by J. Naomi Ay
"Where are we going to get a spaceplane?" Sam cried, "and who is going to fly it?"
"I've got one," Elana said.
"I'll fly it," I insisted.
"You're not licensed," Sam reminded me.
"What are we going to tell the Commander?" Lenny sneered. "What's your excuse for missing the Empress’s visit?"
"You can tell them we had an emergency and we're helping out the Corganians," I replied.
"And tell them ith on the order of the Printheth Elana of Thyganuth," Elana added.
"Are you really a printheth?" Korelesk asked suddenly taking notice of Elana. She raised her shoulders and smiled displaying her broken teeth and bare gums.
"Yeth, I am. Thomeday, I'll be the Queen."
"I am Vithcount Korelethk," he bowed and swayed on his feet. "Thomeday, I'll be a duke of the most import duchy on Rehnor."
"Save it, Marik," I snapped. "Let's get all of your teeth repaired and get back to the ship before someone's mother gets mad."
"You sure you don't need our help?" Kiman asked again and looked anxiously at me.
"No," I replied. "Go on ahead but thanks for the offer."
"Is that alright with you, Commander?" Lenny addressed Korelesk.
"Thure, ith fine," Korelesk replied still smiling at Elana.
"It works for me," Randy added also smiling at Yula.
"Maybe while we're waiting for them, we've got time for a quick round of Imperial Quest on Randy's tablet?" Geor suggested to Sam.
"That'd be awesome," Sam agreed.
"I think we're already playing it but so far we're all losing," I mumbled, but by this time, nobody was listening to me.
Chapter 17
Katie
The minute I left the Palace in the spaceplane, I started to feel guilty. It had been five years since I had been anywhere besides Karupatani and it had been more than five years since I had been more than five minutes away from Senya.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" I asked again calling from the plane.
"Yes," he snapped. "I'm busy. Your worrying is driving me insane."
I disconnected the vid and looked at Luci and Caroline.
"Let's just try to enjoy our little vacation from all of them," Luci suggested. "Shall we watch a movie until we get to Cyganus?"
"Alright," Caroline replied. "Let's watch that new flick about those male strippers."
"Male strippers?"
"Uh huh," Caroline nodded.
"Ok," Luci agreed. "Let's order some popcorn."
"And wine," Caroline added waving her hand to the attendant. "White or red?"
"Both! How about cheesecake too?" Luci suggested.
"Why sure," Caroline cried. "That would be just the perfect accompaniment to all that beefcake." The two of them giggled like school girls.
"I think I'll take a nap." I got up and headed to the suite at the rear of the plane wondering what was wrong with me. Why was I feeling so guilty just for traveling for a few days? The first thirty years of my life I had spent constantly moving but now that I was grounded, it felt so wrong and far away to be back in space. I rang Senya again.
"What is it now?"
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"Yes! How many times do I need to tell this to you? What could possibly happen?"
"Well the last time I left, you attacked a bear and nearly ripped off your leg, caused an untold number of weather calamities, had a nervous breakdown, and then tried to kill yourself. Not to mention, you alienated everyone and everything around you."
"You were gone a bit longer," he shrugged, "this time you shall be back by the weekend."
"Do you promise to behave?"
"I have already promised you that. Go enjoy your time with your ladies. Taner, Berkan and I are just about to turn on a flick about some strippers."
"What?"
He smiled. "Goodbye Kate."
Two days later we arrived on Cyganus and spent the entire morning touring the planet. Marik joined us as the Queen of Rozari was already in orbit but Shika was off on shore leave and I wouldn’t be able to see him until he returned to the ship later that night.
"Will you bring him to my cabin tonight?" I asked Marik as he sat down in the limo. We headed toward the palace owned by the Queen of Cyganus who reluctantly agreed to host us for tea. I wanted to speak with her and the Prince to discuss the Corganian problem.
"I'll get him there after formation," Marik replied.
"Why don’t we all just have dinner then," I suggested.
"You're supposed to dine with the Captain." Caroline looked at the schedule. "We could do desserts instead."
"As long as it's not toast points," Luci added clutching Marik's arm.
Later that afternoon when our touring was completed, we boarded the Queen of Rozari and were escorted to my suite. My head was still trying to absorb all we had seen on Cyganus. While the royal family lived well, the overall population was struggling and the added burden of the Corganians was not helping the situation at all.
The Corganians had left their own planet which had been seized by dictatorial forces and while that was unfortunate for them, they had voted these bad guys in. The Empire couldn't step up and take the government out. The Corganians had made a choice and until they changed their minds they were stuck in it. I wracked my brain for some way that we might be able to help in the meantime.
Caroline's cell rang just then and she loudly started to chat to her sister, Marilyn, as the Captain of the ship guided us down the hall.
"Alright honey, I'll tell them," Caroline said ringing off as we settled into our suite.
"It was just lovely meeting your sister," Luci said taking my jacket and shoes. "I wonder why Marik hasn't called me back yet. He should be aboard by now, don't you think?"
"What did your sister say?" I asked Caroline noting that the ship was set to sail in twenty minutes and Shika hadn't returned any of my calls either.
"Marilyn said a bunch of young people came in. One of them she recognized as Marik from meeting him with us earlier in the day."
"Blessed Saint!" Luci cried. "What in the heavens was he doing there?"
"Getting his front teeth replaced," Caroline continued pouring all of us sodas. "The two front ones were knocked out."
"Oh heavens," Luci sighed placing her hand over her heart and collapsing on the sofa. "Is he alright?"
"Of course he is. Marilyn does good work. She said he's resting comfortably and his teeth are looking all pretty again too."
"Was Shika there too?" I asked anxiously, "and did he have all his teeth?" He hadn't answered my calls and he didn't respond to my texts. Considering his rPhone 22 never left his pocket, he should have replied to say at least he wasn't dead.
"Well, Marilyn didn't know if he was Shika or not but she said when they all came in a young man looked at her and called her "Auntie Caroline."
"That's him," I sighed with relief.
"What else did she say?" Luci asked.
"She said she wasn't Caroline but rather Marilyn although most of the time everybody thinks she looks more like Sherrilyn or Jerrilyn."
"Great," I muttered. "So where are they now? Are they enroute back to the ship?"
"Marilyn says that both patients are still resting and she won't release them for at least another hour."
"Both patients?"
"There's a young girl who also needed new teeth. Once she could talk again, she told everyone she was Princess Elana of Cyganus."
"The princess who was missing from our tea today?" Luci exclaimed. "The nice chubby brunette one?"
"Yes, she was awfully sweet when we met her last time," Caroline agreed, "certainly much nicer than the Queen. Can you believe the way that Queen jumped all over the younger girl for just wanting a little raspberry jam to go with her tea and toast?"
"The poor thing looked like she hadn't eaten a raspberry in years," Luci remarked. "I would have liked to have just the jam, never mind t
he toast and tea."
"What was the Princess Elana doing with our boys?" I interrupted loudly and tried once again to send a text to Shika. No response.
"Marilyn didn't say but in any case you can stop your worrying." Just then the vid rang and the Captain's face appeared on the screen.
"Madame," he said. "Ladies. I wish to inform you we shall be departing Cyganus enroute to Imperial Spacebase 96 as scheduled."
"But my son Marik is still not aboard," Luci protested.
"Or other members of your crew," I added.
"LCDR Korelesk and his squad are on a special assignment and will meet us at the spacebase unless you would prefer I delay our transit, Madame?"
I considered it but quickly ruled it out. The Big Guy would be furious if I changed the Starship's plan. "No, go on as scheduled. Are you sure they'll meet us at the spacebase?" If I didn't get to see Shika until we got there, I'd have only about an hour with him before we had to depart.
"I'm not sure of anything, Madame, but Korelesk is a fine and upstanding officer and if he has said he'll be there, he most certainly will."
"What about Ensign Golden? Is he with Korelesk?"
"Golden?" the Captain frowned, "the young man that has acquired a record number of demerits?"
"That's him."
"Yes, Madame, he is in Korelesk's squad."
"Maybe we should go back to the planet ourselves," I suggested. "We can have our spaceplane meet us there and then we can fly to the spacebase with our boys."
"That would be lovely," Luci agreed.
"Come on now," Caroline snapped. "Did you forget what I just told you? Marilyn says they're both doing fine. Neither of those boys needs their mama to come to the rescue. They are on special assignment and that doesn't include you. We retired our Spaceforce uniforms a long time ago and I for one am not even close to being able to fit in it again. Now let's get you changed into your next pretty dress so you can go wave and smile at this wonderful ship full of SpaceNavy folks who are just waiting to see you."
We did and I did but my stomach was churning the whole time. I didn't know what kind of trouble the boys were in or why they were with the Princess Elana. Shika still wasn't answering my texts and Marik wasn't answering Luci's. When I called Senya that night, he practically bit my head off.
"I told you not to go," he growled.
"Why are you in such a bad mood?"
"Your mother."
"My mother?"
"At four AM this morning, just after I went to sleep, she came into our apartment and demanded that I get out of bed and clean up the kitchen. She said she would not let Katie's home turn into a pigsty while you were away on vacation."
"Oh lord," I sighed. "What did you say?"
"I said I did not see any mess to which she pointed out the dishes in the sink and suggested I have my eyes surgically replaced."
"Oh no. What did you do?"
"At four AM, I emptied the garbage, cleaned the windows, swept the floors and vacuumed the rugs while she dusted the furniture."
"Why didn't you tell her you'd have the maids clean it during the day?"
"Ach, she was very confused and I feared I would upset her. She also told me to get haircut."
"Did she get a look at your feet?"
"She then suggested I go outside and start working on the yard. Apparently, in some distant corner of the courtyard she had noticed a weed or two and thought it my responsibility to remove it. At that point, I told her I had to get to my office and the weeding and mowing would have to wait for the weekend. Kari-fa, Katie, the yard?"
"I'm so sorry. If I bought you a lawn tractor, would that make you feel better? Why don't you tell her we're just renting and the yard is the landlord's responsibility?"
"Next time you go anywhere, I shall insist you take your mother with you. Now, I am very tired and still have six more hours to get through before I shall again find my bed."
"Did she go back to her own suite?"
"I certainly hope so. Taner summoned your ladies to come fetch her. If she is still sitting on the sofa when I go up tonight, I shall come back down here and sleep in my office. I am sorry to say, I shall lock all the doors in her building rather than let her come barge in on me again. Weeding and vacuuming, as if I had nothing more important to do? Kari-fa!"
"It was a good experience for you?"
"Goodbye Kate. Do not tempt me to lock you in her building as well."
"Goodbye Sweetheart," I replied. "I'll be home soon."
"You had better." He hung up on me.
We didn't hear a word from either Marik or Shika the next day and after touring the ship some more and meeting with the crew, the ladies and I returned to our suite filled with disappointment.
"At least you got to see Marik for a little bit," I told Luci.
"Thirty minutes was all," she replied. "Hardly enough when I hadn't see him in nearly an entire year."
"Fortunately, they'll all be coming to the big birthday bash next month," Caroline added. "I'll just give Marilyn a jingle and find out if they all left yet."
"Thank you," I replied and went into my bedroom to give my husband a jingle as well.
"What do you want?" he barked at me over the vid.
"Why are you so crabby today? What did my mother do now?"
"She has been cooking," he roared. "She thinks it is her responsibility to make me dinner every night since you are neglecting your marital duties by flitting around space chasing after our adult son who is only trying to live his life as he should."
"What did she make?"
"Chicken soup with balls in it. You know I do not like soup. I especially do not like boiled bird soup with or without balls."
"Did you tell her that?"
"No! I could not tell her for if I did she was liable to strike me over the head with the very pot she was using to cook the soup."
"So you ate it instead?"
"I did. I even ate the balls although I did not like them at all, puffy doughy things that they were. Then I had to sweep the floor and clean the bathroom to her satisfaction."
"I can't believe that you are afraid of my mother."
"I am not afraid of your mother."
"You could have fooled me. Maybe you need to remind her who you are so she'll cower in fear like everyone else."
"There is nothing and no one that shall make your mother cower in fear. Frankly, she has me cowering though not in fear but rather to avoid getting hit. I truly believe your father hastened his own death just so he might escape from her."
"Did you tell her we have servants who do these things for us?"
"Of course I did but she insisted these cleaning activities would be good for me as I am far too spoilt and haughty and sorely in need of some humbling. Every day she reiterates for me all of my qualities which she does not like and reminds me in great detail how much better your life would have been should you have married the good Dr. Waldman-Moonbeam instead of the arrogant, supercilious Senya de Kudisha."
"Sir?" I heard Berkan's voice hesitantly interrupting. "It's…it's your mother-in-law again."
"Kari-fa," Senya sighed and held his head. "I cannot take any more of this. Please Kate, I beg you, hurry home."
"We'll head back tomorrow," I promised and rang off as I heard my mother's voice in the distance shouting, "Ron! Dinner's ready. Come set the table!"
Chapter 18
Elana
"I don't get you, Elana," Yula said. "If you're really the Princess Elana, what were you doing hiding in the refugee camp?"
"I already told you," I admitted, testing out my new teeth with my tongue. "I wanted to see what the situation was and if there was a way to help you without turning you all back."
"And did you find a way?" Yula asked doubtfully.
"No, unfortunately not."
We were sitting in a bus shelter waiting for the bus to come. It was late, really late, but Geor, Sam and Randy were all playing Imperial Quest on Randy's tablet. They we
re singing along with the game's theme song, Challengers on the Imperial Quest, and they seemed perfectly happy to sit here all night if we had to.
"Why don't you call the Palace and get a car for us?" Yula asked. "Why do we have to take the bus?"
"Because my parents would be furious if they knew I was out here on the streets," I insisted. "I told them I'd be back on the weekend and I'm not going to go back until then."
"It's your turn, Yula," Randy called and smiled at her with a love-struck expression. "Do you want me to roll the dice for you again?"
"Sure Randy," she replied sweetly and then turned back to me and glared. "So we take the bus to the spaceport and then what, steal a spaceplane and go where?"
"We get back to our ship before we're all fucking AWOL," Marik said. "Sorry Princess."
He smiled at me and showed me his new teeth. I showed him my new teeth which actually looked exactly like my old teeth. I could have had normal non-bucky teeth and I almost did but realized that then, I wouldn't look like me. As bad as my teeth were, as much as I had hated them, they were unique and part of what made me myself.
"You have beautiful teeth, Princess," Marik said.
"You do too, Viscount," I replied. He held my hand and I gazed into his eyes which were so pale and colorless it was like looking into water.
"You have beautiful eyes too, Princess," Marik continued, "and beautiful hair and beautiful freckles on your beautiful nose."
"You have beautiful orange hair too, Viscount."
"The bus is here," Steven snapped. "Who's going to the spaceport?"
We all climbed aboard and since it was the middle of the night, other than the driver, it was only us and an old homeless man in the back. I sat with Marik, Yula sat with Randy, Geor sat with Sam leaving only Steven by himself. The bus started rolling and the old man came forward. He sat down next Steven and asked if he knew where he was going.
"Hey," Steven said. "Weren't you just in jail?"
"All of us are in jail," the old guy replied, "in a manner of speaking. We are all in the jails of our own choosing."
"Great," Steven mumbled. "Another philosopher. Why do you want to know where I am going?"