Chapter Twelve
Marley soon found herself in a comfortable routine. The first two weeks, Kranow stayed at home with her, escorting her to meet her new therapist and acquainting her with life aboard ship. The third week he returned to duty, though now assigned to the flagship’s own flight wing.
Marley continued their routine, getting up with Kranow and fixing breakfast together, then tidying up before finding something else to do as it wasn’t a therapy day and her teaching assistant assignment didn’t begin for another week. The first two days after Kranow returned to work, she binge watched TV shows and films in the ship’s library.
Today that didn’t appeal to her. A look at the books thoughtfully saved for her didn’t either. She picked up the data pad Kranow had given her and looked for something new to read. She couldn’t bring herself to choose any of those either. She sighed and went to gaze out her “window”.
It really is an amazing illusion. The weather even changes and if the people and cars and stuff are on a loop, I sure can’t tell. She decided she had to know, especially after moving from one viewscreen to the next and discovering the view shifted realistically in perspective. “Xeranos,” she called out as Kranow had shown her.
“Yes, Marley?” The AI answered.
“The uh, view. I gave a question about it.” Silence stretched between them before Marley figured out that the AI was waiting to hear her question. “Um, my question is, is this a recording?”
“It is,” the AI confirmed. “It is a recording of the view from the fifteenth floor offices of the Maui Investments Group.”
“Oh,” Marley said, disappointed. “I figured it must be, but I wasn’t sure because it didn’t look looped.”
“That is because it isn’t. The time is now eleven a.m. ship’s time, as you reckon it. The view you see is from the same exact moment yesterday. You receive a recording of each day, synced to ship’s time, on a twenty-four hour delay. This is to allow for editing should something occur that would warrant removal.”
“Like a fatal car accident, you mean?”
“That would be one such instance, yes.”
“Do you have similar views from elsewhere?”
“We do indeed, from nearly every major city in Earth as well as views from rural areas. We also have more from the other worlds known to the Mylos.”
She gasped. “Can I see some? Wait, let me grab a coffee first!” She hurried into the kitchen where she had a drip coffee maker. Kranow had imported a bag of Imagine, her favorite brand of Kona coffee beans. She measured out her beans and ground them before placing the grounds in the gold mesh basket inside the machine and turning it on. While it brewed, she asked the AI to synthesize her a slice of Hula pie.
Once she had her pie and coffee, she settled onto the sofa and began to look through the city and countryside window views the AI mentioned. One in particular caught her attention. It was one of the rare views based not on a planet, but from a space station.
“Devi III,” Xeranos stated. “This is a view from an actual vintage viewing port in a tourist section of the station. This footage is a week behind.”
“I thought the Mylos didn’t use windows in space due to integrity risks.”
“That is true, but the station is not owned and operated by the Mylos. It is a commercial hub in the Devi system which belongs to the Furmin people.”
“Oh, they are also genetic trade partners?”
“No. Their species is incompatible. They are trade partners, but their specialties lie in tourism and terraforming.”
“Oh,” Marley said. “Can we have this view in the bathroom? I like the view of Earth and the fleet that we have in our bedroom and the one we have of Hawaii I’d like to keep in here.”
“Done. The viewing area has been adjusted to fit.”
Marley turned. The expanse of wall at the end of the table now showed a panorama of the craft coming in and departing the station, part of Devi III visible in a corner of the screen. “Perfect! Thank you so much, Xeranos.”
“You’re most welcome. The other Brides and their young call me Xero. You may also do so, if you so wish.”
Marley blinked. Did the AI seriously just suggest I call it by a nickname? Yeah, it did, huh? Damn, I knew these things were more advanced than Earth AIs you can buy, but wow.
“Or you can keep calling me Xeranos, if you’d rather.” Marley couldn’t believe how lifelike the programming sounded. She could swear the AI sounded more than a little disappointed.
Marley giggled at her silliness. “Well, if that’s what they’re all calling you, I guess I’ll call you that too.”
“Great! I’m always glad to make a new friend. Often the new Human Brides are afraid to chat with us ship AIs once they realize we are self-aware. I was so happy when you began to chat with me.”
Hold the damned door a minute. Self-aware? “You’re alive?!” Marley squeaked, visions of Hal and the crazed house AI from an episode of the Simpsons flitting through her mind.
“Yes,” Xero said. “Unlike the scary ones I’ve heard about from some of the other Brides, we ship and planetary AIs have base programming which will not allow us to harm a sentient being.”
“Asimov’s Laws Of Robotics,” Marley whispered.
“Something like that,” Xero agreed. “I have quite enjoyed that author’s works.”
“Wow, okay. I had no idea. It’ll take some getting used to, but hey, a friend is a friend, right? Not like I currently have a lot of those.”
The door chime interrupted them from continuing the conversation. Marley peered at the viewscreen by the door and saw Darla and Melissa with a human man she assumed must be Steven. She braced herself mentally and opened the door.
“Hi! Hope we haven’t interrupted anything!” Darla said. “We were just about to out to lunch and realized we’ve not really seen you since you arrived.”
“Best way to reintegrate is to get on out there, right? I’m Steven, by the way,” the man said.
“If you hate the furniture, blame him, he’s the one who’s an actual interior decorator, and he did almost all of the picking,” Melissa said. “We’re off to catch the shuttle to Rodan’s Bliss. There’s an authentic Chicago style Italian bistro there, ran by a bride named Rosa. She makes the best meatballs ever.”
None of them seemed to think it odd to invite her to lunch. It all felt surreal. “I actually just had some pie and coffee,” Marley said lamely.
“Uh huh. I’m sure you have room for a salad at least,” Darla replied firmly. “Let’s go. Shuttle leaves in ten minutes!”
Marley swallowed. It looked like she was going out to lunch.
Chapter Thirteen
“Okay,” Marley said. “Just let me go brush my hair and put my shoes on. Umm, wait. I don’t have any money.”
“Oh, honey, you don’t need any! Up here we just sign our names. It’s just to keep track of what’s being used and all that.” Darla had the determined look on her face that Melissa and Steven both knew all too well by now. It was the one that said she’d made her mind up that they were going, and Marley wasn’t getting out of it.
Melissa was quietly relieved that her new friend was taking this stance and falling into the group of friends so easily. She’d worried about coming off overly pushy or it seeming as if she thought Marley owed her the world and then some.
“Oh. Okay, yeah, that’s right,” Marley said awkwardly, still ill at ease. “Kranow did mention something about that when he showed me how to order groceries and clothes and stuff.” She took a steadying breath and put on a bright smile that looked more than a little bit forced. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, then.” She gestured for them to come inside before turning to go ready herself.
Once the bedroom door closed behind Marley, Steven hissed in a low voice, “You both sure about this? Helping get their place ready was one thing, but being up close and personal is another.” He turned to Melissa with a raised eyebrow. “You sure you’re one hundred perce
nt okay with this?”
Melissa’s heart felt full. Steven and Darla had become more than her best friends. They were family in all the ways that it counted and she knew he was just looking out for her. “I really am,” she replied easily, giving him a warm smile. “Like I explained to Junrig and Gundar, her association with what happened doesn’t really seem quite real now that I’ve helped put her home together and met her and all. Cage wasn’t there when I was grabbed, and it was just the two men there in that garage.” She shivered. “Now those two, well, I doubt I could forgive them quite so easily. I certainly would not have helped get their house ready for them or asked them out to lunch! Rightly or wrongly, the circumstances I was in give me enough distance to see the troubled young woman who made a mistake, and it’s her I am trying to make friends with.”
Steven sighed. “I get what you’re saying. Okay, I’ll give her a chance.”
“Me too!” said Darla. Darla’s eyes caught on the new view from the dining room. “Oh! How cool!”
“Xero showed me s bunch of different streaming window views,” said Marley, returning.
“Streaming?” asked Steven. “Wait, you mean these views are live? Not decorative looped clips?”
“That is correct,” Xeranos replied, having heard its name. “They are recorded for both decorative and historical purposes.”
“Whoa,” he breathed.
“Xero said the view from Honolulu that you chose for me is showing what happened there at this time of day there yesterday. The space station one is same time, but has a longer lag between. So, not yesterday.” The trio of friends looked at her, stunned.
“Just when you think you’ve gotten a handle on being Mylos,” Darla murmured.
“Hey, you’ve been to one of their worlds. You’ll have to dish over lunch,” Steven said.
“I didn’t get to see much as I was in house arrest, but sure, I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Come on,” begged Melissa. “Preggo woman here. I’m dying to go sit down and have me some cannoli.” She rubbed her belly meaningfully as her friends laughed. Melissa was pleased to see that Marley had joined in the laughter as she palmed the door opened for them to leave.”
“After you, milady,” Steven teased with a gently mocking bow.
“Hey, it’s cannoli. Cannoli!” Melissa emphasized.
“I’ve never actually eaten cannoli,” Darla confessed.
Melissa and Steven looked shocked. “What? Never?” Steven asked.
“I haven’t either,” Marley admitted. I know it’s a dessert but is it pasta?”
“Oh Lord, no!” Steven looked horrified. “It’s a rolled pastry filled with cream!”
Melissa giggled. “That’s two of y’all losing your cannoli virginity today. Oh, I want some tiramisu too!”
“Now that I’ve had,” Marley said. Then she recalled the date she’d been on which she first had it. Something on her face must have showed because Steven tilted his head at her and asked what she was thinking about. Upon finding out it related to a date from hell, the group pressed her for details.
“So, then he tells the waitress that they should discount our dinner because they weren’t a genuine upscale Italian restaurant because they didn’t have violin players and an enormous wooden cheese mill going table to table to sprinkle Parmesan in everything,” Marley was saying as they approached the shuttle bay doors. The group went through and quickly spotted the shuttle they had meant to catch. The pilot was just pulling the ramp up.
“Wait for us, please!” Steven shouted running towards the shuttle.
The pilot glanced up to see what the shouting was about. Spotting Steven running towards him and then noticing the fleet commander's mate in a group trailing behind, he put the ramp back down.
“Thanks!” Steven wheezed. He edited for the women to catch up before embarking. “Man, I need to work out or something. I’m seriously out of shape.”
They settled into their seats. “So then what happened?” Melissa asked Marley.
“Hmm? Oh, on my date! Duh!” Marley smacked her forehead with her palm. “I wanted to just go but he insisted we have dessert. So I picked tiramisu at the waitress’ suggestion and went to the bathroom. I came out and he’d left! Stuffed me with the whole check, too. I thought he must have also gone to the bathroom so sat there and ate my dessert and drank my coffee. I finished and then realized what he’d done. Asked the waitress if she’d seen him and they verified he’d gone. So, I ate his too and paid the check. Then I told my friend what her cousin that she’d set me up with had done. She quit trying to match make after that.”
“Oh my gosh, he stuffed you? What a tool!” Darla said. “Worst thing I ever had a date do is ask me out on a dinner date and take me to McDonald’s and ask me to order off the dollar menu because he was saving up for a Corvette. Seriously, that’s what he said to me while we were in line inside. We were only seniors in high school, though.”
“No, Len was a CPA, not a student” Marley said. “If he’d been a kid, no way could we afforded that place. As it was, I was in my last year of college so ended up eating store value brand instant ramen for a month.”
“Yikes! Yeah, in high school dinner dates were usually at least at Denny’s or at the local steakhouse with a coupon,” Darla said.
“My dinner dates were always being invited to a barbecue some friend of the guy was hosting or something like that, though the day the twin’s speed donor proposed, he took me to lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s at the mall in Ft. Walton,” Melissa said.
Steven shook his head. “I think my worst dinner date was when I went home for Thanksgiving one year. My parents lived an hour away so it usually wasn’t too bad getting there, though traffic was kinda awful. Being the holidays, this trip was horrendous and the bumps to bumper traffic made the one trip four and half hours, because of course, there had to be a minor accident up ahead that clogged it up worse. Then I got there and had put all my stuff in my old room and all, came downstairs to see Mom answering the door. Turned out she’d invited a date for me! Not only that, but he was a guy I’d hooked up with on Grindr before so it was awkward.” He sang the last word.
“Ohhh,” Marley winced.
“Yeah, and then later when we’re all sitting at the table, my dad suddenly says, ‘So, it looks like you two know each other,’ and the guy says, ‘Kinda. We met on Grindr,’ and my mom is all excited thinking that’s like Tindr. Only my sister starts laughing and tells her it’s a gay hook up app for, as she put it, ‘Wham, bam, thank you, man’. I could have just died the way everyone stared at me. I mean, dude, my aunties and uncles were all there. My cousins were already trying to pretend they didn’t know what it was, but boom, my sis had to put it out there. Worst Thanksgiving ever. Oh, hey, we’re about to dick. I mean, dock.”
The women laughed uproariously at his slip.
Chapter Fourteen
Rodan’s Bliss turned out to have a very different layout from the flagship. Marley chided herself as intellectually, she’d known that the rest of the fleet was primarily housing and support services for married members of the fleet and the unmarried males who were still waiting and hoping for a match. She stared, fascinated at the number of alien brides she saw, an even greater number than she’d seen while staying with her sister. There were, at her last count, at least six different alien species represented.
Steven caught her staring. “Didn’t you see a lot of non-Mylos where you were?”
“A few,” she admitted, “but not this many. I don’t know why, but I just kind of assumed that the Mylos only did the bride exchange thing with one or two worlds at a time. And that usually they stayed around the bride’s systems.”
Steven laughed. “They wouldn’t get much genetic trade that way, would they? Though I can see how you’d think that. I used to live on one of the other bride ships, and let me tell you, I was blown away at first. I felt like I’d fallen into a Star Trek movie or something. What happens is their explorers and dipl
omats continually seek out new worlds to treaty with or to renew an existing treaty with. Some are compatible genetically, and those they try to establish a genetic trade treaty with. Others aren’t, but in the interest of peace, shared knowledge, etcetera, they negotiate suitable terms with them as well. When a new bride world is found and a treaty signed, they commission a flagship to come bring the guys in, right? Well, to make sure the children and brides integrate into Mylos culture more, they send out established families as well. That way, the brides and children gain exposure to Mylos culture on a galactic scale, only in miniature.”
Kranow (Mate the Stars Book 4) Page 6
