by M. D. Cooper
“I heard them talking in the passageway that they were to get the porter and collect your things. I decided it would be best if I packed your clothing and passed myself off as your servant. Better than hiding,” Addie said as she pulled the fastener down on the back of Jessica’s right boot and slid it off.
“Oh, stars above…” Jessica moaned as she stretched her foot out. A process she repeated moments later with the other foot after Addie removed the second boot.
“Quick thinking, Addie,” Cheeky said. “Did they suspect anything?”
“They were very suspicious, but I believe it had more to do with the weapons than anything else. I was able to secret your pulse pistols into your luggage well enough that they missed them when they scanned the cases—or they just didn’t care. I’m not sure which.”
“I think these folks are savvier than we first thought. I suspect they know about our pistols,” Jessica said as she reached behind herself and pulled the fastener on her skirt down. “Oh, that’s so much better. I won’t need to eat for a week.”
“So, what now?” Cheeky asked.
“I don’t know about you,” Jessica said, “But I could really use some sleep. From what I can see on their general shipnet we’re going to arrive at Acadia, House Laurentia’s moon, late in the day tomorrow. We may not get another chance to sleep for a while.”
“Wiser words were never spoken,” Cheeky said as she stretched out on the sofa and kicked off her heels. “And when I’m ready to move again in an hour or two, I’ll see if I can make it to my bed.”
“Addie, make yourself useful, and organize my wardrobe too,” Jessica asked. “I want to have something more appropriate to wear tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Addie nodded.
BREAKING FAST
STELLAR DATE: 10.22.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Approaching Acadia, Serenity Primus
REGION: Serenity Ordus, Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
Jessica woke at seven hundred hours the next morning and moaned softly. I can’t believe I’m still full. How do those guys do that every day?
She stumbled into her room’s san unit and took a long shower before emerging, feeling greatly refreshed, and opened the wardrobe to see what sort of clothing Addie had created.
“Huh…”
“Not at all,” Jessica said. “Given all the starchy suits the men wear on this ship, I kinda expected the women to wear flowing dresses and corsets or something…not your standard little black dress—though at least they don’t always restrict themselves to black.”
“Yay for variety,” Jessica said as she reached into the closet and pulled out a sleeveless purple dress. She pulled it over her head and into place. “Simple at least.”
Jessica walked to the mirror and examined the dress’s fit. “Addie’s not a bad seamstress. I’m not an easy person to cut cloth for.”
Jessica stared at herself in the mirror for several moments, trying to think of how to say what needed to be said.
Jessica considered Iris’s words, wondering why her AI was willing to change who she was if it meant saving the team, but Jessica was not.
Jessica said.
Jessica stared at herself in the mirror, willing herself not to see the thing she’d once been on High Terra. The vision of that time did not often come up in her mind, but when it did, it was hard to push aside.
I am not a monster.
She stepped away from the mirror and pushed open the door in to the suite’s main room.
Cheeky was not out of her room yet, but Addie stood at the sideboard upon which rested a pot of coffee and a tea kettle.
“Addie, coffee! You’re the best. I thought you AHAPs were all about assimilation and infiltration. Yet here you are being our concierge in all things,” Jessica exclaimed.
Iris chuckled.
If Jessica could have given a double take, she would have.
Jessica shook her head as she poured a cup of coffee.
Jessica thought back to their initial conversation with Addie—and several since. She had said that to the AHAP.
The certainty behind Iris’s words hit Jessica like an asteroid.
Jessica let Iris’s words sink in, uncertain whether or not to be impressed by AI’s dedication to humanity, or angered by their deliberate manipulation.
Instead, she sipped her coffee, staring into Addie’s vacant, unblinking eyes.
“Huh,” Jessica said aloud.
“Jess!” Cheeky called out from the far side of the room as she opened her door. “Look what they wear! I had nightmares—not figurative ones either—of petticoats and crinoline and stars know what other horrors. But it’s just a world of sexy bitches!”
“It is the current style on Acadia,” Addie said. “Although they wear their hair up, and accent with many articles of jewelry. My understanding is the simplicity of the dress is intended to highlight the jewels and accent items.”
“Stars know you love a good accessory,” Jessica said to Cheeky.
“Yeah, but do we have any? I don’t want to be underdressed,” Cheeky said.
Addie gestured to the end table next to Cheeky, which was covered in bangles, bracelets, belts, and rings.
Jessica looked to Addie. “Uh oh, too many choices. Now we’ll never get out of here.”
* * * * *
The room in which they took their breakfast was not the same one they had dined in the night before. It was smaller, for starters, and had walls made from a light beige and ivory stone. Its broad windows looked over a holographic ocean complete with large breakers crashing into rocks below. Every so often spray would fill the air and the smell of the salty sea would assault them.
Their only companion was Captain Antaris, who was already seated when the two women arrived.
“Ladies, it is good to see you again. I see you’ve availed yourself of our fabrication units and properly attired yourselves. Last night it looked as though you, Cherrie, were from Teros, and you Jessica, were from Yucana. Luckily, both are close allies of house Laurentia, so it was not an issue.”
“I’m glad for that,” Jessica said as she sat and surveyed the spread before her. “What do the women wear on the other two moons…Mesophis and Gallas?”
Antaris had taken a bite of his bread and chewed it carefully before swallowing. The women on Mesophis all wear these horribly restricting dresses, floor length, long sleeves, it’s quite awful. Their heads look almost lost in all the fabric.”
“And Gallas? That’s the moon of House Charlemis, right?” Cheeky asked.
“Correct. House Charlemis is not our enemy per se, but they are certainly not a house that we are on good terms with. Not for the last thousand years at least.”
“Yes,” Cheeky smiled sweetly, “But what do the women of house Charlemis wear?”
“Oh, yes,” Antaris nodded. “They wear these skin-tight one-piece outfits that cover their whole bodies—excepting their heads of course. They’re always gloved as well. It’s really quite strange.”
“I must say again,” Jessica said aloud to Antaris, “how lucky it is that we found you here. Imagine if we had encountered a ship of House Charlemis when we jumped in. Why is it, do you think, Captain, that they were not present?”
Antaris leaned back in his chair and stroked his thin beard.
“I thought over this for many hours last night, and into this morning. I sent a missive to my mother as well, and she relayed a suspicion to me that confirmed my own musings.”
“Which was?” Jessica prodded.
“That you exited the dark layer too close to Serenity Primus. It is likely your pirate friends intended to arrive further out, near the heliopause, so they could make their exchange undetected. The Charlemis patrol ship is probably out there, several AU closer to the edge of the system.”
Jessica nodded. “That’s certainly plausible. I must ask, however. How is it that a House of Serenity even needs weapons such as these? Surely you must be able to make them yourselves.”
Antaris shook his head. “We have treaties limiting personal weaponry to pulse rifles and ballistic weapons only, and even those have maximums placed on them. The weapons you brought into Serenity are entirely illegal.”
“So a crew of armored individuals with these weapons could do serious damage in Serenity,” Jessica mused.
“Absolutely,” Antaris nodded. “And with the Dance of the Moons of Serenity coming up, it would be the perfect time to strike.”
“A dance?” Cheeky asked. “Tell me more.”
Antaris smiled at Cheeky. “It comes only once every few decades, when the Star of Serenity eclipses the distant light of Sol.”
“But you can’t see Sol from here,” Jessica said. “Well, I suppose that with a very large array you could.”
Antaris nodded. “Yes, it is symbolic, but we do it nonetheless. The eclipse lasts five days, and each day there is a celebration on one of the moons of Serenity. Each house holds a great ball on their night, and all the other houses attend.”
“I can see your concern,” Jessica said. “I should warn you, there was no ammunition in any of the crates put on our ship. From what lay upon the dock, I do not believe any was allocated for it.”
Antaris stopped his hand, which was holding a fork laden with bacon, midway to his mouth. “You believe there were more ships coming to Serenity.”
Jessica nodded. “It stands to reason. That Derrick was using our ship alone seemed like a gamble in and of itself. But what if his plan was to send multiple vessels, expecting some to be captured. That could even throw off suspicion that an attack was imminent, should a ship be intercepted.”
Antaris lowered his fork back down to his plate. He reached into his pocket and drew out the card with the three stars. “If there is more than one ship, and they expected some to be captured, then there is no way to know if this is a real clue, or if it was planted to lead us astray.”
“Sounds like a good, old-fashioned mystery!” Jessica announced before taking a bite of quiche.
“Do you have any experience with such things?” Antaris asked.
“In a former life, I was part of a federal investigatory branch of a planetary government,” Jessica replied. “I’ve some experience in sussing out guilty parties in situations like this.”
“May I ask which government?” Antaris asked.
Jessica took another bite of quiche and shook her head.
“I suspected as much.” Antaris was silent as he looked long and hard at Jessica and then Cheeky. “If you would be so kind, I’ll have a database made available to you, after we finish breaking our fast. Perhaps as an outsider, something will jump out at you, or you’ll ask a question none of us thought to ask.”
“I’d be happy to look it over. The place I’ll likely start is to identify the two houses who have the most to gain by allying with one another,” Jessica said once she was done chewing. “Your quiche is amazing, by the way.”
“Thank you,” Antaris replied with a gracious nod. “The two houses, by the way, would be Nebacken of Mesophis, and Charlemis of Gallas.”
“Are they currently allied?” Jessica asked.
Antaris nodded. “Very closely.”
“And who is the head of the…High Table, I believe you called it?”
“That would be my mother Anastasia,” Antaris replied.
“Out of curiosity,” Cheeky asked. “Are you next in line to rule House Laurentia?”
Antaris laughed softly. “No, though I believe I would make a good Head of House. But men do not sit at the High Table. Only women may rule at Serenity.”
Antaris sounded like he was reciting something once more and Jessica wondered how indoctrinated the population of Serenity was.
“Seems foolish,” Cheeky said. “Ruling out half the population simply because of their bits.”
“Well, it is the way of things here,” Antaris said with a shrug. “Though I know things are done differently elsewhere. My sister Kristina is next in line to be leader of our house. And shou
ld she decide the High Table is not for her—a decision which is the very definition of unlikely—then I have nine other sisters who would gladly fill her shoes when the time comes.”
Jessica made a note to consider succession for all the houses. An internal coup was just as likely as a power grab from one house.
Over the remainder of the breakfast, Jessica asked Antaris other questions about the houses, and the dance which would begin the following evening.
He responded to their questions without hesitation, but at nine-hundred hours he rose from the table and gave a short bow.
“Speaking with you ladies has been both enlightening and entertaining, however, I have duties which I must attend to before we dock at Charbidis station and then take a shuttle down to Acadia.
“When do we expect to dock?” Jessica asked.
Antaris’s eyes flicked to the left. “Just over nine hours. I’ve been granted a priority lane to Serenity Primus so that we can meet with my mother before the hour is too late. She is most eager to meet the two of you in person.”
After Antaris left, Jessica signaled one of the servants and requested a fresh cup of coffee. Once he brought it, she held it in her hands and stared at one of the fruit arrangements, imagining the blueberries and raspberries were different factions, working to undermine one another in a complex game that had been going on for thousands of years.
“What are you thinking?” Cheeky asked.
“Well, for starters, here we thought we were in an archaic patriarchal society, when in fact we we’re in an archaic matriarchal society.”
Cheeky frowned. “I didn’t know such a thing existed in antiquity.”
“Oh yeah, there were a number of them. The last one I know of was in ancient Greece, on a place called the Isthmus. The city was something like Eleusia…I think. It was a very long time ago that I learned of this. Anyway, every year they chose a new king, the queen bedded him before the kingdom, and then they took the old king, killed him and tilled his body into the Earth.”