‘Don’t mind Eddie,’ Teach said. ‘He bust a leg a couple of weeks ago and he’s not been getting any while the bone healed. He’s a little over-eager.’
‘I meant,’ Leverson said, ‘that she had good muscle definition.’
‘Sure, Eddie,’ Teach replied, grinning. ‘I heard you got some use out of that microlight?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka told them. ‘We got use out of just about everything you guys gave us, but that little plane was a life saver. Literally. You guys can have my endorsement any time you like.’
Teach beamed. ‘I’m going to hold you to that. Maybe get you to do a small photo shoot with a friend of mine and some of our gear?’
Aneka nodded slowly. ‘I can probably do that, sure. As long as you’re not planning on pictures of me naked aside from a harness halfway up a cliff.’
Teach managed to keep an almost straight face. ‘Gopi, there goes that idea.’
~~~
Teldarian’s gaze was fixed on a display showing a projection of Old Earth with the major areas of occupation marked. As Aneka approached he seemed to be paying particular attention to the central section where Europe, and England, was one of the denser regions of population.
‘The Prime City is there,’ Aneka said. ‘What could be described as the world’s capital. It’s certainly the place their Council occupies.’
‘Your place of birth, if my memory serves?’ Teldarian replied. He turned and gave her a smile, all white teeth and charm. Stephen Teldarian had charm down pat. He was tall, handsome, and somewhat swarthy with his tanned skin and slight stubble. His hair was black and fell down his neck in soft waves. A memory flashed to mind unbidden of her fingers twining into that hair as she pressed his mouth…
She smiled back. ‘They built it under Aldershot. It was a military town. There were bunkers they could use to start from.’ It was partially a lie. Yrimtan had built under Aldershot for the same reason Aneka would have; it was their home town.
‘Nice place?’
‘The old town or the new city?’
‘Either. Both.’
‘Aldershot was… I’m biased, but the town wasn’t what I’d call picturesque. The new city is a little sterile. Very modern, but very… artificial.’
‘Cities tend to be.’
‘I don’t think so. Some of them are quite organic. Living entities. Mid-town is a little like that. I wasn’t sure about the place when I first moved in, but it’s really growing on me.’
‘Really?’
‘Uh-huh. Ella and I are formalising our partnership.’
She saw it in his eyes, the flare of displeasure, almost anger. Then there was the self-recrimination. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you. How’s your sister?’
His eyes tightened, wrinkles showed around his nose as his lip moved up. She kept the frown off her face, but it was almost as though she had kicked him while he was down. ‘She’s well. She was asking whether I would see you here. I think she likes you.’
‘I liked her. She’s a free spirit. Well, for someone who never leaves a private island on an isolated planet.’
‘Yes, yes she is. If you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to talk to.’
Aneka nodded. ‘Of course. Enjoy the party.’
‘Oh, I intend to.’
He walked away and she noticed the stiffness in his stride.
~~~
‘Teldarian didn’t look ha
ppy,’ Ella said.
‘I told him we were getting hitched,’ Aneka replied. She sipped her wine, which tasted a lot of blackcurrant. She really needed to get an import business started shipping real wine from Old Earth.
‘That explains it. He left about twenty minutes ago.’
‘Huh. He’ll get over it. He actually seemed more upset when I asked about his sister. What’ve you been up to?’
‘Schmoozing. That’s the right word, isn’t it?’
Aneka giggled. ‘Yeah, that’s it.’
‘I’ve danced with three men and two women. Two of the men and both women couldn’t keep their hands off my butt.’
‘Who’s the third man? I think I should check him out. He’s either gay or he’s got amazing self-control.’
Ella giggled this time. ‘I’ve been chatting with people. Talking about the displays. Actually, I talked to Teldarian right before he left.’
‘Oh? Maybe that was what made him leave then. He never struck me as the jealous type.’
‘He didn’t say anything about the registration. Just talked about the Matlock display.’
Yeah, he had had his nose rubbed in it and had decided discretion was the better part of valour. Aneka was moderately sure he would get over it. There would probably be a nubile young woman involved in his therapy.
Ella giggled again. ‘I was thinking about trying that climbing wall.’
‘In that dress?’
‘Is that a problem?’
Aneka laughed this time. ‘No, but give me thirty minutes to sell tickets would you?’
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Aneka stood in the shower, more or less holding Ella up while the redhead groaned and let the water soak into her hair.
‘You know,’ Ella said, her voice almost muffled by the downpour, ‘you could be kind and stop me drinking at these things. Or at all.’
‘I like you tipsy. You’re a cute drunk. I wouldn’t let you do anything embarrassing.’
‘Like climbing that wall.’
‘Exactly like climbing that wall in a dress that barely covered your butt. Besides, you get totally wild in bed when you’ve had too many.’
The Winter War Page 12